'Hire' A Test Driver

Ok, so i had a little idea, bounced it off a couple people so here we go.

I thought we could start a little group of drivers which tuners can turn to for a second opinion and full review of a car.

'Hire' A Test Driver​

How it works:​

1) Any potential drivers to sign themselves up for 'hire' in this thread and i'll update this post with a list of all the drivers who wish to take part (note: don't need to be a listed driver to have a set up tested by one of these drivers). Drivers should also fill in the types of driving such as, Oval racing, drifting, all round, touge etc.
2) Any tuner or anyone at all, can either post the set up straight into this thread, link to a post in another thread with the set up or ask for a driver, first driver to reply can be privately sent the set up through messages if it wants to be kept secret. The cars purpose should also be stated e.g. drifting, all round, oval or any specific track. Tuners should also ask for the specific type of driver they want to test the car and how they want feedback.
3) The driver goes away and sets the vehicle up, testing it on the desired tracks and using the various driving styles. Drivers then write a review, either in a post in this thread, in a personal message or in the tuners 'Garage' thread if they have one. An 'out of 10' rating should also be given, if the tuner is unhappy with criticism, then you shouldn't have asked with the first place, bad feedback is good to allow improvement.

Rules​

- Drivers MUST agree to keep tunes secret, if the tuner wishes so, when signing up.
- Drivers must be available regularly, not every day, just once or twice a week minimum.
- Drivers don't have to be the fastest, but must have a good understanding of tuning and/or driving. Drivers need to also be able to adjust to different cars, classes etc.
- Reviews need to be in depth, identifying bad AND good points.
- ANYONE can ask for a car to be tested, don't have to be a 'tuner' as such, just any vehicle that they have tuned.
- All cars to be tested on PRO physics unless stated otherwise in the set up, all driving aids must also be set to off except ABS which is up to the driver.
- Drivers may not be fast, so lap times shouldn't be used to rate a car, car feeling and drivability should be put first as different cars suit different drivers better. Speed is obviously still important though.
- Any set ups sent publicly, will be given a link to set up and review (see post 2).

Driver List
Name - Styles/specialities
Dragonistic - All (including drifting).


Feedback on this idea appreciated.

Car List
Name - Blue
Set up - Red (linked)
Review - Green (linked)
Black = in progress


Current Spec Reviews
Below are all vehicles which are appropriate to the current spec GT5P.

TLD BMW Z4 Tii 9/10
Set up
Review

Completed Reviews (Obsolete Cars)
TLD BMW M3 9/10 - Highly Recommend
Set up
Review
P3nT4gR4ms Review 8/10

TLD Nissan GT-R R35 9/10
Set up
Review by P3nT4gR4m

TLD Corvette/Tuned 9/10
Set up
Review

DCT Amuse/Opera 350Z 8/10
Set up
Review

TLD Clio V6/Tuned 9/10
Set up
Review

RVT Amuse S2000 9/10
Set up
Review by P3nT4gR4m

Comparison Reviews
Dodge Viper/Tuned - TLD vs DCT - By P3nT4gR4m

Great idea !! and bonus points for thining outside the box here. This should give drivers an easy single reference point for picking a car/tune that suits a track and possibly their driving style.

👍 from me

Great idea! 👍 , im not too good when it comes to tuning but with online racing now it helps to have an edge over your opponents.

Only one thing I didn't like was that you stated you didn't want driver aids on at all but although the majority of people on GTP,from what ive gathered don't use driver aids doesn't mean all of us like to have them off.

I'm game. Styles - all but touge.
It's a great idea. Critics out for the masses and shows the tuners what to do to please everyone.

crooky369

Great idea! 👍 , im not too good when it comes to tuning but with online racing now it helps to have an edge over your opponents.

Only one thing I didn't like was that you stated you didn't want driver aids on at all but although the majority of people on GTP,from what ive gathered don't use driver aids doesn't mean all of us like to have them off.

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A cars can't be truly tested with a computer effecting how a car behaves, ie you cant feel how much grip you really have exiting a corner if you have traction control kicking in. Similarly, ASM will control a slide for you, so you don't know how the car would truly act it a raw state.

I chose to have aids off for this reason, so cars can be tested to their limits and beyond.

wrcsti

I'm game. Styles - all but touge.
It's a great idea. Critics out for the masses and shows the tuners what to do to please everyone.

