posted 06-13-2005 12:12 PM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by miko:
I'm off to Europe for real today - 2 weeks in the UK for AGMs etc. so this should give the attorneys amongst you a chance to catch up on the points stakes. I wouldn't want to demoralize you too much by slapping on another 10k points too quickly. LOL

---

posted 07-06-2005 05:52 AM         

Good to have you back, Mister Vice President.

posted 07-06-2005 11:30 AM         

Edit note: I've decided to re-insert the table here in its current state so that I have a historical record as at 100% game completion (knowing that the 4WD, K-Cup, Japan lightweight and Copen races have already been updated). Future updates on the A-Spec Point trail will be recorded in the table within the Resource Section.

Beginner Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Sunday Cup	Autumn Ring Mini Rev	68	?
	Driving Park Beginner	86	?
	High Speed Ring	83	?
	Clubman SSR5 Rev	48	?
	Twin Ring Motegi West	43	?
FF Challenge	Midfield Rev	74	Mazda Kusabi ‘03
	Suzuka East	72	"
	Hong Kong Rev	72	"
	Grand Valley East	70	"
	Twin Ring Motegi East	72	"
FR Challenge	Seattle	111	Pontiac Solstice Coupe ‘02
	Tsukuba	110	"
	SSR 5	112	"
	Laguna Seca	106	"
	Motorland Rev	97	"
MR Challenge	Beginner Course	91	Hyundai HCD6 ‘01
	Autumn Ring Rev	92	"
	New York Rev	55	Honda NSX-R Concept ‘01
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	70	"
	El Capitan	92	Hyundai HCD6 ‘01
4WD Challenge	Grand Valley East	200	Lancia Delta HF Integrale ‘91
	Autumn Ring Mini Rev	200	"
	Suzuka East	200	"
	El Capitan Rev	185	"
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	200	"
Lightweight Cup	Motorland	67	Daihatsu Copen Active Top ‘02
	Tsukuba	72	"
	Beginner Course	60	"
Spider & Roadster	Twin Ring Motegi East	37	?
	Trial Mountain Rev	77	?
	Infineon Sports	25	?
Sports Truck Race	Fuji Speedway 90’s	10	Toyota Tacoma X-Runner ‘04
	Laguna Seca	10	"
	Seattle Rev	10	"
Professional Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Clubman Cup	Apricot Hill	88	?
	Twin Ring Motegi East	72	?
	Seoul Rev	8	?
	SSR5 Clubman	140	?
	Deep Forest	159	?
Tuning Car	Apricot Hill Rev	123	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	123	"
	Tokyo R246	123	"
	El Capitan Rev	123	"
	Tsukuba	123	"
Race of NA Sports	Infineon Sports	100	?
	Apricot Hill Rev	100	?
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	100	?
	SSR5 Rev	142	?
	Trial Mountain	100	?
Race of Turbo Sports	Fuji Speedway 80’s	124	?
	Tokyo R246 Rev	124	?
	High Speed Ring	42	?
	New York Rev	14	?
	Midfield	124	?
Boxer Spirit	Hong Kong	89	?
	Infineon Sports	89	?
	Deep Forest Rev	110	?
World Classic Car	Fuji Speedway 80’s	7	?
	El Capitan Rev	7	?
	Nürburgring	7	?
	Cote d’Azur	7	?
	Laguna Seca	7	?
World Compact Car	Seattle	21	?
	Tsukuba	21	?
	Grand Valley East Rev	21	?
	Hong Kong Rev	21	?
	Twin Ring Motegi East	21	?
Supercar Festival	Seoul	79	RUF CTR Yellow Bird ‘87
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	79	"
	New York	79	"
	Midfield Rev	26	"
	Infineon Sports	79	"
Gran Turismo World	Tokyo R246	26	Toyota Minolta 88C-V ‘89
	Twin Ring Motegi Speedway	26	"
	Hong Kong	8	"
	Seoul Rev	26	"
	El Capitan	33	"
	New York	48	"
	Opera Paris Rev	55	"
	Suzuka	55	"
	Grand Valley Rev	55	"
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	55	"
Extreme Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Gran Turismo All Stars	High Speed Ring Rev	200	Pagani Zonda LM Race Car ‘01
	Fuji Speedway 80’s	187	"
	Laguna Seca	200	"
	Autumn Ring Rev	200	"
	Test Course	194	"
	Grand Valley Rev	200	"
	Suzuka	187	Nissan GT-R Concept LM Race Car
	Infineon Stock Car	150	"
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	69	Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car ‘00
	Nürburgring	50	Pescarolo Courage C60 ‘03
Dream Car	Opera Paris	151	Mercedes CLK Touring Car ‘00
	Tokyo R246 Rev	151	"
	Deep Forest	151	"
	Seoul Rev	151	"
	Hong Kong	151	"
	Test Course	200	VW W12 Nardo Concept ‘01
	Beginner Course	151	Mercedes CLK Touring Car ‘00
	Circuit de la Sarthe II	57	"
	El Capitan Rev	151	"
	Cote d’Azur	156	"
Polyphony Digital Cup	Twin Ring Motegi Road	73	Lotus Elise Type 72 ‘01
	Seattle Rev	73	"
	Infineon Stock Car	73	"
	Tokyo R246 Rev	73	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005	73	"
	Motorland Rev	73	"
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	73	"
	El Capitan Rev	76	"
	Suzuka	80	"
	Nürburgring	84	"
Like the Wind	Test Course	200	Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car ‘98
Formula GT World	Tokyo R246	115	Polyphony Formula Gran Turismo ‘04
	Twin Ring Motegi Speedway	73	"
	New York	101	"
	High Speed Ring	114	"
	Grand Valley	114	"
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	137	"
	Cote d’Azur	146	"
	Seoul	146	"
	Infineon Sports	137	"
	Laguna Seca	101	"
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	114	"
	Nürburgring	77	"
	El Capitan	127	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005	123	"
	Suzuka	114	"
World Circuit Tours	Suzuka	200	Nissan GT-R Concept LM Race Car ‘02
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	123	Pescarolo Courage C60 ‘03
	Tsukuba	89	Nissan R89C ‘89
	Laguna Seca	200	Pagani Zonda LM Race Car ‘01
	Infineon Sports	72	Sauber Mercedes C9 ‘89
	Fuji Speedway 2005 GT	135	Mazda 787B ‘91
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	110	Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car ‘98
	Nürburgring	200	BMW McLaren F1 GTR Race Car ‘97
Premium Sports Lounge	Cote d’Azur	200	BMW M3 CSL ‘03
	Opera Paris	109	"
	Hong Kong Rev	137	"
	High Speed Ring Rev	103	"
	New York Rev	92	"
American Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
All American	Seattle	27	Chevy Camaro LM Race Car ‘01
	Infineon Sports	27	"
	New York	27	"
	El Capitan Rev	27	"
	Laguna Seca	27	"
Stars and Stripes	Laguna Seca	157	Chrysler Crossfire ‘04
	Seattle	157	"
	Infineon Stock Car	153	"
Hot Rod Competition	New York Rev	18	?
	Laguna Seca	74	?
	El Capitan	31	?
Muscle Car Competition	New York	32	Chevy Chevelle SS454 ‘70
	Infineon Sport	27	"
	Seattle	37	"
European Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Pan European	Opera Paris	197	BMW M3 CSL ‘03
	Grand Valley	200	"
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	198	"
	Cote d’Azur	198	"
	Nürburgring	200	"
British GT	Grand Valley	161	Aston Martin Vanquish ‘04
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	161	"
	El Capitan	161	"
	Infineon Sports	161	"
	Midfield Rev	161	"
British Lightweight Series	Autumn Ring	83	Ginetta G4 ‘64
	Apricot Hill Rev	75	"
	SSR5	75	"
Deutsche Touring Car	Opera Paris	73	Opel Calibra Touring Car ‘94
	Midfield	73	"
	High Speed Ring Rev	73	"
	Nürburgring	73	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005 GT	73	"
La Festa Italiano	Autumn Ring Rev	94	Alfa Romeo 147 GTA ‘02
	Cote d’Azur	100	"
	Infineon Sports	105	"
Tous France Championat	Opera Paris	87	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Circuit de la Sarthe I	87	"
	SSR5	87	"
	Grand Valley Rev	87	"
	Cote d’Azur	87	"
Europe Classic Car	Nürburgring	4	Lotus Elan S1 ‘62
	Fuji Speedway 80’s	4	"
	Opera Paris Rev	4	"
	Suzuka	4	"
	Deep forest Rev	4	"
Europe Hot Hatch	Twin Ring Motegi East	128	?
	Opera Paris	128	?
	Trial Mountain Rev	128	?
	Suzuka East	128	?
	SSR5 Rev	128	?
1000 Miles!	Nürburgring	40	Chevy Corvette Convertible (C1) ‘54
	Opera Paris	40	"
	Cote d’Azur	40	"
	Circuit de la Sarthe II	8	"
Schwarzwald Liga A	Trial Mountain	95	?
	Opera Paris Rev	10	?
	Autumn Ring	70	?
Schwarzwald Liga B	Nürburgring	75	?
	Tokyo R246	75	?
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	105	?
	High Speed Ring Rev	52	?
	Suzuka	108	?
Japanese Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Japan Championship	Fuji Speedway 90’s	182	ASL Garaiya ‘02
	Tsukuba	199	"
	Tokyo R246 Rev	182	"
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	182	"
	Suzuka	182	"
All Japan GT	Tokyo R246	94	ASL ARTA Garaiya JGTC ‘03
	Suzuka East	94	"
	Seoul	94	"
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	94	"
	Twin Ring Motegi Speedway	94	"
	Laguna Seca	94	"
	Hong Kong	94	"
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	100	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005 GT	108	"
	Suzuka	116	"
Japanese 70’s Classics	Fuji Speedway 80’s	10	Nissan 240ZG (HS30) ‘71
	Autumn Ring Mini Rev	9	"
	Tsukuba	10	"
	Motorland Rev	10	"
	Trial Mountain	10	"
Japanese 80’s Festival	El Capitan	54	Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX ‘83
	SSR5 Clubman Rev	63	"
	Tsukuba	70	"
	Apricot Hill Rev	59	"
	Suzuka	50	"
Japanese 90’s Challenge	Apricot Hill	84	?
	Grand Valley East Rev	106	?
	Twin Ring Motegi East	100	?
	SSR5 Rev	106	?
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	98	?
Japanese Compact Cup	Twin Ring Motegi East	128	Daihatsu Copen Active Top ‘02
	Autumn Ring Mini Rev	128	"
	Tsukuba	83	"
	Deep Forest Rev	128	"
	Suzuka East	135	"
Endurance Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Grand Valley 300 km	Grand Valley	100	BMW M3 GTR Race Car ‘01
Laguna Seca 200 miles	Laguna Seca	138	TVR Cerbera Speed 6 ‘97
Roadster 4hr Endurance	Tsukuba	65	MX-5 S-Special Type I ‘95
Tokyo 300 km	Tokyo R246	26	Mercedes CLK Touring Car
Super Speedway 150 miles	Twin Ring Motegi Speedway	7	Minolta 88C-V ‘89
Nürburgring 24hr Endurance	Nürburgring	12	Subaru Impreza Touring Car ‘01
Nürburgring 4hr Endurance	Nürburgring	98	ASL Garaiya ‘02
Suzuka 1000 km	Suzuka	128	ASL ARTA Garaiya JGTC ‘03
Motegi 8hr Endurance	Twin Ring Motegi Road	105	Lotus Elise Sport 190 ‘98
Tsukuba 9hr Endurance	Tsukuba	189	Lotus Elise 111S ‘03
Circuit de la Sarthe 24hr I	Circuit de la Sarthe I	73	Pescarolo Courage C60 ‘03
Circuit de la Sarthe 24hr II	Circuit de la Sarthe II	123	Gillet Vertigo Race Car ‘04
Fuji 1000 km	Fuji Speedway 90’s	125	Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car ‘98
