GRM - Gran Turismo 5 Racing League - Series 3

@Brad: My focus is lacking I guess. I was so confused on who had the RS and who had the ST that I missed the obvious I guess.

My DC5 is matte grey, black carbon hood, and orange wheels.

@Ben: There is a '03 DC5 that is standard and a '04 DC5 that is a Premium car. Both are Honda Integras. I have one of each. Don't stay away from the DC5 on my account. I think it is also one of the 3 cars that Apex is considering as well. My other choice (Volvo) seems to be Graefin's selection so either way I went I was going to end up making a duplicate car in the series.

T.J. wrote: My DC5 is matte grey, black carbon hood, and orange wheels.

I bet that looks sweet!

Wasn't sure if I could make it tonight, but the plans changed and I'm all free. Hopefully I can keep a connection working long enough to stay for both races.

I'm running this:

I think I'll have to detune the engine to around 400 or so, because the full 444 might be too much for the tires. It hasn't really shown it in my testing though.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: ^Baelwerker?

Yes.

So I gather our FF HH cars are allowed to have aero packages on them? Cool. :D Methinks it'll be a real help at getting the car under control with all the potential power we can get out of them. ;)

What time does the lobby open tonight? Methinks I'll need a lot of time to get my cars tuned.

7:30ish

Room is up 1472 6118 3658 4757 7780

CRAP.

I was catching up to TJ on the last lap(for me anyway, seeing as I was 2 laps down) on the Z06 race, and I got booted from the room. I like the Z06 though, I just have to get the hang of braking without ABS, but at least it doesn't oversteer as much anymore, thanks to Brad for that.

The citroen is interesting, it's really fast in a straight line, but it's heavy so it doesn't fling through the corners like the lighter HH cars. It doesn't seem to hurt the times though. It also sounds like a Rally car at idle.

Oh, if my little accident that put me at the back on Monza messed anyone else up, I'm sorry.

I was running at Tsukuba, the Citroen appears to be much faster with a Low RPM turbo on it, it widens the crap out of the powerband so it accelerates at any rpm, and it cuts down on torque steer and tire burning.

Always next week, hopefully I can stay in long enough to finish both races.

After losing the Vette race on the first turn - I intentionally qualified last by not completing any laps for the HH race. I sat at the line for 5 seconds before moving out. Gained a couple places at T1 from the usual T1 pileup aftermath, then caught up to RMD and someone else at the braking zone for the 2nd chicane. After smacking into the wall there I was done. Oh well, qualifying was fun at least.

TJ i'm not running the DC5, i had at least 4 cars i was faster in, but they're a bit harder to drive.

BEERRRRKEEELLLEEEYYY!!!!!

I am going to go donkey punch Yamauchi in the freaking nads..........and no, I was playing 2 other games online, NO problem.

In reply to NickF40:

Yea Nick, I thought you were going to be able to hang tonight.

I got a sample of your frustration, I got booted in Z06 also. Apex did too.

so did I.

but really? well then I guess it wasn't too bad since Apex and I were really goin at it I think since there was 10 people it didn't like that. I think it is fine with less people, I HOPE.

Apex you got screwed last night, no doubt. I would like to credit you some points, but there was still so much of the race left. I think you dropped on lap 9?

I enjoyed both races last night. In the Z06 race, I thought I was going to have something to say about the win. I had the adjustable diff on my car (violating my own rules). I had a 1:43.3 qualifying time, but after the discussion and realizing I was in the wrong, I went and took it off. I only managed 1 qualifying lap without it and it was a 1:45 something. So I started 10th, but that had nothing to do with the diff. Honestly, there was very little difference, I assume that is because I still don't understand how to tune the LSD.

