◆ SNAIL [Spec] Racing - Currently Recruiting for GT7 - JOIN TODAY!!Open 

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Could you change the brake pads on a car in a racing series where all the cars are supposed to be identically prepared. You probably could as it would be difficult to enforce unless you got completely carried away. Just because a rule can be cheated with little to no chance of being caught does not make it ok to cheat the rule, it just makes you a cheater.

The fact that we can't enforce a rule about not changing brake balance is the only reason we don't have it. The spirit of S.N.A.I.L. is to run identical cars on identical tires and let the driver make the difference. It is only through an oversight on the part of PD that the tuning of brake balance is allowed. Don't even start on not all cars have even braking between front and rear. The idea isn't to replicate reality with the settings, it's to put everyone in an equally prepared car and let the driver make the difference. If we were going for realistic setups, then the rear toe of nearly every car in the game would need to be changed (along with many other suspension settings).
 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Design


One-make racing (known as spec racing inNorth America) is a racing category in which all competitors race in identical or very similar vehicles from the same manufacturer, often using the same model. Typically, this means the same chassis, tyres and engine are used by all drivers. The idea behind one-make racing is that success will be based more on driver skill and car setup instead of engineering skill and budget. One-make series are popular at an amateur level as they are affordable, due to the use of a common engine and chassis.[citation needed]

Examples of one-make racing from around the world include Porsche Carrera Cup andSupercup, Radical European Masters, John Cooper Mini Challenge and Commodore Cup. There are also various formula categories that utilize one-make racing, such as Formula Renault and the Formula Car Challenge.[citation needed]

I found this on wiki this might help
 
I hadn't bothered to change the brakes on any of the combos...until the Lotus. It didn't make me any faster than my best lap, it just made me run consistent laps.

I right foot brake, but it's still manageable, the only troublesome corner for me is portier.

Try this, don't brake for this corner. Lift off the gas slowly and time your turn in so you don't have to brake. The Lotus has enough grip that it can hold a pretty quick line. Tap the brakes and the rear end loses grip and doesn't regain it fast enough to power out of the turn.

The mazda on the other hand is siiiiiiiick :dopey: One of the best cars in the game for me (at least out of those i tried). Good choice Chuyler 👍 It would've been even better if you chose GP track :)
I considered the GP track but I thought SNAILers would enjoy learning a few turns now, and maybe upgrade to the GP course later. This shorter track has enough passing opportunities and I'd rather see racers confident with fewer corners than all over the place on a long new track. On a related note, I thought the Rocket would have been great at the Brands Hatch short track too!
 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Design


One-make racing (known as spec racing inNorth America) is a racing category in which all competitors race in identical or very similar vehicles from the same manufacturer, often using the same model. Typically, this means the same chassis, tyres and engine are used by all drivers. The idea behind one-make racing is that success will be based more on driver skill and car setup instead of engineering skill and budget. One-make series are popular at an amateur level as they are affordable, due to the use of a common engine and chassis.[citation needed]

Examples of one-make racing from around the world include Porsche Carrera Cup andSupercup, Radical European Masters, John Cooper Mini Challenge and Commodore Cup. There are also various formula categories that utilize one-make racing, such as Formula Renault and the Formula Car Challenge.[citation needed]

I found this on wiki this might help
Not realy a help, since we are talking Spec, not one make. Spc is directly in relation to detailed specifications of a car. One makes like you are talking about allow the the adjustment of specific car parameters, spec requies all to be the same. And I do see you referenced the word spec in there, but you also linked to a portion about car setup, which most one make type races at that level allow adjustments to suspension. A better example would be Prod classes of SCCA SoloII. In there classes, you car must remain from the dealership stock. No back yard modifications, not PVC CAI. No gutted or removed cat, even the tires mut be of a certain type.

If the rules say we all run the exact same car then that is what we should do.

The virtual idea behind this series is we all walk in to a car dealer and buy 90 identical cars. The dealer changes the oil, we put identical tires on, we drive to the track and race.

