POLL: Fixed or Adjustable settings in FIA Nations Cup & Manufacturer Series

[MrKnufis]

1 circuit per day(like this seasson)fixed
1 or 2 circuits per week, adjustable

 

[Nando deBem]

I prefer fixed. I wouldn't want to lose a championship because I chose the wrong gear ratio for a race. It should all be about driver ability. 👍

Different drivers have different preferences. To be stuck with a setup that doesn’t fit my way of driving has nothing to do with accurately measuring my skills.
I don’t want to sound too blunt, but that’s how I feel about fixed setup. It’s like there’s always something quite not right.

 

[SleezyBigSlim]

I think tuning should be mandatory in all of Sport mode. The fact that people want to play a racing SIM and not tune their cars is utterly ridiculous to me. Cry baby gamers ruin the fun in racing games and devs are scared to be hard core. Sucks.

 

[Seikenfreak]

I have a tough time settling on this. I think I lean on the side of "Fixed"

On "Adjustable" side, I understand that tuning a car is an integral thing in real racing. I don't think I'm good at it as I don't usually mess with stuff since it's just a game. It's usually far more beneficial to me to just put in laps and practice on my abilities, learn the track, and the base car than it is for me to tweak some camber and probably make it worse. If I don't like the way a base car handles, I'll pick a different one.

For the "Fixed" side: This isn't as realistic as real racing. I'm not sure how balanced all the base cars are, as has been proven with the GTR and potentially some other cars. Then you've got the people who find weird tricks to game the physics engine and get some alien times. And trickling out of that: all the people who can just go online and copy that tune instead of actually learning themselves. I also think something silly like this Nations Cup format, where it's a bunch of random vehicles and such, it's every day (too frequent), races are too short and not enough qualifying, should be fixed because it should be about the driving ability.

The one possible exception that keeps coming to mind where I'd probably be okay with "Adjustable" is:

1. Group 4 series (because that's all I care about)
2. You are locked into your car choice for the duration of the season. (No changing around to whatever suits your mood or the track better)
3. A season takes place over the span of 6 months for example with races taking place once every week or every other week. (This allows plenty of time to play or not play the game, I don't feel overly committed, but if I do spend the time to tune something I feel like it's worth it. I'm not just messing with this thing for some lame little race that changes every day.)
4. You can see the entire season track schedule. (Already in)
5. Assists are limited (ABS default, TCS either off or capped at a low level, everything else off. These have a huge impact on driver ability and car setup and are probably handicaps to those who don't use them)

So yea that's the gist of it. Going adjustable is pretty serious in my eyes and I'd want this whole experience to be more serious to match it. Real names on players maybe.

Otherwise, it's just a game, people are going to wreck and have accidents, some of these cars aren't necessarily realistic so.. who cares. Fixed is simple and casual.

 

[TeWheke]

Gran Turismo has never been about simple and casual though, it's a simulator.

 

[Seikenfreak]

I don't completely disagree with you but I don't want to turn this thread into a war zone

 

[TeWheke]

Fair enough.

 

[eran0004]

In the manufacturers cup it comes down to whether the manufacturer that you signed with car has both a base suspension setting and gear ratio that not only suites the track but your driving style as well. You have no choice to race a different car. So is it better to be able to make some adjustments and perhaps be more competitive or know that because of the contract you signed you have one of the worse cars on the track for gearing and suspension set up and will finish near the rear of the field as a result?

It's better to know that I won't have to worry about the tune.

 

[VFOURMAX1]

It's better to know that I won't have to worry about the tune.

Even if the suspension settings stay locked the rear gear ratio and transmission settings should be adjustable to match the track. On some tracks some of the cars gear ratios are so horrible that basically high gear is not usable while other cars the default settings will give you a usable range of the entire gear box.

Sort of like putting two boxers in a ring, tying one boxers right hand behind his back and then claiming it is going to be a fair fight.

 

[Tekku]

Adjustable. Certain cars in Manufacturers Race benefit from fixed setups because there are some fixed setups that are better suited for specific cars. I really want to change the LSD and suspension for the R8 LMS for instance because it has a habit of snapping where it shouldn't snap. Other cars don't have this problem as much so they benefit more greatly from their default setup.

Fixed setups are great for One Make but not when there's a large variety of cars with different characteristics, like in the Manufacturers Race. It's only natural that you would want to balance your car to make it easier to drive.

 

[Stotty]

Personally, I'd always prefer to be able to tune, but at this stage, I think no tuning is the more sensible approach.

