Endurance Events

Fabulous news, there, Austin. I've been expecting for a long time that you would find the right time to act on this, the crowning achievement for the perfect A-spec score 111,813. That's really good! Those incidental and accidental instances of contact should in no way blemish this event for you. I'm a little surprised you didn't wear out the oil on your M5. Are you using full custom suspension? Sometimes you can do a sort of preventive tuning which allows for the rigidity issue, and sometimes you can find more tire wear. I've often been able to find a solid half-lap of extra wear through tuning. Also Ballast can be moved in the opposite direction of tire wear to gain even more. LSD can sometimes equalize tire wear at the rear. Maybe if you have an unlimited access to the PS2 you could do it slightly better, but only if it matters to you.

Respectfully,
Dotini

No, the M5 is bone stock, save for the S1 tires and turning off the driving aids, in order to comply with the Stock Car thread's rules. In fact, what I really need is not to make the car better, but rather to make it worse; despite going on a "driving diet" - a grass-free, redline-free, reduced-curb regimen - I'm continuing to gain at the startling rate of one second per minute, even counting the extra time spent in the pits. The testing that I did quite some time ago didn't indicate that I would be blowing away the field at anything like this rate, so I probably would have had a more interesting race on N3s or in a slower car.

Of course, despite my attempts not to be too unrealistic in my driving, it's ludicrous to be able to beat touring cars with a huge margin in a high-performance luxury car on track-day tires. In real life, the car's fastest lap time is 8'13, fully a minute slower than even my grass-free laps; I think that you would need N1s in the game to be limited to that time. Furthermore, if I used in real life the inputs that I use in the game, I would have crashed in the very first corner because real braking distances are much longer. Even assuming in-game braking distances, I would have spun exiting the corner because you can't just use full throttle mid-corner in reality. Assuming that the M5's aids would have kept me pointing in the right direction, I would have pummeled the guardrail in the following corner because real tires don't have as much grip as the game's S1s and the real M5 doesn't have as much turning ability as GT4's very nimble version. And even assuming that the game's physics and modeling are entirely accurate, I would have melted the brakes within half a lap. Nevertheless, it's an interesting car to drive on Nurburgring, and it's certainly an original selection, which is really what I wanted most.

Edit: Now at the five-hour mark, I'm five and a half minutes ahead of the BMW. My fastest grass-free lap is 7'10.4, which I hope to improve later, but it's hard to do so when only one in three laps is a chance to beat the lap record (pitting in ruins one and exiting the pits adds a few seconds to the other).

Nurburgring 4 hour Endurance - for 200 A-spec points

Liking the sound of -raVer-'s ride:tup:, I searched long and hard in my garage and turned up a black 1991 Acura NSX. After some brief testing of gear ratio's, I took it to the track and entered the race against the following competition:

Audi RS 4 '01
Chevy Corvette Grand Sport C4 '96
BMW M3 '04
Mazda RX-8 Type S '03
Fiat Coupe Turbo Plus '00

This is the sixth lineup from a console reset if you are in a black Acura NSX.

My Acura has 244 horsepower, S1/S1 tires, Custom transmission at 9, most non-power upgrades and a 180kg of ballast.

After a wonderful battle all race long against the Corvette Grand Sport, I emerged the victor after 4h,2m,20seconds, with a winning margin of 48 seconds. I don't know how the Corvette gets 6 laps out of its tires. It must be using the same "magic" tires that the Lotus Elan S1 has. The Mazda RX-8 was another 50 seconds in arrears, with the BMW M3 and the Audi RS4 about 5 minutes and 6 minutes down, respectively (best quess, I lost track of them during my heated battle with the Corvette). The poor Fiat Coupe Turbo was lapped twice (it has a tendency to drive on the grass). I could get four good laps out of the S1 tires. A fifth lap gets hairy since the rears go off, and you have trouble not going off yourself. Great fun, thanks -raVer-👍

Respectfully,
GTsail

4hr Nurburgring 200 A-Spec



Lineup

1 Clio Renault V6 Phase 2 `03
2 Mazda RX-8 Type S (J) `03
3 Chevrolet Corvette GRAND SPORT (C4) `96
4 BMW M3 `04
5 BMW M Coupe `98


