- 762
NOTE : Read Part I in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=64368
NOTE : Read Part II in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66151
NOTE : Read Part III in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67134
NOTE : Read Part IV in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70402
Scrooge went to his accountant to get his tax return done. He was looking forward to claiming all of those racing expenses and had a great couple of days going over the tax code looking for "applicable deductions". However his accountant reminded him that you are always better off paying tax on $100 than paying tax on $90 (after deducting $10 for expenses). "Of-course" he said. "I would get to keep the after tax part of the $10 if I hadn't spent them in the first place!"
COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA!
The first thing he did after filing his tax return was to take his racing expense deduction list and analyze it in conjuction with his racing diary to see how he could have saved money. The first conclusion that he drew is that it is all in the strategy:
1. He started his adventure with two almost mutually exclusive goals: a) Spend as little as possible b) get as far as possible without buying a car. He now realized that goal b actually cost him money because in some cases it would have been cheaper to use a car that he would have bought anyway rather than do mods (albeit cheap ones) to prize cars.
2. Information is power. He didn't have as much information as possible so he made some hasty decisions that cost him money. Like buying the M Coupe because he was tired and did not do proper research.
SAVING MONEY STEP 1: Don't mod the Ginnetta ($7105)
Scrooge used the Ginetta in several series but he only had to modify it in the last series that he run with it: The british lightweight series. But he could have done the following:
A) Use the Bentley Speed 8. Have to downgrade the tyres to N3 but it is a piece of cake. But it would have meant doing the corresponding endurance race earlier than he did or waiting longer before getting the Elan S2 (and being able to do the Spider and Roadster series)
B) Use the Lotus Motorsport Elise 190. He had to buy this car anyway. It would also have been a very easy win and would have got 9 points instead of 1 (with the Bentley) per race (and 8 points with the modded Ginetta)
C)Use the Jaguar XJR-9. It is a little harder to drive on N3 Tyres than the Bentley but still a drunk monkey could win with this car. Would have to wait until reaching 50% (XJR-9 is the 50% prize); this would be more inconvenient since the British Lightweight Series was done in order to reach 50%. Still workable though.
D)Use the Lotus Elise Type 72 (Prize from the Elise Trophy which is the reason to buy the Elise Motorsport 190). Much more pleasant drive than the Motorsport 190 and it is a fairly easy win. Not to mention the A-spec points go up to around 100 (depending on the lineup) compared to <10 for all the other options.
SAVING MONEY STEP 2: Do less Lupo Mods ($9900)
Instead of starting out with small mods for the Lupo Cup like Turbo 1 (which has to be upgraded to Turbo 2), just jump right in with the bigger guns. So instead of spending $33,400 (R1 Tyres, Chip, Exhaust, WR1, WR2, Turbo 1, Turbo 2), spend $23,900 (R2 Tyres, Chip, Turbo 2) and save $9900.
You get 25 points per race as opposed to 10.
You don't have to qualify for Races 1 (Fuji 90's) and 2 (The ring).
You have to qualify 1st for Tsukuba (Race 3).
You have to qualify better than 4th for Races 4 (Suzuka) and 5 (Infineon Sports Car Course)
SAVING MONEY STEP 3: No R1 tyres for the MX-5 ($9500)
This was easy. Scrooge bought R1 Tyres for the MX-5 to compete in the NR-A roadster competition. But he could not use them in the Japan 80's so ended up having to buy S3 tyres to win the Japan 80's Suzuka race. But he could have just bought the S3 in the first place.
You have to Qualify 1st and run a good race in Tokyo R246 (Race 2) as the Clio will out run you on the straights but it is very doable.
For the other races you don't have to qualify but you will have less trouble if you do (pole) for races 1 & 3.
SAVING MONEY STEP 4: No upgrades for the Renault 5 ($4600)
Scrooge upgraded the Renault 5 in order to win the Euro Hot Hatch series. But he had to buy a few other cars that could have won this series easily so he could have saved the $4600. He could have used:
a) The souped up Clio he had to buy for the clio cup. Hot Hatch is a walk in the park with this car. 10 points for all races. No need to qualify.
b)The Audi A3 (bought for the A3 series). Nice drive. Fairly easy win. Only need to qualify for SS5(Reverse) and Opera Paris (but only to avoid a nasty surprise due to traffic).
c) There are others he didn't try like the modded Peugot 206, Golf GTI, maybe even the Mirage or the Yaris!
