One Make Races - Italy, Korea, UK & USA

[AMG.]

Quite insightful Austin! I've seen a few shortcuts I've never considered before. Must admit thought that its been a while since I drove GT4. If you're inclined to put up a few more then please do so. I could think of a few races but I don't want to pressure you at all.

AMG.

 

[Open Addict]

Great vids Austin, They are going to be super helpfull to any every one else who wishes to join the quest. 👍

I'd REP if i could

 

[Austin343]

Thanks for the compliments, guys. Bear in mind that the Saleen run in particular can be driven much, much more cleanly than that, since the AI are so terrible, but you really have to get tuned in to the car. Not to mention that my Hyundai runs would not have been possible if not for the superb walkthrough from RJV, and I couldn't have won most of these races without specific and helpful information provided in these threads (setups, strategy tips, etc.). I guess this is my way of paying off my debts, so to speak.

AMG., I found a link to this post in the European events thread, and while I bet you've completed many of these races, I'll still say whether I can help you with a video, not that you're too likely to return for this after playing Prologue for so long.

1 MRs
Alpine Tokyo R246 185/200 - I didn't save a replay for this, as I didn't find it too hard, even without wallriding. Plenty of blocking, though, and wearing out the car allowed me to use better tires.
Copen motorland 150/166 - Video now in the Japan One-Make thread. I suspect not shifting early was part of the problem, or else simply not being outrageous enough in your dirty driving!
Copen AR mini 150/166 - No video since this was cake compared to Motorland, but see above advice.
Suzuki Seattle 194/200 - I did save the replay of this but didn't take a video. I'm happy to if you'd like to see it.
Suzuki Tsukuba 194/200 - Video now in the Japan One-Make thread. Also can be done more cleanly than I did, I suspect.
Hyundai ARing 156/176 - Video already up.
Hyundai HK 156/176 - Video down below!
Hyundai Tsukuba 156/176 - Video already up.
MG opera 161/180 - I found this really easy, so I didn't save the replay. It would be easy enough to redo, though.
MG Motorland 160/180 - See above.
Saleen Suzuka 174/200 - Video already up.
Saleen Infineon 174/200 - No video, but SirBerra's advice about how to cheat that's somewhere in the thread was useful, and like Suzuka, it's mostly about getting accustomed to the car.

Endurance
MX5 135/200 - I can take a video of a few laps, if you'd like.

FGT events - I didn't save replays of any of these, but I've been considering redoing Super Speedway, Motegi, Tokyo, and Suzuka to see whether I can do them cleanly, and I could take a video of a few laps. I'm not sure how helpful it would be, though.


Crossfires at Motegi Super Speedway:


Hyundais at Hong Kong:

 

[Dotini]

Austin343's videos are amazing, and have certainly improved my ability to score points. Once again, thanks be to him.

Meanwhile, over at the MG Festival, I have developed a slightly improved setup for taking the maximum 180 points at Opera Paris. Drivers at distinctly less than the genius level, like me, may find it makes this race a mite easier.
Please see: http://www.gtvault.com/gt4/setup-view/s_sid::7516/MGF-Dotini2001/

 

[Dotini]

Using Austin343's driving techniques, here is an increment to add to the database of setup knowledge on the problem of the Aston Martin at the Autumn Ring.

http://www.gtvault.com/gt4/setup-view/s_sid::7517/DB7-Vantage-Coupe-Dotini2001/

 

[Austin343]

Hm... I'd almost rather my so-called "driving techniques" (they're cheating techniques more than anything) not be so admired! I'm certainly glad they're useful, and this style of driving is obviously the only way to win these races, but I do most races much more cleanly than that. And remember that the Hyundais are merely a slight alteration of this plan, so I really can't claim the credit for this, the pinnacle of dirty driving.

 

[Dotini]

I apologize for using the term "driving technique". Perhaps a term like "advanced video gaming technique" would have been better. Except for maybe Carl Edwards, I'm sure we can all tell the difference between reality and the richly detailed fantasy world of GT4. So I can appreciate the sensitivity of blurring the two together into some kind of moral continuum where a person could be unjustly branded as a dirty driver. We all have our unique reasons for pursuing this game of GT4. In my case it was merely to maintain eye-hand coordination and for personal amusement. It is not my intention to evaluate the motives of others or to make judgments regarding means or techniques used in a game. This forum, and the Youtube video, allows us to appreciate and learn from the skills of others. For that, I am grateful.

 

[alhajoth]

I'm currently trying to improve my points-total in the manufacturers races, and I need a little help..