Car: Lotus Elise 111S `03
Color: Ardent Red
154HP 950kg PWR 6.16


Mod:
FC-Tranny
Triple Clutch
Racing Flywheel
S1/S1 Tyres
Ballast 144


Pit: every 5 Laps
Best Lap: 8'15.891
Total Time: 4:04'08.441
MoV: 7.3 seconds over the RX-8 (Corvette was 11.3 seconds back)


A damn close and exciting race in the end



Respectfully

raVer

-raVer-

4hr Nurburgring 200 A-Spec

Lineup:
1 Clio Renault V6 Phase 2 `03
2 Mazda RX-8 Type S (J) `03
3 Chevrolet Corvette GRAND SPORT (C4) `96
4 BMW M3 `04
5 BMW M Coupe `98

Car: Lotus Elise 111S `03
Color: Ardent Red
154HP 950kg PWR 6.16

Mod:
FC-Tranny
Triple Clutch
Racing Flywheel
S1/S1 Tyres
Ballast 144

Pit: every 5 Laps
Best Lap: 8'15.891
Total Time: 4:04'08.441
MoV: 7.3 seconds over the RX-8 (Corvette was 11.3 seconds back)

A damn close and exciting race in the end

Respectfully

raVer

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Nicely done -raVer-👍

You beat me too it I had already tuned up my Lotus Elise 111S, and it was just waiting for its starting time in the queue. I'll still probably give it a try against a different lineup.

I see that the Mazda RX-8 beat the Corvette. Interesting. During my race in the Acura, the Mazda was close to the Corvette until it pitted, then the Corvette would build up a lead. This repeated itself all race long until the final stint when the Corvette pulled away a bit.

Respectfully,
GTsail

GTsail290

Nicely done -raVer-👍

You beat me too it I had already tuned up my Lotus Elise 111S, and it was just waiting for its starting time in the queue. I'll still probably give it a try against a different lineup.

I see that the Mazda RX-8 beat the Corvette. Interesting. During my race in the Acura, the Mazda was close to the Corvette until it pitted, then the Corvette would build up a lead. This repeated itself all race long until the final stint when the Corvette pulled away a bit.

Respectfully,
GTsail

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Thanks GTsail

Sorry for stealing your idea

The RX-8 and the Corvette stuck together the whole Race (not more than a 10second gap between them).
On the last lap the RX-8 caught the Corvette between Eiskurve and Schwalbenschwanz.
The RX-8 stretched the gap down Dottinger Höhe on the Corvette while my lead shrunk from 11 to 7 seconds.



Respectfully

raVer

GTsail290

\
I had already tuned up my Lotus Elise 111S, and it was just waiting for its starting time in the queue. I'll still probably give it a try against a different lineup.

Click to expand...

Perhaps the next step might involve the Impreza or Jaguar XKR-R? I'm also tuning an Elise!

Respectfully,
Dotini

Dotini

Perhaps the next step might involve the Impreza or Jaguar XKR-R? I'm also tuning an Elise!

Respectfully,
Dotini

Click to expand...

I´m not sure if the 111S Elise with stockpower can beat the Impreza or the XKR.
If you can manage low or sub 8s, I will
I´m not that good to do that maybe I can do it with the R Elise.


Respectfully

raVer

My B-spec Bob is wearing down the power on a black 111R right now!

Dotini

Perhaps the next step might involve the Impreza or Jaguar XKR-R? I'm also tuning an Elise!

Respectfully,
Dotini

Click to expand...

Dotini -
I've done some preliminary work on a 1995 Subaru Impreza WRX STI, but its not ready for an unveiling. Give one a try, there's quite a few variations of the WRX to choose from!

Dotini -
Did I mis-understand your post? Did you want someone to take on the Jaguar XKR or the Subaru WRX Spec C? The Jaguar can be beaten, I've done it with the Nissan Silvia. The Subaru was in the same lineup, so both fell to my mighty Silvia! See my post # 310.

