FITT pre-1975 Challenge – I used the G27 wheel with Nixim brake pedal mod with the settings on simulation and FFB set to 1. Cote d’ Azur, ABS 1, tire wear on, grip real and all else off. I drove all cars for a best of ten lap test session. Also, in real life, this track once had a wall right up to the red/white rumple strips at the hairpin after the tunnel. I drove all tunes just as that wall still existed – two wheels on the stripes, but not over them. My times may be slower than others who chose to cut that, but they will be consistent as I did the same with all cars. I am glad that I chose to be a tester. It was fun trying everyone’s tunes. Some of these tunes were truly elite. Thanks for letting me participate.
Rotary Junkie – Camaro ’69 – What can I say? RJ just quietly shows up with the fastest car and puts a hurtin’ on the field. Good balance of oversteer/understeer; right on the razors edge. Best transmission of the group and something I would have never thought to do. It shows me that I have a lot to learn about what the transmission has to offer in speed gains. Even though this was the fastest tune, it still was not my favorite car to drive. It is right on the edge all of the time. I was fast with it, but not comfortable at any time during the ten laps. This was a time attack, but if I were to choose a Camaro tune to be on track with other cars, I’d probably pick Roj’s car and put RJ’s transmission settings on it. 1:46.194 best of ten.
Dylans10 – Lamborghini Countach ’74 – Good car pick Dylan. I wish I would have tested one without the oil change. The sign of a good tune is when laps 1 and 2 feel so good that you can settle down and focus on finding little gains in lap time rather than spending 5 laps trying to figure out how to catch a car to make up for its short comings. This is a great tune! I ran practically on top of my ghost for most of this test period. I wouldn’t change a thing in this tune. 1:46.845 best of ten.
Rojjiee – Camaro ’69 – Awesome tune! It didn’t feel fast at first until I looked up and saw the lap time. It’s a sleeper. By the end of lap 1 I was able to focus on pushing for a fast lap. I drove practically on top of the ghost or just ahead of it on each lap. This tune felt great. The only shortfall of this tune for my driving was the corner speed in the right, right after the 180 degree hairpin – before the tunnel. There was more to have in that section. 1:47.197 best of ten.
Tris_73 – Mach 1 '71 – Tris, very nice tune. I wouldn't change a thing. I think the only reason your car isn't ranked higher is because it's not a Camaro. I loved driving this tune. 1:47.935 best of ten.
Praiano63 – Camaro ’69 – Another good Camaro tune. Tremendous under braking. Good corner entry and zero wheel spin on exit. I did experience a bit of mid-corner push and outside front red tires when pushing the car hard. It felt like I was waiting around for the car to get around the apex before I could begin to ease into acceleration. 1:47.729 best of ten.
Motor City Hamilton – BMW 2002 ’73 - My tune. No need to review. It was built for me. I am wishing now that I had built a Camaro. 1:48.504 best of 10.
ACSR421 - Chevrolet Corvette Convertible ’69 – If I’m honest, I would have liked this tune better had I not driven DigitalBaka’s Corvette tune first. That thing just cornered superbly. ACSR’s tune had better brakes and a better gearbox, though I’m not so sure about making it a 4 speed. The only thing I liked about the 4 speed was that it was more like the real life 1970 Corvette Stingray that I own. I don’t know if this tune could have been faster with a 5 speed, but my gut check says yes? ASCR’s tune had good turn-in and good exit, but the car has some bad habits mid-corner. Something just doesn’t feel quite right, but I can’t put my finger on it. This is a time attack competition, so feel doesn’t mean very much. I did run one lap with ACSR’s tune that was faster than DigitalBaka’s, but I could not duplicate it. 1:48.639 best of 10.
DigitalBaka – Chevrolet Corvette Convertible ’69 – This is one tuner who understands corner balance. Best muscle car that I have driven for consistency all the way through the corner. Great turn-in, holds tough mid-corner and was able to get back to the gas just shortly after apex. No wheel spin, no red tires. This is a great tune and the lap time shows it. Only two small areas where I can see a little time left on the table. First, I would add one more digit of brake bias to the rear. Second is the gearbox. I never hit the rev limiter in 5th and I found 2nd gear a little short. Second sneaks up on you. You spend so little time in 2nd as compared to the rest of the gears that it just threw off my shift rhythm and I’d bounce the rev limiter sometimes. 1:48.776 best of 10.
Jackthalad – Lancia Stratos ’73 – This tune was nimble, but unforgiving. It is a quick car that enjoys a PP advantage in PDs programming. Ten laps are just not enough to learn how to drive around the quirks of this car. Because of this, I found it difficult to get into a rhythm. Good corner entry and good mid-corner handling/speed. Long on the braking zones even compared to the heavier muscle cars in this competition. Fussy on throttle with lots of outside rear tire spin. It was also tricky to control at speed through the switchback sections. 1:49.444 best of ten.
