Top Gear Comparo Thread.

[Car-less]

In the PAL version the options are;

Free Run
Race Meeting
Photo Drive
Family Cup

...where Free Run resembles "Arcade Mode:Time Trial" and Race Meeting resembles "Free Practice" for a championship event which is why I thought it was the one you meant.

Anyway, I got back in the car and went out onto an empty track for a free run. Some 10 laps later and I had managed a much better 1:24.623 - no doubt due to the extra practice. I then saved my ghost replay and had exactly 0k remaining on my memory card! Time to clear out some of the earlier rounds of the Grand Prix Classics.

 

[shotamagee]

Daihatsu Midget '63 Stock with N1 Tires @ Tsukuba

Best Time: 1'51.762

Don't think I can blame the 10 second difference between me and Shot on horsepower... I guess I'm going to be racing more tonight!

Lol, I've got a nicely balanced classic road car & you've got... um well put bluntly a 3 wheeled lorry, so I'm not surprised mine's a bit quicker. Though I might give the midget a run to see what the best time I can do for it is.

EDIT: I would blame power, I've got 19 and yours has 12, thats like a 37% difference.

PS I'm in PAL land, I used the Free Run option to get the time I posted. (Time Trial, All on my lonesome, with no tyre wear)

 

[Smallhorses]

Sorry for the late arrivals of:

Round 2: Meeting At Tsukuba Scoring!​

Your cars will now be assessed against "Stiggy-san"'s laptime in the "Deux Cheval-Vapeur"'s. It's 57 year-old lumbering carcass lugged it's way around Tsukuba in the dry at a best time of 1'46.561.
Your differences are now multiplied by 10, and rounded up or down. You'll score a corresponding number of points...

The posted results reveal:

1st

Midget '63 - tricd04 - 888 5.201 slower = -52 points.
2nd

Carol 360 Deluxe '62 - AndersonG22 - 857 2.025s quicker = 20 points.
3rd

500R '72 - shotamagee - 590 4.889s quicker = 49 points.
4th

Beat Version F '92 - one inch man - 474 22.971s quicker = 230 points.
5th

Autozam AZ-1 '92 - Car-less - 462 21.938s quicker = 219 points.
6th

Beat Version Z '93 - BH-21 - 446 20.244s quicker = 202 points.

360 '58 - Smallhorses - 865 0.56s quicker = 6 points.

And so we move on. I promised an equal balance of testing and stupidity. Here comes the first bit. And if you think this is silly, the 6th round is going to look like the Camino del Muerte special!!!

Round 3.​

By George! I daresay there's spray coming from the front of that Midget, dear chap! How can that be?!!!

​

Oh no! It's rained at Tsukuba! Since everyone knows that FF cars are "safer" in the wet, "Stiggy-san" has had his radio batteries topped up and gone off to set a laptime in his stock 2CV on N1 tyres. Your laptimes will be compared to his, however, there's a catch...
Since the track is now greasier than an Italian waiter's hairdo, your cars are now, by all common wisdom, instant deathtraps with their MR or RR drivetrains and N1 tyres fitted, so you won't be allowed to drive them as normal.
Instead, in order to turn them into comparable and "safe" front-wheel drive cars, you are required to submit your best laptime, preferably keeping 2 tyres on tarmac at all times, whilst driving only in reverse!
If you wish to post videos for additional hilarity, please feel free to do so, but you'll not get any extra points!
(Use GT mode, World Circuits: Tsukuba Wet, Practice (or Free Run) and submit your best laptimes by PM to Smallhorses, driven in reverse gear only, within 48 hours of this post. You may reconfigure you controller how ever you please to make it easier to drive, but you may not make any additional modifications to your vehicle. (Yet.))
FWIW: I found it easiest to keep my thumb on reverse (Triangle) and my thumb on reverse view (down on wheel pad) while braking with my left foot and remembering to turn the wheel in the opposite direction to the bend I was entering!

Deadline for submission by PM is: 12:47AM Pacific Time Sunday Sept 18th.​

 

[one inch man]

too bad there isn't an option to fill the cars with water...
though i have to say the lack of power and weight takes a lot of danger out of wet conditions and adds quite a bit of fun, going the direction where the car actually reaches more than 38km/h...

