LeMons v5.0 Discussion Thread

[esh]

I felt like I was experiencing some of the lag we have been talking about lately @ GVE-R. I ended qualifying with a 1'27:5XX with lots of room for improvement but the best I could do without draft was high 1'28 to low 1'29. I felt at times I was losing grip and acceleration but others not so much. I didn't experience any of this after @ Trial Mountain and a few people left the room. Could explain why I was 4+ seconds up after 5 laps.

Two things that killed me were getting stuck behind the dude for a couple laps and braking way too late on entrance in the last turn(s). I was able to figure it out towards the end but was too close to traffic to really keep my speed up most of the time. The Mini has great overall cornering ability with little to no understeer @ this PP but lacks power down the straight. At Trial Mountain I pretty much would just throw it into corners and it would go wherever I wanted it to.

Also, I saved the replay from last night. Does GT5 save full race replays of lengths such as this or is it abbreviated like GT4?

 

[dudeondacouch]

Also, I saved the replay from last night. Does GT5 save full race replays of lengths such as this or is it abbreviated like GT4?

I saved it too, or at least tried.

I guess we'll know if we watch it.

 

[BTK]

I saved it too, or at least tried.

I guess we'll know if we watch it.

It saves the whole thing! I really would like some photo's guys, so I can photoshop some banners and such for the thread to give it a better look. If you all can hook me up let me know.

 

[dabneyd]

It saves the whole thing! I really would like some photo's guys, so I can photoshop some banners and such for the thread to give it a better look. If you all can hook me up let me know.

It's what I'll be doing when I get home from work today.

 

[dudeondacouch]

Get some pics that make it seem like I know how to drive!

 

[chuyler1]

I was running 1:28-1:29 all night long even with tire wear. My car was only good for a 1:28.3 during qualifying so I figured the draft was pulling me around. At one point I think I pulled off a 1:27.8. I'll have to confirm that though.

Both the Mini and the Beetle had better acceleration than me. If I got stuck in 3rd, I would fall back until 2/3 down the straight where the draft would pull me closer. I usually got a better run through turns 1 and 2 and then it would repeat. If one of you made a mistake and I could put myself in 2nd place for the long straight, I could usually squeeze by for the lead. Otherwise I'd have to wait until you battled it out and slowed down enough for me to make up the lost ground on the straight.

I'll watch the replay to check your inputs. There could have been some input lag (often displaying as flickering gas indicator) but here's what I experienced...

Piazza: weak points were straight line speed, especially exiting the final turn. strong points were turn 1 and exit speed of turn 2.

Beetle: very fast down the straight but dabney would often understeer braking for turn 1 as well as the final turn. Being the heaviest car of the leaders, that makes sense.

Mini: moderate down the straight but suberb grip at the hairpin as well as the final turn. I gave up trying to beat you out of those turns and opted to save tires since you were just going to draft pass me anyway.

Exa: on par with the beetle down the straight, decent grip too. Just struggled with consistency. Being the lightest car of the bunch, it should have been the winner.

Xsara: roughly the same weight as the Piazza but lacking the power of the Beetle or EXA, the Xsara appeared to struggle with where to make passes. Once out of the draft, it had no chance to shine.

Everyone seemed to struggle with carrying speed through turns 1 and 2, but considering that we ran 2-wide through those turns on at least half the laps, I'm impressed no one ended up in the sand trap. Cudos to everyone for racing such a clean race!

 

[dabneyd]

Oh, interesting point, tire wear for the leaders was virtually identical. Despite me having a FR drivetrain, I didn't end up with more rubber at the end of the night. That may change as power and tire compounds change, but I just found it surprising that after that many laps I wasn't able to gain a cornering advantage. In fact I think Esh's Mini could hold faster corner speeds at the end when I wasn't forcing him to check-up.

That's what I was saying before the race, and Diabolic was talking about it during the race, keeping your tires out of the red will keep the wear down. For me it's pretty simple; if you're in an FF, and you're understeering, you're trying to carry too much speed through the turn. Slow in, fast out is the way to go in an FF. Yes, a FR will probably last a bit longer on tires, but I think only marginally so if you're not making them squeal the whole race.

 

[chuyler1]

I may still have the IndyRC race from the beginning of last season. I'd be curious to see what your tires looked like after that race compared to mine. Just to see how the 2.02 update affected things. I could swear I got more and more of an advantage as the race went on...but last night that wasn't the case. I could rotate the car better, but I couldn't maintain a faster corner speed.

 

[dudeondacouch]

Exa: on par with the beetle down the straight, decent grip too. Just struggled with consistency. Being the lightest car of the bunch, it should have been the winner.

Would have had a good chance if I hadn't put it into the side of the tunnel.

It was actually very planted and predictable EXCEPT for turns 1 and 2. It was a handful through that section, and led to quite variable speeds coming up the little hill after 2. This made the braking/turn-in point to enter the tunnel also variable, and thus... the wall.

 

[chuyler1]

Yup, I think I was right ahead of you when that happened. I was cutting it close and you were running a little wider than me. That turn into the tunnel is tough exactly for that reason. You approach it at very different speeds depending on how well you hit turn 2. If you get a bad run, you don't even have to lift off. If you get a very good run, you need to tap the brakes just enough to set the car up.

