What is the best track to test cars?

[XDesperado67]

As an overall test of a cars capabilities its hard to beat Nürburgring Nordschleife.
That said its really to long and to varied to use when tuning cars unless their only use is on that track.
I use a variety of other tracks to tune on and then fine tune if need be for a specific track.

 

[berty1979]

Grand valley speedway IMO
Uneven surface.
Multiple hairpins
Long sweeping bends
Long straight

 

[McKiernan]

Grand valley speedway IMO
Uneven surface.
Multiple hairpins
Long sweeping bends
Long straight

Trust a Welsh guy to like the Valley but yeah I gotta agree & go with Grand Valley Speedway
It seems to have a bit of everything, I also like Trial Mountain & Nurburgring GP/F

 

[SkateNj]

just make an extremely demanding eifel circuit like i did
toscana and mt. aso work well to

 

[Menown]

Grand Valley! Didn't think of that and I've been driving it since GT 1.

My worry is the length of the straight, but that first corner is great of checking the balance of the car under breaking.

 

[hawkeye122]

Mid-field raceway, Long straights, varied corners... Oh wait....

I use Trial Mountain or... The Top Gear Test Track.

 

[Menown]

Haha, Mid-Field reverse used to be my test track actually.

 

[berty1979]

Trust a Welsh guy to like the Valley but yeah I gotta agree & go with Grand Valley Speedway
It seems to have a bit of everything, I also like Trial Mountain & Nurburgring GP/F

lol not just cos its got valley in the title

Grand Valley! Didn't think of that and I've been driving it since GT 1.

My worry is the length of the straight, but that first corner is great of checking the balance of the car under breaking.

If you picture the whole track its ideal, first corner as you said, then up the hill flat out round the long s bend into downhill for the tight hairpin that has an uneven section guaranteed to upset your car on the racing line. I could go on lol, last corner great too.
Just completed a 40 lap FGT race on this last weekend, took some practice and suspension tuning for that one.

 

[thepineapple1]

There are 2 answers to that question:

- the 'Ring. That's what it's famous for.

- your favourite track.

 

[king4951]

I use deep forest to test all my cars, it's nice and short so you can do half a dozen laps and get a quick average to see if a car is worth working on further - then the 'ring. My 2c

 

[Crazed_Coupe]

Trial Mountain Circuit, it has a nice mix of long fast turns, small slow turns, and a straightaway!

 

[alvin23a]

As an overall test of a cars capabilities its hard to beat Nürburgring Nordschleife.
That said its really to long and to varied to use when tuning cars unless their only use is on that track.
I use a variety of other tracks to tune on and then fine tune if need be for a specific track.

This is probaly one of the best imo because of the long straight, the hills, tight and smooth conners and the sector before the straight is quite bump so if you car is setup to low it tends to scrape the ground.

 

[Crazed_Coupe]

This is probaly one of the best imo because of the long straight, the hills, tight and smooth conners and the sector before the straight is quite bump so if you car is setup to low it tends to scrape the ground.

I think this map is great if your very good at it but if not it's way to long and technical to get a really accurate lap time and good representation of what the car can do IMO.

 

[Rossticles]

Grand Valley Speedway has the best assortment of turns. It is my proving grounds for all cars. I find Nordschleife is too long to get a legitimate gauge of a car's performance.

 

[McKiernan]

I think this map is great if your very good at it but if not it's way to long and technical to get a really accurate lap time and good representation of what the car can do IMO.

Very true.
Great track quite varied but it's too long for testing tunes IMO, like Coupe says if you can't do consistent laps on it it's too difficult to get a good representation of what the car can do.

 

[exiledfrenchy]

I'm gonna go out of line with everbody and take Deep Forest.

Some bends that tighten considerably on the exit, slow corners, high speed corners, that damn rock wall on the left hander following the change of elevation and direction and the same time (perfect to test a cars' balance) and so on.
If I can nail a selection of the corners perfectly, I know I'm getting close to my set up. Especially the first tunnel until the "rock wall bend" and the last corner. And that track is short enough so you can retry and rule out driving mistakes you make on a lap to compare lap times on "pefect laps".

 

[McKiernan]

that damn rock

I hate that rock lol

 

[SpartanG]

I'm gonna go out of line with everbody and take Deep Forest.