 

[BH-21]

Hehe, lol, talk about having to learn to drive again. In the end I gave up and just held the controller backwards and I still went off the track on one attempt. Don't oversteer! I'm almost intrigued enough to get the '63 Midget to try that one backwards.

 

[Smallhorses]

too bad there isn't an option to fill the cars with water...third lap was x'xx.xxx
though i have to say the lack of power and weight takes a lot of danger out of wet conditions and adds quite a bit of fun, going the direction where the car actually reaches more than 38km/h...

Ahem. The request is for laptimes to be submitted by PM to me for this challenge. You may wish to edit your post above and send the laptime to me.

 

[Car-less]

Instead, in order to turn them into comparable and "safe" front-wheel drive cars, you are required to submit your best laptime, preferably keeping 2 tyres on tarmac at all times, whilst driving only in reverse!

What can I say. I've done this before (only in the dry and at another track), and beat my nephew who was in the same car but driving normally. Ok, so he is only 10 and doesn't usually brake, but I still beat him...

...but in the wet it is a bit more slippery and my best lap did see me with one wheel on the tarmac, one on the grass and two on the rumble strip coming out of turn 3. If that is acceptable I have an otherwise perfect lap to submit, otherwise I have some more work to do.

Edit: Nevermind. I gave it another go and saw almost a full second improvement on the first lap by taking an unusual line.

 

[AndersonG22]

This will be easy for me, my car only does 16mph in reverse. Ill pm you the time in 3 years. lmao

 

[one inch man]

Ahem. The request is for laptimes to be submitted by PM to me for this challenge. You may wish to edit your post above and send the laptime to me.

whoops...

 

[tricd04]

The Midget is surprisingly stable in reverse... I'll post a vid of my time when this round's over.

 

[shotamagee]

Well my car topped out at 36Kph, so this wasn't too tough, I did get into a bit of a slide going through the last hairpin, but that was the only bit of excitement for the lap.

 

[Smallhorses]

Wow, everyone has submitted already! I guess that means you're all ready for Round 4!
I'm off out to a concert tonight, Thievery Corporation. Should be fun given my current throbbing head, but I'm not willing to give up the tickets and the chance to see one of my favourite acts due to a silly head injury!
I'll get Round 4. up when I get home later.

 

[Smallhorses]

Round 3. Ridiculousness In The Rain Scoring!​

Since "Stiggy-San" had the benefit of Front-Wheel drive, and thus 4 forward gears, he was able to set a laptime of 1'49.913 in the N1-shod 2CV.
Your PM'd laptimes will now be compared to this and you'll score a point for every second quicker you went (un-bloody-likely!) or lose a point for every second slower your "safe" vehicles were.
(Totals will be rounded up or down to give an integer value)

The PM'd results reveal:

1st

Midget '63 - tricd04 - 777 3'40.552 laptime = 111s slower = -111 points.
2nd

Carol 360 Deluxe '62 - AndersonG22 - 687 4'39.646 laptime = 170s slower = -170 points.
3rd

500R '72 - shotamagee - 491 3'28.841 laptime = 99s slower = -99 points.
4th

Autozam AZ-1 '92 - Car-less - 434 2'17.957 laptime = 28s slower = -28 points.
5th

Beat Version F '92 - one inch man - 386 3'18.158 laptime = 88s slower = -88 points.
6th

Beat Version Z '93 - BH-21 - 353 3'22.857 laptime = 93s slower = -93 points.

360 '58 - Smallhorses - 736 3'58.536 laptime = 129s slower = -129 points.

There's not much change in the leaderboard, save for Car-less' "swift in reverse" Autozam taking over 4th place from one inch man's Beat Version F. Version F obviously meaning it's faster forwards!

So we come to (and please read these instructions carefully, they may or may not self-destruct, but you don't want to take that chance!)...