As it stands, the cars are generally easy to drive for all levels. Yes, they mostly feel too understeery, but if you allow tuning the fast guys will just remove the high levels of +ve rear toe and high LSD decel, building in loads of rotation, and this will enable them to go disproportionately faster than the less skilled, who won't be able to manage a car set up like that.

Allowing tuning will just make the gap between fast and slow bigger, demotivating the less skilled players, and leading to even more whining than we currently have.

 

[JulesDennis]

Personally, I'd always prefer to be able to tune, but at this stage, I think no tuning is the more sensible approach.

As it stands, the cars are generally easy to drive for all levels. Yes, they mostly feel too understeery, but if you allow tuning the fast guys will just remove the high levels of +ve rear toe and high LSD decel, building in loads of rotation, and this will enable them to go disproportionately faster than the less skilled, who won't be able to manage a car set up like that.

Allowing tuning will just make the gap between fast and slow bigger, demotivating the less skilled players, and leading to even more whining than we currently have.

I agree that tuning will benefit the aliens more that the casuals.
But (and this is coming from a "slow" driver) it is supposed to be an e-sport.Why should the aliens not have a huge advantage over the "casual" players?
" You can earn an FIA-recognized driving license in the game, which means you can obtain a digital license in Gran Turismo Sport that you can use to drive race cars in real life".
I mean really this is not for everyone (the esport part of the game).
Anyone has a chance to enter but not everyone is gonna win that (example).
So imo -for the e-sport parts of the game-:
-Full tuning abled
-Full damage
-Fuel consumption/Tire wear (to "real" if the races are gonna be similar to RL)
-Only "RL" assists allowed.(If its something that RL pro drivers use,then it should be good enough for people behind a screen/monitor "simulating" RL races)
-One car class per "season"/not allowed to change cars after you pick one (like in...RL).
-"Season"/Champ lengh its up to them (1/2 weeks-4 months idk).
-Use all the tracks in order for all cars to have adv/dis depending on their speqs.
BTW:in my posts I do not whine about "aliens".I "whine" because of BoP and SR system not working.

 

[Stotty]

I agree that tuning will benefit the aliens more that the casuals.
But (and this is coming from a "slow" driver) it is supposed to be an e-sport.Why should the aliens not have a huge advantage over the "casual" players?
" You can earn an FIA-recognized driving license in the game, which means you can obtain a digital license in Gran Turismo Sport that you can use to drive race cars in real life".
I mean really this is not for everyone (the esport part of the game).
Anyone has a chance to enter but not everyone is gonna win that (example).
So imo -for the e-sport parts of the game-:
-Full tuning abled
-Full damage
-Fuel consumption/Tire wear (to "real" if the races are gonna be similar to RL)
-Only "RL" assists allowed.(If its something that RL pro drivers use,then it should be good enough for people behind a screen/monitor "simulating" RL races)
-One car class per "season"/not allowed to change cars after you pick one (like in...RL).
-"Season"/Champ lengh its up to them (1/2 weeks-4 months idk).
-Use all the tracks in order for all cars to have adv/dis depending on their speqs.
BTW:in my posts I do not whine about "aliens".I "whine" because of BoP and SR system not working.

I didn't say you whined... though it would be hard to miss the generally high level of whining on the forums.

GTS is not a niche title like AC/PC. It's a mass appeal/flagship game. It needs the masses to play it.

I'm not opposed to most of the stuff you've posted above on a personal level, but suggesting full damage is just plain silly (sorry, but it is)... have you by any chance noticed how much whining there is from hundreds of (allegedly) 100% clean drivers, who only get penalties because others ram them? What do you think the level of whining would be if as well as a penalty, they also take damage when someone hits their car? The forum will go nuclear

 

[JulesDennis]

I didn't say you whined... though it would be hard to miss the generally high level of whining on the forums.

GTS is not a niche title like AC/PC. It's a mass appeal/flagship game. It needs the masses to play it.

I'm not opposed to most of the stuff you've posted above on a personal level, but suggesting full damage is just plain silly (sorry, but it is)... have you by any chance noticed how much whining there is from hundreds of (allegedly) 100% clean drivers, who only get penalties because others ram them? What do you think the level of whining would be if as well as a penalty, they also take damage when someone hits their car? The forum will go nuclear

Mate I pointed out why I (for some people) moan in this forum.
And those two (BoP and SR system) goes hand in hand with my opinion about e-sports settings.If you dont have a good Rating system or a good Balance of Performance there is no way you can pull off an "e-sport online racing" league/championship.
But really good/fast/alien drivers-those that should be on the top of the list in the e-sport part of the game- would have zero problems with what I wrote.
The less skilled/casual should learn to "race" with those settings too and improve,if they really want a true e-sport/sim-like racing experience.
"It needs the masses to play it"
Yes it does.But the masses need to learn about the right way of e-sport racing (if they want to be part of that) and not change the basic rules that e-sports racing has in any other "sim" title because of the ....masses(I hope you get my point here.English is not my native language).

