posted 05-04-2005 01:41 PM         

quote:

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Originally posted by miko:
Santi (or any other html'ers) - sorry to be a pain but...

In reference to the tables above - how do I remove the two large 'spaces' and reduce the font size in the tables? I would probably work it out given long enough (may be by year 2007!) but figure that you have the solution at your finger tips. I appreciate any help you can provide.

[This message has been edited by miko (edited 05-04-2005).]

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Miko, try simply using plain text above each table to label it and doing without the "caption" tag to eliminate the undesired spacing. I'm not sure that's what's causing the big spaces, but I think it is.

posted 05-04-2005 04:42 PM         

------------------
eggmann
Ghostbustin'!
My GT4 Diary
All the negativity in this town sucks!

posted 05-04-2005 04:53 PM         

All Stars Championship - Extreme Hall

Course	Highest points (car)	F/L (previous)	F/L (Minolta)
High Speed Ring	200 (Zonda RC)	1'01.243	0'56.053
Fuji 80's	187 (Zonda RC)	1'08.402	1'03.704
Laguna Seca	200 (Zonda RC)	1'18.830	1'14.468
Autumn Ring Rev	200 (Zonda RC)	1'12.342	1'09.227
Test Course	194 (Zonda RC)	1'39.073	1'39.615
Grand Valley Rev	200 (Zonda RC)	1'43.093	1'36.180
Suzuka	187 (GT-R Concept LM)	1'47.996	1'43.393
Infineon Stock Car	150 (GT-R Concept LM	1'04.581	1'02.194
Sarthe I	069 (Mercedes CLK-GTR)	3'23.071	3'19.295
Nürburgring	007 (Minolta)	-	6'03.111

All Stars Championship - AI fastest laps vs. Minolta

Course	Nissan R89-C	Audi R8 Race	Nissan R-390	Merc CLK-GTR	Ford GTLM 04
High Speed Ring	1'00.890	1'00.972	1'02.938	1'02.170	1'07.284
Fuji 80's	1'06.061	1'06.336	1'09.227	1'09.161	1'14.973
Laguna Seca	1'17.046	1'18.429	1'20.786	1'20.153	1'24.702
Autumn Ring Rev	1'10.757	1'09.671	1'13.086	1'14.816	1'15.521
Test Course	1'39.754	1'39.694	1'39.967	1'39.401	1'53.300
Grand Valley Rev	1'38.627	1'39.770	1'43.187	1'44.002	1'48.744
Suzuka	1'47.681	1'49.068	1'53.239	1'53.147	1'59.172
Infineon S.C.	1'04.547	1'05.206	1'08.200	1'08.901	1'11.217
Sarthe I	3'24.942	3'26.840	3'32.046	3'33.887	(3'59.696)
Nürburgring	6'09.971	6'10.305	6'25.668	6'23.714	(6'57.945)

posted 05-04-2005 05:01 PM         

I don't know why, but they're unneccesary.

(snipped the eggzample as miko seems to have it under control.)

posted 05-04-2005 05:17 PM         

quote:

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Originally posted by eggmann:
Too many < /tr> < /td> and < /th>

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Thanks Eggie. Where do I send the check?

posted 05-04-2005 07:45 PM         

One member, intelligent and resourceful in his own right, gets a bit stuck trying to work something out that is for the good of the general readership (eventually).

He doesn't demand that another member does it for him as if it's his divine right but, after first trying to research it himself, asks if someone can point him in the right direction.

Some helpful and knowledgeable soul (that's you Eggie ) duly obliges and, et voila, after some more thoughtful experimenting, we have some rather splendidly tabulated results for our education.

Marvelous. Brought a smile to my face; almost worthy of a note in the Happy GT'ers thread (except I wouldn't want to embarass you chaps).

posted 05-05-2005 02:18 AM         

If you had done that on a regular HTML page (like on a personal website) it would have worked fine.

posted 05-05-2005 11:10 AM         

Firstly, the Chamonix Ice Rally ‘Hard’. I ran both directions in the Mitsubishi CZ-3 Tarmac Rally Car, putting out 335hp. Against a Mitsu Evo Rally Car ’03 in the forward direction, rated 53 points, I took the lead at the end of lap 1 and drove away. Fastest lap for the CZ-3 Rally Car was 2’15.864 against 2’23.624 for the Evo. The reverse race, against a Subaru Imprezza Rally Car ’03, rated 69 points, the race was a little more competitive but still relatively easy with the lead being taken midway through lap 3. Fastest lap for the CZ-3 Rally Car was 2’17.055 against 2’17.937 for the Subaru. Winning margin was 4.762s. Prize was a Lancia Stratos Rally Car ’77. This now leaves only the Whistler Ice Race ‘Hard’ and Grand Canyon ‘Hard’ to complete the Special Conditions Hall – did I say “only”?!

