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- XDesperado67
- XDesperado67
Gran Turismo Year End Blowout!
So everyone loves running those lightweight sports cars and race cars. Burning up the tracks all around the world as they try to get as much power as possible in the lightest vehicle available. Now ole Harvey Wallbanger here has nothing against that and some of his favorite cars are real lightweights. However, this is Gran Turismo which is Italian for Grand Touring.
A quick Google of Gran Turismo got the following from Wikipedia - A grand tourer (Italian: gran turismo) (GT) is a high-performance luxury automobile designed for long-distance driving. The most common format is a two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement.
The term derives from the Italian phrase gran turismo, homage to the tradition of the grand tour, used to represent automobiles regarded as grand tourers, able to make long-distance, high-speed journeys in both comfort and style. The English translation is grandtouring.
And continueing on we read - Grand tourers differ from standard two-seat sports cars in typically being engineered as larger, and heavier, while emphasizing comfort over straight-out performance or spartan accommodations. Historically, most GTs have been front-engined with rear-wheel drive, which creates more space for the cabin than mid-mounted engine layouts. Softer suspensions, greaterstorage, and more luxurious appointments add to their driving appeal. Some very high-performance grand tourers, such as the Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, and the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren make various compromises in the opposite direction while rivalling sports cars in speed, acceleration, and cornering ability, earning them the special designation supercars.
Finally we read - The GT abbreviation, so popular across the automotive industry,traces to the Italian tradition of referring to their luxury performance cars as gran turismo. Manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Lancia led the way starting from the end of 1920s.
Further reading shows a wide range of cars that have all included the abreviation GT in their name, but the fact remains that at its root Gran Turismo is as much about large cars having great Style and Comfort as it is performance.
So in a salute to the Gran Turismo title as we close out this first year of GT5 Harvey Wallbanger invites you to join him in tuning and driving some of the larger cars in our garages.
We'll start with a dash around London as we complete some holiday shoping, then its off through the chunnel and across France to the North of Italy and the town of Monza so our rides can show off their legs unimpeded by tight city streets and worries about traffic. A lucky few will be selected to continue on, after a short break for the tuners to make any last second adjustments, to a pair of as yet undisclosed locations.
For this fantastic month of fun we'll be allowing tuners to provide us with any car desired as long as it tips the scales in London with at least 1650kg and comes equiped with a set of Sports Soft tires.
All entries will be divided up into groups, with group size based on the number of entries, to expedite testing and set up scoring. Then the keys will be handed over to the test drivers.
But remember this isn't just about performance on the two closed circuits, but also about style and comfort. So ole Harvey Wallbanger here has created five different categories that each entry will be judged in and awarded points for with the overall winner being the entry accumulating the most points.
Your probably wondering by now what these five categories are, so to end the suspense here they are:
1)London Time Trial
2)Autodromo Nazionale Monza (No Chicane) Time Trial
3)Drivers Choice Award based on ease and pleasure of driving and not simply performance or looks.
4)Style/Photo Award not a contest for the most artistic photo but one focused on the looks/style of the cars. A great picture of a car most find ugly should get a lower score than an average picture of a car most find beautiful.Note: Only editing and effects that can be done in game may be used for photo entries.
5)Weight with the heavier car scoring more points. This will also be used as a tie breaker if need be.
So you're excited about this event and want to know how you can get in on the fun well read on and all shall be revealed.
F.I.T.T. rules will be used for this event. Any event specific rules and all deadlines are listed below.
Deadlines
Tuner Sign-ups are open from now until 11:59pm GMT 28 Nov 2011. See under Tuner section below for specifics regarding sign-ups
Tuner Submissions will be open from 12:01am GMT 29 Nov 2011 through 11:59am GMT 2 Dec 2011.
Test Driver Sign-ups will be open from 12:01am GMT 29 Nov 2011 Through 7 Dec 2011. See under Test Driver section below for specifics regarding sign-ups.
First round results for Test Drivers must be posted no later than 11:59pm GMT 11 Dec 2011.
Final Round tuning and Test Driver sign-ups will occur between 12:01am GMT 12 Dec 2011 and 11:59pm GMT 13 Dec 2011.
Final Round Test Driver Results must be posted no later than 11:59pm GMT 18 Dec 2011.
Note: Extensions or exceptions to the above listed deadlines may be issued at the event sponsors discretion. However, it is up to the participants that they do everything possible to meet the listed deadlines as extensions or exceptions will only be granted under extenuating circumstances.
