Beginner league - Tire Choice/wear

[pgiambat]

Hey All,
In the GT Championship series in the beginner level (5 laps) I have won the first 6 of 10 races but CANNOT win the 7th (Seattle track race). I'm using a team Oreca Viper suped to 900+ HP. If I use the soft racing tires I get a good lead on the first lap but have to pit and lose all my lead getting new tires. The rest of the race is just crap with me pitting again and coming in 6th, 40+ seconds behind.
If I use a harder tire I give up traction and I can't get the jump and get any lead on the other cars. I also have a Corvette Z06 in my garage with 900+ HP and the Mitsibishi 3000 Gt with a little over 1,000 HP.
Of the three cars I have, what is the best one to use to advance, tire choice and driving style/approach?

Thanks,
Pgiambat

 

[daan]

Use the Oreca Viper with hard tyres so you don't have to pit, and drive better. It's more than capable of winning that series.

You could also remove some of that power and use the softer tyres. It seems like you need to read the first line of my signature.

 

[pgiambat]

Thanks Daan, I figured it would be something like that. I let my frustration get the best of me and tried to blow out a trick match with a hurricane.

Pgiambat

 

[kyle]

Welcome to the GTP, pgiambat. I think you shouldn't have so much power on the Viper either. I think I used a C5R with super slicks, and it worked fine for me.

 

[Duke]

Thanks Daan, I figured it would be something like that. I let my frustration get the best of me and tried to blow out a trick match with a hurricane.

At some other tracks, you can get away with that tactic, but not at Seattle. It's just too tough, and seriously unforgiving of the point-shoot-bam-recover driving style.

Welcome to GTPlanet!

 

[pgiambat]

After I posted and replied I checked out my own post and realized I MEANT to say ... the Amateur GT World Championship.
Sorry for the mistake but I am assuming that the advice given so far still applies. I think the only thing I did to the Viper was put a N/A tune up kit. I think it started out with 600-something HP and that one thing got it up to 900+ HP.
When you say back off the power, are you saying to 'Unistall' the tune up?

I love this game a little more thanks to quick, good advice from you guys.

Thanks for the welcome and the replies,
Pgiambat

 

[Duke]

Our pleasure. I will suggest that you read through the Race Reports on the GT3RR board, particularly those by Der Alta. A lot of people put info about how particular series went in particular cars, and most of the people who cared to write them up also cared about having a good competitive race.

In looking through my notes, it looks like I tried this in several different cars at varying points. For Seattle, I seem to have posted wins in a stock Raybrig NSX on T4 medium slicks (+3.675" over the Pennzoil GT-R). Several other cars I auditioned and lost at Seattle included a stock Vertigo and a CLK Touring car.

 

[Uncle Harry]

After I posted and replied I checked out my own post and realized I MEANT to say ... the Amateur GT World Championship.
Sorry for the mistake but I am assuming that the advice given so far still applies. I think the only thing I did to the Viper was put a N/A tune up kit. I think it started out with 600-something HP and that one thing got it up to 900+ HP.
When you say back off the power, are you saying to 'Unistall' the tune up?

I love this game a little more thanks to quick, good advice from you guys.

Thanks for the welcome and the replies,
Pgiambat

I was thinking something was wrong if you could not win the Beginner championship with a 900 hp Viper.
I suggest practice the Seatle track a little bit more.
Then loose the 900 hp engine upgrade, lower the gear ratios, max out the downforce, use hard tires and you should be able to win.
By the way the next couple of races are even harder.
Look for my game write up 0-100% in the GT3 race reports for a few ideas on what is possible and what is not possible.
edit link added: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=51387

 

[pgiambat]

All,
I backed off the tune up #2 going down to 500-something HP, used the racing-medium tires and won by a 2-3 second lead (thanks to some of the other cars pitting at an opportune time).
I had to rub shoulders with the corvette a little. I qualified up to start in 3rd versus 6th and this helped as well.
I won on Midfield next, another tight one but a win none he less and was winning at 'Special Stage R11' until THE LAST DAMN 10 SECONDS!! My rear tires had gone red but I was all over the place throughout the whole race and can do much better I think.
If I am successful in winning the GT World Championship... I'm shooting for the Toyota GT-One Road Car(TS020). Is this a good choice versus: Nissan Z Concept or the Nissan C-West Razo Silvia JGTC(J) or the Mazda RX-8?

