- 1,008
- GTP_Luxy
I decided that I really wanted the Bluebird Rally Car, so I set out to beat Ice Arena - Hard in the special conditions hall. I'd beaten easy and normal without much trouble. Well, hard was a different story ... definitely the toughest thing I've done so far in GT4, including the missions and licences. To sum it up, you can't out-power the opponent, and there is almost nowhere to pass on the reverse circuit. 
It took me more than three hours to show this thing who's boss 
I started with the reverse course, as I'd recently run that in normal mode, and felt slightly more familiar with it than the first. I began with a Subaru WRX Rally Car '99 with a Stage 3 Turbo (about 380hp), against an Evo VI Rally Car '99. It left me on the line, and I just couldn't keep up (more on this in a minute).
So, I figure, lets try something with a bit more grunt 💡 , and hopped in my Lancia Delta S4 group b rally car (about 450hp). I could keep up, just barely in the S4, making up about 1.5 seconds on the main straight, and loosing about the same through the rest of the course. Through most of the course, I wasn't getting any of the power because the turbo doesn't kick in until you get the revs up. And, if I did manage to get the turbo spooled up, the sudden burst of power threw me off (I think the same thing was happening with the Subaru ... turbo lag). I finished about 1.000 behind three or four times, and decided the S4 wasn't the right car.
Getting frustrated now, I got in a stock Evo IV rally car '97 (289hp). It gets off the line nicely starting in 2nd gear, and has a lot more grip than the S4. When I loaded it up, I'm against the Corolla Rally car. Ran the race three or four times finishing 0.200 - 0.400 back. Now, I'm having no trouble keeping up, but passing is another matter. Getting by cleanly is nearly impossible, and the 5 second penalty gods had it in for me.
My first plan of attack was to try and get past by outbraking the Corolla into turn 1. But the Corolla loves to drive right in the middle of the road, and I couldn't get by without touching him ... penalty.
On to Plan B ... pass him in the hairpins. At the start of the race, I hung back and followed cleanly through the chicane, and around turn three. I floored it through turn 4 (the 90-degree right before the first hairpin) and let the tail touch the outside wall, which helped to slow me down for the hairpin. (One note here, the 5 second penalty only seems to apply when you hit something with the front half of your car 👍 👍 👍 ).
I went inside of the Corolla on the entrance to the hairpin, and made sure to swing the back end waaaay out, so that I would just touch him with my rear quarter panel. The key to making it stick way to make sure I went all the way over to the wall on exit, pinning the Corolla behind me.
So, now I'm actually ahead for the first time, after running this race for more than three hours!!!
From there on out, it was just a matter of keeping it clean and not getting a penalty or spinning ... stay calm!!! On lap 2, the Corolla got inside of me on turn 3 (the right sweeper) but went wide and a I re-passed him through turn 4 using my floor-it-and-bouce technique. The Corolla pressured me a few times, but I was able to keep him behind me by blocking him in a few spots. My fifth lap wasn't great, having a few too many bumps on the way round, and at the line, I won by less than a second. Whew!!!
Now, I've got to do the forward race ... which, it turns out was pretty easy.
I won it by more than three seconds on the first try.
The reason it was so much easier is that there are a lot more opportunities to pass on the forward ciruit (I realize now that there are almost none on the reverse circuit). I passed the Corolla through turn 1, and never looked back. The first hairpin would be another ideal passing opportunity. On the reverse circuit, the only place where you're really braking down from speed is the first turn (the chicane), and it's too tight to pass. There's nowhere else to get a run on your opponent.
Here's some pics
notice my passing technique in the first one ...
It took me more than three hours to show this thing who's boss I started with the reverse course, as I'd recently run that in normal mode, and felt slightly more familiar with it than the first. I began with a Subaru WRX Rally Car '99 with a Stage 3 Turbo (about 380hp), against an Evo VI Rally Car '99. It left me on the line, and I just couldn't keep up (more on this in a minute).
So, I figure, lets try something with a bit more grunt 💡 , and hopped in my Lancia Delta S4 group b rally car (about 450hp). I could keep up, just barely in the S4, making up about 1.5 seconds on the main straight, and loosing about the same through the rest of the course. Through most of the course, I wasn't getting any of the power because the turbo doesn't kick in until you get the revs up. And, if I did manage to get the turbo spooled up, the sudden burst of power threw me off (I think the same thing was happening with the Subaru ... turbo lag). I finished about 1.000 behind three or four times, and decided the S4 wasn't the right car.
Getting frustrated now, I got in a stock Evo IV rally car '97 (289hp). It gets off the line nicely starting in 2nd gear, and has a lot more grip than the S4. When I loaded it up, I'm against the Corolla Rally car. Ran the race three or four times finishing 0.200 - 0.400 back. Now, I'm having no trouble keeping up, but passing is another matter. Getting by cleanly is nearly impossible, and the 5 second penalty gods had it in for me.
My first plan of attack was to try and get past by outbraking the Corolla into turn 1. But the Corolla loves to drive right in the middle of the road, and I couldn't get by without touching him ... penalty.
On to Plan B ... pass him in the hairpins. At the start of the race, I hung back and followed cleanly through the chicane, and around turn three. I floored it through turn 4 (the 90-degree right before the first hairpin) and let the tail touch the outside wall, which helped to slow me down for the hairpin. (One note here, the 5 second penalty only seems to apply when you hit something with the front half of your car 👍 👍 👍 ).
I went inside of the Corolla on the entrance to the hairpin, and made sure to swing the back end waaaay out, so that I would just touch him with my rear quarter panel. The key to making it stick way to make sure I went all the way over to the wall on exit, pinning the Corolla behind me.
So, now I'm actually ahead for the first time, after running this race for more than three hours!!!
From there on out, it was just a matter of keeping it clean and not getting a penalty or spinning ... stay calm!!! On lap 2, the Corolla got inside of me on turn 3 (the right sweeper) but went wide and a I re-passed him through turn 4 using my floor-it-and-bouce technique. The Corolla pressured me a few times, but I was able to keep him behind me by blocking him in a few spots. My fifth lap wasn't great, having a few too many bumps on the way round, and at the line, I won by less than a second. Whew!!! Now, I've got to do the forward race ... which, it turns out was pretty easy.
I won it by more than three seconds on the first try. The reason it was so much easier is that there are a lot more opportunities to pass on the forward ciruit (I realize now that there are almost none on the reverse circuit). I passed the Corolla through turn 1, and never looked back. The first hairpin would be another ideal passing opportunity. On the reverse circuit, the only place where you're really braking down from speed is the first turn (the chicane), and it's too tight to pass. There's nowhere else to get a run on your opponent.
Here's some pics
notice my passing technique in the first one ...
Almost lost my patience!