Anyway, coming from the back is always fun. I got a good start and starting moving up immediately, but then everyone's speed started to even out. I tried getting to the inside. I don't remember who was in front of me, but they had the same idea and pushed me all the way to the grass. Remembering my story about damage (posted above), I decided that I would back off early and not ball up my car with everyone else in the chicane. Predictably, several of you went into that first chicane too hot and seemed to have a good time bouncing off each other and the barriers. I cut the chicane and avoided getting caught up in the mess and came out 5th-ish. Nick and pointofdeparture were in front of me. Both seemed to have some issues with traction and I was able to get around both by the second chicane. Just aircooled and apex in front of me now. I was seemingly much faster and got right on the tail of ac going through Lesmo 1. Going through Lesmo 2, I was going to try and make a move using the draft and jumped on the gas.... and looped it. The good news is that I was able to avoid the barrier and didn't damage the car. I carefully righted the car and rejoined the race in 6th about 25 seconds behind the lead. From there I just ran hard and climbed back to 3rd and got within 14 seconds... but that was as close as I got.

I really like the Z06RM, it was trickier to setup than my ZR1RM, but I think it is really rewarding to drive once setup. Mine wants to oversteer under hard braking, has a touch of understeer going into a corner, but once settled is very neutral and has good traction. I guess will find out how good next week at T-suck-aba next week. 39 laps is going to be a lot on that track. Grae and I ran a quick race last night. I was able to 55s with damage and no tuning.

Yea Brad, the few laps I was able to race with you is the most fun since I started in series 2. I was exhausted last night after a very busy day and experienced brain fade too many times. I got distracted by a lapper and totally missed my brake marker ending up in a head on into the 2nd. chicane barrier. Immediately after my pitstop I dropped a wheel off the left side going into T1 and hit the brake marker sign. I drove a badly pulling car to get 4th in HH. I was surprised to be starting up front for that race. I got off the line well and blew it under braking for T1. I just backed up and waited for the last car to pass before re-entering the track. Apparently everyone behind the first 3 positions will have interesting stories to tell also. After two crashes and the T1 off I shouldn't have gotten 4th.

I remembered to save the replay for HH and enjoyed riding with ac. I could quickly see so many areas where he's much faster than I am. Much deeper braking, dropping into a lower gear coming off the corners and accelerating with little or no wheel spin, driving very consistent lines, driving faster lines, excelent car set up. It all adds up to wins. Kudos ac!! The same applies to Apex. of course.

I'm not sure I still totally understand ghosted cars. I know it occurs due to being one lap down, being penalized, intentional or unintentional ramming. When I arrived @ the T1 turn in there was a car sideways across the track. It appeared to be ghosted but I stopped anyway and apparently got hit in the rear. At least that's the way it appeared to me. If I'm wrong I'd like to hear what others saw. That was my mistake for not continueing through the ghosted car. For some reason, I have a hard time seeing if a car is ghosted or not. My vision's not the best and my tv is old school and grainy. I had to pit for that wreck and another one later. Then settled into my rhythm and like in HH ended up in 4th. That's where I was when I got booted off of PSM. Man I would love to see that replay. I got to watch P1 & 2 going at it in the last few laps. That was a really good race!

Maybe I should be bummed out by last night but I'm not. To me this is a learning experience and I learn somthing new each race. So on to the next one!

In reply to Graefin10:

I think what will help you braking Graefin is just trying to pick brake point markers... here are mine from last night:

1. Going into the first chicane - brake hard as you pass the little patch of asphalt before the 200 marker. 2nd gear, cut the chicane and easy on the power.
2. Going into the second chicance - brake hard as you cross the second tree shadow past the 200 marker, before the bridge. 3rd gear, line up the barrier as you turn in, straighten out the chicane as much as possible. Back on the power hard and you cross the green area.
3. Going into parabolica - brake hard as you pass the shadow of the lamp post past the 200 marker, about 175M. Down to 78mph, 50% throttle until you see the yellow sign in the background than hard acceleration.

Try those and see if that helps.

You can drive right through ghosted cars. And I confirmed last night, you can actually draft off of them. Generally, early in the race I try to avoid ghosted cars because I don't know when they may un-ghost and don't want to get in a wreck. I never stop, just dodge them. Later, especially if I know it is lapped traffic, I do my best to ignore them and try to pretend that they don't even exist. It's easier said than done.

