- 1,101
- GTP_EA11R
Still getting the hang of the forum's formatting haha.
In that specification, it just works. The handling is crisp and responsive, but never darty. The body never wallows but will take a mid-corner kerb hop with aplomb. If you're driving with intent to go fast, the rear end only ever steps out maybe a few inches, and always handles itself. The gearing is perhaps on the short side for longer straightaways, but this isn't a longer straightaway kind of car. The gearing keeps it in the powerband, and lets you short shift if needed. And I always appreciate a tall first gear, one I can actually use to accelerate out of a corner, not just bounce off the rev limit as I spin through the apex (why yes, I am out of practice). It feels like a very well-sorted, and much larger than it actually is, racing car. The car feels tailor-made for the application, and I absolutely love it. If I had one complaint, it would be the corner-entry understeer. But that's an easy fix on my part: a bit of rear brake bias does the trick, if not one wheel placed on some kerbing.
Then, I took it to Tsukuba in your original specification, full power and sports soft tires. Naturally, in this specification it is supposed to be a handful. It is fun, and controllable, to try to drive it cleanly: Half the time a corner is taken with no drama, the other half it's left obscured by tire smoke. Even though either maneuver ends up going perfectly, what this car lacks is obedience: I never have any clue whether or not it will slide.
The biggest problem by a country mile, is the springs. They are orders of magnitude too stiff for slippery SS tires. Even on Tsukuba's smooth pavement it hops around, making chirping noises, never really settling into a turn. The tires can't generate the forces required to preload the suspension. It understeers into a turn due to the lack of brake dive, steps out at will due to the lack of body roll, and can't put down much power due to the lack of acceleration squat. It's unusual that you can tune such fundamental goodness into a car, but still ruin it with spring settings.
I found this car very interesting. In apparently the wrong specification, it was spectacular. This game is now, to me, the Real AE86 Simulator. I want to start a Spec Shigeno racing series just for this car. But, with the correct tires equipped, it was hobbled by springs that sent it flying at the merest hint of a bump.
This mixing of prodigious strengths, with hilariously unnecessary weaknesses, doesn't feel much like racing calibration at all. I don't think this is a purely technical exercise any more, there is now art in its science. The same way a classic Saab may or may not grenade its engine, but will definitely steal your heart, this car has won me over.
Whatever, I'm still gonna soften the springs.
I tested this car out, and I liked it a lot! Reviewing your post, that sounds strangely accidental. Allow me to explain: For some reason I thought you specified anywhere from SS to RS tires, so I started with RS, and for online racing I detuned the motor slightly to 500pp, 307hp. And for the first time (in an embarassingly long time anyhow), I won something.
In that specification, it just works. The handling is crisp and responsive, but never darty. The body never wallows but will take a mid-corner kerb hop with aplomb. If you're driving with intent to go fast, the rear end only ever steps out maybe a few inches, and always handles itself. The gearing is perhaps on the short side for longer straightaways, but this isn't a longer straightaway kind of car. The gearing keeps it in the powerband, and lets you short shift if needed. And I always appreciate a tall first gear, one I can actually use to accelerate out of a corner, not just bounce off the rev limit as I spin through the apex (why yes, I am out of practice). It feels like a very well-sorted, and much larger than it actually is, racing car. The car feels tailor-made for the application, and I absolutely love it. If I had one complaint, it would be the corner-entry understeer. But that's an easy fix on my part: a bit of rear brake bias does the trick, if not one wheel placed on some kerbing.
Then, I took it to Tsukuba in your original specification, full power and sports soft tires. Naturally, in this specification it is supposed to be a handful. It is fun, and controllable, to try to drive it cleanly: Half the time a corner is taken with no drama, the other half it's left obscured by tire smoke. Even though either maneuver ends up going perfectly, what this car lacks is obedience: I never have any clue whether or not it will slide.
The biggest problem by a country mile, is the springs. They are orders of magnitude too stiff for slippery SS tires. Even on Tsukuba's smooth pavement it hops around, making chirping noises, never really settling into a turn. The tires can't generate the forces required to preload the suspension. It understeers into a turn due to the lack of brake dive, steps out at will due to the lack of body roll, and can't put down much power due to the lack of acceleration squat. It's unusual that you can tune such fundamental goodness into a car, but still ruin it with spring settings.
I found this car very interesting. In apparently the wrong specification, it was spectacular. This game is now, to me, the Real AE86 Simulator. I want to start a Spec Shigeno racing series just for this car. But, with the correct tires equipped, it was hobbled by springs that sent it flying at the merest hint of a bump.
This mixing of prodigious strengths, with hilariously unnecessary weaknesses, doesn't feel much like racing calibration at all. I don't think this is a purely technical exercise any more, there is now art in its science. The same way a classic Saab may or may not grenade its engine, but will definitely steal your heart, this car has won me over.
Whatever, I'm still gonna soften the springs.
