RUF BTR '86 ROBIN REVIEW
Conditions: DS2 controller, steering sensitivity 0, v2.00, offline, grip reduction real, tyre/fuel off, Grand Valley Speedway
Parts Only (default settings, except LSD 5/5/5)
*edit* whoops, forgot to turn my rough notes into some form of understandable prose before!
Having recently spent some time with a Yellowbird on racing softs, the difference in handling of the BTR was surprising. The Yellowbird didn't trademark Porsche lift-off oversteer, but this BTR does. The BTR is more stable in all other situations though. Lots of dive and squat was present. And, like any RR, once the rear starts to slide you've gotta be aware that there's a lot of mass back there swinging in the breeze. Mild power understeer in some situations.
Even at low speed, there's a fine line between excellent turn-in and spinning out! One very strange phenomenon I noticed in the tunnel was the front grip came and went a few times. I've often seen front grip temporarily reduce after turn-in, but never multiple cycles of is through a corner like this. Somehow it felt like car was underdamped and bouncing on its springs through the whole corner.
*/edit*
Lap time 1:58.9
MFT TUNE
Expert rating? No kidding! MFT has taken the more stable BTR and turned it into a fearful Yellowbird-esque widow-maker. Much greater agility goes hand-in-hand with a more oversteery basic balance. Once things start deviating from the plan, the driver faces a complex choice: more steering, less steering, more throttle, less throttle. The only universal truth is that braking in such a situation is a very bad idea! The weird coming and going grip thing in the tunnel has thankfully been dialled out somehow. To take the edge off the steering response, I turned down the controller steering sensitivity from 0 to -2. But, surprisingly, the car was actually easier to control with the higher setting.
Speaking of controller users, the massive accel value lighting up the outside rear means Instant Power Oversteer, even on partial throttle. I can see that it's a good way to overcome the car's tendancy to power understeer, but using a controller and with such a peaky engine means that spins are always on the agenda. In the end, I found that LSD settings of 40/15/45 were more "thumb-friendly", allowing me to push closer to the limit and exploit the slingshot acceleration of 2nd gear. But the lap time improvement below (in unmodified MFT-spec) speaks for itself.
Lap time: 1:55.1
I really admire that you have the cahones to release such a knife-edge tune, and I only wish I had the driving skills to make use of it properly!
