Apologies for the extreme length and density of these notes on my attempts to 200 A-Spec the Polyphony Digital Cup. For those interested only in the 'meat' of where I got my best points then try searching the post for Element and/or 200 A-Spec. That should jump you to appropriate regions of the text
. The rest of the epistle details a fairly extensive liturgy of what
didn't work
.
EXTREME HALL
Polyphony Digital Cup
Entry Requirements:
All Cars Permitted
Normal or Sports Tyres
Special Required
Prize Money: 20,000cr/race, 200,000cr/series
Prize Car: Opera Performance S2000 '04 (Value 31,874cr)
Code:
Start Type Circuit Laps
Rolling Twin Ring Motegi Road Course 6
Rolling Seattle Reverse 7
Rolling Infineon Stock Car Course 8
Grid R246 Reverse 5
Grid Fuji Speedway 2005 6
Rolling Motorland Reverse 19
Rolling Circuit de la Sarthe I 2
Grid El Capitan Reverse 6
Grid Suzuka 5
Rolling Nurburgring 2
My first run at this was in a fairly highly tuned TVR Cerbera Speed Six. The A-Spec values were accordingly low as I massively outgunned the opposition (which was NISMO Fairlady Z S-Tune Concept, Peugeot 206, Honda Jazz 1.4 dsi se sp, Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due, Mazda RX-7 GT Limited.
The series is obviously intended for very ‘weak’ (non-GT) cars in the main. I shall play for a while, running cars I actually want to drive and see what grids come out.
First a Jaguar XKR running 348HP (Black Oil) with all the suspension and transmission upgrades (except Roll Cage).
Twin Ring Motegi
Grid: Honda CR-X SiR ’90, Lotus Esprit V8 ’02, Mazda MX-5 ’89, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03, Mini One ’02
Poled with 2’15.024 (up 5.5 seconds). The XKR suffers from braking understeer in that it feels like the fronts are locking up into turns. A-Spec 4. BL 2’11.273. Obviously the Esprit was the ‘Rabbit’ of the AI but I still had a huge MOV. The CR-X came third and MX-5 fourth. Lapped the 106 and the Mini.
Try a second-hand, black-oil, MX-5 1800RS ’00, tricked out with suspension and drive-train upgrades. The first grid was:
Ford GT ’05, Subaru Imprezza Sti Prodrive Style ’01, Honda Integra Type R (DC5) ’03, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85, Peugeot 206cc ’01
I expect that it’ll come as no surprise if I let slip that I qualified third and didn’t bother to race. The MX-5 handles lovely tho’.
Try another grid. Again got an uber-rabbit in the form of the Mercedes SL55 AMG (R230). The rest of the grid was Subaru Impreza Sti Prodrive Style ’01, Honda S2000 ’01, Toyota Supra SZ-R ’97, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03. I handled those easily enough but the Merc poled by 13 seconds over me.
Grid shuffle time … poled by 0.399 with 2’27.107 vs grid of:
Honda S2000 ’01, Toyota Supra SZ-R ’97, Peugeot 206cc ’01, Mazda MX-5 ’89, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03
Try the race and see how I fare. A-Spec = 85 which is disappointing. The S2000 rabbited away to a 30 second victory. Not much point in continuing really but I’ll try the next race to see if I can block him out.
Seattle Reverse
Poled up 3.7 seconds after some terrible driving with 2’01.795. BL 1’58.6 MOV 5 seconds with only one block required on Lap 1.
Grid shuffle to see if I get any insights into higher A-Spec ratings and identifying rabbits. NISMO Fairlady Z S-tune Concept by GT is a rabbit but the RX-7 GT-Limited and Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due are added to the list of beatable cars.
Twin Ring Motegi
Poled up 8.5 seconds with 2’26.081 vs grid of:
Audi S3 ’02, Honda Integra Type R (DC5) ’03, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85, Honda CR-X SiR ’90 and Peugeot 206cc ’01.
A-Spec = 107 on S2’s with zero ballast. BL 2’25’422 MOV Huge. Finishing order was as per qualifying order (given above).
Seattle Reverse
Carrying 200KG ballast, poled by 8 seconds with 2’02.458. A-Spec = 133. BL 2’01.009 MOV more than thirty seconds.