SAVING MONEY STEP 5: Buy a Capucchino instead of the Alto ($3,300)
For the Suzuki K Cup it is a better deal to buy the 91 Capuchino (There is a 95 Capuchino but it costs 2k more). No need to mod it and a straight forward win.
You may have to get very defensive (even physical) at Tsukuba if there is a 95 capuchino in the lineup as it will eat you alive in the straights.
SAVING MONEY STEP 6: Don't RAM with the RAM! ($13410)
OK. So you have heard about how easy it is to get 200 points in pretty much ANY race you enter with the RAM (even snow races). That is all fine and dandy but you are paying too much!
The F150 Lightening is a couple of grand cheaper, has better acceleration but will give you only 18 points per race in the truck races. The best alternative money wise, however, is the Toyota Tacoma X Runner. It has a lot less power but handles like a dream comparatively speaking. You get 14 points per race and other than blocking the SST concept in Fuji it is a very easy win. All for the grand sum of $24520
SAVING MONEY STEP 7: No M Coupe for You! (103,852)
This one is pretty easy. All it takes is a little bit of patience. Instead of buying an M Coupe for the M Cup you just wait until you have bought the Opel Speedster and use it to win the SLiga A Series. That gives you a M3 Race Car as prize. The M Cup becomes a formality (1 point per race) for $0.
Scrooge would have saved more money than the average joe as he made the extra mistake of buying one and selling it immediately at a loss only to buy another one later on.
SAVING MONEY STEP 8: Be-1 not March G# ($7,813)
The 87 Be-1 will save on car costs and also has the advantage of being lighter and the cost of the Turbo 1 is $500 less. So instead of using the March G# (with Turbo 1, Turbo 2, R1 tyres) for $34,238 Scrooge could have used the Be-1 '87 (with Turbo 2, R1 Tyres, WR1 and Chip) for $26,425 for a savings of $7,813
SAVING MONEY STEP 9: Buy a new pug! ($18245)
Do you think that the 206 S16 is a steal at ~$11k? Well, it is ... but not for the 206 cup. Scrooge ended up speding a grand total of $111,084 (car included) to win the 206 cup with it. In contrast, he could have (as he did to double check) bought the new 206RC, plonk the T3 & R3 upgrades and have a clean 200 pt across the board (as opposed to the S16 which got 195 and 198 in two races).
S16: Turbo3, Exhaust,Chip, Sports susp,WR1, WR2, R1 Tyres, Tranny, R3 Tyres
206 RC: Turbo 3 and R3 Tyres.
SAVING MONEY STEP 10: Midget on Chip ($3,500)
You should be able to (in theory) win the Midget Race with the stock Midget. But if you are like Scrooge you may want to fork the money for some performance improvements. At his intermediate level of driving he was able to do it with only the Chip (and without the turbo). That is a saving of $3,500
SAVING MONEY STEP 11: Suzuki Concept ($2350)
If you go straight to the R2 tyres you won't need to buy the Chip and the WR1 mods for the suzuki concept. Saving yourself $2,350
SAVING MONEY STEP 12: Do as you are told -> buy the non-turbo speedster ($29,260)
Well, you have read the many threads about the Speedster Throphy and how you should not buy the turbo speedster. So don't be like Scrooge and actually listen to the advise. Instead of having to buy R4 Tyres, Turbo 3, Exhaust, Tranny, WR1, WR2 and Chip for the Speedster Turbo, you can just buy the Turbo 3 and R4 tyres for the NA Speedster.
You do have to be more 'assertive' when blocking other Speedsters but as long as you drive good lines you should not have much of a problem winning. Other than at Seattle that is...