 

[Stotty]

The less skilled/casual should learn to "race" with those settings too and improve,if they really want a true e-sport/sim-like racing experience.
"It needs the masses to play it"
Yes it does.But the masses need to learn about the right way of e-sport racing (if they want to be part of that) and not change the basic rules that e-sports racing has in any other "sim" title because of the ....masses(I hope you get my point here.English is not my native language).

Your English is absolutely fine 👍

If the masses used the tunes the top drivers used they wouldn't be able to keep them on the track - they would crash at the 1st corner!

 

[Finflash]

I prefer adjustable but I don't think it's fair for everyone if the races are held every day. What I think would be fair if we could at least change the gearing. Different tracks demands it and some cars have an advantage over others..

 

[JulesDennis]

Your English is absolutely fine 👍

If the masses used the tunes the top drivers used they wouldn't be able to keep them on the track - they would crash at the 1st corner!

I know and I agree.But they (or "we") have to learn.
I've raced a fair amout of aliens in more "harcore" sims.Some were also real-life pro and champions.We had fantastic races either way,trying to get as close as it can be to RL,using RL "rules" both on and off track.
This is how I've learned to race "fair" (clean) with slower or really fast people around me without having to "fear" whats gonna happen in every corner.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Personally, I'd always prefer to be able to tune, but at this stage, I think no tuning is the more sensible approach.

As it stands, the cars are generally easy to drive for all levels. Yes, they mostly feel too understeery, but if you allow tuning the fast guys will just remove the high levels of +ve rear toe and high LSD decel, building in loads of rotation, and this will enable them to go disproportionately faster than the less skilled, who won't be able to manage a car set up like that.

Allowing tuning will just make the gap between fast and slow bigger, demotivating the less skilled players, and leading to even more whining than we currently have.

The gap between the skilled and less skilled is already huge, on the order of several seconds at even the shorter tracks. The driver rating system, if it's working as intended, should match you up on the grid with people of your own pace, whether you or they tune or don't tune. If anything, the mix of drivers with tuned and untuned cars in the same race might make for better racing. A driver that makes his car faster with a good transmission tune, for example, but ultimately the same pace as me, will have a better chance of creating separation on the straights, whereas I, with the untuned car, achieve the same lap time with more consistency and better cornering speeds.

Take it a step further though. What would really knock it out of the park? A tune provided by PD:idea:. I think of tuners like @Motor City Hami and @praiano63 and others, who are well known for creating base tunes that are drivable, stable and fast for a wide variety of wheel users, certainly always better than the stock tune. I'm sure there are guys out there that can do the same for DS4 users. If you want to go that extra step, why not co-opt a few guys like that right into the game and have them make some good tunes to be released as the events are released? They could also come with a small guide for tweaking the setups to individual tastes.

Sounds good on paper at least. I think a little thinking outside the little box they are in would do PD some good. If you want to appeal to the broadest player base it goes without saying that a one-size-fits-all approach isn't going to cut it. They really need to mix it up IMO.

 

[Stotty]

The gap between the skilled and less skilled is already huge, on the order of several seconds at even the shorter tracks. The driver rating system, if it's working as intended, should match you up on the grid with people of your own pace, whether you or they tune or don't tune. If anything, the mix of drivers with tuned and untuned cars in the same race might make for better racing. A driver that makes his car faster with a good transmission tune, for example, but ultimately the same pace as me, will have a better chance of creating separation on the straights, whereas I, with the untuned car, achieve the same lap time with more consistency and better cornering speeds.

Take it a step further though. What would really knock it out of the park? A tune provided by PD:idea:. I think of tuners like @Motor City Hami and @praiano63 and others, who are well known for creating base tunes that are drivable, stable and fast for a wide variety of wheel users, certainly always better than the stock tune. I'm sure there are guys out there that can do the same for DS4 users. If you want to go that extra step, why not co-opt a few guys like that right into the game and have them make some good tunes to be released as the events are released? They could also come with a small guide for tweaking the setups to individual tastes.

