Alfa Z-Cup - Johnnypenso and Carracerptp Z-Cup Co-Champions!

[dsgerbc]

Yes, but that quote (at least when I first heard it) was addressed to cpt.slow. Everyone thinks they are at least as fast as that slouch, so why listen?

And like I said before, i expect Spa to be a draftfest similar to Monza in these cars.

 

[Naptown25rs]

And like I said before, i expect Spa to be a draftfest similar to Monza in these cars.

Always has been before... The only time I've ever finished within one second of you was in a practice race at Spa, thanks to 3 laps of consistency and lots of drafting.

 

[BrandonW77]

Yes, but that quote (at least when I first heard it) was addressed to cpt.slow. Everyone thinks they are at least as fast as that slouch, so why listen?

That's the only time I've heard that quote too.





For the record, I'm a left-foot braker too, and finally "mastering" some of the above discussed techniques is what led to my improved performance last night. 👍

 

[Gravitron]

Sorry I may have not explained myself right, I do use a lot of brake early then ease off as I slow down. I was just trying to explain that if you apply brake easier at first(rather than just mashing) your distance will shorten. The Fuji race was decent for me, its just I was down 10hp at the end of the second race due to lack of an oil change. Too bad as I really think I could have done quite a bit better if this wasn't the case.
Also love the Jackie Stewart quote, that makes a lot of sense.

And you still passed me in the final lap or two. Actually not surprising...when I was doing power-limiter tests before the special event, dropping the HP by 10 only resulted in a Fuji GT laptime reduction of a couple tenths.

I left-foot brake too, on the DFGT (so no clutch).

 

[LancerEvo7]

re. left foot braking, what about the clutch?

Well, the GTP OLR says you can't use it, so paddles and left foot braking ftw. 👍

Although, sometimes when I heel toe, I brake and clutch with my left foot. Possibly because I'm left footed.

 

[TrackBound7]

I know I am little late to this conversation, but had 2 cents to add to a couple of things.
1. Yes, left foot braker.
2. All this bumper to bumper talk has got me confused. The ORCA guys taught me early about some race craft philosophy that I still try to apply (when I am not running by myself somewhere in the race). The idea of pushing another car benefits both cars. On top of that, by not constantly poking your nose out to the side, sort of gives the front driver the idea that we won't race yet and wait till we are more on our own. I dont see having someone on my bumper as pressure. I would rather that than see someone jutting from side to side in each corner and worrying about adjusting my line to accomodate 2 wide. On the last lap or so, sure, but if you are at the very front or working together to get to the front, staying nose to tail makes perfect sense to me.

 

[BrandonW77]

Well, the GTP OLR says you can't use it, so paddles and left foot braking ftw. 👍

Although, sometimes when I heel toe, I brake and clutch with my left foot. Possibly because I'm left footed.

I think that rule only applies to the WRS time trials and doesn't necessarily pertain to leagues.

I don't use the clutch/shifter for competitive racing, but I do use it sometimes for Aspec/Seasonals and I still left-foot brake whenever possible. There are times where you can brake and don't need to downshift, and the left foot pops over to the brake pedal. I do this in my real car too. 👍

2. All this bumper to bumper talk has got me confused. The ORCA guys taught me early about some race craft philosophy that I still try to apply (when I am not running by myself somewhere in the race). The idea of pushing another car benefits both cars. On top of that, by not constantly poking your nose out to the side, sort of gives the front driver the idea that we won't race yet and wait till we are more on our own. I dont see having someone on my bumper as pressure. I would rather that than see someone jutting from side to side in each corner and worrying about adjusting my line to accomodate 2 wide. On the last lap or so, sure, but if you are at the very front or working together to get to the front, staying nose to tail makes perfect sense to me.

That's my opinion too. Having somebody sticking their nose to the inside every lap or trying to pass you on every turn leads to crashes. When you're working/drafting together you know that the guy behind you is going to stay there (for now) and you can setup for your turns properly without having to worry about what he's doing. It kind of confuses me that people would prefer to have people trying to pass them all the time instead of working together, but to each his own I guess.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I know I am little late to this conversation, but had 2 cents to add to a couple of things.
1. Yes, left foot braker.
2. All this bumper to bumper talk has got me confused. The ORCA guys taught me early about some race craft philosophy that I still try to apply (when I am not running by myself somewhere in the race). The idea of pushing another car benefits both cars. On top of that, by not constantly poking your nose out to the side, sort of gives the front driver the idea that we won't race yet and wait till we are more on our own. I dont see having someone on my bumper as pressure. I would rather that than see someone jutting from side to side in each corner and worrying about adjusting my line to accomodate 2 wide. On the last lap or so, sure, but if you are at the very front or working together to get to the front, staying nose to tail makes perfect sense to me.

👍👍

 

[OwensRacing]

Got some good news gentlemen.

