This is great advice.  Allow me to take this simple concept and pound
it into the ground.  I have GTA Vice City, PC version (keyboard).  If
you aren't having any problems with The Driver then you can ignore the
following.  I had to play this over and over and really sharpen up my
game.

There are two general strategies for cornering.  

The first is the wide arc line (You in the Sentinel).  You fit the
biggest possible circular arc into the corner and maintain a constant
speed from corner start to corner exit.  This works well with vehicles
that accelerate poorly.  The bigger the circle the higher the speed.
Keep your speed through corners as high as possible.

The second is the squaring off the corner line (Hillary in the Sabre
Turbo).  You brake from the corner entrance until the middle of the
curve (apex).  You are turning tighter as you go.   You accelerate
from the middle of the curve to the corner exit.  You may be turning
wider as you go.  The better a car accelerates, the better this works.
It can be faster than the wide arc line.

In all cases you accelerate down the straight as hard as possible and
then when you get to the braking marker, you brake as hard as possible
in a straight line.  In both cases you start the turn at the correct
position with the correct speed.  The speed and position are different
for both lines.

So say you are in the Sentinel at the beginning of a straight.  You
accelerate at maximum until you come to the braking marker (you have
to visualize this yourself).  You brake at maximum in a straight line.
Your corner entry position should be at the very outside of the turn.
You turn at a constant speed (off the brakes at the end of the
straight and then holding down the accelerator through the turn will
probably be OK for most turns.  If you don't, you slow down too
quickly.  On a keyboard there is no easy proportional control  Some
turns you can coast most of the way through.)  At the middle of the
turn you will be at the very inside.  At the corner exit you will be
at the very outside.  Remember the bigger the circle the more speed
you can keep.  At corner exit stop turning and accelerate.

As an aside, the Sentinel handles like a Rear Wheel Drive (RWD) car.
It can get into power on oversteer.  This is where the powered rear
tires slide while the unpowered front tires grip.  This points you
more to the inside of the turn, turning tighter.  The closer you are
to the edge of traction the easier this happens.  If you are on the
edge of traction all the time, it can be common.  This is cool as you
can accelerate to turn tighter.  Great for minor corrections.  You
don't have to brake to turn tighter.  In the end accelerating is more
likely to get you there faster than braking.  Braking is absolutely
essential at times.  Being able to turn tighter (rear wheels sliding)
or wider (rear wheels not sliding, car is accelerating) with the
throttle is cool.  By all means incorporate power on oversteer into
your cornering plan if you can.

There are many opportunities to take a shorter path by going across
side walks and lawns.  Learn to squeeze past light poles and telephone
poles at top speed.  You can go straight down the center line and pass
between traffic in your lane and the oncoming lane.  Use both sides of
the road.  Use the oncoming lane sidewalk on the inside of the
telephone poles.  Look for the shortest path.

Of course, with all the bumping and traffic blocking you have to drive
however needed to get around obstacles.  Handbrakes turns are great if
you are forced to the inside of a turn and have to turn sharply.  (The
Angel and Freeway motorcycles just don't turn fast without the
handbrake.)  Sometimes you need to block the inside line of a turn to
keep the Police off you.  Driving technique all becomes instinct after
a while.  Nobody intentionally thinks about it unless they are in a
learning mode.  You are generally not even aware of it.

The Sentinel, with lower acceleration, can take the Sabre Turbo with
higher acceleration, in a fair race.  Hillary is a bit sloppy and does
occasionally wander off the road.

Cheers,
Roadie Roger

What sort of a name is 'Hillary' for a man, anyway???

If he dies, the mission fails. Once I shot out his tires early, was
halfway through the course way ahead of him, and I got a "Mission
Failed" message because he died. Must have crashed into too many
things. <g>

A more feasible idea would be to wait for him and just shoot out his
tires. You should be able to back track and still pass him.

Still, I wonder what would happen if you blocked him in and then
hijacked his car?

Mike Tennent
"IronPenguin"

One may as well begin with sleepyz's letter to alt.games.grand-theft-auto:
//

It took my about 24 attempts on my first go round last year.  Mind
numbing stuff.  Then I did the game again and did it first time.  I was
so surprised I had another go and did it again.  Once you start
anticipating where the police are gonna come from and how to do those
handbrake turns properly every time, it's dead easy.

And that paragraph will frustrate newcomers to The Driver mission, more
than the mission itself.  ;)

Even with fast reload I can do that. Any other tips?

Flash