(ETZ)Esattezza Autosport! Lancia Stratos "La Italiano" Model added
- Thread starter Spec M
- 453 comments
- 71,222 views
- 2,063
The obvious ones to try are taking off the Racing Chip or fitting one of the lower rated exhausts. It shouldn't make all that much difference if you can't get exactly to 754HP. Five or ten 'points' on a gear can be felt but I don't think it'd turn it into a disaster.
There is a lot of 'play' in the second gear in particular as wheelspin when the turbo kicked in was particularly bad. The whole gearbox was laid out to be long and flat to counter the torque induced wheelspin issue and allow us to keep the TCS turned off.
Changing the oil on a new car is something I never do anymore, unless I really need the HP. Stock oil will last a 1000 miles or more whereas the replacement burns out in a quarter of that time (or less). Given that I can put many hundreds of miles on car when dialing it in, I can do without the performance changing because the oils gone off
.
There is a lot of 'play' in the second gear in particular as wheelspin when the turbo kicked in was particularly bad. The whole gearbox was laid out to be long and flat to counter the torque induced wheelspin issue and allow us to keep the TCS turned off.
Changing the oil on a new car is something I never do anymore, unless I really need the HP. Stock oil will last a 1000 miles or more whereas the replacement burns out in a quarter of that time (or less). Given that I can put many hundreds of miles on car when dialing it in, I can do without the performance changing because the oils gone off
.
- 455
- Vesper37
Audi RS6 Avant Review
It's pretty easy to mis-judge this car. It amazingly easy to point out what you think is wrong with it after a lap or two maybe even after spending a day with it. Forgive me for a moment while I talk in the first person but as I approach a car I already get preconceived ideas about what exactly to expect.
The RS6 Avant blows always my initial thoughts.
A lot of “problems” that aren't really problems come as a part mix of pre-conceptions and packaging. It has four wheel drive so we assume it's safe. It's a big four tonne barge so we think it will most likely handle like one.
The reason I'm bring this up is because initially I wanted to kill the car. I though the Avant was just unbelievable in the way it tried to be all things to all people. But I'm happy to report I was wrong. Let's start with the weight. The standard car weights around 1.8 tonnes. The ETZ Avant weights only 1.4 tonnes. The brakes are superbly set-up. Bringing 1.4 tonnes to a stop plays havoc with the physics concept of inertia. Considering the car is doing 200+ kp/h in addition to acting against inertia and you start to appreciate the engineering underneath. The suspension is well designed as well. It's hard to fault it. The thing you can fault however is your own driving style. Don't turn underbraking, it will snap on you faster then you can believe. This car isn't for drivers and it isn't for people with an exuberant driving style. The best strategy is to avoid the loud pedal until your a few yards past the apex. The car makes up for it's apparent lack of sporty handling with it's tyre bursting speed.
Overall the car is miraculously balanced. The Nurburgring is probably not the first place you should go with it, the ring is famed for killing people driving MX-5's let alone 700 horsepower stationwagons. But driving it, even when the tyre's start to give out everything is simply consistant and very little about the car suprises you. It's not a car that's all things to all drivers but certainly a car that's all things to all people. (ok maybe not environmentalists. It uses half a tank of gas to a two lap Nurburgring.)
It's pretty easy to mis-judge this car. It amazingly easy to point out what you think is wrong with it after a lap or two maybe even after spending a day with it. Forgive me for a moment while I talk in the first person but as I approach a car I already get preconceived ideas about what exactly to expect.
The RS6 Avant blows always my initial thoughts.
A lot of “problems” that aren't really problems come as a part mix of pre-conceptions and packaging. It has four wheel drive so we assume it's safe. It's a big four tonne barge so we think it will most likely handle like one.
The reason I'm bring this up is because initially I wanted to kill the car. I though the Avant was just unbelievable in the way it tried to be all things to all people. But I'm happy to report I was wrong. Let's start with the weight. The standard car weights around 1.8 tonnes. The ETZ Avant weights only 1.4 tonnes. The brakes are superbly set-up. Bringing 1.4 tonnes to a stop plays havoc with the physics concept of inertia. Considering the car is doing 200+ kp/h in addition to acting against inertia and you start to appreciate the engineering underneath. The suspension is well designed as well. It's hard to fault it. The thing you can fault however is your own driving style. Don't turn underbraking, it will snap on you faster then you can believe. This car isn't for drivers and it isn't for people with an exuberant driving style. The best strategy is to avoid the loud pedal until your a few yards past the apex. The car makes up for it's apparent lack of sporty handling with it's tyre bursting speed.
