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While my Lotus Elan was spreading its Lightness is Goodness message to the new world, B-spec Bob was busy winning the base car for my next "Build A Racer" project - an Alfa Romeo Guilia GTA. I had sent him off to the GTA series in a 433bhp Alfa 147 with instructions to return with a white Guilia, but he couldn't manage better than second place at the Tsukuba event, so I went over to help him out. I can't say I could really blame him for struggling. 433bhp bludgeons my 147's otherwise completely standard front wheel drive chassis into an early surrender, and when I ventured out onto the Tsukuba circuit in the car I found that the trick was to blast down the straight bits (accompanied by furious wheelspin deep into third gear) and then, when approaching a corner, brake suitably early and bring the car to a complete stop. Finally, climb out and push the car around the corner before jumping in again to smokescreen the next straight. In Bob's defence I must admit that I have a suspicion that I may also have sent him out on road tyres 
Not pretty then, but with three new gold cups in the cabinet and a shiny new GTA in the garage the job was done. GT4 had even been kind enough to give me a white one so I could easily tell it apart from my existing, unmodified, red example.
So here's the plan. My objective is to build a Guilia GTA that can take on the Motorsport Elise at El Capitan, and win. This should be a somewhat more difficult event in the GTA than it was in the Elan. The little racing Alfa has neither the grip not the balance that made the sparingly powered English car so effective here. In standard trim its balance errs towards oversteer, and if I hit my target of 250bhp, that trait will surely be magnified. The Elan's racing career is far from over yet though, so I have plenty of time to tinker with the Alfa. I will therefore be adding modifications to the chassis in stages, and measuring the improvements in performance at the Test Curse, and Tsukuba Race circuit.
Here, then, is the first progress report.
I started by recording the car's specifications, then testing its straight line performance at Test Curse before taking it to Tsukuba to record a lap time. This short, tight circuit was chosen precisely because it is short, and I find it an easy track to be consistent around. Laps here can be accumulated quickly, and the lap times will tend to reflect the car's ability more than the driver's. All testing will be on N2 tyres unless otherwise stated. The time to speed measurements were recording by watching the replay and pausing when the appropriate speeds were reached. This is not the most accurate method available and therefore the 0-60 and 0-100 times must be taken as indicators only.
The Alfa Guilia GTA in standard trim, with oil change, develops 121bhp and weighs 745kg. At the test course the GTA needed care when launching, to avoid excess wheelspin. Despite this enthusiasm, it posted what, I am quite sure, are the slowest figures I have yet tested for a car in GT4. Here they are:
STOCK (121bhp, 745kg, N2 tyres)
400 metre sprint: 17.79 seconds @ 83mph
1000 metre sprint: 31.67 seconds @ 106mph
Top Speed: 127.2mph
0-60mph: 10.3 seconds
0-100mph: 25.8 seconds
Tsukuba lap time: 1:15.98
Test report: The standard Guilia is a delightful little car to drive on a tight circuit. The engine feels more enthusiastic than the car's performance suggests, and while the grip and turn in are not particularly strong, the car does manage to carry a lot of energy into and through the corner as long as the driver is smooth. It doesn't take long for the GTA's playful nature to shine though though, and by lap 4 I found myself indulging in gratuitous opposite lock slides through every corner on the track, just because the car's forgiving nature and delicate sensitivity allowed me to drive it at the most ridiculous angles without fear of spinning.
The car sucks you in with a classic udjustable nature long since lost to the science of stiff suspensions and grippy rubber, and you quickly feel like a Moss or a Fangio, managing the car's attitude from corner entry to exit. Turn in a little too fast and the Alfa understeers gently. Relax the throttle, feel the weight shift onto the outside front wheel and the centre of grip moving forward along the car's axis. With the front settled, you can now take advantage of the lightly laden back end to bring the rear wheels into steering duty by pressing the throttle. Squeeze the throttle slightly harder, and the car turns slightly tighter, lift a little and the back wheels regain grip. All this time the steering, which was originally used to initiate the turn, is acting as a sort of volume control, magnifying the effects of the throttle position. Steer slightly more for a more extreme reaction, relax the steering a touch to reduce the throttle's influence over the car's attitude. Push the car a little to hard and it lifts the inside rear wheel off the tarmac and smokes the excess power away in harmless wheelspin. Relax the throttle or steering a touch, the wheel touches down again and drive is regained. You can use this as a safety valve, or as a marker allowing you to get maximum performance from apex to exit. It all feels very old fashioned, but addictive none the less. In a world of modern cars where you lean on the grip and pray, it's refreshing to drive a tool which encourages you to drift around a circuit, balancing on the balls of your feet like a dancer, skipping around the circuit to the rhythm of the engine's organic beat.
