Grid Autosport (General Discussion)

[JohnBM01]

I ordered "GRID Autosport: Limited Black Edition" online recently. Pretty soon, I'll be the latest to join the GRID Autosport party. It was just this past weekend I finally bought GRID as well as GRID 2. Now, I'll have all of the major GRID titles. My expansive commentary and thoughts surely will follow once I get to play through GRID Autosport enough.

 

[88GTA]

I ordered "GRID Autosport: Limited Black Edition" online recently. Pretty soon, I'll be the latest to join the GRID Autosport party. It was just this past weekend I finally bought GRID as well as GRID 2. Now, I'll have all of the major GRID titles. My expansive commentary and thoughts surely will follow once I get to play through GRID Autosport enough.

I haven't played it in a while but it is a great game. It was very challenging for me with the hardest difficulty settings, 2nd longest distance setting and no driver aids which meant I was constantly struggling to even reach the podium. This made it very satisfying when I was able to keep it together for an entire race and put a big emphasis on qualifying.

 

[JohnBM01]

This is crazy. I mean, I was expecting to get "GRID Autosport" in the mail for Tuesday, but it shipped today! So today marks my debut to GRID Autosport.

My first impressions so far is that GRID Autosport is surely the toughest of the GRID series. This game actually seems closer to the previous ToCA Race Driver series more than the gritty first GRID. The best thing is that each discipline is deep. It doesn't really seem like you're racing against the same cars too often or anything like that. It is not as fun with a teammate as in GRID 1, but it is quite good to want to get your teammate to match your pace or try to push for a better spot. Interesting thing is that each team you race for has a number of cars to choose from for a different set of races. Like in the Tuner and Street disciplines, you have different cars to choose from, and not every race is the same. Like, you're doing more than just average races. You may find yourself doing Time Attack in addition to a Drift tournament. So you're doing a little of everything. All of the GRID games have amazing graphics. GRID Autosport perhaps looks the best of all.

Most of what I've done so far was one Touring season, one Street season, and one Tuner season. I am going to try the Open-Wheel discipline next and the Endurance one afterwards. I have my qualms about open-wheel racing in games. I have never played any of the Codemasters F1 games, but I have surely logged lots of miles/kilometers doing ToCA Race Driver open-wheel racing ranging from the fun-to-drive low level cars to the fragile F1-type cars. I surely love Formula 3. So I'll be looking forward to racing those machines in this game. I will equally want to go with the IndyCar machines across a number of tracks. While I have no problem with IndyCar, I'm surprised nothing similar to F1 is part of the Formula A ranks.

Maybe what I loved most about the first GRID was being able to purchase cars to build up your team garage. Same goes for making your own liveries and putting in sponsors. What I've been reading is that you are only able to do custom liveries with Racenet or some of the Custom Cup stuff. I'll have to play around with this a bit more to see what I can do on a customization front. I am not sure if I actually have the Black Edition material unlocked or not. I have a code for when I ordered the Limited Black Edition, but there's nothing to indicate that I unlocked it or if I could use a code to redeem my Limited Black Edition material. That is something else I will have to look into when I play "GRID Autosport" again.


But for the most part, I am mostly enjoying my experience here.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

You can't race your own cars in Career or Custom Cup. Self made liveries are for Online only. This is what makes GAS offline a much less satisfying experience for me. The feeling of ownership and building your own racing empire from the ground like in Grid 1 and 2 is not there. It just feels like cookie cutter races one after the other.

Black Edition stuff is mostly liveries and sponsor decals, hence you can only use it online (and not all cars can have it). It's pretty useless really. It also gives you Mercedes SLS AMG Black Edition (check in Custom Cup > Street > Supercar).

 

[JohnBM01]

The more I think about GRID Autosport and my experience so far, I feel that not being able to establish your own team like in the first GRID (or even GRID 2) is a missed opportunity. That has been the biggest disappointment for me so far in looking at this game. It probably shouldn't be too difficult to come up with certain liveries, slap on some sponsors, hire a teammate, acquire cars, and stuff like that. I think Codemasters got a bit lazy in not letting you establish your own team rather than race for specific teams. I once did a Custom Cup race by using a default livery. When I checked the final standings after the race, the "team" I raced for was simply my last name with "RACING" added to it. So if your surname was LastName, then your team would be called "LastName RACING." Disappointment.

