B-spec "special" drivers

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Kojak1970

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So I'm seeing that some of the cars that would be useful to me in A-Spec are prizes from winning B-Spec races.

I'd tried B-Spec out a little, gotten to level 6 and was in some of the Amateur races. Also managed to get the Ford SVT 150 out of the used car lot so I could do the Sport Truck Challenge. Upgraded it a bit so it had plenty of power, about 100 horses more than the competition, so on Laguna and Daytona, I had no problem smoking the other trucks in A-Spec.

Now trying to do them in B-Spec, and it's like Bob had a frontal lobotomy, and he's driving like an idiot, letting other trucks pass him no matter how many times I tell him to pace the hell up! Randomly hitting the brakes, even braking before the start/finish line in Daytona. Maintaining a pace about 20-30 mph slower than what the truck can actually do (on Daytona, I keep it floored the entire time, generally running between 150-160 mph while Bob keeps a pace of 120-140).

Tried looking at the joke of a manual included in the game. Just told me the obvious selections in the menus, not any detailed information about cars, drivers, courses, setting up a car, or any of the almost infinite information PD could have supplied with the game.

What am I missing? Why are my drivers so dumb? Is there some way to rank them up so they drive better? Am I completely missing a comprehensive B-Spec guide on the site? Any help is appreciated...
 
He will be driving like an idiot until lv20 at least. For this particular race, and the one with historical cars, don't bother now ; come back when your Bob is 20+ and he'll win 1st time 👍
 
I sure hope so. Just got to level 8, and entered the Classic Muscle Car championship, 'cause I could really use the Shelby Cobra in A-Spec.

I've got a Chevy Chevelle '70 with 574 hp, which is about 130 hp more than the highest in the typical opponents list. Goaded him to pick up the pace from the moment the race starts, and watch while he initially falls back to 7th, then works his way up to 3rd. Then my jaw hits the floor when he goes into a turn that's two 90's (sorry, not familiar enough with the track to tell you exactly where), loses control and goes wide into the sand, but ends up aimed back at the track, then SITS THERE while every single car goes past him, then pulls back out on the track. I'm sure the race is done by now, and if he didn't finish in last place, I will truly be surprised.

So basically what I have to do is stay in the beginner courses (where he does seem capable of winning) until I am high enough level to get into the Pro or Expert races, then he'll have a fighting chance of winning in the Amateur races? I can't just have Bob ride next to me while I do the courses in A-spec so he's not quite a dunce? Sounds like a great mode of the game to me. :grumpy:
 
Kojak1970
So I'm seeing that some of the cars that would be useful to me in A-Spec are prizes from winning B-Spec races.

I'd tried B-Spec out a little, gotten to level 6 and was in some of the Amateur races. Also managed to get the Ford SVT 150 out of the used car lot so I could do the Sport Truck Challenge. Upgraded it a bit so it had plenty of power, about 100 horses more than the competition, so on Laguna and Daytona, I had no problem smoking the other trucks in A-Spec.

Now trying to do them in B-Spec, and it's like Bob had a frontal lobotomy, and he's driving like an idiot, letting other trucks pass him no matter how many times I tell him to pace the hell up! Randomly hitting the brakes, even braking before the start/finish line in Daytona. Maintaining a pace about 20-30 mph slower than what the truck can actually do (on Daytona, I keep it floored the entire time, generally running between 150-160 mph while Bob keeps a pace of 120-140).

Tried looking at the joke of a manual included in the game. Just told me the obvious selections in the menus, not any detailed information about cars, drivers, courses, setting up a car, or any of the almost infinite information PD could have supplied with the game.

What am I missing? Why are my drivers so dumb? Is there some way to rank them up so they drive better? Am I completely missing a comprehensive B-Spec guide on the site? Any help is appreciated...
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I just did the truck challenge and I've just turned level 8. He did the same thing as your driver, brake but the difference is my B-Spec driver name is Senna and he won the race in the end.
 
If you think b-spec bob is painful now, wait until you get him in the x1! It's like he is blind, seriously he can't overtake anything without smashing full speed into the back of it first.
 
sidsid118
If you think b-spec bob is painful now, wait until you get him in the x1! It's like he is blind, seriously he can't overtake anything without smashing full speed into the back of it first.
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I was impressed with my B-Spec driver driving the 787B Stealth car around Tokyo Route 246. He drove the wheels of that thing when I was at level 6. He was driving right up close to walls carrying loads of entry speed. I was amazed. That was after he passed the cars though. I wonder if he drives the X1 fast in clear air?
 
