Advice to anyone else playing "Dirt: Rally"

"aquila121" (aquila121) 05/01/2015 at 17:27 • Filed to: None

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For the love of God, don’t buy the Lancia Stratos as your first car in the 1970’s events. It is pretty— impossible to drive . I was lured in by the looks, the crazy power-to-weight ratio, and the torque-y (compared to the 131 and mk II Escort) V6 powerplant. It won a number of championships in its time. The ultra-short wheelbase makes it agile. This is all true.

The problem is, it behaves like any other car with the engine behind you and no four-wheel-drive: it hates throttle lift mid-corner. It will actively try to kill you. This game makes a Classic Mini feel twitchy on straightaways if you’re not a bit careful with steering (and yes, I use an xbox controller), but the Stratos is exponentially worse. I thought I could adapt, learn to anticipate the swing—I was wrong. This car shakes its ass more than Miley Cyrus in that infamous twerking video. The surface doesn’t matter: tarmac, gravel, snow, grassland—now that you’re miles off-track—it snaps in transitions. No tweaking of the settings tamed this goblin of sabotage the Italians used to trick me. And since you’re hanging the tail out and praying that you can make it through that right-5-tightens-to-4-to-left-6, you smack the back bumper on cliff faces, rocks, ditches, anything, and suddenly you’re upside-down in the trees.

I suffered through two full championships in the Stratos, then said “screw it,” and tried the 131 Abarth. I’ve pulled my stress level down from my plane is going down and I’m going to die levels, and I started remembering how to put together some good stages. Learn from my mistake; just enjoy the look of it.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 17:30

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I’m still trying to master the Mini. This game is properly tough.

Lekker > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 17:34

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SO TRUE

I tried it with my G27 and it took the entirety of 2 minutes before I left the event and continued career mode with my easier to driver 131.

aquila121 > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/01/2015 at 17:38

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Left-foot braking can help to keep it stable in some of the high-speed sections. Also, I’ve been running a slightly lower/stiffer suspension overall, and as long as I stay on the trail, it’s helped (I think). But no matter what, all things come with practice, right?

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/01/2015 at 18:16

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For the mini, I moved the brake bias two to the rear. Keep your foot on the gas and rotate the car with the brake. Only lift on shifting or hairpins

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 18:19

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Keep a little (10%) brake on to stabilize the car. Also for fast turns, a quick lift will get the car to turn well. Don’t forget to late apex!

KirkyV > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 18:23

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I went Escort for the ‘70s stuff. It’s fairly forgiving, as RWD rally cars go, but this does still happen:

I wish I knew more about tuning. I can just about muddle my way through setting up a car in Forza - adjusting camber, roll bar stiffness and suspension dampening,mainly - but I’m intimidated every time I so much as look at DiRT’s setup screen.

aquila121 > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 05/01/2015 at 18:27

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Sorry, pass—it’s just not something with which I can drive well. I’m impressed that you can make it work, though.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 18:30

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Kind of. I can usually get through stages without crashing, but my time is usually around 3rd or 4th

aquila121 > KirkyV 05/01/2015 at 18:31

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I know what you mean. Everything I think I know about setting up a fast car for tarmac/road course duty says “stiffer and lower means less weight transfer—that’s better,” yet the descriptions in Dirt: Rally sum up as, “Go as soft as you can without losing control.” Loose surfaces must have a whole different set of rules for making the car behave the way you want.

aquila121 > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 05/01/2015 at 18:35

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That’s where I was, too, and I was a nervous wreck the whole time just to keep the shiny side up. In other cars, I feel like I have a better chance of being near the pace, and I’m not fearing narrow sections nearly as much. The Lancia does own wide, open hairpin exits, though—I just need plenty of room to ride out all that rotation.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 18:43

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I need more seat time for sure. I don’t know much about setup on pavement, even less on dirt. I think that’s the key to getting it to work well

66671 - 200 [METRIC] my dash > aquila121 05/01/2015 at 19:34

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You are doing a good job of getting me to want to get this game and drive it lol.

And golly that pic is awesome.

Burrito de EJ25 > aquila121 05/02/2015 at 16:37

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Yeah, I went with the Ford. I use throttle lift to rotate that little Ford frequently.

Burrito de EJ25 > aquila121 05/02/2015 at 16:40

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It’s definitely different from everything I’ve learned with Forza and Assetto Corsa. Driving and tuning.

Frosted > aquila121 04/10/2016 at 10:29

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How do you get good in general? I have a RallyX Mini that I can’t finish better than last each race, but nets good enough times to get into the semi-finals. I’m using a Ford RS200 rally car that I am having a VERY hard time getting a podium in any stage, I’m running 5th in my current championship. Got 2nd in my first championship with a Lacia Fulvia though. I guess I got so comfortable with how forgiving the last Dirt game was that Dirt Rally is gonna take a while to get accustomed to.

aquila121 > Frosted 04/10/2016 at 11:01

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No idea. I’m horribly inconsistent, and it seems the more power and agility gets thrown into the mix with the more modern cars, that trait in my driving is magnified. I sympathize, because I picked up and felt comfortable with Dirt 2 and 3 fairly quickly. This just tells me that Rally is much more demanding and realistic, and I have no business in a rally car pretty much ever.