Sounds good on paper at least. I think a little thinking outside the little box they are in would do PD some good. If you want to appeal to the broadest player base it goes without saying that a one-size-fits-all approach isn't going to cut it. They really need to mix it up IMO.

Early versions of GT had much better stock tunes... less understeer, more rotation.

This changed with GT5, where a lot of the mid engined cars were extremely difficult to drive at launch for non wheel users with stock tunes. Usual outcry and pandemonium on the forums... 'car x is broken', 'game is broken' 'woe is me' etc etc. This was followed by a quick patch from PD that simply added loads of +ve rear toe and LSD decel to every RWD car in the game to make them more stable... Which ruined the handling of every stock RWD car in the game for more skilled players.

This revised stock tune (rear toe +0.50, LSD decel at 30-40) subsequently carried through to GT6 and is now in GTS.

It not hard to make the cars nicer to drive without making them undrivable - just reduce rear toe to <0.20 and LSD decel to <10. If you didn't change anything else, this would improve them massively... and be more realistic... even my 911, which is notoriously snappy at the rear, only runs 0.2 rear toe.

Editing to add...

The main reason that MR cars were difficult to drive was a bug that caused them to become unstable when people upgraded the wheels to a bigger diameter. With stock wheels they were fine. The patch was actually completely unnecessary!

 

[Seikenfreak]

I'd be curious to see some testing done with gearing by one of the top end drivers.

Back during the daily Gr4 Kyoto race, I was using the 458 and I think the default setup didn't even reach 6th or 7th gear maybe? I adjusted it and after awhile, I felt pretty convinced it didn't make much of a difference, if any. It just meant I changed gear more frequently. But it also felt like the first 5 gears matched up okay with the course to begin with. I suppose this also comes down to whether or not they accurately simulate a cars specific power band and what sort of BoP adjustment is being made to the power.

But I'm not an alien driver and it may have been a unique situation with that car and track.

 

[DigitalBaka]

I'm in the fixed camp, at least for the early going here. With BoP I think this is way to go until they get the cars tweaked such that most if not all of the field is competitive among similarly skilled drivers.

That said, if they allowed tuning or alternating weeks I'd be OK with that too. I can still go in with a stock setup if I choose. Assuming they get that balance dialed in, I don't think anyone who is "slower" than me would beat me because of a tune alone. As I'm seeing things now I think there's more to the racing than who picked the good car. If someone of similar skill gets one up on me because of their setup, so be it. That is as it should be; that's competitive racing and in the end what I think we all want from GTS.

(I hope you get my point here.English is not my native language)

I love when non-native English speakers say this. You quite often have a better grasp of the language than anyone who speaks it natively. :tup:

 

[Motor City Hami]

Take it a step further though. What would really knock it out of the park? A tune provided by PD:idea:. I think of tuners like @Motor City Hami and @praiano63 and others, who are well known for creating base tunes that are drivable, stable and fast for a wide variety of wheel users, certainly always better than the stock tune. I'm sure there are guys out there that can do the same for DS4 users. If you want to go that extra step, why not co-opt a few guys like that right into the game and have them make some good tunes to be released as the events are released? They could also come with a small guide for tweaking the setups to individual tastes.

One can certainly dream. PD doesn't use the forums to help improve their game. For Project Cars and Forza, the game developers seem to do a better job connecting to the community and making adjustments that are being noted within the forums. I was hugely dissapointed that the GT Sport Beta was a random draw. I would love to have given feedback to PD on tuning, but it's just luck of the draw.

On another note, completely loving tuning in Project Cars and have started building the tuning guide.

 

[Earth]

I think fixed is good for the test season, but the setups should be open for the real season

 

[Phoenixsui]

In the manufacturers cup it comes down to whether the manufacturer that you signed with car has both a base suspension setting and gear ratio that not only suites the track but your driving style as well. You have no choice to race a different car. So is it better to be able to make some adjustments and perhaps be more competitive or know that because of the contract you signed you have one of the worse cars on the track for gearing and suspension set up and will finish near the rear of the field as a result?

That is why there is a rank from of your brand beside the worldwide rank.
I won with the Mustang on 1 Track and had a hard time on the last 2 Tracks. But it is fine to me. Still rank 4 for Ford at the Moment and thats no different in reality. Cars are different and will always do different on tracks. Even with setups allowed the other cars will also improve and there goes your setup advantage, because maybe there is always 1 car that allow a broken setup.
I prefere fixed for sure. (Also i am bad at making setups and i think you can do broken setups that allow unrealistic driving and then not the best wins but the one with broken physics.)

