Couple of questions/interest around opening a tuning garage?

[Johnnypenso]

I've been giving some thought to opening a tuning garage these last couple of weeks, but to be honest my biggest fear is a lot of work and not a lot of interest in my tunes...lol. So I thought I'd lay out some of my thinking with a couple of questions and see what the response is before I commit myself (not to an institution, just a tuning garage, although some say there is not much difference...lol).

I tune mostly for online PP racing, mainly 450pp SS, 500SS and RS, 550 RS and 600 RS, along with GT300/500, so if I open a garage, that's how it will be organized, by PP levels and alphabetically of course. Is there enough interest in that type of PP restricted tuning to make it worthwhile? Of course you can always raise and lower the PP levels of any car so a 600pp tune on a car that maxes out at 620 will work at either level.

I've seen a lot of great work by tuners around GTPlanet and some good tunes. My tunes will mostly be racing tunes, set up to create a fast but stable, predictable ride for 3-10 lap online sprints. Outside of a shootout or contest, I'm not really interested in doing "hot lap" tunes where a car is loose in the back end but controllable for one lap here or there, and shaving a tenth off here or there because of it. I've tried hot lap tunes and they just don't work for me in the heat of battle. Racing side by side and kicking the rear end out and knocking someone off track usually doesn't go over well.

So do you drivers out there have enough interest in tunes made for racing as opposed to hot lapping? Or are you mostly interested in squeezing that extra tenth out of a car on one lap or in repeated fast laps in a racing scenario? The difference is mainly in stability, as I think the lap times I can generate will stack up with anyone and of course the tunes can be adjusted for hotlapping, and may in fact come with those adjustments, but that's not what my main focus would be.

I also want to post laptimes for comparison purposes, not to say, "Hey look at me" but so that drivers know what a car is capable of in an online racing situation. I test most cars out on at least three test tracks, usually Deep Forest/Trial mountain for the twisty, hilly stuff, GP'D or Road Course Indy for faster or flatter tracks, and various other tracks depending on the car.

Along with organizing the garage alphabetically under various PP levels, I'd also have a separate section ranking the cars by lap times on a couple of tracks so if you're looking for the fastest car at a given pp level you'll be able to find it.

I would not post any tunes that are not race tested. It's one thing to run around in an online lobby by yourself, but quite another to have to chase down and cut a 3 second gap in 3 laps on someone in front of you who took full advantage of some early chaos to get a jump on you. Or to race side by side for several laps with someone just as fast as you. Only once a car passes race testing would it be posted.

So I think that gives you an idea of where I'm coming from. Are there enough drivers out there this might be of interest to, to turn this into a worthwhile project? I'm still on the fence about this project and interested to see what happenes with Spec 2. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[Motor City Hami]

I like your idea. I don't think anyone has organized a PP level tuning area.

Will you be testing different ways to get to a PP level on the same car? I think it would be interesting to see comparisons on one car with max downforce vs. max power options/engine limiter, etc.

I like racing online, but haven't taken time to tune more than a few cars at PP levels. I don't have time to go through 50 cars and test which is best for PP levels. I would use your garage to help me decide which car to start with. I own 600+ cars, but tend to use like three different ones online. I currently wonder, which car has the most potential at 450pp, 550pp and 600pp. The way I would use your guide is to help me to narrow down which car to start with. I will tweak your tune to fit my driving style, but I say go for it.

 

[bigberry]

Its worth doing , its pretty much what we do at CKR - tune to PP limits.

There is a market for it but how large that market is who knows ?

Like a lot of forums a majority of users dont have accounts or those that do rarely post . As in 90% of posts are by 10% of the users (exact figures may vary).

IMO we dont get as much feedback or reviews as we would like and you may have the same problem.

Its definitely worth doing if youre into it and do it right so go for it.

 

[krenkme]

I have 7000+ views at my garage with little feedback, the ones I have, have been positive, but I try not to get hung up on "are people enjoying/using my tunes?". Because I enjoy doing it and I believe that they are of help to someone. You are your best customer for your garage. I say do it. Good luck!

