Beater or Sleeper? GT6 Car of the Week Thread

[Rinsky]

Sorry you feel that way about the 300ZX @Nismonath5 but I'm not surprised. It's just one of those cars you love or hate, wait or is it love to hate, maybe hate to love? Oh well you get the point
I did go back afterwards and buy every car from the 1980's that looked like it could compete with the 300ZX and let's just say the 300ZX rules the 80's in GT6 quite easily.
Now only if I could find one for real in unmolested condition for a good price.

Anyway nice reviews everyone I really enjoyed them.
I will post my tunes for the 300ZX tomorrow for anyone to try.

Really looking forward to tomorrow night's racing as its quickly becoming the highlight of my Tuesday night's and with the Volvo C30 R this week it should be interesting.
You will come to find out that I like heavier cars along with the not so popular cars in GT6. Yeah I don't win many race's but then again I'm not looking to. I find it much more enjoyable to take the unpopular cars and make them at least somewhat competitive and still to this day have not driven the GSXR or the ZZII.

 

[Draggon]

I will post my tunes for the 300ZX tomorrow for anyone to try.

Really looking forward to tomorrow night's racing as its quickly becoming the highlight of my Tuesday night's and with the Volvo C30 R this week it should be interesting.

I found the one you posted elsewhere and tried it out, I liked it. So much I put a couple hundred miles on it. It works on the '98 300ZX too, but I did change up the LSD on that one. Tomorrow should be good!

 

[Rinsky]

I found the one you posted elsewhere and tried it out, I liked it. So much I put a couple hundred miles on it. It works on the '98 300ZX too, but I did change up the LSD on that one. Tomorrow should be good!

That makes me happy to hear. and I'm so glad you are enjoying it. Absolutely adjust anything that helps your driving style because we all drive different and my posted tunes should just be a good baseline to start off with.

I even make adjustments depending on the track because some are way different than other's. Take Silverstone for example its so smooth and slick it's like running on ice compared to Grand Valley Speedway or Trial Mountain Run. So adjust will have to be made.

 

[Draggon]

Here's my entry for the 300ZX TT. 1.6 seconds back from @Vic Reign93 , otherwise a decent run. PD certainly is tough with the penalties through that r-l-r chicane.

 

[Nismonath5]

Sorry you feel that way about the 300ZX @Nismonath5 but I'm not surprised. It's just one of those cars you love or hate, wait or is it love to hate, maybe hate to love? Oh well you get the point

Oh nah it's nothing like that mate, I like the 300ZX. It's a good looker and fun to drive casually. But when it comes to driving it at 10/10ths, that's where I find it a bit hard. It's just one of those cars, one I'll drive for fun but not in competition.

 

[Nismonath5]

Alright guys, lobby's ready!

 

[Rinsky]

Volvo C30 R

Thoughts:

At first glance the Volvo looks stylish even a bit aggressive from the front and this being one of the few R models to come from Volvo I was excited to put this turbocharged hatchback on the track.
Well sadly the only thing positive about this ride is what I just mentioned because everything else about the C30 R is just plain horrible. Seriously I'd almost take beating myself in the head with a hammer than driving this thing one more mile. I expected much more from a company thats one of the top automakers for safety and durability in its vehicle's.


Suspension and Handling:

Right from the start you notice the weight in this hatch as any movement really pitches & rolls the body around almost as if it's riding on slinkies ( a child's toy from the 80's) or like being on a fun ride at an amusement park instead of actual car Springs
This in return overloads the front end with very little effort pushing the front tires well beyond their limit in every turn, corner, bump and braking. I don't see how a set of front tires could last more than 300 miles on this thing under normal driving conditions. It pushes bad In every corner with heavy understeer then all that weight over the front just keeps it sliding across the tarmac. In all honesty I think any WW2 era tank would handle better than the C30 R.
In our last race of the night @Vic Reign93 thought it would be funny to end the night in the snow and wouldn't you know it the Volvo drove better in the snow than on dry pavement.

Transmission:

I really didn't find any issues with using an automatic transmission once you can actually get the car driving.

