24 Hour Endurance A-Spec Observation

[msako]

This pertains to 100% A-Spec'ing of the 24 hour races. I've finished Nurburgring, Sarthe I and am about 1/2 through Sarthe II (Sarthe I without the two chicanes as far as I can tell). I read through all of the threads and cannot find anything on this. Again, this has to do with 100% A-Spec of the 24 hour races.

It appears as though the Minolta or other similar car driven in A-Spec mode starts to wear out at around 8-10 hours into the race. I thought it was just me at Nurburgring and Sarthe I but at about 8:50 into A-Spec of Sarthe II I noticed that the car was not tracking quite as straight as it had been. Then, at about 9:50 it started having serious problems maintaining a straight line at high speed. I crashed outright on the Mulsanne straight making a routine pass of the GT40. The car just got out of shape in the GT40's wake.

I've read that others have seen their cars go away but that's in B-Spec and you have no idea what the AI is doing in terms of beating on the car or perserving it the way you do when you are at the controls the entire time. It looks like it's time to switch to super hards up front in order to track straighter.

I already straightened the frame once on this car. Can I do it again or am I limited to just once? I guess I'll find out at the end of Sarthe II.

 

[Nate14Gt]

You can increase rigidity and replace the frame each only once. Then you have to buy or win a new car. The Minolta's pretty easy to win, so it's not too big of a deal.

 

[JTSnooks]

You can increase rigidity and replace the frame each only once. Then you have to buy or win a new car. The Minolta's pretty easy to win, so it's not too big of a deal.

Wrong. You can only stiffen your frame once, but you can refresh your car's rigidity as many times as is necessary. They're two separate things. What you need to do is buy the "rigidity refresher plan" for your car. I've noticed it needs to be done around every 8000 miles. Don't worry, you don't have to win a new car, just spend 50,000 every 8k miles or so. Sucks, but it'll fix it.

 

[msako]

When I refreshed my Minolta in preparation for the 24 hours at Sarthe II, it had 1135 miles on it. After I refreshed it, the refresh option was whited out and I could not do it again. I'm assuming that you're saying that I can refresh it again after I complete the 24 hours?

Wrong. You can only stiffen your frame once, but you can refresh your car's rigidity as many times as is necessary. They're two separate things. What you need to do is buy the "rigidity refresher plan" for your car. I've noticed it needs to be done around every 8000 miles. Don't worry, you don't have to win a new car, just spend 50,000 every 8k miles or so. Sucks, but it'll fix it.

 

[JTSnooks]

Yeah, you can only refresh it when it's "worn out". In other words, it won't let you waste 50,000 on a car that doesn't need it. So after doing another 24hr race, it should light up. If it's not, that just means you haven't put enough more miles on it yet, but I've put 3 on my minolta already, so I know you can.

 

[Zardoz]

... I've noticed it needs to be done around every 8000 miles...

Far less than that in most cases. I've seen the RRP become available after as little as 600 miles.

Keep us posted on your car's condition as you near the end of the 24 hours, msako. I've seen posts from some who have tried to take over from their B-Spec driver late in the race and gave up because the car was undriveable. You may find the last few hours of the race to be a real struggle.

Our B-Spec drivers, on the other hand, don't seem to have any trouble with a worn-out car at all. Another GT4 idiosyncracy...

 

[msako]

Ok, thanks. I'm 12 hours into Sarthe with 12 more hours to go and it's getting very difficult to handle. I can still grind out laps in the 2:50s (2:49.421 is my best so far) but it's best lap times are behind it.

It just won't stay in a line anymore and really subject to wind buffetting. It was dead solid straight when I started.

Yeah, you can only refresh it when it's "worn out". In other words, it won't let you waste 50,000 on a car that doesn't need it. So after doing another 24hr race, it should light up. If it's not, that just means you haven't put enough more miles on it yet, but I've put 3 on my minolta already, so I know you can.

 

[msako]

I've finished two 24 hour 100% A-Spec enduros now and I have had no problems at the end of the race. It usually deteriorates in the middle and then is pretty consistent after that until the end. The only problem is that it's tough to keep it in a straight line, especially with anything but super hards up front. That's what I noticed first. Even with hards up front it becomes very difficult to keep in a straight line. I can keep it on a line with superhards and I can sense them slipping a little.

One other thing I notice when the car starts to go away is that it actually starts oversteering a little more which for me makes it easier to corner quicker. The real problems are at top speed on bumpy straights. Everywhere else at slower speeds it's not even noticable, other than the super hards up front take a few seconds from the lap times.

Far less than that in most cases. I've seen the RRP become available after as little as 600 miles.

Keep us posted on your car's condition as you near the end of the 24 hours, msako. I've seen posts from some who have tried to take over from their B-Spec driver late in the race and gave up because the car was undriveable. You may find the last few hours of the race to be a real struggle.

Our B-Spec drivers, on the other hand, don't seem to have any trouble with a worn-out car at all. Another GT4 idiosyncracy...