TL;DW - How to follow a car in a race. Theory and examples.

Too Long ; Didn't Watch - A short cut from my long live stream.
You brake as hard as possible at your usual reference point, but you still hit the car in front. Unfortunately it's all your fault and here's why.
Theory and driving examples on why you need to start braking much sooner when you're following a car in front of you.
You can find all my setups and replays in the following shareable google drive folder:
drive.google.com/open?id=1flJ...
Official Dev Blog subforum with tons of useful information about ACC.
www.assettocorsa.net/forum/in...
Assetto Corsa Competizione on Steam!
store.steampowered.com/app/80...
Intercontinental GT Challenge DLC on Steam!
store.steampowered.com/app/12...

[@yassenpetrov2303]

There should be a link to this channel somewhere in the game

[@DevilDog19921]

sadly then people would talk how dev is promoting his channel in game etc etc. you cant make ppl happy, i also support that this should be in game, its way easier to follow up on video explainations rather then a wall of text

[@weepz]

Or a Video Library in Gallery :)

[@seanb.5899]

If you hit someone in the rear while braking, it should just close the game and launch this video.

[@RonaldRegain]

@@seanb.5899 So true. Glad Aris does such videos. Just awful how I get pit maneuveres 100% on porpouse within top ten everytime in last fife Mins during 45/60Min races. Really every-fudging-time

[@amaruq9199]

ingame they souldn't show adds from thrustmaster or fanatec but tutorials of Aris :P

[@GeoffMartin]

I suggest this should be shown when people join an open lobby - in any sim. :-)

[@alix5566]

Unfortunately... I seem to be THAT guy

[@alix5566]

I usually break earlier, but sometimes I just forget...

[@Soim26]

I felt so bad when you said “lower the AI to something low like 92” and i am struggling with them at 88🤣🤣 that hurts man, you hurt my feelings. Thank you very much for all the information you are giving in these kind of videos.

[@Gio07live]

What I usually do is to take my reference points into account and apply them to the car in front. Let me get this clear. If the perfect and usual braking is at the 150m sign, and at that moment I'm following someone, I don't wait for MY car to reach 150m to brake, but I look at the car in front of me and then brake when HIM arrives at the 150m sign. This means that I will brake before my reference point and avoid the accident.If I am really very close, I will brake when HIS car reaches 160-170m so even before HIM reaches 150m which is MY braking point. In this way I always manage to avoid accidents when braking.

[@ArisDrives]

That is also a very nice technique. I would recommend to people that haven't learned it, to first try it and take care because sometimes it might still caught you by surprise, but still, good advice.

[@NOXXism]

I do this too, if you are going at the same speed as him and you can tell where he brakes, you can brake when he gets to his braking point as mentioned. If it goes well you don't even need to modulate the brake pedal. Practice makes perfect ;)

[@nakazonegamestreaming896]

(....when 'he' arrives... when he reaches...) cheers man....

[@mymoviefilms]

Some drivers even blame the car ahead for braking “early” when they are the car behind “ because they braked at their normal braking point”. Even if the car ahead brakes early (because of various reasons) it is your responsibility in the car behind not to hit it.

[@ArisDrives]

Totally agree. The driver behind has visual of everything so he takes the risks. The driver in front has to watch in front of him, can't take responsibility of what happens behind him.

[@bartterp88]

True. I agree with that. BUT in certain specific situations the car behind CAN have the excuse of not expecting the car in front to brake way early. It happened to me a few times. For example I also race in GT Sport. Me as an A+ ranked driver sometimes come up in lower lobbies and sometimes I decide to start from the back. So when I'm grouped up in such a race and we are approaching the hairpin on Suzuka, I often check the rearview mirror way before the braking point to check if someone sets himself up for a move on the inside (you can tell when a car is close behind and was very aggressive the last few corners). But if at that certain point the car in front decides to brake partially without reason, even way before the right kink, it is inevitable for me to hit him if the distance is short (here comes the slow speed/short distance from this video into practice). Even more when the car behind is almost on the left rear and wants to go all out on the inside so that I have nowhere to go.