For kicks I took the non-rally version of the CZ-3 at 241hp to the forward race and was rated 150 points against a Toyota Corolla Rally Car. Took the lead half way through lap 2 and again secured an easy win by 9.462s. Fastest laps were 2’20.821 for the CZ-3 and 2’24.889 for the Corolla. Note: now 45 re-runs.

Next up I investigate the Family Cup situation following previous advice that this counts up to 200 A-Spec points. First attempt in the Nissan GT-R Concept at Trial Mountain, on difficulty 10, gives 86 points against a field of a Zonda LM; BMW McLaren F1 GTR; Ford GT LM ’04; Mercedes CLK-GTR and a Panoz Esperante. As expected an easy win and 86 points were added to my A-Spec total but with no change in completion percentage. Re-entering the race in the Nissan kept drawing the same field so I moved to El Capitan in the Mitsubishi CZ-3 Tarmac Rally Car.

On R1 tires, difficulty 10, against a Toyota RSC Rally Raid; Lancia Delta S4; Subaru Imprezza Super Touring Car; Mercedes 190E Evol Touring Car and a Mitsu FTO Super Touring Car, the race is now rated 193 points and the win is only by 1.658s. A-Spec points increase by 107 confirming GTer’s earlier post that 200 points, and only 200 points, are available from the Family Cup.

As I’m here I re-enter and reduce downforce by 1 click front and rear. A Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Evo Rally Car ’86 replaces the Delta S4 and the race is rated 195 points in a 1.347s win. Carrying on, the next race sees the return of the Delta S4 but the Subaru Touring Car has been replaced by the Peugeot. This time it’s rated 193 points and the win is by 2.053s. Against the same field I reduce the d/f by another click front and rear, get rated 196 points and win by 1.530s. We’re getting close so I re-enter again and, against the same field, reduce the d/f by another 2 clicks front and back and, at last, get rated 200 points and win by 2.010s. Note: 50 re-runs.

A-Spec points now total 40,016 – the prize for 40,000 being a – Muttley grumble – and average points are (40,016-8250)/(528-50)=66.5

Based on the knowledge that there are 522 races and 1 Family Cup counting towards A-Spec points total, adding 8,500 for the Missions, there are 113,100 total A-Spec points available. Re-calculating the average points required for certain milestones and normalizing for the Missions, gives the following:

10,000 = 2.87; 20,000 = 21.99; 25,000 = 31.55; 30,000 = 41.11; 40,000 = 60.23; 50,000 = 79.35; 60,000 = 98.47; 70,000 = 117.59; 75,000 = 127.15; 80,000 = 136.71; 90,000 = 155.83 and 100,000 = 174.95.

My next milestone of 50,000 will clearly require a lot of work and re-runs of earlier races, and an average of 80 points per race could well be beyond me.

posted 05-05-2005 11:54 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by miko:
I may – emphasize [b]may! - attempt to A-Spec one of the 24 hour races.[/B]

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posted 05-09-2005 09:56 AM         

Toyota Superautobacs Apex MR-S (JGTC) ‘00
AMG Mercedes 190E 2.5 Evolution II Touring Car ‘02
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia (JGTC) ‘01
Nissan Falken GT-R Race Car ‘04
Opel Calibra Touring Car ‘94
Subaru Imprezza Super Touring Car ’01 (me)

I’m a little disappointed when the A-Spec rating comes up as 12 points but I haven’t got the confidence in my ability to navigate the ring quickly and consistently to enter a lower powered car. As we cross the start line the real time is 10:00am on Saturday. I don’t expect to finish this before Wednesday! The notes below are as I took them during the race so I apologize if there’re somewhat tedious…

The first hour of racing shows the pit strategies with the Subaru on a 4 lap cycle, the Skyline on a 5 lap cycle, the Calibra, Mercedes and Silvia all on 6 lap strategies and the MR-S lasting 7 laps between pit stops. After 1 hour of racing, on lap 9, after 2 pit stops, I’m 47s ahead of the Falken GT-R who pits on lap 10 and exits 1’41 behind. I lap the Silvia on the Dottinger Hohe Straight on lap 12 but he un-laps himself when I pit at the end of the lap. I re-pass him half way through lap 13 and then lap the Autobacs on lap 15. At the 2 hr mark, on lap 17, the lead is 2’46 over the GT-R and my fastest lap is 7’10.245. The Silvia gets lapped a second time on lap 23, and the Mercedes is passed on the straight on lap 24 but again he promptly un-laps himself when I pit. At the 3 hr mark, lap 25, the lead is 4’09 over the Skyline. I re-pass the Mercedes on lap 25, lap the Calibra on lap 27 and pass the Autobacs for a second time on lap 28. After 4 hours of racing, on lap 33, the Falken is down by 6’15. My fastest lap has improved to 7’06.975 and the odometer reads 426 miles. Only 20 hours to go!

