GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE: TRACTION CONTROL GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: March 15, 2003 Version 1.2 Completed: May 5, 2003 ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== JOIN THE FEATHERGUIDES E-MAIL LIST: To be the first to know when my new and updated guides are released, join the FeatherGuides E-mail List. Go to http://www.coollist.com/group.cgi?l=featherguides for information about the list and to subscribe for free. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTENTS Spacing and Length Permissions Introduction Traction Control and Handling Options Traction Control and Tires Traction Control Tests Online Information Contact Information ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== SPACING AND LENGTH For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ============================================== PERMISSIONS Permission is hereby granted for a user to download and/or print out a copy of this driving guide for personal use. However, due to the extreme length, printing this driving guide may not be such a good idea. This driving guide may only be posted on: FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, f1gamers.com, Games Domain, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, GameReactors.com, RedCoupe, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, CheatHeaven, IGN, cheatingplanet.com, RobsGaming.com, Infogrames Australia, neoseeker.com, ComputerUnderground.com, ps2fantasy.com, and vgstrategies.com. Please contact me for permission to post elsewhere on the Internet. Should anyone wish to translate this game guide into other languages, please contact me for permission(s) and provide me with a copy when complete. Remember: Plagiarism in ANY form is NOT tolerated!!!!! ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== INTRODUCTION Beginning with the fifth race (the Grand Prix of Spain, held at Catalunya) of the 2002 season, FIA permitted traction control to be implemented in F1 racing. Traction control was initially scheduled to be made legal for the first race of the season (the Grand Prix of Australia, held at Albert Park in Melbourne), but many of the lower-budget teams petitioned FIA for more time to develop their traction control systems. Fortunately, Grand Prix Challenge permits traction control to be used for the entire season. The traction control system (TCS) can be of great benefit to drivers. In short, traction control notes when the wheels are spinning excessively, and lessens the power from the engine (which directly affects the rear wheels, which are the drive wheels). Without traction control activated, it can be incredibly easy to inadvertently overspin the drive wheels, causing the vehicle to tend to skid sideways. Traction control will thus lessen the chances that a vehicle will skid across the pavement. Using traction control (especially on the High setting) is also quite beneficial should the player make a mistake and end up in sand or grass. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== TRACTION CONTROL AND HANDLING OPTIONS Grand Prix Challenge allows the player to adjust the traction control setting, depending on the chosen level of vehicle handling difficulty. By default, the TCS can be moved to another setting by pressing the Triangle button on a standard DualShock2 or compatible controller. Some players may find it useful to practice swiping the right index finger across the Triangle button until this becomes second nature, so that the TCA setting can be changed at will without disrupting player concentration and/or moving the right hand out of position on the controller. In Beginner handling, TCS is always set to high, and cannot be adjusted by the player. In Intermediate handling, TCS can be toggled between low and high. In Expert handling, TCS can be set to off, low, or high. In Intermediate handling and Expert handling (only), TCS settings can be changed during any session or race, meaning that a player can experiment with various traction control settings for each corner or area of a circuit and make a mental note to always have the TCS at a particular setting in various parts of a lap for every lap of a race. Turning the traction control system off will provide the fastest speeds possible for a given vehicle, since there are NO checks of wheelspin to potentially slow the car. A low TCS setting will allow for a large rate of wheelspin before power is lessened or eliminated to the drive wheels, and this results in a moderately slower straight-line top-end speed. A high TCS setting will show a significant decrease in top- end straight-line speed. (All this assumes that the car's set-up is not changed, and the player's driving style remains consistent.) The traction control setting also greatly affects cornering. If set to off, the player must be EXTREMELY careful not to press the accelerator too hard too quickly, as there is nothing to counter any excessive wheelspin from harsh acceleration out of a corner (especially if this occurs when the rear of the vehicle is already sliding around the corner). Set to low, TCS will allow a long range of wheelspin before traction control takes effect, so harsh acceleration should still be avoided to the extent possible. A high TCS setting is definitely the best for those just becoming accustomed to F1-based games, as there is an extremely shallow range of permissible wheelspin before the TCS takes effect. Note that even with TCS set to high, it is still quite possible to send the vehicle into a spin, or to at least slide the rear of the car around corners (purposely or otherwise). Often, this is because one or more wheels of the car are on a rumble strip (which provides generally less tire grip than pavement), and the imbalance of tire traction across the four wheels combined with a potential awkward angle of the vehicle in relation to the pavement itself, the amount of power applied to the rear (drive) wheels at that very moment, and the vehicle's downforce setting and chosen tire compound exceed the vehicle's inherent capabilities to gain sufficient grip to remain securely on the ground. In such a case, only the player's quick experience-honed reflexes can prevent the vehicle from sliding (uncontrollably) or spinning... or potentially even flipping. Note that those with A LOT of experience with