Right, the results are in...
I tested 4 cars to determine race suitability: 2 Modern Le Mans Cars and 2 VGTs.
The candidates:
Audi R18 ‘16
Mazda VGT
Bugatti VGT
Porsche 919
For the tests, I did both qualifying and a race. For qualifying, I had a 5-lap warm-up to get used to each car then 3 flying laps in Free Practice (to best replicate what could be done on Saturday).
For the race, I set up a BoP Custom Race against the AI, to the GT2/3 race length. In order to best see how each car would do in a race situation, I set conditions as close to those seen in Free Practice as possible, fuel and tyre multipliers the same as in the race, and placed myself 16th on a 20-car grid – this would favour the cars that could get through traffic better, rather than simply being a 17-lap long time trial. This way, it would be similar to starting at the back of a GTWS grid with the added pressure of the possibility of being attacked from behind. The AI were set to “Professional”, and slipstream to “real”, with boost being “off”.
I would save fuel where necessary to ensure I completed the 17 laps without a stop. The only exception was the Bugatti, where due to its popularity I decided to see how it does over a 17-lap race in Fuel-save no-stop mode and driven flat out with a pit stop. (Fuel was dispensed at 10 liters/sec).
I’ll add notes as to the cars’ characteristics with each car’s result.
All fuel saving was done by short-shifting rather than fuel map, I prefer this as you can change “modes” literally on a gearchange-by-gearchange basis.
PLEASE NOTE: Upper-B driver, better drivers may have different results!
Audi R18 ‘16
QUALIFYING: 1:34.7
17 LAP RACE: 27m 37.4s
FASTEST RACE LAP: 1:35.8
This car needs short-shifting a bit – not much, change just before the end of the bar – and with it being a diesel there isn’t much speed difference by changing early. It is perfectly possible to drive flat-out for 2 or 3 laps at the start to maximise picking up places, then go into fuel saving mode and still be able to turn up the wick to pass a car now and then. I found this car very easy to place in the turns, this is particularly useful at the 2 tight chicanes, and although it’s not as quick down the straights as a Group C or the Mazda VGT, it’s about the same as the other Modern Le Mans Cars and certainly better than the Bugatti. It’s also nearly as good on the brakes as the Bugatti which may be useful come race day.
Getting through the field was relatively straightforward, it did take 2 or 3 laps to make a pass stick against the Mazda Group C car that I took the lead from, but apart from Group C or the Genesis Gran Racer VGT I could get past anything without too much trouble.
Porsche 919
QUALIFYING: 1:35.4
17 LAP RACE: 27m 45.7s
FASTEST RACE LAP: 1:35.9
No need to short-shift at all in this car – you can drive it like a rental for the entire 17 laps and it will still show just over a lap of fuel left at the chequered flag – with a bit of short shifting and some fuel map I can see this lasting 25 laps.
Not as easy to place in the corners than the Audi, and you do need to brake a little earlier, but may have the slight advantage on the straights. Of all the cars I tested for this comparison this one is, however, the most likely to get sideways exiting the T1 chicane with a heavy throttle – so if you are a bit of a throttle jammer then you may be best served elsewhere.
In traffic it’s similar to the Audi, except the longer braking distance make it less likely that you can make a move into the chicanes. A well-driven Group C car can hold you up for 2 or 3 laps, but nothing else should be too much of an issue.
Mazda VGT
QUALIFYING: 1:35.1
17 LAP RACE: 27m 52.1s
FASTEST RACE LAP: 1:36.3
A bit more fuel-saving needed in this car than the Audi – I ran the first 2 laps flat-out to make places, then started to change at the half-way point between the “gear for next corner” indicator and the end of the bar.
This car is quicker down the straights than the Modern Le Mans Cars and a lot quicker than the Bugatti – I had less trouble passing Group Cs on the straights here – but braking distances are longer and it is slightly more difficult to place on corner entry, plus Modern Le Mans Cars and Bugattis will definitely be faster than you in mid-corner and on corner exit. It is, however, very stable so may be a good choice if you are getting out of shape in other cars.
Bugatti VGT (No-stop, fuel saving)
QUALIFYING: 1:35.1
17 LAP RACE: 28m 02.1s
FASTEST RACE LAP: 1:37.5
The free-practice ranking star seems to lose its lustre if you, like me, are not a top-end driver – I guess that’s because getting speed out of it requires being absolutely on point through the corners and anything less will result in crucial loss of momentum. For me even in Quali trim I couldn’t do better in this than in a Modern Le Mans Car.
It’s not a good car to be in when in a race. The need to do some real short-shifting (I was changing up half-way across the “gear for next corner” indicator) from the very beginning of the race, coupled with the car’s low speed for most of each straight – it is at a similar speed to some others by the very end of the main straight but takes forever to get there - mean that it is a real chore to make up any places – where I could be in the lead by lap 11 or 12 in the other cars I took the lead on Lap 16 in this race, and that was only due to severe rubber-banding really.
On the plus side it really is good on the brakes into the chicanes and excellent through the faster corners. One word of warning though, you really can’t trail-brake in this – I was sideways more than once through the Parabolica in warm-up.
Bugatti VGT (1-stop, no fuel saving)
QUALIFYING: Same as above (1:35.1)
17 LAP RACE: 28m 10.9s
FASTEST RACE LAP: 1:36.4
As above for handling, however the points of note here are that the ability to use all the revs made very little difference to lap time – I still couldn’t go faster than my Modern Le Mans Car times, it also made only a small difference through traffic as other cars are still quicker on the straights, and perhaps the most important observation is that it is slower to 1-stop than to fuel-save by about 8 seconds. This was the only one of these test races I didn’t win – I stopped on lap 15, re-emerged in 5th and rubber-banded my way back up to 2nd where I lost on the line!
Other Observations:
I did try a few Group Cs. Mega straight line speed, but you’ll lose all that and more in the turns, particularly as these things are very tall-geared – they were built for a pre-chicanes Le Mans and the regs only allowed 5 forward gears so they had to be tall – so you will be out-accelerated very easily.
The Genesis Gran Racer VGT also has high top speed but I found it a pig to drive. It also munches through tyres, this is the only car where I even vaguely contemplated a pit stop for rubber. In the end I made so many mistakes in a trial run I took it no further.
I also tried the Hyundai 2025 VGT, but found it very understeery. The Peugeot 908 is like the Audi but not quite as easy to place in turns.
The popularity of the Bugatti on the top of the leader boards does mean there’ll be a few in each lobby on Saturday. Beware if you are in another car as the Bugatti’s superiority on the brakes may lead other drivers to try impossible sends, particularly in the early laps.
TLDR– Mediocre driver tries loads of cars for GT2/3 race, decides Modern Le Mans Cars are the way to go for him.