TOTAL EXPENSES: 2,239,895
MONEY SAVED : 212,835
HYPOTHETICAL TOTAL: 2,027060
NOTE : Read Part II in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=66151
NOTE : Read Part III in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=67134
NOTE : Read Part IV in the following thread https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=70402
Scrooge went to his accountant to get his tax return done. He was looking forward to claiming all of those racing expenses and had a great couple of days going over the tax code looking for "applicable deductions". However his accountant reminded him that you are always better off paying tax on $100 than paying tax on $90 (after deducting $10 for expenses). "Of-course" he said. "I would get to keep the after tax part of the $10 if I hadn't spent them in the first place!"
COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA!
The first thing he did after filing his tax return was to take his racing expense deduction list and analyze it in conjuction with his racing diary to see how he could have saved money. The first conclusion that he drew is that it is all in the strategy:
1. He started his adventure with two almost mutually exclusive goals: a) Spend as little as possible b) get as far as possible without buying a car. He now realized that goal b actually cost him money because in some cases it would have been cheaper to use a car that he would have bought anyway rather than do mods (albeit cheap ones) to prize cars.
2. Information is power. He didn't have as much information as possible so he made some hasty decisions that cost him money. Like buying the M Coupe because he was tired and did not do proper research.
SAVING MONEY STEP 1: Don't mod the Ginnetta ($7105)
Scrooge used the Ginetta in several series but he only had to modify it in the last series that he run with it: The british lightweight series. But he could have done the following:
A) Use the Bentley Speed 8. Have to downgrade the tyres to N3 but it is a piece of cake. But it would have meant doing the corresponding endurance race earlier than he did or waiting longer before getting the Elan S2 (and being able to do the Spider and Roadster series)
B) Use the Lotus Motorsport Elise 190. He had to buy this car anyway. It would also have been a very easy win and would have got 9 points instead of 1 (with the Bentley) per race (and 8 points with the modded Ginetta)
C)Use the Jaguar XJR-9. It is a little harder to drive on N3 Tyres than the Bentley but still a drunk monkey could win with this car. Would have to wait until reaching 50% (XJR-9 is the 50% prize); this would be more inconvenient since the British Lightweight Series was done in order to reach 50%. Still workable though.
D)Use the Lotus Elise Type 72 (Prize from the Elise Trophy which is the reason to buy the Elise Motorsport 190). Much more pleasant drive than the Motorsport 190 and it is a fairly easy win. Not to mention the A-spec points go up to around 100 (depending on the lineup) compared to <10 for all the other options.
SAVING MONEY STEP 2: Do less Lupo Mods ($9900)
Instead of starting out with small mods for the Lupo Cup like Turbo 1 (which has to be upgraded to Turbo 2), just jump right in with the bigger guns. So instead of spending $33,400 (R1 Tyres, Chip, Exhaust, WR1, WR2, Turbo 1, Turbo 2), spend $23,900 (R2 Tyres, Chip, Turbo 2) and save $9900.
You get 25 points per race as opposed to 10.
You don't have to qualify for Races 1 (Fuji 90's) and 2 (The ring).
You have to qualify 1st for Tsukuba (Race 3).
You have to qualify better than 4th for Races 4 (Suzuka) and 5 (Infineon Sports Car Course)
SAVING MONEY STEP 3: No R1 tyres for the MX-5 ($9500)
This was easy. Scrooge bought R1 Tyres for the MX-5 to compete in the NR-A roadster competition. But he could not use them in the Japan 80's so ended up having to buy S3 tyres to win the Japan 80's Suzuka race. But he could have just bought the S3 in the first place.
You have to Qualify 1st and run a good race in Tokyo R246 (Race 2) as the Clio will out run you on the straights but it is very doable.
For the other races you don't have to qualify but you will have less trouble if you do (pole) for races 1 & 3.
SAVING MONEY STEP 4: No upgrades for the Renault 5 ($4600)
Scrooge upgraded the Renault 5 in order to win the Euro Hot Hatch series. But he had to buy a few other cars that could have won this series easily so he could have saved the $4600. He could have used:
a) The souped up Clio he had to buy for the clio cup. Hot Hatch is a walk in the park with this car. 10 points for all races. No need to qualify.
b)The Audi A3 (bought for the A3 series). Nice drive. Fairly easy win. Only need to qualify for SS5(Reverse) and Opera Paris (but only to avoid a nasty surprise due to traffic).
c) There are others he didn't try like the modded Peugot 206, Golf GTI, maybe even the Mirage or the Yaris!
