- 1,664
- Singapore
- XSquareStickIt
Quick one for me this week: I really didn't like the GR010. Then again, I don't get along with most high–downforce cars, so maybe I'm talking out my butt more than usual.
Like the FT-1 Gr.3 last week, the GR010 is a racing Toyota just doesn't put down power at all. Out of tight 2nd gear corners, there comes a certain point in the rev range where the engine completely and very suddenly overwhelms the rear tyres. Back in that limited–time Olympic Esports tie–in event at Deep Forest, I've had to restart countless times from sudden power oversteer, until I swallowed my pride and put TCS on 1, and then proceeded to beat the event by a wide margin first try. It may be common consensus that TCS will always slow down a driver, but with me and the GR010, TCS saved me a LOT of time—who knows how much longer I'd have spent hitting restart on that race if I kept banging my head against the engine block of this car.
I think the GR010 is a lot more willing to bite into apexes of corners than the TS050, the de facto Gr.1 car when fuel is a limiting factor in the race, but the TS050 puts down its power a LOT better coming out of them, I think because the TS050 has a much higher output with its electric motors driving the front wheels, helping alleviate power oversteer.
It seems to me that the batteries in the TS050 are a lot more efficient in charging and discharging than those of the GR010 as well; when both cars are depleted of charge, I spent about 3 seconds off throttle braking and turning for the final corner of Sard A, and I got more than 3 seconds of VERY heavy battery boost out of said corner with the TS050 versus the very weak 1 second boost I got from a GR010. While the low output batteries of the GR010 lasts a lot longer by providing a lower level of very consistent boost up to 250km/h, it also means the car completely dies off after it depletes it charge, as opposed to the TS050 that stays strong the whole race. Also, the ICE in the TS050 is able to charge its battery when running at low loads—it was charging its battery on the long gait to the pit box, but I noticed no such thing in the GR010. All that is to say, the longer the race, the more it favours the older TS050, and it's not like the TS050 is the slower of the two in a hot lap scenario, either.
In practice, while the TS050 is faster, the difference wasn't nearly night and day as I had expected. But, if you haven't gotten a free GR010 from "participating" in the Gazoo Racing Cup, the damn thing costs three freaking million credits in the Brand Central—thrice that of the faster, more efficient, and easier to drive TS050. And here I thought the LMH class was supposed to be cheaper to run than LMP1. I can't see any reason as to why anyone would want to buy one if they don't already have it. Maybe if we get more LMH to compare against it, we'd have more context and can have a more informed opinion of it.
(Also, I wish we could adjust the battery boost level of these Le Mans Prototypes via the MFD, and then use that boost with the Overtake button. It would add such depth to Gr.1 races.)
Like the FT-1 Gr.3 last week, the GR010 is a racing Toyota just doesn't put down power at all. Out of tight 2nd gear corners, there comes a certain point in the rev range where the engine completely and very suddenly overwhelms the rear tyres. Back in that limited–time Olympic Esports tie–in event at Deep Forest, I've had to restart countless times from sudden power oversteer, until I swallowed my pride and put TCS on 1, and then proceeded to beat the event by a wide margin first try. It may be common consensus that TCS will always slow down a driver, but with me and the GR010, TCS saved me a LOT of time—who knows how much longer I'd have spent hitting restart on that race if I kept banging my head against the engine block of this car.
I think the GR010 is a lot more willing to bite into apexes of corners than the TS050, the de facto Gr.1 car when fuel is a limiting factor in the race, but the TS050 puts down its power a LOT better coming out of them, I think because the TS050 has a much higher output with its electric motors driving the front wheels, helping alleviate power oversteer.
It seems to me that the batteries in the TS050 are a lot more efficient in charging and discharging than those of the GR010 as well; when both cars are depleted of charge, I spent about 3 seconds off throttle braking and turning for the final corner of Sard A, and I got more than 3 seconds of VERY heavy battery boost out of said corner with the TS050 versus the very weak 1 second boost I got from a GR010. While the low output batteries of the GR010 lasts a lot longer by providing a lower level of very consistent boost up to 250km/h, it also means the car completely dies off after it depletes it charge, as opposed to the TS050 that stays strong the whole race. Also, the ICE in the TS050 is able to charge its battery when running at low loads—it was charging its battery on the long gait to the pit box, but I noticed no such thing in the GR010. All that is to say, the longer the race, the more it favours the older TS050, and it's not like the TS050 is the slower of the two in a hot lap scenario, either.
In practice, while the TS050 is faster, the difference wasn't nearly night and day as I had expected. But, if you haven't gotten a free GR010 from "participating" in the Gazoo Racing Cup, the damn thing costs three freaking million credits in the Brand Central—thrice that of the faster, more efficient, and easier to drive TS050. And here I thought the LMH class was supposed to be cheaper to run than LMP1. I can't see any reason as to why anyone would want to buy one if they don't already have it. Maybe if we get more LMH to compare against it, we'd have more context and can have a more informed opinion of it.
(Also, I wish we could adjust the battery boost level of these Le Mans Prototypes via the MFD, and then use that boost with the Overtake button. It would add such depth to Gr.1 races.)