Well, if i had to start again the B-spec mode (:scared:), this is what i would do :

. When possible, always give your driver an overpowered car that handles well : not too heavy, well balanced and with a lot of grip.
. Don't spend time on tight races : you'll be able to come back later whith a high level Bob, this will save you a lot of time and frustration.
. Always go with the highest event available, it gives you more XP and you will progress faster. Restarting those races will make you progress faster than completing the whole series.
. Never forget to put the best tyres allowed for a particular race, it'll make a world of difference.
 
saidur_ali
I was impressed with my B-Spec driver driving the 787B Stealth car around Tokyo Route 246. He drove the wheels of that thing when I was at level 6. He was driving right up close to walls carrying loads of entry speed. I was amazed. That was after he passed the cars though. I wonder if he drives the X1 fast in clear air?
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He is the stig when in clean air. He then becomes Hans moleman when coming up to another car.
 
Kojak1970
Now trying to do them in B-Spec, and it's like Bob had a frontal lobotomy, and he's driving like an idiot, letting other trucks pass him no matter how many times I tell him to pace the hell up! Randomly hitting the brakes, even braking before the start/finish line in Daytona. Maintaining a pace about 20-30 mph slower than what the truck can actually do (on Daytona, I keep it floored the entire time, generally running between 150-160 mph while Bob keeps a pace of 120-140).

Tried looking at the joke of a manual included in the game. Just told me the obvious selections in the menus, not any detailed information about cars, drivers, courses, setting up a car, or any of the almost infinite information PD could have supplied with the game.

What am I missing? Why are my drivers so dumb? Is there some way to rank them up so they drive better? Am I completely missing a comprehensive B-Spec guide on the site? Any help is appreciated...
Click to expand...

That's part of your problem. If you are constantly telling him to pace up then his mental bar is going to be constantly in the red and he will drive like complete trash. If you were trying to race with me constantly shouting in your ear "GO FASTER!!! GO FASTER!!! GO FASTER!!!" you wouldn't be doing very well either ;)

Level him up a little more so he can run the race without you having to keep telling him to pace up and he will do much better.
 
DaveS1138
That's part of your problem. If you are constantly telling him to pace up then his mental bar is going to be constantly in the red and he will drive like complete trash. If you were trying to race with me constantly shouting in your ear "GO FASTER!!! GO FASTER!!! GO FASTER!!!" you wouldn't be doing very well either ;)

Level him up a little more so he can run the race without you having to keep telling him to pace up and he will do much better.
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I agree that's where the OP is going wrong but if you have a very cool driver personality, as you level up he can drive in the red a lot better than before. I'm only at level 8, but he can drive in the red all the way until he overtakes the opponent without going off track. Then I let him cool down in his own time, so he builds enough of a gap between the 2nd place driver and he eventually goes all the way down to blue without me telling him to pace down.

On a side note you should correct the spelling of "lose" on your sig. I personally would rather win a 4hr Enduro by any amount of time than lose.
 
thats what i´m always say, the whole B-spec modus is a bug from PD....
 
Watching some b-spec races last night, I came to a conclusion:

When in the lead, B-Spec Bobs actually slow down on purpose so the cars behind can catch up to him. There is simply no reason for my driver to be 6 or 7 seconds ahead then just reduce his pace, unless of course the game is programmed to make these races more tense and 'exciting' for us as we watch on. A 0.5 second win is more exciting that a 10 second win, after all.

B-spec is the worst mode of any racing game ever created.

It's as if Kaz thinks we are all stupid and won't notice.
 
saidur_ali
On a side note you should correct the spelling of "lose" on your sig. I personally would rather win a 4hr Enduro by any amount of time than lose.
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Thank you. I can't believe how long that's been spelt wrong without me noticing :sick:

It's more a coment on close races being far more interesting for me personally. 4 hours of incredibly close racing that you loose by 10 seconds is so much more fun than taking an overpowered car and winning by 10 laps. Sure, you have to repeat the race again, but you had so much more fun than going for the easy win.

Just my opinion.
 
I had this exact same problem myself on the same series.

Originally I had my "cool" level-9 Bob racing who was determined not to overtake anyone and stick behind them. Angry, I went and hired a new "hot" Bob, who at level-2 beat the competition with seconds to spare. He was much less hesitant to overtake and drove out of his mind on the tight Laguna Seca track.

