My car should still be shared if you want to take a look. I forget the specifics but I know I opted for the racing exhaust over a turbo or suspension. Then I think I did another weight stage and some cheap mods. I'll double check for the exact mods tonight (unless someone wants to get in the game and read off the parts list).
Break down of my laps...
Turn 1: I nailed this just about every lap. I used hard braking to start coming from 5th to 4th to 3rd. Once I hit 3rd I eased up on the brakes and got inside and shifted to 2nd for the exit.
Same
Turn 2: Depending on my tires, I sometimes made it to 4th gear. Most of the time i'd ease off the throttle and coast around. I noticed grenade was tapping the brakes. That threw me off my rhythm until I figured out he wasn't using much brake at all.
Just doing weight transfer to increase grip for the turn in.
Turn 3: I focused on hitting the apex. The off-camber nature of the entry makes this hard to hit just right, but when you do, it gives you a slingshot through turn 4 and up the hill. I know someone mentioned on the radio I had tons of power here...Yes I had over 400hp, but on that lap I nailed the turn 3 apex and was on the throttle much sooner than who ever was in front of me.
This was definitely a lap maker turn. I agree 100%. It was easy to slide through this turn instead of holding the apex and really gaining some lap time.
[qoute]
Turn 5-6: I never pushed this turn too hard. The fastest route is to put your left wheels on the grass for 5 and your right wheels on the grass for 6. However given the sloppy nature of my suspension, barely even touched the curbing for 5 for fear of screwing up 6. [/quote]
In practice, I would blow through this turn. In the race, not so much.
Turn 7: Another hairpin. I play it smooth. Grenade used more turn in than me relying on the yaw control. I tried his technique a few times but my car was understeering too much at that point to get enough bite for the quick rotation.
I didn't really like my line through this turn. I wanted to go much deeper with a sharp turn in, but ended up Uing it most of the time. I was afraid I would lose the inside line if I took it the way I wanted to. I ended up relatively slow through this section of the track most of the time.
Turn 8: i was full throttle until about half way. I would lift off momentarily then get back on the gas. Getting on the gas would rotate my car and line it up for a straight shot through 9. Brake before 10 and put the right wheels into the grass, they will catch the curbing on the way out and rotate the car.
I found letting off the gas a bit early allowed me to really get some bite and get the car straight for turn 9 and 10.
Turn 10: Basically hit both apexes at 30-35 mph and slam the gas when you see the pit wall.
I would call this turn 11. I cut the apexes real hard and real slow. It seemed to work out well enough. Not sure if it was the best line, but it was a good line to defend with.
Tire wear: My fronts wore down faster than my rears. I started out with great balance mid turn but after about 15 laps understeer took over. I think we were running high 1:25s at the beginning of the race. After 20 laps I really had to adjust my braking points to avoid running wide entering turns. Lap times slowed to 1:26s. At 25 laps I was done for. I just held on hoping my 1:27-1:28-1:29 lap times were enough hold my position.
I really didn't push the pace and I really feathered my tires. I always would slow down quite a bit when I was in the lead.
Final laps: I pushed the car hard to catch up to grenade after some altercations in turns 9 and 10. I was powering through turn 8 burning up more tire than I probably should have. Once i got close to grenade, I think he increased his pace. If I hadn't applied pressure I think he would've coasted to victory. As it turned out, my pressure caused him to make a few mistakes. The only problem was, when I passed him, I had no tires left to block for more than one lap. He finally got by me on the inside of turn 8. I just couldn't hold the bottom of the track and my pace was so slow it didn't take much for him to get around me. he probably could've passed on the outside.
I randomly ran off the road when drafting you which gave you the initial lead. Your pressure was working because every time that little number popped up and you had gained some time on me, it really messed with my head. I wish I could turn those indicators off. I can drive no problem with a car sitting inches off my bumper. But, those stupid little segment timers literally mess with me the entire race.
Things I could've done to win: My only regret was pitting on lap 30. I had a dwindling 4 second lead and I figured I could keep grenade from drafting me if I went to the pits before he caught up. I could've easily gone another 2 or 3 laps and that would've helped at the end of the race. I think I had the lead on lap 57 but my tires officially gave out on lap 58. I made a few mistakes in turns 9-10 on my own which cost me a little track position, but I think we all did that.
Overall, this race was very enjoyable and I'm glad cars finished close together after 60 laps. I think grenade and I will definitely be out-powered next week...but at Laguna, there is lots of time to be had with running clean lines and staying out of trouble. The corkscrew on worn tires is going to be hairy! Speaking of which, I was running 1:34 lap times last night when i switched to Laguna. I'm guessing there is a good 5 seconds to be had with upgrades and running a faster line. Do we want to do 60 laps again or drop it down to 50 laps?
I was holding a good 3 second lead at the end until I randomly went off the track at turn 4 for no good reason. I was staring at wiifreak a bit too hard and kablaam, wall action. You had the lead in either 56 or 57, but I caught up rather quickly. Then you got stuck in traffic and I caught up completely. Turn 9 ended up in a 4 car **** fest and I ended up spinning out of control trying to avoid you when you reentered the track. By that time, your tires were basically gone though. I caught up to you and passed you only to go off again. I caught up a 3rd time and finally just blew by as you had no tires.
As far as laguna is concerned, I wouldn't mind doing 60 laps. That would really make the 1 pit strategy an all or nothing matter. Very high likeliness of losing your tires completely if you don't pit.
Or we could do 50 and have a similar length race. Doesn't matter all that much to me. Just I am pretty sure most people will do a 1 pit strategy. I could be wrong.
Did you try messing with the brake balance? I left mine at 5/5 and i was out braking Grenade (until my tires wore down). I usually run 6/4 but I figured 5/5 would take some stress off the front tires. I have found with A-spec racing that changing the settings more than a few clicks will drastically affect your braking distances. Sure, it gives you more stable braking, but you simply can't stop as quickly. A lot of people said to run 4/1 for the FGT but I was ramming the A.I. with that setting on almost every turn. I think I settled on 8/2 or 8/4. i still couldn't stop as fast as the A.I. but I had to do something about the rear end kicking out on Fuji when i was braking and turning.
Your car was a bit lighter then mine I think. That probably made some of the difference. I left my brake balance on stock I believe.
So not consistent.