Tuners wishing to enter must not only post in this thread their intention to enter, but must also send me (XDesperado67) a PM either here or via PSN to verify their intent to submit a tune. This is necessitated by my division of entries into test groups and the need for me to give that information to our official score keeper madmyk and photo poll director DigitalBaka as soon as possible.
Tuner Submissions
Between 12:01am GMT 29 Nov 2011 and 11:59pm GMT 2 Dec 2011 all tuners who have confirmed entry via PM must post their tune either here or in their own garages with a direct link to the tune posted here.
Note: Tuners do not post your tunes in this thread or in your garage with a link posted here prior to 12:01am GMT 29 Nov 2011. Photos and discussion of your entry can be posted at any time but the full tune including weight may not be posted prior to the closing of the Tuner sign-ups. Use the time to select your entry, fine tune it and take your photographs.
Style/Photo competition
Photographs may be posted here with or without tune at any time prior to 11:59pm GMT 2 Dec. Please insure that the one you are entering into the style/photo portion of this event is clearly indicatted.
Note: Only editing and effects that can be done in game may be used for photo entries.
Note: Please send DigitalBaka your selected photo or a link to its post so he may place it in the appropriate group poll.
Eligible Cars
Any car is eligible for entry as long as it weighs a minimum of 1650kg. Yes this includes Race cars such as the NASCARS and some Rally cars, Concept cars, Tuner cars such as Art Morrison, Nissmo etc., Trucks, SUV's and Wagons. Minimum weight may be reached through the use of ballast.
Ballast limits
There is no limit on the total amount of ballast that may be used. Up to the full 200kg is authorized.
Tires
Sports Soft tires are the only authorized tires for this event.
Performance Points
There is no PP limit for this event.
Driving aids and track settings
ABS1 and the Driving line are the only authorized driving aids allowed the Test Drivers, and all testing is to be conducted with tire wear/fuel consumption on and grip reduction set to real, so tune accordingly.
Car Sharing
All Tuners are responsible for placing their car on share as written up in their tune, or making arrangements with one of the F.I.T.T. Car Hosts to place it on share.
Note: Tuners please ensure that your cars are fully broken in and have a fresh oil change prior to placing them on share. Also make sure that they have the authorized Sports Soft tires on them!
Anyone can volunteer as a test driver including tuners.
While you can announce your intention to act as a Test Driver at any time prior to the Test Driver sign up deadline, you must confirm it with a post here during the Test Driver sign-up period of 12:01am GMT 29 Nov 2011 through 11:59pm GMT 7 Dec 2011. The reason for this is so that our official score keeper madmyk can add you to his scoring forms.
Note: Because entries are being divided into groups Test Drivers need not test all entries for their results to be counted. However, Test Drivers must announce what group or groups of cars they will test and must complete the testing of an entire group for their results to be counted.
Test Drivers results should all be placed in one post here with notifications posted when that results post is updated.
All Test Drivers must include a Drivers Choice ranking for all cars in each group they test. Just as with lap times this ranking will be averaged to produce a final list for the award of points. Drivers Choice rankings should be based on how easy and/or fun the car is to drive and not on its performance or looks.
Driving aids and track settings
ABS1 and the Driving line are the only authorized driving aids allowed the Test Drivers, and all testing is to be conducted with tire wear/fuel consumption on and grip reduction set to real. Excessive tire wear should be factored into the Drivers Choice ranking especially if it causes serious degredation of the cars handling within only a few laps. All testing is to be conducted offline using shared cars.
Note: It is the responsibility of both Tuners and Test Drivers to insure that they have exchanged FRs on PSN for testing. That said, anyone interested in testing should send needed FRs to Tuners as they are confirmed by me and added to the list since not all Test Drivers may volunteer to test all groups and the groups won't be formed until the beginning of the official Test Driver sign-up.
The top 2 entries from each group of the first round will each get up to 250,000 credits in cars and parts.
The overall winner will receive an additional 750,000 credits in cars and parts.
The top scoring car in each of the 5 individual categories, across all first round groups will get 100,000 credits in cars and parts.
All Test Drivers will receive 200,000 credits per group tested with a 50,000 credit bonus paid for each additional group. (i.e. test 2 groups get 500,000 in cars and parts, testing for the final round pays the same and adds to the bonus.)
Additional awards may be announced at a later time.
So there you have it, Wallbanger's "Tons of Fun" Gran Turismo year end blow out!
Hope to see a great turnout for this event and remember,
as Harvey Wallbanger always says...
NASCARS are heavy, no wait that's Jeff Gordon
, uhm oh yeah...Drive hard and have fun!
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