DTM Season 4 - Open Test 1

TS · Aug 5, 2009

The 4th season of GTMSA DTM series is only a few weeks away and I'm giving the competitors a chance to shake down their cars and come up with settings that will provide the closest racing possible.

This is the first of 4 open test sessions that will take place over the next few weeks at tracks that will be on the DTM schedule. During these tests, you can drive whichever car you choose, this isn't an official session and you can use it to help you make your final choice on a car. Don't be afraid to tinker around with tires and power/weight settings either.

How this will work:

Competitors wanting to participate in this test must drive at least one of the cars in one of the classes
Car settings (tires, power & weight), split times, total lap times and average lap times (if you can do that kind of math) will be posted and compared with other data posted by other competitors
The data gathered will be compiled and used to setup the cars to where all the cars have an equal chance of winning (which has been a problem in the past, one car almost always wins)

The first test will be at:

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Couple more notes

When you do the testing, use time trial mode in arcade (Arcade Mode > Time Trial > World Circuits > Laguna > Normal) and post the car name, tires & settings you used.

oldmodelt · Aug 6, 2009

Here are some preliminary times from Laguna. Rather than use A Spec with the human error I BSpec'd it with Bob. I hope this is helpful. I will send in my personal times ASAP.

Here are the parameters I used for all the M Klasse cars.

Arcade Mode > Time Trial > World Circuits > Laguna > Normal
HP & WT (see season 3 settings below)
My BSpec # 9011/99/90/88
Race pace 3
Driving aids ASM/TCS off
Top Speed 260kph - was determined to get each car closest to redline in ASpec by first turn marker # 5 after start
Tires - RM

M-Klasse (courtesy of TS)

Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car (2002)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: +1% (467HP)
Weight: -3% (1047kg)

Audi A4 Touring Car (2004)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: +3% (466HP)
Weight: -3% (1047kg)

Mercedes-Benz CLK Touring Car (2000)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: +6% (468HP)
Weight: +5% (1050kg)

Opel Astra Touring Car (Opel Team Phoenix) (2000)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: +3% (466HP)
Weight: +5% (1050kg)

HTML:

Lap      ABT Audi         Audi A4         MB CLK         Opel Astra   
 1        127.114         127.403        127.622        127.804                 
 2        127.200         127.901        127.806        128.190
 3        127.115         127.816        127.547        127.845
 4        126.712         127.538        127.483        127.821
 5        126.791         127.530        127.539        127.846

Except for the ABT Audi which was the first car I used. All cars had a slight off on the corkscrew at least once. I reset the game after each test so as to not increase my BSpec points. The ABTs faster times might be due to the fact that I used it a lot for the DTM Races in Bspec mode to garner money the cheap way.

As you can see all of the car times are in the same ballpark. I havent done any research but I would guess that the faster drivers are just better period. In the recent GTPLMS races even with the wt. handicap the faster drivers are just that, faster. The wt handicap worked to the effect that it kept the top tier from really running away from the others and kept interest alive. I suspect that without the wt handicaps in effect, the leaders in the GTS class would have been somewhat competitive timewise to the middle of the pack in the LMP class(which doesn't do much for my confidence, LOL).

It looks like a very good job was done in determining the settings in season 3. Kudos to you TS.

Edit: K Klasse specs (courtesy of TS)

Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI Race Car (1993)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: 0% (413HP)
Weight: 0% (1010kg)

Mercedes-Benz AMG 190 E 2.5 - 16 Evolution II Touring Car (1992)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: +9% (410HP)
Weight: +3% (1009kg)

Opel Calibra Touring Car (1995)
Mandatory Race Setup
Power: +3% (432HP)
Weight: -5% (988kg)

TS · Aug 6, 2009

Hmm

I guess your times show how much I can forget things lol, I remember the Audi A4 just dominating last season.

I'm gonna try to to some stuff for k-klasse and have stuff posted by the weekend.

oldmodelt · Aug 6, 2009

TS
Hmm

I guess your times show how much I can forget things lol, I remember the Audi A4 just dominating last season.