-raVer-

Thanks GTsail

Sorry for stealing your idea

The RX-8 and the Corvette stuck together the whole Race (not more than a 10second gap between them).
On the last lap the RX-8 caught the Corvette between Eiskurve and Schwalbenschwanz.
The RX-8 stretched the gap down Dottinger Höhe on the Corvette while my lead shrunk from 11 to 7 seconds.

Respectfully

raVer

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No need to apologize -raVer-, I was only teasing. I think its great fun that you and Dotini have been running numerous races at the 'Ring. Its great that so many cars have a chance if we search for the right lineup, and tune the car properly.

Respectfully,
GTsail

I'm now ten hours in, and I've definitely noticed the power loss; since I started having already driven 172 miles in the car, it now has well over 1200 miles on the odometer. Compared to the splits of my fastest lap, I "mysteriously" lose time between split times that mostly feature straights, despite going faster in the turns, and my speed at the end of the straight is also one mile per hour slower. I'm also receiving hints that the chassis isn't quite what it used to be; little bits of sudden understeer and oversteer are cropping up when they weren't before.

Unfortunately, in this last segment of racing, I've become sloppier and sloppier. I still don't have a clean hour (that is, from e.g. 9:00'00.000 to 10:00'00.000, having no wall or AI contact and always keeping two tires touching a hard surface), and I've even driven past the pits on an inlap. I've also had two or three overtaking maneuvers that went completely wrong, with impatient passes in high-speed sections resulting in spins and hard impacts with the barrier. In fact, I've spun quite a bit more than on just those occasions, usually when I take a corner slightly too fast and put a rear wheel in grass while still turning hard. Under those circumstances, the car snaps sideways and is nearly impossible to save. If only the replay recorded indefinitely, I think that a compilation of my incidents set in fast-forward and set to the Benny Hill music would make for an amusing Youtube video, like the one below except with more overcorrection and nose-first barrier impacts.

Austin343

I think that a compilation of my incidents set in fast-forward and set to the Benny Hill music would make for an amusing Youtube video, like the one below except with more overcorrection and nose-first barrier impacts.

Click to expand...

I am just impressed with the fact that you guys can do the endurance races. I may try the 4 hour ones at some point but unless I get a 2nd PS2, my boys won't let me have the machine that long.

Dotini

My B-spec Bob is wearing down the power on a black 111R right now!

Click to expand...

I did a 4 lap test run with the 111R.
The result was very interesting.I took this car against the 2 NSXs and the Speedster Turbo.

After the 4 Laps I was 7 seconds ahead of the Speedster and the NSXs were lots behind.So the Impreza and the XKR will be no challenge for the 111R.

My Specs for the 111R:

stockpower and 1000kg plus the Drivedrain mods

my best Lap in this test was a 7'52 but you need to shave 2 or 3 seconds off this time to be save.

It´s hard to suggest you a good lineup for this car.

Try a lineup that consists of the 2 NSXs , the Speedster and the VX220 and the Spec C.



Respectfully

raVer

Nurburgring 4 Hour Endurance race - for 200 A-spec points

I've just completed another race at the 'Ring using a red Lexus IS200. Since the car was red, I took down my favorite lineup Lineup # 2 after a console reset. The competition was as follows:

Ford Focus RS
Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe
Chevy Camaro SS
Audi RS 4
Lancia Delta HF Integrale
Lexus IS200 J '98 (me)

I finished 29 laps with a time of 4.00.08.586, I almost hit the 4 hour mark!

The Chevy Camaro came in 2nd, 6 minutes and 20 seconds back
The Audi RS4 and the Lancia Delta HF finished together about 7 minutes and 20 seconds back
The Ford Focus RS ended up over a lap down since I passed him on lap 24 going thru Wippermann, where it must have seen me coming since it touched the grass, spun out and did a 360!
The Pontiac GTO ended up about a lap and a half down since I passed him on lap 19 going thru Eschbach.

The Lexus IS200 can really handle the 'Ring!