Power:
The power seems sluggish and takes it awhile to get going once you stop smoking the front tires off. It's not like this car is over powered but it acts like you have 800hp going to those front tires and that's because its the only time all of its weight isn't sitting over them and has now shifted to the rear.

Brakes:
Another check in the fail column. Just like everything above the weight over the front makes braking a nightmare as it easily pushes the front tires beyond the limit. Normally I say brake early to avoid turning the front tires red but in the C30 R it doesn't take much effort to be in the red if they are not already from something eles.

Verdict:

BEATER BEATER BEATER!

I really wanted to like this car but it didn't take long for me to discover that was not going to happen. At one point in the night I made the comment if I really owned this car I would drive it off a cliff then @Vic Reign93 reminded me its a Volvo and would survive...so true.
It's sad when a car drives so bad you want to destroy it but it's built with such quality and durability it won't let you.
So unless your loading up the skis and in the Swiss Alps the Volvo C30 R is nothing more than a dust collector in your stockyard.

On a side note because we discovered the C30 R handles good in the snow from now on Im going to test each COTW in different types of weather conditions... should be fun. So something positive came out of driving this POS.

 

[Rinsky]

Okay guys as I promised here are my 300ZX setups for Race Soft Tires only.

I will also give you a quick rundown of what to change to suit your driving Style if your not familiar with tuning.

LSD: Limited Slip Differential

Initial Torque: Effects on throttle oversteer and understeer. The lower the number the more oversteer the higher the number the more understeer

Acceleration Sensitivity: controls wheel spin. The idea is to find a number where either both Wheels spin at the same time or not at all. Not much wheel spin happens on RS at 450pp to 500pp

Braking Sensitivity: off throttle oversteer understeer. The lower the number the more oversteer the higher the number the more understeer.

It's really that simple on LSD settings. So If you like a lot of oversteer then you will love my settings if not you will want to put a little understeer in them.

Next Chamber settings:
You can get away with more on Race Softs then on Street Softs. A number between .03 & .06 will work on this car depending on the track. Try keeping both numbers the same or one number higher in the front than the rear. It can very from track to track and track surfaces.

Transmission final gear ratio:
This sets the top speed of the car depending on how long the straight is from track to track. Adjust this number only on the transmission to set your top speed.

Brake balance:
Kind of self-explanatory adjust to your liking

And that's it by adjusting those settings to your liking you should be able to have the car handling just the way you want it.

300ZX at 450pp

No oil change

Game Version: 1.22

Controller Type: Game Controller

Vehicle Manufacturer: Nissan

Performance Points: 450

Max Power: 259

Weight: 1209kg

Weight Distribution: 53/47

Drivetrain: Automatic

Tires: Race Soft

Aero Kit:

Wheel Model:

Wheel Size: +2

Suspension Kit: Height-Adjustable, Fully Customizable Suspension

Transmission: Fully-Customizable Transmission

Clutch: Triple-Plate Clutch Kit

Engine: Standard

Exhaust: Standard

Weight Reduction: Stage 3

Window Weight Reduction: Yes

Carbon Hood: Yes

Other Parts:
Racing Brake Kit
Carbon Fiber Driveshaft
Fully-Customizable Mechanical Limited-Slip Differential


Ride Height (Front): 95

Ride Height (Rear): 95

Spring Rate (Front): 9.70

Spring Rate (Rear): 9.90

Dampers - Compression (Front): 4

Dampers - Compression (Rear): 5

Dampers - Extension (Front): 4

Dampers - Extension (Rear): 5

Anti-Roll Bars (Front): 4

Anti-Roll Bars (Rear): 4

Camber Angle (Front): .06

Camber Angle (Rear): .06

Toe Angle (Front): -0.08

Toe Angle (Rear): 0.10

Brake Balance (Front): 3

Brake Balance (Rear): 3

Transmission (1st Gear): 3.203
Transmission (2nd Gear): 2.245
Transmission (3rd Gear): 1.663
Transmission (4th Gear): 1.294
Transmission (5th Gear): 1.051
Transmission (6th Gear): 0.876
Transmission (Final Gear): 3.900
Set Final Gear to 5.000/Max Speed to 124/Adjust Gear ratios/Final Gear to 3.900