Overall the car is miraculously balanced. The Nurburgring is probably not the first place you should go with it, the ring is famed for killing people driving MX-5's let alone 700 horsepower stationwagons. But driving it, even when the tyre's start to give out everything is simply consistant and very little about the car suprises you. It's not a car that's all things to all drivers but certainly a car that's all things to all people. (ok maybe not environmentalists. It uses half a tank of gas to a two lap Nurburgring.)
- 2,063
Thank you very much gentlemen 👍. I appreciate your comments greatly and am happy indeed that your reports matched my own findings.
The model of 4WD that is used in GT4 translates out to a lot of power-on understeer and dialling that out whilst adding an awful lot of HP and torque took a fair bit of work, especially as the Avant eats front tyres for breakfast and balancing the suspension to ease that a little made the understeer problem even worse
.
The 'snap' to the rear that Camry mentions is a bit of an oddity as it only really shows up when braking into sharp, downhill, corners when you're travelling at over 100mph. I allowed for this somewhat in the set-up as diallig it out compromised the general turn-in of the car. If the back end slides when you're turning and braking into a fast corner, then lifting off the brakes should restore control and the car will sort itself out.
The model of 4WD that is used in GT4 translates out to a lot of power-on understeer and dialling that out whilst adding an awful lot of HP and torque took a fair bit of work, especially as the Avant eats front tyres for breakfast and balancing the suspension to ease that a little made the understeer problem even worse
.The 'snap' to the rear that Camry mentions is a bit of an oddity as it only really shows up when braking into sharp, downhill, corners when you're travelling at over 100mph. I allowed for this somewhat in the set-up as diallig it out compromised the general turn-in of the car. If the back end slides when you're turning and braking into a fast corner, then lifting off the brakes should restore control and the car will sort itself out.
- 17
Let alone Cerbera Speed 12s with more horsepower then the Avant. Watch the car go NUTS as you enter Flugplatz or Bergwerk!
When I can get to my PS2, I will definitely give this a try.
- 2,063
BMW M3 GTR Race Car
692HP Turbo Version
The European car that PD fogot to cripple overmuch
The brief for this one was a simple one. Take an already excellent car, pump up the turbo's and see what you can get out of her around the Nurburgring - the closer to 6 minute laps the better.
Okay that last bit is a tall order but we did get the flying-lap times down to the 6'15 range, which is pretty impressive we think.
The hardware suite was largely determined by what the car comes fitted with:
Racing Exhaust
Racing Tyres (R2 grade)
Stage 4 Turbine Kit
Brake Balance Controller
Racing Suspension
Fully Custom gearbox
Fully Custom Limited Slip Differential
Going for a clean pass between corners
The only vice we found this car to have was an over-abundant torque spike at 8000rpm in second gear. If the speed was under 80mph at that point and the road was downhill and bumpy then wheelspin could result.
We at first worked at getting rid of that so that the driver did not need to remember to be gentle on the throttle at the top of the rev range in that gear. However, that compromised the general performance of the car too much, so we settled on an 'advisory' note on the dashboard to not hammer the loud pedal top roughly under those circumstances. Fortunately, exiting Turn 1 at the 'Ring is an opportunity to learn what is required to stop the rears spooling up 👍.
Full throttle over Flugplatz. Flat and low ... excellent
As noted, this car was already wonderful in stock trim and we were pleased to find that adding the extra horses did not hamper her too much. The settings suite we ended up with is:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 13.5/11.5
Ride: 75/75
Damper Bound: 4/4
Damper Rebound: 8/6
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabiliser: 3/3
Gearbox - AutoSet 18 @ Final Drive 3.353 then adjust to:
1st Gear: 3.510
2nd Gear: 2.325
3rd Gear: 1.680
4th Gear: 1.315
5th Gear: 1.080
6th Gear: 0.915
ASM/TCS: 0/0/0 {Note that for grid starts some TCS may be required}
Downforce: 38/53
LSD: 10/40/20
Ballast: 0kg @ 0
Only one more to go after this high speed overtake
There are no real 'handling advisories' I need to give for this lady. She does what you ask of her when you ask it.
