Monday Night Endurances -

[benda18]

No problem, it's been a lot of fun. I've probably lapped Grand Valley 60 times this week just getting tuned for this 30 lap event.

Feel free to post room numbers here if you practice over the weekend. I probably won't be around until 6pm Monday though.

Here's a summary of the cars I've been testing:
* Spoon CR-Z: 2:15:xxx lap times. 6 laps between pits. meh
* Ford RS200: 2:10:xxx lap times. 7 laps between pits. meh
* Mazda RX-7 GT-X (FC): 2:09xxx lap times. 15+ laps between pits. I'll race this car if I can't find anything better.
* Honda NSX Type R: untested, but I'm going to spend some time in this car Monday before the race and might race with it.

In practice this week we've been seeing best laps under 2:03:00.

 

[tezster]

Unfortunately, something has come up Monday night and I won't be able to make this race (not for 30 laps, anyway), so my name can be removed from the racing list. I hope the rest of the participants have fun

 

[CodeRedR51]

Thought I had a car to use but it has NASTY on-throttle snap oversteer that I can't seem to cure. Might have to find a different car.

Edit: Alright, decided on a car which will be slower than everyone else, but it's fun to drive so I don't really care where I finish. Ready!

 

[benda18]

tezster I'll take your name off for tonight. Thanks for your interest. Keep an eye on the thread for future race information.

Thought I had a car to use but it has NASTY on-throttle snap oversteer that I can't seem to cure. Might have to find a different car.

Just like every car I've tested so far.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Just like every car I've tested so far.

That's weird. I ended up grabbing an AWD car so I didn't have to worry about it. FF would have worked too, but I was worried about tire wear.

 

[benda18]

That's weird. I ended up grabbing an AWD car so I didn't have to worry about it. FF would have worked too, but I was worried about tire wear.

I'm not very good at tuning, but when I was practicing with the 4WD Ford RS200 I would experience off-throttle understeer and on-throttle oversteer, neither of which I could resolve with suspension or LSD tuning. Perhaps it's this car's short wheelbase which was giving me problems.

I have a similar oversteer problem with the '90 RX-7 but it's manageable with sensitive throttle input (once again, this might be a result of the short wheelbase). The FF cars I've tested (CR-Z, Civic Type R) didn't really have oversteer issues, however they are only getting like 6-7 laps on tires.

In our practice Thursday evening Ning_Dynasty mentioned similar oversteer issues with all the cars he's been testing.

If I have time when I get home from work today I'm going to test the '02 NSX-R and see if I can get a better setup with it.

 

[benda18]

For anyone interested, I've put details for next Monday's race at the bottom of the first post here. That's where I'll be keeping the most recent info regarding upcoming races.

 

[mike46and2]

Picking out the car is probably the funnest part for me,although after I figure out which would be fastest, I pick a slower car thats more uncommon. Its like showing up somewhere in the same shirt as a friend. Anyone know what I mean?

 

[CodeRedR51]

Picking out the car is probably the funnest part for me,although after I figure out which would be fastest, I pick a slower car thats more uncommon. Its like showing up somewhere in the same shirt as a friend. Anyone know what I mean?

I know what you mean. I had my S2000 all ready to run, then started testing late last night and decided I had a problem on my hands. I couldn't keep the car straight. When I did it was good for a 1:06.2xx, but was an absolute handful. AWD car it is then...

 

[Glennm27]

You might as well put me in as a contestant instead of a spectator. If I'm going to be there, I might as well give it a try and get my feet wet. I'm not too good at this. I use AT and the standard Sony hand controller.... but what the heck. If I find myself getting in the way, I will bail out, promise.

Glennm27

 

[NingDynasty]

Just like every car I've tested so far.

The only one I haven't had snap oversteer on is the '05 WRX but I couldn't hang with Prophet because it was too heavy. I tried a Shelby Series 1 (FR) last night in a quick test with Prophet, which was fast but I couldn't control the thing and I'm not quite looking for such an exciting race :-p

That's weird. I ended up grabbing an AWD car so I didn't have to worry about it. FF would have worked too, but I was worried about tire wear.

