GTP WTAC Week 02 : Sweet Apricot...

Hi guys ! New events : GTPlanet Worldwide Weekly Time Attack Challenges (GTP WTAC) ! Here is Week 02 : "Sweet Apricot" ! Which one will be the fastest car ? Astra or Audi A4 ??? Let's find out !


1. Track: Apricot Hill Raceway - Reverse

2. Cars : Audi A4 Touring Car '04 and Opel Astra Touring Car (Opel Team Phoenix) '00 / Vauxhall Astra Super Touring Car '00 (you'll may chose which one you'll compete with or even compete with both !)

3. Cars specifics:

- Transmission: either
- Tires: R1 / R1
- TCS : at your disposal
- ASM : off
- Active Steering : off
- Driving Physics : Professional

All in-game quick-tune options are at your disposal (Press Triangle when selecting your car to add the car to your favorites and tinker with any available settings).

Hybrid cars, the use of CFW tuning or any other way of cheating is forbidden..

4. Duration of the challenges : this challenge will start Monday May 17th 4:00 pm GMT+2 and will end Monday May 24th 3:59 pm GMT+2 (one week !)

5. Time submission : Youll have to post your Ghost Replay Data + Photo before Monday May 24th 3:59 pm GMT+2. If you missed the deadline, your laptime won't be in the website (wait few days for more details ).

6. Rules : You'll have to follow the Host and Compete in a GT Planet Time Attack Challenge (GTPTAC) ! Just to remind you :
Clean or Dirty lap :
- Colliding with or using walls, fences, cones or other obstacle is forbidden. All times submitted must be 100% wall free.
- Two wheels (except when airborne, where the vertical projection of the car onto the track counts) must be in contact with the tarmac which does not include all green/grassed/sanded/graveled areas.
Rumble/ripple strips :
- having two wheels/tires on a corner's inside rumble strips and two off track is considered unclean
- having two wheels/tires on a corner's outside rumble strips and two off track is considered clean.

7. Leader Boards

The leaderboards will be on the website !

Week 02 Results.

Good luck !

Track hint : teews.

Hi guys ! How many of you are interested by this challenge ?

- easyasashii
- Lion-Face
- Detroitbb ?
- you ?

Anyone has any idea of what would be the track ???

Updated !!!

easyasashii

Track hint : teews.

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teews -> (Reverse it) Sweet ; Sweet -> Apricot ; Track : Apricot Hill Raceway Reverse !!!

Yay!

I got the 'sweet' backwards, but didn't guess the track for the life of me!

Anywho, I thought I would post 'my progress' to help out other TACers and give players a target to aim for and help improve their own times and driving style.

Before you read on. I don't believe I'm the best, I'm not the best at setting up a car and I'm always learning. I believe you get better by practice and through experience. This is just a guide to give those interested some direction and help, a look at things from a different perspective, take from it what you will but don't take it as the be all and end all of how to drive/setup your car.

So, below attached is my current ghost lap, in the Audi, with a time of 1:22.114. You can load this onto your PSP and load it up in Time Trial mode to race against.

My setup I used for this lap so far is...

No aids.

Front/Rear

Aero - 32/56
Ride Height - 0/0
Spring Rate - 6/4
Damper - 4/4
Toe - -0.05/-0.05
Camber Angle - 1.0/0.5

My setup thought process.

I always set Toe to 0/0 and Camber to 0/0. If possible, MAX/MAX on Aero and Half the numbers on Spring Rate and Damper. Ride Height set at 0/0. This is my default settings that I will start to put laps down on to make a serious attempt at a time.

I don't believe in changing them till at least 50laps in. 50Laps you should have a good feeling for the car and the track and know the basic ins and outs of each. From there I can start to tweak the car one setting at a time. In this case so far, I recognized my base setup wasn't quite quick enough at changing direction which this track calls for. So I tweaked the Toe a little to provide a quicker turn response and made my front spring rate stiffer.

After getting a better turn in response, providing me with a slightly faster lap time in the chicane and esses, I looked at improving my corner holding ability, as there are a few corners at Apricot Hill which are very long and smooth with little change in direction. So I upped the Camber slightly, and am now holding a faster speed through the longer corners.

I'm still fairly early on. After further testing I'm looking for this track is strengthening the springs/damper and lowering ride height, and of course continue to tweak current settings to see if there is any more to be gained/changes.