Hmm ... I have to tap the brakes and you don't ... oh yes, I forgot, Nippon Physics for you!
The rear tyre wear is a bit heavy for my personal tastes and if the brief had not been just to make her go fast 'easily' then I would probably have worked on that some more - lap times would undoubtedly have been slower but there might have been an extra laps worth of life in the rears. As it is, she sits on R2's but it is probable that two laps of the 'Ring could be gotten out of R3's.
Rear view mirror on exit of Aremburg
692HP Turbo Version
The European car that PD fogot to cripple overmuch
The brief for this one was a simple one. Take an already excellent car, pump up the turbo's and see what you can get out of her around the Nurburgring - the closer to 6 minute laps the better.
Okay that last bit is a tall order but we did get the flying-lap times down to the 6'15 range, which is pretty impressive we think.
The hardware suite was largely determined by what the car comes fitted with:
Racing Exhaust
Racing Tyres (R2 grade)
Stage 4 Turbine Kit
Brake Balance Controller
Racing Suspension
Fully Custom gearbox
Fully Custom Limited Slip Differential
Going for a clean pass between corners
The only vice we found this car to have was an over-abundant torque spike at 8000rpm in second gear. If the speed was under 80mph at that point and the road was downhill and bumpy then wheelspin could result.
We at first worked at getting rid of that so that the driver did not need to remember to be gentle on the throttle at the top of the rev range in that gear. However, that compromised the general performance of the car too much, so we settled on an 'advisory' note on the dashboard to not hammer the loud pedal top roughly under those circumstances. Fortunately, exiting Turn 1 at the 'Ring is an opportunity to learn what is required to stop the rears spooling up 👍.
Full throttle over Flugplatz. Flat and low ... excellent
As noted, this car was already wonderful in stock trim and we were pleased to find that adding the extra horses did not hamper her too much. The settings suite we ended up with is:
Brakes: 5/4
Springs: 13.5/11.5
Ride: 75/75
Damper Bound: 4/4
Damper Rebound: 8/6
Camber: 2.0/1.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabiliser: 3/3
Gearbox - AutoSet 18 @ Final Drive 3.353 then adjust to:
1st Gear: 3.510
2nd Gear: 2.325
3rd Gear: 1.680
4th Gear: 1.315
5th Gear: 1.080
6th Gear: 0.915
ASM/TCS: 0/0/0 {Note that for grid starts some TCS may be required}
Downforce: 38/53
LSD: 10/40/20
Ballast: 0kg @ 0
Only one more to go after this high speed overtake
There are no real 'handling advisories' I need to give for this lady. She does what you ask of her when you ask it.
Hmm ... I have to tap the brakes and you don't ... oh yes, I forgot, Nippon Physics for you!
The rear tyre wear is a bit heavy for my personal tastes and if the brief had not been just to make her go fast 'easily' then I would probably have worked on that some more - lap times would undoubtedly have been slower but there might have been an extra laps worth of life in the rears. As it is, she sits on R2's but it is probable that two laps of the 'Ring could be gotten out of R3's.
Rear view mirror on exit of Aremburg
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- 2,063
Lancia Stratos
170HP La Festa Italiano Version
A classic of it's day. Iconic lines but legendary handling peculiarities
The brief for this build was quite an exciting one for us here at ETZ. The owner had a Stratos with a lot of miles on the clock and which had had some attention lavished on it in the past in terms of racing grade drive train and handling equipment.
He had always had a hankering to compete in the La Festa Italiano race series and to do so in a way that would garner the highest level of admiration from the crowd. Game note: The grid to be raced against was the first one that appears after a console reset.
Nearly all of the cars that ran in the series were 'modern era' and packed a fair punch in the Horsepower department, even tho' the FF drivetrain was the commonest seen in the field. However, the Integrale was an exception to this and our client wanted to be sure that this car could be beaten, even when starting from the back of the grid. As a fair number of horses had escaped from the old Stratos's engine, this added an extra layer of challenge to the project.