Infineon Stock Car Course
Try downgrading to N3 tyres and see what happens. Poled by 1.3 seconds with 1’38.030. Could be tight this one! A-Spec = 159. Very tight win of 0.2 seconds after holding the lead reasonably comfortably all the way. BL 1.35.4. That was less fun than I would like tho’ as I was always looking for a line to block the AI rather than one which was faster for me.
R246 Reverse
Tried to qualify with the above hardware set-up and came in 5th by 3 seconds. Tried with S1’s and was still 1.5 seconds off pole. Fitted the Custom Gearbox (AutoSet 6) and took pole by 0.1 seconds with 2’13.432. Try the race with AutoSet 5. 142 A-Spec. BL2’11.418 MOV 0.088! The AI has such a speed advantage down the back straight that I have a lead of two seconds at the last corner and they’re bashing my rear bumper by the SF line! Oddly, the past two races have seen the Integra making the running and then the S3 takes it’s place at the end and the Integra drops back to 4th.
Fuji 2005
Given the high speed nature of this course, I may have trouble with the AI. Running S1’s and 200KG Ballast I qualified second with 2’18.328 (down 1.018 seconds). Try S2’s. Poled by 0.673 with 2’16.639 (the Integra is second on the grid). 133 A-Spec. BL 2’12.631 MOV 4.125 seconds. Had an Integra use me as a brake into Turn 1 on laps 2 and 3 but other than that managed to gradually build a lead. Couldn’t have done it on S1’s tho’ I don’t think, not without a lot of blocking.
Motorland Reverse
Qualified on S2’s with 200kg Ballast and AutoSet at 4. Poled up 1.5 seconds with 50.797. Tempted to try S1’s and see where it gets me. A-Spec = 142. BL 49.283 MOV Huge. The S3 was really challenging me up until he pitted on lap 9ish. I suspect it was an accidental pit but it put him way back and he never recovered. The Integra couldn’t match me here and I just kept going away from him.
Circuit de la Sarthe
The straight-line power nature of this track means I can’t hope for decent A-Spec I reckon. Try to qualify on S1’s with 200kg Ballast. Run 5’28.063 and end up second to the Integra on the grid by over 9 seconds. Try running on S2’s and hope for the best (it just takes TOO long to qualify here). 133 A-Spec but didn’t get it. BL 5’24.4 and second place by a long way (about 24 seconds behind the Integra). La Sarthe and the A-Spec system just do not mix. Move on.
El Capitan Reverse
Thoroughly disgruntled with the series, qualify on S2’s and 200kg Ballast. Poled up 7 seconds with 2’15.677 (not so good now are you Mr. Integra?!). Drop back to S1’s. A-Spec = 142. BL 1’13.088 MOV Huge.
Suzuka
Running S1’s and 200kg Ballast, poled by 4 seconds with 2’44.615. A-Spec = 142. BL 2’40.146 MOV 5 seconds. Easy really other than lap 1 when I had to fend off less than tender affections from both the S3 and Integra who thought that ramming was an acceptable form of braking.
Nurburgring
Shall attempt this without qualifying first, just to see if I can. S1’s and 200kg Ballast … nope, disaster trying to get past the back markers ended up with me in the sand. Reset and accept that I’ll have to qualify. Use S2’s and 200kg ballast for qualifying run. Poled with 8’56.066 (up 5.398 seconds). Tempted to use S1’s for the race. 142 A-Spec. 8’54.993 MOV about 0.4 seconds. Not as bad as it sounds tho’ as I had the edge at all times and was only forced to defend my line in a couple of places.
The Integra proved to be a hidden rabbit after the first race and was always the major oppostion.
Try the series again in a Toyota MR2 1600 G-Limited SC ’86 with all the non-HP bells and whistles (including a roll cage).
Twin Ring Motegi
Got the same grid as before on second attempt:
Audi S3 ’02, Honda Integra Type R (DC5) ’03, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85, Honda CR-X SiR ’90 and Peugeot 206cc ’01.
Poled by 1.360 with 2’33.171, carrying 81KG ballast on S2’s. The MR2 is obviously much slower than the MX-5 but it is only 128HP with black oil. This could be a blocking fight but there’s only one way to find out. It was actually a good race with my maintaining a lead of between 0.8 and 2.5 seconds all the way without blocking. BL 2’28.002, A-Spec 134. I’d spannered an oversteering set-up onto the MR2 and once I learned to use that oversteer then she wasn’t all that much slower than the MX-5 here.
