Mission 14 - Seattle Superbird

[superberkut]

If it's any consolation it just took me close to two hours to do Mission 14 again, even though I'd done this one a couple times before. For me this is the second hardest mission, after Mission 34. The mistake I kept making was trying to accelerate too soon coming out of a corner (plus getting tangled up with the GTO a couple times).

But I just nailed Mission 18, Sarthe in the R92CP, on my second try.

You might be disappointed with the Jay Leno Tank Car btw. Gobs of horsepower but, well, "tank" describes the weight as well as the engine. Its handling makes the Superbird feel pretty nimble.

Really? It was always figured (to me, anyways) that the Tank Car was more agile than the Superbird, the car that assists in obtaining it. Good call on the weight and engine, though... (it was used from a military Sherman tank)

Still, there are restraints placed even on GT Auto with this one, so all it does is pretty much sit around and look cool... This is the real disappointment.

 

[OppositeOfYou]

Or then just drive cleanly and fast and pass him in the beginning of the first lap. And then build a lead of some six seconds on the last lap. These missions are 100% skill, if you need other tricks then you don't have the skill needed, bluntly put but true.

Yeah, I believe I passed the lead car at the beginning of the last lap. When people say "Drive it as cleanly as possible" that's not true. The video I watched (Start of the thread) I remember him crashed about two or three times doing some wide corners. I know I crashed probably just as much because of the wide steering.

I would recommend anyone that's having trouble, to watch the video in the second post, to learn where to brake, etc.

 

[MustangSVTCobra]

Made it!!! Prolly my 20something attempt, and only by 0.144. Brake (little)late and hard after straights, try not to shift down to 2nd and master that *&^&%$# chicane at the end. Oh yeah...and coast through corners.

 

[jazonia]

After numerous attempts,
I finally managed to get it done last night.

Quite a difficult one I'd have to say,
I hate muscle cars because they don't handle,
I hate muscle cars because they have only got 4 gears and pretending to be quick.
The brake sucks (lousy is not enough as a matter of degree in describing the brake).

I was lucky enough, finished the whole thing at 6:03 while only had a margin of 0.420 sec, but that's fair enough because I didn't quite get the sense of the car except that I learnt to brake hard and the use the kerbs.

Anyway, still have 4 missions to go...13, 18, 29, 34

 

[Draconiator]

I've taken a break from winning normal races and have decided to take on Missions 11-20. This one is pretty hard, but I think I can pass it with SOME patience...I don't like the car though; it feels like...well I guess I shouldn't say that here, heh.

P.S. Is it just me, or does the 5th place car sound like a vacuum cleaner?

 

[PARAGON GT]

The only thing that was difficult about this mission was overcoming the traction control.

That really crippled the Superbird.

 

[Sureboss]

After starting Gt4 again and preparing for the Ocho I came across this again. It's quite a tricky car, need to be super smooth through the corners, gain a tonne on braking though, especially vs the Buick (leading car). Overtook him on 1st corner of last lap. Not a hard one, but can take a bit of getting used to.

 

[EA11R]

I'm amazed at how politely, but accurately, the guide in the game described the car: "delayed reactions." Yup. I found that it's best to, when turning in, to be gentler than usual: A full turn in, but immediately back off the steering. This will put the car at a good angle of oversteer, enough to help the behemoth through the corners, not enough to activate TCS.

 

[superberkut]

Yes, I liked that about the mission compared to the 34th Mission: "Your SLR McLaren, fitted with sports tires, will feel like a fish out of water as you race around the Nurburgring circuit."

Someone remarked: "More like an oil tanker on river rapids."

The Superbird, I found, needed the traction controls to put its power on the road, but not to steer.

 

[EA11R]

Yes, I liked that about the mission compared to the 34th Mission: "Your SLR McLaren, fitted with sports tires, will feel like a fish out of water as you race around the Nurburgring circuit."

Someone remarked: "More like an oil tanker on river rapids."

I still don't know what that was about... That SLR feels fine to me, it's just the other cars that are too fast. But I guess I shouldn't get too off-topic, so I'll refrain.

