Toro! Toro! Toro! - Suzuka 1000km

[Falcon787B]

It's taken me a while, what with relentless XP grinding, car testing and other hooning about to be done, but I've finally made it round to my first enduro report. I've tried testing cars and lineups for the Grand Valley 300km and Laguna Seca 200, but no joy there. However, whilst testing a car I bought out of the blue and left sitting in my garage untested the other day, I hit upon an idea for a good enduro challenge. So I've made the trip to one of my favourite countries in the world, Japan, to welcome you to a soggy day in Mie Prefecture. Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for...

Toro! Toro! Toro!
The Suzuka 1000km

Thanks to AMG for the track map

My run at this race in GT4 was in a GT300 Weddssport Celica, and the victory in the end was an easy if tedious one. The track is treacherous and technical, demanding concentration the whole way round - for the entire six plus hours of this gruelling event This time, of course, it's not just the opponents and the track you have to defeat - it's the dynamic changing weather, which at the moment is set to 'rain'. Hard

The car I have brought along instead is one I'm fairly confident can do the business...but not 100%. It's Japanese, it's a Lexus, but unlike it's rivals here today, it isn't a Super GT car - it is, in fact, a 4-door touring car.

2008 Lexus IS-F Racing Concept
Horsepower: 543hp
Drivetrain: FR
Weight: 1350kg
Performance Points: 590PP
Tyres (at race start): Racing Medium

One of the biggest surprise packages I've ever driven, the big and menacing Lexus saloon is actually a great car to drive, despite some problems with snap oversteer. Those have largely been cured by a setup courtesy of the guys at Avid Racing Factory - cheers folks, this big Lexus is better than ever 👍

And it's gonna have to be this good. It'll be up against the elite of Japanese motor racing from across the past seven years of Super GT racing. Here is how the grid lines up on the soaking wet pace lap:

1. 2008 Nissan YellowHat YMS Tomica GTR
2. 2006 Honda RAYBRIG NSX
3. 2008 Nissan Motul Autech GTR
4. 2008 Lexus Petronas Tom's SC430
5. 2006 Honda EPSOM NSX
6. 2008 Nissan CALSONIC IMPUL GTR
7. 2008 Lexus ISF Racing Concept
8. 2008 Lexus Eneos SC430
9. 2006 Nissan Xanavi Nismo Z
10. 2006 Honda ARTA NSX
11. 2005 Toyota YellowHat YMS Supra
12. 2008 Nissan Woodone Advan Clarion GTR

Based on pre-race testing, this should be very close - I'm close to even on laptimes with the front runners here, at least in the dry. Despite my 40 extra HP, my opponents have better acceleration, but the big Lexus is, despite it's extra weight (about 300kg), more rapid through the corners, and the brakes are excellent. However, due to this increased weight, the tire wear is atrocious - 6 laps into a stint on mediums and theyre over half worn As for my wet pace? I guess we'll find out soon enough, won't we? Sit tight, this should be a close one!

The long snaking train of cars makes its way through the final corner, and through the haze of water and rain, revs climb, wheels spin and gears crunch - we're away and racing! I'll be updating this report every 21 laps.

Laps 1-21



​

 

[Apmaddock]

Best of luck! I'll be checking back frequently.

 

[Falcon787B]

Cheers, good to have you along

I restarted from my first attempt, the report has been edited to match that. Seems the AI are hopeless in the wet...interesting, I'll bear that in mind should the rain return later

 

[veightpower]

I'm currently mid race, well 25laps in and yes the AI are utterly utterly hopeless in the wet. Some of them are as bad as 2:40's even 2:50's for a lap.

 

[Falcon787B]

Veightpower, yeah they are terrible. And it leads me to a dilemma...Ive just attempted the race in the dry, and my tyres were wearing badly whilst the lead NSX took off. So I either start in the dry and get owned, or start in the wet and destroy the field. Im going for the latter in the hope that the weather dries up once Ive got a lead and I have to hold the field off...how often does that happen? Any weathermen around here? haha!

 

[veightpower]

Thats whats happened to me, race started in rain and is still in rain, i am now a lap ahead OF EVERYBODY ON LAP 25. Thing is i'm going to be struggling if/when it dries so i'm stuck. I'm using a 240hp Lotus Elise, hardly a hardcore GT car.

If it stays wet the race will be a walkover. If it dries up or becomes changeable ((i hope) then it will become the challenge i'm after. I really don't want a repeat or the N4, BOOOOOOOring.