Infineon World Sports	Infineon Sports	200	Nissan GT-R Concept LM Race Car ‘02
El Capitan 200 miles	El Capitan	200	Acura HSC ‘04
New York 200 miles	New York	144	Shelby Series 1 Super Charged ‘03
Special Conditions Hall
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
"Easy"	Citta di Aria	56	Lotus Elise Type 72 ‘01
	Citta di Aria Rev	56	"
	Costa di Amalfi	30	?
	Costa di Amalfi Rev	30	?
	Grand Canyon	9	?
	Grand Canyon Rev	9	?
	Ice Arena	9	?
	Ice Arena Rev	9	?
	Chamonix	72	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Chamonix Rev	9	?
	George V Paris	30	?
	George V Paris Rev	14	?
	Swiss Alps	137	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Swiss Alps Rev	200	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Tahiti Maze	145	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Tahiti Maze Rev	146	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Tsukuba Wet	200	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Cathedral Rocks Trial I	147	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Cathedral Rocks Trial I Rev	148	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Cathedral Rocks Trial II	164	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
	Cathedral Rocks Trial II Rev	136	Renault 5 Turbo ‘80
"Normal"	Citta di Aria	63	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Citta di Aria Rev	8	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Costa di Amalfi	76	?
	Costa di Amalfi Rev	7	?
	Grand Canyon	47	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Grand Canyon Rev	53	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Ice Arena	44	?
	Ice Arena Rev	44	?
	Chamonix	10	?
	Chamonix Rev	10	?
	George V Paris	10	?
	George V Paris Rev	10	?
	Swiss Alps	73	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Swiss Alps Rev	139	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Tahiti Maze	107	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Tahiti Maze Rev	34	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Tsukuba Wet	200	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial I	59	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial I Rev	59	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial II	59	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial II Rev	59	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
"Hard"	Citta di Aria	42	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Citta di Aria Rev	42	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Costa di Amalfi	68	?
	Costa di Amalfi Rev	7	?
	Grand Canyon	9	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac RC ‘02
	Grand Canyon Rev	10	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac RC ‘02
	Ice Arena	17	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac RC ‘02
	Ice Arena Rev	8	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac RC ‘02
	Chamonix	150	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac ‘01
	Chamonix Rev	69	Mitsu CZ-3 Tarmac RC ‘02
	George V Paris	60	?
	George V Paris Rev	60	?
	Swiss Alps	40	?
	Swiss Alps Rev	80	?
	Tahiti Maze	132	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Tahiti Maze Rev	132	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Tsukuba Wet	200	Subaru Impreza Touring Car ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial I	80	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial I Rev	80	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial II	36	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
	Cathedral Rocks Trial II Rev	80	Subaru Impreza RC Prototype ‘01
One Make Races
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Alfa Romeo GTA Cup	Grand Valley East Rev	10	147 GTA ‘02
	Tsukuba	10	"
	Apricot Hill	10	"
Aston Martin Carnival	Fuji Speedway 90’s	94	Vanquish ‘04
	Hong Kong	96	"
	Autumn Ring	94	"
Audi TT	El Capitan	90	TT Coupe 1.8T Quattro ‘03
	Tokyo R246 Rev	90	"
	Deep Forest Rev	90	"
Audi A3 Cup	Suzuka East	60	A3 3.2 Quattro ‘03
	Midfield	60	"
	Laguna Seca	60	"
BMW 1 Series Trophy	Grand Valley	76	BMW 120i ‘04
	Infineon Sports	76	"
	Twin Ring Motegi East	76	"
BMW Club M	El Capitan Rev	72	BMW M3 CSL ‘03
	Apricot Hill	72	"
	Opera Paris Rev	72	"
	Suzuka	72	"
	Nürburgring	72	"
Chevy Vette! Vette! Vette!	Seattle	200	Corvette Convertible (C1) ‘54
	Laguna Seca	200	"
	New York Rev	137	"
	Infineon Sports	200	"
	El Capitan	200	"
Chevy Camaro Meeting	Seoul	108	Camaro IROC-Z Concept ‘88
	El Capitan Rev	108	"
	Midfield	108	"
Chrysler Crossfire Trophy	Seattle	45	Crossfire ‘04
	Twin Ring Motegi Speedway	45	"
	Trial Mountain Rev	45	"
Citroen 2CV	Opera Paris Rev	52	2CV ‘54
	Cote d’Azur	52	"
	Autumn Ring Mini	52	"
	Deep Forest Rev	52	"
	Tsukuba	52	"
Daihatsu Copen Race	Tsukuba	50	Copen Active Top ‘02
	Motorland	51	"
	Autumn Ring Mini	79	"
Diahatsu Midget II Race	Motorland Rev	50	Midget II D-Type ‘98
Honda Type R Meeting	Twin Ring Motegi Road	48	NSX-R Concept ‘01
	Autumn Ring Rev	49	"
	Suzuka	50	"
	Motorland Rev	53	"
	Tsukuba	48	"
Honda Civic Race	Twin Ring Motegi East	34	Civic Type R ‘98
	Suzuka East	61	"
	Deep Forest	62	"
	Autumn Ring Mini	62	"
	Midfield Rev	57	"
Hyundai Sport Festival	Autumn Ring	8	HCD6 ‘01
	Hong Kong	8	"
	Grand Valley East	8	"
	Tsukuba	8	"
	Seoul	8	"
Isuzu Sports Classics	Tsukuba	46	Piazza XE ‘81
	Fuji Speedway 80’s	43	"
	Trial Mountain	43	"
Lotus Elise Trophy	Tokyo R246	52	Elise 111S ‘03
	Autumn Ring Rev	52	"
	SSR5 Rev	52	"
	Hong Kong	52	"
	Apricot Hill	52	"
Lotus Classic Car Cup	Hong Kong Rev	41	Elan S1 ‘62
	Laguna Seca	41	"
	El Capitan	41	"
	Tsukuba	41	"
	Apricot Hill Rev	41	"
Mazda Club ‘RE’	Laguna Seca	74	RX-8 Concept (Type I) ‘01
	Autumn Ring Rev	41	"
	SSR5 Rev	43	"
	Opera Paris	7	BP Falken RX-7 (D1GP) ‘01
	Suzuka	41	RX-8 Concept (Type I) ‘01
Mazda Roadster Cup	Twin Ring Motegi East	156	MX-5 S-Special Type I ‘95
	Tokyo R246	58	"
	SSR5 Clubman Rev	58	"
	Tsukuba	58	"
	Trial Mountain	156	"
Mazda RX-8 Cup	Laguna Seca	8	RX-8 Concept (Type I) ‘01
	SSR5	8	"
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	8	"
	El Capitan	8	"
	Tsukuba	8	"
Mercedes Benz Silver Arrow	Fuji Speedway 90’s	15	SL55 AMG (R230) ‘02
	Nürburgring	15	"
	Opera Paris	10	"
Mercedes Benz SL Challenge	Apricot Hill	9	SL55 AMG (R230) ‘02
	Fuji Speedway 80’s	8	"
	El Capitan	9	"
MG Festival	Hong Kong Rev	59	MG TF160 ‘03
	Suzuka	59	"
	Opera Paris	59	"
	Motorland	59	"
	Grand Valley East Rev	59	"
Mini Mini Sports Meeting	Opera Paris	11	Cooper S ‘02
	Tokyo R246	8	"
	SSR5 Clubman Rev	9	"
	Seattle	9	"
	New York Rev	8	"
Mitsubishi Evolution Meeting	SSR5 Clubman	169	Evo III GSR ‘95
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	168	"
	Tokyo R246	110	"
Mitsubishi Mirage Cup	Tsukuba	132	Mirage Cyborg ZR ‘97
	Autumn Ring	132	"
	SSR5	132	"
	Laguna Seca	132	"
	Suzuka	132	"
Nissan Race of the Red Emblem	Twin Ring Motegi Road	110	Skyline GT-R V-Spec (R33) ‘97
	Trial Mountain Rev	106	"
	Fuji Speedway 80’s	126	"
	New York Rev	114	"
	Suzuka	128	"
Nissan March Brothers	Autumn Ring Mini	165	Micra ‘03
	Suzuka East	165	"
	Grand Valley East Rev	70	"
Nissan Silvia Sisters	Tsukuba	23	Silvia Q’s (S13) ‘88
	SSR5	19	"
	Fuji Speedway 90’s	10	"
Nissan Club ‘Z’	New York	26	Fairlady Z 300ZX (Z31) ‘83
	Tokyo R246 Rev	26	"
	El Capitan	18	"
	Laguna Seca	26	"
	Grand Valley Rev	18	"
Opel Speedster trophy	Grand Valley	163	Speedster Turbo ‘00
	Autumn Ring Rev	163	"
	Suzuka East	163	"
	Infineon Sports	163	"
	Seattle	185	"
Peugeot 206 Cup	Opera Paris	200	206 Rally Car ‘99
	Tsukuba	153	"
	Motorland Rev	157	"
	Suzuka East	153	"
	Cote d’Azur	153	"
Renault Alpine Cup	Tokyo R246	38	Alpine A310 1600VE ‘73
	Trial Mountain	38	"
	Opera Paris Rev	38	"
	SSR5	38	"
	Grand Valley	38	"
Renault Clio Trophy	Suzuka	140	Clio Sport V6 Phase 2 ‘03
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	140	"
	Tsukuba	140	"
	Deep Forest	140	"
	El Capitan Rev	140	"
Renault Megane Cup	Suzuka East	20	Megane 2.0 IDE Coupe ‘00
	Opera Paris	20	"
	Laguna Seca	20	"
	Seoul	20	"
	Cote d’Azur	20	"
Saleen S7 Club	Circuit de la Sarthe I	60	Saleen S7 ‘02
	El Capitan	60	"
	SSR5 Rev	60	"
	Suzuka	60	"
	Infineon Sports	60	"
Shelby Cup	Seattle Rev	175	Series 1 Super Charged ‘03
	High Speed Ring Rev	175	"
	New York	175	"
	Laguna Seca	175	"
	Trial Mountain Rev	200	"
Subaru 360 Race	Tsukuba	41	Subaru 360 ‘58
Subaru Stars of the Pleiades	Tsukuba	116	Impreza Sedan WRX STi V1 ‘99
	Trial Mountain	116	"
	Suzuka	116	"
	Deep Forest Rev	116	"
	Laguna Seca	116	"
Suzuki K-Car Cup	Autumn Ring Mini Rev	52	MR Wagon Sport ‘04
	Tsukuba	52	"
	Motorland	53	"
Suzuki Concepts	Twin Ring Motegi West	42	Concept S2 ‘03
	Seattle	33	"
	Tsukuba	9	"
Toyota Altezza Race	Tsukuba	27	Lexus IS200 (J) ‘98
	Suzuka	30	"
	Apricot Hill	14	"
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	17	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005	30	"
Toyota Vitz Race	Fuji Speedway 90’s	79	Vitz RS1.5 ‘00
	Suzuka East	79	"
	Twin Ring Motegi East	74	"
	Tsukuba	74	"
	Autumn Ring	79	"
Triumph Spitfire Cup	El Capitan	53	Spitfire ‘74
	Twin Ring Motegi West	53	"
	Autumn Ring Mini Rev	53	"
	SSR5 Clubman	53	"
	Seoul Rev	45	"
TVR Blackpool Racers	Suzuka East	74	TVR Cerbera Speed 6 ‘97
	SSR5	75	"
	Laguna Seca	150	"
	Opera Paris	75	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005	74	"
Volkswagen Beetle Cup	Fuji Speedway 90’s	73	New Beetle Cup Car ‘00
	Twin Ring Motegi Road	73	"
	Tsukuba	73	"
	Suzuka	73	"
	Fuji Speedway 2005	73	"
Volkswagen Lupo Cup	Fuji Speedway 90’s	55	Lupo GTi Cup Car ‘03
	Nürburgring	55	"
	Tsukuba	55	"
	Suzuka	55	"
	Infineon Sports	55	"
Volkswagen GTi Cup	Hong Kong Rev	23	Lupo GTi Cup Car ‘03
	Tsukuba	23	"
	Opera Paris	23	"
	Midfield Rev	23	"
	Deep Forest Rev	23	"
Miscellaneous
Series	Course	A-Spec	Car
Family Cup	Any (El Capitan)	200	Mitsubishi CZ-3 Rally Car
Driving Missions	Various	8,500	Various
Total A-Spec Points		51,733
Total 200 A-Spec Points Races		29

