Gaining Traction

By Danny Chihdo

You know that commercial on TV—I think it's about tires or car insurance or maybe fried pizza; I can't remember which—where they make a big deal about how there are only four small points of contact between your car and the road, and those points are called "tires"? The developers at Microsoft Game Studios know this better than most, as they literally spent months researching, testing, and formulating the way tires and road interact for the punishingly realistic racing simulator Forza Motorsport™. But it's also clear they know that traction is about more than just your tires, and many other factors affect your car's contact with the road in this stunning sim.

Losing traction gets you no kudos here!

Get a Grip
Driving in Forza Motorsport is unlike most racers that Xbox® gamers are used to, which have often leaned heavily on the arcade side at the expense of realism. But with the help of customizable difficulty levels, fine-tuning capabilities, and careful management of your vehicle's other systems, you too can learn how to handle the hardcore traction physics.

The TCS System: This is a simple on/off switch on the career difficulty settings. By leaving it on, there's no penalty to your winnings, and the Traction Control System compensates for skids and slides, to a point. You think it's tough staying out of the skid with it turned on, just try it turned off (which grants you +10% to earnings and rewards).
Tires: You can purchase tire upgrades that provide better grip, and you can also enter the garage and adjust the tire pressure depending on the surface and the track. Less pressure means more grip, but could cost you speed. More pressure means the car responds more quickly, but also more easily slips out of control.
Suspension: A better suspension means your car is better balanced for making the turns. An upgraded suspension gives you the chance to tweak and test to ensure the best traction performance.
Brakes and Braking: Upgraded brake systems can keep you from losing traction by letting you slow down more smoothly. You can also toggle the anti-lock brake system (ABS) in the career difficulty menu; with it off you must be very steady on the trigger to avoid over-braking and sliding off the road.
Transmission, Clutch, and Flywheel: Transmission system upgrades affect traction to a certain extent, and the choice between an automatic transmission (where one slows almost entirely through braking—and possibly over-braking) and manual (where one can use gear compression to aid the brakes and avoid skidding) is more important. But c'mon, what kind of self-respecting car geek would drive an automatic?
Weight: Like JB, you too should think about "losin' some of the weight." This is car physics so simple even Britney Spears could understand it—the heavier you are, the more pressure you're putting on the tires on the turn. A lighter car corners better and is less likely to lose it on a corner. Why? Because the weight is moving in one direction (sideways) while the wheels are spinning the tires and trying to maintain traction in a perpendicular direction.
Differential: This used to be one of those words my mechanic would say that made me zone out with incomprehension, but now I get it (thanks, Forza!): The differential has a huge affect on your traction by letting wheels rotate at slightly different rates when you turn, which makes one or the other tire less likely to lose grip.

Donuts are fun, but not recommended for winning.

Keep It Steady
So you know how traction affects the car, but what about your driving? That's a pretty significant factor as well. Keep the following in mind:

It's a gas pedal, not a right trigger. Once you lose traction, whether you're spinning out or peeling out at the line, it's not easy to get it back. The trick is not to lose it in the first place. If you're used to arcade racers, you might be tempted to just slam on the gas at the starting line and at all other times when you see straight, open road ahead. In Forza, this is foolish. Use the trigger as you use a real car's gas pedal, pulling steadily to accelerate and avoid burning rubber.
It's a brake pedal, not a left trigger. Similarly, braking is critically important to successfully keeping contact with the road. Panic braking has exactly the effect it would have if you did it in real life—a long, slow, sad slide off the road and into a wall. You must begin to apply the brakes (and begin to downshift) well before the turn arrives; if you're braking on the turn you're braking too late. Accelerate your way out, nice and easy.
Use the suggested line, but learn to lose it. The suggested line—those green arrows that turn yellow or red depending on the tightness of the turn—is an incredibly helpful learning tool, but if you want to truly test your skills (and be able to show off the most online, of course) you must give it up once you find yourself easily predicting where and when the yellow/red arrows are coming in. Use the track map to anticipate the turns, and your own eyes and judgment to time when you brake, shift, or accelerate.

Now that you know how traction and driving affect your race, get out there and practice what you've learned.