Round 4.​

Alright, so your cars haven't been the massive towers of power that're conjured by images of the likes of

,

,

,

,

-seggseggsegg and

(which I'm allowed to say even if GT4 isn't!!! ) which're usually associated with MR & RR drivetrains.
You will now be allowed to bring your cars a miniscule amount closer to matching any one of those car's kind of performance. With an unlimited budget, but not allowing NOS, wings or ballast weight, you are required to tune your car to as close as possible to a garage-screen Power-to-Weight ratio (and yeah, we all know it's actually a misrepresented Weight-to-Power ratio in GT4) of 11.000, without dropping below this figure.
You'll score points for being closer to 11.000 and just to clarify that dropping below 11.000 is bad, let's incentivise this by saying you'll lose 10000 points per thousandth you drop below 11.000. e.g. a final WPR of 10.995 will earn you -50000 points. Which is a bad thing.
You can fit whatever you like to your car, including exhausts, brakes, engine modifications, suspension, gearboxes, clutches, flywheels, LSDs, weight reduction, etc.. You may however, as mentioned before, not use NOS, wings or ballast weight at all.
You must also fit S3 tyres only - no racing tyres.
Oh, and in case you've been asleep, don't drop below 11.000 final Power-to-Weight, Weight-to-Power, whatever. OK?
Got that?
Good.
Off to Power & Speed section it is then. You may now fiddle with all your newly installed bits and pieces to tune your now rampantly powerful beasts to achieve as high a maximum speed as possible.
You'll be compared to "Stiggy-san"'s 2CV which our Top Gear boffins have fiddled with, and brought up to the requisite specs. Score points for being quicker than the 2CV, lose 'em for being slower.
Simples.

Post your car, modifications made, and your final WPR figure from the garage screen here, and PM your Maximum Speed (in mph) attained to Smallhorses, within 48 hours of this post.

Deadline for submission by PM is: 12:08AM Pacific Time Tuesday Sept 20th.​

 

[one inch man]

Ok, things i changed: oil, fully adjustable transmission, triple plate clutch, racing flywheel, variable lsd, racing suspension, S3 tires, i balanced the engine and ported the polish. wait, no, i mean i polished the ports.
Final WPR: 11.198
power: 68bhp
credits spent: 57.050

 

[tricd04]

Silly me didn't bring my camera card with me, and really doesn't want to run home to get it... So you'll have to wait until tomorrow to see my replay... At the same time that I do that, I'll post my car updates.

 

[one inch man]

Oh, I think we might get a problem with my entry. I'll be far away from my PS2 for a few days. Meaning tuesday to friday and then saturday to monday.
I could race on friday evening and then again in monday afternoon. But no more. How can we solve that?

 

[shotamagee]

Round 4 Details

Car: Fiat 500R '72 10km Special

Before Round 4 Car Stats
Power: 19HP
Weight: 595KG
Garage Screen PWR: 31.365 (actual; 595/19 = 31.316)

PWR affecting parts
Part - Cost - New Stats
Oil Change - 50 - 20HP
NA Stage 2 - 11500 - 42HP
Port Polish - 5000 - 43HP
Engine Balance - 10000 - 45HP
Inc Displacement - 8500 - 47HP
PC Chip - 1000 - 49HP
SR Exhaust - 2800 - 50HP
Stage 1 Weight - 1000 - 577Kg
Stage 2 Weight - 5000 - 559Kg

New Power: 50Hp
New Weight: 559Kg
New Garage Screen PWR: 11.080 (actual; 559/50 = 11.18)

Non PWR Parts
Race Brakes - 4500
Brake Balance Controller - 10000
FC Transmission - 10000
Triple Clutch - 4500
Race Flywheel - 900
Variable LSD - 6000
Race Suspension - 15000
S3 Tyres - 5600

Total Cost: 101350

 

[Car-less]

First up my ridiculous replay.

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=OCDJYECM

I then opted for a Racing Exhaust and port & polish to bring the WPR of my Mazda Autozam to an amazing 11.001! I also fitted the obligatory S3 tyres and tightened up the drivetrain with a fully custom gearbox, triple clutch and racing flywheel. Adjusting the gears to autoset 19 and shifting at 6000rpm gave the best results.

 

[tricd04]

Daihatsu Midget '63 (415kg, 12hp)

Items Bought:
Stage 1 Turbo: 4,500 Cr. (12hp --> 38hp)
S3 Tires: 5,600 Cr.
Fully Customizable Transmission: 10,000 Cr.
Sports Suspension: 3,000 Cr.
Racing Brakes: 4,500 Cr.
Brake Controller: 10,000 Cr.
Increased Rigidity: 30,000 Cr.