The Silvia is passed for the 3rd time on lap 34 and I finally catch and lap the GT-R on lap 39. The Autobacs is lapped for a 3rd time on lap 41 and the Mercedes for a 2nd time on lap 43. At the 6 hour mark, lap 50, I’m running consistent clean, fast (at least in my estimation) sub 7’10 laps. I think I may finally be getting the hang of the Nürburgring. Fastest lap is now 7’05.324. Lap 51 saw another lap put on the Calibra, lap 52 saw me pass the MR-S for a 4th time and the C-West Silvia was passed for a 5th time on lap 55. The Mercedes lost another lap on lap 63 and the Autobacs and C-West Silvia were passed on lap 65 for the 5th and 6th times respectively. After 8 hours, now on lap 66, with a new fastest lap of 7’03.203, it’s time for a long break for both nourishment and to remove the cramps and pains in my right hand. One third distance, 16 hours to go, and I’m really looking forward to having another go at license test S16. At this point, with the wisdom of hindsight, I now wish that I’d entered an underpowered car as the question now is not whether I’ll win, but whether I’ll last. I’m certainly not going to re-start at this point so I guess I’ll just to re-run it at some point. Yeah!…Right!

Resuming the race, after seeing that the Rockets were getting annihilated (I guess that we’ll both have to wait another year Lugs), I lap the Falken for a second time on lap 67. The Calibra fell 3 laps back on lap 73, the Silvia by 7 laps on lap 75, the MR-S by 6 laps on lap 77 and the Mercedes by 4 laps on lap 83. At the 10 hour mark, lap 83, my fastest lap is still 7’03.203 and I can’t really see where I can squeeze more time. The odometer reads 1,062 and I know that the power must be dropping but the oil light is still off. My fingers and thumbs hurt, my hands ache and my eyes are tired and strained, but I just want to put in a few more laps before I take a sleep at the end of day 1 real time. Lap 87 was run at 7’03.269, my second fastest lap, and I feel this is right on the edge.

The Autobacs fell another lap behind on lap 89, likewise the Falken GT-R on lap 93, and both the Silvia and Calibra on lap 95. At the 12 hour mark, I’ve nearly completed lap 99, the lead is 3 laps and the mileage is 1,277. This is a big psychological boost as I have now done more than I have left to do. Two hours ago I was flagging, but now, aided by copious ‘sugar’ drinks, I have got a second wind and will push on for a while. Already 12 hours racing in one session, broken only by food, drink, nicotine and natural breaks – and the disappointing Rocket’s game of course – at least the 1st three quarters. I can hear you all – “That Miko really needs to get a life”. What can I say?

The Autobacs MR-S and the Mercedes both give up further laps on lap 101, as did the Silvia on lap 106. As I pit on lap 108, after 13:07’39, sleep deprivation and eye strain catch up with me and I conclude it’s time to trust to the PS2’s pause function for the night. The time is 3:30 a.m.

posted 05-09-2005 10:00 AM         

On lap 135 I passed the Silvia again while setting another fastest lap of 7’01.228. The Calibra, Mercedes and MR-S were all passed within 30s of each other on lap 136 and all un-lapped themselves when I pitted, only to be re-passed on lap 137. The Silvia went down by 13 laps and the Skyline by 5 laps on lap 145, and the MR-S’s deficit increased by another lap on lap 147. At the 18 hour mark, lap 149, my fastest lap is still 7’01.228 and I feel this will now hold up until the end of the race. My hands, especially my right ‘brake-gas’ hand, ache a lot, and I wonder if in future years when I’m having carpal tunnel surgery and taking anti-arthritic drugs, if I’ll look back and think it was worth it. I suspect not but for now this has become a personal challenge. At this point I have driven 1,917 miles and the oil light is still off.

The Mercedes was passed for the 8th time on lap 153, the C-West Silvia for the 14th time on lap 154, the Calibra for the 7th time on lap 155, the MR-S for the 12th time on lap 159 and the Silvia again for the 15th time on lap 164. The 20 hour mark comes up six seconds into lap 166. The best thing about the 20 hr mark is the ‘2’ at the front of the timer. It’s like a little beacon that suggests that the end is in sight. Only 4 hours to go – nothing more than the Miata Endurance.

I put a 6th lap on the Falken as he exits the pits on lap 167 (hm! It seems like he is varying his pit stop intervals). The Autobacs MR-S falls to +13 laps on lap 170, the Mercedes to +9 laps on lap 171, the Silvia to +16 laps on lap 174, the Calibra to +8 laps on lap 176 and the MR-S to +14 laps on lap 182. I’ve been ready for this race to finish for over 20 hours now, but with 2 hours to go, on lap 182, I’m soooo ready. I keep giving myself little incentives to keep going – soda at the next pit stop – chips at the one after that – cigarette at the one after that – and so on – with a cold beer and a hot tub waiting for me at the finish. With two hours to go I’m driving on will power and will power alone.

