Which GTE for Le Mans - help me decide!

[Daz555]

I have a 2.5hr race on Saturday at Le Mans (assuming I qualify). I can choose either LMP2 or GTE and I've decided to go with GTE.

I have not yet worked out which car is fastest as I'm still a little inconsistent at Le Mans so this poll is just to see what others think about the "best" GTE on that circuit. The race league is fixed setups but I am able to set tyre pressures and fuel load via pit strategy.

 

[Dkay]

2017 RSR!

 

[Mr Tree]

Have you tried running 5 laps with most of em and see with which car you're most comfortable as after 2.5h mistakes add up so less mistakes less time lost?

 

[Daz555]

Have you tried running 5 laps with most of em and see with which car you're most comfortable as after 2.5h mistakes add up so less mistakes less time lost?

Yes I am doing stints in each car but am still a little too inconsistent to finally decide which car is fastest - but yes I take your point in that the car I make fewest mistakes with is likely the best choice. I think I have ruled out the BMW already however as it is just so slow on the straights.

They are all fairly close fuel wise with only about 1 lap difference between them on a full tank.

 

[SestoScudo]

Choose Ferrari.

The 488 GTE.

 

[Bealdor]

I'd go for the Ford LM GTE simply because it's very easy to drive this car consistently which is IMO more important in an endurance race than pure performance per lap.

 

[JulesDennis]

I have a 2.5hr race on Saturday at Le Mans (assuming I qualify). I can choose either LMP2 or GTE and I've decided to go with GTE.

I have not yet worked out which car is fastest as I'm still a little inconsistent at Le Mans so this poll is just to see what others think about the "best" GTE on that circuit. The race league is fixed setups but I am able to set tyre pressures and fuel load via pit strategy.

IMO the best choice is the Corvette for LM.

 

[Sentry87]

Probably the Ford GT. Can't go wrong with any choice actually

 

[MisterWaffles]

I’d choose the Ferrari because I find the Ford to be an obvious choice and kind of boring honestly. For me the Ferrari is the best handling on a controller.

 

[jake2013guy]

I think the GTE field is rather well balanced. With the right setup, any of these cars will be stable. Best to avoid using the RSR as of now as there aren't really many setups around for it.

 

[DesertPenguin]

I think the GTE field is rather well balanced. With the right setup, any of these cars will be stable. Best to avoid using the RSR as of now as there aren't really many setups around for it.

And it sounds weird too.

I was looking at the results of last year's WEC season to give you a better idea of how things shake up. The Manufacturers Championship was won by Ferrari followed by Ford, Porsche, and Aston Martin. AF Corsa (Ferrari) won the GTE Pro Team Championship but Aston Martin Racing won the GTE Am Team Championship. Being that almost all of us would consider ourselves to be amateurs, my first choice would be the Aston Martin.

 

[Daz555]

Great input so far so thanks for that. The Ford is out in front but surprisingly no votes for the Aston - the comment above aside.

So far I'm fastest in the Ford, Corvette and Porsche (within 0.5 seconds), about 1 second slower in the Aston and nearly 2 seconds slower in the Ferrari.

I will do some more testing on Friday before I make a final decision.

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

2.5 hours is a long time to be looking at a car so go for the beautiful one, the Ferrari.

 

[Daz555]

2.5 hours is a long time to be looking at a car so go for the beautiful one, the Ferrari.

The Ferrari is nice of course but I drive cockpit cam so it's all about the interior! ;-)

 

[DesertPenguin]

The Ferrari is nice of course but I drive cockpit cam so it's all about the interior! ;-)

Then definitely not the Ferrari lol. The Corvette or the Ford are both great as there's no rear view mirror to get in the way and you have a rear view camera within view even if your cockpit view is moved in a lot.

Here are the power to weight ratios from my topic. Very odd how the BMW is on top but it's slowest on track?

GTE - Class Average - 5.26
BMW M6 - 4.88
Aston Martin Vantage - 5.19
Porsche 911 RSR - 5.24
Ferrari 488 - 5.24
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R - 5.48
Ford GT - 5.58

Crap, I'm just now thinking has the HP ever been changed on these in a patch and not shown to be adjusted on the UI when selecting cars? This is the case with the LMP2 cars. These numbers are based on in-game screen stats, you might have to check the data HUD screen on a straight (Le Mans) to see what peak HP is.

 

[Daz555]

Then definitely not the Ferrari lol. The Corvette or the Ford are both great as there's no rear view mirror to get in the way and you have a rear view camera within view even if your cockpit view is moved in a lot.

Here are the power to weight ratios from my topic. Very odd how the BMW is on top but it's slowest on track?

GTE - Class Average - 5.26
BMW M6 - 4.88
Aston Martin Vantage - 5.19
Porsche 911 RSR - 5.24
Ferrari 488 - 5.24
Chevrolet Corvette C7.R - 5.48
Ford GT - 5.58

Crap, I'm just now thinking has the HP ever been changed on these in a patch and not shown to be adjusted on the UI when selecting cars? This is the case with the LMP2 cars. These numbers are based on in-game screen stats, you might have to check the data HUD screen on a straight (Le Mans) to see what peak HP is.