It handles like a mid-engine car, so it rotates beautifully thru the corners. Under braking the S1 tires feel like S2 tires, so it stops wonderfully even at speed. Its almost like you are in a Honda NSX

Lexus IS200 stats:
Horsepower: 244
Tires: S1/S1
Port Polish
Sport Exhaust
Stage 1 NA tune
Racing brakes and controller
Semi-racing suspension
Custom transmission, auto slide # 9
Twin-plate clutch
Semi-racing flywheel
1.5 way Ltd Slip
Ballast at 75

Great drive:tup:

Respectfully,
GTsail

GTsail290

Nurburgring 4 Hour Endurance race - for 200 A-spec points

I've just completed another race at the 'Ring using a red Lexus IS200.

Click to expand...

👍

Nurburgring 4 Hour Endurance race - for 200 A-spec points

Seeing as I've been spending a lot of time in Germany, I felt it was time to drive a German automobile, so I checked my garage for a classic and came up with a used Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo '91. I jumped into the Mercedes and took it to the 'Ring where the following competition was waiting:

BMW M Coupe '98
BMW M3 '04
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR GSR '04
Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione '91
Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R '00
Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo (me)

This was lineup # 8 from a console reset.

I start on S1 tires with 235 horsepower and 155kg of ballast. From the start its a great battle with the Mitsubishi EVO and the Ford Mustang. The BMW M3 is close behind us, but never threatens once we got past it. Throughout the first stint we have a great battle. The Mits EVO and I pit at the end of lap four for new tires and we give up the lead to the Mustang (who goes 5 laps between pit stops). I'm chasing the Mustang during lap 5, who has about a 20 second lead over me. When the Mustang pits at the end of lap 5, I take over the lead of the race again, and never give it up from then on.

At the 2 hour mark I have a 21 second lead over the Mitsubishi EVO, a 25 second lead over the Ford Mustang, and a 35 second lead over the BMW M3. I slowly edge away for the rest of the race. The finishing order is as follows:

Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo (me) 4.04.10.892
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo MR GSR --- 55 seconds back
Ford Mustang SVT Cobra --- 1 minute and 15 seconds back
BMW M3 '04 --- 1 minute and 30 seconds back
Lancia Delta HF --- 3 minutes and 10 seconds back
BMW M Coupe --- 6 minutes back

It was a great race. The Mercedes handles quite well but is slow, so you never really pull away anywhere. I will dig up my car's stats and post them later.

Here are my Mercedes stats:
Horsepower: 235
Weight: 1495kg
Racing exhaust
Racing brakes
Brake controller: 9/9
Racing suspension at:
-- Springs: 10.5/10.5
-- Ride: 74/74
-- Bound: 3/4
-- Rebound: 4/5
-- Camber: 2.0/1.0
-- Stab: 4/4
Custom trans, auto slide # 9
Triple plate clutch
Racing flywheel
Aids: 0/0/1
Downforce: 8/11
Ltd slip: 10/32/10
Ballast: 155

Happy racing,
GTsail

Welcome back GTsail

Very nicely done 👍


I hope you had a good time in germany



Respectfully

Raver

Great work GTsail!

You mentioned via PM that you were using a Merc and I hoped it was the Evo, but forgot to mention that in the message; it's one of my favourite cars.

A couple of questions: how 'used' was the car? did you run it stock (sans AIDS)? and did you need to hunt for a lineup or just take the first one?

Haven't been able to test the other car we talked about; we've got a 9yo staying so the only thing the PS2 does is blast Tekken 2 through my 200w speakers.

El Capitan 200 miles for 200 A-Spec points

I ran a BMW 330i with the following parts and tuning

Racing Exhaust
Racing Chip
N/A Tuning Stage 1
Racing Brakes
Racing Suspension
Fully Customisable Transmission
Triple Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Stiffness
Wing
Fully Customisable LSD
S1 tyres
Oil Change

Suspension:
Spring rate=f10.4 r9.0
Height=f90 r92
Dampers Bound=f6 r5
Dampers Rebound=f10 r9
Camber=f2.3 r1.0
Toe=f-1 r1
Stabilizers=f5 r5

Downforce
Front=24 Rear=30

LSD
Initial Torque=20
Acceleration=30
Deceleration=20

Transmission
Click Default, then adjust auto settings, then final, then individual gears.
1st:3.777
2nd:2.592
3rd:1.913
4th:1.479
5th:1.298
6th:1.016
Final:3.150
Auto:11

(I know that there is no change to transmission settings, but that is how I ran the race)

The lineup I faced was:
Lotus Motorsport Elise
Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG
TVR T350C
TVR Cerbera Speed 6
Shelby Series 1 Supercharged

Now, I know that I am not a hugely fast driver, but I was able to pull about 14 seconds lead over the Motorsport Elise each stint, running an 11 lap stint each time (same as the Elises). Car is understeery and stable, and as long as you look after the front tyres it is quite easy to gain 200 points from this race.

