Was on the road last wednesday, and I think my future wednesdays will be devoted to working on our ChumpCar/LeMons Lincoln in prep for the next race, so I'll be out of the loop for a while.
Was on the road last wednesday, and I think my future wednesdays will be devoted to working on our ChumpCar/LeMons Lincoln in prep for the next race, so I'll be out of the loop for a while.
Real racing > virtual racing
I am going to be making a run in the next couple weeks to get my challenge car out of storage and park it in my garage. I don't know that it will impact my racing, but I suspect it will hamper my already short practice time.
This is not going to be my best race.
In SBC, it is: "Push right pedal to understeer more quickly, push left pedal to understeer more slowly". Consider that a fair warning to anyone on the outside of me in a corner.
MX5 is interesting. I don't feel fast. I have to keep some pressure on the gas even when braking or my car will swap ends... but I am almost perfectly on line. I changed the gear ratio to something slightly less than optimal, but it moved a few of my shift points out of the middle of a corner. I am not really happy with my setup, but it is what I am going to run. 
Brad I hear you on the understeer. Anytime I want to go straight ahead all I have to do is mash the gas. Turning is a lot more difficult. I expect there will be a lot of drifting on this track by the RWD folks. I would rather put up with inherent understeer and low hp than having more power with a rear engined setup like some folks chose to run.
I am currently on no practice at this point. At least I know the track already. I fear that kink at the end of the straight, that is pure hell in a Yellowbird 911.
My situation is: Push the right pedal too little = oversteer, push the right pedal too much = oversteer, push the left pedal with minor steering input = oversteer, turn the wheel too much = oversteer, turn the wheel from one direction to the other = oversteer with a tendancy for wild spinning. The car also will only hold a small amount of oversteer until wild spinning. Not catching the oversteer properly results in opposite oversteer and rather wild tank slapper spinout. Jerking the wheel quickly into a drift can sometimes stop this sequence.
But hey, who am I kidding, it is just the way I like it.
I think the primary advantage of the Europa is that is has a huge acceleration traction advantage over the other cars for some reason (the front engined ones I understand, not sure why the rear engined). Hell, I was even out pacing the Quatro that got in on our Indy practice (he was probably a lot heavier though). It is great for getting away from the pack at the start, I hear horrible things...
That kink is evil. I ran a race in the CTR and was white knuckles every lap. The MX5 has some issues there, not near to the Scandinavian flick levels of the Ruf, but enough to have me worrying about my strategy going into the race... Beat everyone there? Lay back and watch those who did not practice take out those who did? Hmmm... Decisions...
I am a little late on the uptake, but I would like to join you guys, GTurgidson on the GT5.
In reply to Hoop:
You are welcome to join in. Send me a PM with the details of the cars and class or classes you would like to join. If you have any questions, just post them, everyone knows the rules and will help get you going. Nick will probably want you to paint your car some awful color, but you don't have to cave to his peer-pressure.
We have 13 laps at Grand Valley this week. Small Bore Cup cars will roll off right around 8. I try and start as close as possible, but we've had some Internet issues the last couple weeks, so I tend to wait until everyone has a chance to get a qualifying lap in before starting.
The race should take about 30 minutes, we talk about how awesome we are for about 5 minutes, and then there is a 15 minute warm-up before the MX5 race. It should start 8:50ish. If you only want to run MX5s, I would recommend showing up about 8:30 so we don't miss you.
I flip the gird order from time to time to keep it interesting. Sometimes we are fastest first, sometimes we are fastest last. I don't really have any pattern or reason, I just flip it to mix it up. I don't want Nick and Chimp running off without the rest of us having a chance to bash their doors one good time. 
Just kidding. We are mid-way through the second series and we've never had any incident of malicious driving. There is some aggressive racing, some ambitious passing attempts, a little hand to hand combat, but at the end of it all, we are just having a good time.
(Can you tell I was actually on a computer for this post, not my phone?)
Brad, your talking CST, not EST, right?
He looks to be in OH, which is EST which means we start at 9pm Wednesday to him (and me)
durn timezones
CDT... I am in Birmingham, AL
Wow.
The Celica is especially horrid on this track. I don't know if i'm even going to bother with the SBC race this week. All i'd do is come in last and wreck a few people along the way unintentionally.
2:36 is the best i'm getting in the Celica. There's maybe 2 more seconds i can get out of it.
2:22 out of the MX5.
I am in the 35s, maybe 34s on a clean lap. Might as well race, I need some on to bounce off of to keep on the track.
Oh... so it just feels awful, but isn't that slow... interesting. I got down to the 2:36 after 3 laps. I raged too much to continue after that.
Or i may just be a bit testy after replacing every damn coolant hose on the MX6 and burning the E36 M3 out of myself with hot liquid today.
