Bit late to read all of the thread, and even later to reply, but better late than never.
I have read every post on this topic here and thought it was time I said something.
What this sounds like to me is the exact oposite of what we used get on GT6 in online lobbies - "The Slipery Track Bug". When I previously (years ago litterally) discussed it here it was poo pooed by many and I was catergorically told it was my imagination so i stopped.
The "Slippery Track Bug - STB" could affect anywhere from 1 person to everyone present in the lobby. A close collegue and and I our lap times were nearly identical so it was sort of easy to spot when it occured and we always used Comfort or Sport tyres so it was easier to notice anyway.
Having said this the symptoms were lap times would drop 1-2.5 secs a lap (depending on track length) loss of grip entering and exiting corners especially increased braking distances.
The way to solve it then was to reset the track (change to a different location and then back) but not always and sometimes it would plague only one player all night regardless. When this happened the person affected would use 1 grade of tyre softer and then hey presto all fixed (not really but we could race together again).
like I said, this new bug here reminds me of this old one but reversed. PD never admitted to this STB and so never adressed the issue (that I know of). It was even dismissed here by many as well and of course the person affected never really knew that he had it and just thought he was slower than everyone else.
Also I should not need to remind everyone GT6 online was plagued with bugs. The not being able to see other players on track, sound drop outs (that I also get with GT Sport!) etc, etc
It would seem to me in PD's efforts to iron out all these previous bugs they have over compensated somehow with GTS.
I have also noticed much slower players exhibiting extrordinary levels of grip and also noticed they have no idea how to drive either ;-) I would venture to say that this issue is far more widespread than anyone actually realises. You have identified a few people at the top end that exhibit this bug but the slower the driver the harder it will be to prove.
My $0.02 worth
Yes, I've not experienced this (or I dont know that I experienced it, I thought I was just slow).
However, there was a very similar issuie in the seasonal time trials. The first time it happend, wich I will never forget, was on nurb 24h. I had set a pretty bad time, and was trying to improve, and I could concistently be 1.2 to 1.4 sec ahead at the long back straight (the uphill section, not döttinger) when I urgently had to pick someone up at the airport. When I got back it was nigh impossible to match my ghost, and I was usually 0.5 to 0.7 behind when leaving the GP part of the track. I spent hours thinking its my driving, and I was just able to merely match my ghost once, where I had been easily ahean before every time.
And then there was the GT agademy events, I think it was event 1 and 2 in 2015. especially the GT-R R35 Nismo at silverstone, where everyone noticed it, and said if you exit and re-enter it would be fixed. I was driving until I was close to my limit, the exited and re-entered the track, and INSTANTLY gained a whole 1.7 seconds. That is an eye-watering ammount of time, and you could even feel it.
1. How sure are we that it is really just an on/off bug for >3sec advantage.
2. The basic driving school lessons (just accelerating or just braking) should show the bug most clearly. (If it exists outside races.) I find the acceleration times a little suspicious. Are they using manual clutch?
3. Aside from the bug, are we really sure that PS4 and PS4 Pro do exactly the same simulation. As a game developer, I know a lot of ways this could be messed up.
Another side note: I have been concerned with the issue of really equal physics since Gran Turismo 1. Even did an online survey for some basic driving school lessons. NO problems found. Equal hardware greatly reduces the chances of messing things up (as a developer).
Before that I had a ridiculous experience with the racing game "Screamer" on PC. Some Japanese guy posted lap times 5sec better than mine. I had practiced a lot, so this made me suspicious. I found that the grip was depending critically on the framerate. On a faster PC with low graphics settings (which I used for FPS>50) the cars were sliding a lot, while at FPS=10 (aargh), they had lots of grip. It was just a ridiculous implementation of friction/grip. Years later I played this on Pentium 3 or 4 at FPS>200 and it was just impossible to drive. The friction in this sim would go to 0 for infinite framerate. Just a ridiculous implementation.
Ah yes the framerate thing, that was affecting all sort of things in so many games back in the day. Try flying a helicopter in GTA vice city with a modern computer and frame limiter off
Nowadays, I really do hope its not relying on framerates anymore, and I dont think it is, as I've not seen any evidence of it, and it would be far more people affected, as there are alot of people on a PS4 pro, with twice the framerate.
I'm pretty disappointed in how poorly this bug is being legitimately tested in this thread. There are some very easy ways to confirm if there is a bug or if it's just speculation (a screenshot of when a brake is pressed during a race has so much room for variance it's laughable to rely on it).
If someone suspects they have the bug please do the following. Get a car and from a start line record a video of 10 or so 0-60 starts and stops. From a full stop hit 100% throttle, when reaching 60 switch to 100% brake. Record time and distance. take an average of all 10 results to account for reaction time and other small variances.
Switch to a new account, do the exact same thing, same car, same course, same tires, same settings. Compare the results.
This will for sure confirm or deny the existence of a bug. Currently it's just speculation.
Um, it has ben very professionally and methodically tested, with very convincing results. I'm slightly amazed you'd say that, and makes me wonder what one have to do to make it properly by your standards.
Your method sounds pretty.... well.... a bit dumb, to be brutally honest. As it could very well show no difference because its not necessarily connected to straight line braking power or traction.
