Car magazine tests GT5 virtual v reality at Laguna Seca

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d1ffuse

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The november issue of Wheels magazine (Australia) takes an Audi R8 V10 to Laguna Seca, both in GT5 and in reality. I wrote the article. Okay, not a new idea, it's been done in magazines and top gear TV before but not with GT5. And anyway who wouldn't grab the chance to have an Audi R8 and Laguna Seca all to yourself for four hours?
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The idea was to see how closely GT5 replicates reality, in all aspects. I also wanted to see if I could mirror my GT5 times, but I placed a few restrictions on my Virtual Laps.

1. Comfort medium tyres. According to Digital Polyphony, these most closely replicate the grip characteristics of the real car's road tyres.
2. No crashing. My Virtual session ends when I hit a wall, just like it would in the real world. That made it really hard to set good lap times straight away - after months playing on racing slicks the CMs grip like ice on oil.
3. When the road car's brake pads wear, my real world session is over.

The end result... Well, here's a quick video photographer Chris Benny shot on the day.



Cheers all, hope you like it. For the benefit of overseas readers, I'll post the full article here after Wheels magazine has been on sale for a week or so. They funded the article, so they should get first shot at publishing it.

Edit: it's November 4 now, so here's the article link.
 
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👍 well done

how do you explain the 1 sec time difference? is it the game's lack of realism, tire/break wear on real car after a few laps, fear factor (wouldnt want to crash that R8 coming up to the corkscrew) or was it you couldn't replicate similar lap times (since it is hard to get consistent lap times be it in real life or in a game)

also is it in one section that you think you lost time or just marginal increments evenly spread out? (hard to tell from video, since it is a small difference we are talking about)
 
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lunarwolf
👍 well done

how do you explain the 1 sec time difference? is it the game's lack of realism, tire/break wear on real car after a few laps, fear factor (wouldnt want to crash that R8 coming up to the corkscrew) or was it you couldn't replicate similar lap times (since it is hard to get consistent lap times be it in real life or in a game)

also is it in one section that you think you lost time or just marginal increments evenly spread out?
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I'd like to bet five bucks on it being FEAR.
 
I can't see comfort mediums being the equivalent, regardless, I'm completely jealous of you right now!
 
You'd win the five bucks. I think it was fear, or more accurately fear of the heightened consequences of any transgression. And not just for my physical wellbeing but also a desire to return the car to Audi with all body panels in original nick.
Also the real car requires more finesse than GT5's. Smoother throttle and brake applications, more progressive steering, etc.

One aspect of the GT5 track that isn't correct are those red blocks at the apex of each corner. On the real track they are raised a good six inches. The track manger calls them suspension killers. So definitely not cutting corners like I can on GT5 turn 4 for example.
 
As for corner speeds, not spot on accurate but close enough to be impressive nonetheless, roughly within 3%. The comfort mediums seemed about right in terms of braking points as well. One area the virtual car had a notable advantage was in straightline acceleration. It built speed quicker.

For example, my virtual speed out of the last corner was 53km/h compared to 57 in reality. By the start line virtual was 178 to 176 and by the braking mark for turn two it was well ahead: 210 to 199.
 
Somebody accidently dropped a load of grass seeds in the GT5 version, sneaky buggers! Nice lap and cool video, good job!
 
This is great to see. Thanks so much for posting it here.

I can't wait to read the entire article. Would love more info about the process - what wheel you used, were you using any electronic aids either in the real car or the virtual versions, etc.
 
There is also a deep ditch that separates coming out of pit lane and the down hill straight right before the first corner.

1:41 is a good time for a non pro driver, I have done 1:43 in a shifter kart. My brothers done a 1:37...
Love that track along with Infineon.
 
I use a logitech G27 wheel mounted to a very unglamorous outdoor table. I'll post a pic when I can. And all driver aids are off in virtual and reality. No TC, no ESP, only ABS because it's not switchable on the car.
 
That shows really well how people overestimate the grip of real tires when comparing to the ones in the game. Everyone and their mothers would say that a supercar as the Audi R8 would have at least Sport Hard tires, although with tires two grades less, it was yet faster in the game.

I love driving sports cars on CS tires, it feels very realistic. I'll have to start trying some with CM.
 
Here is another comparsion where the time is even closer and the 'tuning' very close as well. I believe, this has been posted before as well...


 
By the way, I would like to know how the handling compares between real and game. Are the physics from the Audi R8 well modeled in the game? Since you drove in the game with a G27, you should be able to answer.
 
Also every one should keep in mind Laguna Seca is a GT4 track. It does not have the accuracy modern GT5 tracks have (the Ring or Spa). Considering that it's even more impressive!
 
He must have done this before Spec 2. It would have made a bit of a difference, but this is ok. Have you tried the R8 since Spec 2 and compared it with the real lap time? Also, thanks a lot for finding out what tires are the proper ones. But how would a ZR-1 possibly be able to be driven with speed around corners? I'm scared to.

Thanks for posting this here. Great work.

psavi
That shows really well how people overestimate the grip of real tires when comparing to the ones in the game. Everyone and their mothers would say that a supercar as the Audi R8 would have at least Sport Hard tires, although with tires two grades less, it was yet faster in the game.

I love driving sports cars on CS tires, it feels very realistic. I'll have to start trying some with CM.
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I will for sure.

sugarload
Here is another comparsion where the time is even closer and the 'tuning' very close as well. I believe, this has been posted before as well...


Click to expand...

Not as many people as I would have thought have seen this. Very recently someone posted this and there were many people seeing it for the first time.
 
Very nice vid, love your work and the article was a great read. Never wouldve really thought that comfort meds were closest to real tyres, so Ill certaily have to give it a go.
 
Funnily enough I caught a repeat of the Top Gear show in the NSX at Laguna the other day. Immediately had a go in GT5 in the stock (+ oil change) NSX type R '02. Managed a 1.40.5xx using clutch and manual H shift. That was Sports hards tho. Going to try this now for a laugh.

IIRC there's a thread about Tyres and what mimic reality best. I believe (from memory) that one step down from GT5 default was the most accurate. But according to this it's two steps?
 

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