Great car to practice "racing line" Presenting: Lexus 200 (J)

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Khoira
This might come as a shock to you but this very mediocre car is a really fun car to drive and practice. I was looking for unfinished manufacturer races today (since I'm at 68%, races are starting to be a bit annoying to find) and found out that I haven't raced the Altezza race at Toyota dealership. Well I bought a Lexus 200 an slapped it with RM -tires, wing and racing suspension. Overkill, I know, but I wasn't looking for a close race, just trying to get the percentages up. Race offered a measily 9 A-spec points, and I didn't expect anything great about the race or the car.

But to my surprise, this car seemed to be a great fun to drive. She has good brakes, tires varmup evenly, and most importantly, she is a very stable during cornering. And because she is quite lowpowered car, she forgives the mistakes that the driver makes. Now she isn't fast, but that's not the point. If you learn the track with a slow car you are more likely to master it with a faster one too.

Since with this car you really have to understand the fact "slow in, fast out" I finally learned to tackle the slow corners of Motegi. I used to to hate this track, but now that I learned to tame this track, I feel much more comfortable to take +600 horsepower cars to this track.

Do you have a personal favorite as a lowpower car, that you use to learn the tracks better?
 
Well, The BMW 320i Touringcar is great for learning, since it is very easy to handle, and has around 250 bhp.
 
Also some FF cars do the job pretty well. They have great handling and dont suffer from what FRs do.
 
Honda S2000 Type V,2003 model,without aids,no mods,S2 tires,or N3`s,real beauty ;)
 
I always loved the Mazda RX-8. I found it's by far the easiest car to get used to with no TCS or ASM. Because of the low torque you wont spin the tires if you floor it below 3000rpm. And the thing has so much grip, I just did Costa D'Amalfi, and basically once you're 1/4 through any of the hairpins, it just holds the line perfectly.
 
A good starter car IMO is the 85' RX-7. Easy to handle, good brakes, good turbocharged Rotary engine, and you can upgrade it to a giant-killer, pretty easily, even if you know nothing about tuning, and it's cheap as hell.
 
An 89' R32 GTR.

Cheap, very fast, turns great when mastered, but then again, being reliable is another story...
 
Doggie
Well I bought a Lexus 200 an slapped it with RM -tires, wing and racing suspension. Overkill, I know, but I wasn't looking for a close race, just trying to get the percentages up.

But to my surprise, this car seemed to be a great fun to drive. She has good brakes, tires varmup evenly, and most importantly, she is a very stable during cornering. And because she is quite lowpowered car, she forgives the mistakes that the driver makes. Now she isn't fast, but that's not the point. If you learn the track with a slow car you are more likely to master it with a faster one too.
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Hmm those characteristics are more likely to be due to the Racing tyres than anything else. I suspect if you drove the same car on S1 or even N3's, you wouldnt be saying that.

Favourite motor that's low powered - anything on N2 or N3 tyres. I use a 106 Rallye around the 'Ring; elsewhere, I drive anything that takes my fancy, but for shear fun and "I want to do another lap" you can't beat the Amuse S2000 R1. Fantastic car.
 
Mercedes 190E 2.5-16 Evo 👍 in either road or race guise this is an excellent car to learn a track with.
 
"Low" power, to me, means anything under 200hp... most of these cars don't count.

Some choice under-200hp cars:

"Easy" drivers:

I vouch for the IS200 J, it was a favorite in GT3, and though the understeer in GT4 makes it a little less fun to drive than before, it's still a swell car.

The BMW 120i is an absolute blast, neutral as heck, and very easy to drive.

The Clio 2.0 (170hp) also stands out as a neat handler, very neutral for an FF, and very nimble.

The Ford ST170 is a little heavier and slower, but has precise steering and is quite forgiving.


"Hard" cars:

The BMW 2002ti is a very finicky and unstable car. Take this out on the 'Ring to learn smooth control input and how to plan attack lines on corners.

The Alpine A110 or A310 are both very nimble and quick RR cars. Want to learn how to drive a RUF? Start with these. The breakaway into oversteer happens at such a low speed that you can practice dealing with oversteer even through fairly mild corners.

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Of course, my personal favorite is still the Mazda Protege, but that's for personal reasons... :lol:
 
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