Agreed but the lap times I had in the Integra I tested were just not quick. The WRX just felt sluggish due to the weight.

I'm not very good at tuning, but when I was practicing with the 4WD Ford RS200 I would experience off-throttle understeer and on-throttle oversteer, neither of which I could resolve with suspension or LSD tuning. Perhaps it's this car's short wheelbase which was giving me problems.

I have a similar oversteer problem with the '90 RX-7 but it's manageable with sensitive throttle input (once again, this might be a result of the short wheelbase). The FF cars I've tested (CR-Z, Civic Type R) didn't really have oversteer issues, however they are only getting like 6-7 laps on tires.

In our practice Thursday evening Ning_Dynasty mentioned similar oversteer issues with all the cars he's been testing.

If I have time when I get home from work today I'm going to test the '02 NSX-R and see if I can get a better setup with it.

Yep I sure did, Silvia, 02 RX-7, Shelby Series 1, ect.

For anyone interested, I've put details for next Monday's race at the bottom of the first post here. That's where I'll be keeping the most recent info regarding upcoming races.

Sounds awesome, love the track and the car limitations. Can't wait to get to work on finding a car.

Can't wait to see everyone tonight.

 

[benda18]

You might as well put me in as a contestant instead of a spectator. If I'm going to be there, I might as well give it a try and get my feet wet. I'm not too good at this. I use AT and the standard Sony hand controller.... but what the heck. If I find myself getting in the way, I will bail out, promise.

Glennm27

I'm really glad to hear this Glenn. I was getting ready to PM you and encourage you to race anyways.

 

[benda18]

Picking out the car is probably the funnest part for me,although after I figure out which would be fastest, I pick a slower car thats more uncommon. Its like showing up somewhere in the same shirt as a friend. Anyone know what I mean?

Completely agreed. As you can see from some of my earlier posts I'm trying to pick more obscure cars to race with. As a child in the '80s I gravitate to the classics of that era - but driving a Lamborghini Countach (bedroom pinup, anyone???) is completely disappointing. Technology has improved so much that the dream cars from my childhood aren't much better than the cars you see parked in high school parking lots these days

 

[Prophet]

Heavy front engine cars without any front aero should make things a little tricky at Laguna Seca....

Wonder if I have anything in my garage that will work for that race.

 

[NingDynasty]

Heavy front engine cars without any front aero should make things a little tricky at Laguna Seca....

Wonder if I have anything in my garage that will work for that race.

Just had a quick look at what cars would fall under this regulation and I think we may need to revise it a bit as it looks like the best car choice would be the Viper hands down. I don't believe any of the 1970's era cars would touch it nor would the revamped 2000's Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, or GTO's.

Perhaps if we limit it to 1970's era vehicles there would be more of a variety when it comes to race day?

 

[benda18]

Heavy front engine cars without any front aero should make things a little tricky at Laguna Seca....

Just had a quick look at what cars would fall under this regulation and I think we may need to revise it a bit as it looks like the best car choice would be the Viper hands down. I don't believe any of the 1970's era cars would touch it nor would the revamped 2000's Mustangs, Camaros, Challengers, or GTO's.

Perhaps if we limit it to 1970's era vehicles there would be more of a variety when it comes to race day?

You definitely can't regulate it any further via weight as the viper weights something like 1650kg and at that point you've filtered out most cars. If you look at the cars that meet my regulations above you still have the '90 Corvette ZR1 and the Mustang R (??correct name??) which might provide competition to the Viper. We could also reduce the HP limit to something around 400 and get rid of the viper - or as Bri-Y stated we could just limit the cars to 1979 or earlier.

 

[benda18]

As of 6:00pm eastern on Monday Feb 7, anyone wanting to race in tonight's Grand Valley 150KM race AND is not already on the participants list in the 1st post in this thread needs to add me via PSN to gain access to my lounge. My PSN ID = benda18. Lounge opens up at 9:00pm.

 

[CAMikaze]

Have a look at your PSN Inbox.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Sorry guys, I made a mistake taking Sport Mediums on my pit stop and couldn't stand driving that thing anymore. A few quick things about my experience though:

1) Downforce adders should be outlawed.

2) MikeTheHockeyFan, PLEASE notice when someone is clearly faster than you and let them by. I got ahead of you a couple times and you stuck your nose in there and moved me out of the way to take spot back. I went from 1:07 laps down to 1:10 laps because you were doing nothing but slowing both of us down. The last bump before I quit was the final straw.

3) GTP_Mike, I pulled over a couple times to let you by, even braked early a couple times and you stayed back for me to stay in front. I was trying to let you by. Again, slowed both of us down.You were clearly faster, and as I told HockeyFan above, I was trying to help by letting you by.

4) I attribute part of my slowness during the race by picking a car that was not shaped up to handle a race with a downforce equipped RX-7 because I didn't have enough time to test because of GT Academy. Hopefully next time I can be more ready.

Thanks for the race Benda. 👍

 

[HondaFanatic]

2.06 fastest lap with my bone stock Ruf 3400s, had a blast guys!


next week will be fun, love Laguna!

 

[The Bman]

Good Race.

CAMikaze was hilarious. Too bad I couldn't finish in front of him.
Next race at Laguna Seca should be limited to these three RM cars:

Dodge Challenger R/T 70' RM.
Chevrolet Camaro Z28 69' RM.
Chevrolet Camaro SS 10' RM.

Like that idea?

 

[benda18]

First and foremost I want to thank everyone who participated tonight. This being the first race I've ever organized I didn't really have high expectations but the turnout was better than I hoped. Obviously there were some things that could've been done better, but overall I'm happy.

Unfortunately the race wasn't as competitive as I had hoped. In the end performance was based more what car you choose as opposed to driving skill, and those of you who didn't have time to prepare this week probably suffered a bit tonight. As we move forward I want to take the emphasis a bit off preparation and focus more on making this just a fun, casual and close race.

So where do we go from here? You'll notice the beginnings to next week's race - Laguna Seca 100 miles with overweight USA muscle cars - in post #1 of this thread. CIAFlux (Prophet), NingDynasty (Bri-Y) and I are going to spend some time testing cars tomorrow to narrow down like 3 cars that people can choose from in an effort to make the race more competitive. These cars will likely be classic American muscle cars in Race Modified (RM) form. We'll also post a suitable tune/setup for the cars for people to copy if they don't want to spend hours tuning all week.

If you have any suggestions on how to make this better, please don't hesitate to post here or PM me.

Thanks again and hopefully we'll see you guys again next week.

 

[CAMikaze]

CAMikaze was hilarious. Too bad I couldn't finish in front of him.

If my jokes don't get you, chances are my racing skills will.

My car was pretty much de-tuned to stock if it wasn't already. All that was needed were the Sport Softs on the car.

If we're racing the Trans-Am cars as Stormtrooper suggested, I'm up for that. I got a Race-prepped Camaro that needs a good shakedown after the plans for the Daytona Continental fell through.

 

[benda18]

Saved for posterity

Race#1: Grand Valley Endurance(150KM)
Monday February 7 - 9:30pm Eastern

There are quite a few people who have had great races in the A-Spec 300KM Grand Valley Endurance Race (https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=147505). I'm organizing an online event that will attempt to emulate that excitement in an online race. Here are the details:

