GRM - Gran Turismo 5 Racing League - Series 3

I need a backup host... I am going to be cutting to tight tonight. Anyone?

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GAH!

Good: I finally figured out what was wrong with the Vette, I had the downforce set to 50 in the back. Once I bumped it down to 40, all of my acceleration came back. The Citroen was doing fantastically for a while.

Bad: I figured out what was wrong with the Vette on the last race in the series. The same brake fade issue I've had came back, even with the brakes set to 3/1 on both.

Stupid damage and an inability to not get damage after the first time ruined my Vette race, and damage and idiotic SC penalties and an incompetant Pit crew pissed me off enough that I didn't want to stay in the HH race.

Z06: Apparently the Z06 grid was reversed because I started P1, made a fair start, and stayed to the outside to try to get through T1. I've heard Grizz say several times that his car went crazy. It seems that mine did. I was weaving like I was drunk and the car suddenly snapped to the right, ran off the track, and nosed into the wall. Brain on boil! I reversed, did a 180, and continued in last place. I was surprised that there was no damage. It didn't take long to come across some of the other cars also having problems. The next several laps I settled into my tire saving mode and worked my way up to 3rd. That was pretty much my race. I could see several other cars had recovered behind me and I tried to keep an eye on them to make sure I had enough pace to try to stay in front of them. The biggest mystery is that air kept coming back to me and then pulling back away. I tried once to get close enough to try a pass but he pulled away again and I let it go. As it ended up he was just over 4 seconds ahead of me IIRC. I suspect though that he was just cruising. I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say.

HH: The first 3.5 laps of HH was great fun. Grizz, Air, and I kept Apex in sight and ran the wheels off of our cars in what was to my surprise, a close 3-way duel. It was fairly clean but no one was making it easy to pass. Air and I occupied the same space going into the chicanne on L2 with double ghosted cars and no penalty. If Grizz hadn't gotten a SC penalty early on, he would have run off and left us. With Air and I, we could draft up to the other car but it was hard to pass. I think they're about the same frontal area but the Focus has a better CD because of it's more aero shape. It has about 3 mph more speed. This was all against my strategy which was to go for a no stopper for the first time this series in HH. It was just too much fun though to race like this. As Apex drafted by on the low side going into the chicanne he had a bad angle entering and slid into the barrier damaging his front end. Then Grizz slid off course and suddenly I was in P2. On L8 Apex did a pit stop and I was in P1. I did my best to run "brisk" laps to try to fend his charge off and on L13 I got a SC penalty exiting the chicanne. That was a very bad spot. The speed I was trying to carry was lost and he closed right up to me. He got first by about 5 sec. IIRC. For me, that was an interesting race. Even though I got to have some fun @ the start of the race, I eased of @ L4 and my no stop strategy worked . . . almost. Too bad I got the SC penalty. The finish might have been even more interesting.

I know this was a very frustrating race for many of you. I suppose they all are to someone. I personally really enjoyed these two series. Most of you were faster than I was at times and I managed to step it up @ others. These cars were drivable. I'd have to say I made the right choice for my ability and my driving strategies in HH. I sure do hope I make good choices for the next two series. At this point all I know is that they'll both be red.

I'm glad we are finally through with the Z06's. I doubt I'll ever touch that car again.

Graefin10 wrote: Z06: Apparently the Z06 grid was reversed because I started P1

Nope... was fastest first... you are just getting fast.

I kindof wish i hadn't just gotten out of the way in the Z06 race at the start and made a better effort to stick with the pack. I don't think i was that far off pace when i was actually going for it.

Oh well.

The HH race, my bid to take a solid 5th (last) place was thwarted by ATT on lap 12 out of 14. Go figure.

Then i couldn't re-connect after i got dropped in GT practice. So angry.

Anyways, i'm not running the RX8, even though i thought i would be. I'm working on two other options that i already like more. One of them, i'll certainly take a hit on SS7 due to my top speed being only 203mph, and that same one is about 51kg overweight.

But it looks SOOOO AWESOME.

And like i was saying last night, it's a good thing i don't have any plans to race in real life wheel to wheel soon... i can't deal with people in front of me blocking my braking points. Every time i got up on someone, i blew a corner. It's awful.

Time Attack for me!

Reply to Celica:

I hate that you had connection problems again Celica.

