After trying many stock cars with RH tires and running out of eurobeat, I decided to test stock cars with Sports Tires, the "intended" way, similar to what Baka is doing, although I have no especific pp range. I'm just using the best possible tires under 600pp. The idea is to go all the way to Zagato.
After that, I'll be doing a list for cars above 600pp. Still thinking how I'm going to do, since detuning is not equal for them (e.g: with the 911 GT3 I have a better time with SM with reduced power than with RH with more power). There's a lot of combinations with ballast, tires and power, so we'll see about that... Kinda want to do a VGT list, too.
Anyway, so far this are the results:
Some notes:
- Cars like the BMW M3/Z8, Audi TTS, Mustang, NSX 92' and so on... they're fast, but not "fast enough". The M3 07' has enough speed, but not enough acceleration. The Mustang is good at acceleration, but not at top speed. They're capable of winning with RH tires, but they aren't fast enough with SS/SM tires with one-stop or SH with no-stop.
- I almost got a win with the Vantage S. It was so close! Maybe with better luck I could have won, since laps times by the blue NSX were all below 2:09-2:10. Can say the same thing about the Porsche 996. I got 4th, 3rd and 2nd with them, losing 1st place by mere 2-4 seconds.
- I have a feeling the Corvette C4 can win on SS. At first I thought the top speed wouldn't be enough, but looking at my time with RH, I got a 27:09. I think it's possible, might try it later.
- The Charger Hellcat and the Mustang 350R are the worst experiences I ever had with this race. The Charger is all over the place. That car is alive and wants to kill you. My first race I got literally rammed by the AI at the very last corner, so I rage quit. Won on the second race, but it was so bad that I didn't even recorded my time. It was ~+27:48. Awful.
The Mustang 350R is actually quite nice to drive, but tire wear is too high with SS/SM. What I really hate on this car is the 6th gear. This gear doesn't make any sense, at all. By default, the gear puts you under 5k RPM, which is awful for that main straight. Even if you stick to 5th gear, you're locked under 280 km/h.
- Only two Ferraris because those 2 are the only ones I have without mods. I wanted to test the 365 and the 512, but since they have a WR level 1 upgrade, it's way too expensive for me to reset them. (365 New Body is 1.1 million. The car is currently at LCD for 600k. Geez...). Diablo GT won't be in the list for the same reason. FeelsBad.
- I know SM/SS tires can mask some handling problems, but using them in the Audi R8 and the Aston Martin DB11 is just elegant. They feel really, really nice to drive. Super fun. They're up there with the Porsche Cayman in terms of "relaxing walk around Tokyo".
- The Corvette C7 can do a sub 26 minutes, I'm 100% confident on that.
- The Ferrari GTO is faster than it looks. It's nimble and small with a turbo on it. Quite safe to drive, too. Similary, the Ford GT40 is just as good. If I could use SS on the GT40, I bet I could get a sub 26 time. Fuel efficiency is also not bad for a car that is constantly in high RPMs.
- All 3 Vipers are good choices. Of course, the GTS 13' is the fastest, but damn the GTS 02' has such a good sound.
- Finally, the highlight so far is the C 63 being able to win the race with SS. Question for
@Baka_Marimo: is your time with the C 63 before the 1.23 update? I swear, it feels impossible to save tires with this car. By lap 6 tires are all gone.
@BWM strat from last page, running over water puddles as much as possible, is how I managed to get 7 laps from SS tires and consequently doing with only 1-stop. Well, sticking to water as much as possible and very, VERY, very light and docile throttle/brake control. At least it's fun to control this car. Better and more fun than the freaking Hellcat... This car gave me so many headaches, but I finally got a win.