Car of the Week 228: COTY GTS Finale

[Racer283]

We will race tomorrow since there is a server maintenance going on right now.

 

[Nismonath5]

So are we meeting tonight?

 

[Nismonath5]

This evening @Racer283 and I had a bit of a chat, and one topic that was raised was the fact that Car Of The Week has been getting a bit quiet lately.

And it's true, when you look at how big we used to be. Blimey, I recall seeing grids in excess of 12, sometimes even more back in GT6, while some of you longer standing members may have seen rooms filled to capacity! These days we're lucky if we get six cars on track.

Now, I've never really been one to whinge about numbers. I believe in quality over quantity, and despite our dwindling numbers we have had some epic battles, hence my mindset. But what Racer said got me thinking.

See, when McD was running the show, he was way onto it with spreading the word. Google+ posts, GTP posts, YouTube videos, you name it, he was doing it. Maybe it's time we branched out a bit, put the word out and hopefully attracted a few extra drivers for the meets.
We discussed a few possible means of doing this:

1. A COTW YouTube channel. While a few of us (myself included) record the races and post the replays, perhaps we could make a channel where we post "official" replays that covers the race as a while, not just one person's perspective of it. The prospect of commentary was also raised, which could make the videos more exciting to watch.

2. A COTW DriveTribe. DriveTribe is somewhere else we could post COTW related videos and pictures, reaching a whole new audience meaning more possible interest and race attendance. It's not a forum so wouldn't replace this thread, but it's another possible means of attracting people.

3. Bring back features of GT6 COTW.
AGS, Playing with TT's, McClarenDesign. All of these weren't implemented into the GT Sport edition of COTW. Should we bring them back?

Thing is, COTW's never really had a hierarchy, with no one above or below one another. So we'd like all of you to have your say on the matter. What should we as a group do regarding COTW and it's dwindling attendance? It's one of those things that, while not exactly 100% critical (we could just carry on with our happy little circle of friends), at the same time the more the merrier.

Keen to hear everyone's thoughts!!!

 

[RobboGTAddict]

I do miss the days of full rooms. I recently had a former regular comment on a COTW livery I shared. He had no idea we were still meeting. I think a small amount of promotion is all we need to do to grow this again. There are plenty of Facebook groups for GT Sport, we could try to promote there. Is there a way to promote here, on GTPlanet?

Is the day or time a problem? Have we tried others?

How do we setup or compare the time trials?

I'm new to uploading to Youtube. I had no idea it was this easy to do. How do we all upload to the same page? Directing an interesting video through the replay is tricky to get right. I tried in the embedded video, but it would be better if I had the time. I don't know video editing, but I do have an Adobe CC account. I'm would need more equipment and time to do commentary, but I would watch if it were out there.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Well, we could do something similar to what Mr Walfz does in DOTW... video laps for Playing with TT's. They just include hashtags if I remember correctly.

As for getting more people, maybe we could combine COTW with DOTW somehow... but that would mean constant coordination between the two threads and or thread leaders. I like the Drivetribe idea, and it would give me incentive to go there more often. I lurk there more than anything lately. I don't know of many social media platforms... G+ was my go to, but it's dead. A lot of people mentioned "MeWe" before the G+ shutdown. Twitch might still be an option as well... streaming the races might garner more attention too.

As for the day and time... that seems to be an issue throughout the entire COTW history. But finding a day and time that suits everyone will always be a problem... and with the E-Sports component (FIA races), that will be something to take into consideration as well. We can't conflict schedules as a lot of people including myself take part in those.

Another issue is the P2P lag we have all noticed lately. Finding the "strongest" host is something else to consider...

Cheers

 

[oinksnork]

What about creating a community on PlayStation network. Anyone with interest can join.
I believe you can create events for a community. If so, make every race an event. This might drum up a few extra people

 

[Nismonath5]

There are plenty of Facebook groups for GT Sport, we could try to promote there. Is there a way to promote here, on GTPlanet?

I have thought of promoting on Facebook, I'm in a few groups here and there. And GTP too, of course we could do some posts just sort of advertising us.

Is the day or time a problem? Have we tried others?

I'm not sure that's a problem. As it sits we're out of the way of the GT Championships schedules and stuff, so I think the time slot is good. But that's just me.

Directing an interesting video through the replay is tricky to get right. I tried in the embedded video, but it would be better if I had the time. I don't know video editing, but I do have an Adobe CC account. I'm would need more equipment and time to do commentary, but I would watch if it were out there.

