Mission 34 - Mercedes Mclaren SLR at Nurburgring

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danielwhite74
Bar the two minute wait, I genuinely don't understand why this mission has become so infamous. It may just be my driving style that's at fault here, but there are far harder missions than this. I still can't get my hands on that Pagani Zonda Race Car for missions 21-24, yet I completed Mission 34 with relative ease. ;)
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That would be because you are on the PAL version, which gives you a -twelve- second advantage.

I suggest you go at it again mate, and try beating this mission with a 12s margin, and I think you will begin to understand our NTSC pettiness.
 
Rocker
That would be because you are on the PAL version, which gives you a -twelve- second advantage.

I suggest you go at it again mate, and try beating this mission with a 12s margin, and I think you will begin to understand our NTSC pettiness.
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21-24 were relatively easy for me. My NTSC #34 was the toughest by far for me.
 
I beat this mission 3 years ago when I went for 100%. I decided to give it another go today and to my surprise, I beat it twice more. NTSC version.

My tips, most of which have already been posted in this thread. This was my mindset that helped me beat this mission three times.

1) Obviously, you need to know Nurburgring and it's proper lines like the back of your hand. If you're still playing the game today, chances are you have this covered. If not, go practice and watch the Hans Stuck video some more.

2) Practice maybe once or twice by yourself in practice mode to get a general feel for the SLR, and then move on to the real deal. The mission car just handles way too differently than the stock one, and you will develop wrong habits if you continue practicing by yourself.

3) Do not wait out the full 126 seconds. You will start thinking too much, get pissed, or get cold. I walked away from the TV until I heard the last car leave, meaning I usually sat down with only around 20 seconds left.

4) When in doubt, take it easy around the corners that will end your whole run if you mess up (Flugplatz and Mutkurve). This is a tough mission, but you don't have to be so perfect that you should absolutely risk everything around these 120 mph curves if you are unsure.

5) Somebody posted it in one of the first pages, "slow in fast out." Really words to live by with this car.

6) When you finally see those opponent cars for the first time, stay calm and keep to your line. I tried to ignore them completely until it was passing time, otherwise I wold push too hard and get off my line.

7) Stay calm, keep it smooth. Really, you don't need to be GT stuntman to pass this. You just need to know the course well and stick to your line in a very tough car to maintain. Keep it smooth, see how close you get to winning, and ramp up the quickness from there. The first time I beat it today, I was just seeing how close I could get to the main car, and to my surprise I overtook him across the finish line. Putting too much pressure on yourself is not a good thing.

8) Youtube videos helped me when I wasn't exactly sure how to approach certain turns, or how much I needed to brake.

9) STAY CALM! It's really the most important part. Thinking negatively or putting too much pressure will send you off your line in no time. You will get it if you follow these steps, no reason to give yourself an ultimatum.
 
Kweiss has a great list of tips there. All you guys trying to finish before Nov. 2 check it out.

I kept a guitar beside my seat, and simply rehearsed some music for 2 minutes between starts. I think that is the only way I could have done it. Finally finished +.764 and polished up some rather difficult riffs as well!
 
Rocker
Kweiss has a great list of tips there. All you guys trying to finish before Nov. 2 check it out.

I kept a guitar beside my seat, and simply rehearsed some music for 2 minutes between starts. I think that is the only way I could have done it. Finally finished +.764 and polished up some rather difficult riffs as well!
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👍👍:)
 
I'm no stranger to the 'Ring, since i can remember the corners in order (left,right,right,left,left,right,left,right and so on) for around 1/3 of the track (nearly 5 miles). So this was the first thing to try out when i got my AI license. I've done it with about 3 seconds to spare. For a bookmark, the 300SL will do the ring at about 9'06.000, so you have to do 7'06.000 (on free run) in your McMerc.

Tips:

Take the inside line for corners in which you have to brake

Other corners have another corner in which you have to brake, for example, the first right corner you don't have to brake, but you have to on the following right, so take the safest outside line on the first right.

Find the earliest, safest A-pex (the point in which you fully acellerate out of a corner)

And remember to do 50mph on the Karussel (the corner which is part concrete, part tarmac)
 
I keep getting snubbed on this one. I can do the first split perfectly 9 times out of 10, but once I get out of split 2 (~-1:43+ back) I can't do the next split to gain more than 8 seconds. I get to under 1 min after the Karoussel, but the next set of corners I can't do better than high 2nd gear or else I go dirt/grass excursion. I can't do the 2nd concrete slab well either. The first time I completed this I got within 25 seconds (horrible). The second time -16 seconds back

I'm gaining but I can't close further.
 
