Speaking of FIA just to keep this on topic as well the practice lobby was so interesting tonight. With the new tyre model FWD cars are now even further apart from the field in terms of tyre longevity. So in terms of Dragon Trail Gardens the 7th lap (If you do a 1 stop) you can hardly turn the car at all.. I've always said this class is impossible to balance with fuel/tyre wear I'd say that even more so now. The problem with the PUG buff (FWD buff that they all received) as well as it that you nuke past everything on the straights and cause traffic jams in the corners which means racing is going to get even more destructive in my opinion. You also have huge closing speeds on some cars, so the Megane Trophy is in a different league (A lower one) on straights it's like an LMP2 car (FWD) approaching a GTE (Megane Trophy) car, and it's quite scary to see actually. The class is certainly.... all over the place.
I think it's become a MR/4WD meta again. The SLS Gr.4 (which is FR) handles horrendously in this new tyre model. The understeer in normal circumstances makes you want to chuck it into the corner, but that just makes matters worse. Braking makes for a regular slidey boi and fuel economy is still absolutely rubbish (Hondas passing me in the pits left right and centre
).
MR cars have the upper hand for this update because they can dart about a bit easier than other drivetrains, with less weight on the fronts, and thus better tyre wear. Plus that tad more weight on the rears helps with the traction coming out of corners.
4WD cars tend to always pack a tough turbo, so they can boost out of corners without worrying about spinning out. Their ability to easily be pushed and give superb stability in technical corners kinda outweighs the tyre wear if you can get used to that style of driving.
Changes that need to be made in Gr.4 - In short:
MRs now need to be slightly heavier (Megane is fine for now, perhaps another weight increase along with a power increase too)
FRs (also goes for some Gr.3 racers) need to be somewhat lighter to make up for the killer understeer (+ fuel improvement for some cases)
4WDs are ok I think for now, maybe some fine tuning.
FWDs need to be either a bit lighter/more powerful and the tyre wear multiplier needs to be put down a lot.
RRs (The Cayman) needs proper gearing (and fuel consumption multiplier reduced a tad)
This is just my thinking. Make of it what you want.
Oh and btw, here's Nik's stream of Nations and Manufacturers. Enjoy!
In the end, I got 0 point after 50 mins of quali and race. Shame on PD:tdown:
What a disaster start of 3rd FIA season.