This post by jdw is from the closed 200 pt aspec races-thread:

Just to give alternatives...

Vette! - Use the '54 with NA1, RM, RC and S3s - get 200p and you don't need nitrous! However, you will need to widen out the tranny for NY.

I can't understand what he means by RM..
Does anyone know?

 

[Smallhorses]

Racing Muffler.
In the US exhausts are sometimes referred to as Mufflers.
Although in the game the racing exhaust is designated by RC, jdw had already used RC to indicate Racing Chip in his own abbreviation list.
Hence he uses RM for Racing Muffler to indicate a Racing Exhaust upgrade.

Hope that makes sense.

 

[alhajoth]

Racing Muffler.
In the US exhausts are sometimes referred to as Mufflers.
Although in the game the racing exhaust is designated by RC, jdw had already used RC to indicate Racing Chip in his own abbreviation list.
Hence he uses RM for Racing Muffler to indicate a Racing Exhaust upgrade.

Hope that makes sense.

That makes perfect sense, thanks! 👍

All five races completed for 200 points, perfectly clean except one off-road excursion at Infineon and one block at New York. Only used the muffler for New York and Seattle, not sure it was necessary to be honest.

 

[GTsail]

TVR Blackpool Racers

Reading the above threads, I saw that it might be possible to win the Blackpool Race series with the TVR V8S '91, so taking a chance I dove in:

My screeming yellow TVR V8S was up to the task and won all five races for 200 A-Spec points.

My settings for Suzuka and Laguna Seca were 263HP (at the garage screen)(stage 1 NA and sport exhaust), 15 ballast, S1/S2 tires, a custom transmission and race suspension. At SSRt5 and Opera Paris they were 268HP (stage 1 NA and race chip), 45 ballast, S1/S2 tires. And at Fuji 2005 they were 274HP (stage 1 NA, race chip and sport exhaust), 45 ballast and S1/S2 tires. The TVR's oil was in decent shape, but not recently changed.

You must have a Speed 12 in the lineup for the 200 points, but he needs to start in 4th or fifth place. Its a little scary at the start as you drive by the Speed 12 (and hear the roar of his engine), but the races are fairly easy since the AI in the Speed 12 can not do turns. Suzuka was a cake-walk. MOV was 15 seconds.

Completing these races has pushed my A-Spec total past 75000. Thanks, AMG for the encouragement.

GTsail290

 

[GTsail]

Aston Martin Carnival

Last night I finally won at the Autumn Ring with my Aston Martin DB7 Vantage for 200 A-spec points. What an inappropriate title (a "Carnival" its was NOT). A better title might be "Slow, haunted, evil rollercoaster thru tight turns and sand in a rowboat", or something else equally scary to keep you away.

The above win completes my task of winning all three "Carnival" races for 200 points. I found it interesting that the differences in the three tracks meant that I used different front tires for each race track. I had N1's on front at Fuji, N2's on front for Hong Kong, and N3's on front for Autumn Ring. This was the first time that I can remember ever doing this for any Series.

At Fuji, my DB7 had 447HP, weighted 1975kg and raced on N1/N3 tires. At Hong Kong, my DB7 had 417HP, weighted 1960kg and raced on N2/N3 tires. At Autumn Ring, my DB7 had 386HP, weighted 1955kg and raced on N3/N3 tires. I added all other non-power modifications that I could.

To win at the Autumn Ring, I needed to put over 7000 miles on my DB7, and would reset the race to make sure that a 2004 Vanquish started in the lead (as recommended by others in this thread). I actually purchased a Wing for my DB7 and tried racing with front downforce at 3 and rear downforce at 1 in an effort to lesson understeer (I know, I know, its completely useless at low speeds, and all you ever do is "low speeds" at the Autumn Ring). I softened up my custom suspension somewhat in another effort to get the DB7 to turn. My suspension settings ended up somewhat similar to the ones recommended in Dotini's thread at post # 95 above. Thanks Dotini. The only major difference was that I had a higher ride height, thinking that this would be useful going over the rumble strips, curbs, sand, weeds, small animals, lawn furniture, etc. And did not have so much ballast in the front. And, if you can believe it, I even eventually began to enjoy the track!

Sorry for having two posts in a row, but I guess everyone else has moved on. I am still working on various One-Makes in an effort to pick up a few more A-spec points here and there. I may tackle the Crossfires' next (I only have 100 points at each race), so expect to hear from me complaining about N1 tires.