[@YordanHristooov]

Bartchello well you know the guy in front is slower and you know the one behind will go for a move so slow down ? But you don’t want to even if you predicted what will happen so you crash the one in front because the guy it’s slower and needs to brake earlier. When racing with others we have to anticipate and take their skill level as a point. I was battling with a guy that has absolutely the same pace as me but I had a weak corner and was making up for it latter. The guy behind brakes late and to not hit me he spins. I was feeling sorry that this ended our battle but he could study me earlier laps, brake early and get better exit to overtake there. Most people blame the slower car in front because they are not willing to slow down and loose speed.

[@bryanmurray8011]

@@YordanHristooov 200% agree. The driver behind has no patience as he wants to go as fast as possible. He/she/they don't understand why the car in front is braking so early and have to apply way more braking than usual and end up spinning out and blaming the driver ahead for their crash. Nothing will calm their rage no matter what you say.

[@heikogehrig]

@@ArisDrives Just throwing around ideas here, but why not add a system (if possible) where you automatically get a +2 sec penalty (for example) every time you rear end someone. The overwhelming majority of incidents are from people being irresponsible and rear ending someone. Sure, there will be the few that brake check or drive dirty, but by far and away it’s usually the person doing the rear ending’s fault (coming in too hot - overly aggressive because there's no repercussions, ramming on purpose or otherwise). Not to mention it’s a lot easier to avoid rear ending someone if you’re a responsible driver vs avoiding [an irresponsible] driver rear ending you. In North America, if you hit someone from behind [on public roads], you're at fault by default (generally speaking of course). This was the most logical, encompassing solution for a complex problem. It has it's faults, but it is the *overall* best solution.

[@RileyPPP]

This should be mandatory viewing before being able to go online! Perhaps public lobby Monza wouldn't be such a travesty of motorsport.

[@WoodyRacing]

Thank you so much, i watched this video and my thoughts were like "oh my god this makes so much sense i am such an idiot" I had two league races in the past, one where someone chased me, and in the other one i chased somebody.. both for like an hour. And in the first one i always thought "wow he is so much better under braking but i am better under acceleration" And in the other one i was like "damn i am so much better on the brakes but he is so fast out of the corners" Well yeah.. now i get it :D Thanks Aris! :)

[@macedk]

same here, And we have all seen good drivers do this, but for me, I never really got it. I thought wider turn to get more acceleration out of the corner, but if he is in the way, yeah it dosen't matter :). Great explanation :)

[@AJ_25]

this happened to me yesterday and I thought the guy behind was great on braking. But my power kept me ahead :P

[@macedk]

Small note to all, When u go practice with AI, you can turn off the rating system, so you don't end at -150 like me ;)

[@RafaHuel]

i never noticed that

[@MrPaddy1707]

Genius

[@Dornogol]

Where?

[@barbsldsr]

This is such a good lesson. Well done. What a shame the guy 3rd in line (behind me) hasn't watched it. :)

[@visibletoallusersonyoutube5928]

XD

[@UncleCoop]

I was highly disappointed that you weren't in the ACC stream yesterday. You've earned our trust and respect and because of that they earned my money. I like the fact that they had real life drivers but they didn't add much to the conversation. What really pissed me of was there was no reminder to Brake. COAST. ACCELERATE !!!!! I'm still a noob so that's my new motto. Lol

[@darkblueturbo]

Amazing how well brake, coast, accelerate works isn’t it. :)

[@Sniperrkr]

Aris my racing teacher, and all other sim racers

[@MrCrowbar666]

I already learned so much from your TL;DW series and it made me better in every aspect of simracing! I can only say thanks and keep on pushing out great content like this!

[@dhtoran1]

Best piece of racing explanation I've ever watched (and there are tons of that here on KZbin). Please more :-D. Can't wait to ACC in Xbox

[@piperracing26]

Great video 👍 I really like how you are trying to show people some of the more detailed parts of racing that no one talks about

[@Todestelzer]

As always really useful. Thanks for making this kind of videos.

[@munkytaint666]

wow... i only found out about this channel a couple of days ago, and i've already learned so much!! it's fantastic!! i'm REALLY looking forward to ACC coming to PS4 next week, i can't wait!!

[@ArisDrives]

Welcome aboard!

[@ErnieGaming]

This makes so much sense.👍Explained very well.

