Okay, I think I'm done for now. I had 2 sessions with each car and at this point I doubt I'd get another second off most of these runs so I think they're pretty fairly rated for my driving ability (or lack thereof.
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RESULTS:
Onboy - Garaiya - 7:43.833 (8/10)
Fun fun fun! Like a wing-less Elise. Unfortunately slow slow slow! I tried to get it to beat at least one other car, I really did, but I failed.
It even felt fast while driving it, unfortunately the clock did not agree.
NEWDRIVER2 - Impreza WRX '99 - 7:42.796 (6/10, could have been 8-9/10 - see description)
This car handled nicely for me right off the bat. I was enjoying the ride quite a bit until... until I wanted to exit a hairpin and put the hammer down for a straightaway. That's when I discovered a nasty bit of understeer. The car handles nicely at slower speeds, it's just when you're finishing the corner exit that it caused me problems. I was a bit disappointed by the final times I was getting with it, so I tried a premium Impreza with similar power/weight and had no trouble getting a 7:39. Then just for kicks I tried applying this tune to the Spec C '04. Then the tune really came alive for me, easily getting a 39 on my first try. I don't think all Imprezas are made the same in GT5 and a better choice of Subaru would have greatly improved my result.
Desperado - Celica - 7:42.360 (6/10)
Fastest 4WD by a wide margin... in a straight line. Unfortunately drives as if it's on comfort softs and has no brakes.
Sorry Desperado, underdog cars can be fun but on a long track like this for a mediocre driver like myself, too many botched laps just lead to frustration. I think the Celica's trying a bit too hard at 500pp.
SolidSnake - RX8 - 7:40.245 (6/10)
As mentioned already by other testers, I think the gearing was the biggest problem with this car. Just as you're exiting a corner and putting your foot down... you hit that extra looonng 3rd gear and can feel all your speed slipping away. Handling was okay, but it did have issues with a sudden/unexpected loss of grip (Wehrseifen I believe was giving me a lot of trouble.) I find a wing-less RX8 tough to manage at 500pp anyway; I suspect downforce would have improved my times with this car, especially on S/H tires.
LineR32 - Skyline GT-R R32 - 7:38.922 (7/10)
This car was nice to drive, the best of the 4WDs for me. But I felt the downforce was a bit wasted for the extra weight it had to carry. My own setup uses maximum (or close to max) weight reduction with the rest of the points going to bolt-on power and I've managed times a couple seconds faster.
trackripper - Series One - 7:36.222 (8/10)
This is one of my favourite 500pp cars, so I'm verrry picky when it comes to Series 1 tunes. I was happy to find this car had a good setup; not too much different from my own, actually. Personally I would have I would have left the extra weight off and not bothered with as much downforce, but in the end this car gave me about the same lap time I got with my own setup. 👍
HaylRayzor - M3 GTR - 7:36.062 (7/10)
This car made me nervous. Tricky to get on the throttle, afraid it wouldn't turn in after braking, generally afraid I'd wipe out at any second. And after all that, was surprised to hit only 160mph on the straight. Not sure if putting most of your points into weight really helped this car or not. Then again, a 7:36 is a pretty good time for me so in the end it was a pleasant surprise after the stress of driving it.
robrabbitman - M3 CSL - 7:34.707 (8/10)
Very nice CSL setup. Lightweight, responsive. The CSL already a great car, this tune didn't ruin anything for me and in fact improved on my best time with my own setup by a few seconds.
Praiano - HSC - 7:33.619 (8/10)
AAAAHHHHHHHH! NOOOOOOOOOOO! YEAAAAHHHHHHHHH! IEEEEEAAAHHHHHH! - Pretty much my thoughts while driving this car.
Interesting gearing, worked very well for this track. Potential for a sub 7:30 time had I been able to perform a clean lap, alas I was not and was forced to post the lap with the fewest (though many
) mistakes.
krenkme - Elise - 7:32.491 (9/10)
Holy Moley, I'm not this good of a driver, that's what this car made me think. So easy to get on the throttle, I totally forgot I was on sport hard tires. So much fun to tear up the technical sections without a care in the world, such a stress-free drive... until I realized I was about to obliterate my PB time.
The only downside is already knowing that the Elise is a bit of a go-kart, but the big win for me was discovering a setup for speed - faster than the M3 GTR on the straight, who would've thought?
