Having an unusually hard time with modern GT classesPS4

[Miths]

I've been playing racing games and sims on PC and consoles with wheels and controllers on and off for the last 16+ years. While a lot of time with GT Sport and assorted arcade racers in recent years might have dulled my skills a bit - and I was never a fast sim driver by any measure, but usually a stable one - I'm finding the GT3 class (my go to class since the days of GTR2) as well as GT4 and GTE to be unusually frustrating in Project Cars 2.
Playing with a Thrustmaster T150 wheel.

I've tried most cars in those classes and whether with loose or stable base setups, I end up spinning off track sooner or later in many races because of snap oversteer through a fast corner. I don't remember Project Cars 1 giving me this issue to the same extent, just like Assetto Corsa is less frustrating, as it - obviously - GT Sport.

Are custom setups necessary for these classes in this game? Or have I just completely lost my sensible touch and patience? As it is I'm only finding enjoyment in the road classes (primarily C and D) and some of the older touring and vintage classes (with cars I would expect to be more difficult to handle than modern race cars, but that's not the case here most of the time). I would really love to do some GT3 or GTE racing in Project Cars 2, but a few laps of either usually makes me want to go right back to frustration free and easy GT Sport - or jump into a McLaren 570S in Road C.

 

[gregc]

If you're playing with a wheel then by default you're getting the loose setup - might be worth giving the stable setup a go if you're finding loose tricky, just load it up and see

 

[Miths]

If you're playing with a wheel then by default you're getting the loose setup - might be worth giving the stable setup a go if you're finding loose tricky, just load it up and see

I've tried both loose and stable setups on nearly all the cars I've driven. Even some extra downforce to the rear in a few cases didn't prevent me from still getting too much oversteer in some fast corner. Just tried various GT3, GTE and GT4 cars on an old favourite track of mine, Zolder. On lap 2 I lost control in the first corner in most of the seven or eight cars I tried. Same story in various corners on many tracks I've tried since I bought the game on launch (but I've spent most of my time in GT Sport the last several months).
I had a couple of good races on Zolder in Road C (570S) and D (Jaguar F-Type) on the other hand.

 

[FOG-Smokebeer]

Hmm well many cars IMO seem to have the engine brake set very low try a higher setting it can help as you lift off/adjust throttle. Also some cars don't need the bump stops try putting them on 0 just to see. Hope it helps

 

[Miths]

Thanks. I'll give it a try tomorrow.

 

[mattikake]

Check your tyre temps. If you're on softs these can easily overheat in one corner. The hards can overheat in a few laps. Even though the tyre indicator colour may be green, if they approach the upper limit of "green" they can become surprisingly unstable and behave much more like an overheated tyre, even though the game may indicate otherwise. GT3 cars seem to be the most susceptible to tyre temps of nearly all cars in the game. It's the reason why I stay away from them.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

Are custom setups necessary for these classes in this game? Or have I just completely lost my sensible touch and patience?

They can all be raced with no tuning, but you may need to adjust your driving style. Some are challenging, but this can make them more fun - and also more frustrating.

If you want to tune them - try adjusting brake ducts.

 

[fernandito]

I think your problem might be in the fact that you don't play around with differential settings, engine braking, braking, and some other areas of the setup such as the springs, specially in front engine GT cars, which all of them combined with the terrible new hard slick tires, is causing you this frustration.

Patch 5 rendered hard slicks on GT cars completely useless on loose setups, so always choose softs regardless track temps, always, until next patch...

 

[DesertPenguin]

What's useless about them? Are they okay for sprint races under 30 minutes?

 

[Miths]

I think your problem might be in the fact that you don't play around with differential settings, engine braking, braking, and some other areas of the setup such as the springs, specially in front engine GT cars, which all of them combined with the terrible new hard slick tires, is causing you this frustration.

Patch 5 rendered hard slicks on GT cars completely useless on loose setups, so always choose softs regardless track temps, always, until next patch...

