A-spec Race Challenges #5: 07/08/2014 - 21/08/2014

[TrentDog1]

Just did this using the TS030 Hybrid. Used Praiano's tune. It took 5 of my most perfect laps around The Ring to get it, I was averaging 6:40 until I set the final gear at 3.400 instead of 3.500. I then proceed to set a 6:28 lap time. Go me wooo.

 

[skeagracing]

 

[Racin-Rev]

Clearly for the Nurburgring challenge the lineup of cars in the race matters great deal. I used TS030
Race 1 Gap at T1 48s; Gap at Last Trap 12s; 3rd place --- against Zonda, McClaren F1
Race 2 Gap at T1 43s; Gap at Last Trap 7s; 2nd place --- against Citron, GT-R N24
Race 3 Gap at T1 41s; Gap at Last Trap -.3s; 1st place --- against GT-R N24, SLS AMG

Top cars in the lineup always seem to be able to generate higher top speed on the long final straight than I can with a 600PP car.

 

[skeagracing]

Clearly for the Nurburgring challenge the lineup of cars in the race matters great deal. I used TS030
Race 1 Gap at T1 48s; Gap at Last Trap 12s; 3rd place --- against Zonda, McClaren F1
Race 2 Gap at T1 43s; Gap at Last Trap 7s; 2nd place --- against Citron, GT-R N24
Race 3 Gap at T1 41s; Gap at Last Trap -.3s; 1st place --- against GT-R N24, SLS AMG

Top cars in the lineup always seem to be able to generate higher top speed on the long final straight than I can with a 600PP car.

Truth!!

 

[LS Chiou]

No luck in Corvette C6 LM It's driving fine, but I just can't beat the leading McLaren F1 GTR. It's always 5 or 6 sec. ahead.

Again, no luck in Chaparrel 2D This car has tremendous mechanical grip, but I can't find the sweet spot of the suspension setting. I keep tuning it softer and softer because it's jumping up and down. But it becomes unstable and unresponsive when softer than a point. In between, I can't find a compromise satisfying me, yet

Oh, it's very fast but funny I always encounter opponents at the wrong spot and wrong moment in this car. I just can't overtake cleanly when this happens. They slow me down or force me into spinning(s). Argh~

I need an easy win. Peugeot 905 get the job done in the first attempt. Great car! Easy going and very capable.

Pity the new luck doesn't extend to the following 908. It's slower. I'll need more work on it.

 

[skeagracing]

No luck in Corvette C6 LM It's driving fine, but I just can't beat the leading McLaren F1 GTR. It's always 5 or 6 sec. ahead.

Again, no luck in Chaparrel 2D This car has tremendous mechanical grip, but I can't find the sweet spot of the suspension setting. I keep tuning it softer and softer because it's jumping up and down. But it becomes unstable and unresponsive when softer than a point. In between, I can't find a compromise satisfying me, yet

Oh, it's very fast but funny I always encounter opponents at the wrong spot and wrong moment in this car. I just can't overtake cleanly when this happens. They slow me down or force me into spinning(s). Argh~

I need an easy win. Peugeot 905 get the job done in the first attempt. Great car! Easy going and very capable.

Pity the new luck doesn't extend to the following 908. It's slower. I'll need more work on it.

Try Toyota Hybrid '12

 

[lilcat89]

I finally won the nurburgring event with my trusty Z4 GT3! The rabbits were the 2 Ford GTs and the R35 TC. I caught the leading GT LM under the gantry at the start of the dottinger hohe. Lap time required was 6:39.xxx. If you can wait to get a good grid, do. It helps a ton if the rabbit is starting behind another car. I used praianos 600pp tune without the power upgrades, tweaked the LSD sensitivity, and experimented with the final gear ratio.

 

[Sadioki]

Congrats for the win, it was fun watching your video, keep on rocking!

 

[Sadioki]

I tried other cars this evening, the Best for 1 st place win was as mentioned by previous members:
Nissan YellowHat YMS Tomica Gt-R '08 tuned by Praiano63 , easy and enjoyable win against Rabbit Mercedes SLR mclaren '09

Subaru Cusco Dunlop empreza '08 tuned by Dante. Vs Nissan Gt-R , a pleasure to race at the Ring.

 

[ALB123]

My Boring Recap:
Well, I took my Toyota TS030 (modified Praiano tune) out for my third attempt at the Expert Level race. I won on my first attempt with this car...barely! My laptime was a 6:37.482 and the Corvette Z06 LM came in 2nd with a 7.29.370 for a gap of 1.205 seconds (my total time was 7:28.650 factoring in the parade of cars).

I've got to admit that my hands are still shaking as I write this...LOL! I had him in my sights just before the long finishing straight but I eased up a tiny bit because I have a tendency to blow that first, sharper right hand corner before the straightaway. I was able to catch a little bit of a draft, but not enough to get past him. I cut out from under him and tried to get to the inside at the kink under the bridge but he got there first. I literally rear-ended him at 190+ MPH and thought I was going to spin out of control. Luckily for me he started drifting naturally to the right side of the track and I stayed wide open throttle and passed him on the left coming down the hill.