Tyre wear was not deemed to be an issue because of the shortness of the individual races (and because the car sat on soft compound 'serious' track day tyres already). Aerodynamic modifications were ruled out for the simple reason that altho' the regulations of the series did not forbid them, none of the other cars would be using such.
Turn 2, Lap 1 and already showing what a tight line can achieve when at the right speed
As soon as we took the car out for a drive at ETZ's test circuit of choice (the Nurburgring) we knew that there were some quite vicious gremlins lurking under that '70's 'Wedge'. Coming to a stop sideways with your nose pointing at the inside of Aremburg whilst you had full opposite lock is not normally an auspicious sign
.
Our test drivers terse report concluded that the roll centres were out of balance, the weight distribution was not right for the length of the car, the camber change with damper stroke was wildly out between front and rear and asymetric fore and aft roll rates exacerbated all of the above. Oh and the brakes needed balancing too.
Not great then, we concluded. He went off in a huff at that but we reckon he was just embarassed because we had him on film messing it up at the first hard braking from high speed corner on the circuit :angel:.
Let the boxy one cut the air for you whilst you bide your time waiting for a clean pass
After the first test run suggested we use harder compound tyres at the front to calm down the schizophrenic roll rates, the hardware we had to work with was as follows:
Sports Tyres (S2 Grade at the Front, S3 Grade at the Rear)
Brake Balance Controller
Racing Suspension
Fully Custom Gearbox
Triple-Plate Clutch & Racing Flywheel
Fully Custom Limited Slip Differential
That appears to be a Stratos sized hole you've left there "Mr. 147" - thank you very much
One thing we found as we worked at correcting the flaws in the cars handling was that the Stratos was more responsive than many vehicles we had worked on when it came to it's reactions to relatively small changes in the underpinnings. When we employed some lessons learned dealing with other unruly MR cars, we found that even changing the spring rates by an amount most other cars wouldn't even notice made quite a difference.
Opening the gap and pressing on to a comfortable victory
The settings suite we settled on is as laid out below. One thing to note is that if drivers wished it they could change the Final Drive to 4.110 at the Autumn Ring race. That effectively turns the box into a five speed and cuts down on gear changes.
Brakes: 2/3
Springs: 7.1/10.6
Ride Height: 122/117
Damper Bound: 4/4
Damper Rebound: 8/6
Camber: 2.0/3.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabiliser: 2/4
Gearbox: AutoSet 8 @ Final 5.000 (individual gears adjusted)
1st: 3.625
2nd: 2.535
3rd: 1.895
4th: 1.475
5th: 1.200
6th: 1.000
ASM/TCS: 0/0/0
LSD: 13/39/26
Ballast: 156kg @ -30
There is more photography yet to be processed for the races at Cote d'Azur and Infineon Sports car but unless requested we don't want to overload the presentation with 'bandwidth unfriendly' visuals.
170HP La Festa Italiano Version
A classic of it's day. Iconic lines but legendary handling peculiarities
The brief for this build was quite an exciting one for us here at ETZ. The owner had a Stratos with a lot of miles on the clock and which had had some attention lavished on it in the past in terms of racing grade drive train and handling equipment.
He had always had a hankering to compete in the La Festa Italiano race series and to do so in a way that would garner the highest level of admiration from the crowd. Game note: The grid to be raced against was the first one that appears after a console reset.
Nearly all of the cars that ran in the series were 'modern era' and packed a fair punch in the Horsepower department, even tho' the FF drivetrain was the commonest seen in the field. However, the Integrale was an exception to this and our client wanted to be sure that this car could be beaten, even when starting from the back of the grid. As a fair number of horses had escaped from the old Stratos's engine, this added an extra layer of challenge to the project.
Tyre wear was not deemed to be an issue because of the shortness of the individual races (and because the car sat on soft compound 'serious' track day tyres already
). Aerodynamic modifications were ruled out for the simple reason that altho' the regulations of the series did not forbid them, none of the other cars would be using such.
