- 6,375
- Shropshire
- IfAndOr
Plus of course, since it's completely open topped, trying to hold onto your umbrella.
Daily, weekly and monthly rivals
- Thread starter Nacho Libre
- 750 comments
- 42,551 views
- 294
Today's Daily event is a Hot Lap at Bathurst in an Audi V8 quattro DTM. Fun car to throw around the mountain, for sure. You can really send it through many of the corners; just be careful not to get behind on your steering on the downhill run.
New Weekly event is a Pace Setter at Algarve in a Ferrari FXX K. I love Algarve, but I don't love the FXX, so this one was a bit of a toss-up. Driving the car is like wrestling a giant angry toddler.
New Weekly event is a Pace Setter at Algarve in a Ferrari FXX K. I love Algarve, but I don't love the FXX, so this one was a bit of a toss-up. Driving the car is like wrestling a giant angry toddler.
- 56
- United States
Great description of the Ferrari FXX K. I likened it to trying to hold on to a leash of a rabid dog who is chasing something down the street.
- 56
- United States
Is today our weekly dose of Breakout?
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at the GP layout of the Glen in a Porsche 911 GT1-98. Pretty ordinary LMP GT car, and drives quite well here; just watch the corner exiting the boot, as it's rather tight and slippery and you can easily go sliding into the tyres and invalidate your lap if you push your luck there.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Mugello in a Ferrari F355 Challenge. Lovely car to drive, solid as a rock and rotates perfectly with just a touch of trail braking.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Sonoma GP in a NASCAR Cup car (a week late!). This car's an unwieldy beast: weighs a ton and then some, has no grip to speak of, and gobs of wheelspin from that torquey V8 under the hood, so wrestling it around Sonoma is no easy task. (Incidentally, if you're wondering why it's the full track rather than the shorter "NASCAR" layout that skips the Carousel, NASCAR actually switched back to the classic full layout here as of a couple years ago, after using the shorter course since 1998.)
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at the Porsche Leipzig Dynamic layout in the KTM X-Bow R street version. No sharp chicanes on this layout, just esses and carousels, with a few tricky blind off-camber turns in the slower section. The nimble X-Bow is well-equipped to handle this track, though. The start can be a little tricky, as you're already flying into that first kink right as you're given control, so keep it under control there and time your acceleration properly exiting the first long carousel and you'll be well on your way towards a good lap time.
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at the Daytona oval in a Watson Roadster. Again, this one's a repeat from a couple months ago. Like before, this one's very tricky with a controller, as you have to be incredibly precise with your steering inputs to navigate the corners without either steering too much (and hitting the apron or breaking the rear loose) or too little (and drifting up into the wall).
- 294
Today's new Daily event is a Hot Lap at Silverstone GP in an Audi V8 quattro DTM. A little slow to be ideal for Silverstone, really. Don't let the understeer catch you out on some of those high-speed corners.
The new Weekly event is a Pace Setter at Nurburgring GP in a Porsche 919 Hybrid prototype. Definitely more of a challenge; this car is fast, especially when you punch the hybrid boost, and it gets more than a little tail-happy out of some of the turns here. It also turns very, very well, though (especially right after driving the quattro!); I drove off the inside of more than one corner on my first run because it changes directions so quickly even at high speeds that it caught me off guard. Once you get the feel for it, though, this thing *flies*! Just make sure you keep track of your lap count and dump all of your remaining boost right out of the last corner on the final lap so it doesn't go to waste. Otherwise, I think you get the most out of the boost in 5th-6th gear, where it really improves your acceleration and lets you reach ludicrous speed. You'll want to use some on a couple of the shorter straights as well, though, just to make sure you're getting the most out of it; no point in going into a braking zone with a full meter.
The new Weekly event is a Pace Setter at Nurburgring GP in a Porsche 919 Hybrid prototype. Definitely more of a challenge; this car is fast, especially when you punch the hybrid boost, and it gets more than a little tail-happy out of some of the turns here. It also turns very, very well, though (especially right after driving the quattro!); I drove off the inside of more than one corner on my first run because it changes directions so quickly even at high speeds that it caught me off guard. Once you get the feel for it, though, this thing *flies*! Just make sure you keep track of your lap count and dump all of your remaining boost right out of the last corner on the final lap so it doesn't go to waste. Otherwise, I think you get the most out of the boost in 5th-6th gear, where it really improves your acceleration and lets you reach ludicrous speed. You'll want to use some on a couple of the shorter straights as well, though, just to make sure you're getting the most out of it; no point in going into a braking zone with a full meter.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Monument Canyon River Run in a Ferrari F12tdf. An overpowered and tail-happy beast, but in a fun way, unlike some Ferraris (*cough* FXX *cough*)... 