I expect to be in the 1:21.xxx soon and hopefully my final time for the Audi will be in the 1:20.xxx, but at the moment thats a while off, and I also have another car to drive, so only so much time can be spent in one car!

Hope this helps someone, and good luck to everyone competing!

Lion-Face

50laps

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!!!

I hope to get in 7 or 8 laps with each car before submitting my time... man, I really need my own PSP!

What an excellent tuning direction !!! I just ran 10 laps with my tuning, stuck in the 1'22.xxx, tried Lion-Face's tuning, hit the 1'21.xxx in my 3rd attempt !!!

Lion-Face and thank you very much 👍 !

I'm sure will change my tuning's habits for your technic : 50 laps with Toe to 0/0, Camber to 0/0, MAX/MAX on Aero, Half the numbers on Spring Rate and Damper and Ride Height set at 0/0, before other tuning !!! Because it is far better than the technic I used, I'll take it as how to setup my car !

BTW, one question : the default settings gives us a 6/6 Spring Rate so you went for a 3/3 before a 6/4 or 4 is the limit you won't cross ???

Again thanks a LOT Lion-Face ! My tuning seems so wrong now that I tried yours ! And I usually don't know where to start my tuning... I usually try the car with her default settings then "adjust" her to my preferences. Your technic is far more efficient ! I learnt a lot and I have to thank you for that !

Really nice of you 👍 !

PS : Loved the "TACers" !

easyasashii

BTW, one question : the default settings gives us a 6/6 Spring Rate so you went for a 3/3 before a 6/4 or 4 is the limit you won't cross ???

Again thanks a LOT Lion-Face ! My tuning seems so wrong now that I tried yours ! And I usually don't know where to start my tuning... I usually try the car with her default settings then "adjust" her to my preferences. Your technic is far more efficient ! I learnt a lot and I have to thank you for that !

Really nice of you 👍 !

PS : Loved the "TACers" !

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Thank you for the kind words

For my setup this round, I went 3/3 on the spring rate. Then adjusted from there. I have found a lot of tracks like a softer spring rate, Tokyo for example was very soft on my spring setup. But Apricot Hill, after enough laps I found I could go harder on the springs and that would also allow for better turning response for the esses, hence why my setting went up to 6/4, and it may go up further still if it will prove to be fast.

Lion-Face = THE MAN!!! Seriously, thank you for steering us all in the right direction. I know I, and seems easy, will be taking your advice and working it into our own styles. I just want to thank all of you guys for being so helpful, as my lap times have greatly improved since attempting to compete on this forum.

Finals are done, and I can't wait to get started on these challenges!!! But wow, do I need money to buy all these expensive cars!!! Looks like I'll be racing some A.I. for a bit... Hope I'll be able to get a time in for this challenge! I think I'm going to focus more on next week though.

P.s. I cant get the car cycle thread to show me the starting Pugeot cycle. Most others work. Is there any way to reference those? Or does anyone have another link? or zip? My apoligies if this is not the proper place for such questions...

Thanks again to Lion-Face!

After five or six laps in the Opel I clocked a 1'22.2xx... and I put in about seven or eight laps with the Audi and got a 1'22.4xx.

More to come tonight!

SkiggitySk@

P.s. I cant get the car cycle thread to show me the starting Pugeot cycle. Most others work. Is there any way to reference those? Or does anyone have another link? or zip? My apoligies if this is not the proper place for such questions...

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That was the only list I knew of... unless GameFAQs has one tucked somewhere in the GT PSP area.

SkiggitySk@

[...] But wow, do I need money to buy all these expensive cars!!! Looks like I'll be racing some A.I. for a bit... Hope I'll be able to get a time in for this challenge! I think I'm going to focus more on next week though.

Click to expand...

Good to know you're having fun ! Best combo to make money in short time : Test Drive, S Class, 2 laps, Bugatti Veyron 16.4 '09 : 150 000 credits, and you don't have to worry about winning, you will !

SkiggitySk@

P.s. I cant get the car cycle thread to show me the starting Pugeot cycle. Most others work. Is there any way to reference those? Or does anyone have another link? or zip? My apoligies if this is not the proper place for such questions...

Click to expand...

No problem ! I'm sorry I don't know where to find it but I'll help you looking for it !

My current times are :

- Opel : 1'21.170
- Vauxhall : 1'21.389
- Audi : 1'21.496

Good luck guys !