[@p4thos]

As usual, very well explained! Now I understand why sometimes I have a hard time overtaking people slower than me. Thank you so much for this kind of videos. Keep up the good work.

[@Worther12]

So glad I found this channel! Before I go into the sim now I watch a video first and then practice in game. Aris does such a great job of explaining things in a way ppl can understand, yet manages not to be boring or too technical 🏁🏆🎉

[@SylvainBerger]

Amazing video master Yoda! Your explanations are precise and fantastically clear. I can’t believe how obvious this is now that I have watched this video and practiced with AI. It is ridiculous how easier it is now. Wow, just wow! I can’t thanks you enough for all the informations you provide us. You are the main reason why I am getting better at sim racing faster. All your wisdom and teachings are precious. Keep up the amazing work!

[@BrokenDiceXI]

Great video, this is very important for drivers to understand how the overlap occurs. The higher the speeds and longer the car length, the earlier you'll need to brake.

[@RafaHuel]

Thank you again! I had asked this but I couldn't watch the whole stream and ended up not seeing it. I'll watch now

[@virtualapex83]

Best sim racing channel for real racing advice. Thanks for all the work Aris and looking forward to the future of Kunos.

[@wadegruber2119]

This video helps so much. It's crazy how I'm not even trying to brake late, and I'm keeping up with the guy ahead.

[@Mag_Nus32]

Good video. I feel like a fool having not understood this concept when racing, will put this into practice!

[@ArisDrives]

Glad it was helpful!

[@xrs183]

Been wondering for a long time why I have such a hard time overtaking people... This video might just be the explanation I needed. I am usually very close at corner exit and see car in front pulling away. I will definately try your tips. Great videos, please keep up this amazing content!!

[@alevx94]

Che dire, spiegazione impeccabile 👏👏👏 bello trovare qualcuno che abbia voglia di spiegare a noi aspiranti "SimRacers" come comportarti correttamente. Non ti bastava mettere in pista il software, ora tenti anche di mettere in pista piloti consapevoli... Chapeau👍

[@AnSeb11]

Aris, that was the most important advice for everybody for multiplayer racing! We see so many crashes because people crash into the car ahead :( Everybody has to understand that you have to break much earlier when you follow a car very close. Thanks again!

[@vinisim38]

Aris is the best, thanks for the amazing content. I was doing pole in Monza on multiplayer sessions and starting the race from the pits on purpose to learn how to overtake and to increase SA, finished most of the times in top 5 players and SA moved from 50 to 98. I learned that precision is the most important skill. It is very important to have your breaks and your break pedal calibrated in a way you can know and trust that every time you needed it, it will produce 100% of its capacity. Otherwise you might be guessing how much break you will have next turn and that is not cool. And in this situation the most common thing to do is to do the wrong thing, which is to press the break more aggressively and break even less due to an amazing amount of variables, like break's temperature, aggressive weigh transfer, tyre degradation, tyre temperature, possible lockups or just by putting the wheel spinning slightly slower than ideal, which can cause ABS to trigger too much not slowing you as fast as you need, lockups or inducing the car into a smooth (sometimes almost imperceptible) slide. Once you know how to get the most out of your breaks, it will be easier to follow someone else. What I do is to reduce the speed a bit earlier than usual, however I don't necessarily always transfer my break point to a sooner break point. I start coasting sooner than my usual break point. In my mind I'm trying to calculate how much speed I can carry while keeping a safe but competitive distance from my opponent. Coasting earlier, when arriving to the breaking zone, slows you less rapidly than fully breaking. Therefore my break modulation is there to help me to not get too close and then either punting or getting stuck behind on the exit. I'm NOT saying my "technic" is better, and in reality the principle is the same: slowing down earlier to modulate your distance in safe way so you can have a better exit. But mistakes does happen and I think sometimes sim-racers believe everyone is infallible. If you go to an open lobby and start at dead last, you will find people breaking really, really, really too early or worse, breaking at the apex. So paying attention to how the other driver perform his lap will help you knowing when is the best time to close the gap and overtake. Again, this is just an opinion, I'm here to learn as well! Please tell me how much this view of the world is wrong or incomplete. Best regard, Vini Sim.