It likes a late apex in most of the sharper corners to get the power down without sliding into the wall on exit, and be careful not to run wide out of that one slow left-right switchback and exceed the track limit. Otherwise it's just a fun tail-sliding romp around the dusty desert roads.
It likes a late apex in most of the sharper corners to get the power down without sliding into the wall on exit, and be careful not to run wide out of that one slow left-right switchback and exceed the track limit. Otherwise it's just a fun tail-sliding romp around the dusty desert roads.- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at Dubai National in a Zakspeed Ford Capri Group 5. This was a fun one; the Zakspeed Capri is definitely a handful. It has a natural tendency to understeer in general, but when you hit the top third of the RPM range the rear tyres will suddenly break loose and you're drifting sideways through the corner before you know it. Takes a lot of finesse to take advantage of that extra rotation to get through Dubai's varying-radius corners fast without either overdoing it and spinning or mistiming it and plowing straight ahead, and then when you do get it right, you've still got to apply just the right amount of counter-steering to keep it on the track. Don't get too greedy through the tight chicane complex in the middle; it's easy to exceed the track limits there and ruin your run.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Oulton Park International in an IMSA 300ZX Turbo. Easy enough car to drive, but Oulton Park's long layout is a tricky enough track to make it interesting.
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at Brands Hatch Indy in a Mercedes-AMG A 45 touring car, in the rain. This FWD car has some serious understeer under acceleration, especially on a slippery wet track, so you have to be careful in the tighter corners, especially Druids. A bit of trail braking can sometimes get you a little more rotation on entry, which can help. As usual, the puddles at Surtees and McLaren make it a bit tricky to find the right line; go too fast through Surtees and it'll put you right into the puddle on the inside of McLaren. While this car isn't quite as sensitive to standing water as some, the puddles will cost you some speed at least, and you can still go for a spin if you're not careful. Keep to the outside of Clark on laps 2 and 3 especially, as that puddle starts to get pretty large.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Laguna Seca in a Porsche 917/10 Can-Am. A fast and slippery car; just be smooth and control the wheelspin here. Brake early for the first turn, as you're going rather fast, and don't get too greedy in the Corkscrew, as the car has a tendency to stop turning if you try to carry too much speed through there. Also, be careful taking too much curb on corner exits; if your wide rear tyre gets in the dirt, you won't be able to escape and it'll suck you right off the track.
- 294
Today's Daily event is a Hot Lap at Not-Suzuka National in a Ferrari 488 Challenge. One of the more slippery spec Ferraris, but fun to drive. I'm not a huge fan of this track layout, though; just feels rather awkward for some reason.
The new Weekly event is a Hot Lap at the Indy road course in an Indycar. The Indycar is light and has plenty of downforce, so it stops a lot quicker than you'd expect; don't over-brake in the hard braking zones, and modulate the throttle to keep the rears from spinning on corner exit and you'll manage a fast lap easily enough. Unlike the real thing, your push-to-pass does recharge over time, so be sure to use it throughout the lap (though the AI will helpfully use up a bunch before the start, so you don't start with a full meter...).
The new Weekly event is a Hot Lap at the Indy road course in an Indycar. The Indycar is light and has plenty of downforce, so it stops a lot quicker than you'd expect; don't over-brake in the hard braking zones, and modulate the throttle to keep the rears from spinning on corner exit and you'll manage a fast lap easily enough. Unlike the real thing, your push-to-pass does recharge over time, so be sure to use it throughout the lap (though the AI will helpfully use up a bunch before the start, so you don't start with a full meter...).
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at Snetterton 200 in a Mercedes-AMG GT R, in the rain. Good news is that standing water doesn't bother this fat Merc much (though there are a couple mid-turn puddles that can still catch you out). Bad news is that the lack of grip just exacerbates the Merc's understeer in the faster corners and oversteer and lack of forward bite out of the slower ones, so take it easy. Watch out for the exit of turn one in particular, as it tightens up there and it's easy to understeer straight off if you're going too fast, especially on later laps. The last long right-hand sweeper before the 90-degree left-hand corner onto the main straight can be tricky as well; don't push too hard and end up understeering out of the proper entry angle for the last corner's entry or you'll kill your speed on the long frontstretch.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Zolder in an Acura NSX GT3. Finding the right line through the chicanes without exceeding track limits or getting the car too unsettled on the curbs is the key to a good lap. Watch the wheelspin exiting the slower corners, as well.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Barcelona in a Formula X...in the dry, for once! This car is as fast as it gets. Don't be afraid to push it hard; it can take those corners a lot faster than you'd think. Just watch the wheelspin and curbs on the slower ones; if you get the rear tyres spinning, you'll lose a lot of time. Don't forget to use your KERS as well; Barcelona doesn't have a lot of straights and the ones here go by pretty fast at 300+km/h, so you'll want to be on the button pretty much whenever you have the opportunity.