I completed another season of open-wheel racing and completed my first discipline beyond Level 3. I still have yet to get to Level 3 in the other four disciplines. I love racing Formula 3 (Formula C). The one thing I hated was how brutal the racing was when I raced beautiful Circuit Mont-Tremblant. It was almost as if you had to have your Flashbacks at the ready with the drivers borderline killing each other in the first set of corners. Either that, or try to qualify better.

I decided to give some of the other series some Time Trial laps. Most of what I did was with the faster cars and the tougher tracks. I even raced Circuit of the Americas for the first time trying to familiarize myself with it... in the Dallara IndyCar (Formula A). Other courses I tried were that long Dubai street course in the Koenigsegg Agera R and Yas Marina Circuit GP in the McLaren P1. I also raced the Autosport GP course in that Peugeot 408 SCB in Touring Cars A. That was very cool! As a V8 Supercars fan, I also enjoyed doing some laps in the Ford Falcon and the Holden Commodore VF in some time trials.

The Endurance discipline is a bit strange to me. I know the challenge and all, but it is a bit unusual in knowing how to win in these events. The toughest thing for me is that a lot of the courses are those I am unfamiliar with. Also, the darkness of night won't do you many favors in negotiating corners. I, of course, love this style of racing and this style of racing cars. It is just rather tough to grasp. The way I understand doing the Endurance races is that you are to try to limit your mistakes in going off-course or using up your tires too much too soon. I usually don't get defensive unless I'm trying to preserve what little life is left in my tires. Same applies for my Gran Turismo endurance experience. I just go full out anyways regardless of the status of my tires.


Again... I'll try out some of the other disciplines and reach Level 3 to unlock the GRID Grand Slam.

 

[JohnBM01]

I made sure that I used the code for the bonus Limited Black Edition material. I redeemed the code by going to the Redeem Code option in my Account settings. So I do have the Limited Black Edition material included in my GRID Autosport experience. Having said that, there's nothing real interesting except I could now choose Ravenwest colors in white for most cars. Big whoop.

Besides that, there are a few disicplines I haven't yet reached Level 3 for in being able to unlock the GRID Grand Slam. Among those are the Street and Endurance disciplines. I'm going to do the Street one to try to reach Level 3 there, and then I'll try to do better in the Endurance discipline to reach Level 3 there.

I am still enjoying "GRID Autosport," but I still feel a bit like this GRID can be like the very first GRID or have concepts from it to be the ultimate GRID experience. I can now somewhat come around to most people dismissing GRID 2 after having played all three GRID titles. All three games are still worth a play if you haven't done so already.

 

[Morgoth_666]

I think a fair bit of the unpleasant sentiment for GRID 2 stems from the fact that its character is completely different from GRID yet it had the name attached to it. I only played a demo and decided it wasn't for me, but it seemed a decent enough game for what it was. It's just not in any way a sequel to GRID(let alone the earlier race driver games)... another game using the same basic engine and sharing some assets. GRID Autosport feels to me and apparently many others much more like the same sort of game as the first one... an arcadey but mostly believable racer based almost entirely on proper professional closed circuit racing.

 

[05XR8]

I contiinued my career after not playing for a while. Nothing like moving up to 1st and leading for a handful of laps at Bathurst in my V8 ute. Then, getting turned around and hit a few times. Then, clawwing my way from 15th to 9th knowing my rival is mid-pack, whilst I'm nursing bent steering and a damaged gearbox. Trying to hit my shifts, making sure I hit my apexes, watch behind and to the sides for AI, all the while my knuckles/thumd and trigger finger are losing blood. Next, hearing over the radio, "You're halfway now. Pick up the pace.",

 

[HKS racer]

Any clue about this "season pass DLC" discount on PSN? What I'm really buing if I purchase it?

1-Season pass with all DLC for 1 year
2-Season pass with all DLC until the end of the year
3-Season pass and I can keep all the DLC?