Krenkme – BMW 2002 ’73 – A very consistent tune. I ran 8 of my 10 laps within half a second of each other, but I spun on the other two so I gave this test session an extra two laps to make up for the spins. Great turn in, fantastic around the mid-corner and good under braking. I did have a bit of a loose feeling on corner exit so was being somewhat gentle on throttle in the first couple of laps. Didn’t see any red tires with the loose feel until I really started to push from lap 3 on. I experienced outside wheel spin on the two laps with the spins. Plus, when I was really on it through the switch backs along the waterfront I wanted a bit more stability for the braking zone and downshift to 2nd. The car was pretty easy to drive and a nice ride. A LSD adjustment to reduce the outside wheel spin and the switchback braking stability may help, but I don’t think it would be worth that much on the clock? I thing the real think holding this tune back is the gear settings. I never hit the rev limiter in 5th gear. Just think there is more time to be had there. 1:49.721 best of 10.
Onboy – Mercury Cougar ’67 – One of the best looking cars in this competition. I even built one myself and tested it against the Mustang Shelby GT500 and the BMW that I finally chose. Going in, I was hoping to see this car be in the top three. The tune just didn’t do it for my driving style. A little loose on entry and a bit of mid-corner push that turns the outside front tire red at times. Also not sure you got all you could out of the gearbox. 1:50.396 best of ten.
Nighthauner – Lancia Stratos ’73 – This car had much better braking than the other Stratos entered. The car was good past the apex and through corner exit. Could get on throttle hard and early. I had issues with the car being loose on turn in followed by a mid-corner push. That hurt the lap times and consistency. I have honestly never seen this before in the game, but this car had outside rear red tires on corner entry. 1:50.560 best of ten.
Xdesperado67 – Alpine 1600 S ’73 – I applaud X for choosing such a unique car for this competition. I had fun with this little car, but struggled to run consistent fast, fast laps. Mid-corner and exit were great as I was able to get back to throttle early in the corner. The tough part about this tune for me is how aggressive the car is under braking and at corner entry. I barely had to turn the wheel to get this thing to turn in. On the two super tight hairpins it was an advantage as you could drift it around these and be quick. The gain in these corners was offset in other areas of the track, specifically the three essess type switch backs. For me, this tune did not match my driving style as well as some of the others. 1:51.217 best of 10.
CYKISOS1973 – Chevelle SS ’70 – Wow, a muscle car that actually turns. After the first half a lap I told myself to stop babying this car and to get on it. Good braking, great cornering all the way through; entry, mid-corner and exit. Absolutely zero wheel spin or looseness getting on the power. I do think that this car suffers from the PD PP American car disadvantage. I only had one small problem with this tune. When I really pushed the car hard, I would get a hint of outside front red tire. I actually didn’t notice the red tires on feel as I would usually glance over at that indicator if the car did something weird. In this case, on about lap seven, I noticed five or six black tire patches on the pavement in the left hand sweeper along the waterfront. I’m guessing that the weight of this car may have a bit to do with it? A minor adjustment to cure that outside front red tire may help this tune go faster. 1:51.282 best of 10.
C-Zeta – Lotus Europa Europe – Great turn in and mid-corner ability. Kind of grew on me during the test session. This car is a bit like being with a slutty half ugly girl who tells all of your friends what the two of you did. You enjoyed it, but some things make you cringe. This tune was unstable on corner exit. You can drive it, but you have to use very little steering on the way off the corner. Almost have to unwind the wheel at mid corner to keep it from going sideways on exit. The worst part about this tune was the exchange from 4th to 5th gear. It made me never want to put it in 5th. 1:52.082 best of ten.
Snake55wildcat - Nissan Fairlady 2000 ’71 – You can’t bring a 482PP car to a 500 PP challenge and expect to top the leaderboard. This was one of my favorite tunes through the downhill section prior to the tunnel. It handles low speed corners very well. It also transitions very nicely in the right/left and left/right switchback sections. I had two challenges with this tune. One minor – a very little bit of outside wheel spin on corner exit. One more serious – two red front tires whenever trying to push the car to its limits. This was a fun car at low speeds, but this challenge wasn’t about the Sunday drive – it’s about lap times. 1:52.236 best of ten.
Theo777 – Superbird ’70 – Most stable Superbird that I have ever driven. This was a fun car to drive. Strong, stable braking and could get hard on the throttle on corner exit. Never once hit wheel spin when getting back on the gas and that really surprised me for a Superbird. As much as I like the feel of this car, it just did not translate into fast lap times. First, I think the car suffers from a PP disadvantage thanks to PD programming of American Muscle cars. I thought this would have been a cool car to enter, but my calculations of power to weight and torque to weight at 500 PP ranked it 13th on potential. But beyond the PP penalty, I do think this tune could do one thing better – mid-corner speed. I found myself waiting for the car to rotate around the center before I could get back on throttle and if I pushed a little too hard the outside front tire would turn red. After this competition I would like to go back and try this tune at tracks like Spa, High Speed Ring or Cape Ring. I think it may be fast on a more open track like that, but it suffers a little at Cote d’ Azur. 1:52.806 best of 10.