Sorry, I side with you, I was just argueing for the sake of it. Been watching a lot of Chistorpher Hitchens and Sam Harris debates...
 
Car tuning is modification of the performance or appearance of a vehicle. For actual "tuning" in the sense of automobiles or vehicles, see engine tuning. Most vehicles leave the factory set up for an average driver's expectations and conditions. Tuning, on the other hand, has become a way to personalize the characteristics of a vehicle to the owner's preference. Cars may be altered to provide better fuel economy, produce more power, or to provide better handling.

Car tuning is related to auto racing, although most performance cars never compete. Tuned cars are built for the pleasure of owning and driving. Exterior modifications include changing the aerodynamic characteristics of the vehicle via side skirts, front and rear bumpers, spoilers, splitters, air vents and light weight wheels.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_tuning

Yes changing break balance is tuning for better handling
 
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/One-Design


One-make racing (known as spec racing inNorth America) is a racing category in which all competitors race in identical or very similar vehicles from the same manufacturer, often using the same model. Typically, this means the same chassis, tyres and engine are used by all drivers. The idea behind one-make racing is that success will be based more on driver skill and car setup instead of engineering skill and budget. One-make series are popular at an amateur level as they are affordable, due to the use of a common engine and chassis.[citation needed]

Examples of one-make racing from around the world include Porsche Carrera Cup andSupercup, Radical European Masters, John Cooper Mini Challenge and Commodore Cup. There are also various formula categories that utilize one-make racing, such as Formula Renault and the Formula Car Challenge.[citation needed]

I found this on wiki this might help

True spec racing means that every car is to the same spec in every enforceable way. S.N.A.I.L. is a get in the car and race type of SPEC racing. Think IROC where all the cars were maintained by one crew and were set up exactly the same and the only difference was the color and number on the car (sound familiar).

One make racing is what we would have if we put everyone in the same car and allowed tuning. That would not be true SPEC racing. SPEC comes from the word specification. It means all cars are of the same specification or SPEC and the driver is the only difference.
 
Not realy a help, since we are talking Spec, not one make. Spc is directly in relation to detailed specifications of a car. One makes like you are talking about allow the the adjustment of specific car parameters, spec requies all to be the same.



Sorry, I side with you, I was just argueing for the sake of it. Been watching a lot of Chistorpher Hitchens and Sam Harris debates...

Every1 races with same car
 
Every1 races with same car correct so it's one make which is spec racing

One make and SPEC racing are not the same thing. Just because Wikipedia says something does not make it true. The rules of the individual racing series would determine weather or not it was one make or SPEC racing.
 
This is a link to rules for a one make series that runs at a local paved oval track. If you read through it, you will quickly find that their intent is to make the cars close to equal, but in no way are they going to make all the cars identical. This would be an example of one make racing. The only car allowed is a pre '79 Toyota Corolla but they allow certain changes to be made to the car. Most of them are in the name of safety, but how you perform those changes is left wide open.

http://www.racemadera.com/mst.html
 
I personally don't care if someone adjusted the brake bias, if it helps them drive better, so be it.
 
In reading many of the SCCA rules, and similar - and I've not participated, I'm only reading before I buy something to understand the implications of what I could or could not participate in with my future 'fun car' - either rules will specify that parts 'must be OEM' (specific specifications), or 'no greater than / up to... specification of X' - so in some series, there may be some small variances on some parts.

To me, that makes sense, especially with older cars. Even a 15 year old car would have a hard time being exactly identical to every other car in the field, down to caliper measurements of everything.

At least, that's what the rules look like to me. Once it heats up here and folks are running on a track, I hope to spend some paddock time with some of the clubs.

I'm going to hit the local indoor Kart place in a few to check it out, even though they've got some league running at the moment. I figure it can't hurt to see how many drivers that is, etc.
 