Initial Torque (Rear): 5

Acceleration Sensitivity (Rear): 15

Braking Sensitivity (Rear): 5

Power Limiter: 94 %

Ballast Weight: kg

Ballast Position: %

ABS Level: 1


300ZX at 500pp

No oil change

Game Version: 1.22

Controller Type: Game Controller

Vehicle Manufacturer: Nissan

Performance Points: 500

Max Power: 376

Weight: 1209kg

Weight Distribution: 53/47

Drivetrain: Automatic

Tires: Race Soft

Aero Kit:

Wheel Model:

Wheel Size: +2

Suspension Kit: Height-Adjustable, Fully Customizable Suspension

Transmission: Fully-Customizable Transmission

Clutch: Triple-Plate Clutch Kit

Engine: Standard

Exhaust: Racing Exhaust

Weight Reduction: Stage 3

Window Weight Reduction: Yes

Carbon Hood: Yes

Other Parts:
Racing Brake Kit
Carbon Fiber Driveshaft
Fully-Customizable Mechanical Limited-Slip Differential
Sport Computer
Intake Tuning
Isometric Exhaust Manifold
Catalytic Converter Sport


Ride Height (Front): 95

Ride Height (Rear): 95

Spring Rate (Front): 9.20

Spring Rate (Rear): 10.15

Dampers - Compression (Front): 1

Dampers - Compression (Rear): 1

Dampers - Extension (Front): 1

Dampers - Extension (Rear): 3

Anti-Roll Bars (Front): 4

Anti-Roll Bars (Rear): 4

Camber Angle (Front): .06

Camber Angle (Rear): .05

Toe Angle (Front): -0.15

Toe Angle (Rear): 0.15

Brake Balance (Front): 4

Brake Balance (Rear): 5

Transmission (1st Gear): 3.125
Transmission (2nd Gear): 2.190
Transmission (3rd Gear): 1.685
Transmission (4th Gear): 1.370
Transmission (5th Gear): 1.153
Transmission (6th Gear): 0.978
Transmission (Final Gear): 3.400
Set Final Gear to 5.000/Max Speed to 124/Adjust Gear ratios/Final Gear to 3.400

Initial Torque (Rear): 5

Acceleration Sensitivity (Rear): 8

Braking Sensitivity (Rear): 5

Power Limiter: 97 %

Ballast Weight: kg

Ballast Position: %

ABS Level: 1

 

[Nismonath5]

Understeer City
Population: This thing...

R is a very special letter in the automotive industry. More often than not it's included in at least one trim type for any given car, and more often than that, the R stands for "Racing". This is to give you the impression that the car is perhaps a bit sportier, or lively than it's base model. However the level of raciness differs greatly from vehicle to vehicle. Let's look at the Honda Civic Type R for example. Compared to any other Civic it's lightened, stiffened, specially tuned engine, stronger brakes and it even has it's own one-make series. Now that's an R well used! However, then you have cars like the Volvo C30 R...

Now, I consulted Uncle Google, and here's the list of "modifications" the C30 R has that makes itbetter than any other C30.
-Sport body kit
-Special seat upholstery
-Cushion & backrest trimming
-Sport pedals & shifter
-Floor mats
-18" rims
-Sirius Sattelite Radio
There were also some optional extras like DVD Sat-nav, heated seats, and a premium sound system. Now, ladies and gentlemen, would anyone care to enlighten me as to how ANY of these bits would help the car's performance in the least, let alone to make it worthy of an R badge? Sure, the body kit may help aero performance, and the rims might help handling a bit, but other than that I'm struggling. Where's the extreme weight loss, majorly increased boost, sticky track rubber and racing stripes?

Driving this thing, it's hard to see why anyone would think it would be at home anywhere near a racetrack. It's sluggish at best off the line, cornering ability is laughable, and yet it somehow manages to still light up the front wheels as if it's pushing for a 0-60 record. I was interested to hear that it has some merit in the snow, and I'll be sure to try it out tomorrow! Right about now, it's a beater 'n' forget'r!

 

[Nismonath5]

It's that time of the year again folks!!! It's time to start considering your pick for 2017 Car Of The Year!!!
As well as COTY, there will also be the following awards handed out, some familiar, some all-new.