I'm gonna try to to some stuff for k-klasse and have stuff posted by the weekend.

Those guys just drive better, I think. :ouch:

edit: In the testing of our own cars do we pm you the results or post them here? :dunce:

InsaneRacer · Aug 8, 2009

Will there be weight penalties to "equalize" the field?

TS · Aug 8, 2009

oldemodelt - Post them here like you did
InsaneRacer - Yes

WVUscion · Aug 9, 2009

Maybe you guys can offer some guidance.

I just started lapping around seca to try and set down a baseline for myself, and my preliminary fastest lap is 1:25.390 with the Opel Astra. I triple checked to make sure that my settings were the same as oldmodeit's and they are. Is there something that I am missing? I am positive I can get a bunch more seconds off with some practice

Edit***

Ended my session tonight with a best time of 1:24.118

oldmodelt · Aug 9, 2009

WVUscion
Maybe you guys can offer some guidance.

I just started lapping around seca to try and set down a baseline for myself, and my preliminary fastest lap is 1:25.390 with the Opel Astra. I triple checked to make sure that my settings were the same as oldmodeit's and they are. Is there something that I am missing? I am positive I can get a bunch more seconds off with some practice

Edit***

Ended my session tonight with a best time of 1:24.118

I'm in that ballpark. Will get more time now that GTPLMS is done.

Here are my splits for the Opel Astra and Calibra using TS's specs. All settings are the same as the BSpec. Five laps each. Throw out the fastest and the slowest. Take middle 3.

Astra - 1'23.490 - 1'25.752 - 1'23.542

Calibra - 1'27.584 - 1'26.685 - 1'28.333

WVUscion · Aug 9, 2009

Forgive me for being inexperienced, but how do we know our split times? Do we just have to remember them as we go along?

oldmodelt · Aug 9, 2009

WVUscion
Forgive me for being inexperienced, but how do we know our split times? Do we just have to remember them as we go along?

After you have finished your laps. Save the replay. You will have it until you erase it. Ghost save will save only the best lap that you ran that session with the current specs.

WVUscion · Aug 10, 2009

Took another stint in the Opel today, same specs as oldmodeit's. My fastest lap was 1:22.980

**EDIT**

No wonder I couldn't figure out how to find the splits, I was racing in arcade single race the whole time and not time trial ha ha. I'll update later this evening with properly recorded times/splits

**EDIT EDIT**

Here are my times when finally using TT Mode

Opel Astra Touring Car (Opel Team Phoenix) (2000)
Tires: RM

T1: 0:21.163
T2: 0:41.279
T3: 1:01.635

1:22.827

raz_10 · Aug 10, 2009

I did some testing last night...

Arcade Mode > Time Trial > World Circuits > Laguna Seca > Normal
All with STOCK settings
Tires - RM
0% HP and KG.

M-Class
•Abt Audi TT-R Touring Car (2002)
2 laps - 1'20.856
•Audi A4 Touring Car (2004)
2 laps - 1'20.467
•Mercedes-Benz CLK Touring Car (2000)
2 laps - 1'20.450
•Opel Astra Touring Car (Opel Team Phoenix) (2000)
2 laps - 1'21.198

K Class Specs

All with STOCK settings
Tires - RM
0% HP and KG.

•Alfa Romeo 155 2.5 V6 TI Race Car (1993)
8 laps - 1'24.087
•Mercedes-Benz AMG 190 E 2.5 - 16 Evolution II Touring Car (1992)
8 laps - 1'24.699
•Opel Calibra Touring Car (1995)
8 laps - 1'24.313

Northstar · Aug 10, 2009

nevermind

InsaneRacer · Aug 11, 2009

Season 3 Settings
Top Speed: 250
Tires: RM
MT

Best Lap Time/Predicted Lap Time

M Class
TT (467/1047)
1'18.389 / 1'18.287

A4 (466/1047)
1'18.402 / 1'18.287

CLK (468/1050)
1'18.417 / 1'18.137

Astra (466/1050)
1'18.440 / 1'18.357

K Class
190 (410/1009)
1'21.502 / 1'21.289

Calibra (432/988)
1'22.609 / 1'22.294

Alfa (413/1010)
1'22.990 / 1'22.828

WVUscion · Aug 11, 2009

I watched some DTM videos on youtube today from the 2009 season to draw some "inspiration" are we going to have the same amount of off track excursions, blatant punting, and ramming into the safety car as is common in the DTM?

