FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
PBB - PilsBierBude

This FAQ has been made out of several articles and will be enhanced as time goes by. It is supposed to be a compendium of the most often asked questions, and their answers, causing trouble for beginners. Beginner-questions and their answers can be discussed here.

Please discuss any kind of problems in here, too.


Common questions:

Q: Do I need a steering wheel or is having a gamepad enough?
A: It depends on your personal requirements. You can keep the car on track with a gamepad and some training. But the feedback of Logitech G25 (one of the best steering wheels) users is: "never anything different again". No gamepad can offer such an accurate feedback like a steering-wheel does.
A: If you came here in order to drive as realistically as possible, to feel the pedal under your feet, catch the wheel and the gearshift and notice every single bump on the track you’ll prefer a wheel.

Q: Which car and track is the best to start with?
A: A slower car that is also easy to handle.

Start with:
Lotus Elise (200 hp)
BMW E90
BMW M3 (M3-Challenge)
Alfa Romeo 75 Turbo (front drive)

some little faster ones:
BMW M3 GTR
Gillet Vertigo Streiff
Lotus Exige Cup (325PS)

Here it gets challenging:
Aston Martin DBR9
Lamborghini Murcielago
Lotus Exige Cup 24H (500 PS)
Ford GT
Chevrolet Corvette C6-R

It also depends on your own taste. Be careful with any kind of Porsche. They can be real beasts, demanding a lot of driving skills and knowing how to set it up.
The best tracks to start with, besides ones you are already familiar with, are tracks with enough room to spin out like the modern F1-Gp-tracks. Avoid driving on street circuits because even small mistakes can cause you to end up in the wall.
A: Visit our driving-school "Drivers little helper", Monday 8.00 pm European time (2pm EST) on server 5. Everybody is welcome. You need:
- GTR2,
- Updater,
- TeamSpeak,
- XD-Tool
More information also on the main page

Q: What do the single classes mean and how can I find the right car for myself?
A:
HPC - High Performance Class. - Cars with too much power
GT1 - Cars with very much power
GT2 - Cars with much power
GT3 - Cars with enough power
NG1 - Cars with pretty much power
NG2 - Slower cars
NG3 - Cars with less power
I´d recommend you to take the NG classes until you can control them

Q: I would like to drive in simulation mode to be able to race online with you later. Is that fine or would I be better off in beginners mode because it´s easier to learn?
A: First of all, you should know, the only way to join the servers is running in the simulation mode. Otherwise you won´t see the servers in the lobby.
A: If you start in the easy mode you cannot learn the track properly because the support systems(antilock brakes, traction control) will do the main work. If you change into simulation mode later then you need to relearn most of the moves.
A: The best way to learn a track is from slow to fast and not the other way around. (Not like Hamilton). Always drive complete laps, 3 to 5 in a row. Stay concentrated all the time and watch what your car does. It also is useful to start with a slower car in order to get a better feeling for the car and the track.

Q: I am running in beginners mode. I´d like to change into simulations mode but I don´t know how.
A: Go to profile, choose your profile. Then go to realism. At the very top of the page, next to Difficulty, you can see two arrows. Click the right one until simulation mode appears.

Q: I do not see my front tires when driving open wheelers (F3000, F1´88, F1´97 and Champcar mod)
A: Start the Autoupdater, go on tweaks, choose your profile-name and click in 'PLR settings/Graphic Options/wheels visible in cockpit'
A: If you do not use the Autoupdater open \GTR2\UserData\ProfilName\profilname.plr with the editor(notepad or wordpad).
Change:

Wheels Visible In Cockpit="0"
Replace "0" with "1":
Wheels Visible In Cockpit="1"

Q: In GTL I can always see my own fastest time in the Cockpit (HUD). In GTR2 I only can see the very best time (fastest driver). My own time only is shown when passing start/finish. Can I adjust it to like it is in GTL?
A: In the game from the Main Menu click Options, Advanced, Split Time (upper right side of screen).

Q: I have just downloaded all files with the Autoupdater. Now my GTR2 doesn´t start anymore.
A: Your game-folder has increased to about 15 GB because of the over 383 tracks and 2934 Cars, starting the game will take much more time now. It can take up to 3 to 4 minutes if you have just started the computer. Any further start won´t take that long.

Q: How to turn on the mirrors? Are there any mirrors available when driving on the hood?
A: Go to options/game. There you will find it. You can change between real and virtual. If you choose real the inside and outside mirrors will be used as much as it is programmed to the car. Taking the virtual one will pop up a window on top of your screen with the back view.
The virtual mirror also can be used in non-cockpit perspectives.
A: You can also change some notifications: (Numbers next to ^)
1: Mirrors on / off
2: Change virtual HUD
3: Motec on / off (Motec behind the Steering wheel in cockpit)
With the TAB-key you can turn on / off the driver names above the cars.

Q: How do I see how many FPS (frames per second) the game is running in?
A: Ctrl + F will show the current FPS on the top right.

Q: What is the XD-tool?
A:The XD-tool is a program that shows real time information about the car for the virtual display.
It shows engine temperatures, tire pressure, fuel consumption, tire wear, engine health, etc. while driving. It also allows you to adjust tire pressure and fuel for the next pit stop during race.
It can be found here!

Q: Where do I have to put the XD-tool file?
A: Download the xd-tool file and copy the d3d9.dll into your GTR2 folder. Then update your directX. Click this link.
This is IMPORTANT. Without updating, your game may not start anymore.
A: In Order to turn on or go next in the XD-tool push the ^-button (below the ESC button). That may be a problem because during racing and fighting it sometimes will happen that you hit the ESC button by mistake. Then you will find yourself back in the pits. To avoid this problem, change “^” to another key.



Useful Links:

How to
Tips and tricks
Our rules

Here it goes to the other parts of the beginners FAQ:
Server connection problems
The Pilsbierbuden Autoupdater
GTR2 installation questions

Is there any question missed?
Ask the question in the thread below and after it has been answered it will be added to the FAQ

Info: This thread needs to be tidied up sometimes. Some contributions have to be deleted in order to keep the focus on the FAQ


Thank goes to
Winglet137 for founding the German beginners FAQ
and
Craig86 for improving my translation