550PP Results
All cars were tested for 5 laps, using DS3 controller.
XDesperado67 Caldina
Tsukuba: 58.515 (+2.1)
Suzuka: 2:12.731 (+3.8)
Comments: Quite understeery in all stages of cornering, this really hurt it at Tsukuba's final sweeper. I felt the gearing didn't suit Tsukuba either, it bogged down out of corners in 2nd, 1st was quicker (made possible by excellent traction) and better for balance but the extra gearchange (into 2nd) hurt it in the race to the next corner. At Suzuka, the understeer was less noticeable.
Very easy to produce consistent laptimes and a great car for novice drivers, but it didn't float my boat sorry.
krenkme LFA (blue)
Tsukuba: 57.442 (+1.1)
Suzuka: 2:11.573 (+2.6)
Comments: As soon as I jumped in the drivers seat at Tsukuba, I fell in love with how this car drives. A great tune for jumping into and feeling at home in immediately. It felt so fast, I thought it was going to smash my previous Japanese Celebration 550PP lap record. However, the stopwatch begged to differ, since the lap times were only marginally faster than the HSC. Eventually I realised much of its pace is from straight-line grunt, mid-corner speeds are a bit low and braking distanes are long compared with the ferocity at which it hurls itself out of a corner. At Suzuka, I found myself struggling with entry understeer, the poor performance under brakes makes me wonder if all that ballast in the front bumper is actually a good thing. I will be very interested to see how other testers times compare between this car and the HSC. I suspect this could be much faster for expert drivers, but novices like myself find them producing roughly the same lap times.
Still, it's great fun. Kudos for designing gears which work great at both tracks. The sharp turn-in and wonderful throttle steerability are more important than any readings from a G-force data logger.
VTiRoj NSX
Tsukuba: 57.490 (+1.1)
Suzuka: 2:11.285 (+2.3)
Comments: Extrememly quick, but also very demanding on the driver. Needs an aggressive driving style, yet also with precision and subtlety. Pushing hard reveals a tendancy of the rear sliding deep in the braking zone, which on one hand makes the handling more adjustable but on the other hand sometimes time is wasted tidying it up. Similar story with the throttle on the way out, the throttle-steerability is wonderful but it's a fine line before you push it too far and end up facing backwards. I'm sure better drivers will get much quicker times, personally I found it an achievement just to put together a single lap without any lawnmowing!
Kudos for designing gears which work great at both tracks. A ferocious tune, that will both challenge and delight expert drivers.
Hermanvongerman STi (green)
Tsukuba: 57.776 (+1.4)
Suzauka: 2:13.311 (+4.3)
Comments: Holy entry oversteer, Batman! Is one of the kids playing with the handbrake?! Likewise on the way out, with a bit of planning it can pull off some impressive driftu. But is any of this fast? Ummm...no. The body moves around on the suspension a lot during cornering, often causing unpredictable handling. Also, beneath the pedal-induced sidewaysness, the balance is quite understeery, in fact the power oversteer isn't that useful since once the rear regains grip, you've suddenly got a fair bit of understeer to deal with. Around Suzuka, it actually feels like an old-school muscle car due to the poor braking, wallowy suspension and power oversteer. Despite a similar lap time to the Skyline, the two cars couldn't feel any more different: the Skyline's enthusiasm urges the driver to achieve cornering greatness, while the STi needs to be manhandled just to make it to the exit in one piece. Kudos for designing gears which work great at both tracks.
The lime green paint is easily seen through tyre smoke, and for this purpose the car is a hoot!
CSLACR LFA (orange)
Tsukaba: 57.131 (+0.8)
Suzuka: 2:10.256 (+1.3)
Comments: Fast and nicely balanced. Sports Soft tyres are no match for this engine out of slower corners, so it's hard to know whether to try to sniff out traction in 1st or just grunt it out in 2nd. Kudos for designing gearing that works well at both tracks. Just some minor nitpicking- a bit more exit front grip would be nice, and for me this was a hard car to feel the limit of (not sure why). But by all objective standards it's a great handling car, so well done.
ACSR421 HSC '04 (green wheels)
Tsukuba: 57.122 (+0.7)
Suzuka: 2:09.675 (+0.8)
Comments: Very fast, yet at Tsukuba it was twitchy on the limit, so it is a difficult car to drive at full pace. As a DS3 user, I wonder if this tune was built using a wheel? It seems ultra sensitive to steering inputs and I suspect the LSD is setup to provide maximum adjustability for the pedal-using driver, however with the (less accurate) DS3 stick it is easy to overcook the throttle and have the rear start to come around. The agility does make for excellent lap times: slam down the throttle, ride out the wheelspin and watch the opposition disappear into the rear view mirror.
Meanwhile at Suzuka the pace is just as phenomenal but a lot less tempermental too. The driver needs to keep in mind that there is a lot of "super LSD" going on (so don't get scared when the rear continues to arc) and body movement is a bit loose (so take care when throwing the weight around). But keep these in mind and it all makes sense at Suzuka. Much more stable handling, yet still very adjustable. Without the bumps, traction out of slow corners is much better and it flows between corners wonderfully. Kudos for designing gear ratios which work great at both tracks. Summary: Unruly fast at Tsukuba, sublime and fast at Suzuka.