God, i remember when i first got Gran Turismo 4, it took me literally 3 months and 2 broken/twisted PS controllers to beat it, even then I won by 3 tenths of a second.

After winning i felt like on top of the world. Till one day i was playing when i should have been doing my homework, (a while back by the way :dopey: ) anyways, my mom decides to check on me while i was playing to make sure i was doing my homework

Now someone smart would turn off the tv, jump on their bed and pretend to do homework, but NO, stupid me went and pulled the plug from the back while it was saving. needless to say, the save became corrupt.

AND NO!, i am not going to retry it! :crazy:
 
Blitz24
I keep getting snubbed on this one. I can do the first split perfectly 9 times out of 10, but once I get out of split 2 (~-1:43+ back) I can't do the next split to gain more than 8 seconds. I get to under 1 min after the Karoussel, but the next set of corners I can't do better than high 2nd gear or else I go dirt/grass excursion. I can't do the 2nd concrete slab well either. The first time I completed this I got within 25 seconds (horrible). The second time -16 seconds back

I'm gaining but I can't close further.
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You just have to put the time in. It can be done.

Mortal men.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMT205-8wqo

The top tier guys...... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bcH9k-9X3I
 
Well, here I am again! I finished this mission a while back, but my GT4 game save is gone...........

To pass the time before Nov. 2nd, GT4 is back in! Finished all golds on the licenses in 2 nights, and hoping to get this mission done soon too.
 
In my quest of 100% finish and 100.000 points, i needed to do this mission, i am about 20 secs behind on the first 2 attempts and i just realised auto transmission is very wrong, i need to switch to manual, which is hard cause i finished the whole game in auto. Luckily enough i drive manual in real life... i hope i can make it in 2-3 days.
 
ClassicMini
In my quest of 100% finish and 100.000 points, i needed to do this mission, i am about 20 secs behind on the first 2 attempts and i just realised auto transmission is very wrong, i need to switch to manual, which is hard cause i finished the whole game in auto. Luckily enough i drive manual in real life... i hope i can make it in 2-3 days.
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Be patient, brake early, coast into the corners, and full throttle just before the exit. 👍
 
ClassicMini
In my quest of 100% finish and 100.000 points, i needed to do this mission, i am about 20 secs behind on the first 2 attempts and i just realised auto transmission is very wrong, i need to switch to manual, which is hard cause i finished the whole game in auto. Luckily enough i drive manual in real life... i hope i can make it in 2-3 days.
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It can be done in AT. But it is definitely harder. Just do the arcade practice and the mission and nothing else for as long as it takes. Took me a week of nothing and I mean nothing else but me and the ring. You will learn to to love the course if not the car. And don't stop after a screwup. Do the whole race. You'll need the practice on the back end. 👍
 
Thanks people for the support, after about 10-20 rounds i found out that gearing up in 6000 rpm is the best point (max torque is in 3250-5000 rpm, max bhp is at 6000). I focus either on shifting or keeping the racing line, i need to do both right. I'm only 15 secs away... I hate how this car loses traction if it touches the grass... and i would love the track if it looked like a track. But this is a great experience, i thank pd for making the Mission 34.

It's very hard to learn the track cause its so big, i cannot do 10 rounds straigth, the exact opposite of tsukuba, tsukuba is one of the hardest, most technical tracks and shaving off a second there is very very hard, but i can do 30 rounds straight.

Ps. I'm sure it can be done in auto, but same driving line in manual would shave off at least 5-10 seconds. I really need these seconds...
I think i'll use bmw's guide to the ring...
 
ClassicMini
Thanks people for the support, after about 10-20 rounds i found out that gearing up in 6000 rpm is the best point (max torque is in 3250-5000 rpm, max bhp is at 6000). I focus either on shifting or keeping the racing line, i need to do both right. I'm only 15 secs away... I hate how this car loses traction if it touches the grass... and i would love the track if it looked like a track. But this is a great experience, i thank pd for making the Mission 34.

It's very hard to learn the track cause its so big, i cannot do 10 rounds straigth, the exact opposite of tsukuba, tsukuba is one of the hardest, most technical tracks and shaving off a second there is very very hard, but i can do 30 rounds straight.

Ps. I'm sure it can be done in auto, but same driving line in manual would shave off at least 5-10 seconds. I really need these seconds...
I think i'll use bmw's guide to the ring...
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I drive using manual, but for this mission, opted for auto. Helps me to keep focus to keep the car on track and not overcook the lap.
 