 

[superberkut]

hornet_burnout said it. It was post #783 in the Mission 34 thread, quoting Formula1Driver.

Back on topic now...

 

[nissan tuner]

i like this mission alot. the car's naturaly bad preformance is a great challenge and the driving aids dosent turn the car into dokie

 

[wfooshee]

As quoted in post #2, I have a video I made by stacking several replays in my editor and switching between them to simulate multi-camera coverage of a live event. I finally found the video amongst my tapes and uploaded it. Hope you enjoy.

 

[Duke]

i like this mission alot. the car's naturaly bad preformance is a great challenge and the driving aids dosent turn the car into dokie

Actually (and yes I realize this post is months old) you've got it 100% backwards - the car's naturally stunning performance is turned into dokie by the driving aids.

 

[Popeye]

Jeez, this thing handles like a supertanker in treacle. Just spent 4 hours, and still, 11 seconds off. I know I am not the best in the world, but I have looked at the video's and read what you guys have written and still I don't get it. Apart from turning before you normally would, and breaking earlier, whatelse am I missing please?

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Jeez, this thing handles like a supertanker in treacle. Just spent 4 hours, and still, 11 seconds off. I know I am not the best in the world, but I have looked at the video's and read what you guys have written and still I don't get it. Apart from turning before you normally would, and breaking earlier, whatelse am I missing please?

That's pretty much it, popeye. Lots of braking in a straight line, turn in carefully, and hammer the throttle as you leave the corner.

The Superbird is on crappy N2 tires i think, and really does handle like a rowboat. You can't brake & turn at all...get most of your braking done before you get to the turns.

nce you get the hang of it, this test isn't actually that hard. The leading Buick Special takes turns worse than you do...it just has alot of straight-speed. But that's the key...pass all the other cars early, and then you'll have a lap or 2 to deal with the Buick, which drives badly. So you have a chance to catch up to it and pass.

 

[PARAGON GT]

The Driving aids really cripple this car in this test. What you will need to do is practice your line around the track.

Brake early, make your turn and about 3/4 of the way through the turn start accelerating.

 

[Popeye]

Well, I suppose then the best is to go and put down some laps with the Superbird in Arcade mode. Luckily I have it from b specing so thas ok. What settings would you advice? TC on but at what number. Any idea's as to what you would use to replicate this for the mission? Thanks for your help.

 

[PARAGON GT]

You B-speced that series to win that car? That series is a blast to drive.

I would try with the standard settings. (10,10,5) and see how that feels compaired to the test car.

Then I would run the first race in the muscle car series with it. I believe it is the same course, and you will make some money while learning the car and the course.

 

[Popeye]

I b specced it because I was working nights and having to hold down another job. But now I am doing everything a spec, because the enjoyment that I got from finishing mission 11 was great. And being autistic I am obsessive. So now I am obsessive about getting the missions, gold licenses and a points. However, I dont think I picked a good one to get stuck into.
Thanks Paragon for your suggestion. I'll give i a go.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Yeah, we already had this talk before! It sounds like half your problem is you don't know the courses as well as you should--B-speccing will do that. And the other half is each car in each mission is just f:censored:d up to drive! Which means exactly what you said: you may have to drive the Superbird around in arcade with traction controls on (probably just TCS set on default) and bad tires.

 

[Popeye]

Yeah I know Parnelli. I am autistic. Somethings go in and some don#t. Please just accept my apology#s. I#ll only ask if I get really stuck. Thanks all for your patience. And I know that hashes are appearing. I have a swedish keyboard. I am pressing the right key but for some reason it translates on screen as #.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Yeah I know Parnelli. I am autistic. Somethings go in and some don#t. Please just accept my apology#s. I#ll only ask if I get really stuck. Thanks all for your patience. And I know that hashes are appearing. I have a swedish keyboard. I am pressing the right key but for some reason it translates on screen as #.

NO problem, man. You aren't trying my patience at all. So dont worry about it. I'm not autistic, but i am a drug addict....recovering of course. Gt (and a few cool people in my life) help me stay out of trouble. 👍

I'm always here to try and answer questions, tho.

Actually now that i think of it, i'm not sure that the Superbird is on "bad" tires...i think it might just be on S2's, but with TCS on "5"(or whatever default is). Which is why it drives so bad.