I put another lap on the C-West Silvia on lap 184 taking him to +17 laps, and on the Mercedes on lap 190 taking him to +10 laps. As I pit on lap 192 I have 45 minutes to go but – oh no! – a storm blows up the power is knocked out – only joking With a final push to the finish the Falken GT-R is passed for the last time on lap 193, and the C-West Silvia and Autobacs MR-S on lap 194. I pull in for my final pit-stop on lap 196 with 15 minutes to go. The last lap was ran like a parade lap so that I didn’t cross the line with 30s to go and have to run another full lap. The line was crossed at 24:00’01, with 198 laps completed and 2,557 miles on the odometer. Oh yeah baby! That’s what I’m talking about

1,200,000 credits better off – a blue Formula Gran Turismo ’04 in the garage – and all I want is an ice pack. The post race power of the Imprezza had dropped to 416hp which went up to 436hp after an oil change compared to the starting power of 442hp. The oil light remained off for the entire race, even though it appears that I did some permanent damage to the engine. Real time is 9:00 p.m. on Sunday evening. The 24 hr race took 35 hours real time and was completed in two extensive sessions. I can tell you that this is really too intense.

posted 05-09-2005 10:06 AM         

Car (in finishing order)	Fastest lap (1)	No. of laps (2)	Average/lap (3)
Subaru Imprezza Super Touring Car	7’01.228	198	7’16
Nissan Falken GT-R Race Car	7’20.274	191	7’32
Opel Calibra Touring Car	7’27.911	190	7’34
Mercedes Evolution Touring Car	7’32.766	188	7’39
Toyota Autobacs Apex MR-S	7’49.502	183	7’52
Nissan C-West Razo Silvia	7’56.955	180	8’00

(1) For AI cars this is based on the fastest lap from the first 1 hour of the race as this is when the replay recording ended.
(2) Based on notes taken during the race rather than final in-game scorecard so may contain errors as I’m not sure if I missed passing anybody in the pits.
(3) This includes pit stops and doesn’t include the ‘part-lap’ that was underway at the 24 hour mark.

This 24 hour race was completed in 35 hours real time i.e. with 11 hours of ‘pause’. In this time a ‘virgin’ Imprezza Touring Car amassed 2,557 miles – I think I’ll nickname it ‘Paris Hilton’. My biggest concern, particularly during session 2, was fear of a power outage or Playstation malfunction, and my heart leapt into my mouth every time the a/c kicked in and the lights momentarily dimmed. Fortunately neither happened and the PS2 wasn’t even hot – way to go Sony!

With regards to the most satisfying aspect of this race, it wasn’t winning a 24 hr endurance in A-Spec mode – it wasn’t winning 1,200,000 credits – it wasn’t winning an F1 car – it was unraveling the mysteries of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. I now know every bump, dip, curb and turn of this track, and believe that I can run quickly and consistently with good lines and no off-roading. I guess that’s what 198 laps of a circuit do for you. Did I say 198 laps of the Nürburgring? I must be !@#$%^& crazy!

Just to see if I really had learned anything, I re-ran license S16 and immediately achieved gold with a time of 7’06.756, over 20s faster than my previous best silver time. Next lap was a 7’05.604, and then a 7’04.212 as I got a better feel for the car. I really have learned the course and I think that there’s at least another 3s seconds to go, may be even a sub-seven-minute time. With my new confidence, may be over-confidence, I can’t resist a quick look at Mission 34. I fall to Earth with a bump as I spend the first minute of the lap off-roading, and finish about 20s off the lead in 5th place. When did the ‘Ring ice over? I think that the apparent mutual exclusivity of the course, car and tires will take a bit more work. That’s enough of the Nürburgring for now – both I and the PS2 deserve a rest.

One final thought 12 hours after the race has finished. My right thumb (gas and brake) and my right index finger (DS2 support) are both as stiff as a board and I have to manually flex them to keep them from seizing up completely. Other than that I’m in good shape physically and mentally – although I’m sure many would argue about the latter. I’m not sure when, or if, I’ll attempt one of the Sarthe 24 hr races – I do know however that they are not in my immediate future. Wimp!

posted 05-09-2005 10:09 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by miko:
Resuming the race, after seeing that the Rockets were getting annihilated (I guess that we’ll both have to wait another year Lugs)

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If there is anything that a denizen of Chicagoland knows how to say, it's: "Wait 'til next year!" LOL.

posted 05-09-2005 11:30 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by GT3mich:
miko, you should look into a Driving Force Pro.

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posted 05-09-2005 04:12 PM         

quote:

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Originally posted by GT3mich:
Ditch the lap attachment and try and figure out a way to get it mounted on a sturdy plat form.

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Are you saying that holding the wheel still and moving my legs is not the way to do it? In true Texas speak - "That understands it then!"