Air gave me a tip. Watch the brake lights of the car in front of you and stay back a little or take a different line into the turn so if he stops quicker than you do you won't hit him. First of all though, you have to brake at YOUR braking mark, not his. Got to admit, there's a lot going on in our little brains playing this game. I heard it said recently that actual race car drivers brains can actually overheat from the energy they're expending. Thats why they have the cooling tube going to the helmet. I wish I could remember how many signals can be sent per second. It was incredible.

Yes Apex, rested is better

I like to let off the gas and coast for a second or two before my braking points when following someone so I do not rear end them. A lot of times you can catch back up on the straights by drafting. I need to get better at it though as I frequently miss my braking point and go off when following unless I really try to lay off a bit and just follow.

T.J. wrote: I like to let off the gas and coast for a second or two before my braking points when following someone so I do not rear end them. A lot of times you can catch back up on the straights by drafting. I need to get better at it though as I frequently miss my braking point and go off when following unless I really try to lay off a bit and just follow.

Yep... that's what I attempt to do when following someone through a corner. I coast to my brake point and go into the corner slower than if I was on my own. I move the apex a bit earlier (because I am carrying less speed) and then try and get on the gas earlier. If you do it right, your exit speed should be a bit better than the car in front (who is likely defending a bit and coming into the corner too fast). That extra 2-3 mph at exit can be big going down the next straight and you should be able to pull off a pass.

I am going to miss the Z06s. When setup right they are great to drive. The Hot Hatches... not so much. I hated that series and am happy to see it over.

That said, both of my cars are no shared online (my race car museum). Feel free to take them for a spin and see how they compare to your car. I would actually like aircooled to take my Focus for a spin. I suspect his lap times will be faster in my RS than his ST.

Brad, the last time I looked, you had 7 cars shared and 3 of them were the same Mini. I don't know if that was screwed up on my end or yours though.

I have mine online as well. I dunno, I might keep using them for stuff, but I can't really think of what.

In reply to Grizz:

Probably something to do with when PSN went down. I show only 5 cars shared right now. The only car missing is my MX5 and that is because I am using for it for the Seasonal Event. It will be back up as soon as I am done.

I've used my MX-5 and the Marcos in seasonal events since the series ended.

Brad, I'm the opposite of you, I disliked nearly every minute of the Z06's and liked a lot about the hot hatch series. I think if we had run hh's first then Z06's I doubt I would've even run any Z06 races. Last night I had a bit of a headache and after a lap or two of fighting the Z06 just packed it in and went to bed. I hated to miss the hh race, I think I had a good car for that track. Oh well.

The next series are both a lot more similar to the vettes than anything else we've done and I'm already looking forward to the series after that.

Final standings...

More of the same... aircooled dominated the rest of us again...

Graefin had a great showing for his first full season.

Clearly I'm meant to drive overpowered fwd cars and not properly set up performance rwd race cars.

I'm sad now.

It makes it worse when you consider than the maximum possible points is 80. We managed to take 6 points off ac in 1 class, and only 4 in the other.

@TJ... do you use a controller? I suspect that has a lot to do with car preference.

Z06: The defining thing about this race was that i purposely did not practice, to make it more interesting. Two problems with this: 1 - this track is actually very technical and there a few spots you can make up a LOT of time (turn 1 and the chicane). 2 - Apex, who apparently spend all day going around Daytona looking for tenths. This race basically came down to getting in 2nd then watching Apex pull about 3 seconds a lap.

At the start though, I got a bit of tire on the grass and got behind a few cars. Eventually I got behind Brad and drafted him into turn 1. In retrospect this a very bad idea, not the turn you want to mess with. The draft actually pulled me INTO his car (as in the same space). This was pretty confusing, and once he jigged away, I lost track of him. I tried my best to stay on the outside and brake, but drifted a bit inside. At this point Brad tapped me, which didn't bother me, but messed Brad up. Which still wasn't that bad, he was doing pretty well, but as he squirmed away behind me, I jinked away and BOOM, right in to that pit barrier... looked painful.

I am not certain what the slowing you saw was Grae, but I suspect it was the couple of times I put my rear outer wheels into the grass going into the banked section. In those cases, getting way off the gas (but not all the way) is the best move. I am sure those slowed me down. But yes, I was just pacing, there was NO way I was going to catch Apex.

