Here's what I got:
1st lap - 2:32.608
And I thought my lawnmower was hard to start. It takes about 5 seconds to move one car length. And the 500R ain't no limo. Well, the warm-up lap was no shock, my first car was a 500R, so I'm used to the 20+ second gap between the 1st and 2nd laps. Basically, I'm finding out where you have to lift (which isn't in too many places for "fast" times).
2nd lap - 2:08.065
I'm getting up to 59mph at the end of this lap. Even though I feel I'm going downhill going into the first hairpin, I'm actaully losing speed. The 500R suffers like an asthmatic in a marathon, and gathers speed like a 30-year Treasury Bill gathers interest. I down shifted on the steep grade run-up after the 270-degree turn, the speeds were dipping below 37, where a 3rd-gear upshift basically puts the car in hibernation for the winter.
3rd lap - 2:08.866
We're up to 60 at the end (well, 13/16 of the straight) before taking the hairpin too slowly than before. What is it about this straight...you're going downhill, yet you loose speed? Is a black hole forming at the Autumn Ring? Do the laws of physics on the straight get bent into a cataclysm that only Stephen Hawking can understand? And what's with that mountainous "sea stack" in the background? It doesn't look like it blongs on this wierdo track that should have been included in GT3. Oh, sorry...I'm hoping to make as little tire squeal as possible as to make up some time on this lap. In the end, taking the "TwoSeventy" in 3rd gear helped me down the next spot. However, I lost too much, and didn't beat the previous lap.
4th lap - 2:06.832 - BEST LAP
A good run-up from the previous lap means...61mph at the theoretic formation of a Black Hole in our beloved Autumn Ring. Hot damn! Pass me a body roll, I'm taking the hairpin in 3rd, and exiting at about 39mph, just enough to put the Hoover-upright-sounding-twin-cylinder-derby-hat in the sweet spot to grab 3rd gear. I'm straightening the cruvy bits as effortlessly as any car; mainly because you have a virtual eternity to plan each corner when you're only going 50 or so. I take the other hairpin in 2nd, and get a nice exit, taking the "TwoSeventy" strong in 3rd and never letting up, nearly losing all the previous momentum as I resist the temptation to downshift into 2nd when dropping to 40 thanks to the laws of gravity.
5th lap - 2:07.259
A shimmy from all the hard cornering (actually I forget GT2 cars are much harder to point in a straight line compared to GT3) means no better than 61 again, and hitting up the hairpin just as before. But as I approach the 2nd hairpin, I try to muster the courage to throw it into the corner in 3rd gear...but to no avail. I hit the kerb wildly, and lose the back end...reducing me to a slow, low-revving 2nd-gear exit. Blah. I make up what I can, but I can't beat my previous time.
Conclusions:
The 500R was my first car, and always has a place in my heart. Imagine if you will, beginning an actual game if GT2 with this as your starter car. See you in a week. Note the Compact Car Event logo; it sure looks like a 500R. The Fiat 500R better be in GT4...although it won't be my first car (hopefully the Honda Accord "Aerodeck" will be available as a first car, in silver).
that was harsh.
True, it is a waste of 2 hours.