 

[dabneyd]

This is for Cujo:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/casey-anthony-makes-appearance-video-diary/story?id=15295329#.TwXdnqNSRPo

 

[MemorableC]

Bad news everyone, just got my schedule for school next semester and apparently I have class until 10pm the night of the races and early the next day, so i am going to have to pass guys for this season.

 

[esh]

Ah school, shmool. Only thing school is good for is flunking out of it.

 

[dudeondacouch]

Ah school, shmool. Only thing school is good for is flunking out of it.

Not true. It's also excellent for never attending in the first place, but living there anyway.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

No one is talking about my amazing Sera.

Were it not for one failed pass attempt that took me out of the draft on lap 28ish and my pit stop while I was just 5 seconds behind I think I would have been right there. Playing catch up I ran a 2 1'26s, 12 1'27 and one 1'28. My top time alone was 1'26.8xx.

@dabneyd be sure to take a picture of the 2 by 2 by 2 on lap 25.

a second kudos for the clean. I hope they all run that smooth.

EDIT: Perhaps its a good thing no one is talking about it aside from myself. My victory will be swift, but subtle.

 

[dabneyd]

@dabneyd be sure to take a picture of the 2 by 2 by 2 on lap 25.

As soon as I get this hole in my hand stitched up.

 

[dudeondacouch]

Why do you have a hole in your hand?

 

[dabneyd]

Why do you have a hole in your hand?

Because I was doing it wrong. I cut a zip tie that was holding a power supply down, and stabbed myself. Two stitches and a tetanus shot later, I'm home and I'm going to watch that video now.

 

[esh]

No one is talking about my amazing Sera.
were it not for one failed pass attempt that took me out of the draft on lap 28ish and my pit stop while I was just 5 se behind I think I would have been right there. Playing catch up I ran a 2 1'26s, 12 1'27 and one 1'28. My top time alone was 1'26.8xx.

@dabneyd be sure to take a picture of the 2 by 2 by 2 on lap 25.

a second kudos for the clean. I hope they all run that smooth.

So do people usually quit midway through the race if they're getting lapped or just not having a good time? Do you need to finish to get points/cash etc? I can't see doing that many laps being all that fun when you're by yourself the most of the time.

 

[dabneyd]

I'm lazy, here's an imgur gallery. http://imgur.com/a/835OD

 

[chuyler1]

Great photos!

 

[BTK]

So do people usually quit midway through the race if they're getting lapped or just not having a good time? Do you need to finish to get points/cash etc? I can't see doing that many laps being all that fun when you're by yourself the most of the time.

Lmao, I quit because I was having more fun watching the race up front, then driving the Honda that I know I won't race this season. They'd be stupid to quit since each spot is a point...

 

[k_riens]

I quit because I had to pee.

Since I was driving a car I wasn't planning on driving in the series, my bladder won out.



I'll keep my mic on next time so you're not left wondering.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

So do people usually quit midway through the race if they're getting lapped or just not having a good time? Do you need to finish to get points/cash etc? I can't see doing that many laps being all that fun when you're by yourself the most of the time.

Quitting is rampant unfortunately. From start to end, I'd say we retain 60% of the last five seasons. Season 2 was probably the best overall season IMO. Yea...that was useless info, but info nonetheless!

And nice photos. Especially the blurry photo finish

 

[BTK]

Boys, I want to remind you that the car choices must be PM'd to me on Monday, or before Monday, and shared Monday/Tuesday so I can make sure that they're legal. Thanks.

 

[dudeondacouch]

My car is a detuned F2007. That's cool, right?

 

[BTK]

F2007 isn't allowed, but the X1 is.

 

[esh]

Were we in dabney's lounge for this or was it a pub room w/fixed host?

I suggest we start running fixed host w/visible damage off and limit the number of people that can join to 12. There aren't that many of us anyway. I will probably host a room with those specifics this weekend for testing if anyone is interested.

 

[chuyler1]

turning off mic audio helps too...but it wouldn't be as fun. I'm OK with turning off visible damage. Also, I usually set the game to "high" not "very high", and the mic audio to "low". You can drive side-by-side just fine with the game on "high". I've never tried the lower settings before but I wonder if they help. I'll experiment with that on a regular 450 night.

I tested a few cars at Trial Mountain. In practice mode, I was only hitting mid-1:55 but most cars were high-1:56. I still don't have the Mini Cooper to test though. This track is very tricky on comfort tires. I think we will have significantly more incidents next week as it is extremely difficult to run 2-wide through the bumpy esses.

I'm still undecided about FR vs FF. On this track, the old FR cars really can't handle the ess turn before the start/finish. If you push it full throttle, they run wide and/or unload the rear and spin around. I experienced this with both the Honda 1300 and the Isuzu 117. Both of these cars also require lifting off the throttle to stay on the track before the first tunnel. They gain time in other places on the track but still end up about 1 second off pace. The FF cars I tested could run full throttle down the entire front section of the track with the first brake point being entry into the tunnel. They require less finesse to make fast lap times but I did run the tires into the red on my best laps. I guess the only thing left to test is a 10-15 lap average to see whether tire wear is a factor on this track.

 

[dudeondacouch]

I'm rolling with my selected car regarless of any practice/test results. I'm committed, even if I finish dead last every race and the seats have a funny smell.