Do I need a new car or more skill?

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Rich

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I'm a newbie to GT3, doing the Beginner League. I haven't bought any cars, (except to start) but I'm struggling now. I've won about 6 or 3 cups, (Sunday, Clubman, Turbo, 80's, Lightwiegt, etc)I've tuned my RX7 to about 330 BHP so its fast and I'm trying to do the GT World Championship. I've won races 1 and 2 which are the Route 246 and Super Speedway, but get nowhere on the later courses. I can't get within about 3 seconds of pole on Trial Mountain.

The car has good speed but doesn't seem to handle well.

I currently have around 80,000.

Therefore, my question is: if I buy a new car, i.e. NSX, Skyline, etc - something in the 50K - 100K range, it may well have less power than the tuned RX7 at first, but will it handle better? Out and out HP isn't an issue as you can easily get more of that, its the handling issue that seems to be the problem for me.

Or, do I simply need to drive better in the first place?

Car setup obviously has implications too. Maybe I should spend my money on upgrading everything possible on the RX7?

I know theres other threads on what car to buy, but are there any real differences bewteen the cars in the 50k to 100k price range?
 
Darin
Which RX-7 is it? The Savanna or the TypeRS or TypeRZ?
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That's what I was gonna ask.
If it's one of the late model RX-7's you should be kicking butt over most of the races at 330 HP.
The earlier 7 gets squirrelly at that level unless it has some suspension tweaking.
 
Gil
That's what I was gonna ask.
If it's one of the late model RX-7's you should be kicking butt over most of the races at 330 HP.
The earlier 7 gets squirrelly at that level unless it has some suspension tweaking.
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I was gonna say the same thing.. The RX7s should, with a little tweaking, be able to handle 330Bhp just fine...

(The handling with a 787B engine under the bonnet is a completely different matter though :crazy: )
 
Gil
That's what I was gonna ask.
If it's one of the late model RX-7's you should be kicking butt over most of the races at 330 HP.
The earlier 7 gets squirrelly at that level unless it has some suspension tweaking.
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The Savanna tries to powerslide alot. I took care of that by putting alot of TCS on it. But it also had 400hp and it got me through all of the beginner races it could enter, and a few of the Amateur. The car is great.
 
Hi, Rich, and welcome to both GTPlanet and GT3.

I'm assuming since you say you haven't bought any cars besides your first one, that you are driving the 2nd-gen RX-7 Savannah you won from one of the series. It's a decent car and I like driving it. I think it will do what you want, but we need more info on what you've already done to it.

My first upgrade for any car is tires. I never put anything less than T2 Super Slicks on the car. I usually don't go any softer than T5s, because in later races when tire wear is counted, they do no last long enough.

If you already have racing tires on the car, the next place to go is suspension. I almost always go for the full race suspension, since it has the most adjustability. ///M-Spec wrote a great series at the top of the Settings board which will help you get started in adjusting the car (if you need advice). You can make up a lot of time if you maintain momentum through the turns rather than using power to buy speed on the straights. You will also learn how to drive better that way.

If you've done tires and suspension, the next thing to do is racing transmission. The stock gearing on many cars is lousy - too tall, and with oddly spaced gears. The racing transmission allows you to shorten the gearing for better acceleration and tighten the ratios for more even coverage. Often it is not a lack of power that slows a car down, but lack of gearing to use it properly.

After I've tried all those things, and it's still not getting there, then I add more power.

Another thing you can do is buy the weight reduction. This really does help a lot, but it is not reversible, and it will make the car not eligible for the Polyphony Digital Cup or the Trial Mountain Enduro (both of which call for stock cars).

Hope this helps. Two other tips I wish I had known about at the start of my game:

1) Changing the oil before you drive a car will add 5% to the horsepower for only 250 credits.

2) Search for "save and reload" and you will learn how to respin the prize wheel on series races until you get the car you want, without re-running the series.
 
Just my opinion here, but any rx7 can take the competition with the right parts.

