The new tire model has definitely changed the 4 hour Nurburgring race. I think for the better, but I'm afraid that all our previous races now need an asterisk!
I've started a new race with a 500PP car on sport softs and can only get 4 good laps with a car that would have previously run 5 laps. After 90 minutes, I'm 30 seconds down to the Amuse S2000 GT1.
The AI is also substantially affected. The Amuse S2000 GTI that we've all run against can no longer run 6 laps. The Amuse S2000 that I'm running against has pitted 3 times so far (lap # 3, lap # 6, and lap # 9). Most of the other AI are only driving 4 laps on their tires, instead of the 5 or 6 lap stints that they used to drive. I'm running against the first lineup with the Mine's BNR34, the FT565 Audi TT, the NISMO Fairlady Z-tune, and the HKS CT230R. I don't know what the other AI cars are doing because of course the game doesn't inform us when they pit.
My feeling is that the Grip level of the sport soft tires is pretty equal to what it was before, but that they behave slightly different as they get worn out. Its easier to spin-out, so the tires feel closer to how they used to feel while driving on-line. I actually did a 360 leaving the final Hohenrain ess, which is a place that I've never spun out before. A new experience!
BTW - I like the new options where we are able to turn various items of the HUD on and off. Just don't turn on the tire wear one or you will get four spinning wheels smack in the middle of your windscreen!
Race update:
I'm now 2 hours and 20 minutes into the race and have the field covered except for the Amuse S2000, who is 40 seconds ahead of me. I'm afraid that I won't be able to catch him. He should pit on laps 18, 21 and 24 while I'll be pitting on laps 17, 21 and 25, so there's no additional time to be gained during pit stops that I can see. The Amuse doesn't lose the 30-45 seconds on his pit-in lap like he used to, so he's too strong for me and for the rest of the field. I don't think I could catch him even with extensive grass-cutting at this point.
Another race update:
I'm now 3 hours into the race and have about a 25 second lead over the 3rd place car who is just in front of the 4th place car, but I'm afraid that I'm now 60 seconds behind the leading Amuse S2000 who is pulling away. I intend to finish and take the 2nd place winnings tonite since I want to watch the replay to check on how all our main competitors have been dealing with the new tire model.
Final race update:
After 4 hours 2 minutes and 48 seconds I've crossed the Finish Line behind the Amuse S2000 GT1 and taken the 2nd place winnings and XP's. I ended up being a full 2 minutes behind the Amuse and slightly more than 1 minute ahead of the 3rd place HPA FT565 Audi TT, and another 15 seconds ahead of the 4th place Mine' BNR34 GTR Vspec. The margin to the Amuse should have been about 20 seconds less, but I actually drove past the pits on lap # 25 and had to turn around on the S/F straight to get back into the pits. I'm expecting to hear from the race stewards any minute now! The Amuse S2000 continued to pit every three laps and never really had a bad lap, so he's just too strong for the rest of the field. His margin to the second best AI, the HPA FT565 Audi was about 3 minutes and 30 seconds at the end of the race.
Finishing order/Margins/Average lap times:
1) Amuse S2000 ---- Winner------ 9m 15seconds
2) GTsail's RX-7 -- 2min-------- 9m 20secs
3) FT565 Audi TT -- 3min30secs - 9m 23secs
4) Mine's BNR Vspec - 3m45secs - 9m 24secs
5) HKS CT230R ------- 4m05secs - 9m 26secs
6) NISMO Fairlady Z - 6m37secs - 9m 31secs
7) Mine's BNR34 N1 -- 7m01secs - 9m 33secs
8) HPA Stage II R32 - 8m05secs - 9m 35secs
9) NISMO GTR R-tune - 9m00secs - 9m 40secs
10) NISMO 380RS Legg - 1 lap down
11) Nissan GT Skyline - l lap down
12) NISMO 400R ------ 1 lap down
Respectfully,
GTsail