 

[The Stig Farmer]

The season pass covers all the DLC released for the game in its entirety... and GRID's DLC plan is long over.

 

[HKS racer]

The season pass covers all the DLC released for the game in its entirety... and GRID's DLC plan is long over.

What I need to know is if I buy that do I obtain ALL the DLC's for 12 € and I can keep them (they won't stop working after a year) or I'm buing something else?

 

[The Stig Farmer]

It lets you download all DLCs at a discounted price to keep forever... it isn't a subscription.

 

[HKS racer]

It lets you download all DLCs at a discounted price to keep forever... it isn't a subscription.

Thank you but still Codemasters don't tell us how much is this "discounted price" of every DLC, so in their opinion I'm going to spend 12 € and I shouldn't be aware how much I'm going to spend later for every DLC because they don't want to state it. I'm afraid their silly marketing trick is not going to work.

 

[The Stig Farmer]

Thank you but still Codemasters don't tell us how much is this "discounted price" of every DLC, so in their opinion I'm going to spend 12 € and I shouldn't be aware how much I'm going to spend later for every DLC because they don't want to state it. I'm afraid their silly marketing trick is not going to work.

What?

You understand how season passes work, right?

 

[LeGeNd-1]

Thank you but still Codemasters don't tell us how much is this "discounted price" of every DLC, so in their opinion I'm going to spend 12 € and I shouldn't be aware how much I'm going to spend later for every DLC because they don't want to state it. I'm afraid their silly marketing trick is not going to work.

Mate, you are confusing yourself here.

There is no more DLC for Grid Autosport planned.

Buying Season Pass buys you ALL the DLCs already released (Sprint, Drag, Touring Legends, a couple of car packs, XP Boost Pack and 5 extra garage slots online).

As to how much you save, just add up the prices of each pack separately, and compare it with the Season Pass price. It's primary school maths. I don't remember how much you save exactly, but it IS cheaper so you don't need to worry.

 

[HKS racer]

Mate, you are confusing yourself here.

There is no more DLC for Grid Autosport planned.

Buying Season Pass buys you ALL the DLCs already released (Sprint, Drag, Touring Legends, a couple of car packs, XP Boost Pack and 5 extra garage slots online).

As to how much you save, just add up the prices of each pack separately, and compare it with the Season Pass price. It's primary school maths. I don't remember how much you save exactly, but it IS cheaper so you don't need to worry.

Ok thank you now it's all clear. Actually the "all DLC season pass" or whatever is called is 12 € on PSN a huge discount compared to the regular 29 € price and will end in a couple of days. Since I've just had an AMAZING race at Jarama with the Cat A Touring Cars I'm gonna buy it.

If you ask me I prefer GAS AI at Hard and Very Hard difficulty than most of the pubblic online lobbies in GT6 when I'm not running with Gtplanet people. No risk to lag, disconnect, flag haters, lame-host not starting race, running the same 500pp cars over and over again, people talking no sense on the mic, etc, etc.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

Finally I platinumed this game. Phew! Definitely not coming back to it. I'm glad the grind is over

Just to give you an idea here are my final stats for online:
Distance: 11,476 KM
Levels: Touring 55, Endurance 47, Open Wheel 56, Tuner 47, Street 45
XP Total: ~5,117,000
Time Driving: 24H 12M 17S (easily double that if you include loading times)
Winnings: $38,971,876 (I got around 13 million left unspent at the end)
Races: 439 (around 200 are boosted)

Offline I did around 600 races so total I probably spent 100 hours in game Oh, and that's before including the DLC expansion pack championships.

For those aiming to get platinum, a few tips:
- Make sure you set the times for each medal separately (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) as that will give you more than DOUBLE the amount of total XP from each event (2000 + 5000 + 7000 + 10,000 = 24,000 instead of just 10,000 from platinuming alone).
- Buy your own cars and stick with it. The higher your car's XP the more bonus you get. Buy the tuning sliders, but leave the upgrades alone as they don't do anything. You'll save money for repairs this way.
- Try to do clean races, use as little aids as possible and buy the 50% XP boost DLC.
- Stick with the racenet challenges. Online racing and boosting isn't that lucrative unless you are an uber driver that wins everything. Doing the challenges once weekly (around 2 hours to get every medal) will also help make the game less boring.