SAVING MONEY STEP 5: Buy a Capucchino instead of the Alto ($3,300)
For the Suzuki K Cup it is a better deal to buy the 91 Capuchino (There is a 95 Capuchino but it costs 2k more). No need to mod it and a straight forward win.
You may have to get very defensive (even physical) at Tsukuba if there is a 95 capuchino in the lineup as it will eat you alive in the straights.
SAVING MONEY STEP 6: Don't RAM with the RAM! ($13410)
OK. So you have heard about how easy it is to get 200 points in pretty much ANY race you enter with the RAM (even snow races). That is all fine and dandy but you are paying too much!
The F150 Lightening is a couple of grand cheaper, has better acceleration but will give you only 18 points per race in the truck races. The best alternative money wise, however, is the Toyota Tacoma X Runner. It has a lot less power but handles like a dream comparatively speaking. You get 14 points per race and other than blocking the SST concept in Fuji it is a very easy win. All for the grand sum of $24520
SAVING MONEY STEP 7: No M Coupe for You! (103,852)
This one is pretty easy. All it takes is a little bit of patience. Instead of buying an M Coupe for the M Cup you just wait until you have bought the Opel Speedster and use it to win the SLiga A Series. That gives you a M3 Race Car as prize. The M Cup becomes a formality (1 point per race) for $0.
Scrooge would have saved more money than the average joe as he made the extra mistake of buying one and selling it immediately at a loss only to buy another one later on.
SAVING MONEY STEP 8: Be-1 not March G# ($7,813)
The 87 Be-1 will save on car costs and also has the advantage of being lighter and the cost of the Turbo 1 is $500 less. So instead of using the March G# (with Turbo 1, Turbo 2, R1 tyres) for $34,238 Scrooge could have used the Be-1 '87 (with Turbo 2, R1 Tyres, WR1 and Chip) for $26,425 for a savings of $7,813
SAVING MONEY STEP 9: Buy a new pug! ($18245)
Do you think that the 206 S16 is a steal at ~$11k? Well, it is ... but not for the 206 cup. Scrooge ended up speding a grand total of $111,084 (car included) to win the 206 cup with it. In contrast, he could have (as he did to double check) bought the new 206RC, plonk the T3 & R3 upgrades and have a clean 200 pt across the board (as opposed to the S16 which got 195 and 198 in two races).
S16: Turbo3, Exhaust,Chip, Sports susp,WR1, WR2, R1 Tyres, Tranny, R3 Tyres
206 RC: Turbo 3 and R3 Tyres.
SAVING MONEY STEP 10: Midget on Chip ($3,500)
You should be able to (in theory) win the Midget Race with the stock Midget. But if you are like Scrooge you may want to fork the money for some performance improvements. At his intermediate level of driving he was able to do it with only the Chip (and without the turbo). That is a saving of $3,500
SAVING MONEY STEP 11: Suzuki Concept ($2350)
If you go straight to the R2 tyres you won't need to buy the Chip and the WR1 mods for the suzuki concept. Saving yourself $2,350
SAVING MONEY STEP 12: Do as you are told -> buy the non-turbo speedster ($29,260)
Well, you have read the many threads about the Speedster Throphy and how you should not buy the turbo speedster. So don't be like Scrooge and actually listen to the advise. Instead of having to buy R4 Tyres, Turbo 3, Exhaust, Tranny, WR1, WR2 and Chip for the Speedster Turbo, you can just buy the Turbo 3 and R4 tyres for the NA Speedster.
You do have to be more 'assertive' when blocking other Speedsters but as long as you drive good lines you should not have much of a problem winning. Other than at Seattle that is...
TOTAL EXPENSES: 2,239,895
MONEY SAVED : 212,835
HYPOTHETICAL TOTAL: 2,027060
