New Seasonal Event: 400PP NR-A Roadster/Miata Cup

[Wydopen]

Just opened today, and I have to say it is one of the easier seasonal events I have done yet. Here is the jist of it.

Grand Valley East 5 laps 210,065 cr for 1st

Deep Forest 5 Laps 213,080 cr for 1st

Cape Ring South 5 Laps 211,230 cr for 1st

Twin Ring Motegi East 212,175 cr for 1st

Modified Eifel Kart 208,394 cr for 1st


Win the set and get a random Level 3 car ticket ( I got a Lexus 430 SC)



All of the tracks were a fairly easy win with the exception of the Kart track. That one took me a few tries. The biggest problem is there are lots of narrow spots so passing slow traffic does not always go smoothly. You will need to drive aggressive but smooth, but once you get the feel of the track its not too bad. The most important corner is the last one before the start/finish line. Lots of the AI cars go wide here and lose time in the grass.

I tried out a Miata I already had but I wasnt feeling it so I built a new one. I ended up going with the MX-5 Miata 1600 NR-A (NB, J) 04 model that is currently available in the OCD.

Oil change

Stage 1 weight reduction
window weight reduction
chassis reinforcement
no ballast

Stage 1 engine tune
ECU tune
Limiter at 92.3% to make it 400pp

Sports intake
Racing air filter

Sports exhaust manifold
sports catalytic converter
Titanium racing exhaust

no turbo

racing trans (I left this with the default settings for the first 4 tracks and then upped the final drive to 4.960 for the Kart track)

Twin clutch
Semi-racing flywheel
LSD (12/26/7)
Carbon drive shaft

full suspension

-19 / -18 height
6.3 / 3.2 springs
5 / 4 extension
4 / 5 compression
2 / 4 sway bars

2.3 / 1.6 camber
-0.06 / 0.03 toe

5 / 5 brakes

Comfort softs





Hope this helps you guys out.

 

[Frogwing]

Nice summary. Can't wait to get home from the office to try it out. Last time, they did 380pp, and I believe the rabbit(s) were allowed ~390pp or more. I never did complete that one. Tuning questions: I have always done the full stage 3 weight redux, and then go back and add ballast where I want it. You recover most, if not all of the pp penalty, and your weight is distributed where it will give the best traction, instead of the default setting. Or, am I wrong about that? Also, I usually go with stage 3 engine tune, to gain the rpm boost, then dial it back with the limiter. This has gotten me into trouble a couple times, with cars that I could not bring back down to a lower pp limit, so I have to build another one without the max settings. What are your thoughts (anyone?)?

 

[Wydopen]

Nice summary. Can't wait to get home from the office to try it out. Last time, they did 380pp, and I believe the rabbit(s) were allowed ~390pp or more. I never did complete that one. Tuning questions: I have always done the full stage 3 weight redux, and then go back and add ballast where I want it. You recover most, if not all of the pp penalty, and your weight is distributed where it will give the best traction, instead of the default setting. Or, am I wrong about that? Also, I usually go with stage 3 engine tune, to gain the rpm boost, then dial it back with the limiter. This has gotten me into trouble a couple times, with cars that I could not bring back down to a lower pp limit, so I have to build another one without the max settings. What are your thoughts (anyone?)?

That was the reason I bought a new one. Both of my existing ones were max built and tuned to 500pp. When I turned it down, even with suspension adjustments it just didn't feel right. This one is 409pp without the limiter and was purpose built for low pp. It handles like a dream and doesn't feel like it's riding on comfort softs. As far as ballasting vs natural weight, I don't know how it works out pp wise. As for the motor, you really don't need any more. In lower pp races I have had better luck with one that has been built to just over what I am shooting for vs one that is maxed and I have to work around it. As you can see, it is a stage 1 motor with a full exhaust. There is plenty of room to add to it and turn it down if you want. I have found, especially with comfort softs, on a detuned engine the torque and horsepower curves can come on so fast and hard that it will cause excessive wheelspin. when the curve rises naturally there is less shock to the tires if you go overboard on the throttle. It's more forgiving if it is naturally a low pp motor. Once you get up into the 500-550pp range, I fully agree that you start with the stage 3 motor and add to it as necessary.

 

[Fuzzi0n]

Funny that I bought an MX-5 ready to tune the other week, shall give this a try later and see.

Edit:

That was easy, ran a 400pp '91 MX-5 and had no troubles taking the lead a few laps before the end. Hardest one was the Eifel Kart track just because I didn't know where I was going for the first couple of laps, once I had the layout in my head it wasn't a problem at all.

 

[Frogwing]

That was the reason I bought a new one. Both of my existing ones were max built and tuned to 500pp. When I turned it down, even with suspension adjustments it just didn't feel right. This one is 409pp without the limiter and was purpose built for low pp. It handles like a dream and doesn't feel like it's riding on comfort softs. As far as ballasting vs natural weight, I don't know how it works out pp wise. As for the motor, you really don't need any more. In lower pp races I have had better luck with one that has been built to just over what I am shooting for vs one that is maxed and I have to work around it. As you can see, it is a stage 1 motor with a full exhaust. There is plenty of room to add to it and turn it down if you want. I have found, especially with comfort softs, on a detuned engine the torque and horsepower curves can come on so fast and hard that it will cause excessive wheelspin. when the curve rises naturally there is less shock to the tires if you go overboard on the throttle. It's more forgiving if it is naturally a low pp motor. Once you get up into the 500-550pp range, I fully agree that you start with the stage 3 motor and add to it as necessary.

Yeah, I guess you're right. I wasn't always taking the power delivery profile's effect on the crap tires into consideration, but they are ultimately the limiting factor. In other races, especially the ones with older cars, I have found that concentrating on finding the widest rubber footprint usually points me to the best car to use as a starting point. Then tune the weight and power to suit, and you usually end up with better lap times because of higher speeds through the corners. I still have a lot to learn from this game... that's why I'm in no big hurry to buy `6.

 

[nursemorph]

Well, that was much easier than the 380pp one. Used my 380pp NA (Special Package) '89 from the previous seasonal. Grand Valley took me till the second to last corner to get 1st, Deep Forest was won by 15 seconds, Cape and Motegi by 23+ and Eiffel by 6. Had a car same as mine as the rabbit on the middle 3, a 04 Roadster on GV and a standard Miata at Eiffel. I enjoyed the last one as I have never seen that configuration before..other than that it was an easy way to earn 3.5M. Not sure why they made it a 400pp as the cars are no different to the ones from the 380

 

[Wydopen]

Well, that was much easier than the 380pp one. Used my 380pp NA (Special Package) '89 from the previous seasonal. Grand Valley took me till the second to last corner to get 1st, Deep Forest was won by 15 seconds, Cape and Motegi by 23+ and Eiffel by 6. Had a car same as mine as the rabbit on the middle 3, a 04 Roadster on GV and a standard Miata at Eiffel. I enjoyed the last one as I have never seen that configuration before..other than that it was an easy way to earn 3.5M. Not sure why they made it a 400pp as the cars are no different to the ones from the 380

Grand Valley was a bit of a squeaker. I passed into the lead in the tunnel with only a couple of turns to go for a 3.4 second victory, but the 3 middle tracks were an absolute blowout. I was in first going into the fourth lap on all 3.

 

[nursemorph]

Grand Valley was a bit of a squeaker. I passed into the lead in the tunnel with only a couple of turns to go for a 3.4 second victory, but the 3 middle tracks were an absolute blowout. I was in first going into the fourth lap on all 3.

Yeah, GV was the only one I wasn't sure if I would win, I took the lead at the same point. The middle 3 I took the lead halfway through the 3rd lap on each. Eiffel, despite being a configuration I didn't know, I wasn't sure about given the rabbit starts with 30+ seconds lead but, when I saw I was catching at 9-10 seconds a lap, wasn't worried and passed about 2/3 through the final lap.

I would think that the middle 3 races could be won with a 350pp car or so. This is the tune I used which was first posted by Argon in the 380pp thread:

New car (Eunos Roadster NA special package '89) from NCD, No oil change, No aero, Std wheels

All weight reduction except windows ( do not add chassis reinforcement)
Engine stage 3
Racing Exhaust
All suspension, transmission and drive-train upgrades

200 Ballast @ Pos 38 to give 47:53 weight distribution
Engine output 96.4%
150bhp, Weight 1041kg, 380pp

Suspension:
-10 -10
5.8 6.5
4 4
3 3
3 3
Camber and Toe:
2.0 1.5
-0.15 +0.10
LSD:
9/11/8
Brake Bal:
7/6

Gears:
Hit default, set max speed to 112mph (all the way to the left) then set each gear as follows;
1: 3.309
2: 2.528
3: 1.982
4: 1.601
5: 1.335
F: 2.822 ( should give max speed of 160mph)

Only difference I had was I had adjusted the FG to give a top speed of 117mph (presumably I changed it for the Eifel track from the last seasonal)....I was close to the limiter at Grand Valley but, other than that, the car was never getting close to the limit.