posted 07-07-2005 06:39 PM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by miko:
In my altruistic way and as the above table nears completion, would anybody find this useful within the Resource Section under a title such as "Getting 50,000 A-Spec Points"? As alternative vehicles are identified this of course will be updated. Let me know if anybody's interested.

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Do it. The resource section lives and dies by the quality of information that people put in there and, I think we can all agree, that this is (as they say) the good sh*t. It may prompt other people to say what they used for particular races - a list like that would have speeded up my attempts to beat the El Cap Enduro no end, I can tell you.

posted 07-08-2005 05:00 AM         

Excellent idea too - I've been keeping notes myself but have been very tardy about stringing them together into on-line posts.

My excuse is that I get little enough time to race as it is these days without eating up the track-hours with typing up results .

posted 07-08-2005 10:51 AM         

Well, I finally finished extracting and tabulating data from all of the races and, although this was a lengthy exercise, this now makes it much easier for me to plan a point’s assault.

Looking at the Beginners Hall the obvious starting point is the Lightweight Cup where I had previously achieved only 37 points in total. Using the same car as before, the Daihatsu Copen Active Top ’02, I increased points to 67, 72 and 60 respectively at the three races by adding 200kg of ballast to the 67hp stock, S2 tires vehicle. This is a long way away from the things that Lugnut is playing with at the moment (cars Lugs, cars ) Interestingly the modified weight of the Copen is 1030kg, exactly the same as the Subaru Impreza Super Touring Car, although the PWR is a little (understatement) different.

While in the Copen I also revisited the Copen Series and increased points to 50, 51 and 79 respectively. The first two races at Tsukuba and Motorland had to be run ballast free but the final race at Autumn Ring Mini had a full load.

Lastly in the Copen, I attacked the Japanese Compact Cup in the Japan Hall where I had previously attained 36 points per race. I entered as a Championship to give me the opportunity of qualifying, and had S3 tires and a few power modifiers up my sleeve should they be needed. The field I drew comprised a Mazda Demio Sport ’03, both versions of the Scion, a surprisingly fast Mitsubishi Colt 1.5 Sport X Version ’02 and the class of the field, a Toyota Vitz RS Turbo ’02. I qualified on pole in each race which progressed as follows:

Twin Ring Motegi East – 128pts – 75hp – S3 tires – S1 turbo – 200 ballast
Autumn Ring Mini Reverse – 128pts – 75hp – S3 tires – S1 turbo – 200 ballast
Tsukuba – 83pts – 79hp – S3 tires – S1 turbo – racing intercooler – 0 ballast
Deep Forest Reverse – 75hp – S3 tires – S1 turbo – 200 ballast
Suzuka East – 135pts – 75hp – S2 tires – S1 turbo – 200 ballast

The other series I checked out was again in the Beginners Hall, the 4WD series. I felt that with the right car and the right competition that 200 point races were possible. Checking out the PWRs of my 4WD selection, sitting near the bottom of the list was the Lancia Delta HF Integrale ’91, and this became my car of choice. The only AI field I found that gave high points was grid #2 and comprised an Audi Quattro ’82, Ford RS200 ’84, Hyundai Clix ’01, Subaru Impreza Sedan WRX STi ’02 and an Audi RS6 ’02. The car to beat was the Ford. And so…

Grand Valley East – 200pts – 212hp – S2 tires – 120 ballast
Autumn Ring Mini Reverse – 200pts – 212hp – S2 tires – 120 ballast
Suzuka East – 200pts – 212hp – S2 tires – 120 ballast
El Capitan Reverse – 185pts – 212hp – S2 tires – 0 ballast
Fuji Speedway 90’s – 200pts – 212hp – S2 tires – 120 ballast

Being a single race series the starting position was always #6 on the grid which was a particular disadvantage, especially at El Capitan where I could not beat the Ford RS200 while carrying ballast. At GV East and Fuji I also had to employ some minor blocking tactics to fend off the Ford or Audi on the straights. At GV East the Audi came second and pushed me over the line to win by only a few hundredths. In all other races the Ford came a close second.

Anyway, with the above racing my points total now sits at 51,733. My objectives now are to reach 75,000 points (yeah! right) and achieve one hundred 200 point races (yeah! right again). We’ll see…

posted 07-08-2005 11:16 AM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by miko:
Looking at the Beginners Hall the obvious starting point is the Lightweight Cup where I had previously achieved only 37 points in total. Using the same car as before, the Daihatsu Copen Active Top ’02, I increased points to 67, 72 and 60 respectively at the three races by adding 200kg of ballast to the 67hp stock, S2 tires vehicle. This is a long way away from the things that Lugnut is playing with at the moment (cars Lugs, cars )

---

posted 07-11-2005 10:05 AM         

So, where do I start? Ah yes! The K-Cup (spurred on by Lugnut’s previous post )

Lightweight K-Cup

Taking Lug’s advice I went shopping at the used car lots and bought a Daihatsu Move CX ’95. Putting out 50hp on black oil, on S3 tires and carrying 100kg of ballast it was good for 149 and 154 point wins at Motorland and the Beginner’s Course. With another 100kg of ballast I was able to secure a 172 point win at BC, but Tsukuba proved a little more difficult. Here I kept the 100kg of ballast but had to increase power to 55hp to get a 114 point win. How does this now stack up Lugs?

FF Cup

I used the 218hp (but heavy) Renault Avantime ’02 with S3 tires and 200kg ballast to secure 140, 140, 135 and 144 point victories at Midfield Rev, HK Rev, GV East and TR Motegi East respectively. I really wanted a 200 pointer and Suzuka East was the obvious choice as the AI drives so badly here. Eventually, after a lot of tests, I ran a 105hp VW Lupo 1.4 ’02 on S3 tires with 10kg (yes, only 10 to take the value from 199 to 200) of junk in the trunk, to achieve this.

MR Challenge

This is a tricky series depending firstly on whether the NSX shows up, and then on which versions (R or S). I ended up using the Lotus Elise Type 72 ’01 at an oil change 128hp, as this could handle the NSX’s that I actually wanted in the race to elevate the points value.

Beginner Course: S3 tires; 50 ballast; 178 points with 2 NSX’s
Autumn Ring Rev: S3 tires; 50 ballast; 157 points with 0 NSX’s
NY Rev: S3 tires; 50 ballast; 142 points with 1 NSX (Go figure!)
Fuji 90’s: S2 tires; 100 ballast; 160 points with 1 NSX
El Capitan: S2 tires; 100 ballast; 166 points with 1 NSX

I re-ran Autumn Ring a number of times for the 200 pointer and ended up getting this on S2 tires with 125kg of ballast, against both NSX variants.

Spider & Roadster

Using MG TF160 ’03 at 169hp…

TR Motegi East: S3 tires; 0 ballast; 129 points
Trial Mountain Rev: S2 tires; 200 ballast; 200 points
Infineon: S3 tires; 0 ballast; 169 points (a much stronger field than Motegi)

FR Challenge

First I tried the Camaro IROZ at 233hp on S2 tires and this was good for a 137 point win at Seattle – but I wanted more. I ended up racing a Mazda MX-5 S-Special Type I ’95 fitted with S3 tires, a chip and a racing exhaust. This gave an output of 152hp and resulted in relatively comfortable 200 point wins in all 5 races in the series. Easy points here Lugs.

Sunday Cup

Another difficult series to get high points in. I used the Daihatsu Copen Active Top ’02 (now it no longer figures in the K-Cup standings) at 67hp, and scored points wins of between 109 and 173 by varying tires and ballast according to the course. The low 109 point victory was at SSR5 Clubman and was due to the fact that I additionally had to use an S1 turbo, boosting power to 75hp, to deal with the long straight.

With the exception of the Truck Races this concludes my activities in the Beginners Hall – at least for the time being. I’ll just comment here on the two Manufacturers series I ran before I detail the American and Professional Halls series and findings in my next post – some of which proved very interesting.