Austin343

fast-forward and set to the Benny Hill music

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So that's what that music is called. And funny video.

I really need to decrease in my laziness of mostly using the B-Spec mode. I sure am missing out on a lot of racing experiences.

PF

Great work GTsail!

You mentioned via PM that you were using a Merc and I hoped it was the Evo, but forgot to mention that in the message; it's one of my favourite cars.

A couple of questions: how 'used' was the car? did you run it stock (sans AIDS)? and did you need to hunt for a lineup or just take the first one?

Haven't been able to test the other car we talked about; we've got a 9yo staying so the only thing the PS2 does is blast Tekken 2 through my 200w speakers.

Click to expand...

Thanks PF

My Mercedes 190 E 2.5-16 Evo '91 started the race with about 150 miles on the odometer (it now has 535.6 miles). It was purchased from the Mercedes dealer for $67k (a bargain:tup. I'm afraid its no where near stock, I've tossed on every upgrade that the Mercedes dealer had(I have just added the settings to my original post). The Mercedes could win this race with fewer upgrades than what I tossed at it, but I had everything available so this is how it ran. As for the lineup, it was number 8 from a console reset, so you should be able to find it easily if you would like to give it a try.

Respectfully,
GTsail

Nice going on these Nurb 4hr events, good to see some variation. Now, how about some variation for the SS 150 Miles event? I have a feeling my trusty Mazda Carol doesn't have the legs for that one.

nemesis01

Nice going on these Nurb 4hr events, good to see some variation. Now, how about some variation for the SS 150 Miles event? I have a feeling my trusty Mazda Carol doesn't have the legs for that one.

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Maybe I dig my Pitwork Z out for this event once BOB has finished his 24hr race at Nurburgring


Edit:
Only 137pts with the Pitwork


Respectfully

raVer

Nurburgring 4 hour Endurance race - for 200 A-spec points

Quite enjoying the German manufacturers, I thought I would try another, so sitting in the back of my garage was a gleeming yellow Mercedes-Benz SLK 230 Kompressor '98 that was just asking to be taken for a spin!

After driving it around the neighborhood for a few miles with the top down, I took it to the MB dealer and had them install some upgrades to give me a chance. Arriving at the 'Ring, I put up the hard-top, strapped on my helmet and checked out the competition. They looked tough!

Jaguar XKR R-Performance '02
Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R '00
Chevy Corvette Grand Sport C4 '96
Mazda RX-8 Type S '03
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR GSR '04
Mercedes SLK 230 Kompressor '98 (me)

At the start, my Mercedes Kompressor had 217 horsepower, S1 tires all around, and Ballast of 45kg (full details after the race), and 33,070 miles on the odometer.

From the start, I can tell that its going to be a battle with a very fast Jaguar XKR. I'm able to take over second place in the race going thru Adenaur Forst on lap # 1. The first 4 laps are all about battling with the Jaguar for supremacy. The Jag is very fast down the straights, but I can pull up on its bumper thru many of the turns. The other cars are battling amongst themselves about 5 or 6 seconds back.

I begin lap 5 just behind the Jaguar and execute a smooth pass going thru the left-hand sweeper just after the T1 checkpoint (I don't slow down thru Flugplatz). I'm able to pull away during lap 5 as the Jaguar's tires wear out. I've got a 6 second lead over the Jaguar when I pit at the end of lap 5 for tires. The Jaguar follows me into the pits, closely followed by the Mazda RX-8 and the Mustang SVT into the pits. The Corvette Grand Sport sweeps into the lead of the race while we are all taking on fuel and tires.