If any of you are having trouble tuning your cars, I've found a bit of a shortcut. It's not perfect, but saves a lot of time and headache.

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=198067

I used to start my tune from default values and work it until I was happy. Now, I use this app to get a base and then tune from there. It helps to setup the springs / shocks, but you are on you own for roll bars, chamber, etc. It actually provide roll bar settings, but I've never been happy with it.

Thanks Brad, I'll study that asap.

One thing I forgot to mention is that after practicing in the rain I decided to compromise my settings. The difference was approx. 1 sec. less lap time for both classes. The changes included less brake effiency . . . and of course, it didn't rain. Personally I'm glad. I'm definately not lobbying for setting the next WC race to locked on rain.

How many of you have steering wheel/pedal setups? I know Brad does and Nick and I think T.J. use controllers. How about the rest of you? I use a controller and I'm beginning to think I want a wheel.

If you have a wheel, what kind is it? Would you recommend it? Is there another one that you would rather have? Forgive me if I've asked this or similar questions before. I don't think I got a complete answer though.

Graefin10 wrote: I'm definately not lobbying for setting the next WC race to locked on rain.

I don't want to lock the weather, but I was hoping for changing conditions. I need to do some research as to what to do about it. Though it seems we are not the only one's to experience this issue:

http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=208011&highlight=weather+online

A mid-race rain would force pit stops, and create an opportunity for error which could shuffle the results.

If I can't figure anything out, I'll literally flip a coin before the next WC event. Heads=sunny, tails=weather. Not fixed, so if it is raining, it may stop, etc.

Interesting racing last night. Theme of the night: Apex gets screwed (no porno music).

I don't remember a lot of specifics of the Vette race, but I do remember getting a good start, Apex was not pleased and was on my butt. I was too curious looking at the bumper cars going on in turn one and got a rear tire off going into the sweeper with killed my momentum, Apex soon blasted by. That was pretty much the race for me. I followed Apex seeing he was running a bit faster pace and figuring those tires had to go at some point. At some point I see some dust, figuring Apex had gone off (after roasting his tires) but he was gone... I think I was 4 seconds behind him at the time. Might have made for a fun end race, depending on how the tire thing worked out.

HH was a lot more dynamic for me. I was not qualifying well, and was a bit confused. Fortunately I pulled into the pits and happened to catch the fact that the tire were replaced with comfort softs!!! (I had been running the car on RS recently and I guess it resets to CS if you don't set it). I of course had already left the pits, and of course Brad soon after started the race.. panic time. I back taxied down the front straight and got in just in time to swap the tires.

Tire were going to be a big issue for me, I could tell. One lap at full tilt would result in noticeable tire wear! Time to play nice with the throttle.

The start but me right behind Graefin. I got another great "Europa" start and immediately pulled next to Graefin. This obviously intimidated Graefin and he drove straight into the corner barriers I actually took a pretty good lead after that since it seems like everyone else was having fun smashing into each other in the first corner, and no one even asked me if I wanted to play (tear).

Anyway, I figured I was pretty safe for a bit. Brad was in second (who seems to be doing quite good after leaving the Mini). Then I noticed that Brad was quite rudely bumped to 3rd and Apex was on the rampage!! One of the things I notice with apex, that I am sure is related to his connection, was that he would seem to be far behind and then just shoot forward at super speed.

Anyway, Apex slowing moved in, and I knew it was going to get interesting. If you can say anything about Apex, "gentle passer" is not one of them So, we are blasting down the back straight approaching the second (sand pit) chicane. I can see him a ways back, then, as noted before, he comes screaming up at warp speed (glitch) and is right next to me! A half second later he is semi sideways off my right front bumper and the next thing I see is him bouncing off the wall!! It was quite confusing and I was hoping I did not accidentally turn into him while watching this act of witchcraft.