[@dou3r878]

this video helped me a lot, before watching it i struggled a lot while following people, thanks :D

[@Botmeister37]

Thanks for the lesson Aris. Yesterday I tried this against AI and it worked out pretty well. It makes me less eager to overtake too soon, knowing the next corner I'll have the better opportunity.

[@Manc268]

Excellent as always Aris, Thank You.

[@rederrr_]

11:55 that roast man, loved it. Incredible video, they should really have your videos as a "must watch" before joining multiplayer mode.

[@MegaIronica]

This is such a good video to explain a fundamental concept about racing with the basics of acceleration and deceleration. I have been arguing back and forth with a guy on Reddit about an incident of moving in the braking zone. He firmly believes that if there is no overlay, the car ahead can go back to the racing line and both cars should have the time to brake without any risk of collision. It took me a lot of discussion to realize he just doesn't understand this concept. If I am on the outside and we are braking and I chose a braking spot believing the track ahead of me will stay free because the other driver that is on the inside is actually forbidden from moving again, and the guy does move and pops up in my braking line, there is no way I can avoid crashing into him. This is the whole reason moving under braking is illegal. But the guy I was arguing with was convinced that as long as the other guy is ahead, I should have the time to brake. It is only when I realized he doesn't understand this concept that I understood there is no way I can explain it to him. I sent him this video. Hopefully he will understand.

[@jackyyan6528]

this video should be added as a mandatory tutorial before any multiplayer game in ACC

[@AJ_25]

Bruh, I've been racing for >1yr and I used to try to brake at my braking pt even when I was close af to the car ahead. This is so simple but so easy to overlook. Monza league race tonight, this will certainly help me. Thank you. :)

[@pendragon3350]

This video enlightened me hope it enlightens all the guys on the public servers so we won't be out again on the 1st turn in Monza.

[@tylerhermans4882]

Thanks a lot this is my biggest issue and I appreciate you giving me this info. You know this video is really scarce on KZbin.

[@anthonypapageorgiou]

Great video, it should be showed to everyone !

[@glennkey3461]

yup! usually, by putting yourself in the car ahead and when the car ahead reaches your braking marker, thats when you brake. Then you can modulate, brake lighter and have less stress on your tires - saves fuel, tires and delta laptime giving you an edge on the guy ahead.

[@Sleeper_Service]

Good video Aris. Hopefully this will explain to a few folks the "subtle" difference between hot lapping and racing. At the end of the day, and as in real life, you run into the back of someone then there's only really yourself to blame.

[@OneRadicalDreamer]

Thank you for this, I wasn't getting the modulation part, I thought your had to do one perfect brake, but I noticed the other day that if I modulated I could get a leg up on corners sometimes, but was worried I was doing something wrong.

[@Unknown-yu3ms]

Great video, wish it was a common knowledge in sim racing.

[@apsilone3413]

I always thought that you should brake sooner than your opponent because of slipstream speed difference after straight but never consider such an evident fact, now im feeling completely stupid :D Thank you Aris!

[@ytriDlO]

very nice explained. I always thougt the guy i front of me breaks much sooner than i do when i got in pretty close situations behind him.

[@maximiliankock5447]

amazing knowledge !! thx for sharing

[@ohchocobo3642]

Tracking cars is and always has been my biggest problem. This lesson makes it so much clearer, I'm going to try this with IA. Thanks a lot ! The only annoying thing is that the SAFETY RATING seems to further encourage the "bad" behavior you were talking about, and when you need to get safety rating to join servers, you tend to get as close to other cars as possible for that purpose.

[@ArisDrives]

Not necessarily. The SA is very happy if you stay around 0.8seconds of distance and you gain lot's of points like this. As we said, 0.2seconds is over 3 cars length at 250kmh. 0.8s is far more. No need to stay attached to the guy in front of you.

