I just ran this hoping it would be somewhat challenging. Wrong.
Another fun race possibility ruined by lame AI. C'mon PD, we want to actually race in race cars.
It may be due to my having played the series for too many installments/miles of fake driving, but I have been raising the bar for myself when going through career races in hopes of staying entertained. It's disappointing that the AI is hilariously inept at driving at or through corners with any sort of gusto, but at least some of the cars are pretty to look at while you breeze by. Plus, you get to decide on which side you'll pass them.
A couple things I've found myself doing for kicks during races against AI:
1)
Zero tuning. Resist the temptation to do any tuning on a car. (Still it is hard to resist: racing hard suspension, tire improvements, LSD tuning, lightweight stages, etc.)
2)
Grandpa driving. keep the cars attitude as close to 0 lean side to side as possible. Keep driving inputs at a minimum and gradually reapply throttle especially through 2nd gear turns (RWD vehicles). Cut it close but never make contact with any competitor or barrier.
3)
Dud car. Choose from your garage the car that qualifies but has the lowest PP. Relish its quirks and perhaps mundane acceleration (You could imagine you're competing in your daily driver). I was surprised many times today how easy it was to cruise on by the very snail-ish AI in the National B events with the Pontiac XNR Ghia Roadster (Goodwood Speed prize? I think.) I was finally made a little happier to finally have chocked up a loss in a 500 PP Clubman Cup event. I was passed around the ultimate turn of a three-lap flawless run at Silverstone by an AI-piloted M3 - a car which should have massively outrun even the most adept efforts of my 3-speed ride. It takes a lot, now, it seems, to lose to the AI. You gotta want it. Gone are the days of learning tracks and finding the braking start points of long straits.