Fortunately for Apex, he was somewhat close to the pits and would get new tires. I did not want to risk a pit stop so I pushed on trying to save my tires. Eventually (lap 10 of 14 I believe) I can see Apex and his fancy new tires coming up. With 4 laps left I believe he was 14 seconds behind and closing fast! It looked like he was on a pace to pass me in right near the finish line... the drama! My tires were toast at that point (maybe 70% gone) so I just had to stay the course and hope for the best. He might have messed up a bit as some point because he didn't seem to charge as fast near the end and I ended up in front. It was a pretty dramatic race!

Some more notes:

Z06: Very good choice Brad. This car has a great combination of not too much power, good capability of over / understeer tuning and controllable power oversteer. The great thing about it is you can run it fast conservatively or really push it fast with out too much trouble and burn tires making for some interesting strategy decisions. Very easy car to "catch" in most mistakes. (a complete contrast to the Europa)

Diff Controversy: In the wet, the diff may have made some difference, but I don't think it would have helped much in the dry. It might help a bit if you really jump on the gas out of a corner (what killed Brad) but I had practiced so much in the rain with an open diff, I stayed well away from that issue.

Chicane of death: You know the one. This thing scared the hell out of me a few times. I am sure it took a number of victims last night. It is especially bad in HH. If you come in too hot, it turns into an "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, oh crap" moment as you hope for a tiny amount of traction to miss the barriers. I believe I brushed the barrier at goos speed at least once in both HH and Z06.

Braking points: One silly thing I discovered, those braking markers are ROCK SOLID. Do NOT hit them! I actually use the game supplied flashing "Gear warning" notes as my basis. I just figure how much to delay once I see it flash. For the main straight into the first corner last night for example, I would jump on the brakes IMMEDIATELY after seeing the warning (sometimes I would even hover over the brake). For the sweeper before the straight I would allow a very small delay. Other times I have used a good One Count until braking. For HH, as a rule, brake AS SOON, as it tells you to!!!

I am thankful for the braking point warning. I know it is cheating, but i would take a LOT more time to learn the points for each car. I really don't want to spend that much time practicing personally.

There a list up yet of what everyone is using in HH? Don't know if it's frowned upon, but i'd just like to know what people are using mainly so i don't have a duplicate.

I'm sortof leaning towards the Clio that i was testing with Aircooled earlier this week.

Updated Admin Spreadsheet

Pics...

Identify yourselves...

This is me:

Graefin blocking like Michael Schumacher...

"To finish first, you first must finish"

"You can't win a race in the first turn, but you can lose it"

Nick struggling for traction

1st through 5th...

Synchronized drifting...

Apex starts to run away with it; just before PSN hates him...

As close as I could get to aircooled...

Winner..

Hot Hatch (and a Pug that looks a lot like a Corvette)

Didn't learn their lesson during the first race...

The award for the best sounding car with the shortest appearance in a race goes to...

Ambitious pass attempt...

AC setting the cruise control...

Apex starts his first charge...

Pretty even on the straights...

Testing the durability of the FTO rear bumper... it works fine...

Apex gets away from me and starts chasing AC...

Strike 1...

Grae starts reeling me in...

Apex, pits for repairs and tires, uses the new tires to make a second run at the front...

Apex takes 3rd...

Then takes 2nd...

Next lap, I over cook it into the first chicane and allow Grae to make a move...

We swap back and forth a couple times before it ends in tears for Grae...

All in all, I had 2 enjoyable races. In my opinion both better than the last series. HH seems to be closer than SBC ever was, and Z06s are faster than the MX5s.

aircooled wrote: Diff Controversy: In the wet, the diff may have made some difference, but I don't think it would have helped much in the dry. It might help a bit if you really jump on the gas out of a corner (what killed Brad) but I had practiced so much in the rain with an open diff, I stayed well away from that issue.

No... I think that was just pure jackassery. I only had that 1 issue with it. The car felt almost identical without it. I am glad it is a removable part and I didn't have to go buy a new car because of it though.

BradLTL wrote:

This is me. I think there were three orange cars and at least a couple of blue ones in the Vette race. That's why I picked Lavender w/passionate pink wheels.

I'm digging the drab olive green one, whoever that is.

Wait.... the FTO is legal? It's not a hatch, dammit! Otherwise i would have run that, it's a monster of a car.