I'm going off what Alex has told us. Obviously there should be no advantage to using the assist or everyone would. Interesting about the GT3 with it off though. Technically they should be better when using the ABS. I assume your brake test was a straight line, perhaps when turning in to a corner trail braking the wheels are more likely to lock and then ABS becomes favourable.
Re point one. I wonder if the ballast is the reason for the longer braking distances rather than the assist itself. Heavier car. Worse braking. Would make sense.
Yes, factory ABS works independently at each wheel whereas the none-factory ABS aid works on all four wheels simultaneously. For example if were to loose grip while braking the right-front with the basic ABS system activated, the braking force will be reduced on all four wheels equally. Regarding braking distances, the main purpose of ABS is to enable braking while turning. So straight line testing is not a particularly useful benchmark.
@Alex Hodgkinson Thank you, that explains a lot! Is it possible that you adjust In-game ABS to account for TCR cars? On RWD, In-game ABS affects the pace as expected, it reduces the braking efficiency, but on TCR it more like kills the efficiency. I need to brake so much earlier that in a multiplayer scenario I'm afraid it can look like a legit brake checking and probably makes it a safety issue. The pace also suffers so hard that 10kg ballast becomes basically insignificant.
Hmm, I hope so. I was quite a lot slower without ABS but thought I'm simply not good enough for that. Even with adjusted fuel, no-ABS braking was more efficient. Plus, the difference is way more significant than what can be expected from +10kg. For example, a braking that takes 180-200m (it was in an old car) without ABS, takes like 30m more with ABS. For more experienced drivers I expect the difference to be even bigger.
I'm not following you. The brakes are very hard to lock up on the TCR cars. Most cars in fact. I assumed it was only keyboard/pad users that needed the assist.
But they do lock up sometimes. And for me it's often when I really don't want that to happen, for example if I was a bit late on the brakes. With ABS the car goes deeper into the corner but also rotates further. Without ABS, if it locks up, the car goes even deeper into the corner and sometimes also straightens itself, so consequences of a mistake are greater. I'm not a big fan of fiddling with the pedals so I want my braking as reliable as possible. I need more practice, sure, but for now it's like that. Also, wouldn't keyboard and gamepad players appreciate decent working brakes too?
I think the best test is comparing full lap times with ABS, factory ABS (if available) and none to judge which is most efficient. It´s also important to set the same brake pressure and bias for fairness. It would also be important to assess tyre wear over a stint as one of the main benefits of ABS is to prevent flat spots. As a keyboard player, I don´t mind cars with no ABS so long as I can reduce brake pressure to compensate and shift brake bias to the rear. The cars with worst locking issues for me are the FRJ, NSU and Volvo 240.The Group C´s are also tricky. TCRs with 88-90% brake pressure and balance a couple of clicks to the rear are fine for me.
Well then you have to accept the penalty in performance. There's nothing wrong with the brakes. You just have to learn how to modulate them.
Hmm, I thought I was clear... The fact that there is a penalty, in braking efficiency and in ballast, - absolutely fine by me. But in a TCR, on top of the previous two, you also get: 1) Braking efficiency drops even more than for example in Gr4 - I'm not sure it's fine. 2) Braking distance becomes so much longer you need to basically brake check the guys behind you otherwise you won't make the corner - not sure it's fine either. From my understanding, the In-game ABS logic doesn't work all that well with TCR cars because their rear tyres are supposed to lock easily and when it happens the in-game ABS also reduces the brake pressure on the front tyres, which makes braking efficiency much worse compared to RWD non-ABS cars. Whether it's "wrong" or not is for Alex to decide, I just wanted to bring this to his attention. Maybe it's not the effect he wants. Especially when it can have a negative impact on other players as well, not only the one who's driving the car.