It's because its top speed sucks and it loses a load of time on the long straights - on default tuning at least. No idea why - I can't imagine the real car is significantly slower than the others in a straight line.

 

[YayoiGT2]

I'd go with the Ford GT GTLM. In default trim it has excellent high speed stability and is more forgiving of "scrubbing" off speed if you overshoot by a bit. Its long wheelbase is a major helper at low speeds too.

By the same token, I would say avoid the Aston-Martin Vantage GTE at all costs, even if you're on wheel and not controller like me. It's more agile around corners, but its lacking in both high-speed balance and overall stability despite having a slightly higher top speed. You can get a lot of rotation out of it in slow corners, but it takes very little to get it wrong and thus into the nearest barrier. The GTE AM champion from last year that @DesertPenguin mentions has a lot more development on it that improves many of the GTE's faults, but the in-game car is much older.

 

[Daz555]

It now looks like rain for Saturday's race (race will follow the real weather at Le Mans on the day) so stability is going to be very important.

After all this I'll probably foul up qualifying and have to sit out the race.... ;-) lol

 

[barryf1fan]

I voted for the Ford GTLM as well as that's the car I run the most. I can actually turn a better lap with the C7R and the BMW, but am way more consistent with the Ford, to me, it's just easier to drive. Honestly, go with the car you feel you can qualify with but also keep in mind that it's a 2.5 hour race, and not a 5 lap sprint... And, I agree with the statement of the Aston that @YayoiGT2 made about it being less stable. I love the look of the Aston but it never seems to go around the same corner two laps in a row ('course that may be my terrible driving skills).

Pick a car and go with it, start working on a setup for qualifying - and don't look back. Good luck and have fun!!

Ninjaedit: just saw in the OP that it's fixed setup - guess you just need to pick a car and get in a crap ton of laps.

 

[JulesDennis]

It now looks like rain for Saturday's race (race will follow the real weather at Le Mans on the day) so stability is going to be very important.

After all this I'll probably foul up qualifying and have to sit out the race.... ;-) lol

If this race was with a free setup I would either pick 488 or the 911.911 seems to be very fast with the right setup and 488 really competitive (when you have the ability to play with setup-plus I am a Ferrari fan).
But since its a fixed setup race its either Ford or Corvette.IMO the Corvette is overall a better choice for a 2.5 h race because the "basic" setup is super forgiving and easy to drive plus you dont lose in terms of top speed.
BMW and Aston need a good setup in order to be competitive so those 2 should also be out of the picture.
SMS has done a good job in terms of BoP in GTE class but you need to "play" with the setup to get all cars into the same "level".

 

[Daz555]

So I picked the Ford GT LM in the end as after a load more laps on Friday night I was far more consistent - my fastest lap was in the Corvette but I made more mistakes over a number of laps.

The funny bit though is what happened at race time. In warmup for the race ahead of qualifying I found I was only the 6th fastest out of the GTE guys in practice and very close to 7th and 8th. This cause me a lot of concern as I feared missing the race. I jumped out and back in again but this time picked the Nissan LMP2 - a car I've driven plenty of times but not at Le Mans. I was instantly further up the field in comparison running a comfortable 2nd out of the 8 LMP2 drivers in practice.

So to close this thread, the answer of which GTE should I drive for a Le Mans 2.5hr race is.....the Ligier JS P2 Nissan LMP2!

 

[raven214]

So I picked the Ford GT LM in the end as after a load more laps on Friday night I was far more consistent - my fastest lap was in the Corvette but I made more mistakes over a number of laps.

The funny bit though is what happened at race time. In warmup for the race ahead of qualifying I found I was only the 6th fastest out of the GTE guys in practice and very close to 7th and 8th. This cause me a lot of concern as I feared missing the race. I jumped out and back in again but this time picked the Nissan LMP2 - a car I've driven plenty of times but not at Le Mans. I was instantly further up the field in comparison running a comfortable 2nd out of the 8 LMP2 drivers in practice.

So to close this thread, the answer of which GTE should I drive for a Le Mans 2.5hr race is.....the Ligier JS P2 Nissan LMP2!

I cannot help but feel we failed in some way with the subject of this thread...

How did your race go?

 

[Daz555]

I cannot help but feel we failed in some way with the subject of this thread...

How did your race go?

Race went great - I was consistent through the 2.5hrs, kept it pointing the right way for the whole race, and only had one minor off track moment whilst passing a GTE car just before the Porsche Curves. I finished only 5th out of the 6 in my class so result was not great but more than happy with the race.

 

[bleeder]

Race went great - I was consistent through the 2.5hrs, kept it pointing the right way for the whole race, and only had one minor off track moment whilst passing a GTE car just before the Porsche Curves. I finished only 5th out of the 6 in my class so result was not great but more than happy with the race.

That's what it's all about! The game really does deliver some great racing and that's the most important thing.

 

[barryf1fan]

But just to be clear, after getting poll results, and feedback about the GTE's you drove an LMP2 in the race??

That sounds like something I would've done. Signed up for one class and then ran another.

 

[bleeder]

Was driving the RSR GTE all night last night and damn, that's such a nice car. Straight up there on my list of favourite cars to drive, didn't even set it up that much either. Great work.