Seattle Reverse
Try to qualify with N3 tyres and 200KG Ballast. Poled by 2.256 seconds with 2’06.665. She’s a bit squirmy down the hill on cold tyres but other than that she’s fine. 173 A-Spec … or would’ve been except that the Integra got by me and I couldn’t catch him. Try again, this time with a –10 Weight Distribution change. Poled up 4.798 seconds with 2’05.600. 173 A-Spec gained with BL 2’04.565, MOV 1.411 seconds over the S3 (nearly five seconds up on the Integra). Don’t think that the –10 Wt Dist helped really; it did reduced the hairyness down the hill but interfered with the nice oversteer drift in others (here of course I mean proper ‘racing’ drift rather than the silly flash kind).
Infineon Stock Car Course
Oddly, despite the grid being the same, I had to run much faster to take pole – 1’37.052 (up only 0.2 seconds). I was running N3’s and 200KG ballast and had tweaked the rear dampers to iron out some of the lift-off oversteer. 173 A-Spec but the Integra kept ramming me into Turn 1 every lap until he managed to spin me out on lap 8 …grr! Luckily, I’ve gotten into the habit of saving every race now so I can go again but it’s still infuriating. On retry, adjust rear springs up to 14.4 from 8.4 to see if a 40/60 layout works. Seemed to aid the handling a lot but caused the brakes to lock easier (or work better, not sure which yet). Poled with 1’37.735, up 1.561 (which goes to show it’s always worth reloading if you’re having trouble as the AI seems to have a random factor built in). Again couldn’t hold off the Integra, despite running 1’35’s. Switch off the PS2 in disgust. Try again the next day. Poled with 1’37.381 (up 1.911 seconds). BL 1’35.079 MOV 0.3 seconds over the S3 (the Integra made all the running but disappeared on the last lap).
The brakes are not right on the car, that’s for sure and I think that altho’ the handling feels much better with those hard rear springs, they may be too hard. Work on the brakes and suspension a bit.
Tokyo R246 Reverse
Running N3’s and 200KG ballast got me second place on the grid, behind the Integra with 2’15.364 (down nearly a second). Swap to S1 tyres and try a radical revision of the springs to 5/10 from 9.4/14.4. Poled with 2’13.842 by .006 seconds
! It’s about the pace from the last run tho’, so it may be okay. I think the springs are a bit off at 5/10 however; change them to 8/12. A-Spec = 157 but couldn’t hold off the Audi which bashed me out of the way and sped off on lap 5. There seemed to be a problem at some points of the track where the MR2 just wouldn’t accelerate. Lengthen the AutoSet to 4 and stiffen the damper bound to 6/6. Poled with 2’12.224 (up 1.528). .069 MOV and a very stressful race involving constant blocking. The lengthened gearbox was a mistake as I never bettered my pole time (too busy fighting off the AI). Not fun, especially not for only 157 A-Spec.
Fuji confirmed that the Integra is just too fast for the little MR2 on S1 tyres; I couldn’t hold him as he was ramming and nudging me at every opportunity (that’s despite polling with 2’16.909 (up nearly 2 seconds)). I’ve had enough of this now – abandon the series as it’s fairly fruitless struggling this much for non-200 A-Spec.
Shift tack and try a more powerful and heavier car, the BMW 120i first, maybe the 120d if it doesn’t work out.
The car is upgraded in all the handling and transmission ways, with an array of tyres available. Qualified on pole with a 2’30 by a couple of seconds but I think that the suspension is going to need a bit of work as she turns in too sharply and then understeers on the way out of corners. A-Spec 133 with S1 tyres and 200KG Ballast got BL 2’30.357 MOV 0.690 seconds. So the A-Spec points are about the same as the MR2 but the performance is less –shrugs, Nippon bias strikes again perhaps (or maybe it’s because I didn’t use the Custom Gearbox and ran with the standard one instead)?
See what the Diesel version gets me. The first grid contained an Sti Prodrive Impreza, so despite a qualifying run of 2’28.9 (running S1’s and no Ballast) I couldn’t get pole:
Subaru Impreza Sti Prodrive Style ’01, Audi S3 ’02, Toyota Corolla RUNX Z Aerotourer ’02, Honda Jazz 1.4 dsi Se Sp ’01, VW Lupo 1.4 ’02
Tweaked the suspension a bit and got a 2’28.3 but still second on the grid. Shortened the AutoSet to 4 from 8 as I’d only been getting into fifth gear for a second or so at the end of the main straight. It was actually slower by quite a bit – put it back to 8 and see if fitting an LSD makes a difference. It improved my lap time but not my grid place. I got 2’27.920 and was 2.5 seconds off the Impreza compared to 0.750 from before! I’ll run the race to see how the rest of the grid does but I expect to come second. A-Spec rating = 61. BL 2’27.755, 52 seconds behind the Impreza and six seconds in front of the Audi.