BMW Club M

I found a used M Coupe in the car lots and ran it at 290hp on black oil for some very, very close racing. All of the M’s show up (M3, M5, M Coupe, M3 CSL and M3 GTR) in each race so point’s prediction becomes very easy.

El Capitan: S2 tires; 35 ballast; 200 points (winning by 0.131s over the M5)
Apricot Hill: S3 tires; chip; racing exhaust; NA1; 335hp; 138 points (+0.121s over M5)
Opera Paris: S2 tires; 35 ballast; 200 points (easy win of +4.374s over CSL)
Suzuka: S3 tires; chip; racing exhaust; 311hp; 163 points (+2.468 over CSL)
Nurby: S3 tires; chip; racing exhaust; NA1; oil; 371hp; 103 points (+0.732 over M5)

The straights at Apricot Hill, Suzuka and especially Nurby proved too much for the 290hp M Coupe and I had to use power modifiers to compensate.

Mazda Club RE

posted 07-11-2005 10:32 AM         

All American Championship

After assessing suitable entrants I chose the Chaparral 2D ’67. At 447hp, on R3 tires and with 200kg ballast (100kg at New York) it was good for 150 point victories at Seattle, Infineon, El Capitan and Laguna Seca (122 points at New York) against a Panoz Esperante, Viper Oreca, Ford GT LM ’04, Ford GT40 and Corvette C2. I did find a 200 point race against a field that included the 2D’s big brother, the 2J. Suffice to say I lost around 3s per lap and quickly gave up – that sucker is seriously fast.

One interesting thing about the 2D for anyone thinking of using it… It has only 3 gears and must be kept in the power band. On standing starts, and El Capitan was the only one I had to contend with in this series, the 2D takes about a week to get moving and you’ll lose about 5s off the line. It’s also seriously slow out of any turns at less than 50 mph. If you look at the torque curve the reason for this is obvious. Hard as I looked, I just couldn’t find the clutch on the DS2

Muscle Car Competition

200 point victories in all races (took a little judicious field selection) in the Corvette Convertible (C1) ’54 with S3 tires and NA1 tuning, putting out 187hp. Fun racing, especially when the Buick Special showed up. I’ll give some additional info here as when I first ran this series it pre-dates this diary.

Seattle – Corvette C1 ’54 with NA1 tuning and S3 tires at 187hp. Race rated 181 points:

Car / MOV / FL

1. Corvette C1 ’54 / winner / 1’52.262
2. Dodge Charger Super Bee 426 Hemi ’71 / +1.682 / 1’56.053
3. Chevy Chevelle SS454 ’70 / +3.704 / 1’54.482
4. Chevy Corvette Stingray L46 350 ’69 / +8.937 / 1’57.477
5. Chevy Camaro Z28 302 ’69 / +11.275 / 1’58.245
6. Chevy Camaro SS ’69 / +13.218 / 1’59.639

Infineon – C1 as above. Race rated 200 points

1. Corvette C1 ’54 / winner / 1’52.444
2. Dodge Charger 440 R/T ’70 / +1.617 / 1’55.563
3. Plymouth Super Bird ’70 / +6.281 / 1’56.452
4. Mercury Cougar XR-7 ’67 / +8.357 / 1’57.937
5. Shelby Mustang G.T. 350R ’65 / +9.049 / 1’56.740
6. Chevy Corvette Stingray L46 350 ’69 / +10.763 / 1’59.091

New York – C1 as above plus Chip and racing exhaust. Now 203hp. Race rated 200 points

1. Corvette C1 ’54 / winner / 1’53.998
2. Buick Special ’62 / +0.112 / 1’54.497
3. Dodge Charger Super Bee 426 Hemi ’71 / +2.580 / 1’58.620
4. Dodge Charger 440 R/T ’70 / +4.743 / 1’59.911
5. Pontiac Tempest Le Mans GTO ‘64 / – / –
6. Chevy Corvette Coupe (C2) ‘63 / – / – /

I reran Seattle a few times to get a 200 point race and eventually drew the same as New York except with the Corvette replaced by a Camaro. On this occasion I beat the Buick by over 4s. I really enjoyed racing against the Buick Special. It was a case of pass him on the turns, get blown on the straight, pass him on the turns, and so on…

Lugs – you must invest in the transmission upgrades for this little beauty as it’ll pay you back, and some, in points return.

Hot Rod Competition

The killer little car for these races is the Pontiac Solstice Coupe Concept’02. On S3 tires, with a trunk full of ballast and a power of 243hp, this gave easy victories against such cars as the Viper, Shelby, Callaway etc. Initial points were 184 at New York, 167 at Laguna Seca and 193 at El Capitan. Many race resets finally gave me a 200 point field at NY which was still an easy victory. The other races could be converted but I’ll leave it for now and come back at my leisure.

Stars and Stripes

I’ve finally found another car that I rate along side the BMW M3 CSL. “What?” you ask. Well, it may surprise you – it certainly surprised me, and at 315hp, on S2 tires and with 200kg of ballast, it gave easy 200 point victories against ‘pumped-up’ American Supercars at Laguna Seca, Seattle and Infineon. It was the slowest and poorest accelerating car in the field but it brakes on a dime and corners as though on rails. The car, and I can’t praise it enough, is the Ford Mustang GT ’05. Try it and see. I read that Ford claim to have increased the car’s rigidity by 30% over previous Mustangs. It feels like it in the game, I wonder if the same is true in real life. Anyway, we’ll come back to this car a little later.

posted 07-11-2005 10:41 AM         

A few reactions.

K-Car Cup: You found the car, but you were more inventive than I was. When I couldn't win with it straight off the used car lot, I changed the oil. I didn't try to use the S3 tires, which I gather were so effective that it didn't just allow you to win on black oil, but also allowed you to add ballast as well! You've leapfrogged me by about 50-60 points in this event.

FF Cup: I've got 200 point victories across the board here, as I mentioned in my own diary. Since you've indicated you have exhausted your search, I'll give up the car I used. It was a PT Cruiser. It needs significant mods to pick up the seconds it needs to compete, including semi-racing suspension to lower height and increase spring rate and upgrades to the flywheel and clutch to add pickup. But once you do those things, the car will win against most fields, and some of those fields will be rated a natural 200, or close enough to get there on very little ballast. Since you can still pick up almost 250 points here, I expect you'll want to come back for them.

MR Challenge: Maybe I'll finally get NY and Fuji into respectable triple digits now. Thanks.

FR Challenge: I've only scratched the surface in this series, but the ballasted Z4 has already got these scores deep into the triple digits--150+ points every race. Based on that, I was confident of finding a car that would go to 200. It doesn't surprise me that the Mazda MX-5 does it. That car has been treated well by the folks at PD all along. I'm going to try to find a non-Japanese car that will also get the 200s.

Sunday Cup: All of my races are between 150-180 points here, IIRC. I don't recall, however, which car(s). I can review my diary when I'm home.

I haven't been back to those two particular mfr races for some time. My recollection is that for the Mazda RE, I used one of the used RX-7s that got me A-Specs of between 100-120 for these five races.

posted 07-11-2005 10:56 AM         

The Chapparal 2D was something I tried in the dream car championship, and I noted the problem with the power band, too. The car up and died in places like Hong Kong and Paris. It has it's uses, but the power disappearing in first gear is a major problem.

Muscle car competition: Ever since I beat the 3-Lap Battle Mission with the American muscle cars at Seattle, I knew that I could come back to this arena and do much better than I'd done before. I notice, however, that your fields were all missing the Shelby Cobra. I assume that's not an accident.

posted 07-11-2005 11:08 AM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lugnut:
I'm curious, did you do a rigidity refresh on the used M Coupe?

---

No. At 50,000 credits I didn't want to waste the money and to be honest, I'm not sure what difference it would have made. The weakness of the M-Coupe is in top speed, not handling.

posted 07-11-2005 11:50 AM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by miko:
It may seem strange, being as I'm 4 game years in, but I still only have about 2m credits and seem to be spending money faster than I'm generating it. This is mainly on second-hand car purchases, recent acquisitions including a V8 Vantage at 224k, a Honda S800 and an S600 at 50k. When re-running non-championship series I do not clear the win data and therefore do not win any cars to pimp. I have about 250 days left before the black LM cars become available again and need to get to 8m credits by then. I might need to re-think my pimping philosophy.

---

I don't see any point in adhering to a 'no money pumping' philosophy once you've got to 100% completion in A-Spec. There's nothing left for you to prove.

I noticed the other day that I've won something like 25 million in prizes (and this only counts the cash--not all the Mercedes CLK GTRs I've won and sold), but I'm still hundreds of cars short of owning every car in the game. The economic model in GT remains ridiculous--not as ridiculous as prior editions in terms of being able to complete the game, but even more ridiculous when comparing the total value of cars to buy with the total value of prizes to earn.

At present, I'm still three cars short of owning all the non-Japanese new cars in the game, and since that is two touring cars and the McLaren, that leaves me over 1-1/2 million credits short of that feat. Then there are all the used cars. That's probably another million, just for the non-Japanese models.

There's not challenge in presenting you with these expenses so much as thoughtlessness. Time to finally relent and train B-Spec Bob, methinks.

posted 07-11-2005 12:04 PM         

Clubman Cup

Using the Hommell Berlinette R/S Coupe ’99 with NA1 tuning, S3 tires, and a power of 198hp, victories of 154, 140 and 125 points were achieved at Apricot Hill, Motegi East and Seoul Rev (the straights are killers against much more powerful cars). At SSR5 Clubman and Deep Forest, I was able to ditch the NA1 tuning and add 200kg of ballast to record 200 point victories.

Turbo Sports

Played with this series quite a lot and eventually got 200 points in all 5 races using a Mitsubishi Evo III GSR ’95 fitted with S3 tires, chip and racing exhaust at 308hp. There are a couple of grids that show up that enable the addition of the racing intercooler while maintaining points at 200. This takes the Evo power up to 326hp. One of these grids includes the Lotus Esprit HC Turbo which is very fast. I encountered this at NY but luckily it was just in front of me on the grid meaning I could put other cars between him and me before he had warmed his tires. Even so I had to defend my position very vigorously on the home straight. Three of the five wins were by less than 0.1s – now that’s close racing.