Thanks,
Pat

 

[kyle]

All,
I backed off the tune up #2 going down to 500-something HP, used the racing-medium tires and won by a 2-3 second lead (thanks to some of the other cars pitting at an opportune time).
I had to rub shoulders with the corvette a little. I qualified up to start in 3rd versus 6th and this helped as well.
I won on Midfield next, another tight one but a win none he less and was winning at 'Special Stage R11' until THE LAST DAMN 10 SECONDS!! My rear tires had gone red but I was all over the place throughout the whole race and can do much better I think.
If I am successful in winning the GT World Championship... I'm shooting for the Toyota GT-One Road Car(TS020). Is this a good choice versus: Nissan Z Concept or the Nissan C-West Razo Silvia JGTC(J) or the Mazda RX-8?

Thanks,
Pat

The GT One Road Car is undoubetdly the best of the 4 in there. It has ~600hp it is almost like a little brother version of the GT One Race Car.

 

[pgiambat]

All,
Tuning back the HP on the Viper, maxing out the downforce and going with longer lasting tires was the trick!! Thanks a ton!
I got the Toyota GT One Road Car and it is a killer (you can all tell where I am in GT 3 by thinking the GT One Road Car is 'Killer'). I test cars on Laguna, the VIper still has the best lap 1m18s but the GT One is right there at 1m20s.
I did feel a bit like a chump saving the game at 9 wins with a huge point lead and bailing onthe tenth race to go to the winners cirlce to get my car (had to do it 5 times to get the GT One).
Maybe I'll go through the GT CHampioinship again from start to finish knowing what I know now.
I'm also saving every car's initial stock setup before I do anything to it so I can always go back to it, see how smart I'm getting by being on this site .

p.s. When/How/Where/At what point.... does a GT3'r get his first F1 machine?
Buy it, win it, steal it??

 

[Uncle Harry]

Well done PGiambat.
Getting the F1 car. All the endurance races have a 1 in four chance of an F1 car as a prize.
Several other champoinships also offer the chance of the F1. Check out the prize car list in the GT3 main page.

 

[Pupik]

The Amateur GT Champs was one of my favorite series in GT3, as there's lots of different race cars that can make for a good race in this series. The Amateur Dream Car champs is a close second. If I'm not mistaken, Apricot Hill is the AI "boost" round, so be prepared!

It's possible to win it with a tuned C-West Razo Silvia, with a Stage 1 or 2 turbo installed. It's my all-time favorite GT3 car, as it's quite useful in many different races, since the power range adjusts from about 300 to 512 horsepower. (All it's missing is the ability for dirt tires...)

Speaking of tires, don't bother with the two most expensive tires, as they don't last more than a lap or two. If you find you enjoy a car a lot, and you plan on using it for lots of different races, then I suugest you buy all the different tires you can afford, since some tracks are a little more demanding on certian cars (likewise, certain drivers are more demanding at certain tracks).

Also, don't bother maxing out the power of every car, especially items like engine balancing, port/polish, and weight reduction. There's a few events which require un-tuned cars (except oil changes and tire choices), so things like suspensions and turbos can be removed if necessary.

Most race cars become harder to drive with the highest power upgrades, not to mention the added tire changes steal time from you (15-20 seconds lost per tire change, up to 30 seconds lost at Test Course). Try them out without the upgrades first, although an ace up your sleeve "for later" might help for those occasional boosted-AI rounds.

p.s. When/How/Where/At what point.... does a GT3'r get his first F1 machine?

My advice is to race all the enduros, rather than series. Why?

Even if you don't win an F1 car in any particular race, you'll win one (an F094/H) for completing all 10 of the enduros. You don't win too many cars that you can't win elsewhere, or at least purchase as new.

Print out a prize list, if you're interested.