GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE: TRACTION CONTROL GUIDE
by
Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather
[email protected]
Initial Version Completed: March 15, 2003
Version 1.2 Completed: May 5, 2003
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CONTENTS
Spacing and Length
Permissions
Introduction
Traction Control and Handling Options
Traction Control and Tires
Traction Control Tests
Online Information
Contact Information
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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
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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,
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CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru,
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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!!!!!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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:
[email protected]; also, if
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to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via
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To find the latest version of this and all my other
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