GTsail290

 

[Open Addict]

..Sorry for having two posts in a row, but I guess everyone else has moved on. I am still working on various One-Makes in an effort to pick up a few more A-spec points here and there. I may tackle the Crossfires' next (I only have 100 points at each race), so expect to hear from me complaining about N1 tires.

GTsail290

Congrats on the Astons, the can be a PITA.

I don't think mods will have a problem with thte double post becasue the other post was in March.

The Crossfires are relativley easy except for the Super Speedway, This is where you may need to buy a new controller, (if you know what I mean). Crossfires are all about using them in the turns to stop you understerring in to the wall. And also trying to save NOS wherever you can. Good Luck.

 

[AMG.]

You must have a Speed 12 in the lineup for the 200 points, but he needs to start in 4th or fifth place. Its a little scary at the start as you drive by the Speed 12 (and hear the roar of his engine), but the races are fairly easy since the AI in the Speed 12 can not do turns. Suzuka was a cake-walk. MOV was 15 seconds.

THe speed12 can indeed be scary. IIRC I found Seca the scariest as I suck at this track, it has long straights and leaves ample time for the speed 12 to catch up.

Completing these races has pushed my A-Spec total past 75000. Thanks, AMG for the encouragement. GTsail290

You're welcome, it still gives me great pleasure that several members are working towards >= 100K points. I also believe that the effort I put in to get this subforum created and the support from all those that helped to convince Jordan to make it happen contributes in a small way to those that pursue this quest.
Happy hunting.

AMG.

 

[Austin343]

I also believe that the effort I put in to get this subforum created and the support from all those that helped to convince Jordan to make it happen contributes in a small way to those that pursue this quest.
Happy hunting.

AMG.

Are you kidding? It contributes in far, far more than a small way. I would never have gone after A-Spec points if this subforum hadn't been here, even if the old thread were still active. I would never have been inspired to pursue 100000 points if I had to wade through that disorganized lump of information. It's rather intimidating to start going after 200 point races by trying to figure them out yourself, and the subforum made getting those first points easy by providing guaranteed ways of getting 200 points in so many races. And you know as well as I that once you get started on this A-Spec points thing, it's hard to stop. Then, of course, for the harder races you need to approach 111813, the relevant information is so much easier to find with the separate threads. In short, your work to get this subforum created has been immensely valuable to me, and I'm sure to most others that are active in it, too. 👍

 

[GTsail]

Crossfire Trophy
I've just completed all three Crossfire races for 182 A-spec points.

The Crossfires are relativley easy except for the Super Speedway, This is where you may need to buy a new controller, (if you know what I mean). Crossfires are all about using them in the turns to stop you understerring in to the wall. And also trying to save NOS wherever you can. Good Luck.

I quite agree.

Actually, I'm still smiling from my win at the Super Speedway!! MOV 0.1 seconds. What a crazy race!! Like everyone says.....a little trading paint is a good thing!

My settings for the Super Speedway were essentially what Bttlefed recommends in post # 31, Thanks! I had a little trouble at first until I lowered the ride height completely, and set the Aids to 0,0,0. I ran my first few laps with the Aids at 1,1,2 by mistake, which was slowing me down. I was using my Black Crossfire, which by the end of the race had various colored racing stripes down its sides. These stripes are what what gave me the edge! If a car looks good, its fast!!

Are you kidding? It contributes in far, far more than a small way. I would never have gone after A-Spec points if this subforum hadn't been here, even if the old thread were still active. I would never have been inspired to pursue 100000 points if I had to wade through that disorganized lump of information. It's rather intimidating to start going after 200 point races by trying to figure them out yourself, and the subforum made getting those first points easy by providing guaranteed ways of getting 200 points in so many races. And you know as well as I that once you get started on this A-Spec points thing, it's hard to stop. Then, of course, for the harder races you need to approach 111813, the relevant information is so much easier to find with the separate threads. In short, your work to get this subforum created has been immensely valuable to me, and I'm sure to most others that are active in it, too. 👍

I second Austin343's remarks!

Thanks again, AMG. All these threads are just great! They make the A-spec hunt an entertaining challenge instead of a lonely slog thru the wilderness.

GTsail290

 

[GTsail]

MG Festival - for 180 A-spec points

In my continuing quest for A-spec points, last night I wrestled 180 points from the MG's grasp at the MG Festival (all five tracks).

Those MG's did not want to give up the points at Hong Kong, Opera Paris and Motorland. I had to resort to a little fender rubbing to get them. Especially at Motorland.

My MGF '97 had 132HP (at the garage screen) and weighted 1270kg on N1/N3 tires with old oil. My suspension settings are very close to Dotini's suggestions in post # 94 above (thanks Dotini) except for the ballast which I have to the rear @ 15.