I have begun Cockpit revisions.


Triple Monitors on the way- it's Brandon's fault.

2x PS3's check

2x GT5 (game stop tomorrow)

More Tactiles aka Bass shakers on the way

Need to decide in my driving force for the Tactiles. Looking at 2.1 Receivers. 120 bucks and if I get an inline crossover. I should be able to left right separate Tactiles as well use my current BK gamer2 on the sub out. Which is under my seat.

The Tactiles I got are Dayton TT-25's pucks. Four of them. 16ohm. Run pairs at 8ohms. Mount two on each side of rig. In theory it should give me a decent presence of left to right.

It will take a couple weeks for me to design/build the rig for the trips. Ive gotten a few ideas of where I wanna go.

Going stand alone soubd set up. Sound provided by Tritton AX Pro's (highly recommend these) obviously the bottom end aka bass will be done with the shakers.

Justify myself, got two kids, each can have a monitor when/if I quit SIM racing. PS3's trade all in on a PS4. No cost to me. LoL or gift family for Blue Ray and media center.

Shakers, got a decent Theatre set up. I can move those to the couch and swap out to sub amps.

So nothing wasted. I made peace with spending this kind of money on a freaking game. LoL

 

[carracerptp]

Got some good news gentlemen.

I have begun Cockpit revisions.


Triple Monitors on the way- it's Brandon's fault.

2x PS3's check

2x GT5 (game stop tomorrow)

More Tactiles aka Bass shakers on the way

Need to decide in my driving force for the Tactiles. Looking at 2.1 Receivers. 120 bucks and if I get an inline crossover. I should be able to left right separate Tactiles as well use my current BK gamer2 on the sub out. Which is under my seat.

The Tactiles I got are Dayton TT-25's pucks. Four of them. 16ohm. Run pairs at 8ohms. Mount two on each side of rig. In theory it should give me a decent presence of left to right.

It will take a couple weeks for me to design/build the rig for the trips. Ive gotten a few ideas of where I wanna go.

Going stand alone soubd set up. Sound provided by Tritton AX Pro's (highly recommend these) obviously the bottom end aka bass will be done with the shakers.

Justify myself, got two kids, each can have a monitor when/if I quit SIM racing. PS3's trade all in on a PS4. No cost to me. LoL or gift family for Blue Ray and media center.

Shakers, got a decent Theatre set up. I can move those to the couch and swap out to sub amps.

So nothing wasted. I made peace with spending this kind of money on a freaking game. LoL

No..... Why Brandon..... why...... one more guy on the dark (OK, bright) side.....

 

[BrandonW77]

They are MUCH brighter. At least I had the sense to stop after the monitors and not go crazy with sound stuff!

 

[OwensRacing]

They are MUCH brighter. At least I had the sense to stop after the monitors and not go crazy with sound stuff!

Im a bit of an audiophile if you will. Bass head may be more like it.

You know what they say, once you go tactile. You never. Wait nvm.......lol

 

[Johnnypenso]

They are MUCH brighter. At least I had the sense to stop after the monitors and not go crazy with sound stuff!

You are a paragon of restraint Brandon...way to set the example...lol...👍

Sounds like it's going to be lots of fun building and racing Owens...wish I was close enough (like Brandon is) to give it a test drive.

 

[dsgerbc]

^If I ever do it, I can let you try it

 

[TrackBound7]

At the rate you are all falling off the 3 monitor band wagon, I will be able to add lack of technilogical tooling to my excuses for poor performance.

 

[CC570]

If I ever go this route, I might have to go with projectors rather than monitors.
No bezels at all.

 

[BrandonW77]

If I ever go this route, I might have to go with projectors rather than monitors.
No bezels at all.

I looked at that option, but it would have been quite a bit more money for decent projectors and I also don't have room in my apartment for projector stands and projector screens. I have the side monitors overlapping the front so I have just under 1/2" of visible bezel and I really don't even notice them. Once you're moving and focused on driving it all just kind of blends together. But if you have the resources and space for projectors they would be the ideal way to go, you can make the image life size with those. 👍 Might as well get 3D projectors while you're at it!



At the risk of angering the majority of our members...............here's what they look like from bumper cam.

 

[RDAardvark]

Big PS3 Maintenance Thursday people.

Didn't realise that you meant PlayStation Network.
Down from 2pm to 8am!
Then the GT5 servers are down next Tuesday in the wee small hours.

No GT5 for me then

 

[BrandonW77]

Didn't realise that you meant PlayStation Network.
Down from 2pm to 8am!
Then the GT5 servers are down next Tuesday in the wee small hours.