In reading many of the SCCA rules, and similar - and I've not participated, I'm only reading before I buy something to understand the implications of what I could or could not participate in with my future 'fun car' - either rules will specify that parts 'must be OEM' (specific specifications), or 'no greater than / up to... specification of X' - so in some series, there may be some small variances on some parts.

To me, that makes sense, especially with older cars. Even a 15 year old car would have a hard time being exactly identical to every other car in the field, down to caliper measurements of everything.

At least, that's what the rules look like to me. Once it heats up here and folks are running on a track, I hope to spend some paddock time with some of the clubs.

I'm going to hit the local indoor Kart place in a few to check it out, even though they've got some league running at the moment. I figure it can't hurt to see how many drivers that is, etc.
Take a look at SoloII, aka Autocross. Check out page 69, street category, from SCCA's Solo rules book. As you can see, they are pretty specific thateverything must at least be as identical to stock as possible. Which for most cars means, OEM specific. Even running old Triumphs or MG's, you can still get OEM spec parts. It certainly, and in clear terms, states that you can not use any part that would alter the performance of the car without being placed into another class. The only exception being that of safety equipment, even then though you are limited, in that you can not add racing seats. Though I suppose that adding a roll cage, which is legal, would also act to greatly stiffen a chassis.
Whats more, once you start actually breaking it down by class, you will see that Solo street category is actually very much spec racing. Each class as a small group of cars that are similar in size, weight and drivetrain. Not truely one make, but very close to spec.
 
Last edited:
Room open for training

1472-6681-3243-9092-4747

I will be in until 7 oclock,


edit: what kind of lap you guys run a silverstone international, so far i got 1:05.873, its fast for me but is it fast for you ? Hey hey
 
Last edited:
Room open for training

1472-6681-3243-9092-4747

I will be in until 7 oclock,


edit: what kind of lap you guys run a silverstone international, so far i got 1:05.873, its fast for me but is it fast for you ? Hey hey
Thats a good lap time. Ive been running low to mid 1:03 but I have seen a 1:02.7
 
Thats a good lap time. Ive been running low to mid 1:03 but I have seen a 1:02.7

Daaannnnggggggg. :(

'Nother week of reading your bumper stickers for a lap before you become Speck-o- @hooker4 -in-Distance, I reckon. ;)

I believe the Enduro is running tonight, but I may try to get some casual racing going later, or tomorrow before 4 pm.
 
This. I'm interested in joining this league can you post me the info.
@Kylar One,
Thanks for your interest!
We would love to have you in the league. Here's what you need to know and do in order to join:

We run a clean league by enforcing a strict penalty system based on the S.N.A.I.L. OLR (which is a modified version of the GTP OLR). We also expect all of our drivers to know and follow The Good Racecraft Guide.
Please become versed in both if you aren't already. Once that is complete, please follow the steps below to complete your entry into the league:

1. You take the S.N.A.I.L. OLR and Racecraft Test

2. You run the Time Trial and submit your information by midnight EST on Saturday night if you want to race this Sunday.

3. @JLBowler PM's you with your assigned Division that we feel will give you the closest competition. You will be added to the drivers list.

4. The Race Director or Primary Host from the corresponding SNAIL Division will send you a PSN friend request. Sunday night you will need to sort the online lobbies by friends and join the lobby named 'snailracing.org Division_(x) based off your Division placement from JLBowler. That lobby will be where you race Sunday.

5. You drive fast and clean on Sunday 👍

The original post has everything you need to know about what to expect on Sunday night and what you will need to have completed in order to be competitive. If you have any questions, please feel free to post your question on the thread.

If you have a preference for car/wheel colour and racing number, please follow the instruction contained here.
To avoid duplication, the currently claimed combinations can be found here.

During the week we run a number of different events, we encourage all SNAILs to join as many as possible.

Welcome to S.N.A.I.L. :cheers:
 
Quick Question: If you improve body rigidity on a car can it still enter online races with "No tuning allowed"?

Rather than Can-I, I wish it was a matter of Should-I.