I guess I will now go back to watching B-spec Bob drive my Megane at the Test Track (the bane of my existance lately). Of course, since I will be watching the 24 hours of LeMans today, maybe I won't be driving much anyway.

GTsail290

 

[tizocspeed8]

Set the Megane's transmission ratio settings all the way to 25, it worked for me. then just leave it on "Push hard" and x3. That'll wear it down

 

[GTsail]

Set the Megane's transmission ratio settings all the way to 25, it worked for me. then just leave it on "Push hard" and x3. That'll wear it down

Tizocspeed8 - I may give this a try. Why do you think the transmission at "25" worked? I would have thought that the Megane would have stayed just below the redline at this setting, because the gears would be so tall. Perhaps the Megane is a car that wears out its engine faster if it runs just below the redline.

I did not see your post until after I had already purchased another Megane and wore it out instead using the Stage 3 turbo, with the transmission on auto setting 6. I may try your suggestion when I eventually go back to my first Megane and try to wear it out.

GTsail290

 

[tizocspeed8]

When I was wearing out my cars, just set them so they could achieve the highest possible speed, regardless of if the were redlining or not, or if they were in their final gear or not. I don't remember having problems wearing down any of the cars.I didn't always set the transmission to 25,on some occasions I used settings of between 10 and 15 depending on the car, and the fitted the usual removable power upgrades. And I always fitted turbo. I never fitted NA.

 

[GTsail]

Mini Mini Meeting - for 200 A-spec points

For a change of pace, and to take a break from high speed races in my Black Mazda 787B, I decided to take a whack at the One Make Mini races (which in retrospec, might not be so good for my piece of mind).

After a few minor suspension tweeks to my Mini ONE, I have been able to quickly dispatch the Cooper S's at Opera Paris, Tokyo R245, Clubman Stage Route 5 and Seattle for the 200 A-spec points on offer (the Seattle race was quite fun).

So brimming with confidence I had my crew put my Mini One on the hauler and drove down to New York. During my warmup laps everything looked good and the crowds cheered me on. And then (que soundtrack from the movie Jaws) the three Mini Cooper S's took to the track and showed me their tail lights!

Wanting to have something to show for my efforts, I added some horsepower to my Mini and reduced the ballast a little. After a few more tries (and with plently of blocking, WOW!), I have been able to win 191 A-spec points. So I pulled into the pits for lunch, plus my crew needs to replace my Mini's back bumper because I got black flagged for running with missing parts and leaving debris all over the track!

Its crazy how much harder the New York race is in comparision to the other four in this series.

I will update this post if I make further progress (or if damage to the TV results).

Update edit:

DONE!

I've showed those Cooper S's who's boss!!

MOV was 0.4 seconds. Once I installed a larger rear bumper, I was able to keep those tough Cooper S's behind me. I got the lead using 100% NOS, and then stopped using it and just blocked, blocked, blocked!! I would use a small squirt of NOS coming out of each corner just to get a little breathing room.

At New York my Mini One had a whopping 83HP and weighted 1230kg (ballast at 105 @ -20 to the front). I ran on S1 tires front and rear. I had all non-power upgrades installed, plus the sport exhaust. My Mini One had 8300 miles on it with quite dirty oil. My suspension settings were as follows: Brake 7/14, Springs 12.0/10.0, Ride height 100/103, Bound 5/4, Rebound 6/6, Camber 1.5/1.0, Toe -1/+1, Stabilizers 4/4, Aids 0/0/2, Ltd-slip 7/32/7. The custom transmission was set at auto # 3. I raced against the favored lineup of course.

The Mini One handles quite nicely on S1 tires, its just so underpowered against the Mini Cooper S's which is what makes this New York race so tough. (Note: I ran on N3 tires with more horsepower and slightly less ballast at Tokyo and Route 5 because they are more flowing tracks).

GTsail290

My first youtube video:

 

[AMG.]

Mini Meeting NY

Oh, I remember this one. Countless tries but in the end made it with a lot of blocking. Victory is sooooo sweet if you can nail this one.
Happy Aspec hunting.

AMG.

 

[Brother Numsey]

I have a question about the Saleen S7 cup.

Driving a stock Saleen with 200kg Ballast and N1 tires, I cannot get 200 points, I get somewhere around 193, don't know exactly but it's 200.

I am currently around 5000 km pushing on towards 10.000 to race it with N2 tires, but this seems impossible now. Can someone who completed the race for 200 points enlighten me?

