Capp Cup v3.0 - SEASON 3 COMPLETE! DSGERBC CHAMP!

[BrandonW77]

How long do you think the races will last tonight, Im itchen for some good racing, but I have to cut out at 9 sharp

Racing should be finished by 8:45-8:50, no later than 9.

The ORCA_Champ lounge is open for Alfa TZ2 practice and racing. If you haven't done so, please send a friend request to ORCA_Champ on PSN. I will be logged into that ID so I can accept FR's while we're practicing (BrandonW77 will appear offline).

This practice race is open to everyone. If you have a stock Alfa Guilia TZ2 and would like to join us for some Alfa fun just send a friend request to the ID above. We will be running with tuning prohibited and Sport Soft tires. Qualifying will start at 8pm EST and the first 8 lap race should start around 8:15, second race will follow immediately and be reverse grid.


See you in Daytona!


EDIT: Closed. Man, that was fun!!

 

[TrackBound7]

Monday surprise night, lots of fun. Tonight Alfas at Daytona...not so much fun (for me). My driving was more horrendous than even usual. Doesn't help that I had about 7 laps on my Alfa in the past 5 months, and that my wife woke me up (fell asleep trying to get my son to bed), 5 minutes before qualifying. The racing with the rest of the group looked great though and very encouraging for the season to come.

 

[iridegravity]

Monday surprise night, lots of fun. Tonight Alfas at Daytona...not so much fun (for me). My driving was more horrendous than even usual. Doesn't help that I had about 7 laps on my Alfa in the past 5 months, and that my wife woke me up (fell asleep trying to get my son to bed), 5 minutes before qualifying. The racing with the rest of the group looked great though and very encouraging for the season to come.

30 seconds seems like a big gap in the field for such a short race. Curious what the top lap times were? 2:05's? Anyone in the 4's? Seems like a more technical track might be more fun for slower cars, at least for testing at different HP's and such, but the high speed chicane and and turn 1 are fun. There is a little too much time flat out and waiting for action though. Probably will feel different in larger more even packs I guess though. It is a pretty easy track to learn as well.

 

[Naptown25rs]

Man, that was fun!!

Indeed! I had a blast. I was running crappy in warm-ups and qualy, but once the races started I was able put down some consistent laps. The couple times I made mistakes, I was able catch back up to the pack I was running with due to the draft. Only hit the rev limiter in the tri-oval right before braking for the first turn, so that's definitely not a problem. I definitely think this track should be a go for the season.👍

 

[Torzilla]

Curious what the top lap times were? 2:05's? Anyone in the 4's?

my fastest lap was somewhere in 2:03.xxx, I think this might be the car for me. I had a great time tonight, although I have to apologize for hitting Owens in the first race, and I might have cut off brandon in the second race. Still had a great time in this car though

 

[iridegravity]

Oh and finding a lobby to drive the TZ in other than the ORCA is nearly impossible. Can't believe this 165 HP car would intimidate people and make em change Entry requirements. Guess my Bob gets to break it in since there's nowhere else to drive it. Maybe the PD cup or something. It don't hang in the Historic Challenge. What else could this car be used for in A-Spec?

 

[iridegravity]

PD Cup is a good race for it. Fun and winnable. The Alfa does not like curbing, but I like driving it on them anyway. Think it would be fun to do some two wheelin in them sometime, somewhere.

 

[BrandonW77]

Indeed! I had a blast. I was running crappy in warm-ups and qualy, but once the races started I was able put down some consistent laps. The couple times I made mistakes, I was able catch back up to the pack I was running with due to the draft. Only hit the rev limiter in the tri-oval right before braking for the first turn, so that's definitely not a problem. I definitely think this track should be a go for the season.👍

That's one of the big things I've noticed about the Alfa, little incidents that would have ruined your race in the Capp don't seem to have nearly as big an impact in the Alfa. There were a few times I thought I was destined for disaster but only ended up loosing a couple car lengths and was able to stay in the draft. Of course I did have a couple incidents I couldn't recover, but both of them were rather bizarre and mostly bad luck/timing.