Honestly, I was trembling because A) I have wrecked a number of times at the end of Nordschleife by braking too late and carrying too much speed into those short quick turns next to the pit opening and B) I know this new A.I. likes to kamikaze when travelling at high rates of speed near the end of the race quite often. It happened to me at the bus stop on Spa a few times. Thankfully he didn't. I wasn't even looking in my rearview mirror at that point, to be honest.

Time to watch the replay and see all of my mistakes. At my current skill level, I'm not sure I can necessarily push too much harder with this car/track combination, but I know I can improve my decision making with passing. I almost blew it when I got stuck behind a car for a fairly considerable length of time.


Question:
I have a question for the people who are getting Gold on this Expert Level race: Are you passing the A.I. cars in the driving line or are you having to go around them because you're encountering them at a point when they are in the preferred driving line? Are you backing off a little bit and waiting for them to go wide and you are cutting in on them? I would just like to hear some of your experiences passing here. I find Nordschleife to be one of, if not the most difficult tracks to pass on in many spots because of how narrow it is.

 

[BlazeTheCat05]

Just won the Tsukuba race with a fully tuned Kubelwagen. Imagine bringing your best Tsukuba track car only to be blasted past by a red WWII vehicle.

 

[nowcontrol]

Question:
I have a question for the people who are getting Gold on this Expert Level race: Are you passing the A.I. cars in the driving line or are you having to go around them because you're encountering them at a point when they are in the preferred driving line? Are you backing off a little bit and waiting for them to go wide and you are cutting in on them?

All of the above. It all just depends on their position and velocity when you are catching up to them. You have to make some snappy decisions and move fast.

 

[ALB123]

All of the above. It all just depends on their position and velocity when you are catching up to them. You have to make some snappy decisions and move fast.

I kind of had a feeling that was going to be the answer I got, but I still thought I should ask it. I'm far from the skill level of many of the regular posters in these Seasonal Event threads, so I like to try and pick your brain for as much information as I can.

Again, I find Nordschleife very difficult to pass cleanly in a LOT of areas. Especially in an event like this where I find myself driving right on the edge of my ability in the first place. I'm glad I got my gold. Hopefully that will settle me down and I can try the event again with different cars and maybe drive a little calmer.

 

[WhoosierGirl]

Some old, some new and another pink Scirocco.



And a short spin video.

 

[nebularis23]

You even spin well.

 

[ALB123]

Holy crap @WhoosierGirl, that GT40 time is insane!! Are we playing the same game? LOL! Great job as usual. Wow...

Edit: Just watched the spin video... Are you kidding me? LOL! That spin recovery was more graceful than my regular driving.. BTW, how many miles do you have on your hot pink Scirocco? You really do love that thing, huh?

 

[WhoosierGirl]

You even spin well.

That little Toyota flips easy too, I thought I saved a video where It hit the curb and rolled over top of another car, would have made a god video.

Holy crap @WhoosierGirl, that GT40 time is insane!! Are we playing the same game? LOL! Great job as usual. Wow...

Edit: Just watched the spin video... Are you kidding me? LOL! That spin recovery was more graceful than my regular driving.. BTW, how many miles do you have on your hot pink Scirocco? You really do love that thing, huh?

The Jaguar XJ13 was 5 or 6 seconds faster, the older cars are really fun on that track. I'm sure both of them can go much faster I really haven't used them much.

Probably four thousand miles on the two Scirocco R's I have. I used the Scirocco GT24 here, first time I used it and it spins the tires almost half the track, lol.

 

[ALB123]

Probably four thousand miles on the two Scirocco R's I have. I used the Scirocco GT24 here, first time I used it and it spins the tires almost half the track, lol.

I don't drive FF cars too often in this game. I don't know why. I don't intentionally avoid them for any reason. The last time I used a FF car was probably that Seasonal Event at Bathurst when you kicked off the trend of all of us using a Scirocco with lowered PP. That was fun. I totally gained a lot of respect for the car that day. It drove a lot easier/better than I thought it would.

 

[Teflonicus]

After a few tries with the F1 GTR and 2J, the best times I can finish is between 6:25-6:40 for a 2nd place finish. A few times I took second place before the first carousel and still cant catch up to the lead rabbit.

6:25 should be enough to win no matter which car is the rabbit.

If I finish with 6:40, there's a good chance I'm going to win. (I've been going through cars and seeing how they compare for finish times.) If I finish under 6:30, I've passed the lead AI before the straight and the best he can do is keep up ... and he always does, being a rabbit and all.

 

[Garek]

I couldn't resist giving it another try last night, after I'd logged out of here.