 

[Haitauer]

Fixed but faster..

 

[Belifant]

One other aspect is time. Many of us already struggle to make enough time for a decent racing session, and in this case we prefer to go racing, instead of tuning the car. I for one am only able to participate in 4 of the 7 days of racing this week, and even in these 4 days, I pretty much have to jump in the game, do some quick practice laps (15 min before race start), do the race and then need to leave again.

Knowing that I'd have a further disadvantage by running the stock tune would be very off putting. With a fixed setup, at least I know it's just down to my skill level that I am slower.

I totally get why people are for adjustable setups, and I even would be ok with adjustable gearbox. But in addition to the time it needs to tune the car, which many of us don't have (not just the time to test, but also the time to learn and research online, as someone suggested), it also takes a certain skill level of driving, to tune a car, which many of us "more casual" players don't have. For example I am not able to drive the level of consistent lap times required to be able to tell if a certain setting change made me 0.200 seconds faster or slower. My lap times can easy vary over 2 seconds on a longer track and I'd consider that consistent for me personally.

 

[JulesDennis]

...(Also i am bad at making setups and i think you can do broken setups that allow unrealistic driving and then not the best wins but the one with broken physics.)

Unrealistic "driving" due to broken setup system/unrealistic physics is the game's problem that would create unrealistic lap times with fixed setup too.
I get your point but "dont hate the player,hate the game".

it also takes a certain skill level of driving, to tune a car, which many of us "more casual" players don't have. For example I am not able to drive the level of consistent lap times required to be able to tell if a certain setting change made me 0.200 seconds faster or slower. My lap times can easy vary over 2 seconds on a longer track and I'd consider that consistent for me personally.

I am a "slow driver" myself mate and I can understand what you mean.
But the ability to create a good setup is not because of people's skill level of driving but because they understand how a car works and what setup changes do.
There are a lot of people that are not "aliens" or "really fast" but they are excellent in creating car setups for others because of that.
In iRacing -example- some "pro" teams have a guy who has this jod:to create the best possible setup for the team drivers.
Like irl they take info from them and adjust the car setup to a specific track/weather-track conditions.
Plus (and this is more important imo) its a basic rule -in sim games in general- that setups would help gain 0.00.1xxx-0.00.400 after someone can do consistent lap times with min lap difference -0.5 sec for example-.There is no point to search faster lap times if you have 2 sec difference in you lap times even in long tracks (Nordschleife for example).A better setup is what is going to give you that extra 0.1xxx.Its not gonna make you do laps 5 sec faster.
What I try to do is to "master" the car and the track and after I get to a point where my lap times are "set" (within 0.5 max) I try to see how much time I can save from changing the setup.Sometimes I will straight up change basic things (like gearing or downforce) depending to the track but until I can go and do 20 laps with the "similar" result I dont worry about "setups" since I have yet to learn the track or the car or both.

 

[FerrellJ]

One other aspect is time. Many of us already struggle to make enough time for a decent racing session, and in this case we prefer to go racing, instead of tuning the car

For one, there's nothing that says you need to participate in every event- the FIA series aren't even the only sanctioned races in the game. You can participate in the daily races just fine if you want a quick pickup race. Maybe pick a couple FIA races throughout the week to focus on instead of trying to do all of them.

Secondly, if you race only a few select cars, you can easily spend some time getting a base setup you're comfortable with for each at the start of the season. Then you only need to make small tweaks to it week to week to adapt to the track. It takes very little time.

I mean, I know what it's like to not have a series catered to your desires- I haven't raced since Saturday because of that. I've accepted that these races aren't for me. I just wish something existed in the game that was...

 

[JacksHerer]

I voted fixed, as this is the 'real driving simulator' after all, it's not the 'real engineer simulator'.
If tuning is allowed, then tire wear/fuel consumption and engine/gearbox damage should also be calculated and applied.

 

[Belifant]

But the ability to create a good setup is not because of people's skill level of driving but because they understand how a car works and what setup changes do.
There are a lot of people that are not "aliens" or "really fast" but they are excellent in creating car setups for others because of that.
In iRacing -example- some "pro" teams have a guy who has this jod:to create the best possible setup for the team drivers.
Like irl they take info from them and adjust the car setup to a specific track/weather-track conditions.

ah yeah absolutely, Louis Hamilton's mechanic is sure not as fast as a driver as him. It is not necessary required to be a fast driver to do good setups, but from reading the forums it does seem the ones creating good setups are also very capable drivers. At least far better than I am.