Seriously - I had been toying with the idea of getting a Bob Earl system but was concerned that I might be throwing away another $450 on top of the $175 already spent. I might have to re-consider on this basis.

posted 05-10-2005 01:42 PM         

The following tabulates the S-license tests, mainly to gain further practice at html table coding.

Test	Track	Car	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Miko’s
S-1	Twin Ring Motegi	Honda Civic Race Car ‘98	2’17.000	2’21.110	2’26.700	2’16.647
S-2	Citta di Aria	Alfa Romeo Spider 1600 ‘66	2’17.000	2’21.000	2’26.440	2’16.778
S-3	SS Route 5	Saleen S7 ‘02	1’24.500	1’27.000	1’33.400	1’24.242
S-4	Costa di Amalfi	Lancia Stratos Rally Car ‘77	2’17.000	2’21.110	2’27.500	2’16.517
S-5	Seattle	Ford GT ‘05	1’34.200	1’37.500	1’43.200	1’33.997
S-6	Ice Arena	Hyundai Accent Rally Car ‘01	0’57.000	0’58.710	1’00.900	0’56.115
S-7	Trial Mountain	Mercedes SLR McLaren ‘03	1’30.500	1’32.000	1’38.300	1’30.401
S-8	Tokyo 246	Takata Dome NSX ‘03	1’33.000	1’36.330	1’42.000	1’32.679
S-9	El Capitan	Dodge Viper SR10 ‘03	1’47.800	1’51.300	2’00.000	1’47.692
S-10	Grand Canyon	Mitsubishi Starion Rally Car ‘84	2’47.000	2’53.000	3’02.000	2’45.681
S-11	Opera Paris	Renault Clio V6 Phase 2 ‘03	1’36.620	1’38.500	1’44.230	1’36.334
S-12	Suzuka	Nissan Motul Pitiwork Z ‘04	1’55.919	1’59.437	2’05.730	1’55.855
S-13	Infineon	Audi R8 Race Car ‘01	1’16.120	1’17.300	1’22.700	1’15.944
S-14	Chamonix	205 Turbo 16 Rally Car ‘85	2’26.500	2’30.895	2’40.043	2’26.401
S-15	Sarthe I	Bentley Speed 8 Race Car '03	3’19.000	3’25.400	3’36.600	3’18.596
S-16	Nürburgring	AMG 190E Touring Car '92	7’07.700	7’30.000	7’58.300	7’04.212

posted 05-11-2005 12:27 PM         

In order to get a longer replay I also pay ‘hard’ cash for another memory card as the current one only has around 200kb of space left, and I assume that this is why the 24hr replay stopped at 212kb about one hour into the race. Wrong assumption – as Samuel Jackson said in The Long Kiss Goodnight (one of my favorite movies by the way), “You know what assumption did – it made an ass out of you, and ‘umption”. The race replay still lasted about one hour and again stopped at 212kb, even though I now had nearly 5Mb of space after clearing out all of the non-GT3/GT4 save data to the new memory card – the game must have a ‘memory-limiter’.

Entering the race I get a field as follows…

1. Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R ‘00
2. Chevrolet Camaro SS ‘00
3. Opel Speedster Turbo ‘00
4. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII MR GSR ‘04
5. Honda NSX Type R ‘02
6. ASL Garaiya ‘02

It’s quickly apparent that although the ASL can keep up, indeed out-run the AI on the turns (even on S1 tires), it lacks about 20mph on the straights and loses around 10s per lap to the Speedster, thereby explaining the 190+ points on offer. A quick reset and a trip to tuning shop puts me back on the grid against the same opposition sporting a racing chip & exhaust and an NA stage 1 tune (along with some brake, transmission and suspension upgrades). Now, with 257hp in a 98 point race, the lights go green and the race develops into a major battle between the ASL and the Speedster. That is until approaching the end of lap 4…

After lap 1 the Speedster is down by only 0.811s, which increases to 5.392s at the end of lap 2, but has closed to 4.389s after lap 3. The NSX is running in third about 30s back after 3 laps. Approaching the Schwalbenschwanz on lap 4 the gap is around 6s over the Speedster and I expect to see it close on the straight as the Opel is still around 10mph faster. However, the lead going down the straight increases to 12s and is up to over 26s at the end of the lap – WTF! A few checkpoints into the 5th lap and the lead is over 1 minute, but it’s the NSX in second place – WTF again! Needless to say the last 3½ hours are a cruise to the finish with the NSX in second place by nearly 5 minutes and the Speedster in third. After collecting the prize money and car (a Chaparral 2D ’67) I eagerly load the replay to see what happened on laps 4 and 5 and see if I can get some answers to my WTF’s. I witness the most bizarre set of GT events I’ve ever seen.

As I said, approaching the Schwalbenschwanz on lap 4 the gap is around 6s but the replay shows that the Speedster spun out. He recovers quickly and is only 12s down at the first checkpoint on the straight. Hitting 164mph before the curves at the end of the straight he cannot hold the line and wipes out into the barriers. Then, bizarrely, he tries to enter the pits from the wrong angle and hits the barrier about 50 feet past the pit entrance. After trying to drive through the wall for about 10s he then straightens up and starts lap 5. This explains the 26s gap but what follows is the strangest lap I have ever seen.