Click to expand...

Ok, i'll add you to the list now.

@ all

Thanks for the feedback though.

Dragonistic

A cars can't be truly tested with a computer effecting how a car behaves, ie you cant feel how much grip you really have exiting a corner if you have traction control kicking in. Similarly, ASM will control a slide for you, so you don't know how the car would truly act it a raw state.

I chose to have aids off for this reason, so cars can be tested to their limits and beyond.

@ all

Thanks for the feedback though.

Click to expand...

I see what your saying and having all the aids off is greatly beneficial in time trials and races against the AI but with the amount of idiots online it really helps to have some driving aids on so you can have a degree of extra stability.

I might be down for some of this at a later date, we shall see. At the moment though, I'm more of a TLD test driver.

crooky369

I see what your saying and having all the aids off is greatly beneficial in time trials and races against the AI but with the amount of idiots online it really helps to have some driving aids on so you can have a degree of extra stability.

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Dont go online with the tune until youve got used to not using the aids then.

Sounds like a great idea - count me in.

Name P3nT4gR4m but I'll answer to P3, P3nT, pentagram or any combination of the above.

Speciality - "proper" tracks with bends in I'm particularly good with RWD super/muscle cars but I'll drive pretty much anything above 600pp, not a drifter by any stretch of the imagination.

I may not be the fastest guy on the track but I'm pretty consistent so I know exactly what kind of times I should be expecting to put in on a given circuit.

TLD Nissan GT-R R35 9/10

set up

review

TLD BMW M3 Coupe 8/10

set up

review

Added and your reviews P3nT4gR4m been moved into the car list along with your TLD GTR review, i hope your links work i copy and pasted them.

Dragonistic

A cars can't be truly tested with a computer effecting how a car behaves, ie you cant feel how much grip you really have exiting a corner if you have traction control kicking in. Similarly, ASM will control a slide for you, so you don't know how the car would truly act it a raw state.

I chose to have aids off for this reason, so cars can be tested to their limits and beyond.



Ok, i'll add you to the list now.

@ all

Thanks for the feedback though.

Click to expand...

Except ABS, ABS is OK even in my books.

Ardius

At the moment though, I'm more of a TLD test driver.

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You know, you could easily turn this thread into a car magazine type of thing. You and your test drivers would be the journos, and you could do car reviews, tuning news (eg. 888 Tuning are releasing a tune on the FG Falcon XR8 soon). All that kind of thing. Of course, that wouldn't be until the full GT5 comes out, just so when it does you don't get overrun with review requests.

PS- You said "accept" a lot, it should be "except".

Eg- I accept your apology for misusing the term "accept".
I can drive any style of driving except drifting.

Grammar police ITT - look busy everyone

nd 4 holden spd

Except ABS, ABS is OK even in my books.

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Yeah, I still use ABS a little bit, online I use it all the time, because no-one else ever seems to turn it off, so it puts you at a huge disadvantage. It's still allowed in some real life race series isn't it?

Ardius

Yeah, I still use ABS a little bit, online I use it all the time, because no-one else ever seems to turn it off, so it puts you at a huge disadvantage. It's still allowed in some real life race series isn't it?

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I dunno, F1 uses TCS for launches and such. But in real life you can actually feel the tyres beneath you, and you can't in a game.

nd 4 holden spd

I dunno, F1 uses TCS for launches and such. But in real life you can actually feel the tyres beneath you, and you can't in a game.

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Thats true, its why I dont like to use manual transmission a lot, well, actually, this is more due to the fact that I dont own a decent steering wheel or even a G25 with a clutch. Using a controller, I find it very difficult to time my shifts correctly, especially when having to concentrate on racing.
Its odd, because Im fine with it in real life, but in the game I find it really hard. Perhaps I need more practice.

Nice idea Dragonistic 👍 Although we have all been overwhelmed by the delightfulness of the different game modes already available in GT5 (?!), it is always great when someone comes up with a new idea! Strangely, I had a similar idea last night, but it might be difficult to do, but see what you think anyway.

I thought that it could be possible to have a knock-out competition where you asked people to tune the same car to the same PP level for a specific track, and then have invited drivers (judges) to test the cars and decide which one was the best... The judges could run a set number of laps (i.e. 3-5 laps) and decide which car was best, with the winner going through to the next round.