-Best looking car
Do I really need to explain this one?

-Worst looking car
Or this one?

-Most American car
The car that embodies 'Murica the best!

-Widowmaker
The car most likely to kill you (or at least send you into the wall a hundred times)

-Best movie car
Best car we raced that also happened to feature in a movie, be it past or present.

-Biggest sleeper
The car that we had low expectations of, but turned out to be quite fun!

-Most improved driver
No explanation needed

-Driver of the year
Neither

-Rookie of the year
Best driver who's joined us within the last year.

-Best Race Of 2017
Was there a race that was more exciting or action packed than all the others? Maybe you finally beat Vic after he was demoted to CH tyres? Whatever it was, which race goes down as your 2017 COTW highlight?

-Best rivalry
Might have been driver vs driver, or driver vs car... last year we even had driver vs tyres!

-Community service award
Goes to the one who's contributed and sacrificed to keep the club tickin'

-2017 Beater Of The Year
The biggest pile of trash we've raced!!!

-2017 Sleeper Of The Year
The main attraction! The best of the best!

Cars nominated must have been raced this year, so anything from the KTM X-Bow onwards.
Please inbox me with your nominations, take some time to think about it, but at the same time don't neccesarilly dawdle.


Anyways, all of that is cool and good, but it's not a new car, is it?!

A couple of weeks back our mate Baron, sadly finished on GT6 and now dominating GTS, pinched his first FIA Manufacturer cup! Now, we sadly don't have a VW Beetle Gr.3 in GT6, but we have the next best thing!

Congratulations @Baron Blitz Red!!!!!!

It's the 2000 Volkswagen New Beetle Cup Car!!!!!!

Dirt cheap, totally un-threatening, and beginner friendly! This baby's probably the easiest way to acquire a race car in GT6. This week's Playing With TT's will be at the Silverstone National Circuit, and is live now! Also live now is a special event celebrating 250 likes on Hooncorp's Facebook page! Be sure to get involved, and don't forget to start thinking about your COTY picks!

Also see you Tuesday!

 

[Rinsky]

Well because I just joined a month ago I can't really vote on COTY. However I do look forward to seeing what cars win and hopefully having some events around them. I hope we are still going for another year so I can be apart of the Voting next year.

 

[Draggon]

I've been sort of not too present this last week. The Volvo is a one heck of a beater. In fact, I can't think of other cars with similar specifications that have been this bad. At least the WiLL had the transmission issue to blame it's poor performance on. I did get some of the TT's done though.

In no particular order....barely snuck by @chillmazta for 2nd place in "lets do the Samba(bus)"

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Hey hey @Nismonath5 , would it possible to do up a list that we could see without going through "countless" pages for this year's cars??? Please and thank you!

Oh and just by the bye, I got a surprise today... although I don't think it is anywhere close to true, it was nice to see!



Cheers

 

[mica3speedy]

I'm trying to play catch up here, lol. I actually had a stock z32 300zx 2 seater in my garage. the weight on this this car is a major damper on things. Speaking of dampers, the suspension is soft and takes curbs good. Once moving it moves decently, but needs plenty of space for breaking, again due to the weight. What amazes me is that this car was relatively unchanged for almost a decade. When it came out it was a sporty GT car. Driving a 91 rx-7 puts it to shame, and is nearly 8 seconds faster around Midfield. I also drove what I feel is it's more spiritual successor, a Skyline GT370 coupe. Similar pp, but the Skyline is much faster around Midfield, around 7 seconds. As a historical car the 300zx stood out in it's generation, but as a sleeper it's not, and is more beater at this point in time. Up next is the C30 R!

 

[mica3speedy]

Ok, next up is the C30 R. What's my verdict? Beater, and enough said!

 

[Rinsky]

In no particular order....barely snuck by @chillmazta for 2nd place in "lets do the Samba(bus)"

Not that it really matters but my posted time was 1:22.897 and @chillmazta was 1:22.918
Congrats on 2nd place

 

[Rinsky]

@mica3speedy
Welcome to the club. It's nice to see I'm not the only new face.
Will you be racing with us on Tuesday night's?

