I'm glad I managed to help people with IA-9! I had an awesome time last night and got 6 golds across IA and S licences....fully completed IA to gold and 3 tests on S Licence to gold too. Got a few more tips:
*Note, I play DS3, auto transmission and TCS set to 1 so if I can do it with these settings, so can you!
IA-4 (SLR on Nurb): it's important to take the corners cleanly and where possible, take the inside apex of the corners. For the uphill right-hander, don't brake too much and let the car roll through the corner for greater exit speed. Taking the last corner well and getting on the throttle early makes a big difference. Not too hard at all.
IA-8 (Lambo on Grand Valley): brake early into the corner and try to hug the inside wall of the tunnel. Take a wide line and cut inside a bit later than you think. The key to this one is having great exit speed through the chicane. Full speed after this chicane and ease off the throttle a tiny bit over the bridge and through the final tunnel (you can brake lightly but it'll make you lose more time than easing off the gas). Your time will be heavily influenced by how well you take the chicane after the tunnel.
IA-10 (Porsche on Nurb): this requires a lot of speed and practice but isn't too bad. I'll try and jot down what worked for me....a good tip is to try and avoid hitting the kerbs as the car can bounce around a bit and you lose a few tenths here and there (easier said than done I know).
- Brake early into the first corner and try to take it smoothly sweeping up the hill
- full speed down the hill and tap the brake a few times, ease off throttle and coast through right hand corner
- get on the power and full speed, turn hard into left hander going downhill and this entire section is FULL SPEED
- tap the brakes a few times before the right hander going uphill and let the car coast for a second or two, brake again and with the slower speed, let the car sweep up through the left hander...try to hit the apex wide
- brake before the bouncy left hander and try to hug the inside (car might slow down a bit but that's ok), once you're about 60-70% through the corner, full throttle
- for the right hander going uphill before the last corner, tap the brakes a few times so you get the inside apex and hit throttle hard, ease off a touch so you can hit the inside apex of the final corner and then send it to the finish (feel free to drop TCS to 0 on the straight for a bit more acceleration).
I only beat gold but a few tenths I think but my run wasn't perfect...I know I could've taken 1-2 corners faster. Best of luck!
S Licence:
S-2 (Porsche on Catalunya rally/track circuit): wow, this is a LOT easier than you think! The key is to have TCS set to 0. That's right. I tried and tried with TCS set to 1 and was a second or two slower. Drop it to 0 and copy the Demonstration. This test is less about speed and more about accuracy and taking each corner well by taking the apexes. I absolutely butchered the final corner but got gold by a few tenths. Don't be afraid to hit the throttle hard on straights even with TCS on 0 as the car won't spin out.
S-6 (Porsche Strassenversion, Atlanta).
This car has a tendency to oversteer and slide a bit but it's a decent car with practice.
- Start off by easing off the power a bit before the lap starts and then hit the throttle through the apex to start the lap with good speed. Brake into the first corner and coast through it before getting on the throttle.
- Before you see the top of the hill, brake hard and try to take the blind corner on the yellow part (be careful not to cut too hard)
- For the downhill section, ease off the power on the first right hand corner, hit the apex and get on the gas
- Brake hard and cut the left hander to get on the wide apex....I think my first sector split was 0:34:200 which isn't quick but good enough for gold
- full speed to right hander, brake hard and let your speed coast through the corner, brake hard again and take apex before the straight.
- On the straight, drop TCS to 0 for quicker acceleration
- Halfway on the straight increase TCS to 2 (I changed it to 2 because on 0 or 1 the car slides too much in the chicane)
- Brake hard and early into chicane and try to hit the apex, when you're entering the uphill section, drop TCS to 1 and get on the power to get up the hill
- final corner should be like how you started the lap. Done.
S-9 (Valkyrie on Red Bull Ring).
Recommendation: Change the controller settings so the overtake/boost option is on the Circle button rather than R3 (means it's easier for your thumb to access boost)
The key to this test is abusing the boost button (thanks for the great tip from the above user). Use the overtake/boost option on ALL STRAIGHTS and when exiting corners.
This isn't a very technical track so I'm not going to bother doing a step-by-step corner guide unless someone wants help with a specific corner.
Hope this post helps someone out there...