Clearly the Speedster’s tires are shot, but rather than slowing a little and ‘nursing’ the lap the Speedster attempts to take turns at normal speeds with the inevitable consequences – spins and wipe-outs. The NSX soon catches and passes him, followed by the rest of the field – the Camaro even t-bones him as he is broadside in one section (see photo below). By the end of the lap the Speedster must have spun and hit barriers at least 20 times and went from a fastest lap of 7’51.339 to a 5th lap time of over 12 minutes. This kinda puts him out of contention as he is now nearly three quarters of a lap behind – but he does manage to pit at the end of lap 5. I have to say that while watching this debacle my feelings for the Speedster driver went from mirth at the start of the lap to pity by the end – I actually felt sorry for a computer program.

The Speedster did manage to navigate the rest of the race without the same pit tragedy but I passed him on lap 19 as he was again extricating himself from a sand-trap. The Camaro was passed on lap 16, the Mustang on lap 17 and the Evo on lap 18. At race end I had completed 30 laps and waited by the finish line for the last 30s so as to not have to do another lap.

The following is a photo of the ASL Garaiya as it rounds the Karussell – a real little beauty in both looks and performance.

The next 4 shots show some of the Speedster’s escapades – weep with me

Next are some tabulated stats for all you data addicts in car finishing order…

Car	Fastest lap	Highest mph	Pit strategy
ASL Garaiya ‘02	7’46.849	154	6 laps
Honda NSX Type R ‘02	7’57.923	167	5 laps
Opel Speedster Turbo ‘00	7’51.339	164	4 laps!!!
Mitsubishi Evo VIII GSR ‘04	8’14.784	159	4 laps
Mustang SVT Cobra R ‘00	8’20.781	155	5 laps
Camaro SS ‘00	8’21.872	162	5 laps

At the end of the race the ASL ‘s power had dropped to 245hp which went back up to 257hp with an oil change. The race had put 388 miles on it. Lastly – and to reiterate – I wholeheartedly recommend this car to everyone – it looks good, it’s fun and easy to drive and has good performance – don’t miss this one

posted 05-12-2005 05:36 AM         

Your life will be better if you just write the text in notepad or wordpad then paste it to the board when you're through. That way you'll be able to see what you're typing, format it reasonably, edit it sensibly, etc.

posted 05-13-2005 09:41 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by player2:
To neatly avoid answering the question ( ), I would ask why anyone would try to write a long post in the board software's edit window?

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posted 05-13-2005 10:40 AM         

With +100 ballast – not sure 100 what, is it lbs? kgs? sacks of potatoes? gold bars? Whatever, 100 of them certainly changed the feel of the car and killed the tire wear. +75 was a little better and combined with some d/f reductions made the series, at least as far as I have completed it, a little more interesting, although still quite easy. Of particular note at this point is that at Cote D’Azur, all 78 laps of it, where the twisty circuit made me make half as many pit-stops again as the AI – 12 vs. 8. This is like giving them more than a 1 lap head start and, like I said, made the racing a little more interesting.

Although I am far from completing the series the following provides results and notes to date.

Results

Course	laps	F/L	AI F/L	Margin	Pit-stops	AI pit-stops
Tokyo R246	60	1'15.625	1’18.738	1 lap	7	4/5
Motegi Speedway	127	0’25.839	0’26.536	10 laps	4	9
New York	74	1'15.899	1’19.618	2 laps	7	6
High Speed Ring	77	0’51.401	0’54.756	4 laps	5	6
Grand Valley	62	1’26.982	1’33.832	2 laps	9	7
Sarthe I	23	3’08.818	3’13.977	1½ mins	4	5
Cote D’Azur	78	1’18.396	1’21.836	1 lap	12	8
Seoul Central	113	0’44.335	0’46.778	3 laps	7	5
Infineon	76	1’11.984	1’16.151	2 laps	10	7
Laguna Seca	85	1’07.812	1’12.456	5 laps	9	7
Motegi Road	64	1'27.984	1'33.038	1 lap	8	7
Nürburgring	15	5'38.208	5'49.624	>3 mins	7	7
El Capitan	64	1'20.208	1'24.050	1 lap	10	7
Fuji 2005	67	1'19.407	1'24.913	1 lap	9	6
Suzuka	53	1'35.276	1'39.870	1 lap	8	6

