Don't trust b-spec with pitting strength off

[kmwmtd]

Just a brief warning about leaving a b-spec driver unattended with the pitting strength turned off - i.e. the driver will only pit when there is insufficient fuel or tyre-life left for another lap. On one of my races - one of the Extreme Formula GT races IIRC - the fuel lasted for all but the very last lap, and the driver pitted with a single lap remaining. As we rolled into the pit lane, the dialog appeared allowing you to change tyres or fuel to take on board. Much to my surprise, the amount of fuel it was suggesting was zero. I quickly changed this to 5 so as to have enough for the final lap. And before anyone asks, the tyres still had plenty of life in them, and the fuel gauge was completely empty.

I don't know what would actually have happened if I'd left the amount as zero - I wasn't about to risk a 30-odd lap race in the spirit of scientific enquiry - but it's something to keep an eye on.

 

[KForceOH]

it won't run out no matter. i have had them pit on the last lap, have it say 0, then as they coast through the pits they cross the line. i have also had them do stupid stuff like pit for tires with almost no fuel, make one lap then come in again to get fuel. its weird but usually they are so far ahead it doesn't matter, but they will never just run out.

 

[Hig-GT]

If you run low on fuel the fuel bar will turn red, a couple of corners later you will be restricted to a low speed for the rest of that lap.

I noticed I did have to pit on some of the races on the FGT series in B-Spec, I stayed and did the races though and tried to employ some tactics for it so I was ok.

 

[WRECKU]

I have always left mine off and have never run out of fuel. It always looks like Bob is going to run out but the AI has is figured out to the last drop.

 

[Rod Carvalho]

I don't know what would actually have happened if I'd left the amount as zero - I wasn't about to risk a 30-odd lap race in the spirit of scientific enquiry - but it's something to keep an eye on.

The same happened to me. In my case I clicked for 0 fuel, and then he got out of fuel in the middle of the last lap.

 

[kmwmtd]

I have always left mine off and have never run out of fuel. It always looks like Bob is going to run out but the AI has is figured out to the last drop.

I had come to accept that Bob knew what he was doing, and I have never actually seen him run out of fuel, but in this case, he obviously thought he needed fuel as he pitted, but based on the pit selection dialog, he had then decided not to take on any fuel ... in which case, why bother pitting and letting the 2nd placed car gain by 20-30s.

I am reassured by most of the posts that Bob won't actually let the car run out, though alarmed slightly by Rod's post - did Bob lose the race because of this running out of fuel?

 

[blue cat]

One time i left Bob to himself to finish a JGTC race and came back to find instead of dominating the race like he had for previous races, he was over two laps behind. I watched him for 2 more laps to see what was going on and came to the realisation he had somehow decided to pit after every single lap...

 

[kmwmtd]

One time i left Bob to himself to finish a JGTC race and came back to find instead of dominating the race like he had for previous races, he was over two laps behind. I watched him for 2 more laps to see what was going on and came to the realisation he had somehow decided to pit after every single lap...

I've read about this happening if you only have one driver and have set the pitting strength to, say, 10%. The driver gets tired, physical strength drops to 10%, driver pits. In a real race, or if you have several Bobs trained up, a new driver would take over, but with only one driver, he sets out after the pitstop, but has had no time to recover, so next lap he is at 10% again, so pits. Rinse and repeat.

If this sounds like your situation, try several Bobs, or set the pitting strength off - if your single Bob is fairly highly experienced, running out of strength seems to make no appreciable difference to performance - mine has been performing fine with no strength since about level 20.

 

[Instrumental]

Can't say I have had this problem. I have pitting strength off and he just goes in when fuel or tires are low, he always gets what he needs (sometimes more fuel than necessary) and handles his biz.

 

[schigara]

Bob keeps wanting to pit every lap(even with the auto pit strength off) because the track dries out and he wants to change to intermediate or racing hard tires. Lost the race before I figured this one out.

I just noticed this while running B spec FGT at Monza which starts out raining hard so I put on rain tires. By the 9th lap Bob was wanting to pit every lap even though I had auto pit strength turned off and I canceled the pit 3 times and the fourth time I let him go in the pits and changed to a new set of rain tires and fueled up.

Next lap he again wanted to pit so I kept him out another 8 laps until I noticed I was getting lapped and their was visible rain in the air but no spray from the track and Bob was burning up his new rain tires. I let him pit and switched to racing hard tires and all is well again.

Even though it was still raining/sprinkling, the track was drying out because their was no more visible spray coming off the tires.

 

[FosterG]

One time i left Bob to himself to finish a JGTC race and came back to find instead of dominating the race like he had for previous races, he was over two laps behind. I watched him for 2 more laps to see what was going on and came to the realisation he had somehow decided to pit after every single lap...

I had that happen to me in the 9 hour endurance race, it happened after I "left him up" with a 5 lap lead on the second place car, the next morning I found that he had lost by 35 laps! I was not happy.

