GTP Rivals Mode WEEK #15

[RikkiGT-R]

When is Sebring at Night over? And When do we start at Brands Hatch?

I'm compiling the leaderboards. Started at 8pm (the new week).

 

[RikkiGT-R]

Week 2 - Sport GT - Sebring Full, Night Race

Spoiler

1. FastBud - Dodge Viper '13 - 2:07.591

2. RPM Bibblefish - Dodge Viper '08 - 2:07.794

3. lukas2121 - M-B SLS AMG - 2:08.065

4. itrfred2 - Dodge Viper '13 - 2:08.223

5. nEx1983 - Dodge Viper '13 - 2:08.961

6. IamVALHALLA - Dodge Viper '08 - 2:11.275

7. WhiteSwordTower - Ferrari 430S - 2:12.091

8. RokkitShipp - AM V12 Zagato - 2:14.018

9. AlienDeathRay15 - M-B AMG GTR - 2:15.059

​

 

[AlienDeathRay]

I tried 2 cars at Brands Hatch, 12 laps, Rain Thunder and 100% rain settings as agreed upon. That was the first time I've ever set the weather settings. I gotta admit, it was exactly as advertised. Rain and Thunder 100% all the time the whole race. It would be neat to play around with those settings further. Nice thing is that the Rain settings keep, if you do 1 race after another.
#5 Honda Civic Molgroup 1:42.419
#5 BMW 125i M Sport eBay 1:40.472
I have 2 BMW 125i M Sports, that one was narrower tires, and lighter overall. I will try the Homologated BMW later on.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

It would be neat to play around with those settings further.

Because of the way the system works, I settled on full hardcore rainy weather to keep it fair. With the settings any other way, you occasionally get a much cleaner track, and thus a faster lap.
I tried out The 'Ring, Brands Hatch, Suzuka and Homestead on full rain & thunder settings and found laps pretty comfortable to get around compared to Forza 6 where you'd have massive puddles in the exact same place that never move/dry out

 

[-Fred-]

One thing to consider is that the game has only one "wet" leaderboard no matter what type of weather you choose, so the very top times were probably set on a dry-ish track with nothing more than fog or a very light mist at best.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

One thing to consider is that the game has only one "wet" leaderboard no matter what type of weather you choose, so the very top times were probably set on a dry-ish track with nothing more than fog or a very light mist at best.

Ah... that's something that didn't cross my mind.
Well let's see how it goes as they are, and if you genuinely fast guys are struggling to get near the top times we can change it a bit. I'd really like proper rain racing [driving] but not if we're only handicapping ourselves

 

[FastBud]

Ah... that's something that didn't cross my mind.
Well let's see how it goes as they are, and if you genuinely fast guys are struggling to get near the top times we can change it a bit. I'd really like proper rain racing [driving] but not if we're only handicapping ourselves

I had a go last night at the Indi layout at Brands needed to practice the first corner I came in about 30th in full rain about 2/3 seconds slower
But happy to go with the flow

 

[RikkiGT-R]

I'll maybe alter it, I have a chance later today after work - I'm thinking maybe we could do rain/thunder to start the drive but then drying up for the end.

 

[AlienDeathRay]

Honestly, I prefer the way you have it with full on rain. Brands Hatch isn't all that bad in the Rain, avoiding the puddles barely takes me off the line. I'd rather it's fair for everybody, than say, somebody was lucky enough to have a hot lap on a dry road. Further, it's not like none of us have driven Brands Hatch in the rain, as it seems to be always raining every time it comes up in Multiplayer or League play, and even in the Forza Drivers Cup events as well.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

Honestly, I prefer the way you have it with full on rain.

Yeah I like it too, but one of the most enjoyable aspects of this Rivals Mode is clogging up the top of the Leaderboards with GTP Members, something which won't really be possible if we are against "outsiders" who have the benefit of almost dry tracks.

Plus, I added rain racing for the experience of it; something different and fun (all previous races in the older Rivals Mode were done on daytime tracks in the dry weather), so we can still have the rain racing while blasting around the last few laps of each attempt getting faster and faster for a good Leaderboard time.

Gonna run a few laps in a while here and see how it goes. I'm leaning more towards heavy rain/thunder that dries towards the end.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

Ok, so I went and did some testing - didn't want to screw with our leaderboard, so;

Ran a few laps in the P1 division, with all weather set to "partly cloudy" (which is essentially a totally dry track), and then set the weather to "rain thunder", but couldn't get near the first time since the track was completely soaked.
Then I tried setting the end race weather to partly cloudy, but still the track doesn't dry up enough to set a genuinely fast time compared to the first attempt.

So having tested that, I still think we should stick to rain racing with a wet track (otherwise what's the point?), but use "partly cloudy" at 100% probability for the end race scenario for a bit of difference. I know some of you guys love challenging the top scores while doing this Rivals Mode, but you can always pop back immediately after our event ends each time and run a few "partly cloudy" laps to set a time you are happy with.

I do think it's a bit silly that the wet weather leaderboards are almost certainly filled with dry track times

 

[AlienDeathRay]

I appreciate you doing the 'legwork'. And yeah, although there aren't that many entries on the leaderboard, I don't see how anyone can post a 1:32.xxx There isn't too much separating the cars in this particular Division.

 

[RPM Bibblefish]

Honestly, I prefer the way you have it with full on rain. Brands Hatch isn't all that bad in the Rain, avoiding the puddles barely takes me off the line. I'd rather it's fair for everybody, than say, somebody was lucky enough to have a hot lap on a dry road. Further, it's not like none of us have driven Brands Hatch in the rain, as it seems to be always raining every time it comes up in Multiplayer or League play, and even in the Forza Drivers Cup events as well.