racing games (and F1-based games in particular) should be able to actually induce a slide of the rear wheels to actually ASSIST in fast, precise cornering, but this is done at the risk of accelerated tire wear (if tire wear has been activated) and a greater chance of losing vehicle control. Finally, F1 is well-known for its standing starts. The need to go from a complete standstill to the highest-possible speed in the shortest amount of space and time is crucial, as those who can consistently do this well can pull away from the field if at the front of the grid, or make numerous passes before the first corner of a circuit if starting further back in the field at the beginning of a race. Setting the traction control system to high for the standing starts is crucial for reducing wheelspin and applying maximum traction to the pavement to assist in accelerating as quickly as possible. Once the vehicle is well in motion (perhaps at about 60MPH/96KPH), TCS can generally be switched to low or off to maximize top-end straight-line speed. ============================================== TRACTION CONTROL AND TIRES If tire wear has been activated for a race, the tires will slowly and inherently lose their ability to grip the pavement. This is due to the natural tendency of the tires to shed tiny pieces of rubber during use. Tire wear is further accelerated with every excursion (intended or otherwise) off the pavement. Traction control can - at least in theory - help to slow the rate of tire wear. Since excessive wheelspin causes more small bits of the tire to wear away, traction control can somewhat reduce the rate of this inherent tire wear by its intended purpose of reducing excessive wheelspin. If the player begins a long run with traction control either off or on a low setting, raising the traction control setting late in the run can help to 'fix' tire wear. As tire wear continues, the tires' ability to adequately grip the pavement plummets, which in itself can result in excessive wheelspin. Thus, raising the traction control setting can provide a temporary 'fix' to the tire wear issue, but this 'fix' is definitely only temporary and the player will likely still need to adjust driving style between the beginning and end of the run. If the traction control setting is raised for this reason toward the end of a long run, the player needs to remember to change the traction control setting back to a lower setting once the tires have been changed. ============================================== TRACTION CONTROL TESTS I have conducted several (obviously unofficial) tests in Grand Prix Challenge to determine how traction control affects a vehicle's speed and lap times. In these two tests, the ONLY change to a car's set-up is to the traction control setting; all other settings are the default settings used by the game for each vehicle. Expert handling and automatic transmission is used for all the tests below. Default parameters used in Expert Handling: Tire Type: Soft Downforce: Center position Gear Box Ratio: Center position Suspension: Five positions from the right Brake Balance: One position left of center Traction Control: Variable Anti-lock Braking System: Off Transmission: Automatic Test #1: Monza This first test uses the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher to test how various traction control settings affect top-end speed. Here, the 'test zone' runs from the flagstand on the right side about 1/4 of the way along the Curva Parabolica (the final corner) to the Start/Finish Line; the test results here are the product of the vehicle beginning from a standing start alongside the flagstand and the speed of the car with each traction control setting at the Start/Finish Line. Traction control off: 201MPH/322KPH Traction control low: 199MPH/318KPH Traction control high: 198MPH/317KPH Note that the speeds are somewhat close together at the Start/Finish Line. A total of 3MPH/5KPH separates these test speeds. While this may not be much of a difference in a single lap, 3MPH/5KPH across, say, fifty laps (for example) can make a major difference if these speeds can be attained consistently, potentially affecting the finishing order of a race. (Of course, other variables need to be considered during a race, such as Yellow Flags, tire wear, slipstreaming/drafting, pit strategy, weather conditions, etc.) Test #2: Suzuka This second test reflects the best of five hot laps at Suzuka using each of the three traction control settings (off, low, and high). This test is done using the Jordan of Takuma Sato. Traction control off: 1:40.430 Traction control low: 1:36.609 Traction control high: 1:33.803 These test results attest to the difficulty of Suzuka with no traction control used. Specifically, the initial S-curves are where time can be significantly lost at Suzuka, as each corner in this section is quite different from the others, and an extreme amount of countersteering is required exiting each of these corners in order to even have a chance of keeping the car on the pavement. With low traction control, nearly four seconds are shed, with much of that reduced time coming from the lessened amount of vehicle sliding in the S-curves section of the circuit. Using high traction control, the S-curve section is made even easier, shedding almost another three seconds from the overall lap times as vehicle slippage is nearly negated. Note that while higher traction control settings tend to bring down top-end straight-line speed, the difficulty of the S-curves section of Suzuka is a significantly greater issue in terms of vehicle set-up, with Hairpin and Chicane also causing a high level of concern. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== ONLINE INFORMATION The Web site http://www.technicalf1.com/ can be of great benefit for exploring the intricate details of traction control and other technical aspects of modern F1 racing. ============================================== CONTACT INFORMATION For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc., or to be added to my e-mail list for updates to this driving guide, please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2/DC/Mac game guides, visit FeatherGuides at http://feathersites.angelcities.com/ ============================================== ============================================== ==============================================