 

[cactusOnR]

I think it's s great idea.

I've been using GTPlanet tine for a while now and have only in the last few weeks been giving reviews on cars and letting people know what I think.

There are a lot of people that just lerk around the sit getting tunes and not commenting at all.

I like your organisation ideas, I much prefer a garage that is set out to PP levels like CKR or T-spec racing.

If I ever join a race session with friends we work with a PP level. It's much better to have a car tuned to the PP level I'm racing at instead of messing with someones tune. And tuning for RS Tyres is a goog idea. Most online rooms or tourneys on my site are set for RS Tyres.

I think you should go for it.

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

Its worth doing , its pretty much what we do at CKR - tune to PP limits.

IMO we dont get as much feedback or reviews as we would like and you may have the same problem.

Its definitely worth doing if youre into it and do it right so go for it.

I agree with them, go for it. Then again, I try to make the 450 races whenever I can.

But, I want to respond to what Berry was saying. Currently, my most successful 450 car is their RX-8. I rave about in the room and point friends to it that want to get into the 450 room but don't have a tune of their own.

I like it so much, one of them even put together an RX-7 for me. I like it, too, but it isn't as stable as the 8. Still, I'm sorry for not being more vocal about my support on the forums. There are several of us that want to write reviews, but never seem to get around to it.

 

[rams1de]

Fast and predictable sounds like a dream for me.

As a noob to the GT series and online racing, I'm struggling to get much advantage from tuning. I've tried some tunes from the big garages with mixed success, some great and some I just can't control.

I use Motor City Hami's quick tune set ups as a starting point for restricted races (thanks to MCH), but I can waste a couple of hours just to make a small improvement and I don't get a lot more time to actually race.

Good luck with your project.

So count me in and if you need feedback, I'll happily oblige but from an inexperienced drivers point of view.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I like your idea. I don't think anyone has organized a PP level tuning area.

Will you be testing different ways to get to a PP level on the same car? I think it would be interesting to see comparisons on one car with max downforce vs. max power options/engine limiter, etc.

I like racing online, but haven't taken time to tune more than a few cars at PP levels. I don't have time to go through 50 cars and test which is best for PP levels. I would use your garage to help me decide which car to start with. I own 600+ cars, but tend to use like three different ones online. I currently wonder, which car has the most potential at 450pp, 550pp and 600pp. The way I would use your guide is to help me to narrow down which car to start with. I will tweak your tune to fit my driving style, but I say go for it.

It's funny you should mention this as I've found that there are a huge variety of cars at each PP level that can do really well, say within a second of what I would consider the fastest car. I rarely race a M3GTR. NSX Type R, Lotus Elise etc, because frankly a deaf, blind monkey could tune and drive those cars and win...lol. But there are many cars that are almost as fast, as fast and some even faster, under the PP system, depending on the driver and the tune of course. The challenge is to find the gems and shine them up for everyone to see.

I agree with them, go for it. Then again, I try to make the 450 races whenever I can.

But, I want to respond to what Berry was saying. Currently, my most successful 450 car is their RX-8. I rave about in the room and point friends to it that want to get into the 450 room but don't have a tune of their own.

I like it so much, one of them even put together an RX-7 for me. I like it, too, but it isn't as stable as the 8. Still, I'm sorry for not being more vocal about my support on the forums. There are several of us that want to write reviews, but never seem to get around to it.

The RX-8 is a great ride at 450pp-550pp. Easy to drive, easy to tune, predictable, balanced, tons of grip, with a strong motor. Also works well with a variety of spring/damper settings andis good on every track big or small too. In the 450pp Street Tuners Club it's almost unbeatable on open nights...almost...lol. If you like the RX8 check out the Z's from Nissan. The premium model drives much like the RX-8 and does close to the same lap times as well, within a few tenths at worst.

About feedback, I'm not so concerned about full reviews as I am about putting dozens of hours into a garage and no one using the tunes...lol. I'm sure any tuners whose cars you presently use, would appreciate just a brief post in their garage saying,

"Hi, I just wanted you to know I use your tunes all the time for A-Spec/B-Spec/online racing...etc. and they are very good".