 

[Draggon]

Not that it really matters but my posted time was 1:22.897 and @chillmazta was 1:22.918
Congrats on 2nd place

Oopsy-daisy, sorry brother What a great battle for 2nd place though, only 2 tenths separating us three!

 

[Rinsky]

Oopsy-daisy, sorry brother What a great battle for 2nd place though, only 2 tenths separating us three!

Absolutely was a great battle. Again congrats on 2nd place.

There should be some epic battles tonight in the Volkswagen Beetle.

 

[Nismonath5]

Alrighty people, it's that time of the week again!

 

[Nismonath5]

Right off the bat, all I can say about the Beetle is, wow.

It's got the cute, zippy appeal you'd expect in an entry level racecar, and it just makes me wish there were more cup cars than just it, the two Lupos and the mm-R. Got vids, pics and review on the way!!

 

[chillmazta]

...
In no particular order....barely snuck by @chillmazta for 2nd place in "lets do the Samba(bus)"

Congrats on besting me! I'll make sure of making it harder to sneak by me next time.

 

[Nismonath5]

Hey hey @Nismonath5 , would it possible to do up a list that we could see without going through "countless" pages for this year's cars??? Please and thank you!

Sorry for the delay, but here's the updated car list for the rest of 2017!! (Not including the last three or so, but you're not that forgetful, are you?)

Also @Rinsky you're more than welcome to submit some votes. You can pick and choose a few awards to vote for, but can do all of them if you so desire.

And one more thing, I've made a minor edit to the awards list. Rather than Car Of The Year, we'll be splitting it both ways, into Beater of the year and Sleeper of the year. (Basically worst and best.)

 

[mica3speedy]

@mica3speedy
Welcome to the club. It's nice to see I'm not the only new face.
Will you be racing with us on Tuesday night's?

I will if I can. My schedule is all sorts of crazy, and I'm lucky if I fit in a couple hours a week playing.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

@Nismonath5 THANK YOU!

Cheers

 

[Rinsky]

2000 Volkswagen Beetle Cup

Thoughts:

Who doesn't like the Volkswagen beetle? It's seems as though the bug has been with us since the beginning of the automobile and probably one of the most recognized cars of all time. I can remember taking long trips as a kid and playing Punch Bug to pass the time ( good times ). Now here it is in full race trim for this week's COTW. Because It's light weight and has a cheap price it should draw lots of buyers but at such a bargain how will it hold up on the track? We are about to find out.


Suspension and Handling:
The Bug handles itself nicely on the track it's very stable and balanced with no unwanted characteristics to upset the handling. In return you can push the Bug quite hard without any major consequences. I do find one thing that's odd. The Bug comes with an upgraded race suspension but the camber angles both front and rear are set at .00 a slight adjustment of .03 front and .03 rear really make the car handle high speed corners much better while also giving the rear more turn in. So why they were left at .00 from factory is a mystery to me and with the No Tuning Option turned on it has to stay that way for our TT & Racing.

Power:
The Bug is definitely not an overpowered race car but it's also not underpowered and kinda fines itself taking the middle road here and stays modest on the power and coming in at 201hp that's really no surprise. It's only downfall here is its ability to build up speed quickly from a start but once you get the Beetle going it becomes a reality fun car to drive so keeping those RPM's up is a must for fast lap times. The Bug in race trim comes with some bolt on performance parts already installed free of charge.

Transmission:
Using an automatic transmission doesn't seem to effect the car much and it's easy to get it in the right gear 99% of the time. Sharp corners can be a bit tricky at times and keep the bug in 3rd gear is the key to preventing the LSD from kicking in and bouncing the RPM's off the revlimiter.

Brakes:
Its Light weight combined with racing brakes and racing tires provide all the stopping power you could need without losing any grip but if your to late on braking it will push the tires past their limit. So while early braking is not necessary late late braking is not recommended.

Weather Driving:
Might seem a little extreme to take a tarmac race car and put it in the snow but who knows its just might work.

Snow & Ice:
Nope it wouldn't let me strap on an set of snow tires or dirt tires.

Rain:
Slap on a set of Heavy Wet Race Tires and the Bug handles the wet tarmac without any complaints. Lap times dropped almost 5 seconds but that's to be expected.