Notes

Course	A-Spec	Comments
Tokyo R246	115	+100 ballast; d-f 75/105 (max) – ate tires and loose on fast turns
Motegi Speedway	73	+0 ballast; d/f 70/95 – needs re-run with ballast / less d-f
New York	101	+50 ballast; d/f 70/95
High Speed Ring	114	+50 ballast; d/f 65/85
Grand Valley	114	+50 ballast; d/f 65/85
Sarthe I	137	+75 ballast; d/f 60/80
Cote D’Azur	146	+75 ballast; d/f 55/75 – ate tires on twisty circuit
Seoul Central	146	+75 ballast; d/f 55/75 – much better on a fast circuit
Infineon	137	+75 ballast; d/f 60/80
Laguna Seca	101	+50 ballast; d/f 70/95
Motegi Road	114	+50 ballast; d/f 65/85
Nürburgring	77	Tire wear critical - special set-up req'd (details on request!)
El Capitan	127	+75 ballast; d/f 65/85
Fuji 2005	123	+50 ballast; d/f 60/80
Suzuka	114	+50 ballast; d/f 65/80

At this point in time the only race that looks winnable in something other than the F1 is Sarthe. I’ll update the tables when I finish the Championship.

posted 05-15-2005 02:29 PM         

Of particular note in the series is the 15 lap race at the Nürburgring. My 'standard' set-up caused the tires to go red mid-way through the second lap, which is a particularly bad thing at the 'Ring. So, it was off to practice and settings, and more practice and settings, until I could find a set-up that enabled me to run two full laps on 'good' tires. I finally arrived at a set-up that, although not optimized in terms of handling, enabled this - in fact two laps were completed and the tires had only just started to turn orange. All of this testing also qualified me on pole and I basically drove away from the field to win by over 3 minutes.

Key set-up factors:

Brake balance: 5/1
Downforce: 65/95
Ballast: 0
Weight balance: -20
TCS: 5

Limited Slip...
Initial torque: 15
LSA: 50
LSD: 60

Suspension...
Spring rate: 15.0/14.5
Ride Height: 50/50
Shock bound: 6/5
Shock rebound: 8/7
Camber: 2.0/0.0
Toe: 0/0

Shifting the braking and weight balance to the front of the vehicle, and removing all camber and toe from the rear wheels, reduced the rear tire wear significantly. It goes without saying that staying on the tarmac is also beneficial A really hot lap, time wise, is not possible, because every lap either starts or finishes with a pit stop. With a good set-up, and no tire wear worries, sub 5'30 times look to be very possible in the F1.

Winnings for the series were 4.5m credits (100k for each race and 3m for the Championship) and a Sauber Mercedes C9 Race Car - Nice. My money worries are now all behind me

posted 05-15-2005 03:23 PM         

The results and AI times are shown below (result/margin/fastest lap) with only the podium being shown from Race 2 onwards.

Motegi Road Course – 6 laps – S2 tires – 73 points
1. Lotus Elise Type 72 ’01: winner/2’21.742
2. Honda S2000 ’01: +3.561/2’22.598
3. Audi S3 ’02: -/2’27.149
4. Mazda RX-7 GT Limited ’85: -/2’29.564
5. Toyota Supra SZ-R ’97: -/2’29.225
6. Peugeot 206cc ’01: -/2’38.754

Seattle Reverse – 7 laps – S2’s – 73 points
1. Lotus 72: winner/1’56.572
2. S2000: +5.746/1’57.945
3. Audi S3: +35.568/2’02.063

Infineon Stock Car – 8 laps – S2’s – 73 points
1. Lotus 72: winner/1’29.353
2. S2000: +7.079/1’30.322
3. Audi S3: +30.329/1’33.671

Tokyo R246 – 5 laps – S2’s – 73 points
1. Lotus 72: winner/2’03.429
2. S2000: +6.381/2’03.204
3. Audi S3: +29.218/2’09.001

Fuji Speedway ‘05 – 6 laps – S2’s – 73 points
1. Lotus 72: winner/2’06.903
2. S2000: +8.536/2’07.166
3. Audi S3: +26.526/2’10.947

Motorland Reverse – 19 laps – S2’s – 73 points
1. Lotus 72: winner/0’47.534
2. Audi S3: +28.908/0’49.062
3. Mazda RX-7 GT: -/0’50.247

The S2000 came fourth after he lost it on the big sweeper and inadvertently drove into the pits.

Sarthe I – 2 laps – S2’s – 73 points
1. Lotus 72: winner/5’03.180
2. S2000: +2.797/5’05.797
3. Supra SZ-R: +19.879/5’14.417

Here I had to qualify in order to be able draft the S2000 down the straight as he had about a 20mph top speed advantage. I also had to resort to using Lugnut’s Speed 12 blocking techniques. The win came in the main because I was faster through the stadium section, especially the double chicane.