 

[Frogwing]

Interesting series. I think these were the same cars used in the 380pp event. Fast rabbit was something like 391pp. I used the 07 Roadster RS with a soft, comfort tire setup, (upgraded with a supercharger only because it was available, and I like the sound). Dialed the limiter back to ~50% (158hp/1139kg) so I wouldn't overwhelm the crap tires, and won them all easily. In the middle 3 races, I had the lead early in the third lap. Now it's time for another car, built to a lesser spec, to see how low I can go. That's the only real challenge here. I like the `89 because it is truest to the original design intent of the Miata. Is there an earlier model available?

 

[bluecharger]

Nice summary. Can't wait to get home from the office to try it out. Last time, they did 380pp, and I believe the rabbit(s) were allowed ~390pp or more. I never did complete that one. Tuning questions: I have always done the full stage 3 weight redux, and then go back and add ballast where I want it. You recover most, if not all of the pp penalty, and your weight is distributed where it will give the best traction, instead of the default setting. Or, am I wrong about that? Also, I usually go with stage 3 engine tune, to gain the rpm boost, then dial it back with the limiter. This has gotten me into trouble a couple times, with cars that I could not bring back down to a lower pp limit, so I have to build another one without the max settings. What are your thoughts (anyone?)?

I simply checked my garage for the least-used used model I had (a 1600cc model with 185kms, about 365PP) and did all the weight reduction, changed to full adjustable tranny and suspension, the least of the clutch upgrades and set the tranny to 140 while adding some camber and caster (camber: 2.0/.9, caster:-.12/.10 I think). I think I added weight back to get me down to 375PP. The tranny almost cost me GV, had to pass on the front stretch with the flag in sight. Backed that down to 120 and took the rest with ease. The good thing about detuning a built car, Frog, is you keep some of the torque you gained from the build, but it has to be in the right spot on the power curve to do you good. In small cars, though, you're usually better served to build up, not down, to the race specs.

 

[Flash_Sweden]

Wow! This has to be the easiest seasonal so far:tup: I usually just tune the car up to the PP-limit, and go for the gold, but this time I couldn't At Cape Ring I won by 21:xxx seconds at my first attempt. So after completing all five, I decided to go back to the ring just to see how low I could get PP-wise. Not only for the challenge of it, but I still haven't got lvl 40 A-spec, and seasonals are the best way to get lots of exp. So I try to do it before the servers are shut down

And for the fun of it, I decided to post my tune. Not that it's very hard to win this, but I guess it's time to pay back to the community for all the tips I've found here

Car: Roadster 1800 RS(NB) '04

Fully customisable transmission: Set top speed to 230 kph (145 mph)

Fully customisable LSD: 7/25/15

Fully customisable suspension.
Camber 0,3/0,2
Toe-in 0,0/0,2

Engine: Completley stock

Powerlimiter: 91,8

No oilchange or weightreduction

This gives you 141 bhp and 368 PP

TC: Off
SRF: Off
ASM: Off

With this, I consistently run laptimes of 1:40,xxx. Best laps are around mid 1:39's

I do this race 5-6 times, before I go to check the UCD to get the cars I don't have yet, so I've probably raced every rabbit there is on this track and never lost even once. This last time I won by 7,775 seconds with 2nd place held by a Eunos Roadster (NA special package)'89.

At turn 3, I just downshift to 3rd gear while quickly touching the brake, powersliding through the turn.

Same thing goes for turn 6 (the left-right chicane, going uphilltowards the 2nd hairpin.)

And finally the last chicane before the last turn. Drive straight through the left turn, downshift to 4th while quickly touching the brakes, powerslide through the right turn.

Hopefully this is useful for at least one of you

Now, it's back to the PS3 to drop the PP even more... Aiming for 350-ish

 

[Polsixe]

Grand Valley was a bit of a squeaker. I passed into the lead in the tunnel with only a couple of turns to go for a 3.4 second victory, but the 3 middle tracks were an absolute blowout. I was in first going into the fourth lap on all 3.

Yeah, me too, even reducing the PP into the 380s. Won a gold '63 Stingray. The Kart track seemed new, don't recall that layout before. Fun drive sliding the Miata.

 

[oleumnostrum]

What if we set an online championship races with our 400pp miata ???
racing hard tires recommended

 

[Wydopen]

What if we set an online championship races with our 400pp miata ???
racing hard tires recommended

How about 10 laps on Trial Mountain with sports mediums and high tire wear factor with a mandatory pit stop? I would be down for that.

 

[oleumnostrum]

How about 10 laps on Trial Mountain with sports mediums and high tire wear factor with a mandatory pit stop? I would be down for that.

What about now?