Shuffle the grids, trying out those that contain cars I’ve not yet seen in action in this series:
Chevrolet Camaro SS ’69, Mercedes SL 55 AMG (R230) ’02, Mini ONE ’02, Subaru Impreza Sti Prodrive Style ’01, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85
I know the Mercedes & the Impreza are rabbits but I’ll qualify to gauge the Camaro. I got a qualie lap of 2’27.280 and was 4th on the grid behind the Merc, the Chevy and the Subaru. Didn’t bother running the race as you can imagine.
BMW M3 ’04, Chevrolet Camaro SS ’69, Toyota Yaris RS 1.5 ’00, Audi S3 ’02, Toyota Corolla RUNX Z Aerotourer ’02
Ran qualifying of 2’27.686 and ended up 3rd on the grid behind the M3 and the Camaro. Shuffle on.
Ran a terrible 2’29.319 and qualified up 9 seconds versus grid of:
Alfa Romeo 156 2.5 V6 24V ’98, Honda CR-X SiR ’90, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03, Honda Jazz 1.4 dsi Se Sp ’01, Mini ONE ’02
I suspect the A-Spec will be awful but I’ll try a run on N3 tyres with 200KG Ballast. A-Spec = 45. BL 2’32.194 MOV monumental. I won’t run any more of the series as there’s clearly no A-Spec reward in it.
The grid of Lotus Esprit V8 ‘02, Mazda MX-5 ’89, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03, Honda CR-X SiR ’90 and Fiat Barchetta Giovane Due ’00 was an annoyance in that I could beat all the others on N3’s with 200KG Ballast but wouldn’t stand a prayer against the Esprit :grr:.
Qualified 2’28.142 on S2’s with zero ballast, up 5 seconds versus grid of:
Honda S2000 ’01, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85, Audi S3 ’02, Honda CR-X SiR ’90, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03
Try to run it on S1’s with 200KG Ballast. No good, could not restrain the S2000 which won by over 30 seconds. Only 105 A-Spec too. Give up on the idea.
Try with a tricked out Silvia Q’s S13 ’88.
A grid of Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A ’02, Toyota Supra SZ-R ’97, Toyota Corolla RUNX Z Aerotourer ’02, Honda Jazz 1.4 dsi Se Sp ’01 and Mini One ’02 looked promising but the RX-7 is too much of a rabbit. Running S2’s, added power (racing Exhaust and Chip) and zero ballast, I got a BL of 2’27.9 but finished 1 minute and 8 seconds behind the RX-7 … blimey!
Switch to the Honda Element, tricked with all the goodies and some power mods available.
Twin Ring Motegi
Poled with 2’31.684 by 3.507 seconds with a grid of:
Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited, Honda Integra Type R DC5, Peugeot 206cc, Mazda MX-5, Mini One
Running S3’s and 176HP get A-Spec = 171. MOV 1 second over the Integra with BL 1’29.9. Front tyre wear is very bad, even with a VCD fitted. May try to tune that out. The ridiculousness of this race cannot be overstated in that a Japanese Land Rover clone is the best car to use (other than the A-Spec glitched Dodge RAM of course).
Seattle Reverse
Poled with 2’05.005, up 3.808 seconds using S2 tyres and carrying 100KG Ballast @ +20. A-Spec = 186 BL 2’03.067 MOV 3.3 seconds.
Infineon Raceway Stock Car Course
Drop front tyres to S1 and Exhaust to Sports. Qualify on Pole with 1’38.009, up 0.975 over the Integra. A-Spec = 200. BL 1’36.083 MOV 1.543 seconds. Had to block into Turn 1 on most laps but that’s nothing new versus the Integra.
