- 19,706
- Alabamamania
This was a favorite car of mine, but I lost it (forgot to back up the DexDrive save!), even though it wasnt quite fully-tuned. I thought Id give it another shot, this time, Id tune it from the ground up. You can find the A-spec RX-7 at the end of the Mazda used lot, since its usually the most expensive car in the lot. GT1 fans can find it in their new-car lot; but in GT2-land, the color is date-dependent. Lucky for me, it was red, because we all know red cars are the fastest
no question about it!
Well, the first stop was the RX-7 Meeting, since its an easy 10K. No problems around Deep Forest, its an easy win. Another time around, another win at Seattle. Now I have enough for the full-race tranny and a racing flywheel. However, thus cars shortcomings are its tendency to spin-out under hard braking, and it gets quite wishy-washy when you counter-steer. Heck, its got issues when you try to fling it into corners. So this car isnt as easy as it appears. It needs a suspension upgrade, pronto.
So I kept the horsepower at 260 for many of the races; starting with the FR/Clubman race. Always an easy victory if you have over 200hp. The jump to the SSR5 race is more difficult; but it the nearest competitor was an S14, and I still won by over 2 seconds. Now, winning the FR/Midfield race is another matter; there are larger sharks in that water. It took me three tries: Fourth place the first time (battled hard with a Cerbera and lost control), and then second place the following time (Supra RZ was all over me). Then, the third time was a charm, I drove the car a little more carefully, and won out against an R34 and a Mustang Cobra (which never seems to be very competitive, but was for once in this race) by about 0.5sec. Finally, enough dough for a suspension upgrade; Id felt I earned it, anyhow. I went cheap and just added a racing intercooler.
Well, on to the Pure Sports Cars; two easy wins at Laguna Seca (although an Elise hounded me the whole way) and Deep Forest (an RX-7 RS was second by about 1.5sec). I knew Trial Mountain was a bit trickier, so I bought a racing muffler with my winnings. The Motorsport Elise is the AI champ here, and I raced three times, the end result being 3 second places (although a 360-degree spin didnt help me in the second race, at least I was pointing in the right direction and hadnt lost too many places). This car needs a different setup than I expected. Make it too stiff, and it swaps ends easily. So I made the shocks much more soft, to deal with TMs bumps, and my arrogance behind the wheel. It paid off, the MS Elise was about 2 seconds behind me in the end. I bought sports brakes and Weight Reduction Stage 1 with the winnings.
I took on the GT Cup cars, and it was a similar story; the Supra RZ gave me hassles at Red Rock Valley. The A-spec just wasnt doing what I wanted it to, either. Result was a 2nd place, but the next time around, I was first, and the RZ was well behind me, it couldnt do better than 4th place. I put Sports tires on for the GT/Grand Valley race, and they helped immensely. An easy victory, beating an R32 by a good margin. The car was finally handling a bit more predictably, but under braking was still another matter. I had to brake early for the hairpins. An engine Rom chip boosted the power output a little.
The GT/Midfield race was tougher; the car was spinning ill-suited to the hard braking required for the first turn, and was never gaining ground in that sector, making passes on the R34 and Viper a lot trickier. I figured Weight Reduction Stage 2 might help matters, and they did take away some of that uneasiness under braking, but it wasnt a miracle cure. Three times a loser in that race but enough credits for a Super Soft tires with the single third and two second places. This was quite the improvement, I pulled off the win with ease. But whats with the car? Its still so uneasy under braking, I rewarded myself with a full-race differential. I had more than enough winnings to buy a Stage 2 turbo and a full-race suspension.
Well, than gave me around ~400hp; a good way to enter the Tuned Turbo No.1 races. I pulled off a last-lap win at Deep Forest (the Minee Evo always makes it close!) and was getting used to the way the car handles. Sometimes, you have to adapt, and then you make good with a odd-handling car. The Test Course was race was over by the halfway point, beating the Drag 180SX wasnt as dramatic as I expected. I bought a carbon driveshaft and a
I took on the GT-All Stars/Super Speedway race, knowing full well they are the easiest, the competition is on par with GT300 cars. I thought I had enough power, but the Oreca Viper was burning me on the straight. And braking into the egg-shaped turn at over 180mph always made the car unhappy. So I had to settle for second place. I tried it again, and won; a brake balance adjustment helped out. I added a little more strength to the front, and a little less to the rear. This helped under high-speed braking. The winnings were good enough for Weight Reduction Stage 3 and a triple-plate clutch.