*Date: Monday, February 7
*Location: my lounge (PSNid = benda18)
*Time Lobby Opens: 9:00pm Eastern / 02:00 Tuesday GMT (need help? click here)
*Time Race Begins: 9:30pm Eastern / 02:30 Tuesday GMT
*Distance: 150KM (30 laps, roughly 1.25 hours)
*Minimum weight: 1,000kg
*Maximum hp: 315 hp
*Tire restrictions: Sports Soft or less
*Damage: Will be determined just before race (Due to reports of lag induced from Heavy Damage) Heavy
*Aids: ABS Only
*Field Size: Maximum 16, first-come first-served.
*Permitted Vehicles: Street Cars Only. No race vehicles, no RM cars, and no cars that otherwise have adjustable front downforce. Adjustable rear downforce is permitted.
*Racing Rules: GTPlanet OnLine Racing Rules & Guidelines (OLR) link.
*Host Responsibilities: Host is responsible for maintaining order during the race. This includes abandoning his/her racing efforts to kick/report racers in violation of Racing Rules
*Racer Responsibilities: Racers in violation of Racing Rules will be kicked and reported.
*Boost: No boost!
*Starting Order: Based on fastest times in pre-race practice/qualifying. Fastest first.
RACE DAY LOGISTICS: Host will send friend requests out on race day. Racers will join my lounge no earlier than 9:00pm to begin qualifying. Race begins promptly at 9:30pm.
Interested Parties:
benda18 (host)
R1600Turbo
CIAFlux
spitfire143
Stormtrooper2178
MULE_9242
Rsection8 (?)
Sach22
Glennm27 (Spectating)
tezster
GTP_mike46an2
NingDynasty / GTP_Bri-Y
MikeTheHockeyFan
emerald74

Regulations have been set. Tune/practice with confidence.

 

[mike46and2]

Sorry guys, I made a mistake taking Sport Mediums on my pit stop and couldn't stand driving that thing anymore. A few quick things about my experience though:

1) Downforce adders should be outlawed.

2) MikeTheHockeyFan, PLEASE notice when someone is clearly faster than you and let them by. I got ahead of you a couple times and you stuck your nose in there and moved me out of the way to take spot back. I went from 1:07 laps down to 1:10 laps because you were doing nothing but slowing both of us down. The last bump before I quit was the final straw.

3) GTP_Mike, I pulled over a couple times to let you by, even braked early a couple times and you stayed back for me to stay in front. I was trying to let you by. Again, slowed both of us down.You were clearly faster, and as I told HockeyFan above, I was trying to help by letting you by.

4) I attribute part of my slowness during the race by picking a car that was not shaped up to handle a race with a downforce equipped RX-7 because I didn't have enough time to test because of GT Academy. Hopefully next time I can be more ready.

Thanks for the race Benda. 👍

Trust me I wanted by, I just didn't want to hit you, I knew hockey mike was coming and I never slowed down ,I was desperately trying to cleanly get by,You really didnt slow that much. Thanks for the pointers.

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

Small image gallery

Great race, guys. Thanks to all those who stuck with it until the end, even those with slower lap times.

I was running between 2:06 laps and 2:11 laps depending on tire wear, so a top 5 was a welcome accomplishment for me. The tires were holding up really well and did one stop on lap 17.

Had a great 10-lap battle with R1600Turbo before we pulled apart a bit, and pit stops began to break up the field around lap 10. Came out of my lap 17 pit in 5th and managed to get back up to battle for 3rd, but didn't have the speed to pass GTP_mike46an2. I could see spitfire143 in my rear view mirrors for the last 5 laps, but his tires definitely seemed to be going south, and he put it in the gravel in the Turn 1 hairpin.

A couple suggestions for the future:

• Make the race end time counter the length of a lap so that all drivers have a chance to cross the finish line
• Have a 1-make race with RM street cars, so each driver can have a different paint scheme and number

2) MikeTheHockeyFan, PLEASE notice when someone is clearly faster than you and let them by. I got ahead of you a couple times and you stuck your nose in there and moved me out of the way to take spot back. I went from 1:07 laps down to 1:10 laps because you were doing nothing but slowing both of us down. The last bump before I quit was the final straw.