I studied film and media for 5 years, I think I've got this. (If this idea comes to fruition)

maybe we could combine COTW with DOTW somehow... but that would mean constant coordination between the two threads and or thread leaders.

Definately not something I'd thought of, but I wouldnt say it's impossible. What say you @MrWaflz55?

I like the Drivetribe idea, and it would give me incentive to go there more often. I lurk there more than anything lately

I'll be honest I like the prospect of DriveTribe too. From what I've seen they're embracing the gaming and esports side of car culture, having recently setup a dedicated gaming part to their site. Definately worth further investigation.

A lot of people mentioned "MeWe" before the G+ shutdown.

Sounds like some sort of communism.

Twitch might still be an option as well... streaming the races might garner more attention too.

This is true, but again who would host that? Ideally we'd have the races covered as a whole rather than just one perspective. Otherwise everyone may as well stream. (Also slight side note. We dont know how streaming would affect our already questionable connection as of late)

What about creating a community on PlayStation network. Anyone with interest can join.

That sounds like a logical first step, if you all are keen. Can't say I've explored much of the social options the Ps4 has to offer but if we're gonna start somewhere, why not the one place we know everyone will have access to by default?

Loving the ideas guys, let's keep this discussion going!

 

[MisterWaffles]

We actually cancelled time trials completely in Duel of the Week because people started accusing others and complaining about cheating such as grip bugs, corner cutting or whatnot. On some tracks in GT Sport, the white lines aren’t the actual indicator on what counts as the island or not, so the guys that did respect that were getting pissed off. It wasn’t promoting the kind of community we wanted so it was discontinued.

We haven’t had another duel for a week or two because it’s hard to survive off of just two votes a week. That’s not enough indication for me to really pick a true winner. This last week is actually still open but I need some more content to work with. It seems after we cut off the TTs the thread dropped in popularity a bit, but our Sport iteration hasn’t been that popular to begin with.

Like @Nismonath5 said, I’m open to the idea of merging the threads to create a larger one and have a big relaunch, but I’m not sure how that could happen. Perhaps if you have any ideas, make a group chat and hit me up.

 

[Draggon]

A COTW YouTube channel

I do miss the days of full rooms.
Is the day or time a problem? Have we tried others?

I think a YouTube is a great idea. I'm sure those of us who frequent it are familiar with how they suggest videos related to what you are watching. We could possibly get a lot of traffic on our channel this way.

Yes Rob, I'm sure you remember when the rooms were so full we had two going simultaneously. I see some of our old members are active in the FIA and participate in online practice sessions. Having our room on the night before the Nation's Cup may might not bring them back, nor attract new ones.

 

[Racer283]

I know with Youtube there is a way to create a universal youtube channel where anyone in the group and can post videos. The way to do that would be to make everyone an admin and they can upload their perspective of the race to the channel. Another option would be to collect those videos and have someone download them and splice each others videos into one video and cutting to the action of everyones POV.

For the most part my days are fairly open with occasional events that pop up but we can figure out which day works best for all of us. I just figured using the same day as we did for GT6 would work for us on GTS.

 

[MisterWaffles]

I vote for a day on the weekend, then I may be able to finally make every week. Preferably Friday or Saturday night.

 

[Nismonath5]

Re-scheduling will be a tricky one for me personally. I work weekends, though am trying my hardest to free up my weekends in exchange for weekday work, with Wednesdays being my only weekday off. Changing the time slot may mean I'd be unable to join in, thanks to being on the wrong side of the world and the time zones thing.

 

[JackRyanWMU]

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When someone says Acura NSX, something like the above is probably what immediately comes to mind. A beautiful sports car with brilliant handling characteristics dancing its way along the asphalt in a perfect waltz with its driver. Both the original model and its recent reboot rank as my favorite cars from Japan, and I would be ecstatic to have either of them in my garage.

One thing I've never said though is, They really ought to make a rally car out of this.

Group B Livery by jhabatb
GT4 Livery by MightyMadMaxwell
​

Yet, we somehow got the answer to this question no one was asking in GT Sport. The reason no one was asking, is likely because some of the things that make a car great on pavement wouldn't make it that good for dirt. Most rally cars are fairly compact and have the engine up front for a bit of stability when navigating the corners. The NSX is the opposite of both of those things, and as a result feels very awkward to try to get a feel for what it's doing on the rough stuff. Yet put it back on its natural habitat of blacktop and it still doesn't seem comfortable even on racing slicks, feeling too twitchy on initial turn-in and vague the rest of the way through.

I may love the NSX, but if you're looking for a rally car you're simply better off buying an Evo or a WRX. So sadly this NSX is a Beater.