Praiano63 HSC '03 (grey)
Tsukuba: 57.706 (+1.3)
Suzuka: 2:11.772 (+2.8)
Comments: Lacks traction when turning, so the driver nedds to wait until lock is removed before applying full throttle. Actually, I think the Suzuka gearing would also be better for Tsukuba, the shorter gearing isn't much help because it's traction-limited anyway. Otherwise, a great tune- very controllable, nice balance and excellent cornering speeds.
Motor City Hami LFA (green)
Tsukuba: 57.076 (+0.7)
Suzuka: 2:09.562 (+0.6)
Driver's choice: 10 points
Comments: I love it! Nitpicking first: for the first couple of laps, I felt the dive under brakes was "abrupt" (damper settings perhaps?), but soon I got used to it and didn't notice it. Also, it struggles for traction exiting bumpy corners. But back to the gushing praise. Balance is brilliant, adjustability is brilliant, gearing is spot on. This car just fitted me like a glove. Do I really have to give it back?!
sheephead99 R34
Tsukubas: 58.117 (+1.7)
Suzuka: 2:13.263 (+4.3)
Comments: Let's start with the bad stuff first: this car does not like Tsukuba. Actually, I should say "I don't like this car at Tsukuba"! Very nice turn-in, however it turns into understeer for mid-corner and exit. Very easy to run wide on exit, the power understeer means that you often have to wait to get on the throttle and ironically watch the RWD opposition blast away out of slower corners. Feels stiff and upset by bumps in the track. Sorry to sound harsh, but this tune didn't float my boat. Good brakes and actually cornering speeds are quite high, if it weren't for the straight line speed disadvantage, I suspect it would be able to match the slower of the HSC and LFA's times.
Now for the good stuff: it loooooves Suzuka. Feels like there is less understeer, and what remains is actually helpful at a tricky track like Suzuka. I was daydreaming during my out-lap, but on returning to reality on the front straight I realised "hey, I've just put in a really clean lap. No sweat". That is a massive achievement. Kudos for designing gears which work great at both tracks. In turn 1 at Suzuka it gobbles up the blue LFA, with fluid and adjustable cornering. Even more impressive is that it can keep pace with the blue LFA for the first half of the lap, despite the significant straight-line disadvantage.
Onboy123
Tsukuba: 57.213 (+0.8)
Suzuka: 2:11.484 (+2.5)
Driver's choice: 5 points
Comments: This is an STi that would do Bunta Fujiwara proud! Actually, in the way it "teaches the driver" it's actually similar to his son's panda. The only possible "not so gushing" comment is that if you slide the rear on entry, it can take a while for the chassis to regain composure, however this could also be seen as a lesson to the driver about being more discipled with the weight transfer.
Expecting it to fun, yet limited by its origins as a shopping trolley, I was in for a surpise when the lap times came through. At Tsukuba it is up with the "big boys" of the LFAs and HSCs, which is amazing. The high speed front grip is incredible, the sweeping turns of Suzuka could be taken flat where most other cars needed a small lift. Kudos for designing gearing which works great at both tracks. This car is so well balanced and adjustable, anything is possible. Brilliant.
SolidSnake7735
Tsukuba: 57.691 (+1.3)
Suzuka: 2:11.300 (+2.3)
Comments: Wonderfully agile. At Tsukuba, the limiting factor is traction out of the bumpy corners. Occasionally the LSD just spins the outside wheel. The ability to kick the rear out on demand with the throttle is very useful, (not just for showboating! but also) to reposition the car if a braking or turn-in point is missed. Very nicely balanced, nice work.
Ugabugaz LFA (pink)
Tsukuba: 57.113 (+0.7)
Suzuka: 2:09.445 (+0.5)
Comments: Decent balance, with a gentle understeer stance. I don't understand the purpose of the super-short gearing at Tsukuba- 1st and 2nd are only good for creating smoke! The stiff ride seems to reduce traction out of Tsukuba's tight, bumpy corners. On the plus side, at Tsukuba this tune works well for the feet! What I mean by this is it is nicely adjustable using either the throttle or brake.
Over at Suzuka, the "super LSD" oversteer was actually a bit much and unintentionally caused the car to rotate when I just wanted it to power out in a straight line. The smooth circuit suited the stiff suspension a lot better. The good news continues when looking at the Suzuka timing boards...right near the pointy end of the field, congratulations!
Rotary Junkie
Tsukuba: 56.374 (1st)
Suzuka: 2:08.962 (1st)
Comments: Took me a while to get a feel for the cars rhythm at Tsukuba. Suspension is quite jiggly over bumps and the balance errs towards understeer. Passing the pit board delivered a very pleasant surprise: pole position! Excellent stability under brakes, in fact even when I put a wheel onto the grass, it still pulled up straight.
At Suzuka, the story for this Kia gets even better. Not only does it pull out the fastest lap, but I found the balance to be a lot more neutral here. Kudos for designing gearing which works great at both tracks.