The beauty of it is that the tuning would be independently tested i.e. the ability of the driver/judge would not bias the outcome as he would be testing both/all cars. Also, the judge would not know who had tuned the cars... It might be tricky to stop cheating, but I reckon with a careful selection of car/track and PP combos, and maybe even a few restrictions thrown in for good measure (i.e. tyre choice etc.), you could make it damn near impossible for folks to use other people's settings...

It's certainly something you could try if and when you get a) enough "test drivers" and b) enough "tuners" to take part in a comp...

By the way, have a look at Kent's 350 Touge Battle! which he did a while back with GT4, which involved an invited group of test drivers to assess other people's tuning abilities....

Touring Mars

Nice idea Dragonistic 👍 Although we have all been overwhelmed by the delightfulness of the different game modes already available in GT5 (?!), it is always great when someone comes up with a new idea! Strangely, I had a similar idea last night, but it might be difficult to do, but see what you think anyway.

I thought that it could be possible to have a knock-out competition where you asked people to tune the same car to the same PP level for a specific track, and then have invited drivers (judges) to test the cars and decide which one was the best... The judges could run a set number of laps (i.e. 3-5 laps) and decide which car was best, with the winner going through to the next round.

The beauty of it is that the tuning would be independently tested i.e. the ability of the driver/judge would not bias the outcome as he would be testing both/all cars. Also, the judge would not know who had tuned the cars... It might be tricky to stop cheating, but I reckon with a careful selection of car/track and PP combos, and maybe even a few restrictions thrown in for good measure (i.e. tyre choice etc.), you could make it damn near impossible for folks to use other people's settings...

It's certainly something you could try if and when you get a) enough "test drivers" and b) enough "tuners" to take part in a comp...

By the way, have a look at this... Kent did a very similar thing a while back with GT4: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=95583

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That's almost similar to the Garage Showdowns thread. Except we aren't really judging, just having a race between 2 tunes with a number of racers choosing which garage's tune to race with. I don't know how to explain what we're doing really, until online boost is gone it really doesn't proove diddly squat. And driver skill factors in too. It also sounds similar to the Tuner Challenges from GT4, but we often used different cars to each other.

Edit: Where did that link come from?

Dragonistic

All cars to be tested on PRO physics unless stated otherwise in the set up, all driving aids must also be set to off except ABS which is up to the driver.

Click to expand...

I allowed ABS as its used on nearly all modern cars and most drivers use it

Fixed the accept/except things.

I'll expand the whole concept maybe when more online features become available, not to mention I'm in the middle of exams. Also won't be available from Friday til roughly next Tuesday or Wednesday as I'm staying with a friend of mine for a few days, but i'll be able to get on GTP and manage the thread, just cant use my PS3. So hopefully someone will be available to test any cars as the weekend could be the busier times.

Ardius

Thats true, its why I dont like to use manual transmission a lot, well, actually, this is more due to the fact that I dont own a decent steering wheel or even a G25 with a clutch. Using a controller, I find it very difficult to time my shifts correctly, especially when having to concentrate on racing.
Its odd, because Im fine with it in real life, but in the game I find it really hard. Perhaps I need more practice.

Click to expand...

Here is my tip. Set your up and down shift to your L2 & R2 buttons. This is similar to how my Xbox used to be set up. Then I drive with the analoge sticks. That way my hands are free and it is really easy to shift. This is the swap that i did and it works great. You want to use the manual transmission anyways because you can get ideal power through all the turns. AT will just shift at the preset setting. This may leave you at a lower RPM on your next gear. As well you can take some turns in the red where AT would shift but with MT you can power through them and not hit your rev limit. This does depend on how you gear. Think of MT as a fine tune to your gear set up for each turn you take. It really shaves some time off of your laps. Trust me. When I first started playing the early GT games I was all about AT. My bro kept telling me to switch to MT but i didn't believe him. When I got all of my races cleared I was looking for more of a challenge so I switched to MT. I have since stayed with MT through all of the GT games. I can tell you that I always have a better lap time with MT.

Great idea.

I would happily volunteer to be a tester. 👍

I'm an avid hot-lapper w/ a lot of wheel time in various PC sims (online and offline) as well as the GT series. Although I am not the best tuner, I am competent. I enjoy trying out new setups and I would be happy to give my 0.02 cents.