[@ohchocobo3642]

@@ArisDrives Well noted thank you :)

[@marian-gabriel9518]

Good explanation, but another way to say it is...since both cars travel at the same speed, on the same line and brake at the same marker, it is only logical that the first car brakes first as it is the one who reaches the marker first and thus by the time the second car reaches the marker to begin braking, the first car is already slowed down while the second still travels at the initial higher speed and thus it appears to catch the first car and after the corner, the first car reaches first the acceleration point and pulls away before the second one reaches the same acceleration point. Now in regards to bumping the car in front this would not happen if the speeds and braking points are perfectly equal and if they are not directly behind one another. But since the second car comes directly behind the front one, it is actually drafting and so has just a bit more speed because of the less drag, less aero force and also because of less aero, has less braking grip since it can't generate the same aero downforce behind another car, so you see that everything is NOT equal so if the second car brakes at the same marker it will 100% of the time hit the first car. That is why you sometimes see the second car pull out, on a parallel braking line from the leading car, to get some downforce pushing on the car so it can stop better...they don't always do this "to have a look down the inside" to make a passing move, like the commentators always say...although if the opportunity arises the second car can indeed make the occasional pass that way too...but most of the times is to be able to brake better and not hit the other guy and also maintain or possibly reduce the time gap to the first car. :)

[@LJSR07]

Explained very well ty aris

[@stenovitz]

OK this is another topic, but thought I was good, entering 1:44 laptimes at modern Kyalami in the Lamborghini Huracán. And I do well in online racing (the few I drive). Now you do full instructions at 1:44 laptimes and seems calm about it. I feel like being booted back to basics now :-D

[@FITZROYTH]

Good lesson well explained..!

[@rgatto]

fantastic explanation.. thanks.

[@tahirballikaya213]

This was very helpful. Grazie mille

[@thomassanchez3202]

Very helpful Aris, I have been doing it wrong!!!

[@RSProduxx]

very interesting... thanks :)

[@seebarry4068]

Good job buddy, thanks.

[@jamesdowling8246]

thank you so much

[@AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH]

Your accent makes these videos that much more interesting xD

[@narancs5]

As a basic principle you should add a carlength and a bit to your reference point and that should be the latest point you brake when following a car closely. If you do that then you will brake at the same time as him and you will be doing the same speed during the slowdown so the distance between you will stay roughly the same. Braking earlier and modulating will give you the room to correct for variance: e.g. your opponent braking a bit sooner than your reference etc.

[@OtoWinkler]

Excellent video Aris. It would be nice to have some advanced setup guide with MoTec... Like practical advantages of dampers in different conditions. I watched your all videos about dampers and also Nils but still would be nice to know the fine wisdom behind decisions to set them up a certain way.

[@johnwebb9035]

Many thanks for this video. I love sim racing but find that people running into the back of me is really spoiling almost every race. The other method is if you are following close behind someone don't follow directly behind them.The next problem is that some treat sim racing like a playstation game and won't take the time to watch this.

[@bigskill80]

Problem is ACC is a console game now XD

[@SWFlowseeker]

Very nice. Ty

[@djuro14]

Time to stop screaming at the car in front. 😆 Nice videos.Thanks!

[@DimitrisDr3am]

I figured this out after one online race lol.. well not the math behind it, but that I needed to lift and coast.. I think it isnt obvios because you (or I) naturally think "I am .2 behind the car in front (meaning the REAR of the car) we will never connect". but you are actually .2 behind where the car is exactly at.. obvious when you think about it... but I bet im not the only one.

[@freekshow]

preach!

[@olliemunchies5012]

This is such good information for people who dont understand braking early. Can this get pinned into the game? Or show it to people before they do thier first online race haha. Thank you, Im going to put this into practice

[@eSKAone-]

Can't wait for the DLC. Love the game on PS4 Pro (Thrustmaster T300RS + Wheel Stand Pro V2).

[@Sauron.1]

People need to understand in race conditions you carry more fuel = more weight, more speed because of Slipstream AND less downforce because of slipstream. that all results in longer braking distance. But people also need to understand that you still can turn your front wheels when you realize you misbrake and are about to bump the car in front. you still can dodge with ABS. no need to aim and kill.

[@rupeshsivakumar1748]

🙏thanks

[@ArisDrives]

You’re welcome 😊

[@giannisweightlifting3996]

Great stuff!! How much sooner ( in distance) based on calculations and maths? I guess we need to know our deceleration during braking to calculate this.

[@ArianrhodTalon]

So to summarize: Slow in, fast out. When following, even slower in, create distance, start accelerating earlier and hopefully you can close the gap to the leading car just as they are accelerating out to catch the slipstream.