Race of NA Sports

I’m going to provide more details on these series as I ran it in the Mustang GT ’05 and I just want to talk about that car

Infineon Sports – 3 laps – S2 tires – 200 ballast – 315hp – 191 points

Car / MOV / FL

1. Ford Mustang GT ’05 / winner / 1’47.085
2. Nissan 350Z (Z33) ’03 / +2.414 / 1’47.651
3. TVR Tamora ’02 / +3.744 / 1’48.290
4. Acura NSX Coupe ’97 / +11.828 / 1’48.911
5. Mercedes CLK55 AMG ’00 / +14.087 / 1’51.442
6. Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R ’00 / – / 1’53.679 (lap 2)

Apricot Hill Rev – 3 laps – setup same as Infineon – 149 points

1. Ford Mustang GT ’05 / winner / 1’36.685
2. Ford Mustang SVT Cobra R ’00 / +0.566 / 1’37.591
3. Callaway C12 ‘03 / +4.196 / 1’35.786
4. Audi S4 ‘03 / +7.718 / 1’39.150
5. BMW M3 ‘04 / +7.748 / 1’38.486
6. Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe ‘04 / +10.261 / 1’38.968

Twin Ring Motegi Road – 3 laps – setup same as Infineon – 173 points

1. Ford Mustang GT ’05 / winner / 2’11.781
2. TVR T350C ‘03 / +0.658 / 2’11.908
3. BMW M3 CSL ‘03 / +5.856 / 2’11.829
4. Acura NSX Coupe ‘97 / +8.300 / 2’12.893
5. Chevy Camaro SS ‘00 / +12.253 / 2’15.738
6. Pontiac GTO 5.7 Coupe ‘04 / – / 2’20.932 (lap 2)

Note how close the fastest lap times are for the first 3 cars.

SSR5 – 3 laps – setup same as Infineon – 200 points

1. Ford Mustang GT ’05 / winner / 1’38.006
2. TVR Tamora ‘02 / +1.984 / 1’35.954
3. Chevy Camaro SS ‘00 / +5.721 / 1’39.919
4. Chevy Corvette Grand Sport (C4) ‘96 / +6.000 / 1’39.931
5. Proto Motors Spirra 4.6 V8 ‘04 / +6.110 / 1’39.950
6. Acura NSX Coupe ‘97 / +7.081 / 1’39.746

The Spirra was in 3rd until just before the finish line when it got nailed by the Camaro and finished 5th.

Trial Mountain – 3 laps – setup same as Infineon – 200 points

1. Ford Mustang GT ’05 / winner / 1’41.593
2. Proto Motors Spirra 4.6 V8 ‘04 / +1.011 / 1’40.438
3. Pagani Zonda C12 ’00 / +5.430 / 1’41.610
4. TVR 350C ’03 / +8.731 / 1’42.323
5. Callaway C12 ‘03 / +12.917 / 1’43.620
6. Chevy Camaro SS ‘00 / – / 1’47.877 (lap 2)

As can be seen points values can vary quite significantly depending on the AI cars. Clearly there is the opportunity to get 200 point wins in the first three races by judicious field selection. May be later.

posted 07-12-2005 10:52 AM         

I must say that I thought an RX-8 was an RX-8 was an RX-8. Boy was I wrong. The prototype kicks out over 280 horses, whereas the versions in the dealership are only putting out low 200s. I bought a Type E (J) ’03 at 210hp, and the heaviest I could see, put on some S1 tires, added 200kg of ballast and behold… each race is now worth 110 points. The AI comprised one regular RX-8, one Type S and three Type E’s. The class of the AI was the Type S, also the lightest, and I expect that a field containing more of these would have increased the point value. Anyway, that’s 500+ points I didn’t have before.

I sold the prize car, an RX-8 LM, after getting in it, and noticed that my garage is now empty and tool chests, and what looks like a crash helmet, are visible. I had never noticed this before.

With 2 out of 3 Mazda Races re-run, I next tackled the remaining series – the Roadster Cup. In my S-Special Type I ’95, I get a field that contains a VR Ltd, another S-Special, 1800RS, SR-Ltd and 1.8RS. Are there any other variants? At 139hp on S1 tires the races are rated at 172 points. Adding 100kg ballast increases this 187 points, 175kg to 197 points, and 200kg ballast to the magical 200 point mark. 200kg of ballast must be the exact amount required in this case . Well, I achieved the 200 point victories at Motegi East, SSR5 Clubman and Trial Mountain but had to ditch the ballast and use S3 tires to win at Tokyo and Tsukuba. These races were rated at 156 points. During this series, and while playing with tire selection, I discovered something that may be significant as I pursue my points hunt. Lugs: you may want to take note of this – but I apologize if this is old news.

As I said before, with 0 ballast and S1 tires the races were rated at 172 points. I was getting killed off the line at Tokyo so I switched the rear S1’s to S2’s. Expecting to see a point reduction I was surprised when the rating was again 172 points. Hm! This led to much investigation as follows:

S1/S1 tires: 172 pts
S1/S2 tires: 172 pts
S1/S3 tires: 172 pts
S2/S1 tires: 164 pts
S2/S2 tires: 164 pts

Spot the trend…

S2/S3 tires: 164 pts
S3/S1 tires: 156 pts
S3/S2 tires: 156 pts
S3/S3 tires: 156 pts

This leads me to the conclusion that points are modeled on front tires alone. Well I know that the fronts are critical from a handling standpoint, but don’t the rears convey some benefits with regard to braking, wheel spin, acceleration and oversteer – especially in an FR car. This could be a minor glitch in the PD algorithm but in this instance, unlike the NoS and Dodge glitches, is one that my conscience will allow me take advantage of.

Staying with the MX-5, I enter the 90’s series in the Japanese Hall and, after a bit of tweaking, get 200 point victories in all races. The AI comprises variants of the Silvia, Integra, Civic, Prelude and so on. The mix gives ratings between 185 points on S1/S3 tires with a racing exhaust and 146hp, and 200 points on S2/S3 tires with between 25 and 75kg of ballast while also at 146hp. I found the S2 tires to be essential for circuits with long straights, such as GV East and Fuji, in order gain more time on the turns than I would lose on the straights.

I think the MX-5, originally a 6.2 mile special, has paid me back with interest, and will therefore be parked for the rest of the game (with the exception of the Roadster Enduro where I have no other choice).

Again I’ve been spending money in the car lots and have just found an interesting looking ’83 Silvia that I will play with tonight. I also bought another Daihatsu Midget II and then ran the Midget Cup to see if I could get points of over 100. On black oil at 30hp this is no fun – on black oil with N3 tires this is painful, but getting close to the triple digit mark – on black oil with N3 tires and 25kg of ballast I think I’d rather spend time with Laurence Olivier’s ‘White Angel’. Anyway, 102 pts and I’ll never drive this race again.

I took a similar approach to the Subaru 360 Race and on N1 tires with 100kg of ballast secured a 107 point win. I likely try to do the same with the 2CV Championship but suspect that this will be the last time I use N tires as I find them no fun at all.

posted 07-12-2005 04:11 PM         

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lugnut:
Getting ready to crest 60K eh? I'll never catch up at this rate. . .

---

I'm sure that if you performed a tabulated race analysis as I did, you'll find lots of 'low-fruit' that you had forgotten all about. I was quite surprised to see a large number of single and low double digit scores. Two weeks from now I'll have to hang up the DS2's for another business trip, this time to Singapore, so you'll have another window of opportunity to close the gap.

posted 07-13-2005 12:16 PM         

As you know the entrance requirement for these races is a power of 493hp or above. This power however, is the rating that the game gives the car on the power / torque curves and NOT the rating shown in the garage sort options. This precludes a number of cars that appear to be eligible unless power modifiers are applied. I looked at power, weight and PWR as a means of selecting a car that would realize high points and still be capable of winning the series.

Many of the stock vehicles that can enter are high powered sports cars with a low PWR, likewise for a number of vehicles that would need only a little power modification. I thought I had it with the Callaway C12 with an oil change and NA1 tune but it came in just a couple of hp short. Unfortunately this car already comes with a racing exhaust and the chip is not available, so the only way to make it eligible is to add an NA2 which takes the power way up in the 500’s and kills the PWR.

I next look at the Mercedes SL55 AMG at 525hp and weighing much more than anything else in this power bracket. Sure enough, when I enter the Seoul race I get rated 200 points on S2 tires. Unfortunately it’s woefully outclassed by a very high powered field. With S3 tires the points fall to 192 and it’s still out of its depth.

Falling back on the old favorite, the M3 CSL, I can’t get it to the 493hp level without applying all sorts of modifiers including an NA3, so that’s not going to cut it either. Out of curiosity I also check out the M3 GTR and find that with an oil change, NA1 tune and sports exhaust – note sports exhaust and not semi-racing or racing – the power is listed as 503hp in the garage and 496hp on the power curve. PWR is 2.685 which is much higher than cars I saw in the field when racing the AMG. This has potential so on S3 tires I enter Seoul again and get rated 183 points against a VW W12 Nardo Concept ’01; Saleen S7 ’02; Ford GT ’05; Cadillac Cien ’02 and Spyker C8 Laviolette ’02.

Well, much to my surprise and pleasure, the M3 GTR is a superb car and I hereby retract any negative comments I may have made about it in the past. Clearly this car needed a little tuning to bring out the best in it. The win is by over 3s and after the race I exit, save and reset the PS2 to investigate the set up required for a 200 point race. On S2 tires the race is given 194 pts and is still an easy win, S2 tires with 75kg ballast is rated 200 pts and I still win, but figure this may have been more junk than was needed so I run it once more with S2 tires and 50kg ballast and again get rated 200 pts. It may be possible to fine tune the ballast to less than 50 but I wasn’t that bothered. Under this set up the PWR is 2.785. The advantage of all these tests is that each win is worth 15k credits so I’m also helping the bank account.

So, entering Seoul one last time, and clearing previous results so I can win another Cizeta, I take the lead on lap 5 of 8 and win by nearly 5s. MOV and FL are shown below:

1. BMW M3 GTR ’03: Winner / 1’00.702
2. Saleen S7 ’02: +5.858 / 1’02.258
3. VW W12 Nardo Concept ’01: +8.307 / 1’02.539
4. Cadillac Cien ’02: +8.773 / 1’02.410
5. Ford GT ’05: +11.208 / 1’02.500
6. Spyker C8 Laviolette ’02: – / 1’04.496

Moving on to Fuji, and keeping the same set up, I look at entrant list #2 which comprises a Ford GT ’05; Tommy Kaira ZZII ’00; Cizeta V16T ’94; Audi Nuvolari Quattro ’03 and Callaway C12 ’03. This race however is only rated 149 pts and is an easy win by nearly 12s over the Ford GT and ZZII, despite being punted into the sand by the Ford on lap 1.

Re-running against grid #3 sees a 141 pt race against the Saleen; Zonda C12S 73 ’02; Ford GT ’05; Nuvolari and Callaway and is won by over 20s. It seems as though the fields are getting weaker and the wins are getting even easier. On trying to enter the race again against grid #4, the game won’t let me participate as my power is too low. Checking this out I see that the garage rates the GTR at 499hp and the power curve at 492hp. After only 135 miles the Beemer has lost 4hp but it goes back to 496hp after an oil change. Grid #4 here we come.

Field #4 is a ZZII; Ford GT ’05; Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car ’98; Acura HSC ’04 and Callaway and is only rated 114 points, but turns out to be the closest race yet, beating the ZZII by 8s as he had a clear run from pole position.