At 330hp in an old rx7 I would just say to get your weight down, get brakes and a full custom suspension, maybe even a custom transmission too.

That would put you in the sort of car that could handle its way through the right lines more consistantly.

Combine all that with the right tires and you will have no trouble. Hopefully. ;)

Good luck. :D

Oh yeah, listen closely to neon_duke,
And to add to his help... never sell a prize car.
Trust me, the day will come where you want it again. :ouch: :dunce: :sly:
 
Welcome to the planet unimportant person who's name eludes me. The first thing you can do is to listen closely to what the others here are telling you, but I think I have something to add.
I think that right now you need to drop all thoughts of having more HP, all that does is make the car go faster in a straight line. What you need is better driving skills, I suggest that you go back to the license tests and get all the licenses, don't bother with golding them just pass them. I find that after getting up to the S license anyone will have enough driving skill to get them started. And remember, power is nothing without controll.
 
Suspension tweaking, weight reduction, tranny tweaking - those are the three things you need. You will be up against rally cars if I remember correctly and that once in a while time against a Castrol Supra I believe. I had to race against that in a civic Sir II, which predominanty was the suck because it could take the rally cars with only 261hp and all the weight reduction, but it could not keep up with the race car. : (
 
I too had some problems in that series, due to the fact that all the other cars are rally cars with 4WD and extra downforce, I think i finally caved in and got a rally car, thats how I beat it.
 
spike10h
I too had some problems in that series, due to the fact that all the other cars are rally cars with 4WD and extra downforce, I think i finally caved in and got a rally car, thats how I beat it.
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It just takes the right car for your driving style to beat this race. . . The extra downforce and 4wd actually works against the computer from what I noticed in this series. . . You just need clean lines and catch up to each vehicle at a proper passing point. I found Seattle to be a biz itch because there were three spots where you could pass without messing up your line. . .
 
thanks for your advice - really helpful. I can't remember exactly what mods i;ve done, but I have done the transmission and tyres - i got the next to hardest tyres, but they don't seem to make that muich difference to me - Do I need to go softer?

Its the RX7 I won i think in the 80's sports car cup so i thinks its the Savanna.

I think you confirm what I thought though - its driving skills and setup knwoledge that needs sorting as much as anything.

Like Neon Duke says straight line speed is OK its momentum in the turns.

With regards to doing the licence tests and general driving skills, I've got up to International A (is that right) with no bother - passed most of the tests first time (although not all gold or anything). I thought that must mean I'm OK (!) but I don't know how that compares with others?

I'll have a good look rund for some tips on car set up (particularly suspension, and see how I get on.

Cheers for the help!
 
If you have the full race transmission and a good set of racing tires, the next mod would be the fully adjustable race suspension, and then some lightweight upgrades. You can also use the Super Soft full race tires throughout the beginner league since there is no tire wear yet.Tires are the simplest and most effective upgrade overall IMO.

The most important thing: SHUT OFF ASM ON ALL CARS. It causes the car to act unnaturally, and you never realize how bad it messes you up until you learn to drive without it. TCS is helpful however, especially when you are just starting out.

Check out the tuning tutorials here: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=116

Be sure to save your original setts in case you majorly botch them up.
Good luck and may the force be with you:tup:
 
CarbonFiber Man
You can also use the Super Soft full race tires throughout the beginner league since there is no tire wear yet.
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I'm going to disagree with this advice. Yes, T8s are fastest, without doubt. But I advise against using them as a habit, particularly in the beginning of the game when tire wearis off. You will learn to drive being dependent on that traction, and you will be in for a rude awakening in Amateur when the competition heats up dramatically and you have to re-learn how to drive with half the traction because the T8s make you pit too much.
Rich
I think you confirm what I thought though - its driving skills and setup knwoledge that needs sorting as much as anything.
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Try this for the Full Customize suspension:
Springs: 10.0/12.0
Ride Height: 99/99
Damper Bound: 4/6
Damper Rebound: 5/6
Camber: 3.0/1.0
Toe: 0.0/0.0
Stabilizers: 5/6

