'Ring 24h A-spec in the Altezza TC, 92 pts.

I have a few days off before I go back to school, so I decided to attempt one of the three 24-hour endurance races entirely a-spec. Since I have done countless laps on the Nurburgring for Mission 34, I decided to go for that one. I did some research and testing (see this thread) because I wanted to pick a good car for it (guaranteed win, but not overkill). My three main choices were the BMW M3 GTR Race Car, the AMG 190 Touring Car, or the Toyota Altezza Touring Car. In the end, I decided to go with the least powerful of the three, the Altezza. I did some worst-case scenario calculations and figured it would be able to run at least 194-195 laps, which is good enough to beat the toughest A.I. (BMW M3 or Audi TT-R.) So, after two-and-a-half days of on-and-off racing, here is the report:

RACE: Nurburgring 24h
TRACK: Nurburgring Nordschleife (12.89 miles)
CAR: Toyota ALTEZZA Touring Car ‘01

SETTINGS:
-stock except for increased rigidity
-301 HP, 306? HP after oil change/car wash right before race
-R1/R1 (probably could have used R2 rear for equal wear)
-manual transmission, ASM/TCS off
-suspension settings:
15.4/13.8 <- not default
65/70 <- not default
6/6 <- not default
8/8
2.0/1.0
0/0
6/6
-transmission set at Auto 11 (not default)

control: Dual Shock 2 (necessitates thumb breaks 👍 👍 ) I can't find my original DF and haven't invested in a DFP yet.


fastest practice lap: 7’04.177

FIELD (at start):
1. Toyota SUPERAUTOBACS APEX MR-S ‘00
2. AMG Mecedes 190 E Evoll Touring Car ‘92
3. Nissan C-WEST RAZO SILVIA (JGTC) ‘01
4. Nissan FALKEN GT-R Race Car ‘04
5. Opel Calibra Touring Car ‘94
6. Toyota ALTEZZA Touring Car ‘01

A-SPEC POINTS: 92 (I wanted over 100…too bad an M3 or TT-R didn’t show up.)

RACE SUMMARY:

Well, what can you say about a twenty-four hour race? It was very long. I passed the lead car, the 190, after 1 minute and 9 seconds and never lost the lead. (The GT-R quickly took second place.) Up until race time, I was still unsure of my pit schedule, but to my delight, the Altezza easily went 5 laps on a set of super-hards. And, the GT-R also pits every five laps, so I wasn’t losing any time pitting. After the first pit stop, I pretty much knew the race was mine. The Calibra, 190, and Silvia pit every six laps. The MR-S every seven.

I stuck to the 5-lap pit strategy for the whole race with three exceptions. The first two were caused by me forgetting to pit and having to go six laps, which still wasn’t that bad lap time-wise. The third was a semi-conscious decision to stay out on lap 192 to avoid having to pit on the last lap.

I had no trouble pulling a lead on the A.I. The GT-R and the Calibra definitely had the power advantage on my Altezza, though. On a few occasions, I wound up side-by-side with one of these two on the long final stretch and they would beat me in a straight drag. (Of course, I would just drop behind them and draft to the Schikane, then fly past.) On the turns, there was no contest. GT4 A.I. downright sucks and I can run good Nurburgring lines blindfolded. My “specialties” (at least, where I dominate the A.I. most) are Flugplatz and Pflanzgarten II (map), both of which I run at or near full-throttle and frequently find myself flying by a lap car with a 20 mph exit-speed advantage. I also think my car was geared better (something I worked out in practice).

After a while, I gave up trying to write down everything and just focused on key points. I broke the race down into quarters:

QUARTER 1, to lap 50, 6:02’53, ahead by 1 lap
quarter average lap: 7’15.460
quarter average speed: 106.563 mph
on pace for 199 laps

QUARTER 2, to lap 99, 12:01’50, ahead by 3 laps
quarter average lap: 7’19.531
quarter average speed: 105.576 mph
total average lap: 7’17.475
total average speed: 106.072 mph
on pace for 198 laps

QUARTER 3, to lap 148, 18:00’01
quarter average lap: 7’18.592
quarter average speed: 105.802 mph
total average lap: 7’17.845
total average speed: 105.983 mph
on pace for 198 laps

QUARTER 4, to lap 198, 24:05’13.145
quarter average lap: 7’18.243
quarter average speed: 105.886 mph

FINAL TIME: 24:05’13.145
OVERALL AVERAGE LAP: 7’17.945
FASTEST LAP: Lap 9, 7'03.580
TOTAL DISTANCE TRAVELED: 2,552.22 miles
OVERALL AVERAGE SPEED: 105.958 mph

Note: All averages include time spent in pits. Average lap not including pits was more like 7'11-7'13.

I lapped the GT-R on laps 24, 55, 89, 124, 156, and 187.