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at Tuscany Salketti Vineyards in a Radical SR3-RS prototype. A lovely car, nice and light and handles beautifully. As always at Tuscany, it's the track limits that will get you; more than two wheels on the hard shoulder is a no-no, and that's very easy to do on some of the fast off-camber corners and esses here. Your attempts go by really fast, so maybe try some offline practice first to get an idea of how hard you can push it in each section.
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at Donington Park GP in a Ford Mustang Cobra TransAm. Quite nimble for a Mustang-based race car, but it has plenty of wheelspin to contend with, especially out of the slow corners like the final two hairpins.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Zuhai in an Aston Martin Vulcan AMR. Nothing too difficult; just be smooth and control the wheelspin in the tight corners. A little trail braking can help to rotate the car around some of those hairpins, but too much will slide the rears and cost you some speed.
- 294
New month starts today!
Daily is a Hot Lap at Imola in a Porsche Cayman GT4. Nothing unusual, just a typical GT4 car; be smooth and hit your marks. Brake a bit early for the first corner, though, as you're coming in a bit hot.
Weekly is a Hot Lap at Zolder in a BMW M6 GT3. Again, a pretty standard GT car, though it does have more understeer than you might expect from a Bimmer, so don't miss those apexes. It doesn't mind taking a bit of curb, so you can be brave through the chicanes to shave off a few tenths.
The new Monthly event is a Pace Setter at Silverstone GP in an LMP GT car of your choice. Plenty of competitive options here to play with. Don't be afraid to push hard; these cars have plenty of grip and can zip through the curves here faster than you might expect.
Daily is a Hot Lap at Imola in a Porsche Cayman GT4. Nothing unusual, just a typical GT4 car; be smooth and hit your marks. Brake a bit early for the first corner, though, as you're coming in a bit hot.
Weekly is a Hot Lap at Zolder in a BMW M6 GT3. Again, a pretty standard GT car, though it does have more understeer than you might expect from a Bimmer, so don't miss those apexes. It doesn't mind taking a bit of curb, so you can be brave through the chicanes to shave off a few tenths.
The new Monthly event is a Pace Setter at Silverstone GP in an LMP GT car of your choice. Plenty of competitive options here to play with. Don't be afraid to push hard; these cars have plenty of grip and can zip through the curves here faster than you might expect.
- 294
Today is a loooong Pace Setter at Bannochbrae in a Pagini Huarya BC. This car isn't particularly well-suited for the bumpy Scottish roads, so it's a bit of a handful in some spots, especially those sharp crests on a couple of the long stretches; slow down a bit for those or you might find yourself taking flight straight into the barriers.
- 2,757
- Mexico
I had to put down the controller on this one because the car is trash and it's not just the bumps, I got no feeling of usable grip/downforce and the car is slow to react. Dissapointing and a DNF.
- 294
Definitely wasn't the best car. I managed a couple clean runs, the best of which was a paltry 2:13.2xx, so eh. It did require a light touch, as it was hard to tell where the line was between the car doing what you wanted it to do and just going off and doing its own thing. Some mad folks were running 2:06s and 2:07s on PC, though.
Today is a Hot Lap at Oulton Park Island in the Group A R32 Skyline, in the rain. Standing water doesn't really bother the Skyline, though it can still be a bit slippery and cost you some momentum. Mostly it's just coping with the overall lack of grip and timing your slides through the corners just right to avoid either overshooting the exit or bogging down at the apex. Pretty fun run, really.
- 294
Today is a Hot Lap at Brands Hatch GP in a McLaren P1™ GTR. This car is...something else. McLaren have managed to make a car that suffers from understeer and oversteer at the same time, which might have something to do with their decision to eliminate the car's suspension entirely and just bolt the wheels directly onto the frame. (Seriously, this thing is apparently tuned for some butter-smooth test track and it does not play well with the bumpy Brands Hatch at all...) I guess the one positive is that it actually feels like you've accomplished something when you finally manage to wrestle it down to a sub-1:22 lap time.
- 2,757
- Mexico
Agreed, the understeer most of all kills all the joy from the track.
- 294
Today is a Pace Setter at Dubai in a Ligier JS P2. Fast little prototype with plenty of downforce, so it's just about finding the fastest lines through Dubai's complex corners (and doing so consistently for three laps).
