I also noticed this.
Pretty much every car can be tuned to handle the same / apex at a similar speed. The GTR, NSX and ZO6 have the lowest front downforce levels so will be a little slower through the corners (1-3mph) yet they are still slower in acceleration and top speed compared to others. No you can't make them equal in everything but you can make them darn close. Top speed values are very important when speccing cars. If a car is dominant in top speed + acceleration it will win because you wont be able to overtake it, it will out drag you every time.
This is very true, but taking the SLS for example, on RH tyres there is little point running any rear downforce at all, it is an understeer machine. Meaning on high downforce tracks, it has a huge advantage, because it has its best handling on low downforce. So will loose next to nothing in drag/top speed. Other cars who will need to run maximum front and rear downforce to be fast on the track, will loose more top speed/drag, further extending the natural top speed gap between the cars. So the SLS would be fastest at a twisty track, and 1 of the 3 fastest at a power track.
It should be though. If all cars are equal, the tune will make the difference so the tune will be the fastest. What your saying there, is that you can be the best tuner in the world but you can be beaten by someone based on car choice, which implies cars aren't balanced.
I didn't spend too much time testing cars before deciding what to pick. All I done was some top speed runs on stock setups, with all gearboxes set to the same speed and downforce set at minimum front and rear in all cars, here is the data I gathered (time rounded to nearest 1/4 second):
View attachment 288510
The Ford GT seems to be severely off the other cars, but i couldn't be bothered to re-test. After this test I then took out 4 cars I didn't want to drive: GT-R, Z4, NSX, GT. Leaving me with SLS, Viper, Z06 and R8.
I have tunes for 3 of those 4, the R8 being the exception.
I went to Laguna Seca as its quite a simple track, but requires a good car to be fast.
The SLS was the fastest of those 4, by 0.3 from the Z06. The Viper was 0.5 behind the SLS. I then tested the R8 (with the stock setup) and was only 0.4 off the SLS. With some tuning it would easily match if not beat my SLS time. My testing ended here, but I did notice one thing. It might purely be coincidental, but the gaps in tenths over the lap, matched the gaps in mph. The 3 tuned cars have been heavily tuned over several months and have been used by myself at a variety of tracks so I am comfortable with them.
The fact the Viper has the highest front downforce levels of those cars, means in theory it should corner slightly faster, Laguna is made up of a lot of high speed corners, so I would expect it to do well. The Z06 has the lowest DF, so it should be slower. The fact the Z06 was faster over a lap compared to the Viper, proves that any time gained in corners is irrelevant, if every time you do a 500m drag you have cars gaining 1/4 second, or 1000m gaining 1/2 second, it doesn't matter how quick you can corner, you will still loose out.
If the 'cornering car' is in front, the slightest hint of a draft and the 'speed car' will blast past.
If the 'speed car' is in front, the 'cornering car' will either have to out-brake or drive around the outside of the 'speed car', which will then out drag them on the run to the next corner. Yes I understand you will never match them all 100% perfect, but every car should be able to overtake every other car with a draft.
I must admit I was a little disappointed. You have a great OP, a great driver roster, but it means nothing if the BoP is off. BoP is king when running a series. Especially how you hand out the cars. The fast guys get their choice, the fast guys can tell which cars are faster than others, generally quicker than slower drivers can, meaning the fast guys get the fast cars and the slower drivers get the slow cars. How is that fair to the guys at the back of the pack? No-matter how much they improve / tune their car they will never match the others let alone beat them. Anyway, rant over. I'm just looking forward to having some great battles on track.
and sorry team!