I know there has been a question on the efficacy as well as availability, but I do not know the answer to either.
 
Attention S.N.A.I.L.s

Promotion and relegation has been done for the February Season.

At the moment I'm just making room in the Results Doc for the new season.

You'll be able to see where you place in the 2014.02 tab of the Results Document once I get finished Monkeying with it.

I'll make the formal announcement when I've finished.

:cheers:
 
Announcing the February Lineup for S.N.A.I.L. SPEC Racing

The February Tab of the Results Document has been updated with driver movement for the month of February.

Thanks to @JLBowler for providing new insight to Promotion and Relegation.
@Oshawa-Joe will have the Drivers List updated shortly.
@ExoSphere64 will make sure our rooms run like clockwork next week. Team S.N.A.I.L. needs you :D

To all the S.N.A.I.L.s that drive week after week, Thank You! Look at all the One and Two Year trophies on our drivers list :D

There's no clear cut formula for getting promoted or relegated. With January behind us and quite a bit more data at our fingertips, we're confident you'll be in much closer racing this month. As was said last month, if we've made a mistake placing anyone WE WILL ACT QUICKLY to rectify the issue 👍

We take into account a number of factors to determine candidates for promotion and relegation. Once we've identified the drivers, we analyze the data at our disposal and make sure the people being moved fit into the Division they're being moved to. Then we pull the trigger :dopey:

Some of the criteria for being ELIGIBLE to be moved are:

1. Points for the month
2. How many drivers are in each division.
3. Race pace
4. Individual Lap Times
5. How you compare to other racers in your division and the division you're a candidate for.
6. Number of times you've raced that month.
7. How cleanly you've raced this past month.

Why do we do this?

1. To get you involved in races you will be racing in, not just putting in laps.
2. To incent you to improve your driving and racecraft.
3. To give you something to strive for.
4. To make it possible for you to have fun playing GT6.
5. Give the servers a break.

We want you to be in good, close, clean racing 👍

If you have any questions or concerns about promotion or relegation, feel free to pm me. I'd be more than happy to talk to you about it.

Cheers and good racing all!

kcheeb
 




Congratulations to Nick McMillen..
From Virtual to Reality..
From S.N.A.I.L. to GT Academy Champion!!

nick-mcmillen-podium-ceremony-win-638x425.jpg

From left to right:
Christopher Hill (Runner-Up), Nick McMillen (Champion), Brian Marsteller (3rd Place)


Congrats to all the SNAILs who advanced to the GT Academy Silverstone finals!
iEdDnsw.jpg

From left to right:
Martin Sprau, Dan Reude, Brian Marsteller, Joey Barbato, Nick McMillen, Doug Hawkins, Christopher Hill


Click the logo below for details on the Allen Berg Racing Schools Challenge!!



Welcome to S.N.A.I.L.
Our mission is to provide our members with the cleanest and most competitive racing experience possible with minimal prep time required. No matter what your skill level is, we will provide you with a full grid of similarly-skilled drivers to compete against. It's our belief that close racing is not only exciting, but is also the best way to improve your skill and refine your racecraft! We have our official league night every Sunday night at 9:30pm Eastern / 6:30pm Pacific (we also have a new West Coast time slot starting at 9pm Pacific!!), but we also have a full schedule of events held on every night of the week. If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, please keep reading to learn more about our league and how to join us.

What Makes Us Different
There are five things that we offer that you won't find anywhere else. First of all, we provide our members with the most evenly-matched competition possible. In fact, the intense level of competition that we produce has established S.N.A.I.L. as an ideal place to prepare for GT Academy. And if you like to keep track of your improvement, you'll be glad to know that we keep the most comprehensive race data available on GTPlanet. On top of that, if you like to have a say in what cars and tracks you race, we feature an interactive process that allows your voice to be heard. And finally, we're the only league where our members win valuable prizes just for showing up to race! What more could you ask for?!

