Have a gem tonight, with an old classic of a car that gets quite a lot of hate when I use it.
Decide to see if my connection can hold out for more than 2 races when joining a public room (Hint: it doesn't, and won't. Friend rooms are fine though.)
Join a 500pp lobby at Laguna Seca, which isn't one of my favorite or best tracks... to see a relatively diverse mix of cars. Of note are a 3000GT and a Dodge Viper (host), along with the usual M3's, FR-S', NSX's, etc...
Not having much time to pick a car that's actually been tuned, I go with an old standby; the premium Honda Civic Type R EK) '97. I used to race in a 500pp series for a long time with the same car, and it's served me well (and gets it's fair share of compliments for being a very well-done Initial D replica.)
Notice everyone is on Sports Soft, and go with that as well. I also note that the room settings are as follows:
10 Laps
Fastest First
Fuel/Tire Wear is set to Very Fast
SRF is OFF
TCS is ON
ABS is ON
Of course, being as by the time I'd entered the pit lane to join the track, the host starts the race.
I start 9th out of 10th, with the host behind me.
Race starts, and I fall back into last almost immediately as I'm down at least 50 horsepower to everyone - well, except the green FR-S. He blew the start and slotted into 9th out of 10th, with me behind him.
First turn... wasn't a nightmare, just the 3000GT being forcibly shoved out of 2nd into 5th by means of a M3.
Middle of the third lap is where it got interesting (and stupid.) Said M3 driver was barely holding 2nd to a NSX that had started 8th and was flying. Host is down in 8th, dueling with another NSX and the 3000GT. First place is nearly 3 seconds ahead of 2nd, and the 2nd-place M3 is getting quite peeved that he can't make up ground to an Evora.
Green FR-S does an excellent overtake of all three drivers going into the first turn, astoundingly without any contact, as I only can watch (and cry a little inside) as he goes off in pursuit of the 6th-place S2000. Those three then wear their tires to shreds trying to catch the FR-S again, while I'm still just keeping pace - with good reason.
At lap five, the three drivers in front of me that are still dueling (3000GT, NSX, Host's Viper) have to pit for tires, as they've killed them (even with TCS) trying to catch the FR-S. Now in 7th, I spy a car coming out of the pits - the M3, who had lost 2nd place (and 3rd as well) and duly pass it.
M3 driver appears to take offense completely beyond reason to this, and the expletives start. Can understand his position a little bit - I don't think anyone would like being passed by a yellow eyesore - Uhh, I mean Civic.
Get the usual names from the book thrown at me - all the while having said nothing over my mic - and, as he attempts to catch back up, he runs off of the track three times in the same lap, losing ground and dropping into the group of backmarkers.
Lap 8 (still having abuse hurled at me, with the 3000GT driver trying to stop the M3 driver from blowing more smoke) I pass three other cars who stopped to pit, leaving me in 3rd place behind the FR-S and the Evora, who was now something like 30 seconds ahead. Evora driver says he has to pit and that he can't make the finish with near-dead rear tires, and does so. FR-S driver has to do the same, and I pass him while he was still in the pit to take 2nd, 8 seconds behind the Evora.
Evora driver notices this, asks me what I'm driving. I reply just exactly what I'm driving, and he begins laughing. He asks me if I can make the finish on the tires I have - which I can do. (Main reason I chose that specific car is because it barely burns through tires, even with the degradation setting on max.) Instead of taking the win, he thinks it'd be the end of all hilarious things to stop and wait to let me win.
At the end of the 10th lap, the M3 is asking (well, yelling, really) where in the world is the Civic (paraphrased for swearing). I cross the line first, and once the results load... I had the biggest :censored:storm of cursing/swearing directed at me I'd ever heard in an online game. I kid you not, even worse than the stuff I've dealt with in my time playing Call of Duty.
Once the track loads, without anything else happening, I get kicked - and, about 30 seconds later, I learned that I wasn't alone in being kicked - the Evora driver, the FR-S driver, and 3000GT driver were also given the boot.
End result: one more win for a car everyone loves to hate, and three new additions to my PSN friends list. And quite the laugh.