As I begin lap 6, the Corvette Grand Sport has a 12 second lead over me in second. I chase hard during lap 6, but can only knock 2 seconds off the Corvette Grand Sports lead by the T11 checkpoint even though the Corvette's tires should be worn out. The Corvette pits at the end of lap 6, and I drive by and take over the lead of the race.

By the time I'm driving thru Ex-Muhle on lap 7, I been able to stretch my lead to 25 seconds over the Corvette Grand Sport, so I'm on my way.

The 2 Hour Mark is passed with the cars as follows:

2nd -- Jaguar XKR -- 28 seconds back
3rd -- Mazda RX-8 -- 40 seconds back
4th -- Corvette GS -- 47 seconds back
5th -- Mitsubishi EVO -- 1 minute, 25 seconds back
6th -- Mustang SVT -- 1 minute, 33 seconds back

I push hard for the rest of the race because the SLK Kompressor is a sweet ride, and I'm enjoying the race.

The Jaguar and the Corvette trade 2nd place back and forth between them during the rest of the race. The Jaguar is faster, but the Corvette can drive further on each stint. The Mazda RX-8 is close behind for the first 3 hours, but then falls away from the other two cars after that. The Mustang and the Mitsubishi EVO trade 5th and 6th place back and forth as well due to their different tire strategies.

After 29 laps the finishing order is as follows:

Mercedes SLK Kompressor (me) -- 4.01.14.404
Corvette Grand Sport --- 1 minute, 50 seconds back
Jaguar XKR --- 1 minute, 51 seconds back
Mazda RX-8 --- 2 minutes, 30 seconds back
Mitsubishi EVO --- 3 minutes, 30 seconds back
Mustang SVT --- 3 minutes, 50 seconds back

My winning margin is a bit more than was expected, but I was driving hard during the last two hours. My best lap was lap # 27, with a 8.09.569

I will post my specs later.

My SLK 230 Kompressor's stats:
Horsepower: 217
Weight: 1370
Sports Exhaust
Racing Chip
Stage 1 NA Tuning
Port Polish
Racing brakes
Brake controller: 8/9
Semi-racing suspension
Custom trans: Auto slider @ # 8
Twin-plate clutch
Semi-racing flywheel
Aids: 0,0,1
1.5 way Ltd slip
Ballast: 45, +4 to the rear

Happy racing,
GTsail

Nurburgring 4hr endurance race - 200 A-spec Points

After a restless close season, naturally I was delighted to receive my gilt-edged invitation to the 62nd revival of the Ancien Pilotes Assn.'s 4h hours of endurance at that classic Eiffel mountain circuit, the Nurburgring Nordschleiffe. Knowing my good friend, the Count Hans Dieter Peter Gleuben-Schreuben would be driving his factory prepared Opel Speedster Turbo, I wanted to put on a good show, so cast about my small garage for a suitable steed. Seeing only a tired old Elan S1, my daily driver Camaro SS, and a dilapidated Giulia Sprint Speciale under a tarp at the back, I settled upon my '00 Lotus Elise 111R track car, with 12,000 miles of hard usage, but recently upgraded at the shop. http://www.gtvault.com/gt4/setup-view/s_sid::8276/Elise-111R-Dotini2001/

Also starting at this prestigious event were a Mazda RX-8 Type S, Jaguar S-Type R, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, and a Ford Focus RS. Hans and I started 5th and 6th.

Although my Elise could go 5+ laps on S1's, I seized on a strategy of S1/S2 to start the race, switching to S2's all-around at the 1st stop. This would match Han's 4 lap stints, allowing me to keep a close watch over him. On lap 28 of the 30 scheduled, I planned to take on S3's as my hole card in case the race was close.

In the event, Hans spun his tires at the start, my rear S2's hooked up and I quickly got to the lead by Aremburg on the first lap. Despite climbing to 2nd, Hans had a troubled first lap and clouted the barrier at the final chicane in his Speedster, reversing painfully across the course, hitting another wall, and reversing yet again, losing 18 seconds in the awful process. Hans soon recovered, and my comfy gap gradually narrowed to 5 seconds at the 1st round of stops, after which it expanded, then narrowed again at the 2nd stops. At the stops on lap 16, Hans, likely hurrying to replace his Schnapps bottle into the glove box, unaccountably missed the pitlane, and lost almost 5 minutes on his next disastrous red-tired lap! Naturally I drove sedately to the finish, commiserating with Hans after the race, and finishing off the remainder his flask in deepest sympathy.