A big thanks to everyone who came out last night, we had a good sized grid and were able to have a proper race so I could find out what I needed about the track. I have a ton of fun racing on this track and I don't think an occasional tap of the rev limiter will hurt us. If anything it could help avoid carnage in the first turn because it usually hits right around the spot you need to start braking (when you have a head of steam from the draft). So it's going to be on the schedule for this season. 👍

Speaking of, I think I have the schedule planned out.

Round 1: Daytona Road, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 2: Nürburgring GP/F, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 3: La Sarthe Enduro (2009 with chicanes, with time change!), 10 laps with 1 pitstop.
Round 4: Monza (with chicane), 2 12-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 5: Monaco, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 6: Spa Enduro, 17 laps with 1 pitstop

PD Cup is a good race for it. Fun and winnable. The Alfa does not like curbing, but I like driving it on them anyway. Think it would be fun to do some two wheelin in them sometime, somewhere.

I've hit a few curbs that knocked the Alfa up on 2-wheels, Knight Rider style. It's pretty wicked in cockpit view!

 

[RDAardvark]

Speaking of, I think I have the schedule planned out.

Round 1: Daytona Road, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 2: Nürburgring GP/F, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 3: La Sarthe Enduro (with time change!), 10 laps with 1 pitstop.
Round 4: Monza, 2 12-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 5: Monaco, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 6: Spa Enduro, 17 laps with 1 pitstop

👍 Except for Monaco, but only 'cos I'm rubbish at Monaco.

If you've that planned, would it be better to move this to a new thread in the Group discussion area?

 

[BrandonW77]

^^^The Alfa is the best car I've ever driven around Monaco. 👍

I'm working on the Alfa thread, should have something ready by the weekend but I don't want to start it until I have (most) everything together. Still need to harvest a couple more photos for various graphics and such but I think I have all the major details worked out and finalized.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Schedule looks pretty good to me. All real tracks and only one city track, luckily the one that I actually like...

 

[Menown]

I was far too slow to have any fun, spent only about 3 of the 16 laps anywhere near another car. And my god is Daytona a dull track to drive around alone. As I usually end up sending 80% of my time lapping by myself, it is the track I will be least looking forward to. Thankfully we get it out of the way right at the start.

In all the testing I've been involved in, Dayton is the most stretched out I have ever seen the field.

 

[BrandonW77]

I was far too slow to have any fun, spent only about 3 of the 16 laps anywhere near another car. And my god is Daytona a dull track to drive around alone. As I usually end up sending 80% of my time lapping by myself, it is the track I will be least looking forward to. Thankfully we get it out of the way right at the start.

In all the testing I've been involved in, Dayton is the most stretched out I have ever seen the field.

That's why I put it first on the schedule and also why I made it a double-header. At the most you'll only have to spend a handful of laps by yourself and then you'll be put up front for the second race. It can be a bit dull when you're all alone but when you're hooked up with a pack it's quite exciting!

I'm glad it's going to work out because I thought it would be neat to use all the tracks (plus Monaco) from the 1966 World Sportscar Championship, add an air of "authenticity" to the whole season.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Here's a couple of tips I've found useful with the Alfa.

The only tuning you can do is on the brakes and it is important. The car is a bit oversteery under braking so my goal is to take that out as much as possible so I tend to favour the front brakes. You might want to try a 6/5 or 6/4 or 7/5 brake bias. You may hotlap better with 5/5 or 5/6 but for consistency I prefer to make the front to do a bit more of the work. Based on yesterday's back to back at Daytona I don't think tire wear will be an issue. You may also want to try softer brakes like 5/4 or even 4/3. Although I haven't tested it on the Alfa it does offer some advantages on some cars by making them more stable under braking load while lengthening braking distances only slightly. If I recall correctly I did pretty well in the FGT Time Trial with a 2/0 brake bias (yes even "0" provides some braking...my Oval cars are set up at 1/0) If you can handle the car with bigger rear brakes that's great but remember these are long haul races and consistency is usually pretty important.