Turn 2, Lap 1 and already showing what a tight line can achieve when at the right speed
As soon as we took the car out for a drive at ETZ's test circuit of choice (the Nurburgring) we knew that there were some quite vicious gremlins lurking under that '70's 'Wedge'. Coming to a stop sideways with your nose pointing at the inside of Aremburg whilst you had full opposite lock is not normally an auspicious sign
.Our test drivers terse report concluded that the roll centres were out of balance, the weight distribution was not right for the length of the car, the camber change with damper stroke was wildly out between front and rear and asymetric fore and aft roll rates exacerbated all of the above. Oh and the brakes needed balancing too.
Not great then, we concluded
. He went off in a huff at that but we reckon he was just embarassed because we had him on film messing it up at the first hard braking from high speed corner on the circuit :angel:.
Let the boxy one cut the air for you whilst you bide your time waiting for a clean pass
After the first test run suggested we use harder compound tyres at the front to calm down the schizophrenic roll rates, the hardware we had to work with was as follows:
Sports Tyres (S2 Grade at the Front, S3 Grade at the Rear)
Brake Balance Controller
Racing Suspension
Fully Custom Gearbox
Triple-Plate Clutch & Racing Flywheel
Fully Custom Limited Slip Differential
That appears to be a Stratos sized hole you've left there "Mr. 147" - thank you very much
One thing we found as we worked at correcting the flaws in the cars handling was that the Stratos was more responsive than many vehicles we had worked on when it came to it's reactions to relatively small changes in the underpinnings. When we employed some lessons learned dealing with other unruly MR cars, we found that even changing the spring rates by an amount most other cars wouldn't even notice made quite a difference.
Opening the gap and pressing on to a comfortable victory
The settings suite we settled on is as laid out below. One thing to note is that if drivers wished it they could change the Final Drive to 4.110 at the Autumn Ring race. That effectively turns the box into a five speed and cuts down on gear changes.
Brakes: 2/3
Springs: 7.1/10.6
Ride Height: 122/117
Damper Bound: 4/4
Damper Rebound: 8/6
Camber: 2.0/3.0
Toe: 0/0
Stabiliser: 2/4
Gearbox: AutoSet 8 @ Final 5.000 (individual gears adjusted)
1st: 3.625
2nd: 2.535
3rd: 1.895
4th: 1.475
5th: 1.200
6th: 1.000
ASM/TCS: 0/0/0
LSD: 13/39/26
Ballast: 156kg @ -30
There is more photography yet to be processed for the races at Cote d'Azur and Infineon Sports car but unless requested we don't want to overload the presentation with 'bandwidth unfriendly' visuals.
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- 2,063
200 A-Spec for each race against the first grid from reset. That assumes tyres, ballast and HP as noted. It is possible to play around with the mix a bit (e.g. harder grade tyres and less ballast) but the car most definitely likes to have a fair amount of mass towards the front.
Grid#14 would be easier as it allows slightly higher power and the Integrale starts from 5th but digging through all those grids three times would be a bit of a pain.
- 2,063
Good to see you back and uploading such a great car
Cheers S-Line 👍.
It's one of greatest pleasures I get from the game to take a car that is so fundamentally flawed in stock trim and make it a good competitor. The next presentation will also be a Stratos but this time it will be one aimed at 200 A-Spec'ing the Pan European series. I have the car done but may not get the chance to upload her 'properly' for a few days.
Plus, Dotini has put in an awful lot of work researching the Grid Cycles for this series after I unearthed that there was at least one alternate set and I have yet to run the series against a grid from the Main Sequence
. I would like to do that before release just to prove that she can do La Sarthe without illegal blocking for each grid set.
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Dotini
(Banned)
- 15,742
- Seattle
- CR80_Shifty
Cheers S-Line 👍.
Plus, Dotini has put in an awful lot of work researching the Grid Cycles for this series after I unearthed that there was at least one alternate set and I have yet to run the series against a grid from the Main Sequence
Yes, I confess to a devotion to the Stratos and to the Italiano bordering on madness. From the beginning of my recent acquaintance to this game of GT4, I have been convinced that the Italiano was the highest paying race in the game, on a per-lap basis, counting the Prize Car as part of the credits payout. And I fell in love with the Stratos because I was seeking a great-looking Italian car that would win the Italiano in great style for decent A-spec, and not an FF or FR. I then fell in love with her semi-racing exhaust and her hot looks in Monza Red with Dunlop 006 Ferrari 5-spoke gold wheels.