I took on the GT300 series, where I battled an Amemiya RX-7, a Xanavi Silvia, and a BP Trueno for overall victory. I think I had an advantage in this series, because there was a Weds Celica and Momo MR2 on the front row of every race. So once I was out front, it was relatively easy to stay there. You just cant make any mistakes, or youre done. I lost out to the Amemiya (my toughest competitor) at Grand Valley East, but won the remaining 4 races on the trot. But it was tough, you had at least two cars always trying to pass you on the straight, and the Trueno was always giving me headaches when I braked early (that lucky dog has it easy braking into turns!). However, 38 points had me felling psyched to take on the toughest cars in the game. It was time to put on the heavy artillery a racing modification, engine balance, and an engine port & polish. Now it was topped out at 493hp and around 2350lbs.
I tried two races at GT All-Stars/SSR5, the first one dealt me a late third place (battled with a XJ220 too much early on, and paid the price), and was second to a GT40 in the following time around (but I beat a GT-One fair and square). I fell back and took a try at the Rome event, finishing in second place (that darn GT40 again!). Again I raced at Rome, and wound up third. The Super Softs seemed to be going off at an alarming rate; after 3 laps, theyre toasted, and car has about 50% of its previous grip. This made late-race charges very difficult.
I thought Id try something different; reverting to Soft tires instead. I lowered the stabilizers to 3 and 2, and increased the ride height a notch or two both front and back. Eureka! This balanced the car much better, improving weight distribution, and making the car respond to steering and braking input a lot nicer. What followed was remarkable; wins at Laguna, SSR5, and Rome without much fuss. True, the AI was close at hand, but there wasnt any of that fright of losing control towards the late stages of the game. What was even remarkable was that the car was quite dependent on counter-steering before, and now, it was hardly necessary. When you lifted off the throttle and brake, you could plant the car exactly how and where you wanted it. So it deserved red and black wheels to go with the red paint. This car was dynamite, how else could I put it?
So on to the GT500 series; I goofed slightly at Laguna; a spin at the Corkscrew while leading was totally my error (late braking), but I caught up to second in the end, behind a 300ZX GT-S. Super Speedway was over in half a lap, the car was taking the tighter turn with ease compared to before. Rome was a challenge; but after braking for the final turn ending the 3rd lap, I had sewn up the race win. The car was behaving wonderful; my only trouble was the FedEx car, which was still not out of the series picture. Trial Mountain was hard on the car, but I held on for 2nd place. I didnt want to lose this championship, so held back a little where I normally make risky passes. The 300ZX was tough to beat, but held on gamely at the flag at beat me by 0.66sec. But at least I was ahead by two points, which always helps going into Apricot Hill. I won this last race going into the braking zone after the Dunlop Bridge I never looked back.
Settings to follow.
Well, the first stop was the RX-7 Meeting, since its an easy 10K. No problems around Deep Forest, its an easy win. Another time around, another win at Seattle. Now I have enough for the full-race tranny and a racing flywheel. However, thus cars shortcomings are its tendency to spin-out under hard braking, and it gets quite wishy-washy when you counter-steer. Heck, its got issues when you try to fling it into corners. So this car isnt as easy as it appears. It needs a suspension upgrade, pronto.
So I kept the horsepower at 260 for many of the races; starting with the FR/Clubman race. Always an easy victory if you have over 200hp. The jump to the SSR5 race is more difficult; but it the nearest competitor was an S14, and I still won by over 2 seconds. Now, winning the FR/Midfield race is another matter; there are larger sharks in that water. It took me three tries: Fourth place the first time (battled hard with a Cerbera and lost control), and then second place the following time (Supra RZ was all over me). Then, the third time was a charm, I drove the car a little more carefully, and won out against an R34 and a Mustang Cobra (which never seems to be very competitive, but was for once in this race) by about 0.5sec. Finally, enough dough for a suspension upgrade; Id felt I earned it, anyhow. I went cheap and just added a racing intercooler.
Well, on to the Pure Sports Cars; two easy wins at Laguna Seca (although an Elise hounded me the whole way) and Deep Forest (an RX-7 RS was second by about 1.5sec). I knew Trial Mountain was a bit trickier, so I bought a racing muffler with my winnings. The Motorsport Elise is the AI champ here, and I raced three times, the end result being 3 second places (although a 360-degree spin didnt help me in the second race, at least I was pointing in the right direction and hadnt lost too many places). This car needs a different setup than I expected. Make it too stiff, and it swaps ends easily. So I made the shocks much more soft, to deal with TMs bumps, and my arrogance behind the wheel. It paid off, the MS Elise was about 2 seconds behind me in the end. I bought sports brakes and Weight Reduction Stage 1 with the winnings.