Now, I know that the 'actual' Weight/Power Ratio is something like 10.921xxx, but in the Garage Screen it said 11.052, probably due to the hp numbers being off in the Garage Screen. If this is a problem and I'm going to end up being fined for this, I can and will change out the turbo for N/A tuning.

 

[BH-21]

My parts in the Max Speed challenge.

Beat Version Z '93

Oil Change                                50
Tires: Sports Soft (S3)                5,600
Racing Chip                            1,000
Transmission: Fully Customizable      10,000
Clutch: Sports                         1,500
Flywheel: Sports                         400
Limited-slip: 1.5-way                  4,000
Suspension: Sports                     3,000
Weight Reduction: Stage 1              1,000

PWR = 66 HP
PW/W Ratio = 11.101

 

[Smallhorses]

My parts, but with a question. Is it ok to buy a part that is of no use in the Max Speed challenge we are doing but is useable in the future on another challenge?

Avast ye scurvy dogs! (It's national "Talk Like A Pirate Day" after all!)
It shouldn't really be an issue, as you've an unlimited budget so you can fit a full-custom transmission. The plan is to have you set the cars up for Max Speed, and then with no further changes to settings, run the 2 final challenges.
If you need to re-run with this in mind you still have until just after Midnight (PST) tonight to do so. Believe me, running at as close to Max Speed as possible is going to be a bonus (for sanity's sake) in round 6!

 

[Car-less]

Now, I know that the 'actual' Weight/Power Ratio is something like 10.921xxx, but in the Garage Screen it said 11.052, probably due to the hp numbers being off in the Garage Screen. If this is a problem and I'm going to end up being fined for this, I can and will change out the turbo for N/A tuning.

The PWR figure in the garage screen should be more accurate than your calculated figure.

415/38=10.921, but what if your car actually has 37.55hp?

As smallhorses asked for "garage-screen Power-to-Weight ratio of 11.000" rather than "self-calculated Power-to-Weight ratio of 11.000" you should be fine.

 

[Smallhorses]

Oh, I think we might get a problem with my entry. I'll be far away from my PS2 for a few days. Meaning tuesday to friday and then saturday to monday.
I could race on friday evening and then again in monday afternoon. But no more. How can we solve that?

Where are you located?
The penultimate challenge should go up around 12:10AM (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, with a 48hr deadline, however, if I have an early night that night and I don't post the next challenge until later on Tuesday morning, then the deadline would be later. If you're East of me in the US (which is likely given that any further West is the Pacific Ocean! ) then you'll have 1 - 3 hours extra to get it done on Friday, and it shouldn't be a problem if you're based in Europe as you'll be 8 - 11 hours ahead of me and further still if you're based in Asia or down in Aus/NZ.
The final challenge will be posted with a 72hr deadline, since it's going to require a little extra time to complete in the interests of measuring something that's not been attempted before, but I'll say no more than that...

 

[shotamagee]

Avast ye scurvy dogs! (It's national "Talk Like A Pirate Day" after all!)
It shouldn't really be an issue, as you've an unlimited budget so you can fit a full-custom transmission. The plan is to have you set the cars up for Max Speed, and then with no further changes to settings, run the 2 final challenges.
If you need to re-run with this in mind you still have until just after Midnight (PST) tonight to do so. Believe me, running at as close to Max Speed as possible is going to be a bonus (for sanity's sake) in round 6!

Even though I bought practically everything for my car, I only adjusted the gearbox for challenge no 4, I figured I'd tune the suspension etc once we hit a challenge with corners. So should I do some free running to suss the other settings before the next challenge, or is just the gearbox you want finalized?

 

[Smallhorses]

Even though I bought practivally everything for my car, I only adjusted the gearbox for challenge no 4, I figured I'd tune the suspension etc once we hit a challenge with corners. So should I do some free running to suss the other settings before the next challenge, or is just the gearbox you want finalized?

Nope. You can adjust everything for the Max Speed run, and resubmit if you wish, there's still time, but once your settings are done, they're staying untouched for rounds 5 & 6. That's how "Stiggy-san"'s car was run, the Top Gear boffins were sent home after the Test Course Run, so that's how your cars will run too.