Bonus Video. Le Mans 24 next weekend. Need I say more?

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And for some side thoughts. Yes, I know my video content is heavily skewed towards Assetto Corsa as of late. One is because it's difficult to get good replays with the recent server issues we've seen in COTW. The other is, I'm just having more fun in AC than I am in GT Sport nowadays. It might be a contributing factor why attendance has been light as of late; both that GT Sport has been out for a while, and there's more alternatives than ever for the sim-racing fan nowadays. That said, in some ways I'd rather have a small group of 6 to 8 guys that'll give me good and respectful races over a field of 24 that's always going elbows-out. I appreciate the time I get to spend with you all over our shared love of cars and racing.

 

[MisterWaffles]

I'm just having more fun in AC than I am in GT Sport nowadays.

To be frank, the last update didn't help player retention for GT Sport either with all the unrealistic understeer, wheelies and no new cars. I bet a lot of the cars that people have reviewed in the past on this thread no longer behave the same way as when they tested them. Kinda defeats the purpose of labelling something a beater or sleeper if it drives way better or way worse the next month.

 

[Draggon]

To be frank, the last update didn't help player retention for GT Sport either with all the unrealistic understeer, wheelies and no new cars. I bet a lot of the cars that people have reviewed in the past on this thread no longer behave the same way as when they tested them.

I'm almost afraid to try out the A110 Alpine, our Car of the Year for 2018.

I appreciate the time I get to spend with you all over our shared love of cars and racing. ​

Well said Jack.

Seeing as how I missed everyone Tuesday, expecting things to happen on Wednesday, I made up a little livery. My contribution for this beater of a car.

 

[Racer283]

This week we will be testing a classic American Muscle. We will be running the classic Shelby Mustang GT350. This weeks car is chosen by @Obelisk

 

[Alex p.]

Did a 08.01.928 with it on the Nordschleife. No wonder it is mostly considered as the best classic American muscle car, because it truly is. Great acceleration, handling and stability. Its top speed isn't too bad (slightly over 220 km/h). It can certainly go sub 8 minutes around the Norschleife, so basically just as fast as all the 90s Japanese sports cars, and that's just remarkable! Verdict: Sleeper!

 

[Nismonath5]

Lobby's up! Join in the action

 

[RobboGTAddict]

So, what are we driving this week?

 

[Racer283]

To celebrate the 24hrs of Le Mans over the weekend, we will be testing out the Porsche 919.

 

[05XR8]

I think I sold mine after getting it in the Corcuit Experience. I have the 787B for Gr.1.

 

[Nismonath5]

More videos incoming, I've just found I get a better reception generally if I release them over time, rather than all at once.

 

[Vic Reign93]

Geez I’m behind on my write ups, Let’s see how quick I can knock these out.

‘65 Mini Cooper: Light, nimble, agile, better with near 100hp than its stock mid 60 or so horsepowers.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Mclaren 650S: Stock SH tyres were hopeless, liked to understeer and early braking was needed, SS tyres reduced said understeer and made the 650S somewhat decent.

Verdict: Neutral (SH tyres shouldn’t be standard for high powered machines.)

Ford GT40 MK1: Expensive, sounded good, handles, stops and goes well enough to justify said price(And if tuned for Blue Moon Bay, can make its price back in a few hours. ).

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Pagani Huayra: Expensive, very fast, SH tyres were hopeless to tame it, early braking was needed, SS tyres lessens said issues.

Sounded the business on the downshifts.

Verdict: Neutral

Bugatti Veyron: See previous write up for most thoughts on it.

Didn’t sound as good on downshifts and was much heavier than the Pagani so braking was less effective.

Verdict: Neutral (Seriously who’s idea was it to put SH tyres as standard on Super/Hypercars?! )

Ford Focus ST: Aside from the Horse Thief Mile shenanigans, Decent Hot Hatch, Understeer was manageable, brakes were solid and was pretty brisk once up to speed.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Honda NSX GrB Rally Car: Great fun as you expect from basically a exotic rallycross car, easily adjustable diff settings to go from 50:50 to 10:90 or to put it another way, Hot lapper to crazy hooligan.

Gearing was decently spaced, bit wobbly and soft stock suspension, but that made weight transferring quite fun to do.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Shelby Mustang GT350: Classic looks, classic sound and solid performance.

It’s one for the classic racers, the barn finders or those paying homage to Bullitt.