Evenly-Matched Competition
Have you ever watched a professional race where drivers with completely different skill levels were competing on the same track? Of course not! That wouldn't be fun to watch, let alone fun to participate in. Unfortunately, that disparity of pace is something you'll often find in organized online racing. When this happens, you'll be lucky to just a few drivers that you're truly competitive with. Everyone else will usually either be faster or slower than you. We prevent that from happening in S.N.A.I.L. by dividing our drivers into six separate divisions based on speed and skill. This results in full grids of evenly-matched competition and creates the closest and most intense sim racing experience around!

Preparation for GT Academy
If you have your eye on competing in GT Academy one day, there is no better place than S.N.A.I.L. to hone your skills to the elite levels necessary to make it to the finals. You need to be the best of the best to make it to Silverstone, and that's exactly what the drivers in our top division are. Half of this year's GT Academy Silverstone Finalists race in S.N.A.I.L. (click here if you want advice directly from one of them). However, even if you don't aspire to win GT Academy someday, it's still great to be able to get tips and advice from many of the best drivers around. Regardless if you're a professional racer or a casual gamer, we can provide you with the perfect environment to learn and get faster!

Win Valuable Prizes
Have you ever wished you could win free stuff just for having fun? If so, then you might want to know that our members win valuable real-world prizes just for racing with us! These prize are based on participation and not on race results. Some examples of prizes our members have won include a GranStand Cockpit, a ButtKicker Gamer2, a GranStand Wheel Stand, and a Wireless ButtKicker Kit. And if you want to help organize our league, you can join TEAM S.N.A.I.L. and earn even more prizes such as shirts (e.g. S.N.A.I.L. shirt, F1 shirt, GT Academy shirt), electronic/gaming hardware (e.g. Hauppauge PVR), sim racing equipment (e.g. Playseat Evolution), and other Gran Turismo related items (e.g. GTPEDIA).

Spec Racing
S.N.A.I.L. was the first GTPlanet league to prohibit tuning in all of our races. This combined with the fact that we race in the same cars produces a type of racing called "spec" racing. Spec racing ensures that success is determined solely by driving skill and not by differences in car power, gearing, suspension, weight, or aerodynamics. Because variables in the car are eliminated, spec racing is the truest measure of driver skill! It also produces intense battles for position because all of the cars are equally strong or weak in the same areas of the track. Another benefit of spec racing is that you'll never spend time tuning cars or wondering if someone is truly faster than you or if they just have a better tune.

Race Format
Our league night lasts for two hours and is split into three rounds. Each round consists of two races that last 10 to 12 minutes on a predetermined car and track combo. At the beginning of each round, a brief qualifying session determines the order of the starting grid. The first race is set to 'Fastest First' to reward the best qualifiers and the second race is set to 'Reverse Grid' in order to promote on-track action. Points are awarded based on our "perfect" points system. After a round is completed, we move on to the next round and repeat the same process with the next car and track combination. Once all three rounds are complete, we tally up the points and then let our interactive format kick in.

Interactive Process
Our unique format allows everyone to have a say on which cars and tracks we race. It is also used to strike a balance between familiarity and variety of cars and tracks. In other words, the progression of cars and tracks that we race is slow enough for us to learn them well, but fast enough that they don't get "old". At the end of league night, everyone votes on which car and track combo they enjoyed the least. The combo that receives the most "elimination votes" is dropped from the lineup entirely. The combo that receives the second most votes is also dropped, but only partially. This is where our prizes play an important role in our interactive format.

Prizes
A prize is awarded to the divisions winners with the three highest scores. The division winner with the highest score gets Prize A. The division winner with the second highest score gets Prize B. The division winner with the third highest score gets Prize C: (NOTE: The three prize winners' votes do not count towards the car/track elimination vote)
Prize A: The right to select the new car and track combo to replace the combo that was voted off
Prize B: The right to replace either the car or the track of the combo that received the second most votes
Prize C: The tie-breaking vote if the elimination vote results in a tie

Promotion and Relegation
Although we split our drivers into separate divisions based on performance and skill level, we realize that our drivers are constantly improving and deserve a chance to climb the ladder of success. That's why we promote and relegate drivers before every season based on the results and data compiled during the previous season. This is also done to ensure that our races are as competitive as possible for all of our league members, top to bottom. Regardless of which division you're in, you will almost always be fighting to gain or defend a position on the track. Simply put, no other Gran Turismo league in the world can offer this much competitive racing to so many different skill levels.

