Group C Cars - The Best? Worst?

[Furinkazen]

The Group C Le Mans cars always have been brutally fast and hard on tyres.... but I've been wondering what car to pick for a Group C enduro... which is best on tyres for Le Mans no chicane?

The Nissan R92CP is brutally quick but fries tyres.

Minolta is very fast but a tyre eater.

Mazda 787B is a little slower but online they always seem to have better tyre wear.

Sauber C9 is pretty much same as Minolta I think.

Nissan R89C is not quite same pace as the R92CP but appears slightly easier on tyres from what I remember from GT4...

The Jaguar XJ9LM I don;t know much about, not driven it much, same with the Peugeot 905...

What do you think of the Group C Cars, and can you help me with my car selection problem?

 

[Gejabo]

I think they're all pretty good.
Tire eating is often an down-force problem.

The trick is finding the balance between grip and lightness.
If understand what I mean.

Down-force puts more pressure on the tires what causes them to wear faster.

Edit: my favorite is the 787B by the way

 

[parabulla]

It depends on what's eating your tires. Just from that list there, I would pick the Jaguar. It's the only normally aspirated car, and will have a more usable powerband to keep you from cooking the tires on acceleration.

 

[HuskyGT]

Haven't driven any since GT4. But I remember that the 787 was the best in terms of handling and tyre wear.

The Nissans are too brutal, specially the R92CP. The Jaguar has the worst handling of them all (at least in GT4). The Sauber C9 and Minolta are almost the same...

The Peugeot for what I remember had low torque issues. Didn't like it at all.

Because of how expensive and hard to find they are in this game, I've only been stuck with LM Prototypes... but someday I'll find the strenght to grind for the 787B.

 

[Furinkazen]

If it helps I'm running all cars with turbo's at max power... I'd say LSD settings have an influence as well...

 

[counter345]

I wouldn't have thought the cars themselves, if driven in a similar way, would have such a difference in tyre wear. I think the Mazda is still powerful but good on tyres, as you said, because it is lighter and therefore less force is pushed onto the tyres.

 

[Akmuq]

Desperate Furi?

 

[DDAAVVIIDD82]

The 905 indeed lacks top end but I've found it consistently very fast, more-so than any of the LMPs. As for tire abuse, the lack of torque means this car isn't as brutal as the others, and I have actually been able to turn some decent [consistent] laps on Sport Soft tires (with the customary lack of aids). If you stay on the ball, I feel the Sauber is the most rewarding of the bunch in terms of lap times but the aero does very little at low speed and causes a fair bit of understeer under about 75mph (around 125km/h). Once you reach 75 it stays very planted and is blazingly fast on straights. A good mix of consistency and all-out speed is attained with any of the Japanese [Group C] cars but, as has been mentioned, they're a bit hard on the rubber. With a good tune, it's really difficult to go totally wrong with any of them.

As for the last part question, I'd run Racing Hard tires for 2/3-4/5 of the race (depending on length, the latter for longer races) and switch to Racing Soft for the rest to either close the gap if you're behind or spread it if you're ahead; just be sure your tune is suited to both types because it can do more harm than good if not.

Oh and the Jag is comparable to the Sauber in terms of low speed handling but lacks the same brutal top end.

 

[omgitsbees]

Edit: my favorite is the 787B by the way

It's a toss up between that and the Nissan Minolta for me. There's not a lot I wouldn't do for a premium version of the Minolta.

 

[Projectoutlaw]

Any tips on a good car for the recently posted b spec races. Im having trouble with la sarthe.

 

[VyPeR]

It's a toss up between that and the Toyota 88C-V for me. There's not a lot I wouldn't do for a premium version of the Minolta.

Fixed that for ya.

 

[omgitsbees]

Fixed that for ya.

Durrr, I had a brain fart there. Thanks.

 

[VyPeR]

The Jaguar XJR-9 is, in my opinion, the most difficult Group C car to drive.

 

[DDAAVVIIDD82]

There's not a lot I wouldn't do for a premium version of the Minolta.

There's a lot that can be done.

 

[Furinkazen]

Testing the R92CP I noticed how damn quick it is through the Porsche Curves, it's like glue!

 

[C-ZETA]

The 905 is probably the easiest to drive. Least power and also suffers on straights but it's the lightest and most likely has the best handling. And now you don't have any gearbox bug-bears to worry about either.

 

[Furinkazen]

The 905 is probably the easiest to drive. Least power and also suffers on straights but it's the lightest and most likely has the best handling. And now you don't have any gearbox bug-bears to worry about either.

