Tips and Tricks for Forza Motorsport Beginners

Though Forza Motorsport isn't a racing sim, it isn't far from the concept. The game is what the community calls a simcade: something in between the arcade style of Forza Horizon and the complexity and precision of Assetto Corsa. The dedication to realism comes with its difficulty, and players coming into the sim-racing environment for the first time may be surprised by the steep learning curve of the game. To get you caught up to speed, I've prepared a list of tips and tricks that will help you win your next race.

Beginner tips & tricks for Forza Motorsport

To get better at Forza Motorsport, you need to understand some basics of the physics and behaviors of the car, learn to recognize the different types of understeer and oversteer, and know how to control them.

Assists

While driving with assists can be helpful at first, you'll need to turn these off in order to drive faster. You don't have to turn off all the assists at once (a mistake I made when I first started) because that can mean a few days of nightmarish driving until you get the hang of the car. Instead, try to turn off one at a time, until eventually you can get rid of all of them.

• Gearbox: the automatic gearbox will never be as fast and precise as your manual or sequential shifting. Be prepared to drive manual rather sooner than later.
• Racing Line: the suggested racing line has been telling me to brake on corners where it wasn't necessary. It can be a good idea to use the assist to learn the track the first time, but after one or two laps I turn it off and begin to look for visual cues at the sides of the track that I can use to mark my braking points.
• Throttle assists: to be fast, you need to be in control of your vehicle. This assist takes control away from your inputs, so you should turn it off as soon as possible.
• Brake assists: you can run this one off or you can leave ABS on since this can prevent you from locking your brakes under heavy braking.
• Steering: you should turn off all assists for steering to have better control over your vehicle, but if you are driving on a gamepad I would put it on "normal" instead of "simulation". The short travel distance of the controller sticks and the lack of feedback make it hard to catch a sudden snap of oversteer or to counter-steer when someone runs into the back of your car.

Related: How to customize your car in Forza Motorsport

Braking points

Instead of waiting for the suggested line to turn red, pick references on the sides of the track that will tell you when it's time to hit the brakes. To do this, pick a signpost, a pole, a patch of pavement by the side of the track, or another object that won't move and try braking when your car gets to that exact point. If you made the corner alright, try braking a little bit later on the next lap and figure out how late you can brake before you go off the track. By learning the corners and how early or late you need to brake for each one, you will have a better understanding of the track and create overtaking opportunities. Thankfully, there are only 20 tracks in Forza Motorsport, and you can study them all in a few days.

Slow in, fast out

Braking early to go faster might seem counter-intuitive, but many beginners lose a lot of time during their laps because they don't brake early enough. Try the approach "slow in, fast out," which means slowing the car enough so you can turn earlier than others and begin accelerating earlier too. This will make you reach your top speed sooner, and it's particularly effective when the corner is followed by a long straight.

Use the entire track

The optimal racing line starts by opening up (placing your car on the opposite side to where you are going to turn), cutting towards the apex (the point at which you are closest to the inside of the corner), and accelerating as your car gets close to the outside of the track. The wider you can get before a corner and the closer to the outer edge you get after it, the more speed you will be able to carry. If you leave too much tarmac on the outer side of your car, or if you miss the apex, there is likely more speed to extract from that turn.

Related: Differences between Forza Horizon and Forza Motorsport

Levels of fuel

Check the length of the races and make sure that you are not over fuelled before you start a race. I've seen this common mistake in multiplayer lobbies; it's an eight-lap race and many drivers have loaded fuel for 32. This is because the game sets that automatically for you and does it wrong, a quirk that may eventually be patched out.

Take care of your tires

Drifting may look cool, but it won't be good for your tires. If you're oversteering too much in or out of corners, try changing your setup or be more gentle with the pedals. Tires get worn out, especially from lateral loads, such as when you accelerate while turning at high speeds; the centrifugal forces and the weight of the car put a lot of stress on the rubber and make it lose grip. It's fine to push hard for qualifying, but if you have a long race ahead of you, you might want to take care of your tires. If they're screeching as you turn, back off the gas to reduce the load they receive.

Car setups

Learning how to tune your car can make your vehicle easier to drive and faster. When you're racing in categories that restrict your car's Performance Index, or you're competing in a lobby where every driver has the same car, learning how to extract the most potential from your vehicle can give you the upper hand.

For more on Forza Motorsport, check out the Photo mode guide for Forza Motorsport here on Pro Game Guides.