EDIT***

Another day, another set of times in the Opel. The only change I made was I switched to RS tires just for kicks to see how it would work out. Fastest time was 1:19.442, and I think I could get a hot lap at upper 1:18.XXX if I brought all the pieces together. However upper 1:19.XXX consistently on the RS tires for me is definitely there. Before I switched to the RS tires I knocked another second off of my RM tire time, was in the 1:21.XXX consistently.

east · Aug 13, 2009

Did a bit of testing for this, here are my results.

Astra
Power/Weight - +3/+5
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best lap - 1.17.855

As this car is the fastest car stock I used it as the mesuring stick. Got this time after 2 laps (after completing a half hour session with the Mercedes).

Audi A4
Power/Weight - +3/-3
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best Lap - 1.17.695

Clearly the fastest car of the lot with the given settings. (Got this time in a similar fasion to the Astra.)

Mercedes
Power/Weight - +6/+5
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best Lap - 1.17.925

Not far off the Astra, but it took much longer to do.

Audi TT
Power/Weight - +1/-3
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best Lap - 1.18.094

Took quite a while to get this time (2 or 3 sessions :crazy:

). Understeer and longer braking distances made it difficult to keep up with the others.

Hope this helps in some way 👍

TS · Aug 13, 2009

east
Did a bit of testing for this, here are my results.

Astra
Power/Weight - +3/+5
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best lap - 1.17.855

As this car is the fastest car stock I used it as the mesuring stick. Got this time after 2 laps (after completing a half hour session with the Mercedes).

Audi A4
Power/Weight - +3/-3
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best Lap - 1.17.695

Clearly the fastest car of the lot with the given settings. (Got this time in a similar fasion to the Astra.)

Mercedes
Power/Weight - +6/+5
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best Lap - 1.17.925

Not far off the Astra, but it took much longer to do.

Audi TT
Power/Weight - +1/-3
Tires RM
Top Speed - 250

Best Lap - 1.18.094

Took quite a while to get this time (2 or 3 sessions ). Understeer and longer braking distances made it difficult to keep up with the others.

Hope this helps in some way 👍

That helps alot. 👍

oldmodelt · Aug 13, 2009

east
Did a bit of testing for this, here are my results.

Astra

Best lap - 1.17.855

Audi A4

Best Lap - 1.17.695

Mercedes

Best Lap - 1.17.925

Audi TT

Best Lap - 1.18.094

Ouch! Can I drive my Bentley to make it fair? lol.

InsaneRacer · Aug 13, 2009

east
Did a bit of testing for this, here are my results.
Astra
Best lap - 1.17.855
Audi A4
Best Lap - 1.17.695
Mercedes
Best Lap - 1.17.925
Audi TT
Best Lap - 1.18.094

Took quite a while to get this time (2 or 3 sessions ). Understeer and longer braking distances made it difficult to keep up with the others.

Hope this helps in some way 👍

My thumbs hurt just from looking at those times. :scared:

I'm with you on the tt, but I did like the way it took the curbs with hardly any wheel spin. 👍

DTM Season 4 - Open Test 1

TS

oldmodelt

TS

oldmodelt

InsaneRacer

TS

WVUscion

oldmodelt

WVUscion

oldmodelt

WVUscion

raz_10

Northstar

The Original Party Worm

InsaneRacer

WVUscion

east

TS

oldmodelt

InsaneRacer

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