I think most tuners would just like to know people are using their tunes and getting some enjoyment out of it.

 

[Motor City Hami]

Fast and predictable sounds like a dream for me.

As a noob to the GT series and online racing, I'm struggling to get much advantage from tuning. I've tried some tunes from the big garages with mixed success, some great and some I just can't control.

I use Motor City Hami's quick tune set ups as a starting point for restricted races (thanks to MCH), but I can waste a couple of hours just to make a small improvement and I don't get a lot more time to actually race.

Good luck with your project.

So count me in and if you need feedback, I'll happily oblige but from an inexperienced drivers point of view.

Feel free to send me PMs or reply in my garage for further advice. I've helped quite a few GT Planeters get their cars tuned. I need to know what tune you have on the car and how it is behaving for you under braking, corner entry, apex and apex to exit. Happy to help. My real life racing season is done now, so I'll have more time for G5.

 

[Motor City Hami]

Johnnypenso - you've already helped me and your garage isn't even open yet. Think I'll try out the RX8 and the Z's.

 

[nomis3613]

Hi Johnnypenso, you've got the right attitude to not get hung up on reviews.

The rareness of feedback is why I think it's great to be in a multi-person garage. What I enjoy most about tuning is workshopping tunes with the other KMW guys; it makes the tunes better quality and you get some great tuning discussions along the way.

All the best for the garage.

 

[bys]

As it's been said before, don't worry too much about people posting back or having a "popular" garage. It will start slow and it seems like you enjoy the process, so why not share it with everyone?

Although it does take some effort, especially since you will be "race testing" each tune. I say this because I started a garage, got about 4 cars in and didn't have the time to carry on (also Black Ops). I have have a lot of tunes 'in the bag', but the write up etc. takes a while. So i would suggest to keep the actual posts relatively simple, while still being attractive to users.

Hmm multi-person garage idea isn't a bad idea nomis3613...

 

[Vol Jbolaz]

I have have a lot of tunes 'in the bag', but the write up etc. takes a while. So i would suggest to keep the actual posts relatively simple, while still being attractive to users.

Hmm multi-person garage idea isn't a bad idea nomis3613...

The multi-person idea could also help with the actually doing the write-up and such. You can spend you time tuning and then get some lacky a friend to take it for a test drive, take some pictures, and put together an attractive forum post.

 

[XDesperado67]

I find publishing tunes for cars I enjoy driving or that are not the usual picks for certain events fun. From the start I realized that I might not get a lot of feedback on tunes I published.
If you enjoy tuning cars for a given reason and like to share what you have created with the community then a tuning garage could be a good idea for you.
Depending on your productivity joining an existing garage or forming a new one with one or more partners may be a better option than setting one up on your own.
If you join an existing garage you won't be responsible for its organization and presentation. Forming a new garage with partners would also let you split those sorts of responsibilities.
With a multi-person garage there will be more posts to the garage keeping it on the first or second page of the forum. If you go it solo then there is a good probability that it will end up several pages deep on the forum unless you are posting a new tune every day or two.
While we hope and encourage people to use the search function, you will get more visits and have a better chance of someone seeing your tunes on a casual bases if the garage is on the first or second page. Most visitors are not going to go looking through hundreds of threads just to spot a tune that might interest them.

Creating tunes that for a reason is a good idea. Many of my initial tunes were created as interesting offbeat ways of taking on the various seasonals. My initial visitors were people that had participated in a thread I started in the seasonal forum regarding those oddball cars that people were using.

You will most likely find a decent interest in your tunes that are created to compete in online racing as long as you maintain a decent idea of what people are racing there and the sorts of restrictions are common.

Hope to see your tunes in the near future either in your own garage or as part of an existing garage.

Good luck and as Harvey Wallbanger always says...
Drive hard and have fun!

 

[Johnnypenso]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, I appreciate it. I'm still waffling about what to do, but this response is encouraging. I'm kind of entering a busy season here until Christmas, so if I go ahead with it, it may wait until the dead of winter, my slow season, when I have more time.