Drove the Hommell Berliette by Greycap last nite for the Professional League Tuning Car Grand Prix, although I just used the brake & suspension tuning for these races. I did this to "get out of my box of thinking". I wanted to try some new ideas, basically...and voila...MFT actually has a Hommell.
First, I drove the Hommell with its stock suspension. Although it rates well in my book while it's stock, the Hommell Berlinette R/S has a habit of twitching this way and that, and bouncing a bit here and there. It's good, but still a little on the wild side. These twitches and bounces would cost time, as I'd need to re-arrange the car with extra brake & steering movements. MFT took care of all this in a positive way.
Really enjoyed the way the car would bounce over rumble strips
yet not to the point of excessiveness. There was a generally pliant feel--a bit rubbery, which I found entertaining rather than annoying. Absolutely zero understeer! Could zip round any curve the Hommell put face to, and throttle out early (generally) even if I entered turns too hot. The right/left high-speed chicane at Route 246 in particular was a breeze, and I could actually take this section of the track flat-out with throttle after a momentary lapse of fuel before entering the chicane!
The rear is slightly raised, which seemed to cause it to swing out at times, yet in a very controllable and predictable way. The damper settings also got me out of my box. Noticed the front-end would dive right into the pool, the car would re-arrange itself mid-corner, and then feel totally confident leaving the turns. 👍 NEVER any late-corner understeer. Springs are soft, softer than I may have set them, which was fine. Again, this got me out of the box. I raised and further softened the car a bit at El Cappy, just to fly over those bumps with less flyback, but otherwise, every thing in the suspension was pure MFT. The brake tuning (5/8) was fine for the TCGP, a definate improvement over the Hommell's stock brakes, which feel a bit soggy.
I felt having full-tranny tuning would create a bit of overkill on my part for these particular races, so I just used the stock box at all tracks except Tsukuba, where I used the close box. I also didn't use the MFT LSD, but don't take offense--I only install limited-slips if I feel the car absolutely needs them. Power also varied per track. I used wing settings of 13 and 18. The Ai (Opera S2000 and others in the Tuning Grand Prix) is set with a possible maximum of 13 and 18 (I'm guessing), so that's the max I use for these particular events.
I'll try the car as a
Berlinette RT tonite if I have time (all MFT settings) just 'cause I'm curious. 👍