It had gearbox issues ?

 

[KingSakery]

It had in GT4


There are plent of them to choose.
All are great drives but produce different results (Time and Tire Wear).

If you want low Tire Wear:
Peugeot 905 because of N/A (low Torque => almost no wheelspin during accel) and low weight.
BMW V12 LMR very sweet and smooth ride => good on Tires
Pescarolo´s. I like the "oldest" one the most. All are good with Tires though.
Jaguar XJR-9 Like the 905 it´s N/A => no sudden Turbo-boost just a "smoother" accel.

They are quite fast too but if you want pure speed:
Audi R8 (both Race Cars) probably the fastest
Minolta
C9
Toyota GT-One
Peugeot FAP´s
Nissans (89C and 92CP)

I like the 787B too but due to the short wheelbase it´s trickier to drive/tune.
If you don´t have the Cars I could put them online and you could testdrive.
=> You could find your favourite

But if you want low Tire wear run them stock. The aftermarket Turbo increases the Wear majorly.
LSD settings from me:
9-13/18-23/9-11 differs a bit lower with the 905 and a bit higher with the "Monster´s" alá Nissan R92CP.

 

[C-ZETA]

It had gearbox issues ?

Play GT4 and experience the slowest-shifting gearbox in the game in the Peugeot 905. And because you have to do it constantly, it never goes away.

Now though it's fine.

 

[GT6mebe]

I love the fact that there are so many group C cars in Gt5....my favourite is the 787B...the sound is just amazing from it and it handles really well in comparison to the faster group c's. The two cars that I am really disappointed about is the Peugeot HDi FAP and Pescarolo (not sure which one).

 

[FordMKIVJ5]

If it was real life I'd say the Sauber because it sounds like this:



But because this is GT5, it doesn't.

I'd have to say go with the fastest at the top end, as just a few mph difference on the straight can translate into a second or two by the end of the Mulsanne straight.

 

[XPLOSV]

IMHO the minolta is ahead of the rest.

I cant get near the lap times I put down in the Minolta than in any other group C car. I LOVE my 787b, but the minolta is the easiest and fastest to drive by far. The R92c comes a close 2nd though......

I REALLY wanted to love the C9 Sauber (love this car to death in real life) but simply cant bring myself to drive it due to the completely so-far-from-reality sound track it has in the game. I own it, but its purely just to look at.

 

[dr_slump]

Why is everybody missing the Bentley Speed 8?

Definitely a great car.

 

[TankAss95]

IMHO the minolta is ahead of the rest.

I cant get near the lap times I put down in the Minolta than in any other group C car. I LOVE my 787b, but the minolta is the easiest and fastest to drive by far. The R92c comes a close 2nd though......

I REALLY wanted to love the C9 Sauber (love this car to death in real life) but simply cant bring myself to drive it due to the completely so-far-from-reality sound track it has in the game. I own it, but its purely just to look at.

+1

The Minolta is the fastest but the 787B is my favourite to drive.

 

[Disavowed]

Why is everybody missing the Bentley Speed 8?

Definitely a great Group C car.

I second this one. Arguably one of the easiest LMP/Group C cars to drive. It's also very kind to tires too.

The worst? Hmmm, I'd say the diesel ones are some of the most difficult ones to drive (R10 and 908) because of the massive torque. One slip up on the throttle and you're mowing the grass and/or chewed up your tires.

 

[DDAAVVIIDD82]

Why is everybody missing the Bentley Speed 8?

Definitely a great Group C car.

I've never heard of the Speed 8 being considered a Group C, primarily because probably the only requirement that it meets is that it has 4 wheels and tires.

 

[Mark001]

The Speed 8 is an LMP class car, which superseded the Group C class in '94.

 

[dr_slump]

I've never heard of the Speed 8 being considered a Group C, primarily because probably the only requirement that it meets is that it has 4 wheels and tires.

The Speed 8 is an LMP class car, which superseded the Group C class in '94.

My bad, I thought this thread is about Group C and LMP cars, since the most threads with a similar topic are about both.

 

[DDAAVVIIDD82]

So then the title is what threw you off?

 

[Mark001]

My bad, I thought this thread is about Group C and LMP cars, since the most threads with a similar topic are about both.

You're not the only one. I've noticed one or two mentioning cars that are technically LMP class, but bracket them all together. It would perhaps be less confusing if the title mentioned sports prototypes up until '94