Because of it's oversteery nature under brake load, the car is apt to have the back end swing around if you downshift at the wrong time/too early. It's a corner by corner thing so you have to spend a bit of time on each track. A good example at Daytona is in the infield. The right hander after the first hairpin, where you are flat out in 4th and have to slow down to 2nd for this late apex , odd shaped, right hander. If you downshift too soon, the car kicks out the back end sometimes. So I tend to leave it in third a bit longer than usual as it keeps the car settled and then downshift a bit later. This trait can also come in handy because if you find yourself swinging wide a quick downshift can often bring the back end about and get you pointed in the right direction.

Again, because of it's sharp steering nature, you need somewhat less dramatic steering input than with many other cars. With a lot of cars in GT5 if you mash the steering wheel over too far not much happens, you just get some understeer. With this car, it can make the rear end drift a bit. This can help with some corners like the bus stop, where you can put the car into a bit of oversteer and it helps get through faster but you must always be conscious of it happening when you don't want it to.

I shift up at the redline. Watching the replay I think some of you guys are shifting a bit early and that alone can cost you time. Try to shift as high as possible. If you want to test it, take the car out in practice mode and race against a ghost and alter your shift patterns and see what happens.

Good luck and I hope that helps someone...

 

[Jackwagon]

I was far too slow to have any fun, spent only about 3 of the 16 laps anywhere near another car. And my god is Daytona a dull track to drive around alone. As I usually end up sending 80% of my time lapping by myself, it is the track I will be least looking forward to. Thankfully we get it out of the way right at the start.

In all the testing I've been involved in, Dayton is the most stretched out I have ever seen the field.

I know how you feel. I'm 1hp away from fully broken in, and my times weren't that great in the one practice I took part in. I had fun, of sorts. But it mostly involved trying to shave a second off of the 47 (or more) seconds I was behind for most of the race. I'm blaming the tire compound for now... But it's mostly my lack of ability to drive, I'm sure.

Great info on tuning the alfa, btw... Will look into this for next time! Many thanks.

 

[BrandonW77]

Don't be afraid to really lean on it though. The Capp was so unstable and angry that I adopted a very gentle approach to all inputs, to the point I was almost afraid to touch the brake pedal with any force or get on the throttle early. Last night I was driving the Alfa very hard and found it relatively easy to keep a handle on. If it started to get a little out of control I'd just back off my inputs a bit and it would come back inline, usually without losing much ground. I was running my brakes at 5/4 last night and was really able to stand on them for the hairpins, had no problem with the back getting antsy. It even seemed to be pretty stable going into turn 1 which is rare on this track with any car (in my experience).

I really think the traits of this car are going to provide for some great racing. We'll be able to drive hard without as much fear of losing control or hitting someone. Unlike the Capp, it's not waiting to punish you at the first opportunity. In fact it almost seems like the more you flog it, the more it begs for it! There were at least 2 times I went into the first turn as part of a 3-wide pack, fully expecting mega disaster, and not a car was lost or wrecked. I'm still having a hard time believing it!

 

[Menown]

On turn one I left about 30% throttle on, the car was very stable through there even with heavy breaking and turning in. My experience with the Cappy and Brandon’s seem to be opposites. I found the Cappy very intuitive to drive. I still find the Afla doing things I don't expect. Sometime it has an amazing turn in, so good I end up turning in too early. It feels like a different car each time I drive it, switching tracks is like switching cars, but with the Cappy everything felt fine. I think the Alfa is exaggerating flaws in my style far more than the Cappy did.

It is going to be a hell of a season, and I fully expect to come out of the other end a far better driver.

Can't wait for the New Year.

 

[bdubclub]

On turn one I left about 30% throttle on, the car was very stable through there even with heavy breaking and turning in. My experience with the Cappy and Brandon’s seem to be opposites. I found the Cappy very intuitive to drive. I still find the Afla doing things I don't expect. Sometime it has an amazing turn in, so good I end up turning in too early. It feels like a different car each time I drive it, switching tracks is like switching cars, but with the Cappy everything felt fine. I think the Alfa is exaggerating flaws in my style far more than the Cappy did.

It is going to be a hell of a season, and I fully expect to come out of the other end a far better driver.

Can't wait for the New Year.