(After 30 laps of racing, at 4:01'25.627, I led at the flag by 4'43.)

Hey Dotini, That will teach Hans to drink and drive .

As usual I have to pick myself up from the floor after reading your reports.

OA

Nice race report Dotini!

AMG.

Dotini

Nurburgring 4hr endurance race - 200 A-spec Points

After a restless close season, naturally I was delighted to receive my gilt-edged invitation to the 62nd revival of the Ancien Pilotes Assn.'s 4h hours of endurance at that classic Eiffel mountain circuit, the Nurburgring Nordschleiffe. Knowing my good friend, the Count Hans Dieter Peter Gleuben-Schreuben would be driving his factory prepared Opel Speedster Turbo, I wanted to put on a good show, so cast about my small garage for a suitable steed. Seeing only a tired old Elan S1, my daily driver Camaro SS, and a dilapidated Giulia Sprint Speciale under a tarp at the back, I settled upon my '00 Lotus Elise 111R track car, with 12,000 miles of hard usage, but recently upgraded at the shop. http://www.gtvault.com/gt4/setup-view/s_sid::8276/Elise-111R-Dotini2001/

Also starting at this prestigious event were a Mazda RX-8 Type S, Jaguar S-Type R, Alfa Romeo 147 GTA, and a Ford Focus RS. Hans and I started 5th and 6th.

Although my Elise could go 5+ laps on S1's, I seized on a strategy of S1/S2 to start the race, switching to S2's all-around at the 1st stop. This would match Han's 4 lap stints, allowing me to keep a close watch over him. On lap 28 of the 30 scheduled, I planned to take on S3's as my hole card in case the race was close.

In the event, Hans spun his tires at the start, my rear S2's hooked up and I quickly got to the lead by Aremburg on the first lap. Despite climbing to 2nd, Hans had a troubled first lap and clouted the barrier at the final chicane in his Speedster, reversing painfully across the course, hitting another wall, and reversing yet again, losing 18 seconds in the awful process. Hans soon recovered, and my comfy gap gradually narrowed to 5 seconds at the 1st round of stops, after which it expanded, then narrowed again at the 2nd stops. At the stops on lap 16, Hans, likely hurrying to replace his Schnapps bottle into the glove box, unaccountably missed the pitlane, and lost almost 5 minutes on his next disastrous red-tired lap! Naturally I drove sedately to the finish, commiserating with Hans after the race, and finishing off the remainder his flask in deepest sympathy.

(After 30 laps of racing, at 4:01'25.627, I led at the flag by 4'43.)

Click to expand...

Awesome report 👍


Respectfully

raVer

At last, I've finished what is without a doubt the most grueling race in GT4.

1. BMW M5 '05: S1 tires, no driving aids, no oil change, otherwise stock; 196 laps completed in 24:00'09.229. Fastest lap 7'09.064, pits every three laps.
2. BMW M3 GTR Race Car '01: +3.4 laps, pits every six laps.
3. Audi A4 Touring Car '04: +3.7 laps, pits every six laps.
4. Nissan Falken GT-R Race Car '04: +4 or 5 laps, pits every five laps.
5. Opel Calibra Touring Car '94: +6 or 7 laps, pits every six laps.
6. Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (JGTC) '01: +16 or so laps, pits every seven laps.

I would have been able to complete 197 laps had I not driven past the pits on lap 186, a thirty-five second blunder that, ironically, resulted from my attempting to calculate how fast I needed to drive from then on in order to begin lap 197 in time. 199 laps would be possible with abuse of the redline, curbs, and grass (within OLR rules), in combination with pinpoint accuracy and very few crashes.

