- 24,120
- Midlantic Area
- GTP_Duke
I was just reading through Der Alta's excellent GT3 writeup yet again, having just run the amateur Dream Car series last night. It's funny how similar our experiences were (thanks again for the excellent benchmark information, AO!). AO ran it in the Altezza LM car.
Having no LM car (at the time), I thought about running either my Camaro racer (too powerful) or my CLK tourer. I opted instead for my bone-stock ZZII on medium slicks, which was typically capable of qualifying 3rd or 2nd (when I bothered to qualify, since I started last every race).
Deep Forest: 01':13.86"
Laguna: wups! forgot
Route 5: 01':22.68"
Apricot Hill: 01':18.88" fun!
Route 11: 01':57.31" not fun!
Grand Valley II: 01':51.97"
Starting from the basement, I was usually able to make it to 3rd by halfway through the first lap, or sometimes later if there was too much rubbing in the pack (whichn happened a lot with the cars closely matched). Then I would spend the next lap or two reeling in the dominant 1st and 2nd place cars (usually the RX-7 and Altezza). On nearly every race I had just caught the leader during the 4th lap (or was just about to) when that car would pit, leaving the 5th lap as an excercise for the student. Interestingly enough, the dominant 2nd place finisher was the other ZZII, I assume because it didn't pit on the 5-lappers either. It was usually 6-9 seconds behind me at the flag. I pitted after the fourth lap of the 7-lap GV finale, just because I had a comfortable lead, and everybody else already had. I dropped to third, but regained the lead within the lap.
I silvered on the Test Course, losing to the FTO by 0.007" out of a 9-minute race. I didn't have the HP to stay in front of him, and I was a little early on my final slingshot pass, apparently, because he got back around me.
In comparing my laptimes with AO's (in his Altezza LM car), I see that the 570-hp ZZII was consistently 1-1.5 seconds slower on every course.
After seriously considering the FTO as a prize, I took instead the RWD RX-7 LM. I don't have an RX-7, and by the time I'm through winning the 30 or so Skylines and Evos, I'll have plenty of fast 4WD cars.
Having no LM car (at the time), I thought about running either my Camaro racer (too powerful) or my CLK tourer. I opted instead for my bone-stock ZZII on medium slicks, which was typically capable of qualifying 3rd or 2nd (when I bothered to qualify, since I started last every race).
Deep Forest: 01':13.86"
Laguna: wups! forgot
Route 5: 01':22.68"
Apricot Hill: 01':18.88" fun!
Route 11: 01':57.31" not fun!
Grand Valley II: 01':51.97"
Starting from the basement, I was usually able to make it to 3rd by halfway through the first lap, or sometimes later if there was too much rubbing in the pack (whichn happened a lot with the cars closely matched). Then I would spend the next lap or two reeling in the dominant 1st and 2nd place cars (usually the RX-7 and Altezza). On nearly every race I had just caught the leader during the 4th lap (or was just about to) when that car would pit, leaving the 5th lap as an excercise for the student. Interestingly enough, the dominant 2nd place finisher was the other ZZII, I assume because it didn't pit on the 5-lappers either. It was usually 6-9 seconds behind me at the flag. I pitted after the fourth lap of the 7-lap GV finale, just because I had a comfortable lead, and everybody else already had. I dropped to third, but regained the lead within the lap.
I silvered on the Test Course, losing to the FTO by 0.007" out of a 9-minute race. I didn't have the HP to stay in front of him, and I was a little early on my final slingshot pass, apparently, because he got back around me.
In comparing my laptimes with AO's (in his Altezza LM car), I see that the 570-hp ZZII was consistently 1-1.5 seconds slower on every course.
After seriously considering the FTO as a prize, I took instead the RWD RX-7 LM. I don't have an RX-7, and by the time I'm through winning the 30 or so Skylines and Evos, I'll have plenty of fast 4WD cars.