Comprehensive Race Data
It's not always accurate to promote and relegate drivers based on championship points alone. That's why the massive amounts of data we track are invaluable to our league. You'd be hard-pressed to find a sim racing league anywhere in the world that tracks driver data and race results more comprehensively than we do. In fact, our S.N.A.I.L. Results document contains so much information that we have to archive old data to avoid exceeding the GoogleDoc's maximum capacity! You can use this data to track the points championship for each season and compare yourself to other drivers in categories such as fast laps, total race pace, total points, average points per race, and power rankings.

Rules
We expect all drivers to follow our OLR Rules and pursue good racecraft at all times. If you're not sure what good racecraft is, watch this video. It can be summed up in one simple 'Golden Rule' of motorsports: It is the responsibility of the overtaking driver, meaning the car that is attempting to execute the pass, to make sure that the pass is made cleanly and incident free. If you don't agree with this rule or don't think it applies to you, this is not the league for you. If you ever feel like a driver is not following the rules, please wait until league night is over, then file a Racing Incident Report. Our Stewards will review the incident and enforce the appropriate penalty on the driver in question.

Settings
All league settings are default unless noted below:
Boost: Off
Penalty: Weak (and Effective for Free Run) in Divisions 2-5. (Penalties OFF for D1 only)
Race Finish Delay: 90sec
Visible Damage: Off
Mechanical Damage: Light
Slipstream Strength: Real
Tire Wear/Fuel Consumption: Normal
Grip Reduction: Real
Vehicle Tuning: Prohibited
Driving Aids: Only ABS allowed in Divisions 1-4. (ABS, TCS, and Driving Line are allowed in Division 5 only)
Tire Restrictions: (based on Dealership PP)
Street Cars
below 450 PP -> Sports Hards
450-499 PP ---> Sports Mediums
500 PP & up --> Sports Softs

Race Cars
below 600 PP -> Racing Hards
600 PP & up --> Racing Mediums

Tuner Cars
Classified as either Street or Race cars based on this list

How To Join Us
Step 1: Post a request to join (do not PM me, just post your request on this thread)
Step 2: Watch the thread for a reply to your post (it will include detailed Time Trial instructions)
Step 3: Purchase the three cars listed in the latest lineup below
Step 4: Get an oil change on each car, but do not do anything else to the car (e.g. add parts or reduce weight)
Step 5: On Sunday night, join the room number of division you're are assigned. It will be posted on this thread 15 minutes before the races start.
If you are not sure which division you are assigned to, please check the Offical Driver List





Congratulations to Nick McMillen..
From Virtual to Reality..
From S.N.A.I.L. to GT Academy Champion!!

nick-mcmillen-podium-ceremony-win-638x425.jpg

From left to right:
Christopher Hill (Runner-Up), Nick McMillen (Champion), Brian Marsteller (3rd Place)


Congrats to all the SNAILs who advanced to the GT Academy Silverstone finals!
iEdDnsw.jpg

From left to right:
Martin Sprau, Dan Reude, Brian Marsteller, Joey Barbato, Nick McMillen, Doug Hawkins, Christopher Hill


Click the logo below for details on the Allen Berg Racing Schools Challenge!!