El Capitan Reverse – 6 laps – S2’s – 76 points (power had dropped to 126hp)
1. Lotus 72: winner/2’09.307
2. S2000: +8.420/2’08.898
3. Supra SZ-R: +34.919/2’12.839

Suzuka – 5 laps – S2’s – 80 points (power down to 125hp)
1. Lotus 72: winner/2’33.812
2. S2000: +5.159/2’32.559
3. Audi S3: +32.582/2’38.618

Nürburgring – 2 laps – S2’s – 84 points (power to 123hp)
1. Lotus 72: winner/8’36.358
2. S2000: +1.697/8’37.417
3. Audi S3: +42.671/8’58.571

With the S2000 on pole and the Lotus 72 at #6, it took the whole of lap 1 to catch and pass the Honda, needing to draft him the whole way down the straight and finally passing him at the chicane. I managed to build nearly a 5s lead by the time we hit the straight on lap 2 which the S2000 had cut to just over 1½ seconds by the line. With half the horsepower of the S2000, and giving away a lot of straight-line speed, this was very close, ‘on-the-edge’ racing. I suspect that I was only able to secure the victory under these conditions because of the more than 30 hours of driving that I had recently put into the ‘Ring (two endurances and the F1), that now make me very confident, and I believe reasonably capable, on this circuit

Winnings for the series were 400k (20k per race and 200k for the Championship) and the prize car was an Opera Performance S2000 ’04.

Status update on game day 891…

Completion: 96.6%
A-Spec points: 42,616
A-Spec mileage: 11,980
B-Spec points: 0 (Bob walked out but has been replaced by Malcolm – just in case)
Trophies: 555
Cars: 154 prize, 200 owned
Credits: Over 8m
License: 72 Gold, 8 Silver

Average A-Spec points = (42,616-8250)/(555-51)=68.2

posted 05-17-2005 10:04 PM         

I also note that in the Japanese GT Championship, a 10 race series, my A-Spec points are only 10 per race (I had forgotten about this as I originally completed this series very early on with very limited racing resource). It looks ripe for a points injection and I think I'll try the ASL JGTC - although this is likely way too little car for this series. Anyway, points are now 43,293 - like I said "Take that Bembridge Scholars" LOL!

posted 05-18-2005 12:18 AM         

Nice obscure movie quote, but I'm quite certain that I've never rejected your application to the Lugnut Society of Roadhogs. If you haven't received a response by now, I'll have the Society Secretary get on that right away.

posted 05-18-2005 08:09 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by miko:

"Take that Bembridge Scholars"

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Mmm ... Rachel Weisz with long hair and a penchant for period dresses ... :shakes self: ... what was I going to say?

Oh yes, a post or two ago, Miko, you showed your Nurburgring set-up for the :spits: F1 car. What I found of particular note was that it seemed to show that you could alter the weight balance of the car without adding ballast.

Have I misinterpreted what you typed or can you actually do that? If you can then that's a fantastic tuning tool that I shall be experimenting with forthwith

posted 05-18-2005 10:24 AM         

quote:

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Originally posted by Sukerkin:
What I found of particular note was that it seemed to show that you could alter the weight balance of the car without adding ballast.

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Exactly - it seems strange I know, and it might be something that's only available with the F1 car (this was the first series that I'd messed with ballast and weight distribution). The 'Ring was the only place that I didn't add ballast and I was able to adjust the weight distribution towards the front of the car. This was key in keeping the rear tires alive. I'd certainly be interested if you find anything else on this subject.

I'm also delighted that you're still reading

posted 05-19-2005 06:43 PM         

You bet I'm still reading . Most interesting and informative stuff :tup:

On the Weight Distribution Slider, I've put in a few hours in my favourite green Cerbera at Infineon playing with my spanners and I can definitely report that, without adding ballast, the changes you make do influence the cars handling.

More than that, they seem to do what you'd expect i.e. more weight towards the back means more oversteer and more weight towards the front means better response in the steering but more understeer. I've worked on the assumption that negative numbers are making the front relatively lighter compared to the rear.

This will be a great tool for balancing up cars if it pans out as I use it more. I've always relied primarily on the dampers to sort out my cornering balance but now I have a new string to my bow .

My current approach is to take the stock spring rates as a snapshot of the static car balance. I work out what the percentage difference is between front and rear, apply that figure to the weight distribution slider and equalise the spring rates at a suitably stiff rate. Voila, a more neutrally handling car :beams:.

posted 05-20-2005 01:18 PM         

Hmmmm....

posted 05-22-2005 02:22 PM         

My first 8 completed runs all recorded in the game diary were as follows:

#1: 9’18.090, 3rd place at +5.0xx
#2: 9’17.242, 2nd place at +4.2xx
#3: 9’17.100, 2nd place at +4.1xx
#4: 9’15.345, 2nd place at +2.3xx
#5: 9’15.614, 2nd place at +2.6xx
#6: 9’14.013, 2nd place at +1.0xx
#7: 9’13.671, 2nd place at +0.6xx
#8: 9’13.461, 2nd place at +0.424

Attempt #8 was somewhat heartbreaking as I achieved my fastest splits by between 1 and 2 seconds up until T8 where I suddenly became hesitant and overly cautious and paid the price. See picture below: