- 24,292
- Midlantic Area
- GTP_Duke
Tonight I started this series, originally using a stock Denso Supra (making an effort to use a lot of cars I've never driven before) on T3 tires. I'm mad that GT3 doesn't show the AI horsepower numbers, because all the JGTC cars had a big acceleration advantage over me, including the other Denso Supra. I know from their pit schedule that they must be running T2s, so it is not just a traction advantage. I was preparing to buy some turbo pieces for the Supra when I decided to give them a taste of American beef instead.
So I went back to the garage and hopped into the Team Oreca Viper (also a new experience for me), bought it some marvel mystery oil, T2s, and T3s, then headed for Grand Valley. Other than that it is stock at 618 hp. I'll be posting these in series as I wrap them up.
Grand Valley Raceway - 15 laps
All settings at default, except brake balance at 13/13, ASM at 0, and TCS at 1.
I started from 6th with no qualifying and no idea how the car would compare to the field. On paper it has more power than the stock JGTCs, but we all know that the game gives the Japanese cars more than the specs say they have. So I was not surprised to see that even with a good launch and TCS at 1, the big Viper doesn't really have an acceleration advantage at all. It is almost even with the pack cars, though the Arta NSX and the Denso Supra can walk away from it, and the GTS-Rs have a big top-speed advantage. I should note that the stock gearing appears to be a bit tall, since I never reached 6th gear.
However, one thing the race Viper does have is excellent brakes. I am able to brake deeper and more stably than most of the cars. It also offers very balanced, grippy cornering that is relatively easy to modulate with light throttle adjustments, and sharp rotation that can be called up with a stab of the throttle. These two strengths let me keep inside the pack on the first turn, exiting in 3rd place behind the Arta and Denso cars. Over the next 4 or 5 laps I mixed it up with the Raybrig NSX, who could corner almost as well as I but was slightly faster on the straights. The Pennzoil and Loctite GTS-Rs kept life interesting, with lousy cornering but tons of speed on the straights, which made my duel with the Raybrig rather like a fencing match where bystanders would randomly whack me with a long pole. What people see in those things I will never understand. At one point I got shoved hard into the barrier at the entrance to the first tunnel, falling to 5th place before I could back the car off and get going. I managed to stay in 3rd most of the time, but my tires were getting a bit well done, and I had fallen 6 or 7 seconds behind the lead. As traction started to fade, I pitted just past the halfway mark at the end of lap 8, with the tires an even reddish orange.
No one else had pitted yet, so I left the Pits in last place, about 28 seconds down. I set about warming the tires up and reeling the field in. I had worked my way to within a 3-4 seconds of the back markers when the whole field except the 5th place Loctite GTS-R pitted at the end of lap 11, putting him in 1st place and me in 2nd. The rest of the field came out of the pits about 3-4 seconds behind me, trailing the Arta NSX. I was able to widen that lead to about 5.xxx seconds before their tires warmed up. I passed the Loctite Skyline for the lead early in lap 13, after which he pitted, falling into last place. As the Arta's new tires came online he began to close in, but never really challenged me during the last few laps.
Margin: +2.740" Arta NSX
Total time: 28':13.037"
Fast lap: 1':48.636"
Average: 1':52.869" with pit on lap 8
So I went back to the garage and hopped into the Team Oreca Viper (also a new experience for me), bought it some marvel mystery oil, T2s, and T3s, then headed for Grand Valley. Other than that it is stock at 618 hp. I'll be posting these in series as I wrap them up.
Grand Valley Raceway - 15 laps
All settings at default, except brake balance at 13/13, ASM at 0, and TCS at 1.
I started from 6th with no qualifying and no idea how the car would compare to the field. On paper it has more power than the stock JGTCs, but we all know that the game gives the Japanese cars more than the specs say they have. So I was not surprised to see that even with a good launch and TCS at 1, the big Viper doesn't really have an acceleration advantage at all. It is almost even with the pack cars, though the Arta NSX and the Denso Supra can walk away from it, and the GTS-Rs have a big top-speed advantage. I should note that the stock gearing appears to be a bit tall, since I never reached 6th gear.
However, one thing the race Viper does have is excellent brakes. I am able to brake deeper and more stably than most of the cars. It also offers very balanced, grippy cornering that is relatively easy to modulate with light throttle adjustments, and sharp rotation that can be called up with a stab of the throttle. These two strengths let me keep inside the pack on the first turn, exiting in 3rd place behind the Arta and Denso cars. Over the next 4 or 5 laps I mixed it up with the Raybrig NSX, who could corner almost as well as I but was slightly faster on the straights. The Pennzoil and Loctite GTS-Rs kept life interesting, with lousy cornering but tons of speed on the straights, which made my duel with the Raybrig rather like a fencing match where bystanders would randomly whack me with a long pole. What people see in those things I will never understand. At one point I got shoved hard into the barrier at the entrance to the first tunnel, falling to 5th place before I could back the car off and get going. I managed to stay in 3rd most of the time, but my tires were getting a bit well done, and I had fallen 6 or 7 seconds behind the lead. As traction started to fade, I pitted just past the halfway mark at the end of lap 8, with the tires an even reddish orange.
No one else had pitted yet, so I left the Pits in last place, about 28 seconds down. I set about warming the tires up and reeling the field in. I had worked my way to within a 3-4 seconds of the back markers when the whole field except the 5th place Loctite GTS-R pitted at the end of lap 11, putting him in 1st place and me in 2nd. The rest of the field came out of the pits about 3-4 seconds behind me, trailing the Arta NSX. I was able to widen that lead to about 5.xxx seconds before their tires warmed up. I passed the Loctite Skyline for the lead early in lap 13, after which he pitted, falling into last place. As the Arta's new tires came online he began to close in, but never really challenged me during the last few laps.
Margin: +2.740" Arta NSX
Total time: 28':13.037"
Fast lap: 1':48.636"
Average: 1':52.869" with pit on lap 8
GREAT Write-Up, keep 'em comin'...UB57
) Polyphony001 (F094/S for NTSC users, I believe) and have been pulling in rather nice times, ie 26secs at SS, but I got to the Test Course and in qualifying, found out rigth away that my bad oil caused a humumgo loss of power. So I dropped the downforce as low as it would go, used manual and left it on 5th gear (6th drops speed) for the entire qualifying, and found myself in 1st by over a second. So there ya go, the simplest things can make all the difference.
You probably mean SSR11. *there's only a Tokyo in Tokyo R246
*
LIke you described, there were some unexpected surprises with the AI, which generally drove really well (except at GVII...what the hell happened there?)