Welcome to S.N.A.I.L.
Our mission is to provide our members with the cleanest and most competitive racing experience possible with minimal prep time required. No matter what your skill level is, we will provide you with a full grid of similarly-skilled drivers to compete against. It's our belief that close racing is not only exciting, but is also the best way to improve your skill and refine your racecraft! We have our official league night every Sunday night at 9:30pm Eastern / 6:30pm Pacific (we also have a new West Coast time slot starting at 9pm Pacific!!), but we also have a full schedule of events held on every night of the week. If this sounds like something you'd like to be a part of, please keep reading to learn more about our league and how to join us.

What Makes Us Different
There are five things that we offer that you won't find anywhere else. First of all, we provide our members with the most evenly-matched competition possible. In fact, the intense level of competition that we produce has established S.N.A.I.L. as an ideal place to prepare for GT Academy. And if you like to keep track of your improvement, you'll be glad to know that we keep the most comprehensive race data available on GTPlanet. On top of that, if you like to have a say in what cars and tracks you race, we feature an interactive process that allows your voice to be heard. And finally, we're the only league where our members win valuable prizes just for showing up to race! What more could you ask for?!

Evenly-Matched Competition
Have you ever watched a professional race where drivers with completely different skill levels were competing on the same track? Of course not! That wouldn't be fun to watch, let alone fun to participate in. Unfortunately, that disparity of pace is something you'll often find in organized online racing. When this happens, you'll be lucky to just a few drivers that you're truly competitive with. Everyone else will usually either be faster or slower than you. We prevent that from happening in S.N.A.I.L. by dividing our drivers into six separate divisions based on speed and skill. This results in full grids of evenly-matched competition and creates the closest and most intense sim racing experience around!

Preparation for GT Academy
If you have your eye on competing in GT Academy one day, there is no better place than S.N.A.I.L. to hone your skills to the elite levels necessary to make it to the finals. You need to be the best of the best to make it to Silverstone, and that's exactly what the drivers in our top division are. Half of this year's GT Academy Silverstone Finalists race in S.N.A.I.L. (click here if you want advice directly from one of them). However, even if you don't aspire to win GT Academy someday, it's still great to be able to get tips and advice from many of the best drivers around. Regardless if you're a professional racer or a casual gamer, we can provide you with the perfect environment to learn and get faster!

Win Valuable Prizes
Have you ever wished you could win free stuff just for having fun? If so, then you might want to know that our members win valuable real-world prizes just for racing with us! These prize are based on participation and not on race results. Some examples of prizes our members have won include a GranStand Cockpit, a ButtKicker Gamer2, a GranStand Wheel Stand, and a Wireless ButtKicker Kit. And if you want to help organize our league, you can join TEAM S.N.A.I.L. and earn even more prizes such as shirts (e.g. S.N.A.I.L. shirt, F1 shirt, GT Academy shirt), electronic/gaming hardware (e.g. Hauppauge PVR), sim racing equipment (e.g. Playseat Evolution), and other Gran Turismo related items (e.g. GTPEDIA).

Spec Racing
S.N.A.I.L. was the first GTPlanet league to prohibit tuning in all of our races. This combined with the fact that we race in the same cars produces a type of racing called "spec" racing. Spec racing ensures that success is determined solely by driving skill and not by differences in car power, gearing, suspension, weight, or aerodynamics. Because variables in the car are eliminated, spec racing is the truest measure of driver skill! It also produces intense battles for position because all of the cars are equally strong or weak in the same areas of the track. Another benefit of spec racing is that you'll never spend time tuning cars or wondering if someone is truly faster than you or if they just have a better tune.

Race Format
Our league night lasts for two hours and is split into three rounds. Each round consists of two races that last 10 to 12 minutes on a predetermined car and track combo. At the beginning of each round, a brief qualifying session determines the order of the starting grid. The first race is set to 'Fastest First' to reward the best qualifiers and the second race is set to 'Reverse Grid' in order to promote on-track action. Points are awarded based on our "perfect" points system. After a round is completed, we move on to the next round and repeat the same process with the next car and track combination. Once all three rounds are complete, we tally up the points and then let our interactive format kick in.