[@pimsmise]

Hi Aris, thanks for this hugely informative video. I have a follow up question : how much is the following car affected by the Aero wash from the leading car with GT3s ?

[@dungbeetlemovies]

Great video, Aris. Required viewing before anyone attempts to race into Turn 1 at Monza! :D

[@trinitrotoluene8665]

Watching this video should be mandatory before people can play ACC online haha.

[@rikyoh130]

I usually hit people at the end of the breaking zone cause they just go so slow on accelerator! It's really hard to stay close but no hit when they are slower than you I see you that at the end you have explained my problem of following too close, but why in that case they wait so much to accelerate? They are in front of me so they should go flatout before me

[@seanb.5899]

Precisely, that is hard to do, which is why you will see drivers who are defending against an overtake "park" their car on the apex by slowing down more than usual. The slower you are going, the bigger the time gap that is obtained by your car length.

[@GameplaysClassicos]

explaining the mind of the punterinos boyz lol

[@ArisDrives]

LOL!

[@hsn1473]

i wish acc drivers learn this before t1 at monza

[@javier1998]

Please a mode with 60fps and a lower res and details for Xbox One x and ps4 pro. I prefer 60fps 1080 than 30fps 4k...

[@robbo5932]

Aris can you post some console footage of ACC that we have not seen . Most of the vids I've seen look good Thanks

[@horacioflores1786]

5:39 this is what I heard every race when I am behind a car and the breaking point is getting closer, Aris telling me I am gonna hit him

[@ViktorJaneba]

Make a short clip of that and play it over and over again on those big screens around tracks during start routine.

[@geanito]

Wish I could add subtitles to this video in different languages.

[@church493]

Aris: please make something alike as in-game tutorial vid required to be watched before joining first multiplayer race in ACC. Like track-knowledge stars, this is must before people should be allowed racing others :/. Lot of people don't know this. Lot of newbies on starting public low SA servers seen blaming people "unexpectedly braking too early" when they rear end car followed.

[@ozanbaskan]

this should be a mandatory training before going on Multiplayer mode.

[@tauttechminusmanagedmusic3778]

Daniel Ricciado needs to watch this video.

[@theTutenstien]

I mean as long as you dont crash to the guy in front or cut the corner and gain an advantage it doenst matter how you brake

[@brunozanchi8568]

Ciao vorrei prendere un PC per iniziare a guidare a assetto corsa competizione con vr. Che hardware ritieni necessario? Grazie mille

[@Poodz_]

And now when you are braking earlier, you only need to worry about being rear ended by the guy following you in the train 😂. I think for every other car in the train ahead of you you need to brake even earlier.

[@ArisDrives]

You can tap the brake pedal much sooner to "scare" your opponents and make them start braking... then proceed to brake properly. And remember, if you're early, you can always modulate your braking to avoid fast approaching cars from behind.

[@reynaldiwidjaja277]

My problem when following other cars is always looking at the front car not the tracks lol

[@darkblueturbo]

Something low like 92. Hahaha. I can barely keep up with 87!!

[@danut05]

People should be required to watch all your explanatory videos before they can buy ACC

[@atrain132]

1:18 😂😂🤣🤣

[@way5063]

Oops! I thought the car in front of me always brake harder & earlier but turns out I'm the problem... 😶

[@captainslav6528]

This is why I don't use braking markers.

[@michelbenchaya8420]

Yes mmmmm but if you brake sooner the guy behind hit you

[@TrainingMacro]

TIL: 250km/h best speed.

[@pizzipaul1]

I'm new to sim racing...this is an incredibly useful video! The last thing I want is to rear-end cars ..thank you

[@lomba4438]

Stupid question: Do you live stream on YT or Twitch?

[@ArisDrives]

I live stream on YT, usually on Friday late night after 22:00 CEST

[@lomba4438]

@@ArisDrives Now I understand why I never find you during your live streams :) Edit: too late for my timezone

[@ArisDrives]

ah sorry about that m8. You can always catch them afterwards, but live is another thing I agree.

I don't understand, where's the part where you say don't break if you are behind someone in a corner? Xd

Joking, good lesson!

[@markinhusgti7805]

Likes obvius but a lot of guys do not this early brakes and couses a lot of accidents!

[@rotcivhp]

It seems obvious, after the explanation