 

[C-ZETA]

An IS F Racing Concept on RMs should be good for a win when you keep it stable, even in the dry. I did it in a less powerful FTO STC on RHs. Barely. Thing is though, with that you don't ever have to worry about wheelspin that wrecks your tires - ever. The IS F will need throttle control to keep its tyres in check, and that extra weight won't help either. RMs will give you more speed in general though so that might well be the key.

 

[Falcon787B]

Thats whats happened to me, race started in rain and is still in rain, i am now a lap ahead OF EVERYBODY ON LAP 25. Thing is i'm going to be struggling if/when it dries so i'm stuck. I'm using a 240hp Lotus Elise, hardly a hardcore GT car.

If it stays wet the race will be a walkover. If it dries up or becomes changeable ((i hope) then it will become the challenge i'm after. I really don't want a repeat or the N4, BOOOOOOOring.

hah, yeah true. I want a nice mix - I want a car good enough to win (who wants to waste 6 hours or more to loose?), but one that'll really push me to the limit in terms of competitiveness. How is your race going? And is that Elise maxed out with aero parts etc? Can't remember if they do an RM for the Elise

An IS F Racing Concept on RMs should be good for a win when you keep it stable, even in the dry. I did it in a less powerful FTO STC on RHs. Barely. Thing is though, with that you don't ever have to worry about wheelspin that wrecks your tires - ever. The IS F will need throttle control to keep its tyres in check, and that extra weight won't help either. RMs will give you more speed in general though so that might well be the key.

Interesting...what're the specs of the FTO STC? And yeah that's my huge problem - literally, I need more speed from the ISF to remain competitive (the 2:07s I was doing weren't cutting it, the NSX had gone after 6 laps), and what's crippling me is the tyres. It's not the rears however, it's the fronts, that go badly red in almost every corner. I just ran a test run with a mid RPM turbo kit on, and I managed a 2:03 on the first lap, 2:04 on the second, and the tyres started to fade badly after just 2 laps, to a situation where they were almost completely gone by lap 6. Seeing as I was only just on pace with the NSX's laptimes, who can go double that distance on tires, I'm just about ready to throw in the towel with the ISF.

The replacement I have lined up is the Mercedes 190 Touring Car. Less power (even with the Mid RPM Turbo kit on it, its only on 436hp), but it weighs a LOT less (980kg), and crucially, it can run good laptimes without destroying RM tyres. The fastest I've got out of it is a 2:05.552, with a turbo on and no tweaking of the setup, and by lap 6 the tyres were only coming up on half worn. They keep the speed a lot better and wear a lot less. I reckon I'll easily make my target of 10-15laps on a stint on them. The ISF - no chance. If they were shot by 6 laps, then I'd be a sitting duck trying to make it to lap 10 at least.

 

[C-ZETA]

Interesting...what're the specs of the FTO STC?

Stock. 450hp, 980kg. I did 16 lap stints at first, then after I downloaded Update 2.02, they went down to 15 lap stints. Best I did was a 2:04 from memory, was mainly at around the 2:06 range, went down to about 2:08s with worn tyres. AI went a lot longer than me to start with but then when I downloaded 2.02 they pitted more frequently. Never really got more than a minute ahead, whole race was dry, final margin of victory was 0.2 seconds. Probably the best race I've done in all of GT.

 

[Falcon787B]

Stock. 450hp, 980kg. I did 16 lap stints at first, then after I downloaded Update 2.02, they went down to 15 lap stints. Best I did was a 2:04 from memory, was mainly at around the 2:06 range, went down to about 2:08s with worn tyres. AI went a lot longer than me to start with but then when I downloaded 2.02 they pitted more frequently. Never really got more than a minute ahead, whole race was dry, final margin of victory was 0.2 seconds. Probably the best race I've done in all of GT.

Sounds like an AMAZING race! And this has given me hope, seeing as the Mercedes I'm testing now has 436hp and weighs the same as your FTO. But I'm fascinated as to how you managed to average 2:06s on RH tyres, my Merc only averages 2:05-06s on RMs

also, the Merc is a lot easier to drive in the wet, which helps. The Lexus was slippery and almost constantly wheelspinning and trying to snap oversteer, averaging 2:29-2:32s laptimes. The Merc is a little quicker at 2:27-2:29s, but crucially it's easier to drive in the wet. There's less struggling with the car.

Back to the drawing board it is then...💡

 

[C-ZETA]

But I'm fascinated as to how you managed to average 2:06s on RH tyres, my Merc only averages 2:05-06s on RMs

Might just well be general speed. The FTO STC does have the 4WD that keeps it glued to the road almost effortlessly, so perhaps just the handling affects that. Plus, as your Evo II is modded up with a turbo that'll vaguely affect the performance that has too.