Yeah, just leave it as is with full on rain from start to finish. I couldn't care less if i'm number 1 or number 1000 on the boards.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

Alright lads, that seems fair enough as long as you chaps are content with things as they are

 

[AlienDeathRay]

Here are some of the times I have pulled off in this weeks event.
#5 MolGroup Honda Civic 1:42.419
#5 eBay BMW 125i M Sport 1:40.472
#5 eBay BMW 125i M Sport 1:40.660 alternate set up (black BMW Siemens design)
#33 Mac Tools Mercedes Benz A-class A45 1:42.522
#33 Mac Tools Mercedes Benz A-class A45 1:42.304 alternate set up (PETRONAS design)
#67 Oakley Audi S3 Saloon 1:41.361
#13 Volvo S60 Blue + Yellow 1:40.125

 

[-Fred-]

I find the Cruze to be absolutely terrible to drive, and yet it's the fastest car in the division.

 

[RPM Bibblefish]

I find the Cruze to be absolutely terrible to drive, and yet it's the fastest car in the division.

Yeah, it's terrible. Both the Volvos have been the fastest for me, by a good second or so

 

[FastBud]

In this class I’ve only tried the Honda and Audi, will have to expand my choices

 

[AlienDeathRay]

The Volvo has a bit of squirrelly feel, making it easier to slide a bit in the turns. I found the Audi to be a bit slow, and the Benz A45 as well. The BMW 125i was good overall, possibly better with the right tune. I will give the Castrol Honda a shot later as well as the other Volvo. I tuned a Mazda MX-5 Special 20 within the homologation limits for this Division, (just for curiosity sake), and I am really interested to see how well it does at Brands Hatch in the rain. Overall, I am not too excited about this car division. I wish there were more cars, (what about an Audi TT, or the Opel from previous Forza's).

 

[AlienDeathRay]

Hey, I added a bunch of you people as friends on Xbox. My Gamer tag is virtually the same as my name here, AlienDeathRay15. I only messaged a few of you, so if you see an invite from me, add me. If not, it's no big deal.

 

[Nacho Libre]

On a side note, aren't you happy we did all that training at Sebring at night? I hope that the GTPs do well in the Forza RC bounty hunter event!

 

[Northstar]

I finally got a new controller and managed to run a handful of laps in the Volvo. I'm guessing I will wind up last as I won't have time to run today since Sebring is today.

Next week will be interesting as I haven't really learned Rio yet. At least it's a fun class.

 

[Nacho Libre]

I have set my fastest time so far in the little BMW (without TCS, it feels soapy at first, but it gets much better), followed by the Honda. The Audi was just OK, but its boring, the little Mercedes is slooow, and the Volvo is not good, it slides all over the first turn.
So far, under the rain settings for the event, I've seen a noon and a sunset scenario... No thunders though!

 

[RikkiGT-R]

Just managed to get rid of everyone after dinner in time to have another go before the 8pm deadline. Managed a 1:41.148 in the #13 Volvo tuned again by m'Lord @RPM Bibblefish and that's about the best I can do for now. Roll on Supercars at Rio

 

[RikkiGT-R]

We ARE on to the new week guys, just haven't got the Leaderboard compiled yet. It's coming...

 

[AlienDeathRay]

We ARE on to the new week guys, just haven't got the Leaderboard compiled yet. It's coming...

Hopefully, I'm not in last place.
Rise of the Super Cars at Rio Full, I'm guessing that is the forward track. That should quite frustrating!

 

[VICGT1970]

I am glad I finally noticed GTP rivals was up and going again just in time for points week

 

[-Fred-]

Banged in a couple of laps with the F50, but the fact I've just picked up Burnout and that Rio is easily the track I hate the most in the game means I don't think I'll be spending much time with this combo this week... At least next week we're going to my favorite track.

 

[RikkiGT-R]

Banged in a couple of laps with the F50, but the fact I've just picked up Burnout and that Rio is easily the track I hate the most in the game means I don't think I'll be spending much time with this combo this week... At least next week we're going to my favorite track.

As long as you set a time mate, it'll usually be pretty competitive from you. I can't really stand Rio either but I love the division and will enjoy trying out various cars.
The next 2 weeks after Rio are going to be so much fun.

Leaderboards/points posted this evening. Got roped into something last night and never got around to it.

 

[AlienDeathRay]

Banged in a couple of laps with the F50, but the fact I've just picked up Burnout and that Rio is easily the track I hate the most in the game means I don't think I'll be spending much time with this combo this week... At least next week we're going to my favorite track.

Fred - Off topic, but how do you like Burnout Paradise reborn? I seem to recall owning the original, playing it a lot, but then something else came out and I never played it again. I just want to know if its worth buying.

Back to the Topic - I admit, I'm not that much of a fan of the Rio tracks, but I do find the Rio full course to be rather fun and challenging. Plenty of elevation changes, strange bumps, peculiar turns, etc. etc. There are a lot of sections to leave a bunch of time out on the course, but I can definitely see where persistence, patience and plenty of laps will put in some good track times. Here's what I've done so far...
Jaguar XJ220 Forza Edition (yellow) 2:28.281 "handles just like the Beatles Yellow Submarine"
Bugatti EB 110 SS (blue) 2:30.411 "don't even waste your time trying this one"
Ferrari 512 TR (Shell Racing) 2:28.589 "my first attempt, poor time, but worth trying again"
Ferrari F50 (Momo Corse) 2:27.040 "handles this course surprisingly well"