PlayStation Racing News'

Page

THE RALLIES

NEW ZEALAND - Rolling pastoral landscapes, on often wet and muddy gravel roads, with a good mix of twisting sections and fast flowing stages. Care in the wet conditions leads to fast times.

 

GREECE - Dusty country roads past greek ruins, and groves of olive trees, while traversing up hill and down dale; the Acropolis Rally has it all - from twisty mountain sections to a tricky special stage.


MONTE CARLO - Snow and ice, winding roads through picturesque alpine towns, sweeping curves and lonely mountain monasteries beside frightening hairpin turns typifies the Monte Carlo Rally. Stages range from slow to terrifyingly fast.


AUSTRALIA - Red dirt roads amid the eucalypt and pine forests of Western Australia. Fast stages beside huge water pipelines and railway tracks, and a special stage on the outskirts of Perth itself.


SWEDEN - Snow, ice, more snow... funny place names and winter scenery. If you can master this you can handle anything. No wonder so many Scandanavians take up rally driving and are good at it?


CORSICA - Tight narrow winding mountain roads, with only a stone wall stopping you from falling to your death on the rocks below. Smooth car control is essential for fast times in this tough Rally.


INDONESIA - Race through tropical rainforests, along beaches past fishing villages and beside exotic temples in sometimes wet and always challenging conditions on an interesting mix of stages.


UNITED KINGDOM - The RAC Rally traverses road, gravel, and muddy tracks, and features a mix of tough stages, including a very demanding special stage that's like a Scalectrix set but without the slot in the middle of the track.

 

THE CARS


4WD : Ford Escort, Toyota Corolla, Subaru Imprezza, Mitsubishi Lancer EV4


2WD : Renault Megane, Seat Ibiza, Skoda Felicia, VW Golf GTi
2WD cars are available in NOVICE mode and again later in EXPERT mode. They are useful for learning car handling and the layout of the stages, being far more docile than the 4WD cars. Best is probably the Renault Megane, followed by the Skoda. Don't laugh. These cars should NOT be overlooked... they are great fun to drive and you can keep the power on almost all the time and throw them around, perfecting slide cornering and so on. Everyone should run a few rallies or even a championship in NOVICE mode, it's a blast.

The Special Cars
Awarded for winning the super special stages. They can't be driven in rallies until EXPERT mode is reached, but can run time trials.
Driving The Special Cars

FORD Escort MK II - (Greece SS) - 160 hp, rear wheel drive. Slow as a rainy weekend in Boise, Idaho. Sort of fun to drive but NOT meant to be taken seriously. It can be driven without using the brakes - as it don't go fast enough to need them.
LANCIA Delta Integrale - (Australia SS) - 420 hp, 4 wheel drive. One of the greatest rally cars of all time. Enormous power to weight can make for skittish handling. Fast and responsive once used to its quriks. My personal favourite.
FORD RS2000 - (Corsica SS) - 560 hp, 4 wheel drive. Holy cats, who let this loose on an unsuspecting populace? Enormously powerful but directionally challenged. The high horsepower can get the unwary into trouble. It can also get you out of trouble - sometimes.
AUDI Quattro - (UK SS) - 560 hp, 4 wheel drive. Fast, resposive, agile - the last word in super rally cars. The huge amount of power takes some getting used to, as rallies are not drag races, but once mastered nothing can catch this beast.

DRIVING TIPS - GOING FASTER IN CMR
So, you want to go faster? COLIN McRAE RALLY rewards good car control and driving finesse. There are a few things to bear in mind to bring stage times down. Such as:
1) STAY ON THE TRACK. That's where the traction is. Shortcuts don't work and can crash the car. If you find the car getting "away from you" get OFF the throttle and correct. If that doesn't help get on the brakes and/or slide the car to scrub off speed. Get back on the track and the power as soon as possible. The car accelerates better while straight but brakes better while turning.
2) LISTEN TO THE NAVIGATOR. Colin McRae's real life navigator Nicky Grist calls the upcoming track conditions. Pay attention, concentrate and LISTEN to the man! Relying on visual clues alone from the upcoming track won't work. You will often need to have the car slowed and ready for track conditions that you can't yet see. Listen closely to what your navigator is saying, and remember it! Even if it takes a gimmick like repeating it out loud. You MUST concentrate at all times to be fast.
3) CAR CONTROL: The game rewards good car control. Rally drivers do it in the dirt - also mud, gravel, sealed roads, snow, ice... you MUST learn to drive on a vatiety of roads and in different weather conditions as well as mastering skills like sliding sideways through turns, and handbrake turns. Each car handles differently so pick one you like and get to know it. Then get out there and hammer the bastards. Slide that car to lose speed rather than braking and use the throttle to get the car back in line by lifting off thus letting the wheels grip better.
4) ATTACK! ATTACK! ATTACK! Rally driving is aggression tempered by skill. You must ALWAYS be fast - there is NO TIME to slack off. You have to be as fast as possible through all turns even grade 5, SQUARE and HAIRPIN turns. You will have to learn to slow the car JUST ENOUGH to get around the corner and stay on the track - any more wastes precious time. FAST, FAST, FASTER is the name of the game. Stay on the throttle as much as possible. Shaving tenths or even hundreds of a second is the goal.
5) PRACTICE MAKES PROFESSIONALS: The skills needed to master Colin McRae Rally must be learned and that takes patience and practice. Stages will have to be learned as well, as knowing the track leads to faster times. USE THE NOVICE SETTING and the 2WD cars to hone your skills in rally and championship mode and apply what you learn to the more powerful 4WD cars. If you work at it you will soon master the skills needed to be fast and fortunately, practicing is FUN!
6) JUDGING YOUR PROGRESS - The Stage Sector Bar : On the right side of the screen is a vertical bar divided into sections. A red dot travels upwards along the bar to show your progress. Each section of the bar is a timing section within the stage. A quick glance shows how far into the stage you are, and whether you are making time or losing time. This is shown by the color of the section completed; green if faster, red if slower. Thus you can see at a glance how well you are doing - or not doing, as the case may be - over the course of the stage.
7) PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER - What does it take to go fast and win ? It's a combination of control, speed, skill, raw nerve and some luck. If you run smooth clean stages you will also run slow stages - just as if you drive recklessly and crash all the time. Fast times come from mastering speed and car control... while trying to be smooth and fluid you must also always attack the course, which sounds like a contradiction, but finding that balance is the key, so keep practicing, and have fun in the process.

Got a fast time? Well, don't send it to me! Instead, send it to Simon Kelly's Colin McRae Rally Webpage
[ CLICK HERE TO GO THERE ]

Driving in Time Trial mode - one stage at a time - is one thing, but driving a Rally or Championship is another.
Click Here To Go To The RALLY & CHAMPIONSHIP Hints & Set-up Page

 CLICK HERE FOR THE RALLY BY RALLY SETUP GUIDE

Comments and so on can be emailed to bford@f1.net.au