Endurance Pit Strategy General Questions

[Jujubean]

Hi All, I tried to search but couldn't find much info on A-Spec endurance races. I have a few questions though, and I was wondering everyone's opinion.

1) Is it better to ride your tires until they are bald, even if your lap times are a few seconds slower than when fresh, or you should you pit quickly after they start to go down hill?

2) For Refueling, do you try to get a little bit of fuel every stop, or do you just get tires until you are almost out of gas, then fill up completely?

3) If I don't drive my hardest, will I really save fuel and have longer lasting tires (as one would suspect in real life)?

4) Any other tire and fuel conservation strategies, or other Endurance strategies in general?

 

[dorian101]

@Jujubean - good questions!
i was just about to post the same thing...
any takers?

 

[Ryk]

In enduros you are after consistency - and bad tyres will give you many more chances to muff a lap - losing 5-10 seconds per accident.

Driving easy will prolong fuel Short shifting and going a gear higher than normal can get you some extra kilos of fuel in the long run.

BUT the time it takes to swap tyres is free fuel and you should always take that much gas at the very least.

Driving easy will also prolong tyres - and have the bonus of generating fewer driver errors as you will be smoother.

After a few stops you will know how long YOU can make YOUR tyres last. It is tempting to under fuel at the start just to save pit time, but you will have to remind the pit crew every stop not to "Fill her up" every time you do come in.

It is much faster to banzai and smear the track with rubber pushing hard. So long as you don't fall off the track. But I would suggest a steady pace in an enduro is what you need. Also if tyre wear is a factor - look over the lap at where you are spending your "Grip Health" - Leading onto a long fast section it will be worth getting extra tyre loading for that extra few MPH you get on the exit will pay back all along the following fast section. Conversly monstering a complex section that leads into a slow bit of track is spending tread depth for no gain. (Lets say Indianapolis at LeMans - you could push the car to the ragged edge here, late on the brakes and really wow the crowds with tyre smoke and tyre sceech - but you gain a smidge before you have to slow it down for Arnage a few yards dow the road. Tetre Rouge Or even Mulsanne Corner lead onto vast high speed sections that a little bit of tyre life expended will pay back a nice chunk in speed and tiem off your lap time. Risk reward -

Once you understand your car and the way the tyres fall off you can plan each stint - the first few laps you can be a bit carefree - the end of aa stint you need to be a bit more careful aware your tyres may give a twitch or feel funny - Remember you can alter your Brake Bias in a race, this can soften up your brakes, and create a more even wear rate - Useful if you want to run long stints you can soften the brakes and brake smoother.



Fuel and tyre stratergy - depends on the driver, car and the event. As you can pause and suspend the race you can elect to banzai every stint if you wish and not suffer mental burn out from being focussed for too long.

Good fortune
And Go Chelsea GO!

 

[PureHeavyMetal]

If fuel lasts longer than tires (like they did at Laguna Seca in my Peugeot 908 HDI FAP) then I pit when I have about 20% of my tires left. If tires last longer than fuel (like they did at the Indy 500, X2010s are definitely gas guzzlers) then I pit when i have 1/4 of a tank of left.

As long as you have time, pit whenever you feel like it. Obviously don't pit every 5 laps for new tires and don't pit every 5 laps to top off the tank, but drive 'til you feel like maybe getting more fuel or fresh tires would be a good idea.

 

[JackC8]

Experience is the best teacher - after a few unexpected spinouts, you'll learn when your tires have another lap in them, and when they don't

 

[snowgt]

If fuel lasts longer than tires (like they did at Laguna Seca in my Peugeot 908 HDI FAP) then I pit when I have about 20% of my tires left. If tires last longer than fuel (like they did at the Indy 500, X2010s are definitely gas guzzlers) then I pit when i have 1/4 of a tank of left.

As long as you have time, pit whenever you feel like it. Obviously don't pit every 5 laps for new tires and don't pit every 5 laps to top off the tank, but drive 'til you feel like maybe getting more fuel or fresh tires would be a good idea.

Why would you pit when you still have 1/4 of fuel left and your tires are still fine...? If you do this consistently you're doing about 30% more pitstops than necessary.

 

[hellnback]

1) I wouldn't recommend going much below 20-25% tire health, you lose too much lap time sliding. Although this is 'kinda' relative to your lap length, fresh tires will stop time loss...

2) Taylor your laps to tires you need to use for the strategy you think wins you the race. If I haven't done extensive testing I normally start with RH front and back, as you start with 100% fuel you can run until the tires get to the point you need to pit, you can also note the front vs rear tire wear so you can match the wear with different compounds. Another benefit is you can hopefully nearly establish the pit cycles of all the AI. From the laps done and the fuel left, you can calculate fuel per lap.

3) By the time it takes to get down to a level where you will need to refuel you should have settled on a lap cycle strategy, and can fuel appropriately for it. If you need to go RS front and RS rear to 'go nuts with the lap times' you can at least fill to the cycle you were doing and reassess from there when you are next in. The lighter the car the quicker the laps, and the less tire wear.

4) Yes, using less rev's by shifting earlier and 'lifting' earlier going into breaking for corners can reduce fuel consumption a little, I once did a 'Schumacher' and used either 3rd or 4th only at the end of the Yuckityyuck-suba 4hr and was quite surprised how many more laps I could do with this manouvre...