HH: Yes Grae, that was a great race there at the start. I figured I could catch Apex, but I needed to get past you guys!! Grae has developed a very powerful skill in this game, Patience. He is steady as a rock, but I kind of lost it, I got to eager to get past and tried to draft before the chicane. This wasn't all that bad except for the fact that as soon as I pulled out of the draft I was only going a few mph faster, so I was crawling past you. I checked the side view to see where I was, then looked back forward.. oops, a bit late for braking, screech, wall. Oh well, at least I didn't get you in the process.

I will have to see if I can get a video capture of the first few laps of HH, it was pretty crazy.

Missing the Z06, yes. I will miss them. A very nice driving car from my perspective. Very balanced in all ways. And word of warning, if you don't like the Z06's you are going to HATE the GT cars!! Those things are WAY more tail happy (same power, much less tire).

In regards to following and braking: Following close can be really hard, mainly because you can't SEE!! But yes, anticipating the braking is key. Back off, get some distance, wait for them to brake. You can make up that distance you gave away by braking less, you can afford it since you are effectively braking early.

Brad: If I remember, I will share the Focus, so you guys can try it out. I did change the suspension for the last race to make it a bit more squirrel, so I will change it back to what I did most of the series. I think the primary advantage of mine over yours though is the hp, the weight obviously didn't have that much effect.

Yep, controller. To make it worse I've never tried to learn to use the triggeres for gas and brake, still use the buttons, so I am a bit binary with throttle and braking inputs, hence the vette is terrible for me other than to drift or spin out.

aircooled wrote: And word of warning, if you don't like the Z06's you are going to HATE the GT cars!! Those things are WAY more tail happy (same power, much less tire).

I already dislike the GT and the Saloon cars. Looking forward to the season after those already. Come on Season 5!

T.J. wrote: Yep, controller. To make it worse I've never tried to learn to use the triggeres for gas and brake, still use the buttons, so I am a bit binary with throttle and braking inputs, hence the vette is terrible for me other than to drift or spin out.

You roll the same way that i do. I found the Vette to be much more manageable with some gearing work, and just never dropping back down into 2nd gear. I still pulled a few 1:42s with it.

aircooled wrote: he was doing pretty well, but as he squirmed away behind me, I jinked away and BOOM, right in to that pit barrier... looked painful. ... Following close can be really hard, mainly because you can't SEE!!

Yep... I had a great view of your rear bumper and tail lights. I guess I figured you were on the racing line and I was going to just follow you through the corner as close as possible. Then you juked (or jinked) and all I saw was the pit wall barrier.

It hurt. It pissed me off. I managed to pass Ben with engine damage. He was off playing in the grass. It didn't last long though.

After a lap at half-speed, I made it to the pits. Thankfully it is a long course and I didn't lose a lap. As I set off I figured I would just put the hammer down and try to catch someone. Worked for the first lap, second lap I spun going into T1 too hot and did damage to the rear end. I figure I broke an axle based on how the car was handling. Sorry if I swerved in front of you, I really didn't have much control. After a couple laps I spun again, pissed again, I pitted again. From there I just drove around until apex finished the race. I couldn't catch anyone, I wasn't going to finish the race before the time expired, so I preceded to do doughnuts until the time expired. Meh.

Already irritated from the Z06 race, HH only had to have a couple small things go wrong before I had enough. When my Focus spun for no apparent reason and was damaged, I called it a night and a series.

T.J. wrote: Yep, controller. To make it worse I've never tried to learn to use the triggeres for gas and brake, still use the buttons, so I am a bit binary with throttle and braking inputs, hence the vette is terrible for me other than to drift or spin out.

Do what I did in GT4, switch it to the triggers and just practice bringing the rpms up a grand or so at a time. It makes it easier to learn to feather it.

T.J. wrote: Come on Season 5!

Any suggestions? I am thinking along these terms...

"Big hair bands" - cars from the 80s

"Versus" - a 2 car spec series.

In reply to Grizz:

I should do that. I think it would help. heck, I ran almost all of last season with an automatic transmission. I think I finally gave in and learned to drive a stick for the last 2 or 3 races in SBC and MX-5. So, I know it is not all that hard to re-learn the controller, just haven't really tried it yet.

In reply to BradLTL:

I like the versus idea. The trick will be to find 2 cars that either are so closely matched that either could win on any track or a pair that one car or the other has an advantage on certain tracks.