I've never spent much time on more than the most basic setup changes (springs, anti-roll bars etc.) in all my years of sim racing. It was rarely needed for the short to medium length races against AI I've been happy with most of the time in most of the sims I've played (which include F1 2001 GT mods, GTR, GTR2, rFactor 1 and 2, a bit of iRacing - obviously an exception to the AI races, and several others over the years).
I really do feel like the GT3 class - and the other GT classes mentioned - is more challenging in Project Cars 2 than I remember it being in most of the past sims I've raced. Which seems to line up fine with what some sim racers still very much enjoy, but on the other hand flies a little in the face of the more common saying these days that modern race cars are supposedly not made to be difficult to drive, unless you're pushing them to the absolutely limit (which I don't as a not particularly fast driver).

But it's also possible my racing game habits have simple gotten worse. It's a hobby I've taken frequent breaks from - long and short - over the years. And I play as many arcade racers as I do sims, arguably more these days since I only have a console now.

 

[fernandito]

Trust me. Just tune your GT cars roughly but the Ferrari of course. You can make even the Bentley end up feeling planted and more or less safe when flooring it, but right now in patch 5, you need not only that but also using soft slicks.

GT3 in project cars 2 is not about drifting with the throttle. It is about the mastery of trail braking and tuning your car with subtlety, which seems ot be the real thing after all. And heheh of course if you want to win then also not using the underdogs, but well that happens in all games and in real life too.

Also, and this might interest you above all. If you still can't get your GT3 to feel good and you don't enjoy the driving, go GTE straight away. It's among the best GT categories in patch 5.0. You need to try it to undderstand. Perhaps after that you jmight then say <<hey this is how I think GT3 should handle too>>, but GT3 cars feature not as wide tires and some other particual aspects too that make them feel the lesser cars that they are compared GTE, even if it is by just that very adjusted margin we see in laptimes.

In short, the only GT3 car that will make feel like a GTE in terms of good handling is the Ferrari, but you can improve the performance of the lesser GT3 car a lot too, and you have to try that. It's mandatory man for almost every lobby you see are most about GT3, which is a shame having this tire model, the livetrack stuff and the absolutely overwhelming ammount of stuff featured in this game.

 

[Miths]

I actually prefer the GTE cars so far.

While we are on the subject of tuning, is there anything I can do to stabilize some of the Road A cars from kicking out sideways like mad during acceleration from low gears, even in a straight line? Top Gear told me the McLaren 720 is supposed to be a dream to drive (I'm probably paraphrasing there), but I'm often having a hard time getting the Project Cars 2 version to even go straight if I want to keep up with the AI coming out of corners.
Same for some of the other Road A cars to varying extent.

 

[Miths]

I think your problem might be in the fact that you don't play around with differential settings, engine braking, braking, and some other areas of the setup such as the springs, specially in front engine GT cars, which all of them combined with the terrible new hard slick tires, is causing you this frustration.

Patch 5 rendered hard slicks on GT cars completely useless on loose setups, so always choose softs regardless track temps, always, until next patch...

One change, just one change fixed all my problems with the two GT3 and one GTE car I've had time to test tonight (and I imagine likely the rest of them as well). Soft slicks instead of the default (automatic by weather) hard slicks.

Before I was tip toeing around with what felt like a 50/50 risk of snap oversteer in several corners on most tracks. Now I can just drive the cars like I expected to - with stable or loose setup - and even wrestle them around some of the corners that would usually send me spinning before. The slightest loss of traction on the hard slicks was a near guaranteed ticket to the back of the field for me, on the soft slicks I can even catch small slides.
Which also means I've been able to increase AI difficulty by so far 30 points - and actually have fun driving these cars (seems like GTE will be my go-to instead of GT3 though).

Were the hard slicks broken in patch 5? I have only gotten back to PC2 after the latest patch and had only played a few times in recent month, but I seem to remember having issues with the GT cars even when the game was released.

 

[FOG-Smokebeer]

Hehe I just happen to take the 720s out tonight I loaded the stable setup and ended up taking 3 clicks off each spring and opened the accel dif ramp to 90 and added 100 to the lsd dif give it a try

 

[ozwheels]

One change, just one change fixed all my problems with the two GT3 and one GTE car I've had time to test tonight (and I imagine likely the rest of them as well). Soft slicks instead of the default (automatic by weather) hard slicks.