And readers are obviously on notice that, although the 200 A-spec rewards are real and I confirm them, they were done in very clean style, and the difficulty level is occasionally high, a least for me, driving in the Pan Euro at La Sarthe. It must also be said that it has been a privilege and honor to work with sukerkin, a true grandmaster of this and other racing games, in advancing the cause of the Italiano and the Stratos in the best racing game in the world.
With this Stratos setup, and the upcoming Pan-Euro setup, the reader will better learn how to tune for and win some of the most challenging and interesting racing on offer. The beautiful, tiny Stratos is now elevated to a never suspected potential.
- 2,063
and Thank you indeed for that great compliment. Altho' I would shy away from terming myself a Grandmaster, it is certainly reassuring to have my spanner twirling be so well received :bows:.
In large part, I think any success that someone gets in tuning cars is down to persistence and repeated verification of the effects of suspension changes. 'Reading' the car from the start of tuning is vital I've found and that's where experience with the game comes in as interpreting why a car is behaving in the fashion it does allows you to home in on a solution better. Also, using the Nurburgring as a test track also helps bed a suite down as there are certain places on that circuit that present unique challenges in balancing a car.
- 736
I tried the Stratos the other day but the disk died before I could get a good reading off it. Certainly couldn't do the Fiesta races, but once we can use it without the red wheel I'd hope to get them with about 4-5 practice races. It's a lot of fun for such a pissant car, but IIRC we got a few more hp than yours (we use PAL version).
Great car but the colour options are truly hideous, especially the slime green that you've decided to display.
Can Suker or Dotini offer any driving tips for this car please? We had to reset after every race (at best) so was difficult to get to know the car
Great car but the colour options are truly hideous, especially the slime green that you've decided to display.
Can Suker or Dotini offer any driving tips for this car please? We had to reset after every race (at best) so was difficult to get to know the car
- 2,063
I suspect the reason why you're reading more HP than I list is because I spent an awful long time grinding the car to get the power to base level in order to make it easier to maximise A-spec points.
As to how to drive her, she really rewards the 'proper' way to drive an MR i.e. brake before the corner and power through and out.
As to how to drive her, she really rewards the 'proper' way to drive an MR i.e. brake before the corner and power through and out.
Dotini
(Banned)
- 15,742
- Seattle
- CR80_Shifty
PF said:
"Great car but the colour options are truly hideous, especially the slime green that you've decided to display.
Can Suker or Dotini offer any driving tips for this car please? We had to reset after every race (at best) so was difficult to get to know the car[/QUOTE]"
PF, a car this radical in shape can only be more rad in York green, which sukerkin is self-constrained to use due to his fervent use of the color green in virtually all his setups. In my opinion, it looks best in Monza Red with Dunlop 006 wheels - virtually a Ferrari Dino.
The driving of her is exactly as sukerkin noted, brake in a straight line, and power thru the corners with your foot well down. It is vitally important that suspension setup be adhered to, especially the ride height, LSD settings and balance.
"Great car but the colour options are truly hideous, especially the slime green that you've decided to display.
Can Suker or Dotini offer any driving tips for this car please? We had to reset after every race (at best) so was difficult to get to know the car[/QUOTE]"
PF, a car this radical in shape can only be more rad in York green, which sukerkin is self-constrained to use due to his fervent use of the color green in virtually all his setups. In my opinion, it looks best in Monza Red with Dunlop 006 wheels - virtually a Ferrari Dino.
The driving of her is exactly as sukerkin noted, brake in a straight line, and power thru the corners with your foot well down. It is vitally important that suspension setup be adhered to, especially the ride height, LSD settings and balance.
- 17
Nice job, sukerkin! Genius as usual.
- 736
Hey suker, we just took the Stratos around the Italiano for 160-180 Aspec and had a ball with it. My mate was whinging about the acceleration and suggested shorter gears, but I think he just doesn't get the whole 'Aspec' concept just yet. The other Lancia (Delta '91) gave us some good races. Great work ETZ!
. Nontheless, I shall endeavour to get the other Stratos tune up this week. 'It's target' is 200 A-Spec of the Pan European Series.Similar threads