Field #5 is rated 147 pts against the Spyker; Nardo; Saleen; SLR McLaren and Callaway, and results in a 14s win over the Nardo. Field #6 is only worth 95 pts and this is the point I gave up. Clearly grid #1 is the point’s maker so I rerun Fuji again after a PS2 reset and get the 200 point race and 10s win over the Cien, who was at least that ahead of the Nardo in third. Clearly it’s the Cadillac that drives up the points and on viewing the replay I saw him hit 195mph on the straight, that’s 25mph faster than the M3 GTR.

A save and reset later and I’m lined up against the same field at New York for 200 points. This was an ugly race with three different cars using me as a backstop, but still resulted in a 2s win over the Nardo, followed by the Saleen and Cien.

posted 07-14-2005 10:20 AM         

In the manufacturer events I went back and put 200 points on the board for all of the Speedster races and, although this wasn’t a huge point injection, it proved a lot of fun as I dropped the stage 3 turbo on the Speedster and ran it at only 330hp. This kept points at 200 even though I was on R2 tires. The other series I tidied up was the Shelby Cup and I now have 200 points in all of these races by using the Series 1 Supercharged with S2 tires and a fair load of junk.

Next up I headed to the European Hall and decided to look for an ‘underdog’ for the Deutsche Touring Car Championship. I found what I thought was the perfect entrant, it having a low enough stock power that points would be high, while having ample opportunity for upgrades should the AI prove to be too strong. So, spending 450k credits, I find myself sitting in a BMW 320i Touring Car and head off to the Championship. You cannot imagine my surprise when the game tells me that the car is not eligible for the event . What! This is the German Touring Car Championship, right? – BMW is German, right? – a 320i Touring Car is a (duh) touring car, right? So why can’t I enter it? I decided to watch a movie after this rather than ponder the inponderables.

If anyone has a definitive, logical or even tenuous explanation for this please let me know. The only one I can think of includes a rearranging of the words Digital, Incompetence and Polyphony.

posted 07-15-2005 10:48 AM         

After my disappointment at not being able to use the BMW 320i Touring Car at the DTM, I reassess the options for this race. After some analysis I enter the championship in my stock Opel Calibra Touring Car ’04, with a pre oil change power of 427hp, on R3 tires, with 200kg of ballast. One of the key point’s determinators in these races is the AI and I reset a couple of times to get what I had calculated to be the strongest field. This comprised the Mercedes CLK, Opel Astra, Audi A4, Abt Audi TT-R and Alfa 155 Touring Cars. If the field contains a Mercedes Evo or another Calibra, points are significantly lower than the 174 that I was offered for each race. I found the field I was looking for on grid #3.

Running as a Championship (this keeps the field the same) and qualifying on pole in each race, there is little to report other than relatively comfortable wins. I did run a 7’08 at Nurby, which I was pleased with considering the ballast. After winning another CLK-GTR I sold my original so that I have a non oil change version, and therefore lower power and higher PWR, to play with in the Class C races. I also re-entered at Paris solely to investigate the 200 point requirements. With R2 tires, 200kg of ballast and d/f set to 35/50 (only 3 clicks down from maximum), the point rating is 200, and I will attempt this at a later date now that I have the formula.

Staying with the German theme I ran the Schwarzwald Liga A. I’m pleased to say that I have found the killer 200 point car for this series. It was a 6.2 mile special, fitted with a chip and racing exhaust, on S3 tires and putting out 172hp. As I haven’t seen many German 6.2 mile specials I won’t make you work for the identity – it’s the VW Golf IV GTI ’01.

Trial Mountain – 3 laps

Car / MOV / FL

1. VW Golf IV GTI ’01: winner / 1’49.120
2. Audi S3 ’02: +0.758 / 1’50.921
3. Audi TT Coupe 3.2 Quattro ’03: +6.529 / 1’50.372
4. BMW 330i ’05: +9.080 / 1’50.709
5. BMW M Coupe ’98: +9.851 / 1’50.507
6. BMW Z4 ’03: +10.610 / 1’50.655

The victory should have been by a larger margin except I had forgotten to turn off the driving assists – duh!

Opera Paris – 4 laps

1. VW Golf IV GTI ’01: winner / 1’42.720
2. Audi TT Coupe 3.2 Quattro ’03: +5.379 / 1’43.984
3. VW Golf IV R32 ’03: +6.614 / 1’43.432
4. BMW M Coupe ’98: +12.414 / 1’43.869
5. Audi S3 ’02: +13.579 / 1’43.560
6. BMW Z4 ’03: +14.413 / 1’43.271

Autumn Ring – 4 laps

1. VW Golf IV GTI ’01: winner / 1’35.450
2. BMW M Coupe ’98: +0.669 / 1’36.288
3. Audi S3 ’02: +1.218 / 1’36.613
4. Audi A3 3.2 Quattro ’03: +2.959 / 1’35.174
3. VW Golf IV R32 ’03: +4.379 / 1’35.386
6. BMW Z4 ’03: +5.597 / 1’36.197

Lastly, as a trial for future races, I entered the Liga B race at Nürburgring in a Mercedes SL500 (R230) ’02 at 306hp. I really enjoy Nurby, although the SL500, at nearly 2 tons, was a bit of a bus. Nevertheless, I achieved a 175 point victory from last on the grid as follows:

1. Mercedes SL500 (R230) ’02: 8’13.965
2. Mercedes E55 AMG ’02: 8’16.036
3. Mercedes SL55 AMG (R230) ’02: 8’16.356
4. Audi RS4 ’01: 8’16.610
5. Audi S4 ’03: 8’16.984
6. Audi RS6 Avant ’02: 8’24.992

Despite winning this race, and the fact that the SL500 could clearly be tuned for 200 points, I’m not sure that it is the car for this series, as its acceleration out of slow turns might make it somewhat underpowered for the other courses.

posted 07-15-2005 08:32 PM         

I ran it again in a stock (plus oil change) CSL and had a much easier time with A-Spec points in the 90 - 120 range if I recall correctly).

As I've just had a fun time with the Skyline races in the Nissan Manufacturers series, I'll post my notes here in the hope that they'll be of some use to you - if that's an intrusion into your thread, please don't be shy about saying so.

_________________________________________

MANUFACTURERS CHAMPIONSHIP
JAPAN NISSAN
Race of the Red “R” Emblem

Any Tyre Type
Permitted Cars: Any Skyline
International A Licence Required

Prize Money: 12,000 cr/Race
Prize Car: NISMO GT-R LM Road Going Version ‘95 (106, 249cr)

1) Twin Ring Motegi Road Course (10 laps) ROLLING
2) Trial Mountain Reverse (6 laps) GRID
3) Fuji Speedway ‘80’s (4 laps) GRID
4) New York Reverse (6 laps) ROLLING
5) Suzuka (6 laps) GRID

Try this in a NISSAN Skyline GTS25 Type S ‘91 bought second-hand with an oil change, chassis refresh, chip & exhaust, Stage 2 NA Tune, Semi-Race Suspension, 3-Plate Clutch, Racing Flywheel, Carbon Driveshaft, Custom Gearbox.

Race 1 Opposition: Skyline GT-R M-Spec, HT 200GT, GT-R ’91, GT-R ’97, GT-R ‘00

A-Spec Points = 163 MOV: loss by 2.5 secs

Leave AutoSet stock at 7, as I have no idea what is needed yet. Screwed it up by pushing too hard on lap 5. I couldn’t get closer to the lead car than about 4.5 to 5 seconds. The car actually handles very nicely here. Gearbox was too short but she drove fine. The opposition really has the legs on her in the straights tho’.

Tried again with AutoSet at 5. MOL (Margin of loss) about 2.5 secs – I oh so nearly had him! His tyres must’ve been going as I kept doing steady mid 2:13’s and was catching him up. No surprise that it was the M-Spec that won. I was about ten seconds up on the rest of the GT-R’s. I think the shorter box actually hurt performance and it wasn’t until I remembered to short-shift because it was a Skyline that I started making up ground. Want to make this car work now; I’ve invested too much race time to leave it without a victory . Try a Weight Reduction 1 (1320kg down to 1201kg).

Opposition: GT-R ’97, GT-R Vspec ’97, GT-R M.N.P. III ’00, GT-R M-Spec ’01, GT-R V-spec II ’00

That looks like a tough crowd . 161 A-Spec Points. MOV: Huge

The GT-R ’97 came second but a long way back. I turned in a 2:12.1 as a best lap, which I was pretty pleased with.

Race 2 Opposition: HT 2000 RS-X and RS, GT-R M-Spec ’01, GT-R ’91, GT-R ’00,

A-Spec Points = 160 MOV: 3.227 including a massive off and spin that cost me 15 seconds :lol:

AutoSet left at 7, which suited this track very well. The car showed high-speed instability in the last turn and the first Esses. The GT-R ’00 was second. Everything else was a long way back.

Race 3 Opposition: 2000GT-R, GT-R M.N.P. III, GT-R Vspec II ‘94, GT-R V-spec II ’00, HT 2000GT-R

Doesn’t look like many heavy hitters there and the A-Spec points agree.

A-Spec Points = 122 MOV: 1.445

The AutoSet of 7 was too short here. 8 or maybe 9 would’ve been better. The GT-R M.N.P II was second with the V-Spec II ’00 right behind him.

AutoSet put to 9. She actually handled okay here – not great but good enough. Gearbox was too long. Maybe 7 or 8 would be better.

Race 4 Opposition: GTS-R ’87, HT 2000GT-R, 2000GT-R, GT-R V-spec II Nur ’02, GT-R M-Spec ‘01

A-Spec Points = 117 MOV: 7.980

AutoSet left at stock 7. S’okay. GTS-R (R31) ’87 came second.

Race 5 Opposition: GT-R M.N.P. III, HT 2000GT-R, GT-R V-spec II ’00, GT-R V-spec II Nur ’02, HT 2000 Turbo RS ‘83

A-Spec Points = 146 MOV = 1.912

AutoSet left at 7. Second place was the M.N.P. This race was hard work as it’s a fast track that plays into the AI’s hands.

posted 07-18-2005 10:43 AM         

I did indeed complete the Liga B in the Mercedes SL500 at 306hp – good close fun racing – and got 166 points at Tokyo, 181 at Fuji, 200 at High Speed Ring and 175 at Suzuka, to go with the 175 I’d already got at Nurby. To win Tokyo and Fuji, I needed fields that didn’t contain the SL55 AMG, other than that the grids were as drawn. This is a sweet little car and a lot of fun to drive.