Verdict:

The Volkswagen beetle Cup Car is not going to win COTY its also not going to be voted BOTY either. It's has a great overall balance of power, handling and braking but is far from an all out Race Car. It's just a great entry level race car for those on a budget. It does everything great but not one thing exceptional it absolutely is a middle of the road race car. Now don't get me wrong it is a blast to race and our weekly COTW race had some great battles going all night long. But other than doing a One Make Race it will probably see little time racing against other cars. So this one receives a NEUTRAL vote for me.

 

[Nismonath5]

Rain:
Slap on a set of Heavy Wet Race Tires and the Bug handles the wet tarmac without any complaints. Lap times dropped almost 5 seconds but that's to be expected.

One of the things we've learned in our many years of online shinanegans is that sometimes the rain tyres are actually not the best choice for wet weather.

We did one race in... Well, some car that was on Sport hard tyres and a few of us had won races and were on Comfort soft tyres. The drivers on comfort tyres thrashed the others, and this prompted investigation. A bit of testing found that a car on comfort tyres in the wet was about three seconds quicker than a car on sport tyres with the same conditions!

It was why you may have noticed, at High Speed Ring on tuesday there were all sorts of tyres being used by various drivers. Wets, sports, comforts... they all have grooves and therefore rid water from the tyre, but from the little test a few of us did, comforts seem to be the way to go in wet.

 

[Rinsky]

One of the things we've learned in our many years of online shinanegans is that sometimes the rain tyres are actually not the best choice for wet weather.

We did one race in... Well, some car that was on Sport hard tyres and a few of us had won races and were on Comfort soft tyres. The drivers on comfort tyres thrashed the others, and this prompted investigation. A bit of testing found that a car on comfort tyres in the wet was about three seconds quicker than a car on sport tyres with the same conditions!

It was why you may have noticed, at High Speed Ring on tuesday there were all sorts of tyres being used by various drivers. Wets, sports, comforts... they all have grooves and therefore rid water from the tyre, but from the little test a few of us did, comforts seem to be the way to go in wet.

Very interesting and something I'm going to play around with now. In our race at High Speed Ring I did run the Race Wet Tires. I also had no aids turned on but ABS 1. The same goes with all my testing and TT runs no aids but ABS. I will however turn on TC if the car is just undriveable with all aids off.
I wasn't aware that the group used SFR on our racing night until Vic told me to turn it on like you guys. This will have a huge effect on how the Tires seem handle in all conditions.

Don't take that as a bad thing because there is no right or wrong way to race in our group and that's not the point I'm trying to make. Because I'm still new to the group I have a lot to learn and this is just another great example.
I will definitely start testing out different tire compounds in wet weather conditions along with posting lap times with and without aids to add to my reviews so it touches base with different playing styles.
If anyone has more suggestions that would help me make my reviews better it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks again for pointing this out to me @Nismonath5

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Over in GT Sport, the Beetle takes on an entirely different form... with numbers closer to the GRC animal that pretty well dominates that series. Although the latest 1.06 update has clipped its balls a bit, it's still a joy to drive and can be quite the weapon in the right hands!!!

(Not sure why my stats don't properly reflect the number of wins this car has given me)

As for the GRC version, well let's just leave this here shall we...



Cheers

 

[Draggon]

Over in GT Sport, the Beetle takes on an entirely different form... with numbers closer to the GRC animal that pretty well dominates that series. Although the latest 1.06 update has clipped its balls a bit, it's still a joy to drive and can be quite the weapon in the right hands!!!Cheers

I just picked that one up this morning, and wow, it sure is a beast! For me, that one's going to have a steep learning curve. I did mine up in Martini livery, not sure if that'll improve my performance!

Well, I've been remiss this week on any reporting on the Beetle Cup Car. It's a lovely, sweet drive, easy to push hard, and does all things well. As for the wet race we had, I was running IM and was able to keep pace with @Vic Reign93 , so I know it must have been tires because is sure wasn't skill.

I did the Volvo TT but can't find my pic so following internet protocol, it didn't happen. Did OK in the Beetle, it has real sweet rotation and gets around Silverstone quite well. I just cked the times, and once again, only tenths separate us. I love this kind of competition.

Verdict: Sleeper!