 

[one inch man]

Where are you located?
The penultimate challenge should go up around 12:10AM (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, with a 48hr deadline, however, if I have an early night that night and I don't post the next challenge until later on Tuesday morning, then the deadline would be later. If you're East of me in the US (which is likely given that any further West is the Pacific Ocean! ) then you'll have 1 - 3 hours extra to get it done on Friday, and it shouldn't be a problem if you're based in Europe as you'll be 8 - 11 hours ahead of me and further still if you're based in Asia or down in Aus/NZ.
The final challenge will be posted with a 72hr deadline, since it's going to require a little extra time to complete in the interests of measuring something that's not been attempted before, but I'll say no more than that...

Central europe it is. Good.

 

[Smallhorses]

Deadline has passed. I'm still awaiting a WPR and Max speed from AndersonG22. Results and new challenge later...

 

[Smallhorses]

Ok, since there's no input from AndersonG22, and he's indicated elsewhere that he's preoccupied with gambling on some website or other, he's withdrawn from the standings here, and so with that, on to...

Round 4. Moar Powah! Scoring!​

"Stiggy-san"'s Top Gear boffins gave his 2CV the following modifications: Oil changed, Full Custom Transmission, Full Custom Suspension, Triple-plate Clutch, Racing Flywheel, Full Custom LSD, Race Brakes, Brake Controller, NA Tuning Stage 3, Race Chip & Port Polish. This left him with the following stats: 45HP, 495kg, 11.027 WPR. He then ventured out onto the Test "Curse" to see how fast he could make his upturned corrugated pram go. As it turns out, not even 90mph was breached before the 2CV ran out of oomph, and he settled for a best of 86.20 mph.
Your PM'd speeds and posted WPR figures will now be compared to these and you'll score a point for every 1/1000th closer to the magic 11.000 you got, and lose a point for every 1/1000th above the 2CV's 11.027 you were. You'll also have your maximum speeds compared to the 2CV's 86.20mph, once again they'll be rounded up or down to the nearest integer value and multiplied by 10. So that's 10 points for every mph faster and -10 points for every mph slower. Righty then. This is how things look:

1st

Autozam AZ-1 '92 - Car-less - 758 11.001 WPR = 26 points. 115.95 mph = 298 points.
2nd

Midget '63 - tricd04 - 693 11.052 WPR = -25 points. 80.28mph = -59 points.
3rd

Beat Version Z '93 - BH-21 - 630 11.101 WPR = -74 points. 121.31 mph = 351 points.
4th

Beat Version F '92 - one inch man - 592 11.198 WPR = -171 points. 123.91 mph = 377 points.
5th

500R '72 - shotamagee - 564 11.080 WPR = -53 points. 98.78mph = 126 points.

360 '58 - Smallhorses - 657 11.124 WPR = -97 points. 88.04mph = 18 points

Carol 360 Deluxe '62 - AndersonG22 Withdrawn.

And so, Car-less' careful tuning sees him romp to the top of the table, displacing tricd04 for the first time in this contest. The Honda Beat's impressive speeds see them gain traction in the table, but BH-21's superior WPR value means he leapfrogs one inch man. Sadly shotamagee's Fiat drops to last place, but, as we've already seen things can change pretty fast around here, so will the next test favour the oldies or the newbies? Let's find out...

Round 5.​

Since Tsukuba has had chance to dry out while you've been fettling your microcars, we'll now head back there to re-run a dry lap with your new settings and stickier tyres, keeping 2 wheels on the tarmac at all times.
You are not allowed to move your settings from those which you used for the Max Speed test.
Your new and improved time will be compared to your stock time on N1 tyres and points awarded for improvement.

PM to Smallhorses your fastest laptime (and in the interests of the final test the post the exact mileage on your car from the garage screen in this thread when you're done) within 48 hours of this post.

Deadline for submission by PM is 4:56PM Pacific Time Friday Sept 23rd.​

 

[shotamagee]

Can you put the running total for our points somewhere?

 

[Smallhorses]

Can you put the running total for our points somewhere?

I'll post the table at the end after Round 6 results.