Interactive Process
Our unique format allows everyone to have a say on which cars and tracks we race. It is also used to strike a balance between familiarity and variety of cars and tracks. In other words, the progression of cars and tracks that we race is slow enough for us to learn them well, but fast enough that they don't get "old". At the end of league night, everyone votes on which car and track combo they enjoyed the least. The combo that receives the most "elimination votes" is dropped from the lineup entirely. The combo that receives the second most votes is also dropped, but only partially. This is where our prizes play an important role in our interactive format.

Prizes
A prize is awarded to the divisions winners with the three highest scores. The division winner with the highest score gets Prize A. The division winner with the second highest score gets Prize B. The division winner with the third highest score gets Prize C: (NOTE: The three prize winners' votes do not count towards the car/track elimination vote)
Prize A: The right to select the new car and track combo to replace the combo that was voted off
Prize B: The right to replace either the car or the track of the combo that received the second most votes
Prize C: The tie-breaking vote if the elimination vote results in a tie

Promotion and Relegation
Although we split our drivers into separate divisions based on performance and skill level, we realize that our drivers are constantly improving and deserve a chance to climb the ladder of success. That's why we promote and relegate drivers before every season based on the results and data compiled during the previous season. This is also done to ensure that our races are as competitive as possible for all of our league members, top to bottom. Regardless of which division you're in, you will almost always be fighting to gain or defend a position on the track. Simply put, no other Gran Turismo league in the world can offer this much competitive racing to so many different skill levels.

Comprehensive Race Data
It's not always accurate to promote and relegate drivers based on championship points alone. That's why the massive amounts of data we track are invaluable to our league. You'd be hard-pressed to find a sim racing league anywhere in the world that tracks driver data and race results more comprehensively than we do. In fact, our S.N.A.I.L. Results document contains so much information that we have to archive old data to avoid exceeding the GoogleDoc's maximum capacity! You can use this data to track the points championship for each season and compare yourself to other drivers in categories such as fast laps, total race pace, total points, average points per race, and power rankings.

Rules
We expect all drivers to follow our OLR Rules and pursue good racecraft at all times. If you're not sure what good racecraft is, watch this video. It can be summed up in one simple 'Golden Rule' of motorsports: It is the responsibility of the overtaking driver, meaning the car that is attempting to execute the pass, to make sure that the pass is made cleanly and incident free. If you don't agree with this rule or don't think it applies to you, this is not the league for you. If you ever feel like a driver is not following the rules, please wait until league night is over, then file a Racing Incident Report. Our Stewards will review the incident and enforce the appropriate penalty on the driver in question.

Settings
All league settings are default unless noted below:
Boost: Off
Penalty: Weak (and Effective for Free Run) in Divisions 2-5. (Penalties OFF for D1 only)
Race Finish Delay: 90sec
Visible Damage: Off
Mechanical Damage: Light
Slipstream Strength: Real
Tire Wear/Fuel Consumption: Normal
Grip Reduction: Real
Vehicle Tuning: Prohibited
Driving Aids: Only ABS allowed in Divisions 1-4. (ABS, TCS, and Driving Line are allowed in Division 5 only)
Tire Restrictions: (based on Dealership PP)
Street Cars
below 450 PP -> Sports Hards
450-499 PP ---> Sports Mediums
500 PP & up --> Sports Softs

Race Cars
below 600 PP -> Racing Hards
600 PP & up --> Racing Mediums

Tuner Cars
Classified as either Street or Race cars based on this list

How To Join Us
Step 1: Post a request to join (do not PM me, just post your request on this thread)
Step 2: Watch the thread for a reply to your post (it will include detailed Time Trial instructions)
Step 3: Purchase the three cars listed in the latest lineup below
Step 4: Get an oil change on each car, but do not do anything else to the car (e.g. add parts or reduce weight)
Step 5: On Sunday night, join the room number of division you're are assigned. It will be posted on this thread 15 minutes before the races start.
If you are not sure which division you are assigned to, please check the Offical Driver List


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