The curb- and grass-free driving that I was aiming to perform earlier in the race degenerated into some pretty sloppy cornering that featured not only a lot of grass usage and curb hopping but also off-track moments and instances of contact with walls and AI. I wasn't intentionally putting two wheels in grass to optimize cornering speed, but I also wasn't taking measures as I was earlier to ensure that I avoided it. The 7'09.064 lap from early in the race remained the fastest of the race, but I did get a 7'09.4 with quite a bit of unintentional grass usage near the end, and a 7'09.8 in the middle with honest but not entirely successful efforts to avoid it. Annoyingly, I never did end up with a clean hour, but I did, at least, complete the final lap of my A-Spec point "career" without ever touching a curb or grass, although my lap time did admittedly suffer as a result (7'18). My failures with regard to cleanliness can be attributed in part to the degradation of the chassis, which gave rise to unexpected moments of understeer and, more importantly, noticeable instability over bumps. Hitting a curb or a dip in the wrong way in the white-knuckle stretch around T9 generally led to the now very jittery car's shooting off unbidden into the guardrail, and upon cresting Pfugplatz, it sometimes went in (almost literally!) five directions at once. The car also lost fully seven horsepower over the course of the race, which had a significant impact on lap times. Admittedly, the race did become quite tiresome in its latter stages. However, that can be expected in a 24-hour race, and the novelty value of the car choice may outweigh that drawback to some extent.

Weirdly, the 196 laps that I completed in this race, my last for 111813 points, equaled the 196 laps that I finished in the Roadster 4 hour endurance, arguably the hardest race in the game and the one that got me "over the hump" towards maximum points. Maybe there's some meaning in that.

I am officialy depressed, just lost the Super Speedway endurance race for 200pts by 0.186 seconds having led on the last lap, and only needing to block 1 car to win.



BTW, was not using the black mazda as most people favour, was using an Audi R8. Will try again I suppose, although am pretty mad atm.



Edit - Bwahahahahahaha, victory is mine.

Super Speedway 150 Miles - 200PTS
Car: Audi R8 Race Car '01 (9000+ Miles On The Clock, 717BHP)
Mods: R1/R1, NOS, DF @ 63/88 , Ballast @ 120, Old Oil, Auto Tranny @ 18, FG @ 3.5
Lineup: #3 (NTSC Version) I think which consisted of:

Pescarolo Courage C60 Race Car
Nissan R89C Race Car
Nissan R92CP Race Car
Bentley Speed 8 Race Car
Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car

Wow, am so happy. I knew this race was possible in something other than the black Mazda 787B and now have proved myself right. First attempt didn't go well as you can see above, but was determined and got it on the 2nd go. Actually losing the 1st time was good as I was able to refine my strategy for the 2nd attempt.

I opted for the Audi as I had worn it down a lot and it still had a lot of power, the good thing about this setup is that you don't have to take off all your downforce (I used max downforce on front & rear), you don't need to use 200 ballast and you don't need to use manual transmission. Also after the 1st pit it get's easier as you can switch front tires to R2 to make for better cornering.

I am not good at doing race reports, but I do remember the important things.

Pitted for 1st time lap 40 in 2nd place, filled up fuel and switched to R2 tires on the front, came out of pits in 5th I think over a lap behind.

Started to get the deficit reduced pretty quickly as I could now take the 1st turn at much better speeds and a lot smoother, still had to wallride the smaller turn but could now do that while maintaining at least 160MPH. BTW it is better if you go into the smaller turn slightly wide of the racing line and try to ride the wall near the yellow Nikon sign.

Pitted again on lap 70, new tires and took fuel to only 55 units as I had calculated that was how much I would need for the remaining 30 laps on my previous attempt. Emerged from pits way behind, over 1 lap again.

Got worried as the minolta pitted on lap 77, earlier than I hoped he would as I didn't want to spend 20+ laps fending him off, didn't matter anyway as I got in front of him by about 6 seconds when he was out the pits and was in 1st place.

I was now on green tires, getting a lot of grip and slowly extended my lead each lap, also I made sure I had saved some NOS but it was not needed, drafted some of the back markers and was over 11secs in front when I took the chequered flag.

Stats:
Total Time: 0:50'37.806
Best Lap: 28.901
MOV: 0'11.028

The Minolta is the only challenger in this game, the 2 nissan's do hang in there but are never in contention so you only need worry about 1 car.

And that concludes my most satisfying win since I started playing this game.👍

Also, I saved the replay and took a pic of my victory screen if anyone wants to see.