On a side note:
I do feel that it is important to do some of the testing in the online races because that is where the majority of the people who want the setups are going to use them. I am not talking about lap times or podium finishes, but judging how the car is likely to "perform under pressure". I have a lot of HL experience in various sims and I know for sure that the fastest setups are not always the best for running in an online race. A car may do some great hot-lap times when the best lines can be taken, but I also think it is also important to judge how a car performs under circumstances that involve sudden reactions to unexpected events on the track.

For example:
Can the car safely recover in a sudden oversteer situation?

How well does the car behave in tight "traffic" through the corners? Can the car alter its racing line under hard acceleration or will the driver have to lift/brake to change his line?

How does the car react to hard braking in odd areas of the track? (ie, going too wide right at the hairpin and braking over the rumble strips/grass) Will it be stable or will the driver lose time trying to maintain control?

These are just a few examples that may sway some people towards either a less forgiving setup that is really fast (if you make very few mistakes) or a setup that will be a tad slow, but is more stable and forgiving when unexpected events happen on the track. Including these types of results in the review will further help the "end user" decide which setup they should try as it pertains to their driving style, experience, or preference.

I test all the cars online and solo (unless it won't fit into a class conveniantly eg 630pp i'd try in normal events as it would be outclass in 750pp and cant get into 600pp.

Adding you now PlusP

Well, since it was Dragonistic who encouraged me (via PM) to set up shop in here, I'm glad to offer a car for review. It's the Nissan Skyline Coupe/Tuned for 600PP Suzuka Online.

I'm relatively new to this business, so be gentle. Well actually, DON'T be! I can take a hit if needed. If it's crap, just say so.

cheers

NLxAROSA

NLxAROSA

Well, since it was Dragonistic who encouraged me (via PM) to set up shop in here, I'm glad to offer a car for review. It's the Nissan Skyline Coupe/Tuned for 600PP Suzuka Online.

I'm relatively new to this business, so be gentle. Well actually, DON'T be! I can take a hit if needed. If it's crap, just say so.

cheers

NLxAROSA

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I was going to do one of my trademark, longwinded - bore the pants off everyone reviews of this tune. I've only tested holden's TLD tunes so far but there's no particular reason for this. So I figured it was time to try out another outfit and see what they had to offer.

Unlike the TLD tunes I've tested so far I didn't actually have one of these in the garage so I didn't have a reference setup. "no problem" I think to myself I'll go with the factory defaults and give this one an easy ride (my setups are notoriously pants so, trust me - it's not that much of a break)

To make 600pp, once I'd fitted the R3's all I did was drop the power -14 points. Never touched the gear ratios or the shocks or anything, just drove out on the track and put down a ref lap. So I'm expectin something ludicrous - 1.18 or 1.19 maybe.

First off this car sounds appalling. I mean it actually sounds unhealthy. Like an athsmatic bumblebee with some kind of kidney infection - it wheezes when you shift up, it moans and whines when you shift down - I was scared to push it too hard in case it died on me. Seriously this is not a good sound for a car to make.

So I shoot 3 laps and, despite the geriatric hospice ambiance it's actually surprisingly on the ball. Ref lap - 2.15.5

Wow! I think to myself - this could be an NSX beater and much easier to drive to boot. So I nip back into the pits and apply the NLxAROSA upgrades.

Sorry mate but if I continue from here this review is going to be quite insulting. Suffice to say the best I could manage was 2.19.5

I don't really want to do my blow by blow now cos - I really don't want to hurt your feelings anymore than I need to so I'll just give you a few bullets to look at.

1 - it's slow as hell
2 - there's no grip on corner exits and you're losing a lot of speed there because of this
3 - the suspension is to soft for the ride height so it's bottoming out in a few places
4 - the back end just goes in corners like dunlop and the exit of casio so you have to back off there too.

I think this car has potential, based on what I did with damn near stock settings but in my opinion you need to go back to the drawing board with this tune.

Once again - sorry. If you hadn't said "If it's crap, just say so" I might just have not bothered posting this but I figure you want to be the best tuner you can and I have tried to be as constructive as possible.