 

[Austin343]

No, you're right, it's on N2s. And I'm pretty sure there's a fair bit of TCS but no ASM.

If you don't overdrive the car, but of course don't take it too easy, you can catch the Buick easily by the end. (Fortunately, the AI Buick only thinks it needs to take corners that slowly; it actually handles much better than the Superbird if you drive it yourself.) Oh, don't use first or second gear, and shift earlier than you think to 4th. This wasn't terribly difficult to win OLR-cleanly, either, as all the AI cars drive very slowly. My problem was more with keeping it out of the walls on my own.

Sorry, I basically just repeated all of what you've probably already read. Practice, but try not to get stuck in a rut by doing it too much at once. That always bites me. 👍

 

[PARAGON GT]

From what I remember, the ASM is on in this mission. I seem to recall the car becoming very sluggish in the corners if you came in to fast. More so than one with the aids totally off.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

No, you're right, it's on N2s. And I'm pretty sure there's a fair bit of TCS but no ASM.

Yeah, i was forgetting what tires are on there. You're right.

Oh, don't use first or second gear, and shift earlier than you think to 4th. QUOTE]


GOOD POINT! I forgot about this one.

 

[Popeye]

Thanks guys. I'm afraid I am going to annoy 'cause I use auto. I've been using Parnelli's guide on his site to gold some of the licenses. Thanks Parnelli.
So I think that all I can do is lap after lap after lap in Arcade and see how I get on. Suppose I ought to look at lapping at 2:00:00 per lap constantly.
I'll set it up as you suggest, maybe I'll give it a go on manual, but I have to say I am a lot more comfortable with auto.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Thanks guys. I'm afraid I am going to annoy 'cause I use auto. I've been using Parnelli's guide on his site to gold some of the licenses. Thanks Parnelli.
So I think that all I can do is lap after lap after lap in Arcade and see how I get on. Suppose I ought to look at lapping at 2:00:00 per lap constantly.
I'll set it up as you suggest, maybe I'll give it a go on manual, but I have to say I am a lot more comfortable with auto.

Manual will help immensely once you get the hang of it, since you can control how much speed you carry in and out of corners better without the car shifting gears unneccesarily; although i think learning to use manual while you're attempting the missions might lead to lots of frustration. You're gonna need to study and understand engine power-bands and when it is best to shift gears, because it varies from car to car. You can get the best speed from certain areas of your engine's revs, and that's the main benefit of manual gearboxes, but it's not something you'll learn overnight.

It might be better if you take a month or so (i'm being serious) and just do some races & practices while getting used to the manual system. That way you start to learn and even enjoy how manuals work, while you get better at shifting them. As you know, the missions can be frustrating enough, even for pros. Whatever tho, it's your game.

 

[Popeye]

Yeah, it is my game. But I don't come on here, ask for advice and ignore it. I will try it. I will take a month or so, in fact I may take 6 months. Got a wait for GT5 anyway. What else am I going to do? Work all the time? Nah. Gonna enjoy this for all its worth. Again, I thank you all for your patience and understanding. Especially you Parnelli. Thanks man.

 

[Parnelli Bone]

Yeah, it is my game. But I don't come on here, ask for advice and ignore it. I will try it. I will take a month or so, in fact I may take 6 months. Got a wait for GT5 anyway. What else am I going to do? Work all the time? Nah. Gonna enjoy this for all its worth. Again, I thank you all for your patience and understanding. Especially you Parnelli. Thanks man.

Cool. 👍 You're welcome.

There was a thread a few weeks ago where we were talking about manual transmissions and how you can learn to get the most out of your engine's power by choosing when (and when not) to shift gears. That's a good place to start learning.

At first, the safest thing to do is to just shift right near the redline..just like an automatic gearbox does in GT. But after awhile, you'll notice each car has a different power-band, and once you learn how torque & power build in a car, you can then start to vary your shifting points.

Some cars like to be shifted way into the redline area, because that's where peak HP lies. With some others, you can shift 500 or 1000 (or more) RPMs before the redline.

...you'll see what i mean...