They are little additions, but taken together over 1 year they can be quite significant. If I had done everything perfectly I reckon I would have finished 2 months ago (even with the save corrupt issue delaying my progress by 3 weeks last year ).

Best cars for each class (I only put those that are not single makes):
Touring - Cat C Cruze, Cat B Mercedes, Cat A Presteza (Peugeot slower top speed, but better handling, experiment yourself), Ute Holden, Super Tourer Holden, Classic Escort (Skyline easier to drive, but understeers like a pig)
Enduro - GT2 R8 LMS, GT1 McLaren F1 (if you don't have DLC use the GT-R)
Open Wheel - Lightweight X-BOW (Atom is slightly faster on very twisty tracks, but much much harder to drive)
Tuner - Super Modified Impreza, Classic Muscle Charger, Muscle Challenger, JDM RX7 (S2000 slower top speed, but better handling), C2 Drift variable (Silvia best handling, RX7 best balance, 350Z best power - personally I choose with RX7, sometimes 350Z if open tracks), Modified Mustang, C1 Drift Evo X
Street - Hot Hatch Focus, Supercar Viper (Furai slower top speed, but easier handling), Coupe Integra, Performance Audi, GT Merc SL65 (GT-R slightly faster for short tracks), Hypercar Zonda

Every 10 XP levels you get a new garage slot. You can also buy 5 extra slots as DLC. Make good use of it and buy cars as soon as you can. In the end I managed to have 1 car for each class except Enduro Shelby/Ford GT40/787B and Street Alfa 4C/McLaren F1 GT. The Enduro cars I didn't buy because they are stupidly expensive, and the Street cars are rarely used so there's no point wasting garage space.

Baseline tune that I use:
Brake Bias - max front
Differential - max locked, some stable 4WD (like GT-R R34 and Cusco Impreza) can leave in middle
Downforce - mostly minimum is faster, but for some cars (like Indycar) maximum is faster, if you are not sure just leave in middle
Gear Ratios - variable, mostly I leave it in middle unless running on ovals
Ride Height - min low
Suspension Front - max stiff, if you have too much understeer lower 2 clicks, some stable 4WD (like R34) can leave in middle
Suspension Rear - max stiff, some stable 4WD can leave in middle

All upgrades uninstalled are generally fastest, EXCEPT for ovals you want all of them installed and drifting too.

I drive with all aids off except ABS. Wheel settings refer to this thread (post #6): https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/threads/grid-autosport-wheel-settings.312862/

I think that covers everything. Good luck if you're aiming for plat. It's a long road but it's quite a prestigious and rare plat if you can get it. Slowly and surely you'll get there 👍

I should also say that my first PS3 game was Race Driver Grid, and it seems fitting that I come full circle and finish on Grid Autosport. Now off to PC and next gen !!!

 

[HKS racer]

Great stuff @LeGeNd-1 I'm glad you did it. I will not attempt to do the same, I play Grid Autosport just for the offline fun and I tend create my own races against AI. To each his own I guess.

 

[GTFan24]

God i cannot tell you how much i loved this game. One of my biggest acomplishments was during a career race during the endurance discipline in brands hatch were mckane was acting like a 🤬 to me and his teamate arron westley ( R.I.P), So To Get Payback at him i did what any GRID player would do........... spin mckane out next to the gravel. and wouldn't you know it,when he got back on the track, he got SLAMMED by an R8 and went up in the air and flipped 3 times behind me. and the best Part? i won over only 0.101 secs ahead of one of the k&n drivers.
Plot Twist? It was only race 1 of 5 in the champonship series.
Never Change GRID autosport. never change

 

[VXR]

I'm hoping it gets added to Xbox One BC. I thought it was much more enjoyable than PCars. There was more structure to it and racing classes I preferred to see.

 

[SK8RBOI]

This game needs a port to next gen!!! The best codmasters game ever for sure!!! I don't usually do much in turms of career but this game couldn't make me stop!!!