Hey all,
I decided to mess around with the Z06 a bit. I tried out the LDR tune for the car, and was pretty dissatisfied. Anyways, i need someone to give my settings a try. Please PM me if you're interested.

Thanks,
Sean

P3nT4gR4m

1 - it's slow as hell
2 - there's no grip on corner exits and you're losing a lot of speed there because of this
3 - the suspension is to soft for the ride height so it's bottoming out in a few places
4 - the back end just goes in corners like dunlop and the exit of casio so you have to back off there too.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the constructive feedback. What I find strange is that you can do only a 2:19 while I can do a 2:15 with exactly the same setup. Yet you can do a 2:15 with near stock settings. Is this perhaps just a matter of personal taste or driving style? Will try out your settings though, see if there is a difference. I drove this car quite a few times at Suzuka yesterday and the day before and it baffled me how fast is, I pulled a number on NSX's and Tuned Clio's quite often.

And no need to apologize for your opinion, like I said, I can take a hit (as long as it's constructive, like your comments 👍 )

[edit]
I changed the springs and dampers, as well as the toe setting for the rear wheels. This should account for points 2 and 3. Point 1 and 4 I am not sure if I want to address them, in my experience it's pretty fast and I have been getting very good results with it online. I'll keep the gearing settings for now.

Anyway, call me sadomasochistic but I'm also curious of your opinion of my Amuse/Opera 350z. Getting some very good results online with that one as well, as well as positive feedback. Wondering how you like it (or not).
[/edit]

With regards reference laps I should point out that these are always take it easy numbers. I concentrate on getting a nice, clean, well within the limits of the cars abilities - kinda circumambulation of the track. 1:15 on stock settings took me just three laps and was a walk in the park. I'd fully expect to be able to shave 2, maybe even 3 secs off this once I start pushing it but it's going to take another 20-30 laps to nail down.

I wouldn't rule out being able to shoot 1:15 in your setup but I'd pretty much guarantee that by the time I did I'd have the stock setup round in 1:13 and probably less.

I agree a lot of these things come down to personal preference but the straightline speed is not one of these things. The car either goes fast in a straightline or it doesn't.

The corner exits, on the other hand may be a style-related thing I'm not sure. a neater driver than me may have it straighter before he powers on the gas. Probably the best bet is wait for some other reviews to come in. If you just listen to me then you're trawling the bottom of the barrel

I might be banished from the PS3 for the rest of the night but as soon as I get a chance I'll try out your amuse setup - been meaning to try one of these babies out for a while now so this'll be the ideal opportunity

Again, don't hold back. The goal here is for me to get better, so I really want to hear what you think of it, even if you think it is crap.

On the straight-line speed, I tried to match it to the end of the straight, did you hit the rev limiter there before the end?

P3nT4gR4m

With regards reference laps I should point out that these are always take it easy numbers. I concentrate on getting a nice, clean, well within the limits of the cars abilities - kinda circumambulation of the track. 1:15 on stock settings took me just three laps and was a walk in the park. I'd fully expect to be able to shave 2, maybe even 3 secs off this once I start pushing it but it's going to take another 20-30 laps to nail down.

I wouldn't rule out being able to shoot 1:15 in your setup but I'd pretty much guarantee that by the time I did I'd have the stock setup round in 1:13 and probably less.

I agree a lot of these things come down to personal preference but the straightline speed is not one of these things. The car either goes fast in a straightline or it doesn't.

The corner exits, on the other hand may be a style-related thing I'm not sure. a neater driver than me may have it straighter before he powers on the gas. Probably the best bet is wait for some other reviews to come in. If you just listen to me then you're trawling the bottom of the barrel

I might be banished from the PS3 for the rest of the night but as soon as I get a chance I'll try out your amuse setup - been meaning to try one of these babies out for a while now so this'll be the ideal opportunity

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I hope you mean 2'13. A Skyline Coupe going 1min faster than my NSX is a real worry

Oops, noticed I made the same mistake. 1:15 is a bit too fast.

NLxAROSA

Oops, noticed I made the same mistake. 1:15 is a bit too fast.

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Almost an hour til Gladiators starts. Enough time to try this Cryline Skyline. (just been driving tuned vipers and vettes, got my pride on sorry)


Edit: I would love for some more reviews of my Tuned Corvette as I just overhauled it and made it better.