Tokyo R246 Reverse
Try upping the exhaust to Semi-Race and the Ballast to 111KG. That gave me a 2’18.165 and put me third on the grid. I think I may have to sacrifice A-Spec here. Put the Racing Exhaust on and dropped Ballast to 50 whilst putting S2/S3 tyres on. That got me 2’14.690, second on the grid by about half a second. Okay, fit NA Tune 1 to qualify with and then take it off to race (and block like crazy). Poled with 2’10.728, up 3 seconds. A-Spec = 182 but didn’t get it as, just like all the other races with the Integra in it, it just rams it’s way past and shoots off into the distance. Try again and reduce ballast to 41 to see what happens to the A-Spec value = 181. Again, can’t restrain the Integra. Try again with Ballast at 11KG –same result (violently hacked off with this now).
Get 173 A-Spec with 200KG Ballast and NA1 Tune (with gearbox AutoSet lengthened to 6). BL 2’12.7 MOV 0.5 seconds. Not a race I’d like any OLR drivers to watch with all the blocking and leaning going on.
Fuji 2005
Run this race with a Semi-Race Exhaust and see how that effects the A-Spec (qualified with a racing exhaust (didn’t note times)). A-Spec 196 (adding 40KG Ballast would bring that up to 200 A-Spec I think). BL 2’17.490 MOV 0.776 seconds. Again, a race of blocking on the straights.
Motorland Reverse
Drop the exhaust back to Sports for this track. Qualify with 0.52.143, up 1.147 seconds. Will the tyres last 19 laps? Only one way to find out. BL 50.439 MOV 0.193 seconds. The RX-7 was behind me all the way but never showed signs of being able to beat me. An easy 200 A-Spec race at last!
La Sarthe
Infuriating, as even with NA1 Tune and zero ballast (AutoSet = 6), I still get second on the grid behind the Integra (nearly nine seconds down with a 5’29.591). I have no chance it would seem. A-Spec would be 135 if I could win. MOL 20 seconds (3 seconds in front of the RX-7). It doesn’t seem that there is a grid in the game that will successfully amass good A-Spec points in these long-straights races.
El Capitan Reverse
Running S1/S2 tyres, Sports Exhaust and Chip with 100KG Ballast, poled up 1.629 seconds with 2’19.935. I’d left the AutoSet at 6 by mistake but it seems okay so I won’t change it. A-Spec = 200. BL 2’19.4 with 0.267 MOV. Hard fought, even here as the long S/F straight allowed the Integra and the RX-7 to make up the two to three seconds I’d made on them through the twisty bits.
Suzuka
Qualify with more power and then run the race in 200 A-Spec trim. Couldn’t do it, they’re just too fast and when they come at me together I can’t keep them behind me. Incredibly annoying. Try again. MOV 0.259 seconds BL 2’46.857. Blocktastic action – most unsatisfactory having to run races this way.
Nurburgring
Running NA1 tune and zero ballast, poled with 9’01.345 by nearly 7 seconds. Try the race with Racing Exhaust, Chip and NA1 tune with 200KG Ballast on S1/S2 tyres. A-Spec = 160. MOV 0.6 seconds with blocking akimbo against the scarily fast Integra. BL 9’06.
Having completed (almost) a reasonable scoring run with the Element, I wonder if there are any others of similar points scoring ability to be found? In the last race I ran above, the Element has a power to weight of 8.447.
A Mitsubishi 3000GT SR ’98 with 200KG Ballast gives power/weight of 8.854 (note that the ’95 model is 10KG heavier and so may be worth investigation for extra points). Trick out an example with the suspension and transmission augmentations. If nothing else, it’ll be good tuning practice.
The first line-up I try has a NISMO Fairlady Z S Tune in it, so I have to qualify using lots of extra power. Run at non-adjusted HP and see if I can block my way to victory. Nope. Put a lap up on the Jazz and the Barchetta tho’ and the car handles fine (altho’ there is a problem with front tyre-wear to be overcome)
.
Versus my usual racing grid (the one with the Integra and the S3), I poled at Twin Ring Motegi with 2’28.913 (up 5.9 seconds) . I ran no HP mods, S1/S2 tyres and 200KG Ballast. A-Spec = 99, which is disappointing. BL 2’27.592 MOV 5.722 seconds over the Audi. It was nice to run the race without having to constantly block but it was a shame that the Points reward wasn’t there.
Grid Subaru Impreza Sti Prodrive Style ’01, Audi S3 ’02, Toyota Corolla RUNX Z Aerotourer ’02, Honda Jazz 1.4 dsi Se Sp ’01, VW Lupo 1.4 ’02 only yielded 77 A-Spec points (and I couldn’t beat the Impreza anyhow).