 

[LeGeNd-1]

Codies will probably release Grid 4 or whatever when the time is right. Right now they're too busy with Dirt Rally and the annual F1 games I think.

In the meantime, just play PCARS. The career structure is quite similar.

 

[SK8RBOI]

Codies will probably release Grid 4 or whatever when the time is right. Right now they're too busy with Dirt Rally and the annual F1 games I think.

In the meantime, just play PCARS. The career structure is quite similar.

Don't worry I'm playing the **** out of that game too!! Ahaha

 

[BKGlover]

@LeGeNd-1 I've been trying this game again and simply can't get into it. How much of the game is geared for online racing? I ask because I don't know if I should hold onto it if I move back to civilization or abandon the game altogether.

 

[LeGeNd-1]

@LeGeNd-1 I've been trying this game again and simply can't get into it. How much of the game is geared for online racing? I ask because I don't know if I should hold onto it if I move back to civilization or abandon the game altogether.

Online and offline is separate, with completely separate career modes.

Offline you race for other teams, you don't buy cars and you race in seasons containing anywhere between 3-10 races each. There's no rewards for anything. Most people are content with just racing, but personally I find offline mode boring.

Online you buy your own cars and upgrades and can put your own liveries on it. There's weekly events against AI, and the usual public matchmaking and private lobbies. All gives cash & XP that unlocks more garage slots and upgrades. Personally I find online more entertaining, despite the occasional punters and noobs. As the game is quite dead at the moment there's few people playing online if you are not in the right timezone.

So to answer your question, if you are content to be racing offline, keep the game. If you are only wanting to play online, you probably missed the peak of popularity now and it's pretty worthless.

 

[BKGlover]

Online and offline is separate, with completely separate career modes.

Offline you race for other teams, you don't buy cars and you race in seasons containing anywhere between 3-10 races each. There's no rewards for anything. Most people are content with just racing, but personally I find offline mode boring.

Online you buy your own cars and upgrades and can put your own liveries on it. There's weekly events against AI, and the usual public matchmaking and private lobbies. All gives cash & XP that unlocks more garage slots and upgrades. Personally I find online more entertaining, despite the occasional punters and noobs. As the game is quite dead at the moment there's few people playing online if you are not in the right timezone.

So to answer your question, if you are content to be racing offline, keep the game. If you are only wanting to play online, you probably missed the peak of popularity now and it's pretty worthless.

I remember hearing that the two supposedly had independent careers, good to see it was true. I live in the twigs right now, and in my specific location satellite is really the only option, meaning online gaming isn't possible so, as I've tried offline on different settings and can't seem to find any fun, it seems I'll be trading in this.

Thank you LeGeNd.

 

[Huks]

Humble Bundle just released their Codemasters bundle which includes GRID Autosport in the second tier. This means you'll get the game (plus GRID 2, plus a 25% off coupon for DiRT Rally, plus a bunch of other Codies titles) by paying more than the average, which is $3.81 at the moment. That's what I call a steal.

 

[Zevious Z]

Just picked up a copy of this myself yesterday. So far I'm impressed. The racing is very dynamic and "lively" and the game looks great visually. Personally, I absolutely love the blurry dashboard look! It's actually something I've wished for for years in racing/driving games. I find the usual highly detailed, 3D cockpits that sims often go for mostly unnecessary and distracting. I want the cockpit represented on screen because it helps me with immersion, but I don't need the detail and the blurred/simpler dash probably has less cpu overhead too which likely helps with performance. I often find the in-car views in games come with a frame rate hit that makes them unpleasant to use in races so I end up going with the hood cam for races and only use the cockpit view when hot lapping...

 

[CrazyJohn]

The game is so excellent overall but the physics make every car spin out with a little bit of extra throttle...

 

[LeGeNd-1]

The game is so excellent overall but the physics make every car spin out with a little bit of extra throttle...

If you have tuning, increase diff to max lock, lower ride height to min and stiffen front & rear springs to max.

Also this forum seems to have been relegated from the main page. Jordan is on a cleaning spree it seems...