I'd recommend giving a "hotter" driver a go.
 
RikkiGT-R
Watching some b-spec races last night, I came to a conclusion:

When in the lead, B-Spec Bobs actually slow down on purpose so the cars behind can catch up to him. There is simply no reason for my driver to be 6 or 7 seconds ahead then just reduce his pace, unless of course the game is programmed to make these races more tense and 'exciting' for us as we watch on. A 0.5 second win is more exciting that a 10 second win, after all.

B-spec is the worst mode of any racing game ever created.

It's as if Kaz thinks we are all stupid and won't notice.
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The reason why he slows down is due to getting too cool. You should keep him just below the red zone, close to 50/50 and he will keep a relatively decent pace and mistake free. I wonder if B-Spec Signature edition competition will be about making your B-Spec driver do a hotlap on say Nurburgring with an SLS AMG.

The way I see the B-Spec drivers is they are like Vettel. Fast in clean air with superior machinery but get troubled in overtaking slower cars often resulting into crashes. Joking aside I am impressed with my B-Spec driver, he can overtake well and drive fast cars relatively fast.
 
DaveS1138
Thank you. I can't believe how long that's been spelt wrong without me noticing :sick:

It's more a coment on close races being far more interesting for me personally. 4 hours of incredibly close racing that you loose by 10 seconds is so much more fun than taking an overpowered car and winning by 10 laps. Sure, you have to repeat the race again, but you had so much more fun than going for the easy win.

Just my opinion.
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I disagree on the losing part though. Losing against the AI drivers would not be fun for me no matter how close the race. However if it was an online race with fast players then, yeah it would be more fun as if you lost against the faster driver, then there is less shame in that.

I get your point about winning by a large margin though, winning by a few tenths feels more rewarding than winning by 5 laps unless in the same machinery.
 
I had trouble with the SVT at Daytona as well. I did some looking around on the internet for suspension setups. I found that if you make the truck a bit more "floaty" as far as suspension goes, the truck will build up traction and be easier to control on high speed tracks. After my bob coming in at a steady 9th or 10th place every time before the suspension change (lowered the truck quite a bit as well) he edged out a first place victory by about .250 seconds.
 
sidsid118
If you think b-spec bob is painful now, wait until you get him in the x1! It's like he is blind, seriously he can't overtake anything without smashing full speed into the back of it first.
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I've never had one issue at all. I don't even monitor the game even. I start the endurance races and turn the tv off. All 6 of my drivers rail the X1 around the track. Far better then I can do. I try it and I'm into the wall, off the track, etc.
 
Ok so my B-spec driver is called F.Krueger (Freddy) and he smoked all the tracks with the exception of the oval tracks. He would brake for no reason at all, so to overcome his lack of skill I went to the brake balance controller and set it to 0/1. Essentially I cut his brake lines and viola problem solved! Needless to say he took first place.
 
sidsid118
If you think b-spec bob is painful now, wait until you get him in the x1! It's like he is blind, seriously he can't overtake anything without smashing full speed into the back of it first.
Click to expand...

My B spec guys do that all the time in all the cars (I don't have an X1 yet) - they get set up for a pass,but then run into the back of the guy instead. Their other favorite move is to be overtaking the guy, but then let off the gas. One of my idiots did that on the straightaway - 4 laps in a row - last night. After a dozen "overtake" suggestions he finally passed the guy. I've had guys in race cars get stuck behind a minivan for half a lap :indiff:
 
So true with Bob in the X1. REALLY slows him down in endurance races. His 2nd or third lap will be his fastest, then he'll never get close to it again because the cars spread out and he spends half the lap acting like he's stuck in traffic when he slams on the brakes (or just rear ends the guy) to drop 80+ MPH instantly, then slowly and timidly starts to peek out from behind to see if there's enough room on the Indianapolis Speedway to pass a single car. Then it turns into what was posted above. You KNOW when you're in the X1, that passing a car, even a Super GT, the car should be left looking parked, but for some reason Bob likes to pass really slowly. I don't think Bob improves with his level, so much as he just becomes less catastrophic and awful.

What's worse is the famous Gran Turismo car weight physics still apply, wherein other cars act as though they weigh several times as much as yours, so touching them or them touching you can easily send you into a spinout as they carry on unphased. 6 more levels and I can be done with B Spec for good.....
 