 

[James_Julie]

I totally trust leaving the auto pit strength to zero as im nearly about to reach level 40 b-spec if you put him in a over powered car bob that is, like say the x1 i don't really care when he pits in the 4 hour nurburg or the 9 hour tsukuba or the 24 hour le mans and the 1000 km suzuka as he laps the competition so many times it ain't funny, so it's not worth worrying about, say the 24 hr le mans i win by about 120 laps or more, and last guy is a whopping 254 or more laps behind

 

[PopTarts]

hmm, maybe this is why my FGT finished 2nd on the tsukaba endurance...

 

[Cammo1707]

My Bob was doing the FGT series, and he was doing well. In one race, he was winning comfortably, and he had to pit 2 laps from the end. A car overtook him after he went in, but that was fine, he'd have to pit next lap....

Anyway, he needed fuel, and tyres. As he went into the pits, it said how many litres would be added, I turned away from the tv, and when he came out, he'd picked up none. He got a quarter of a way through the lap and ran out. He then got overtaken by the rest of the field (who had also pitted), and he lost the race.

 

[krautfed]

Anyway, he needed fuel, and tyres. As he went into the pits, it said how many litres would be added, I turned away from the tv, and when he came out, he'd picked up none. He got a quarter of a way through the lap and ran out. He then got overtaken by the rest of the field (who had also pitted), and he lost the race.

This just happened to me doing the FGT Championship @ the Ring. BOB was in commanding lead, pitted on the LAST lap. I missed it because I thought the Jets were going to come back. I switched back to see my BOB run out of fuel in the very last corner and was passed by 4 cars going down the stretch to the start/finish. 🤬🤬🤬

 

[MustangRyan]

I wonder if this has something to do with the programmed AI code that tells them that they don't need to pit once the last lap has started. I'm thinking that if your pit stall was after the start/finish line, you might have some glitch that canceled fueling because the code assumes that you must already have enough fuel to finish the race once the last lap starts.

 

[bebetostr]

Just a brief warning about leaving a b-spec driver unattended with the pitting strength turned off - i.e. the driver will only pit when there is insufficient fuel or tyre-life left for another lap. On one of my races - one of the Extreme Formula GT races IIRC - the fuel lasted for all but the very last lap, and the driver pitted with a single lap remaining. As we rolled into the pit lane, the dialog appeared allowing you to change tyres or fuel to take on board. Much to my surprise, the amount of fuel it was suggesting was zero. I quickly changed this to 5 so as to have enough for the final lap. And before anyone asks, the tyres still had plenty of life in them, and the fuel gauge was completely empty.

It happend a very similar case with me kmwmtd. But with me it lefted more 2 laps and not only one, and when he pit the game told to put 2 galons gas. I let tham put as asked. For my surprise, as soon as he get out of the pit, the yellow P was on again wanting that he enters the pit again in the last lap........ i let tham run, ask cancelled the pit........ in the last corner he run out of gas but i won it.

 

[GT5_Honda_Guy]

B-Spec runs itself quite well for me. I have never had a problem, have all 6 drivers over 32 one on 40 and have never ran out of fuel, including endurance races.

 

[ollie78]

I had wondered about using the Pit Strength or leaving it off for endurance races. Didn't want to waste my limited time trying the various options. Thanks for info!

 

[Zuel]

I've read through all of the post, I'm shocked that some of you are having trouble with the B-Spec drivers. Once I started my first B-Spec driver S. Black I watched him like a HAWK to see what he did right and wrong. In the next race I set him in I put the pit force at 10% and never had any trouble from him after that. So I did the same to the others and they've down very well, though losing a race here and there buts that's racing. I have got to any of the Endurance races yet so I'm not sure what will happen. Though I know I'll set the force to 10% and tires to Intermediates Wets knowing they'll be on a wet track soon. None of my drives ran the car out of gas or worn the tires so far down that they couldn't control the car. So far I'm very happy with the way I've trained my drivers.

 

[canis39]

Zuel, things change when you get to the Endurance races.

 

[hockenheimring]

For the non endurance races setting pit strength is ok, but not really necessary. I found that my Bobs don't make enough mistakes at 0 strength to make a pit stop worthwhile. The time you loose in a pit stop is just unnecessary. And for the endurance races your Bobs will not recover enough strength at 10% even with four Bobs rotating. So leaving it off saves you having to pit every lap towards the end of the race.

I haven't found any evidence of better tire wear characteristics with racing medium or hards, so I leave mine on racing soft. When the driver gets too tired he starts fishtailing around the corners on the technical tracks like Tsukuba and tires will wear faster causing him to eventually pit.

The only track where I found minor problems with the "stop for fuel or tires only" strategy was the first Nürburgring endurance race (haven't got to the 24H yet). On one occasion Bob started a lap with tires that were almost gone and the pit sign came on almost immediately. Completing the lap with tires that were completely shot halfway through the lap was a pain. But not enough of a problem to lose first position