I took on the GT Cup cars, and it was a similar story; the Supra RZ gave me hassles at Red Rock Valley. The A-spec just wasnt doing what I wanted it to, either. Result was a 2nd place, but the next time around, I was first, and the RZ was well behind me, it couldnt do better than 4th place. I put Sports tires on for the GT/Grand Valley race, and they helped immensely. An easy victory, beating an R32 by a good margin. The car was finally handling a bit more predictably, but under braking was still another matter. I had to brake early for the hairpins. An engine Rom chip boosted the power output a little.
The GT/Midfield race was tougher; the car was spinning ill-suited to the hard braking required for the first turn, and was never gaining ground in that sector, making passes on the R34 and Viper a lot trickier. I figured Weight Reduction Stage 2 might help matters, and they did take away some of that uneasiness under braking, but it wasnt a miracle cure. Three times a loser in that race but enough credits for a Super Soft tires with the single third and two second places. This was quite the improvement, I pulled off the win with ease. But whats with the car? Its still so uneasy under braking, I rewarded myself with a full-race differential. I had more than enough winnings to buy a Stage 2 turbo and a full-race suspension.
Well, than gave me around ~400hp; a good way to enter the Tuned Turbo No.1 races. I pulled off a last-lap win at Deep Forest (the Minee Evo always makes it close!) and was getting used to the way the car handles. Sometimes, you have to adapt, and then you make good with a odd-handling car. The Test Course was race was over by the halfway point, beating the Drag 180SX wasnt as dramatic as I expected. I bought a carbon driveshaft and a
I took on the GT-All Stars/Super Speedway race, knowing full well they are the easiest, the competition is on par with GT300 cars. I thought I had enough power, but the Oreca Viper was burning me on the straight. And braking into the egg-shaped turn at over 180mph always made the car unhappy. So I had to settle for second place. I tried it again, and won; a brake balance adjustment helped out. I added a little more strength to the front, and a little less to the rear. This helped under high-speed braking. The winnings were good enough for Weight Reduction Stage 3 and a triple-plate clutch.
I took on the GT300 series, where I battled an Amemiya RX-7, a Xanavi Silvia, and a BP Trueno for overall victory. I think I had an advantage in this series, because there was a Weds Celica and Momo MR2 on the front row of every race. So once I was out front, it was relatively easy to stay there. You just cant make any mistakes, or youre done. I lost out to the Amemiya (my toughest competitor) at Grand Valley East, but won the remaining 4 races on the trot. But it was tough, you had at least two cars always trying to pass you on the straight, and the Trueno was always giving me headaches when I braked early (that lucky dog has it easy braking into turns!). However, 38 points had me felling psyched to take on the toughest cars in the game. It was time to put on the heavy artillery a racing modification, engine balance, and an engine port & polish. Now it was topped out at 493hp and around 2350lbs.
I tried two races at GT All-Stars/SSR5, the first one dealt me a late third place (battled with a XJ220 too much early on, and paid the price), and was second to a GT40 in the following time around (but I beat a GT-One fair and square). I fell back and took a try at the Rome event, finishing in second place (that darn GT40 again!). Again I raced at Rome, and wound up third. The Super Softs seemed to be going off at an alarming rate; after 3 laps, theyre toasted, and car has about 50% of its previous grip. This made late-race charges very difficult.
I thought Id try something different; reverting to Soft tires instead. I lowered the stabilizers to 3 and 2, and increased the ride height a notch or two both front and back. Eureka! This balanced the car much better, improving weight distribution, and making the car respond to steering and braking input a lot nicer. What followed was remarkable; wins at Laguna, SSR5, and Rome without much fuss. True, the AI was close at hand, but there wasnt any of that fright of losing control towards the late stages of the game. What was even remarkable was that the car was quite dependent on counter-steering before, and now, it was hardly necessary. When you lifted off the throttle and brake, you could plant the car exactly how and where you wanted it. So it deserved red and black wheels to go with the red paint. This car was dynamite, how else could I put it?
So on to the GT500 series; I goofed slightly at Laguna; a spin at the Corkscrew while leading was totally my error (late braking), but I caught up to second in the end, behind a 300ZX GT-S. Super Speedway was over in half a lap, the car was taking the tighter turn with ease compared to before. Rome was a challenge; but after braking for the final turn ending the 3rd lap, I had sewn up the race win. The car was behaving wonderful; my only trouble was the FedEx car, which was still not out of the series picture. Trial Mountain was hard on the car, but I held on for 2nd place. I didnt want to lose this championship, so held back a little where I normally make risky passes. The 300ZX was tough to beat, but held on gamely at the flag at beat me by 0.66sec. But at least I was ahead by two points, which always helps going into Apricot Hill. I won this last race going into the braking zone after the Dunlop Bridge I never looked back.
Settings to follow.
. I can't believe we are still hooked to this game after how many years?
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