I'll offer this general tip, which really helped my driving mature (even though I'm still no hot shoe): brake earlier. I finally realized that I was coming in way too hot and overcooking every turn, making my passes by late braking, and then trying to block the AI on exit. Once I realized that didn't work, my lap times fell significantly. Now, if I'm in front, I stay a little inside of the true line (so I don't get rear ended by the AI) and brake early, letting off as I turn in and getting smoothly back on the gas as traction allows. Or, if I'm behind coming into the turn, I'll hang back, brake early, and squirt past on the inside as they wash out to the outside.

It's not about how far you can stretch theend of the last straight; it's about much speed you can carry into the beginning of the next straight.

Good luck!
 
new car. i say a shiny new corvette z06 should do well. the advice you is from people capable of beating the formula gt cup with a mini cooper so their help isnt always helpful. a new car or just mess around with the settings should help, you dont need to qualify every race either ya know
 
DoZeRxXx
the advice you is from people capable of beating the formula gt cup with a mini cooper so their help isnt always helpful.
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Not me. I'm consistantly in the bottom tier of any OLR competition I enter. I'm a very very average driver.

Just getting a more powerful car than the competition will not teach you how to be a better driver. And there are some events, like the ever-popular Pro Vitz series, where you cannot get a more powerful car... which is why you hear so many people who took the easy way out before whining about how they can't win this "impossible" series.
 
neon_duke
I'll offer this general tip, which really helped my driving mature (even though I'm still no hot shoe): brake earlier. I finally realized that I was coming in way too hot and overcooking every turn, making my passes by late braking, and then trying to block the AI on exit. Once I realized that didn't work, my lap times fell significantly. Now, if I'm in front, I stay a little inside of the true line (so I don't get rear ended by the AI) and brake early, letting off as I turn in and getting smoothly back on the gas as traction allows. Or, if I'm behind coming into the turn, I'll hang back, brake early, and squirt past on the inside as they wash out to the outside.

It's not about how far you can stretch theend of the last straight; it's about much speed you can carry into the beginning of the next straight.

Good luck!
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Best advice here IMHO.
Once I learned this I went from a back of the pack, to a mid pack status in OLR comps. Improving on average about 1 second a lap on my previous skill level.

Now there is still about a 1 second gap to the top guys, anyone have any tips for that? :p
 
Here's a good tip for you, why don't you just be happy at mid-pack? I'm quite content where I am now, albeit a division win would be nice. But yes, listen to the Duke, he knows more than he should.
 
Hi guys,

Thanks for all your advice, its working!

Rather than just buying a way better car I've been tweaking what I've got - new tyres, suspension etc, plus paying even more attention to how I drive, and I'm winning again!


I think neon-duke's spot on about braking early. Its amazing on some corners how early you actually brake - it seems like way before the corner, but it really helps.

Although having won the FF series I have now won a pink Yaris - lovely!!!!

The amazing thing about this game though, and the more you play it the more evident it becomes, is the 'simulation' element of it - in an equally matched car, you can win - you don;t need a better car, but you do need good driving skills.

You have to set the car up right, take the right lines, get the braking points, hit the apexes etc, and in that sense, it is a driving simulator.

Like all games, it has its flaws, but it is a truly amazing game.
 
The pink Yaris is referred to as the Vitz here at GTP. Most wouldn't call it "lovely" so I hope that was sarcasm you used there. :p

Welcome to GTPlanet! If you need any more help, just ask!
 
Rich
Hi guys,

Thanks for all your advice, its working!

Rather than just buying a way better car I've been tweaking what I've got - new tyres, suspension etc, plus paying even more attention to how I drive, and I'm winning again!

Like all games, it has its flaws, but it is a truly amazing game.
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Another one hooked for life. ;) :cheers:
 

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