Best (worst) that has happened to me so far is in Like the Wind Indy in the Minolta Bob (21st lvl) is mixing it up with 4 other cars in the lead pack for about 10 laps. Coming to 5 to go he's in the lead with the other 4 dicing behind him. The pack comes up on a lap car that's about 30mph slower than they are. So what does Bob do? He drives straight into the back of the lap car on the front straight. The other 4 cars easily dodge him and the lap car, leaving him in the dust. He then proceeds to stay behind the lap car for the rest of the race, hitting him 5 or 6 times a lap but never trying to pass. Meanwhile, 5 more cars that were running half a lap behind him catch him and pass him.
 
This one and the American race in extreme seem to be the hardest for them. I found that the custom tranny is the most important part for the truck. I had my lightning fully worked with regular trans and he was struggling. I still don't have an answer for Indy extreme though. And this is the same guy that lapped the field in the formula races.
 
I think PD should offer free Anger Management courses with purchase of GT5 simply because of B-Spec LOL. My idiots do exactly as most of you complain about. Two of My main idiots are also is at lvl 29-31 respectively and still do the ramming from behind, timid passing, pitting on last lap with a 5 sec lead and the finish line two corners away (dude it wasn't safe to be a controller for like 10 secs after seeing that lol) still brakes on Daytona, like the duffus he is, around the starting line. They do get a bit more aggressive the higher they get but the essential idiocy still remains and it will cost you races as a result.

The hotter drivers tend to be better at overtaking but they all stink to some degree even when high lvl. I can't understand the politeness in passing a car on the straight and then alowing them to pass you easily in the turns. They need to improve B-Spec badly. It's poorly programed and far from realistic which is what tis game is striving for.

In real life you would fire a driver with these ignorant, infuriating tendencies but in GT5 all of the drivers suffer from idiocy so overall no matter the type you choose you are getting a bumbling idiot. They don't learn well either. Lap after lap they keep overshootong the turn and hitting the grass and going sideways. My bumbling Mr. Beans have been doing that since they were lvl1 and haven't remembered that corner even at lvl 29-31 after running on Tsukuba hundreds of times now.
 
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Thanks for the reply you guys! Definately takes some of the sting out of it knowing my special needs driver isn't the only one of his kind out there!

Had my cousin who is also in cars and the GT series over to check out GT5. Showed him a bunch of stuff, then demonstrated the stupidity of Bob by winning the Sport Truck challenge in A-Spec by about 10 seconds with my overpowered Ford SVT 150 then demonstrating the same race in B-Spec.

Much to my surprise Bob actually took the lead in lap 2, but promptly lost it with idiotic braking into the corners, including the slight left hand jag at the finish line, not to mention the piss poor racing lines, and complete inability to pass, even when told to overtake repeatedly. He ended up in 11th place. Sad, really when he should have won by almost 20 seconds, as compared to my driving in A-Spec. Seriously though, it would be nice if some of the experience you earn in A-Spec was given to your drivers so they didn't stink so bad except in Beginner mode. Or have a better way of improving their skill than letting them lose races almost indefinitely. Also the driver creation process is basically a joke.

One of my biggest complaints about B-Spec is the lack of information available. Probably someone has posted a good overview somewhere on the Internet, but looking at the in-game manual is a complete waste of time.
 
Finally completed my B spec "Like the Wind" for the Toyota 7. So, Lv 21 and the dreaded NASCAR... and/or some "grinding". At least that ought to be easier for now.

Initially went Cool Character but now only have my best cool driver P Newman (Class 19). I now have four hot drivers (can take a while to get decent names!!) in the shape of F Alonso, G Berger, R Hammond and K Yamauchi. No race losses between the five of them with lowest at Class 6 I think!

Berger nearly got sacked for trashing my R8 5.2 at Madrid but has yet to lose a race so is on "Probation"!
 
sidsid118
If you think b-spec bob is painful now, wait until you get him in the x1! It's like he is blind, seriously he can't overtake anything without smashing full speed into the back of it first.
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Can't wait!!!
 
My Bob is level 16 and he drives like a champ.

Has done for the last 3-4 levels now as well, only have to give him the occasional hurry up and he is good to go. Has no worries winning anything these days.
 
^^ Can I hire your Bob? I have gotten 3 Bobs over lvl 30 and the all still go off track, ignore my overtake requests, scared to pass in turns and actually very gentlemanly in allowing cars he's passed on the straight to then pass him back in the turns. I have both hot and cold and s few mediums.

They are better than before but still woe full in anything less than totally overpowering car. PD fix B Spec stat please. It is a very fun part of GT series IMHO.
 
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