I never did get a chance last night to drive some more laps, so my previous times will have to be my final submissions.


Opel: 1'22.215




Audi: 1'22.437




Both were great cars and quite fun to drive... I only regret that my 'real life' got in the way of spending more time with them on the track!

Shoot ! Frustrated not to be able to run that 1'20.7xx I was ten times about to do with the Astra, I decided to take break, wrote the new WTAC and the "les 24 heures du Mans 2005" Special TAC, then was about to run the Audi... Phone call, got to go to work and will work late so here is my submission :

- Audi A4 Touring Car '04 : 1'21.496
- Opel Astra Touring Car (Opel Team Phoenix) '00 : 1'21.051

But I have to say I did enjoy both combo car/track ! I usually only do a three laps test to try out the combo before forget about it till d-day, so it was a great surprise ! And, thanks to Lion-Face, I have now a new way to start my tuning !

Good luck guys !

My submission

Vauxhall Astra Super Touring Car '00
No Aids
R1/R1
Pro Physics

1:20.615

Audi A4 Touring Car '04
No Aids
R1/R1
Pro Physics

1:20.962

Was a little worried after I posted my setup and Easyasashii cracked into the 1:21's almost straight away, it took me a few days to get that far. It was a great car/track combo, never really liked Apricot Hill, and even less the reverse version of the track, but after putting hours into this challenge I've really come to appreciate the challenge of the circuit.

Wow... Lion-Face was worried because of me... Yay !

That's my problem though : can't put great splits together !!! With the astra, my first split is 0.2/3 slower than what I had in my last session (more than 10 laps over 20) and unfortunately, only run the Audi with Lion-Face's tuning, I think I could have shaved around 3 tenth of it by tuning, not sure about the 1'20.xxx...

About Apricot Hill, I wasn't a big fan either so I decided to give a shot to the reverse version and actually I think I'll use it as my test track ! There's almost everything : chicane, ups and downs, short corner, long curbs, long straight... Definitely will run there again !

I'll update the website tomorrow, I will make an exception : I will add Detroitbb's time too, because he already posted his times+photos, he's in TAC since season 1 so I'll add his times and wait for his replay datas -I'm sure we'll have them !- ! I'll let this thread open till we have Detroitbb's replay !

Right back at you tomorrow !

Have a nice day/evening guys !

Yeah the 1:20.xxx in the Audi is really hard, and I think anything under 1:21.500 is a great lap in that car. I don't think there was much left in my Audi lap, I don't think it could have really gone much faster. The Astra on the other hand, I used the exact same settings as the Audi, I didn't put as much time into the Astra but it is a quick car. My final time I put in for the Astra isn't as quick as it can go, certainly get closer to the 1:20.000 than I did.

But Apricot Hill reverse is a very tough track. There is only really one line to take through the track, and to go fast, you have to stick to it. Its very technical, the first corner/chicane combo can break a lap easily, then you have to pick the right line over the crest for turn 4 so you can take it flat, yet bring the car back to the right to take the hairpin as straight as possible, then the long right hander you have to time your accel perfectly to get a full throttle all the way out of the corner and into the next right hander, then braking over the small crest into the left hander, holding a tight line around the following right so you can get a good run out of the final left hander then onto the 2nd last corner, one of the most important on the track and it tightens as the track falls away from you making it hard to get the turn you want and putting the power down for the long straight..the track just doesn't let up! A lot of fun but very very tough.

Your times are very fast Easyasashii, that 1:20.9xx I did in the Audi was my only 1:20.xxx time I did in that car, every other lap was between 1:21.2xx-1:21.5xx, just got the right drive out of a couple of corners and that pushed me over, but its not something I was consistent with. And Detroitbb has solid times also, its very hard to crack into the 1:21's without proper tuning and some real good time on that track, so I imagine the short time you've had with your Son's PSP you've delivered some very good times.

easyasashii

I will make an exception : I will add Detroitbb's time too, because he already posted his times+photos, he's in TAC since season 1 so I'll add his times and wait for his replay datas -I'm sure we'll have them !- ! I'll let this thread open till we have Detroitbb's replay !

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I'm sorry, I just totally forgot to attach them to my post.

While I thank you for allowing me to submit them late, I don't think that would be fair as I completely missed the deadline... and the rules are set for a reason!

I'll just have to make sure to not miss it for next week's event!

Ok Detroitbb !

Leaderboard updated !

See you at El Capitan !