Plus (and this is more important imo) its a basic rule -in sim games in general- that setups would help gain 0.00.1xxx-0.00.400 after someone can do consistent lap times with min lap difference -0.5 sec for example-.There is no point to search faster lap times if you have 2 sec difference in you lap times even in long tracks (Nordschleife for example).A better setup is what is going to give you that extra 0.1xxx.Its not gonna make you do laps 5 sec faster.

My impression from reading the forums was more that you could easy gain 2-5 seconds faster lap times with tuning, but maybe I'm wrong. Btw, with "longer tracks" I meant tracks like Suzuka. I don't even know how much my time varies on the Nordschleife, I reckon it would be between 10 - 20 seconds :-D

What I try to do is to "master" the car and the track and after I get to a point where my lap times are "set" (within 0.5 max) I try to see how much time I can save from changing the setup.Sometimes I will straight up change basic things (like gearing or downforce) depending to the track but until I can go and do 20 laps with the "similar" result I dont worry about "setups" since I have yet to learn the track or the car or both.

Yes that's what I mean. If you don't have the time to learn a track/car combination good enough for creating a setup, you can't really be expected to tune your car, which will disadvantage you even further than you already are. Especially in this week with the Nations Cup and Manufacturers Cup, I barely have the time to get used to the car/track combo, because it changes every day.

Someone has suggested you should just learn to tune. Yes I can learn to tune the car, but I won't have time to make any use of it because I will use all my time to learn the car and track. I could change any setting on the car and I could not tell you if it made my driving better or worse. I tried to play with the brake balance in the 911 race yesterday, but did not note any difference. So instead of fiddling with settings, I just tried to get as many laps in pre race as possible, get used to car a little bit and try my best in the race. It started out pretty good, I was able to go with the general pace in the 4 - 6 positions, until I crashed 3 times in 3 laps, so I finished 19 :-D I just drove into walls and stuff, luckily no other drivers were involved. Point I'm trying to make: my speed was actually ok, it was just my inexperience with this car and track that made me finish almost last. If tuning was allowed and the same drivers in that race all had nicely tuned cars, I probably wouldn't have been able to keep up at all. And I doubt DR is smart enough to account for tuned, not tuned cars and balance the skills of the drivers in that regards.

For one, there's nothing that says you need to participate in every event- the FIA series aren't even the only sanctioned races in the game. You can participate in the daily races just fine if you want a quick pickup race. Maybe pick a couple FIA races throughout the week to focus on instead of trying to do all of them.

Secondly, if you race only a few select cars, you can easily spend some time getting a base setup you're comfortable with for each at the start of the season. Then you only need to make small tweaks to it week to week to adapt to the track. It takes very little time.

I mean, I know what it's like to not have a series catered to your desires- I haven't raced since Saturday because of that. I've accepted that these races aren't for me. I just wish something existed in the game that was...

I know I don't need to participate in every event - but I would like to. The FIA events are a special thing this week, which I find very interesting so I want to try it. Due to this, I haven't had time to do any daily races. That's fine, I use the time I have for the races I would like to try. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining about the selection of cars and track combos we get from PD. Quite the opposite, I am curious to try them all (maybe VGT and Rally not so much). I am interested in how well I can master these challenges in a very short time, especially with difficult cars/tracks.

This is just how differently we play this game. I'm not in it for winning every race. I don't want to race just a few selected cars and track, that I know well. I want to race a large selection of cars and track, and see what challenge each one of them provides to me. All in the context of having good races and fun.


That being said, if the races start to allow tuning, I won't be mad, and I will keep playing and having fun. Maybe a bit further back in the pack, but that's ok. But right now, with no tuning allowed, I have more respect for the driving skills of the drivers ahead of me. In the 911 race last night, the leading guy pulled away like 3 seconds of my best lap constantly. If tuning was allowed, I would shrug it off with "ah he just had a good tune and was maybe not the better driver than me". Probably not true, I know, but these are the kind of thoughts. With no tuning allowed, I have mad respect for the driving skills of this guy.

An interesting option would be to allow tuning only for the highest ranked drivers, in DR A + B races only?

I voted fixed, as this is the 'real driving simulator' after all, it's not the 'real engineer simulator'.
If tuning is allowed, then tire wear/fuel consumption and engine/gearbox damage should also be calculated and applied.

Actually I would love that. No tuning allowed, but realistic damage/wear/consumptions etc, plus restrictions on driving aids like countersteer assist.