Chimp and I rule! and now why do you got to throw my name in with the painting his car an awful color....hey Hoop, I got some nice purples and blues you could create a killer combo!
and by the looks of it, I may be out of the whole season now if I can't get this kicking me out of PSN business figured out and get my signal strength up.
If someone will run a pimp-tastic gold chrome MX5, I'll throw in the paint chip. 
Was planning on using it for some wheels, but I don't care that much.
I was thinking of using the gold chrome on whatever car I use for the next round. Since this season is already well underway I figured I'd save it for next season when I can use it the entire time.
I figure the fastest SBC guys will probally be able to put down laptimes under 2:30. I came close once (2:30.033) last night in the Marcos, with 170 something HP, so I figure it can be done with one of the cars that actually has closer to the 207 HP limit and doesn't have to suffer along with 4" wide tires.
I think i have 206hp, and 4" tires. Not a great mix.
I got some practice in, which is a good thing, since it took me 4 tries to make the first corner! For anyone who might be following me, I WILL be braking at turn 1 in preparation for turn 2, there is no way I can make that turn otherwise.
One of the "Gotchas" on this track is that is does have a bit of elevation change. Turn 3 and 4 will kill me if I don't take it easy since 4 is a bit of a hill, coming over the top has to be done very carefully.
Hopefully F40 can make it because I think this course may be a lot like SS5, I am a bit slow in the curves, but I get a hell of a run off of 17 into the straight. Oh, and I figured out why I couldn't stay with you on SS5 in the corners (MX5), I had taken off all my wing downforce as an experiment and forgot to add it back! (that's my story and I am sticking to it).
MX5 - did a little tuning (SBC is more my focus). Strangely I am getting a lot of understeer, not sure why, might just be the course (slower corners). Is it just me, or is it strange to anyone else that it is VERY hard to go the MX5 to oversteer? (I do like oversteer, but I am also trying to make the two cars handle in a somewhat similar manner).
I thought for SBC there were no aero mods allowed? Does the Europa come stock in the game with adjustable downforce?
That link (or T1 on the map) is tricky for me too. I can sometimes make it past it flat then brake without ending up in the sand, but it is very hit or miss. So I end up slowing slightly just before the kink to make it through T2 safely. I know I am loosing time there, but I can't find a setup that makes that part less tricky. I made some LSD changes last night and now can just about make it through T3 flat out. If I do so then I am not set up for the trickier T4-5 so I tend to lift a bit on T3.
As far as MX5 goes, I can get the MX5 to oversteer on the exit of turn 6 if I do it wrong. Other than that it sticks pretty good.
No Aero mods in SBC. I was sad, because my car is much more manageable with a HUGE wing on the back.
I've got my MX5 dialed in for some oversteer if i go over the limit. It's a great saver for when i overcook the corner entry, the ass steps out, scrubs the speed, and keeps me on the line. Just enough, but not too much to make me spin. I'm tossing it around the last two right-left corners before the tunnel long right in 3rd gear, getting hairy, but controllable.
Sorry, I meant MX5 (I did an edit). No wing on the Europa. It would look silly and I don't think they are even available. It would help a LOT though.
There are a few tricky corners on this course. The main problem I am having (with MX5) is that some of the corners are too slow for me to drift / trail brake into to scrub speed, so I just end up plowing to the outside. Generally I can do some pretty crazy drifts into corners (not a good tire tactic), the MX5 seems to put up with a lot in that department. I guess I will just have to brake before the corner... how pedestrian.
In the Europa, if I am brave, I can do a pretty effective late brake drift into almost any corner. It can be a life saver, but can also ruin you in a cloud of smoke if you push it too much.
I get lift throttle over-steer in my MX5, but other than that it is setup very neutral. I've only made very minor adjustments to the setup from week to week. I feel like I've nailed it's sweet spot and would be winning (like Charlie Sheen) if it weren't for the driver letting the car down. After the series, I'll share it out and everyone can have a go.
I can push pretty far into T1 before needing to brake (again MX5, the Mini is hopeless this week), but is requires a unique technique and a lot of concentration to pull it off effectively. It is good for about 3/4s of a second a lap compared to early braking... of course it is a risk/reward thing. If I miss, I am playing on the beach.
92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: I was sad, because my car is much more manageable with a HUGE wing on the back.
hahaha you know!!
well aircooled, you get to stop being sad because I did some PS3 rearranging so HOPEFULLY it will stay going for tonight, the lowest I got was 80% but that was once, it's 85 to 100% signal that seems to be the best I can do.
Yeah this should be a good one for sure, like you said, but with the sweepers, I have to prevent the ass end from washing out lol the last right sweeper to the finish is a formula drift corner for me and I hope I don't wipe anyone out You got to remember, I did some retuning and gained some power since SS5
You'll need to log in to post.