Some bends that tighten considerably on the exit, slow corners, high speed corners, that damn rock wall on the left hander following the change of elevation and direction and the same time (perfect to test a cars' balance) and so on.
If I can nail a selection of the corners perfectly, I know I'm getting close to my set up. Especially the first tunnel until the "rock wall bend" and the last corner. And that track is short enough so you can retry and rule out driving mistakes you make on a lap to compare lap times on "pefect laps".

Although i don't like the track i totally agree. The middle section you talked about also has good flow that tests you as a driver.

 

[davievtec]

I'm not being funny but I've been making my own tracks with 7 sections 2 with complexity at 10 some at 3 and the main straight works out good corners and long sweeping bends and the straight for straight line speed but it's upto you what you use to test I find my own tracks are good to tune cars on aswell

 

[mr.wigglesaur]

its like james may puts it- the damn nurburgring ruins cars. its not worth testing out cars on since while its a varied and very long course, it doesn't offer any real challenge in terms of difficult turns and such. please no flame just a simple opinion...

personally, i love the nurburgring gp course and laguna seca to test cars.

 

[McZachenF1138]

I'll have to agree with the OP.
Fuji is hard to beat.
1.5 km straight; big, slightly deviating sweeper; and all the corners after the Dunlop chicane are so unique.

 

[Zuel]

A number of people will say the Nurburgring is the best track to test the overall performance of a car. It's true as well false, the Ring as we call it has only a few areas that may mimic some other track condensations. It doesn't mimic all the tracks with in GT5 library. There may be 2 track with in GT5 that have the same surface condensations though it may be a slight difference. Before you just do you testing on one track try testing on all the track to see what you learn.

 

[BOSSEVO]

Deep Forest and the Nurburgring GP/F are two of my favorites.

 

[Raven_WET01]

Do not use the 'ring for tuning or testing a car. It is so unlike every other track that a proper setup on it won't be very good elsewhere, not to mention there's a massive margin of error with 12+ miles. Honestly, with the range of tuning options, all you need is a general setup to go by and the proper gear ratio. Your driving will make a much larger impact on lap times than switching from the default settings ever will (assuming the gear ratio is proper).

Remember the GT time trial competition before GT5's release? Everyone was running the same setup, yet there was over a 5 second lap time spread among experienced players. Don't worry about messing with the settings to knock tenths off your lap, because the simulation factor goes out the window when you start bolting on parts. People that adjust one of the differential settings two ticks one way or the other and claim it helps are full of it.

I have a general suspension setup that gets changed based on weight distribution and drivetrain. It's gotten to the point where I don't even put the car on the track to tune the suspension. Turn downforce all the way up, and adjust the gear ratio based on how much power it has and how long of a straight you're dealing with. Adjust the center differential to combat under/oversteer if the car calls for it. Done.

The best track to tune on is no track. Once you learn how you drive, and how you like your cars set up, you won't have to do trial and error sessions. I run faster with my tunes than anyone else's, not because they're better, but because they suit me.

 

[Duck]

The 'close to perfect' test track must have a combination of straights, slow and fast corners, plus 'special' sections (not straight braking zones, bumpy sections, etc).

Grand Valley and Fuji lacks in fast corners: GV only has the esses after first corner, Fuji only the U shaped one (so called 100R).

The best I found is Nurburgring Nordschleife. If you keep an eye to my ranking thread (in signature) I can tell you the top 4 cars, tested over 10 tracks, are also my top 4 lap times at this track. Sure it is based on A-spec race 'popolarity', but if you want to find the correct track you must define 'all around performance' first.

 

[HaylRayzor]

For tuning I use an Eifel Kart tri-oval with 3 different style corners. Wide, medium, and tight. It's easy to be consistent and I can make several laps with each change to be confident I've cancelled myself as a variable.

For top speed I use whatever track I'm tuning for.

 

[PIP_36]

I always use Suzuka to test my cars, and I always wear leather loafers when I do!

If you don't get the loafer reference, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96ekbvjyr0g&feature=related on the YouTubes!

 

[MitchZ06]

I don't know why people say the Nurburgring....its a loooong track thats just punishment on a car more than anything and your driving is the biggest factor, not the cars...I think people may be saying it because theres so many Nurb fanboys out there.

For me it'd be the Nurb GP/F circuit or one of the originals like Grand Valley or Trial Mountain.

 

[Will27]

Most of the time I use Trial Mountain or Autumn Ring.

After that, a quick test at the Nordschleife. Not usually looking at times here (although they do end up fairly consistent if the car is good), just checking that it feels right.

 

[PureLogic]

I usually test in the Triple Nature Circuits

Trial Mountain
Deep Forest
Grand Valley