I next took the SL500 to the ‘Legend of the Silver Arrow’ races. I noted some bizarre fields in these races that included the McLaren SLR and A160 Avantgarde on the same grid – not quite as disparate as the dichotomy seen in the classic car races, but pretty disparate nevertheless. I found a few grids that didn’t contain the McLaren and these were the races of choice. I achieved 104 points at Fuji vs. the CLK55 AMG; E55 AMG, SLK230, CL600 and A160. The win is by 4.879s over the E55 AMG, with the SLK230 in third at +5.740s – clearly he’s carrying a lot of upgrades. A similar grid for Nurby except the CL600 had been replaced by an 190E Evo, and a slightly smaller MOV to Fuji, this time over the SLK230 (who pulled 160 on the straights – told you he was upgraded – QED). For Opera Paris I decided to give my own second hand, black oil SLK230 a go. On S3 tires at 176hp I manage to secure a 200 point win against a 190E, A160, CL600, E55 AMG and CLK55 AMG. That was fun

Before putting the SL500 to bed I ran the SL Challenge. Races were rated 109, 131 and 130 points. At Apricot Hill and Fuji I need an NA1 to keep up with SL55/65 AMG. This increased power to 346hp and I compensated somewhat by running with 200kg of ballast. El Capitan was run at 306hp for the 130 points.

For a little additional Mercedes fun, I took the 190E Evo II Touring Car ’92, won in the Liga B, to the DTM. In stock trim at 382hp, R3 tires and carrying 200kg of ballast, the races were quite comfortable at 193 points each. It would be relatively easy to convert these to 200 points races just by reducing the wing a little. I think this would be easier than running the races in the Calibra on R2 tires for the 200 points. Anyway, that’s another CLK-GTR for the ‘Black Beauty’ fund.

Lastly for the Mercs, I tested the 190E Touring Car in the Dream Car Championship and was rewarded with a 200 point win in the first race at Paris. This was in stock trim with no ballast. I started from pole and the Nissan GT-R Concept was between 0.1 and 0.6s behind at every checkpoint through the race. On this basis I don’t think this is the car for this series and promptly withdrew.

posted 07-18-2005 11:44 AM         

Boxer Series: Now all at 200 points using a second-hand Scoobie Doo 22B STi with black oil.

Blackpool Races: Using a 6.2 mile special TVR V8S ’91 with oil change and putting out 255hp on S3 tires, all races except Fuji are now worth 200 points. For 200 point races the field must include the Speed 12 and must not include another V8S. This is a great handling car and wins were between 2 and 5s including SSR5 – and no blocking whatsoever was required – who needs to block in these races? . Fuji was a different story however, and not only could I not beat the Speed 12, but I couldn’t even get close to it. I was losing 4-6s per lap against this sucker who could pull 200mph down the straight. If anybody can get a 200 pointer at Fuji in this series, they’re either a better man than me, or they cheat! So, Fuji is only worth 119 points against a Speed 12 free field.

British GT Championship: Just to see how good the TVR V8S is, I take it to the British GT at 255hp, on S3 tires. Against a TVR T350C ’03; Lotus Esprit V8 SE ’98; TVR Tuscan Speed 6 ’00; Aston Martin DB9 Coupe ’03 and TVR Tamora ’02 and sweep the board with 200 point races. These were some of the most enjoyable races I’ve had in GT4 and the V8S is another car I recommend wholeheartedly. Not only does it handle superbly and beat much more powerful fields, but its V8 sounds great – more excellent replays to watch, this time with the sound turned way up . An interesting feature of this series was that there were 4 different second placed cars – another indication that the grid often contains cars that are tuned very differently.

Various Japanese Hall Races: I tidied up the Japan Championship in the Garaiya ASL and these are now all 200 point races. This is another fun series of races which additionally gives 72.5k credits in purses, and a prize car worth 318k. The Japan 70’s Classics were converted to triple digit scores using a Celica 1600 GT (TA22) ’70, and the Japan 80’s Festival are now all worth over 175 points (including two 200 point wins) in the Toyota MR-2 1600 G-Ltd Supercharger ’86 – another 6.2 mile special.

Other: La Festa Italiano races are now worth 167 / 175 and 174 points – run in the Lancia Stratos with S2 tires and 200 ballast. Watching the AI at Infineon in this series is pretty funny. Points were also increased in the Premium Sports Lounge in the BMW M3 CSL; the Stars of the Pleiades in the Subaru 22B-STi, Tours France using a Renault 5 Turbo, the Aston Martin Carnival using the Vanquish with ballast and lastly in the World Compact Cup where triple digit races were achieved in a 6.2 mile special Opel Tigra 1.6i. Alll updates can be found in the table in the Resource Section.

Lastly, in waiting for Day 1,394 to come around, I took the GT-R Pace Car for a spin at the High Speed Ring in the Race of the Turbo Sports. Although of no point’s consequence, the race was rated 184 points and, in completely stock trim, I proceeded to beat a Mazda RX-7 Barthurst by over 4s. The replay is amusing with all of the lights flashing (and I have to say it’s very well modeled) and looks like a traffic cop chasing down 5 other cars. The moral of this I guess is that this car appears to be very capable of 200 point races in this series and could be a novel way for somebody to achieve this – have fun Lugs

The session ended with me buying the ‘Black Beauty’ Mazda 787B and Nissan R390. I now have more cars to play with, along with the plethora that I have been buying over the last few weeks. My funds are again depleted (although I still have the cab fare home) so the other black Class C cars will have to wait for another 700 days.

posted 07-19-2005 12:29 PM         

I also tidied up the Hot Rod Competition in the Pontiac Solstice and these races are now all at 200 points. I’d already done New York which left El Cap and Laguna Seca. What a difference in races! On S2 tires and loaded with a full trunk of junk the field choice for the 200 pointer was, in grid order, Callaway C12, Mustang Cobra, Viper, GTO 5.7 and Shelby Series 1. El Capitan was won with a 17s lead at the last checkpoint, while LS was won by 0.008s over the Callaway. At LS I spent the whole race chipping away at the lead of the Callaway and Viper from the ubiquitous rolling start, finally taking the lead on the last turn.

This now means that 13 of the 14 races in the American Hall are at max points with only the AAC New York race to go for a clean sweep. Hopefully tonight!

The only other thing I achieved last night was in the Beginners Hall. I have to say that I’m pretty much ready to concede defeat in this Hall to Chicago tenacity, but I did want to try to improve on the measly 10 point races I had in Sports Truck Series. Instead of going with the lowest power vehicle, I went with the highest PWR and this is the Chevy SSR ’03. After a trial at Seattle I quickly added a full transmission upgrade as the stock gear spacing is terrible – particularly from 2nd to 3rd. With 200kg of ballast I gradually worked down the tire choice and am pleased to report that these races are now worth exactly 100 points each on N2 tires. This was as far as I could take it and required that the SST Concept started no higher than #3 on the grid. On N2 tires your slow-in-fast-out technique is really put to the test.

posted 07-20-2005 10:58 AM         

I next jumped into one of the Black Beauties for a run out – no not one of those – the real Black Beauty –the Zonda of course . Reacquainting myself with my baby, I wanted to add to its tally of Class C scalps, and took it to the Real Circuit Tours. Of the eight races, I’d already got 200 points at Suzuka, (in the Nissan GT-R Concept LM), Nurby (in the BMW McLaren F1 GTR) and Laguna Seca (in the Zonda).

Entering the Zonda at Tsukuba, and using the notes I had taken previously, I knew the grid I wanted and the strategy to employ – so on R2 tires, rated 200 points, I watched the field put around 1 to 1½ seconds per lap on me in the knowledge that all of my opponents would eventually pit. Sure enough the Jaguar pitted on lap 10, the GT-One and Speed 8 on lap 12, the BMW V12 on lap 13 and the Pescarolo C60 on lap 14. I was around 20s behind the C60 at the start of lap 14 and I had a big smile on face because I knew what to expect. The final winning margin was around 2s. The moral here is that you can have the slowest car and yet still have a winning strategy.

Unfortunately I couldn’t repeat this success at Infineon despite a number of attempts. Closest yet is second place, about 2s behind a Nissan R92CP. I haven’t given up yet though and will return to California this evening.

I was also able to attain 200 point wins in the same series at Motegi and Sarthe, both in the Mercedes CLK-GTR Race Car at 797hp. Again on R2 tires, Motegi was won on pit strategy and Sarthe with speed – field selection again being important. That’s 6 of the 8 Real Circuit races at 200 points with Infineon and Fuji GT ’05 (sucks!) needed to complete the set. The CLK-GTR should cope with Fuji comfortably and I will try (and likely try again) to win Infineon in the Zonda.

Points are now 67,842 and the 200 point tally is 119. The Zonda and I will be back .

posted 07-21-2005 10:54 AM         

Infineon was indeed an easy 200 point win in the GT-R fitted with R2 tires and with an output of 657hp. The AI comprised a Bentley Speed 8, Nissan R390, Toyota GT-One, Audi R8 and Nissan R92CP. Clearly the car to beat is the big Nissan but starting from #5 on the grid he didn’t really get moving until lap 3 when he set about chasing down the Bentley who had built a 4s lead at this point. I was in a comfortable 3rd place ahead of the GT-One, R8 and R390 before the pit stops starting playing into my hands. First to pit were the two Nissans on lap 7 (the R92CP should have probably pitted on lap 6 as he wiped out big time on lap 7 and lost about 5s), the rest of the field on lap 8. At the end of the pit stops I had a very comfortable lead and finished the 9 lap race 11.521s ahead of the Bentley and 13.637s ahead of the R92CP. Only 1 race to go in this series and it’s time to give the BMW another run out.

The 8 lap race at Fuji 2005GT was a lot of fun, despite the fact that I find this circuit one of the most visually unattractive ones in the game. At 642hp on R3 tires this race became a race of two halves – they being split between the three cars that pitted and the three that didn’t. The fastest car in the race was the Nissan R89C, but as he pitted on lap 6 he became an also ran along with the Gillet Vertigo and the Nissan R390, who pitted on laps 6 and 7 respectively, but were a long way off the pace by then anyway. The three cars who didn’t pit were yours truly, the Bentley Speed 8 who finished 3rd at +6.868s, and the Audi R8 who put up a spirited effort to finish only 1.181s behind the BMW. The BMW likes it fast and smooth [insert smart comments here ], therefore the Fuji Circuit is a good venue for it to show off its capabilities. Fastest laps in the race were 1’25.868 for the Beemer, 1’25.479 for the Audi, 1’25.832 for the Bentley (so you see how closely these three were matched), 1’23.905 for the R89C, 1’27.824 for the Vertigo and 1’28.121 for the R390. The R3 tires were decidedly orange at the end of the race and would have struggled to have gone another lap.

That’s it then for the Real Circuit Tours, 8 races at 200 points , 8 wins in underdog cars, especially the Zonda, GT-R and BMW , and 4 x 2 symmetry in the winning cars .