I changed back to AT again, Last try was 7.300 secs away. I was wrong about when gears should be changed, 2nd to 3rd auto works perfect, 3rd to 4th which is not so often should be changed at 6.500 rpm and auto is at 7.000 rpm, not much loss of time. You don't need to switch to 5th gear which will never happen in auto.

I start to understand to car, it's driving character is like unique, i worked my times on other tracks to get used to it and i have to get gold again at I-A 15 to find the correct racing line. I practise with aids at 001 but the mission car feels just a bit different. It's a matter of time to make it.
 
ClassicMini
I changed back to AT again, Last try was 7.300 secs away. I was wrong about when gears should be changed, 2nd to 3rd auto works perfect, 3rd to 4th which is not so often should be changed at 6.500 rpm and auto is at 7.000 rpm, not much loss of time. You don't need to switch to 5th gear which will never happen in auto.

I start to understand to car, it's driving character is like unique, i worked my times on other tracks to get used to it and i have to get gold again at I-A 15 to find the correct racing line. I practise with aids at 001 but the mission car feels just a bit different. It's a matter of time to make it.
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What controller are you using? If it's the standard, hold down one the one of the buttons, R1 I think, to ensure the car stays in a particular gear while in AT mode.
 
R2 is the button, this is for not letting change the gear towards up, what is needed in slr is to change from third to forth gear before it hit the rev limiter (where AT changes gear).
I just reached 100000 A-Spec Points, so i'll get some rest, and try again after a few days.
 
ClassicMini
*snip*...I changed back to AT again, Last try was 7.300 secs away.....
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You're getting close!

I think its a good idea to stick with auto if you've been driving this way for 99% of the game up to this point. You need to focus on the track and getting a feel for the car, and not be worrying about shifting at the exact correct rpm for every turn.

I completely agree with what oldmodelt just said above.👍 Just keep at it, and run the race to the end to get enough practice on the back half of the track.

When I first passed this Mission, I too was trying to learn manual shifting, but found it too distracting to my driving, so I switched back to auto and finally completed the Mission. I found that I spent too much time watching the tach and not enough time watching the track in front of the car. After you complete this mission, you can then switch over to manual and enjoy its benefits. I have now been using manual shifting for an entire year, and would no longer consider driving this Mission using auto, but I no longer have to think about shifting, so its no longer a distraction to my driving (though, in most races, I still blow a shift point or two or three).

Good luck!
GTsail
 
Thanks I'm getting close, finished second about 3.5 sec behind... i need to recheck my racing line, I still make some mistakes, if the car loses it's balance, everything is lost, but i've started to have a feeling of the car...

1 race, 1 mission and 10 gold licenses and everything is done in this game!

Edit: lost today for 1.600 sec + I had an accidentof oversteering, i guess it took me 2 sec behind...
Nurburgring and SLR is a bad combination...
 
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Yeah I know oldmodelt- took me a long long time the first time I played the game. Now that I'm better and a little more understanding of what the car does and how it reacts makes me a better driver for it. Keeping at it, because it can be done. 👍

4th try in a row now, I think I'm close, doing the technical part after Karussel, needed a breather because I"m tense, passed the SL65 right before one of my lawnmower points. I feel bad for doing it but I'm here to win this time, not play games.

EDIT: Okay, maybe 11th try- got it. Beat the 300SL by .462, almost perfect race. Practice is good people.

And guess who's got a shiny new R89C in their driveway....:D
 
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Tried this one exactly once, and realised I needed far more skill, even after years of playing the game quite successfully in other areas...the missions don't even interest me anymore. The reason being that in a video game, a "challenge" has to be actually achieveable by the average person, not a person who's spent every waking hour for weeks playing the game, otherwise it becomes frustrating and, frankly, boring.

The comments about "Learn the track" might work for lesser tracks, but having been around the Ring a couple of times in the passenger seat of a mates Mercedes (nothing exciting, just an old 380SL with good suspension and tyres), and being a racer myself, I can tell you that once you start to think you might recognise a couple of corners, it can jump up and bite you, and you say "where the hell did that corner come from???". In the pits you talk to guys who run there almost every day and after years they still sa the haven't "learnt" it, it's just too long.

The comments about the Merc in the game are spot on too...in real life all the road reviews say the same thing...too much power for the tyres, enabling you to be beaten by much slower cars.

I'd like to see this mission done with a sporty Merc or Audi with about 200 less horsepower...👍
 

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