American Trans Am Series Season III

  • Thread starter Kalmiya117
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I'm not a huge fan of the modern G1. There's several other leagues on this site that do the GT class cars, on the same day. I prefer to sticking with the oldies. Since as far as I know, we are the ONLY league that does vintage American muscle cars & race cars.
 
I do like the Modern, but I agree with Skel, we should concentrate on our profession, the Vintage class cars. I'm thinking sometime in the future we can gang up on some other Modern GT series and take over the podium.:mischievous:
 
If we want to get more people interested/involved (we do), we can't be competing with other leagues that do the same thing on the same night. We also can't make this series so convoluted with a bunch of different car classes.

Mudd, I like your thinking.
 
Also, I was thinking we need to do our practicing in the online lobbies to gain interest and just host the race in the lobby.
 
Check it out, 'black mask' cars at the gas station this morning. Couldn't tell what they were, but I managed to get my phone out as I went by.

IMG_7261.jpg
 
Looks like more versions of the GT-R that will be released in the new DLC. Can't wait.

EDIT:
Of course a day after I posted this, I find out the 2012 GT-R will be in the new DLC.
 
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Well, after first trial I'm a little on the fence with the stock cars. While these cars are fun to drive, that's all I really did, drive them around. I had one battle for a couple laps while driving the Chevelle, but the other 3 or so cars I had available could not keep up with the lead pack while the cars behind me were matching my speed with no opertunity to catch me unless I went off track. I guess I need to run some more laps in them still, but maybe the tire compound was too much? Should we try tires less then Sport Softs? Other then that, they seem like only one-make races would even them out.
 
Maybe we can have another go with this ext time with Sport Mediums and see how we fare. I'm pretty much with you re: the Stock Class 2 cars and I think more time behind the wheel of some of these cars is needed if I'm to fare better with the new format.
 
I really enjoyed the stock muscle cars. There's no tuning, no worrying about setup, just pick a car & drive it. I tried several different cars and did well with each one. Kal was did the same. I think we should try less grip tires. SH or SM.

I also had all my stock muscle cars prepared by refreshing the chasis & engine rebuild since most have 30k+ miles.
 
That's prolly my issue with them as well, I had no cars ready what so ever. The cars that I was able to locate in my garage all had oil lights on and lowered HP. I'll have a better selection ready this week and give it another shot.

Also, a list of cars that run well together would help. So far, I found the Chevelle and the SuperBee pretty good.
 
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I had at least one stock version of all my old muscle cars. Had to buy new premium models though. Which means they don't have any break-in time. Then I went ahead and painted them all the same color so I can easily identify which ones are virgins & which ones are not.

The only car that I thought will not run competitively, is the '63 split window. Which is a bummer for me. I really like it. Other then that, last night I ran the; Merc Cougar, Plymouth Superbird, Chevelle, Camaro SS, Challenger, & Mach 1. They all did pretty good in my opinion. Some cars will be better at some tracks then others (obviously), but that's the beauty of having open selection each week.

I also noticed that the Mopars typically have the highest HP & PP, but are geared the lowest. The body roll on the superbird made me think it was going to tip over, but it didn't. With these cars, it really comes down to racing line & corner exiting speed. Some finesse helps out a lot too.
 
Good news, because of the CSR Elite I'm getting and the new wheels are standards, I think I might be joining you guys again.
 
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Would be good to have you on track again! We've a couple weeks of practice and testing before the next season, but we've still been meeting at regular race time.

In case you all haven't seen the forum blowing up, you can no longer use the DLC tracks online if you havn't downloaded them yourself. That will be something to consider with the line up for next season.
 
Welcome back Cahill. We are working on some changes for next season. I think we might try stock muscle cars for G2 (no tuning or parts at all). So have a few of those ready.

We haven't even brought up what to do with scheduling next season. Mudd, if that's the case, then we probably would have to exclude Spa. Unless everyone has the DLC, but we can't assume that.

I would like to do a little testing this week possibly. I had a blast with the stock G2 cars. Try different tire compounds since that changed in 2.02. Also maybe do a few G1 races. Again test new tire wear physics.
 
That sounds fun. Also a question, you think the Cobra would be competitive? I would be up for some testing today but it is my date of birth so I will be busy for most of the day. I'll give it a go tomorrow or whenever my Elite comes.
 
I've got some NASCAR buddies running extensive tire testing under the new physics, here's what they've come up with: the 'New RS' tire lasts 50% of what the 'old RH' would last. The New RH is lasting 90% as long as the old RH. That leaves the New RM right inbetween them. I'm certain that's going to have an impact on us, though not sure how much.