I went back to the Race of NA Sports to tidy up the remaining 200 point races in the Mustang GT, and, although Infineon was accomplished painlessly, I found Apricot Hill and Motegi to be too straight and too fast for the ‘Tang to deal with. I need to rethink these two races at a later date.

posted 07-22-2005 11:19 AM         

At Paris I started the race on R2/R3 tires, expecting to pit at the mid point of the race. Miko makes another mistake . On lap 8 my rear R3’s are starting to blush and will not make it through to the end of lap 9 when I had planned to pit. So, I pit at the end of lap 8, switch to R2’s all around and exit the pits in 4th place behind the two Nissans and the Minolta. Normality was resumed when the AI pitted at the end of lap 10 and I ended up with another comfortable 9s win. Interestingly, it was the Nissan R89C that took 2nd place – a comfortable 2nd at that.

Suzuka, GV Reverse and Sarthe were much less eventful, bar the Nissans blowing their tires on lap 4 at Sarthe and performing some elegant dance steps at the double chicane, and were completed on R2 tires, with 80kg of ballast, for 200 points, with no pit stops. That means that 9 out of 10 of the races in this championship are worth 200 points, the hold-out being Hong Kong which I’ll return to later. The most bizarre thing about winning this championship, and therefore another ‘cover car’, was that at its end the game told me I had unlocked the ending movie – again – weird.

The next 3 or so hours were spent at the Tuning Car Championship and involved a lot of car testing, head scratching, yard pacing and frustration. I wanted to use a vehicle that was in keeping with the series so I scratched all prototypes, concepts, race cars, touring cars, rally cars etc. from the candidate list, and looked for either a Tuner car, or a normal car that I had tuned. This proved difficult due to the additional challenge of finding the ‘200 point’ car. Luckily the cash revenue from the previous races had taken me to about 800k credits so I was able to go on a mini spending spree at the Tuner dealerships.

Two versions of Nismo and one of Amuse later, and I still hadn’t found the killer car, or indeed even one that was competitive. The AI in this series comprises tuning Cars – duh! – and high end RUF models – the problem is that the tuning cars are not stock – I know it’s an oxymoron but you know what I mean – some even have racing tires fitted – and they would run away from my stock versions. If I made my car competitive the points rating would collapse. A lot of tests later and I had Nismo scratched, Amuse scratched, BMW scratched, Speedster scratched, ASL scratched, TVR scratched, Mazda RX-7 Bathurst scratched, and then finally I hit the jackpot .

The car I used was fitted out with full transmission & suspension upgrades, a racing exhaust, NA1 tune up, and R3 tires. Putting out 310hp it was rated 200 points against a Nismo Skyline GT-R R-Tune ’99; RUF BTR ’86; Spoon S2000 ’00; Opera Performance S2000 ’04 and Mines Lancer Evo VI ’00. With an additional chip and 322hp the points dropped to 195, and if I used an NA2 with racing exhaust the points were 154 at a power of 361hp.

200 point wins were achieved at Apricot Hill Reverse – by 0.264s over the Opera S2000; Fuji – by 0.096s over the RUF; El Capitan (no surprise there!) – by 5.445s over the RUF and Tsukuba – by 1.235s over the Opera S2000. Tokyo proved too much and is only currently rated 154 points with a 2.423s win over the Opera S2000 – I need to return against a field that doesn’t include that sucker.

There were a few key elements and observations that enabled me to win these races...

Firstly, I entered as a championship and qualified on pole for every race. I found it essential to either enter or exit turn 1 in first place in order that I could use my tire advantage to the maximum during the first lap. As all the AI could get off the line as fast as or faster than me, starting at #6 on the grid put me in sixth place at turn 1 behind a mass of jostling vehicles. Normally the first car to turn 1 would escape and quickly put a few seconds on the rest of the field.

Secondly, the Opera S2000 hits the afterburners during the second half of the race. I noted that his fastest laps were always posted on his last lap and were often up to 3s faster than his previous lap, and for that matter 3s faster than the rest of the field. Therefore it’s important to build at least this level of lead before the start of the last lap. At AH for example I was nearly 4s up at the end of lap 2 and ending up winning by only 0.264s.

Thirdly, at Fuji the RUF has the fastest straight line speed. I found that by drafting the RUF on laps 1 and 2 we could put time on the Opera S2000, BUT only if he missed the draft on lap 1.

Fourth, gearing is important, and I adjusted the auto setting appropriate to each circuit, adding a couple of clicks for the drafting at Fuji. I found many of the tuner cars I tried had very poor gear spacing and seemed on occasions to take for ever to shift. The car I used has an excellent power / torque curve that appeared conducive to rapid gear shift.

Lastly, I found the R3 tires to be much more important than added power as this enabled me to take an early advantage in each race and build a big enough lead during the first two laps for me to protect on the last lap.

posted 07-23-2005 02:29 AM         

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posted 07-25-2005 10:23 AM         

The main series I ran this weekend was the All Japan GT (and baby, have I found a killer car for that ) but before we get there I’ll just give a little overview of the other miscellany that I did.

I attempted the two NA Sports races that were too much for the Mustang GT due to their high speed nature, i.e. Apricot Hill and Motegi, in the Clio Sport V6 Phase 2, that had performed so well in the Tuning Car series. To cut a long story short AH went down for 200 points very comfortably, but I’m stuck at 198 points at Motegi. The rolling start here presents perhaps the biggest disadvantage on any course – equating to a good 4 or 5 seconds. The 198 pointer saw me passing the TVR T350C at the last turn. With 20kgs of ballast to take it to 200 points, I kept coming up about ½s short. Oh well, 198 points will have to do for now.

Next up was the World Compact Car Championship in the Professional Hall, and thankfully the opportunity to qualify on pole. I tried various little passion wagons to improve the scores I’d got in the Opel Tigra, and finally stumbled onto the Mitsubishi i ’03. By running various set-ups I was able to increase points from 140 across the board first time through, to 180 second time and finally to 200 points, at least in 4 out of the 5 races – GVE is still holding out at 180 points (having one race hold out is becoming a bit of a recurring theme for me in the Professional Hall). The races were certainly close, as witnessed by the ‘blanket’ finish shown below…

The little Mitsu was also good for increasing my points in the Japanese Compact Cup to 174 across the board. This was on S2 tires with a full load of junk. I’m sure these could be converted to higher points with poorer tires. Alongside the Prius, this car suffers no gear change lag, and just whines along at 6,000+ revs regardless of speed. Weird little car!

posted 07-25-2005 11:28 AM         

Qualifying on pole for each race, which on standing starts normally meant getting to turn 1 in 3rd place, I managed 200 point wins in all 10 races that generally followed a set pattern. I would put 1 to 2s on the field for the first laps as they warmed their tires, hold the lead I’d built for the next couple of laps, and then watch the AI pull back a little over the closing laps, especially those races where my tires were starting to fade. Talking about tires, this was the key to the series – I used R4 tires to compensate for my lack of power, and added 40kg of ballast to hit the 200 point mark against a field that (deliberately) did not include the Nissan Motul Pitiwork Z. The RX-7 was at a pre-oil change power of 324hp.

To demonstrate how good this car is, over the whole series of 10 races I touched the sand only twice, once at Suzuka East when I was experimenting on different lines as I had such a huge lead, and once on the 2nd turn of lap 1 at Motegi when I was more interested in the Supra behind me than the turn in front. This is testimony much more of the car than of my driving. The closest race was the Motegi Speedway – the win coming more by luck than judgement – six cars with the pedal-to-the-metal – going from 1st to 5th in the blink of an eye and vice versa – and just being in the right place at the right time to get the tow at the finish line. The easiest race, embarrassingly so, was Laguna Seca where the win was by nearly 14s.

At the risk of boring you the following provides detailed results showing MOV and fastest laps…

Race 1: Tokyo R246 - 5 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 1’39.383
2. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +3.364s / 1’38.442
3. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +3.468s / 1’38.537
4. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +4.020s / 1’38.532
5. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +5.942s / 1’38.923
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +10.528s / 1’39.783

Race 2: Suzuka East - 12 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 0’49.099
2. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +15.325s / 0’50.189
3. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +17.201s / 0’50.317
4. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +18.140s / 0’50.060
5. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +20.174s / 0’50.123
6. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +23.077s / 0’50.438

Race 3: Seoul - 10 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 0’58.321
2. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +2.653s / 0’58.254
3. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +5.568s / 0’58.568
4. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +9.729s / 0’58.434
5. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +13.058s / 0’58.568
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +17.790s / 0’58.839

Race 4: Fuji Speedway 90’s - 6 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 1’30.107
2. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +3.504s / 1’29.867
3. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +6.869s / 1’30.730
4. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +9.838s / 1’30.706
5. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +10.135s / 1’30.515
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +16.247s / 1’31.889

Race 5: Motegi Speedway - 12 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 0’36.075
2. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +0.034s / 0’35.696
3. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +0.134s / 0’36.416
4. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +0.464s / 0’36.286
5. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +0.648s / 0’36.322
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +13.060s / 0’37.352

Race 6: Laguna Seca - 7 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 1’26.103
2. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +13.850s / 1’27.921
3. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +20.407s / 1’28.267
4. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +22.601s / 1’28.890
5. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +25.660s / 1’28.856
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +30.802s / 1’29.067

Race 7: Hong Kong - 9 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 1’21.546
2. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +5.856s / 1’21.762
3. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +8.242s / 1’22.086
4. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +13.559s / 1’22.543
5. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +18.860s / 1’22.443
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +24.235s / 1’23.015

Race 8: Motegi Road - 6 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 1’53.399
2. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +2.117s / 1’53.479
3. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +2.751s / 1’53.557
4. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +5.892s / 1’53.773
5. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +10.601s / 1’53.865
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +16.750s / 1’54.388

Race 9: Fuji 2005 GT - 6 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 1’38.235
2. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +4.342s / 1’38.281
3. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +8.728s / 1’38.531
4. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +13.651s / 1’38.351
5. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +16.951s / 1’38.760
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +21.899s / 1’39.530

Race 10: Suzuka - 5 laps

1. Amemiya Asparadrink RX-7 ’04: winner / 2’04.213
2. Toyota Castrol Tom’s Supra ’00: +5.554s / 2’04.440
3. Nissan Xanavi Hiroto GT-R ’01: +6.743s / 2’03.749
4. Nissan Penzoil Nismo GT-R ’99: +8.182s / 2’04.890
5. Honda Takata Dome NSX ’03: +14.748s / 2’04.858
6. Honda Arta NSX ’00: +16.088s / 2’05.348

With 250k credits for the series of races and a JGTC to sell, I have a little spending power again, approaching the 1m mark. This was fun, fun, fun . I suspect that the other small JGTC’s (ASL Arta Garaiya, Arta MR-2 etc.) could perform equally as well. The key, as I said before, was the R4 tires.

At session’s end my points total is now 71,600 and my tally of 200 point races is 150. I’ll update the resource table before I leave. For now…

Adios Amigos