I am using the PAL version (Europe) of GT4.

 

[GTsail]

I have a question about the Saleen S7 cup.

Driving a stock Saleen with 200kg Ballast and N1 tires, I cannot get 200 points, I get somewhere around 193, don't know exactly but it's 200.

I am currently around 5000 km pushing on towards 10.000 to race it with N2 tires, but this seems impossible now. Can someone who completed the race for 200 points enlighten me?

I am using the PAL version (Europe) of GT4.

Brother Numsey -
To obtain the 200 A-spec points in the Saleen S7, its horsepower needs to be run down to about 505 (at the garage screen). This takes about 8300 miles (13400 klicks).

I am currently racing this series as well. I've done all tracks except Suzuka for 200 A-spec points. Suzuka is tough, so I will need many more tries there (if I drive slow enough to make the turns, the other Saleens drive away. If I mash the accelerator I end up in the sandtraps).

My Saleen has 504HP (at the garage screen), after 8500 miles, and I'm running with 193kg's of ballast and on N2/N3 tires. IMHO you need to run on N2 tires because in order to win you need to turn, and the Saleen does not want to turn on N1 tires!

Happy A-spec points hunting!

GTsail290

 

[Open Addict]

@ Brother Numsey (must be a golden child fan) check out Austin343

I'm glad to be able to help. 👍 Be warned, this run is really sloppy, so don't take too much advice from it. The hardest part of this event is coming to grips (no pun intended) with the N2 tires. Once you've done that, and learned the shortcuts, it should be easy.

 

[PF]

Mini Mini Meeting

Thanks for that stuff GTSail. I've found New York to be a prick of a track for Aspec, and only partly cause I'm bad on it myself.

As you say, NOS@100 is important, but I've mainly used it coming in to (and during) the two straights or to catch a draft. Otherwise I have to keep it to fix up passing lines during the 90 degree turns.

 

[Brother Numsey]

Yeah, the name if from Golden Child actually. Not many people make that connection though.

Thanks for the info. I'll just keep wearing my ride down then. I was just worried since I only get 169 points on N2 tires at this point with 5500 km wear (3437 miles). It just seems a BIG point gap between that and 200.

 

[GTsail]

Thanks for that stuff GTSail. I've found New York to be a prick of a track for Aspec, and only partly cause I'm bad on it myself.

As you say, NOS@100 is important, but I've mainly used it coming in to (and during) the two straights or to catch a draft. Otherwise I have to keep it to fix up passing lines during the 90 degree turns.

You're Welcome PF, glad to be of help.

Also read SirBerra's, AMG's and Open Addict's comments from their races. Their races sound pretty much just like mine. Posts # 24, # 28 and #71.

The key for me was to get into the lead as soon as possible using all the NOS I could, and then to block without using NOS at all.

Don't worry if the Cooper's catch you on the straights (you can't outrun them anyway), just block them when they catch you.

Save the NOS for emergencies!!

PF - have you done the Seattle race yet? The Mini comes alive on this track. The race brought a smile to my face. Thinking about it now makes me want to go back and run it again, which is something I don't normally do after beating a 200 point race. Being so underpowered is hardly a disadvantage since you can corner so much better than the AI in the other Mini Coopers.

GTsail290

 

[RaidoGT]

@ Brother Numsey (must be a golden child fan) check out Austin343

Uh, what the bleep? This chap is corner-cutting all the way <barf>. Hence, instant DQ.

done the Seattle race yet? The Mini comes alive on this track. The race brought a smile to my face. Thinking about it now makes me want to go back and run it again, which is something I don't normally do after beating a 200 point race. Being so underpowered is hardly a disadvantage since you can corner so much better than the AI in the other Mini Coopers.

Mini race sounds like fun, might try that sometime soon. W/regard to the AI mentioned: on street cars, are they equipped with S2 tyres by default? (or are they sliding out due to applying too much power?)

Also, are the AI affected by cold tyres? I get the impression they hardly are, but could be wrong. Also, wish PD had put up 'tyre warmers' as an option - driving all these short races on cold tyres is no fun (I usually race on N2's and they hardly warm up at all even if you drive the pants off your car - sigh. Doesn't seem very realistic, either, since these are supposed to be decent-quality sports tyres).

 

[Open Addict]

Uh, what the bleep? This chap is corner-cutting all the way <barf>. Hence, instant DQ.

If you can win Saleens for 200 A-spec points with-out resorting to this style of driving, then you are a legend my friend. And if you can't then please refrain from tainting the 200 Point thread with this nonsense and dribble.