Before I was tip toeing around with what felt like a 50/50 risk of snap oversteer in several corners on most tracks. Now I can just drive the cars like I expected to - with stable or loose setup - and even wrestle them around some of the corners that would usually send me spinning before. The slightest loss of traction on the hard slicks was a near guaranteed ticket to the back of the field for me, on the soft slicks I can even catch small slides.
Which also means I've been able to increase AI difficulty by so far 30 points - and actually have fun driving these cars (seems like GTE will be my go-to instead of GT3 though).

Were the hard slicks broken in patch 5? I have only gotten back to PC2 after the latest patch and had only played a few times in recent month, but I seem to remember having issues with the GT cars even when the game was released.

Road cars with a lot of power and street tires will never behave like a race car. They will always have too much power and not enough grip basically everywhere.

No the GT3 hard tires weren’t broken in patch 5. They simply gain and lose heat faster now. Something very similar happened in pCars 1 with patch 6 and a massive debate about what’s realistic followed. If you can’t drive fast enough to heat up and keep heat in the hards on a coolish track then yes they will seems broken. They need to be above 175F at the very least. Ideally the hards work well from 190F - 215F then they really fall off at 230F and up. Softs are slightly more usable on coolish tracks now as they cool down faster so they won’t overheat for the whole lap anymore.

 

[awaite85]

I've been playing racing games and sims on PC and consoles with wheels and controllers on and off for the last 16+ years. While a lot of time with GT Sport and assorted arcade racers in recent years might have dulled my skills a bit - and I was never a fast sim driver by any measure, but usually a stable one - I'm finding the GT3 class (my go to class since the days of GTR2) as well as GT4 and GTE to be unusually frustrating in Project Cars 2.
Playing with a Thrustmaster T150 wheel.

I've tried most cars in those classes and whether with loose or stable base setups, I end up spinning off track sooner or later in many races because of snap oversteer through a fast corner. I don't remember Project Cars 1 giving me this issue to the same extent, just like Assetto Corsa is less frustrating, as it - obviously - GT Sport.

Are custom setups necessary for these classes in this game? Or have I just completely lost my sensible touch and patience? As it is I'm only finding enjoyment in the road classes (primarily C and D) and some of the older touring and vintage classes (with cars I would expect to be more difficult to handle than modern race cars, but that's not the case here most of the time). I would really love to do some GT3 or GTE racing in Project Cars 2, but a few laps of either usually makes me want to go right back to frustration free and easy GT Sport - or jump into a McLaren 570S in Road C.

I race these classes just fine with a T150. Every single car I use gets a custom setup. It is a necessity in this game.

 

[Miths]

I race these classes just fine with a T150. Every single car I use gets a custom setup. It is a necessity in this game.

The tire change proved enough for me, as mentioned in my previous post. I might not be competitive online without custom setups (I do dabble a little when needed, though only some very rudimentary changes to gear ratios, anti-roll bars etc.) but I only race AI anyway in PC2. As long as I don't spin out every lap I'm happy.

 

[raven214]

Do the AI change between soft and hard compounds or do they just stick with whatever? I ask because since the latest patch, the AI seems to be driving on ice - they just look unstable. Sometimes they veer from side to side enough to cause wrecks. I'm not sure if it's an issue with pathing, how the AI handle awareness when side by side, or simply they're having trouble themselves with the tire model changes.

Sorry, not trying to hijack the thread. I'm just trying to understand what's going on with AI behavior since the new patch.

 

[CodeCmdr]

For me, turning up ABS (75 to 85 or even 90) and TCS assists (0.09 to 0.07*) helps me control hard slicks a lot better. Once they get warmed up after a few laps and I want a bit more tire slip, I sometimes turn down ABS/TCS back to the defaults.

* Who the hell at SMS decide to make TCS an inverted 0-1 value and ABS a 0-100 value?!? It's as if they try to make tuning confusing on purpose.

 

[losbuttcheeks]

Listeny, my man. I got the game on release and I spent an entire weekend doing donuts. I have no idea which patch fixed it but I play every other day now. Something was way off, and I haven't had any issues with the most recent patch. Still having door to door battles every race.

I also noticed that ai being a lot more loose.