Today (and next Sunday), I’m writing about using a simulator to help you improve your real-world driving — both the why and the how.
To start, I got my first high-end simulator back in 2004. At that time, I felt that it was a good tool for learning tracks, but also thought that the pseudo-realism and lack of feel were big negatives. Still, I slowly began integrating simulator training into my coaching, and in the past decade have been a huge believer in — and user of — the value of sim practice and training. The realism has improved dramatically over the past decade or two, from the visuals to kinesthetic feedback. Today, I almost spend as much time coaching with a simulator as I do on the real track. I want to share with you what I’ve learned through that process.
Digging really deep into the sim racing and training world started a few years ago when I did some workshops specifically designed to help track drivers use a simulator more productively. My “research” included a trip to test a super high-end sim rig at Dallara in Indianapolis last year (see image below), and spending time interviewing pro sim and real racers.
Then, I started coaching Steven Thomas (who has gone on to win the Pro-Am LMP2 class at Le Mans in 2022, as well as the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup this year). He and I would spend multiple days every week, he on his sim at home, while I coached him remotely from my home. What I learned through this experience took my understanding and coaching methods to a whole new level, and led to me starting my Sim Racer Academy.
(I need to point out that my focus has been a little different from that of people who learn to sim race for the sake of winning sim races. My focus has been on how to use simulators as a training tool.)
To really simplify things, let’s consider that there are three types of drivers in the world:
- Those who are really, really good at sim racing, mostly because that’s where they started their driving. Let’s call them “sim natives,” although some refer to them as “aliens” because of how other-worldly good they are!
- Those who are really, really good real car/track drivers, and are learning to be good on a sim. Let’s call them “sim immigrants.”
- Those who dismiss the use of simulators altogether, either because of the time and financial investment, or because “they just don’t feel like a real car.” Let’s call them “sim naifs.” That’s not a negative reference, only that these drivers have not embraced sims as a training tool, yet, or they would rather spend their resources on a real car and limited track time.
My experience and research has led to an observation regarding the difference in driving style and technique between sim natives and sim immigrants: Sim natives drive the car off the front tires of the car, whereas many (but not all) sim immigrants drive cars off the rear tires. What do I mean by that?
Since simulators (at least the ones you and I can afford) do not provide much sense of yaw (while the software simulates yaw, the chassis doesn’t actually yaw — change direction), the only way of truly sensing the car’s limit is through the steering. In a sim, you turn the steering wheel, and when there is a big enough difference between where the car is pointing and the steering you’ve put in, you know you’re moving beyond the limits of the front tires. You’re experiencing understeer. You know what you’ve got, and can drive the car from there. In my experience, the best sim racers tend to sense (and maybe even induce) understeer, and then work with it. They drive the car off what the front tires are telling them — although they might not even realize they’re doing this.
Many — but not all — drivers who developed their skills in real cars (and karts), and not in simulated ones, sense the limit through the car’s yaw. When the rear tires have a slightly greater slip angle than the fronts — yes, a hint of oversteer — the car is now pointing further into the corner than the steering angle suggests. The car has rotated. These drivers are driving the car off what the rear tires are telling them. And yes, they may not even realize they’re doing this as they don’t have anything to compare their driving style to — until they get serious about going fast in a simulator, and struggle a bit to do so.
When a driver has a finely-tuned ability to sense the car’s rear tires and its overall yaw angle, that doesnʻt apply to driving a sim as well, so they are just not quite as fast (in some cases, it’s a difference of a couple of tenths or even hundredths of a second). These drivers either have to adapt to sensing the car’s limits through the front tires/steering, or they’ll be just a tiny tick off in speed.
By the way, this is also why some elite pro racers are very, very good in sims, as well. Some of those pros drive their real cars off the front tires, so there is little to no adaptation required.
My point here is not to get buried in the comparison of sim versus real driving, whether one is better or worse than the other, and how accurate sims are. No, it’s that to be perfect at driving a sim requires a slightly different driving technique from being perfect in a real car — even though the car setup, track conditions, and everything else is the same. Why? Because the tools the driver has are different. How a driver senses the limits of the car are different.
One could argue that the third group of drivers I mentioned above, the sim naifs, are right — sims don’t feel right, so don’t bother with them! I disagree. I look at this situation, if you’re in the middle of it, as a huge opportunity to become an even better driver. It’s an opportunity to add to your driving technique toolbox, learning a new way to be even better when on a real track. Just think, if you could not only drive the car off the rear tires, but also off the front tires, just how good you will be.
Could it be that the most special of race drivers in history like Fangio, Clark, Stewart, Senna, Schumacher, and Hamilton (focusing on F1 only) had this ability to drive their car off both the front and rear tires? That they could equally sense the limit through the steering wheel and seat of the pants, and that’s what made them so unique?
Looking at the two drivers who finished in first and second in the Formula One World Championship this year, we see Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, both of whom grew up driving karts and simulators. Is it a coincidence that they’re the best right now? I don’t think so.
If you’re relatively new to driving a sim, or struggling to find that last tenth or two or three, focus on what you feel through the steering wheel. Induce some understeer, then manage it. Feel the limit through the amount of understeer your sim car has. Some of the methods and drills I will write about next week will focus on helping you do that.
Okay, let’s take a step back and look at how sims are typically used, and then at some ways to best use a sim to improve your own real-world track driving.
There are five stages a driver goes through in learning to use a simulator:
- Get a feel for it: This is where the driver typically dislikes driving on a simulator, and says that it’s unrealistic. Theyʻre also getting used to how the controls impact the movement of the sim car.
- Learn tracks: The driver simply uses the sim to learn which way a track goes, and figures out the line. For many drivers, this is the final stage, and where the real benefits of using a simulator end (unfortunately).
- Skill development: At this stage the driver is developing and fine-tuning their skills and techniques, such as brake release/trail braking, vision, hand speed, car control, and so on.
- Mental training: Now the driver is really taking advantage of what a simulator has to offer, as this training is so important, and yet it’s often overlooked when at the real track. The cost/benefit ratio with a sim for mental game training is tough to beat.
- Procedural and strategic: Races and track day events can be won or lost (at track days, the definition of “won and lost” is different from at a race) by knowing and putting into practice various procedures, as well as having the right strategy. Being able to pre-run these before ever going to the track is a huge advantage.
Next week, in Part 2, I’ll share nineteen specific methods and/or drills that I recommend you use to improve your real-world driving, as well as seven “complaints” that some drivers have against using a simulator.
I should point out that all of these methods and drills are covered in depth in my Sim Racer Academy. In fact, there is a huge library of resources exclusive to members, as well as ways to work 1-on-1 with our Chief Instructor, Balázs Remenyik. Not only is he a world-class alien sim racer, but he’s coached the likes of Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, and is the Maserati Formula E Team simulator development driver.
If you have a sim, please spend some time this week using it, and thinking about the ways that it either frustrates you, or that you wish you could work around a challenge you’re having with it. Why? Because I hope that what I share next week will then be more valuable to you.