

Driving 55 Mod Tips Needed
#1
Posted May 19 2020 - 02:15 PM
So how do you brake with these cars? Feels like I'm locking the wheels at less than half the brake pedal travel (G25 pedals). And brakes go red on every corner. When I enter stadium sections, the little lamp on dash stays red through the whole thing, only getting back to green after T1.
#2
Posted May 19 2020 - 02:19 PM
#3
Posted May 19 2020 - 04:35 PM
(2) Calibrate your controller correctly. If your brakes are locking with only half-travel on the brake controller, that suggests that some re-calibration might be in order.
(3) If you have re-calibrated and your brakes are still locking, you need to use them more gently. Any race driver can lock or overheat their brakes if they just push the pedal straight to the floor. To brake effectively, you need to take into consideration: (i) the type of brakes fitted to the real car, (ii) the road conditions, (iii) your tyre temperatures, (iv) any one of half a million other factors which affect braking performance.
(4) With the 1955 cars, engine braking was a crucial technique to learn. As you approach a corner, as well as using the brakes, change down a gear, don't blip the throttle to match the revs as you might do with later cars, then let your foot off the clutch gently, and you can effectively use your clutch plates as an extra form of braking. For some tracks, (such as Hockenheim '67 when entering the stadium section) you will need to repeat this technique on each downshift to get the car slowed down enough. 1955 car engines had impressive compression ratios, so you could safely use engine braking to slow you down without worrying too much about over-revving the engine and watching your cylinder head become the first satellite in orbit.
In my humble opinion, the GPL 1955 mod is the first mod which really makes it necessary for the driver to take into consideration the limits of the car technology of the time. Learning how to stop a 1955 car is not the same as stopping a 1967 car. If you can learn the difference, and learn the different techniques involved, then you will enjoy the 1955 mod.
Edited by Saiph, May 19 2020 - 04:42 PM.
#4
Posted May 19 2020 - 09:07 PM
#5
Posted May 19 2020 - 09:37 PM
Although I have a Fanatec pedal set now with the pedal set to 60%, which is the only way I can drive the 55s.
Edited by PTRACER, May 19 2020 - 09:37 PM.
#6
Posted May 19 2020 - 09:50 PM
At tracks like Monaco you can“t do this so you need to lift off earlier and use the gearbox to help with the brakes. You will find soon where to use one of these techniques, but never abuse the brakes with the 55mod.
It takes practice. The 55 mod braking is specially demanding, but very rewarding when you can get used to it.
#7
Posted May 20 2020 - 05:28 AM
So engine braking, early downshifts, only lightly braking?
#8
Posted May 20 2020 - 06:09 AM
syd_drake, on May 20 2020 - 05:28 AM, said:
So engine braking, early downshifts, only lightly braking?
#9
Posted May 20 2020 - 07:40 AM
It is also often better to use a technique more like cadence braking where the brakes are used in short bursts to the point of locking and then let off again rather than a long and sustained application which would ultimately build up more heat in the brakes. By alternating firm braking and downshifting to benefit from engine braking it is actually possible to get fairly short overall braking distances without overheating the brakes too much, but this takes practice and also learning a new approach as Saiph described above. Braking points are earlier than other mods and strategy also comes into play when trying to out brake people too!
The goal is to find a sustainable pattern for brake use around the track as a whole so that on successive laps the brakes are recovered enough when you need them. Pick a point on the lap when the brakes are "green" and then next lap check if they are still green at that same point. If they have gone yellow then you are exceeding your budget and will over heat the brakes and "run out". For sure you can go for a quick lap and overuse the brakes to set a faster time, but that is not sustainable and overall will probably cost you more time in a race waiting for the brakes to cool down than finding a sustainable average pace to use.
It is a mind set and strategy thing and in some ways it is more about suvival and management than trying to always be going at 10/10. Reading descriptions by Taruffi and Jenkinson, the real cars weren't driven at 10/10 for lap after lap, indeed most would run at 5 or 6/10 with only the occaisional effort burst of 7 or 8/10. You need to leave an extra margin of error that later mods do not require which makes the 55 mod cars very different, but also very rewarding once you get into the mind set as Saiph says too!
Rob
#10
Posted May 20 2020 - 03:16 PM
I recently switched to right foot breaking and found most of my brake overheating problems in the 55 Mod disappeared. I must have been slightly riding the brakes with my left foot braking technique. This was not an obvious problem on any other mod but it had a significant effect on the 55 mod.
The 55 mod, in particular, feels much better with a gearshift, clutch, and right foot braking. The added realism also comes with an increased need to focus and to improve your driving technique.
Roger
#11
Posted May 20 2020 - 04:12 PM
#13
Posted May 21 2020 - 07:23 AM

#14
Posted May 21 2020 - 04:22 PM


Thanks for all the helpful advice.
#15
Posted May 21 2020 - 05:15 PM
Saiph, on May 21 2020 - 03:39 AM, said:






That's why I said you need to get everything up to "working" temps, because then you'll get the same braking distances each and every lap. Sure the distances are abysmal compared to the ones on cold brakes, but they are consistent. Which allows me to get rid of consciously needing to manage the brakes. That part of the brain can then be used to get more laptime out of the car. Not saying this is the right way, but it works for me.
#16
Posted May 21 2020 - 09:04 PM
For example, the pedals configuration of the Lotus 72 and a 1960s Lotus:
Attached Files
#17
Posted May 21 2020 - 09:50 PM
In many cars, yes. But, to play devil's advocate, in the real world a driver subconsciously processes so much tactile information - vibrations, g-forces, sounds, etc. - that are completely lacking in even the best sims, and even in a helmet has more peripheral vision than in a sim, that taking advantage of left foot braking, paddle shifters, etc. somewhat balances the loss of all that input. (Somewhat ... I was a much better driver in RL than in any sim.)
#18
Posted May 22 2020 - 05:02 AM
Edited by KARTM, May 22 2020 - 07:55 AM.
#19
Posted May 22 2020 - 05:08 AM
Attached Files
Edited by KARTM, May 22 2020 - 05:39 AM.
#20
Posted May 22 2020 - 08:13 AM
KARTM, on May 22 2020 - 05:08 AM, said:
KARTM,
I like that idea. Very clever, but very simple.
Do it ever get used or just a prototype?
KARTM, on May 22 2020 - 05:08 AM, said:
KARTM,
I like that idea. Very clever, but very simple.
Do it ever get used or just a prototype?
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