Verdict: Sleeper 👍

Roll on to the 919.👍

 

[Nismonath5]

Here's the story. As you might have seen, I'm in a national Super Formula championship, running as part of a two car team. Unfortunately I'm going to miss one of the rounds, because I'm going away and this has been planned longer than my participation in this series has.

Because it's a team series, that means INXILE will be all on his lonesome for that round. Unless someone was to step in and drive my car for the night.

I've been given the go-ahead by the officials to find a substitute for the round to drive the #37 Hooncorp Toyota SF car, so I need someone who wouldn't mind taking on some of New Zealand's best!

These are the two races. Each one has a 10 minute qualifying session beforehand, and you must use two types of tyre compound in each race (meaning a compulsory stop)

The races are as follows
Race A - Big Willow ~~ Sunny ~~ 26 laps
Race B - Interlagos ~~ Sunny ~~ 24 laps

The lobby is June 30 at 7:00pm NZ time. You'll need to work out when that is for your particular time zones, as I know we have a lot of people from various regions.

Again I only need one driver for the one round, so if someone knows how to handle the SF cars, let me know!

 

[TonyJZX]

I'd like to see how you guys go with the Porsche 919... I have not 1 not 2 not 3 but FOUR of the things.

I cant get a handle on how to drive it. The funny 4wd system and how it supposedly uses the FWD electric system to help you just screws me up.

I also got a free Audi R18 2016 model and I use that for all my LMP-H needs... granted its rwd only but I got to learn how to drive it thru sheer willpower given it was the only LMP-H I had for ages and I just had to persevere.

 

[Obelisk]

I'd like to see how you guys go with the Porsche 919... I have not 1 not 2 not 3 but FOUR of the things.

I cant get a handle on how to drive it. The funny 4wd system and how it supposedly uses the FWD electric system to help you just screws me up.

I also got a free Audi R18 2016 model and I use that for all my LMP-H needs... granted its rwd only but I got to learn how to drive it thru sheer willpower given it was the only LMP-H I had for ages and I just had to persevere.

I'll give it a whirl tonight and post a video.👍 Pretty sure I have one.

 

[Baron Blitz Red]

Hey people... by request of @Soyuz 77 , I did a live stream of last night's racing on my YouTube channel. So, the question is...

Did any of you notice any differences??? Any lag? Was it manageable? Comments welcome... Thanks

Cheers

 

[JackRyanWMU]

Parnelli Jones Livery by trickyvoodoo69
​

A Review from the Better Late Than Never Department. There are Mustangs. Then there are Shelby Mustangs. This is one of those cars that dispel the myth that American cars can't handle turns. You still get a beautiful sounding V8 engine soundtrack with the GT350, but it also sheds a lot of weight from a typical '60s muscle car for a relatively lean and mean machine. GT Sport's ever-changing physics aside, it's hard not to enjoy driving this car even with just a controller.

It feels a complete opposite to the newer GT350R I was able to drive in Assetto Corsa. Even with the softest tires on the wheels and the downforce on the rear wing tuned to the max, this car felt like trying to ride a Hippo on a steeplechase. True, the new Shelby has massive power and on the rare occasion when you get it right you can lay down a screamer of a lap time.

​

However, more than likely you'll have to get past a couple of wrongful death lawsuits from innocent bystanders to get to that amazing lap. Which is why I'm calling the old GT350 a Sleeper and the new GT350R a Beater. There are times when picking a classic car or a new car is a difficult decision. This isn't one of them.

Speaking of newness, I recently bought a Thrustmaster T150 for myself. I currently don't have a way to mount it for use from my recliner by the Playstation, so I'm using for PC only only at the moment. I can say that my jaw was dropped the whole time when I first started trying it out, feeling actual feedback from what my car was doing in the Sim being reflected in the wheel. Feels like my sim driving has been taken to a whole new level.

​

 

[Rinsky]

Speaking of newness, I recently bought a Thrustmaster T150 for myself. I currently don't have a way to mount it for use from my recliner by the Playstation, so I'm using for PC only only at the moment. I can say that my jaw was dropped the whole time when I first started trying it out, feeling actual feedback from what my car was doing in the Sim being reflected in the wheel. Feels like my sim driving has been taken to a whole new level.

Just wait until the day you decide to upgrade to a better setup than you have now. Something like the T-GT & pro pedals along with the sim rig of your choice.

That feeling you just had going from the DS4 to the T-150 will be about double that.
Anyway congratulations on your new wheel.

 

[Racer283]

We leave behind the top of the class racing car to a much slower road car. This week we will be testing the Peugeot RCZ GT Line 2015. This weeks car was chosen by @fabinator6