Very good point on keeping a bit of throttle application into that braking zone, or any zone that your car is getting tail happy in. Not sure if any of you have tried this, but I also found if I apply my brakes slowly, while simultaneously letting off the throttle, it shortens my braking distance. So the first second or so of braking will be with the throttle wfo then roll off the gas. Not sure why this is, but was wondering if anyone else has had the same results??

 

[Jackwagon]

My experience with the Cappy and Brandon’s seem to be opposites. I found the Cappy very intuitive to drive. I still find the Afla doing things I don't expect. Sometime it has an amazing turn in, so good I end up turning in too early. It feels like a different car each time I drive it, switching tracks is like switching cars, but with the Cappy everything felt fine. I think the Alfa is exaggerating flaws in my style far more than the Cappy did.

It is going to be a hell of a season, and I fully expect to come out of the other end a far better driver.

Can't wait for the New Year.

Honestly, that seems to be my experience as well. I'll never admit to being an accomplished driver, all kidding aside, but the alfa really doesn't feel as good to me as the Cappy. While my times weren't great on Monaco, I was staying on the track and making most of the turns. To me, the Alfa is almost a different car at every turn. I can make a turn pretty well (from my driving around Monza) one time and do, what I believe to be the exact same motions (to make a safe, quick turn) in the next turn and completely lose it. It's my belief that it's my lack of experience with the Alfa, combined with my experience on the compound. Another challenge to learn, I guess.

 

[Naptown25rs]

Round 1: Daytona Road, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 2: Nürburgring GP/F, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 3: La Sarthe Enduro (with time change!), 10 laps with 1 pitstop.
Round 4: Monza, 2 12-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 5: Monaco, 2 10-lap races, second with reverse grid
Round 6: Spa Enduro, 17 laps with 1 pitstop

Have we decided on which variations of La Sarthe and Monza we will be running?

 

[BrandonW77]

Have we decided on which variations of La Sarthe and Monza we will be running?

Sorry about that, fixed. La Sarthe 2009 with chicanes, Monza with chicane. The Alfa just doesn't have enough gearing to run these courses sans chicanes.

I'm surprised to hear some people had an easier time driving the Capp then the Alfa, just shows how we all have different driving styles. Or maybe my Capp just really hated me.

 

[Blind829]

...I still find the Afla doing things I don't expect...

...Alfa really doesn't feel as good to me as the Cappy...

Right now I agree with you guys but I also haven't had a lot of practice in the Alfa. Hopefully with practice we'll be able to figure out this car.

 

[dsgerbc]

I like both the Alfa and the Capp (my tune though had lots of toe-in to be able to apply power early). I can generally catch both when the back steps out and that's all I ask for. I have no preferred brake bias for the Alfa, I tend to like rear-biased though on courses with lots of high-speed corners (say Suzuka, Nurb GP/F) to help the rotation, but then the low-speed corners require finesse (or an on-the-fly change in BB).

 

[Naptown25rs]

Or maybe my Capp just really hated me.

Probably this...

 

[BrandonW77]

Well I hope you guys get comfortable with the Alfa and enjoy driving it for the season. I'm very excited about it and think we're going to see the best racing this group has ever had. With tuning prohibited at least it's one less thing you have to worry about. The more I drive it the more I love it and the more I find I can really push it hard without worrying about getting 🤬 slapped.


And the photos.............the car is just so photogenic!

 

[Naptown25rs]

I wanna some shots of me, you and owens running 3 wide last night.

 

[BrandonW77]

I know I saved the replay from the second race last night but I think I forgot to save the first one. I have replays with the Alfa at every track we'll be running at, I think I'll have to make a little promotional video to put in the OP of the new thread.

 

[BrandonW77]

I've found a neat little feature to add to the social group, a place for us to post our gamercards and find out a little more about our fellow drivers. Thanks to TeggD for the find. 👍

Click Here to find out how to create your own card and post it to the group!


Here's mine:

 

[LancerEvo7]

There's mine.

 

[BrandonW77]

Poker got cancelled tonight so I suddenly have this extra time on my hands. Anybody up for some Recommended Garage racing in the SpecRace lounge? I have a few things I'd like to try out.