Not pretty then, but with three new gold cups in the cabinet and a shiny new GTA in the garage the job was done. GT4 had even been kind enough to give me a white one so I could easily tell it apart from my existing, unmodified, red example.
So here's the plan. My objective is to build a Guilia GTA that can take on the Motorsport Elise at El Capitan, and win. This should be a somewhat more difficult event in the GTA than it was in the Elan. The little racing Alfa has neither the grip not the balance that made the sparingly powered English car so effective here. In standard trim its balance errs towards oversteer, and if I hit my target of 250bhp, that trait will surely be magnified. The Elan's racing career is far from over yet though, so I have plenty of time to tinker with the Alfa. I will therefore be adding modifications to the chassis in stages, and measuring the improvements in performance at the Test Curse, and Tsukuba Race circuit.
Here, then, is the first progress report.
I started by recording the car's specifications, then testing its straight line performance at Test Curse before taking it to Tsukuba to record a lap time. This short, tight circuit was chosen precisely because it is short, and I find it an easy track to be consistent around. Laps here can be accumulated quickly, and the lap times will tend to reflect the car's ability more than the driver's. All testing will be on N2 tyres unless otherwise stated. The time to speed measurements were recording by watching the replay and pausing when the appropriate speeds were reached. This is not the most accurate method available and therefore the 0-60 and 0-100 times must be taken as indicators only.
The Alfa Guilia GTA in standard trim, with oil change, develops 121bhp and weighs 745kg. At the test course the GTA needed care when launching, to avoid excess wheelspin. Despite this enthusiasm, it posted what, I am quite sure, are the slowest figures I have yet tested for a car in GT4. Here they are:
STOCK (121bhp, 745kg, N2 tyres)
400 metre sprint: 17.79 seconds @ 83mph
1000 metre sprint: 31.67 seconds @ 106mph
Top Speed: 127.2mph
0-60mph: 10.3 seconds
0-100mph: 25.8 seconds
Tsukuba lap time: 1:15.98
Test report: The standard Guilia is a delightful little car to drive on a tight circuit. The engine feels more enthusiastic than the car's performance suggests, and while the grip and turn in are not particularly strong, the car does manage to carry a lot of energy into and through the corner as long as the driver is smooth. It doesn't take long for the GTA's playful nature to shine though though, and by lap 4 I found myself indulging in gratuitous opposite lock slides through every corner on the track, just because the car's forgiving nature and delicate sensitivity allowed me to drive it at the most ridiculous angles without fear of spinning.
The car sucks you in with a classic udjustable nature long since lost to the science of stiff suspensions and grippy rubber, and you quickly feel like a Moss or a Fangio, managing the car's attitude from corner entry to exit. Turn in a little too fast and the Alfa understeers gently. Relax the throttle, feel the weight shift onto the outside front wheel and the centre of grip moving forward along the car's axis. With the front settled, you can now take advantage of the lightly laden back end to bring the rear wheels into steering duty by pressing the throttle. Squeeze the throttle slightly harder, and the car turns slightly tighter, lift a little and the back wheels regain grip. All this time the steering, which was originally used to initiate the turn, is acting as a sort of volume control, magnifying the effects of the throttle position. Steer slightly more for a more extreme reaction, relax the steering a touch to reduce the throttle's influence over the car's attitude. Push the car a little to hard and it lifts the inside rear wheel off the tarmac and smokes the excess power away in harmless wheelspin. Relax the throttle or steering a touch, the wheel touches down again and drive is regained. You can use this as a safety valve, or as a marker allowing you to get maximum performance from apex to exit. It all feels very old fashioned, but addictive none the less. In a world of modern cars where you lean on the grip and pray, it's refreshing to drive a tool which encourages you to drift around a circuit, balancing on the balls of your feet like a dancer, skipping around the circuit to the rhythm of the engine's organic beat.