Sorry man, but I was running 2:07s before my tires started to go away. I made repeated concessions to give you (trailing car) room to race when we were battling, including letting off the gas to make sure no one got put on the grass.

If we're side by side and approaching two tight left hand corners and I end up with the inside line after a pass going into that section, I'm not "sticking my nose" in anywhere. As the lead car I picked my lines, and if they're defensive and you can't pass me then you have to work it out yourself.

Every overtaking sequence early on ended up with you making a challenge and getting side-by-side, and me being on the inside/preferred line for the following corners.

I know it's an endurance race, but at the end of the day I'm still going to drive competitively for position if our cars are close in performance.

 

[benda18]

A couple suggestions for the future:

• Make the race end time counter the length of a lap so that all drivers have a chance to cross the finish line
• Have a 1-make race with RM street cars, so each driver can have a different paint scheme and number

I've already made arrangements to ensure that everyone has time to finish their laps for the next race. I can't believe I overlooked such an important detail this time around, and apologize if this negatively impacted anyone's enjoyment of the race.

For the next race we're looking at doing a 3-make race with RM street cars. I'll try to have all the details posted by the end of the day tomorrow. Thanks especially go out to Prophet and Bri-Y for their assistance in figuring out suitable cars for the upcoming Laguna Seca race.

Also, I appreciate the efforts people are making in airing their differences here. You're keeping it civil, and I really appreciate that. Also, everyone deserves credit for not driving like jagoffs tonight 👍

 

[MikeTheHockeyFan]

Looking forward to the next one :up:

 

[HondaFanatic]

Small image gallery

Great race, guys. Thanks to all those who stuck with it until the end, even those with slower lap times.

I was running between 2:06 laps and 2:11 laps depending on tire wear, so a top 5 was a welcome accomplishment for me. The tires were holding up really well and did one stop on lap 17.

Had a great 10-lap battle with R1600Turbo before we pulled apart a bit, and pit stops began to break up the field around lap 10. Came out of my lap 17 pit in 5th and managed to get back up to battle for 3rd, but didn't have the speed to pass GTP_mike46an2. I could see spitfire143 in my rear view mirrors for the last 5 laps, but his tires definitely seemed to be going south, and he put it in the gravel in the Turn 1 hairpin.

A couple suggestions for the future:

• Make the race end time counter the length of a lap so that all drivers have a chance to cross the finish line
• Have a 1-make race with RM street cars, so each driver can have a different paint scheme and number

Sorry man, but I was running 2:07s before my tires started to go away. I made repeated concessions to give you (trailing car) room to race when we were battling, including letting off the gas to make sure no one got put on the grass.

If we're side by side and approaching two tight left hand corners and I end up with the inside line after a pass going into that section, I'm not "sticking my nose" in anywhere. As the lead car I picked my lines, and if they're defensive and you can't pass me then you have to work it out yourself.

Every overtaking sequence early on ended up with you making a challenge and getting side-by-side, and me being on the inside/preferred line for the following corners.

I know it's an endurance race, but at the end of the day I'm still going to drive competitively for position if our cars are close in performance.

I was pushing too hard that last lap to close the gap and went way in the gravel, but man was it fun!

 

[CodeRedR51]

I know it's an endurance race, but at the end of the day I'm still going to drive competitively for position if our cars are close in performance.

My point is this. Yes, you pulled away at he start of the race. As you admitted, your tires started to go away. At that time, I caught back up to you and attempted to pass several times. Case in point. You got real loose through a right hander and I pulled up on the left, which at the time would have put me on the inside going into the corner. Next thing I know, I got moved. Now, how did you get from the outside, back down to the inside in such a hurry?

Believe me, if I had gotten by, I would have pulled away. You didn't let that happen. I got upset enough that I pulled into the pits early just to get away from you. That ruined the rest of my race.

Let's just let it be. I won't be doing the next race because the cars don't interest me. I just hope this won't ruin any races for us in the future.