To give an example, a 500hp Super GT car will destroy a set of new Racing Softs in about 4 laps around Trial Mountain full tilt.
 
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Good, it sounds like the tire compounds make sense now. But now we have to deal with it. I was really thinking about runing the Z06 again next season, however, if I have to put RH tires on it to last more then 5 laps, then I'm affraid it will become completely undrivable.

The G2 class should be run without tire wear regardless. That way we can throw the cars around and abuse the piss out of them with total disregard.

Cahill, I don't know if the Cobra will be good. I imagine it would be. That's another one I really want to test. And the A/C cobra as well.
 
I'm yet to even download the update myself, but from what I've been reading it seem like tire wear is very realistic now. I like it. My only concern is what it's gonna do to the Camaro RM that allready had superior wear, I hope this doesn't give it more of an advantage over our tire hungry Chally's and Vette's.

Add: Did some RS tire testing for myself and it's nowhere near as bad as some of the whiners are suggesting, but theres definatly a difference. A nice improvement, I feel. At Indy Speedway running full-on with a 500hp Super GT GTR, (yup, i said GTR) I completely wore my tires at lap 17, where previously I could run about 26 laps on one set. The RS tires also seem to heat up differently, as my fastest lap was near the end of my run.
 
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What kind of times are you guys running in your G2 cars at T.M? I'm trying to gauge if my Cobra is competitive.
 
Haven't ran at Trail Mt. However, at Laguna, around 1:39-1:40 is where I was with various cars. This was before the patch though.

Since the patch, I've noticed that the RS tires really don't last long at all, and the grip seems to be a little less. I know my street cars are about a second slower/lap.

I will be around for a little while later this evening if anyone is up for a little testing. This patch needs to be figured out.
 
Skeletor27
Haven't ran at Trail Mt. However, at Laguna, around 1:39-1:40 is where I was with various cars. This was before the patch though.

Since the patch, I've noticed that the RS tires really don't last long at all, and the grip seems to be a little less. I know my street cars are about a second slower/lap.

I will be around for a little while later this evening if anyone is up for a little testing. This patch needs to be figured out.

Hmmm well I was running some laps around Laguna and I'm not going to share my times...yet. What tires are we running? Sport softs I assume. Also, the cars are completely stock of the showroom floor, correct? I don't have work this week so I'll be up for testing whenever.
 
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Today will be the only day I'll be around untill next week. I'm heading down to Southern California this weekend where I will be on a sailboat loaded with adult beverages.

We don't know if we are runing SS tires for G2 or not. To me, the SS tires were a little too gripy. I've tried SH tires, and they seemed to be the most fun. However, it made the GT350 & Corvette L46 almost undrivable. That might be the case for the Cobras as well. Then again, all this information is based on prior to the 2.02 patch.
 
Thats where I'm settled in. Will you be setting off in the Orange County area or more down toward San Diego? Back to GT5, I was setting a high 1:35 after 10 laps with a Cobra off the showroom with SS tires. That is why I am curious about tire selection. Also I don't think the Cobra could handle SH bone stock.
 
I will not lie. I have little ambition to do anything else with the series. As stated by several people 4-5 people on a track is not fun, specially when your not racing but just driving. The overall lack of participation killed it for me. Several regulars have just disappeared.

I realize perhaps their lives are taking center stage. And on that note, just seems perhaps mine should to as well.


Not saying I will not join from time to time. Just nolonger want to play major role.
 
Well, that's not what I was hoping for when opened the thread. :indiff: Although, Kal is correct, attendance has got the parking brake stuck on in here. I'd like to keep meeting up on Sundays at regular time for a few weeks. We'll run in public lobby's and try a couple different themes for our regulations. I really don't want to see this series disapear, so let's just concentrate on getting some new participants for now, work on the rest as we get to it.

I'll open up a public lobby this Sunday, we'll start off with a couple 5 lap 'Bone Stock Muscle' races and go from there. Maybe I should post somthing in the 'Spot Races' thread, too.
 
I was hoping to see some one else take the reins but seems perhaps everyone may share my thoughts? Or just busy doing other stuff like me.



However, Hope you guys had a good Christmas and new years.
 
I havn't given up or forgotten about the series, just been busy. I'll help out any way I can, but completely taking over the series isn't really an option for me. My schedule is too unpredictable at this time. However, we had been running this thing back-to-back through the seasons, I figure it won't hurt to take a little break while we're still tossing ideas around. I'll continue to be online at our normal race times if anyone wants to meet up for some racing.
 
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