No GT5 for me then

There are mixed reports out about it. Seems like it might only be for UK but not positive. It also appears you may still be able to play games online, but some sources also say you won't be able to (unless you were logged on before the maintenance started).

http://www.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/psn-maintenance-starts-this-thursday-at-9am-est-through-friday/


When GT5 servers are down on Tuesday's they often result in an update. Does this mean that the Tuesday GMT race is going to be affected or will the maintenance start later than that?

 

[RDAardvark]

I foolishly logged out as I was going to login as my GTP account and do the qualifier!

The PD servers are down from 3am to 4am on Tuesday morning, so that shouldn't affect our racing that evening.

 

[Naptown25rs]

Dropping into the lounge if anyone wants to test or run some short races...

 

[RDAardvark]

Dropping into the lounge if anyone wants to test or run some short races...

Aye, rub it in! No PSN until tomorrow for me.

Following up on Brandon's braking technique information, I found a block of high density packing foam in work. My wheel is a DFGT and the brake pedal has a reasonably deep well behind it. So I cut a piece off the foam which is probably 3/4" thick and put this as far down into the brake pedal well as I could. I now have a brake pedal which travels to about 25% with ease and then the resistance from the foam starts. It's so much easier to actually feel how much pressure you are applying and braking becomes much smoother. So much so that I was able to gold the 'Samba Bus at Top Gear Test Track' special event on my first attempt - This has always eluded me.

So thanks to Owens, Yuri and Brandon for sharing the info. Certainly seems to work in the limited testing I've done so far.

 

[OwensRacing]

Really love this group. Everyone shares tips and tricks that help them. In turn others give them a go and many benefit.

Great camaraderie!

 

[kebabs]

Aye, rub it in! No PSN until tomorrow for me.

Following up on Brandon's braking technique information, I found a block of high density packing foam in work. My wheel is a DFGT and the brake pedal has a reasonably deep well behind it. So I cut a piece off the foam which is probably 3/4" thick and put this as far down into the brake pedal well as I could. I now have a brake pedal which travels to about 25% with ease and then the resistance from the foam starts. It's so much easier to actually feel how much pressure you are applying and braking becomes much smoother. So much so that I was able to gold the 'Samba Bus at Top Gear Test Track' special event on my first attempt - This has always eluded me.

So thanks to Owens, Yuri and Brandon for sharing the info. Certainly seems to work in the limited testing I've done so far.

Steve,

I've heard of this but never had the initiative to try it (always heard people mentioning squash balls also )
Found some nice vids of some german guy actually gluing a cotton tip inside under the pedals to restrict travel. Again saved it on my phone, watch it every day, but never try it.

You may have just inspired me to jump right in. Well, back to work for me now (8.30am here) and dreaming about alfa practice later tonight

 

[OwensRacing]

DFGT guys. We have a second set of pedals. So if you screw something up. I can help.

 

[kebabs]

DFGT guys. We have a second set of pedals. So if you screw something up. I can help.

Do I sense happiness over a new purchase here?

 

[OwensRacing]

Do I sense happiness over a new purchase here?

Actually kinda sad moment. Dec 22ish my kids DFGT stopped working. First day of Christmas Break. So I had a lil extra cash left from Christmas shopping and grabbed a brand new one so the kids could play on their break. Which left us with two good pedal sets and one good wheel. LoL

 

[kebabs]

Just before christmas ?! That's unfortunate Owen.

Well at least there's a chance that mod's are in your future also (or a backup in the cupboard in case junior decides to use 110% pressure)

 

[RDAardvark]

Actually kinda sad moment. Dec 22ish my kids DFGT stopped working. First day of Christmas Break. So I had a lil extra cash left from Christmas shopping and grabbed a brand new one so the kids could play on their break. Which left us with two good pedal sets and one good wheel. LoL

You could really freak your kids out - Plug one set of pedals into the wheel and leave the ones they are using unplugged. Then you use the pedals while your son wonders why he's missing every braking point!

Used to do something similar in offices where two computers were back to back on the desks - Swap the mouse over and watch the expressions on the faces of the operators.

I know I'm going to Hull anyway....

 

[BrandonW77]

Steve,

I've heard of this but never had the initiative to try it (always heard people mentioning squash balls also )
Found some nice vids of some german guy actually gluing a cotton tip inside under the pedals to restrict travel. Again saved it on my phone, watch it every day, but never try it.

You may have just inspired me to jump right in. Well, back to work for me now (8.30am here) and dreaming about alfa practice later tonight

I did it when I had a DFGT and it really is nice. Still lacking compared to high end pedals but much more useable and responsive. You have to be careful to get the right kind of material. Squish balls very in size/density and if it's a little too big/stiff you won't be able to depress the pedal all the way. I recommend going to a craft store or fabric store and getting a chunk of high density foam. It's pretty cheap so make sure to get extra, you can cut it to fit but if you cut too much you want to have enough to start over. I was able to cram it all the way inside the base and it was barely even visible but worked great. A must-do mod for any DFGT driver. 👍