Sadioki, I used the Chapparel and the tune you advised but I tweaked it a little. I lowered the car by ten each end and raised the top speed to 230mph. What a boring car to drive but it got the job done.

The rabbit was the Nissan GTR and everyone who says it makes a difference what the lineup is, is so very right!

I'm so glad I've been able to get this challenge done, it's been designed to be extremely unfair. I don't mind having to work to win a race but having to try to outsmart the AI and manipulate the lineup is just ridiculous.

Thank you for your advice, I couldn't have done it without you!

 

[Teflonicus]

Some of the AI cars seem to actively swerve from side to side as you approach them to pass.

To me, it seems as though they may be trying to move to the right to let you pass and then this process is interrupted as they near a corner and they try to go back on to the racing line.

In this regard, the AI is quite inflexible. It doesn't like to take a corner in any position other than the optimum racing line. Ideally, you should be able to go through a corner side-by-side with the AI (at a reduced speed), but the AI is always trying to get that optimum racing line and so ends up either cutting me off or, if I'm alongside, trying to push me off of the road.

 

[LS Chiou]

In slower corners, I would probably take the outside line. With the AI's in the normal (inside) line, there's pretty much just enough tarmac for me to squeeze through. It'd be a fast and clean overtaking in such case because I'm still on tarmac.

In faster bends, I would mostly take the inside line, pushing them away or going through the curb/grass. It's usually fast and not easy to keep it very precise in fast sweepers. I could run too wide for avoiding AI and then fail to bring it back, or I could hit them too if I'm not going wide enough. Both waste time. So staying inside is safer for me.

In straights, I'd need to predict (or make a guess) which side AI would take. Not sure if they're defending or what, the lines they take are not always logical to me. But it's not tricky, just get through what's decided, be it grass or tarmac.

The tricky bit is in the multiple bends. It could take me very much time to get rid of them because they're switching sides and so hard to avoid. Trying too hard, I could spin (or even flip) because the curb at some spots are pretty steep. The best I can do is being patient and waiting to take the chance at the last exit of that series. It'd feel painfully long, but it can cost much more if doing the wrong thing.

Those are just general speaking, it's of course more complex. AIs aside, it's already very difficult in the track itself, green hell that is. It's not always doable, and I need the car to be forgiving and stable enough for going into and out of the curb and grass. Also fast enough.

Not easy, but very rewarding when it's done. Have fun.

 

[JaseScott]

Some of the AI cars seem to actively swerve from side to side as you approach them to pass.

To me, it seems as though they may be trying to move to the right to let you pass and then this process is interrupted as they near a corner and they try to go back on to the racing line.

In this regard, the AI is quite inflexible. It doesn't like to take a corner in any position other than the optimum racing line. Ideally, you should be able to go through a corner side-by-side with the AI (at a reduced speed), but the AI is always trying to get that optimum racing line and so ends up either cutting me off or, if I'm alongside, trying to push me off of the road.

Did you manage to catch the vid posted just above at all?
Thoughts?

 

[opelman]

I used audi rs8 quatro aniversery car in silverstone. And it was very fun. Going drifting all curves and very good race whit nissan gtr black spec

 

[GTP_Ingram]

If you can wait to get a good grid, do.View attachment 201633

This is what I learned the hard way! I tried the Z4 GT3 with a McLaren F1 GTR as the lead car, despite setting a 6:34.8xx I still lost by two seconds..

 

[Garek]

This is what I learned the hard way! I tried the Z4 GT3 with a McLaren F1 GTR as the lead car, despite setting a 6:34.8xx I still lost by two seconds..

That's the problem, the AI is so unpredictable.

Waiting to get a good grid can take a while.

 

[SomePlayaDude]

You know, all those years driving around the Ring has paid off.

1st try and i got a 6:25 with nerfed R18. Really think i can do better though.

 

[skeagracing]

Congrats for the win, it was fun watching your video, keep on rocking![/QUOTE

Thank you as you and all the GT Planet community is just working together to help all of us win this race. No sure but I think I made the winning pass somewhere between Wehrsenifen and Ex-Muhel.

 

[vinnyvangough]

I've been using a detuned Audi R18 TDi Prototype.
Closest I came to the grid with the McLaren as the lead car was finishing 1.2 secs behind it.
Changed the grid to a GT-R Concept LM Race Car as lead car and had a relative easy race using the same car and set-up.

 

[skeagracing]

Some of the AI cars seem to actively swerve from side to side as you approach them to pass.

To me, it seems as though they may be trying to move to the right to let you pass and then this process is interrupted as they near a corner and they try to go back on to the racing line.

In this regard, the AI is quite inflexible. It doesn't like to take a corner in any position other than the optimum racing line. Ideally, you should be able to go through a corner side-by-side with the AI (at a reduced speed), but the AI is always trying to get that optimum racing line and so ends up either cutting me off or, if I'm alongside, trying to push me off of the road.

Truth!!