FINAL STANDINGS:
1. Toyota ALTEZZA Touring Car ’01…198 laps completed
2. Nissan FALKEN GT-R Race Car ’04 …+ 6 laps
3. Opel Calibra Touring Car ’94…??
4. AMG Mercedes 190 E Evoll Touring Car ’92…??
5. Toyota SUPERAUTOBACS APEX MR-S ’00…??
6. Nissan C-WEST RAZO SILVIA (JGTC) ’01…??

Yeah, easy stuff. I thought it would be a tighter race. My first 6 hours were my fastest, as I expected, since I was fresh. After that, the music went on and I went into cruise mode. The lap times went up 5 seconds and never really came back down.

Random fact to brag about: Despite having many, many mistakes, spins, and offs, I did not once, in 198 times past it, wind up in the Aremburg sand pit. I also left the cones on the outside of the final turn intact until the final lap, when I did a celebratory drift right on through them.

From a psychological stand-point, this race is a real challenge to do in a-spec mode. I am not crazy enough to try to do it in one sitting, nor do I recommend it. Spread it out over 2 or 3 (or more) days, taking breaks when you start to lose focus. Your overall lap times will be much better, and it will probably be more enjoyable. The PS2 seems to be able to handle the up-time. (I put a nice big sign on it saying, “DON’T TOUCH!!!”) I did the first six and the last six hours pretty much in one sitting, but the middle part, which I found to be the most grueling, I split up into many smaller pieces.

For entertainment, I had my iPod during the night hours and my computer speakers during the day hours. (For anyone interested in what one crazy enough to do Nurb 24h a-spec listens to: Linkin Park, The Killers, Yellowcard, Hoobastank, My Chemical Romance, Jimmy Eat World, The Used, 3 Doors Down, and Green Day all were played at some point.)

IN SUMMARY, this was an interesting but agonizing experience. The Altezza proved to be a more-than-worthy competitor and ran even faster than I expected. It can definitely take down the BMW M3 and Audi TT-R, and if you wait for a good line-up, may give you 130+ A-Spec points. For anyone with reasonable ‘Ring experience looking for a good ride for a Nurburgring 24h a-spec run, I highly recommend this car. (It most likely won’t win in b-spec, though.) I am too stubborn to b-spec anything, so I have two more of these to look forward to, but I can’t imagine doing them any time soon. For a game that prides itself on realism, I wish GT4 would accept the fact that no human being can race for 24-hours straight in real life, which is why it is done in shifts. I’m not asking for a mid-race save feature, though. I have a better idea for GT5: online co-op mode! Until then, I will either be leaving the PS2 on for days on end or looking for drivers to split the time with (any takers for Le Sarthe?? ).

Sorry for the unreasonably long report. Hope it is entertaining and maybe helpful. Thank you to everyone who posted about this race before; your tips and advice were great! Good luck to anyone taking on this monster of a race!

Nice going! Sounds like tremendous fun! I'll certainly bear this in mind when I get round to this race.
I'm waiting in Missoula, MT airport at the moment waiting for a flight home and I know I have to come back on Tuesday, but since my wife is away too, I have the long weekend to do a 24hr race! But since I've already done Sarthe I, I want to get the more boring (no chicanes to keep you awake!) Sarthe II out of the way before I enjoy 24hrs at the Nurburgring.
Again congrats on a great race & report, don't worry about the length, I've posted longer, & the true race fans around here will always read every detail of a good race report! Look forward to seeing your Sarthe reports too!

damn man, i dont see how you cvould stand doing it with the altezza, i straight up said screw it and used the nissian r92cp, i managed to do it it 2 sittings....13 hours first sitting, and 11 the next, and you are deffinintly right...it doesnt matter what car you use, this race is deffinintly grueling....i was so glad to get it over with, take it easy and have fun with sarthe, i know i will....

Great race report.

You must have put a lot of miles on that car in testing because my Altezza gets 320 hp w/ an oil change.
I plan to do it eventually.
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Eventually.
Sounds like a good car to do it in, I was thinking the S2k LM race car.

wow nice job!!!
i'm still planning to the ring' 24 hour enduro sometime.
thanks for the info!

spykerdriver

Great race report.

You must have put a lot of miles on that car in testing because my Altezza gets 320 hp w/ an oil change.
I plan to do it eventually.
.
.
.
Eventually.
Sounds like a good car to do it in, I was thinking the S2k LM race car.

Click to expand...

I really only put maybe 10 laps on it. Strange. I really expected the race to be closer; the Altezza surprised me. There is another report out there somewhere that says the Amuse S2000 is a good car to do it with and has the potential to put up 200 a-spec points. Adding it to my list of things to do in GT4 ....... eventually:

_ 200 pt. Nurb 24h
_ beat Mission 34 again, this time with a clean run

....eventually.

I've run the Nordschleife time trial a couple of times in my Amuse S2000 R1 (fully modified for handling, stock engine) with S1 tires and the lap times have been about 7.30. With R1s or R2s it can surely be fast enough but I'll take a faster car to the race.

Congratulations on the win and thanks for posting such an entertaining write-up. It's great to read a write-up from someone who was actually trying for a close race.

Great job! 👍 👍