Grid NISMO Fairlady Z S-tune concept, Chevrolet Camaro SS ’69, Subaru Impreza Sti Prodrive Style ’01, Audi S3 ’02, Honda Integra Type R (DC5) ’03. Adding Racing Exhaust, Chip and Stage 1 NA tune gave me Pole with 2’21.613 (up 0.149 seconds). A-Spec 136. All that changed was that rather than having to block the Audi and the Integra, I had to block the Fairlady and the Camaro.
Grid Honda S2000 ’01, Audi S3 ‘02, Honda CR-X SiR ’90, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03. Poled with 2’27.888, up 5.340 seconds. A-Spec = 99 in a race where yet again I garner numerous dents in the rear of the car.
I finally accept that the series is fatally flawed and can only be 200 A-Specced using either NOS or one of the glitched vehicles discovered so far (the Dodge RAM or the Honda Element).
Return to the Honda Element, as it seems less obviously ‘cheat mode’ than the RAM.
Get grid of:
Honda Integra Type R (DC5) ’03, Mazda RX-7 GT-Limited ’85, Mazda MX-5 ’89, Peugeot 206cc ’01, Mini One ’02
Twin Ring Motegi
Running with upped HP but still carrying 200KG Ballast on S1/S2 tyres took P1 on the grid. Run with Sports Exhaust and Chip (170HP), 100KG Ballast @+20 on S1/S2 tyres. AutoSet =4. 200 A-Spec. BL 2’34.408 MOV 1.232 seconds. Had to block a lot against the Integra/RX-7 tag-team.
Seattle Reverse
I don’t think that the shortened AutoSet was a help, so put it back to 6. Poled in 200 A-Spec trim with 2’05.687 (up 3.119 seconds). BL 2’03.643 MOV 1.308 seconds.
Infineon Raceway
I already have 200 A-Spec here, so I shall feel free to run with more power and better tyres for 144 A-Spec (no sense struggling and blocking when there’s no need). BL 1’32.392, lapped the Mini One and MOV of about half a minute on the Integra .
Tokyo R246 Reverse
I’m not going to improve on my current 173 A-Spec, so have a play trying to win on S3 tyres, 100KG Ballast and Sports Exhaust and Chip (186 A-Spec was up for grabs but, as always they double-teamed me on lap 5 and got past me). Can’t be bothered to try again as this series has come close enough already to putting me off the game for good.
Fuji 2005
Qualify with additional power and then run the race in 200 A-Spec trim. BL 2’16.438 MOV 0.139 seconds.
Motorland
B-Spec this as I have the necessary 200 A-Spec already. As usual, the B-Spec driver was rubbish and failed to win, even tho’ I stuck him on pole and gave him the NA1 HP upgrade.
La Sarthe
As an experiment, change the oil of the car and see what difference the extra HP makes for La Sarthe. Came close to pole but the Integra still started at the front and could not be caught. Abandon the series.
I now have 200 A-Spec in all the races that I can do so without the use of the Dodge RAM (i.e. not R246 (173), La Sarthe (122) or Nurburgring (160)).
For interests sake, I buy one of the Fairlady’s to see what stats it has (278HP 1320KG). Ah, one of the reasons for it’s pace is that it runs on S3 tyres as standard; that’s why it always seems so speedy but doesn’t boost A-Spec rewards very much. Poled with 2’10.746, up 8.7 seconds versus grid of Mercedes SL55 AMG (R230) ’02, NISMO Fairlady Z S-tune concept, Subaru Impreza STi Prodrive Style ’01, Honda S2000 ’01, Peugeot 106 S16 ’03. A-Spec = 34. BL 2’09.988 MOV 1.843 seconds over the Merc (the other Fairlady was a long, long way back).
That's exactly when my front tires are glowing orange, so no way can I stretch it to lap 15. Should I be using the R8 or FGT instead? Should I use a particular setup I don't know about? Do I have to wallride? 
Thanks for any responses.
Second place in this one pitted only four times, everyone else five. I built up a 35-40 second lead (don't remember exactly) by wallriding the 180-degree right and the last downhill left for the first half of the race and then drove legitimately for the remainder.
So I got a 75 second MOV instead of 50 seconds or so. Maybe later, if I reach max or get stuck, I'll redo FGT Tokyo, SS, Motegi, and Suzuka cleanly, along with a bunch of Ram and GSX-R/4 races in different cars. But right now I just care about the 200! 
All F1 now done for 200 points.
