How can I win Cote d Azur in Formula GT Championship?

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carlskr

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Hi,
I'm trying to get 100% on GT3 for the first time. All I have left are 2 endurance races and the Formula GT in prof league. The endurance races are easy enough, and I'm not worried about the series race in Formula GT, but the biggest obstacle seems to be the single race at Cote d' Azur.

I've been using an F094/S, but the other F094/S in the race keeps beating me. I'm getting about 2-3 seconds per lap faster than that car, but he goes 2 more laps between pit stops than me! And with this car, once those tires go red, or even dark orange, you're toast.

Please help! I got GT4 for Father's Day, but I've promised myself I'll get 100% on GT3 before I play the new one. Any tips or hints to help beat this race? I don't have a game shark, and I really want to win without cheats.

So is this just down to setups and skill now? I didn't see a specific setup on gtvault, but here's what I was last running. Maybe somebody will see something obvious.

F094/S
Spring 17.4 F / 17.5 R
Ride Height 45 / 45
Shock Bound 5 / 5
" Rebound 5 / 5
Camber angle 2.0 / 1.0
Toe angle 0.0 / -3.0
Brake balance 9 / 9
LS Init. Torque 0 / 15
LS accel 0 / 40
LS decel 0 / 30
Gear ratios:
5.972 1st
4.823 2nd
2.939 3rd
2.252 4th
1.808 5th
1.523 6th
4.062 Final
Downforce 0.76 / 1.50 (rear is maxed)
ASM Level 10
TCS Level 7

The gears are not one of the auto settings. I set auto setting until it would just barely redline on the longest straight. Then I tweaked 5th to be closer to 6th so downshifting wouldn't fall out of the powerband so badly. Then 4th moved closer to 5th, and so on.

Oh, and this is with auto trans on, and in the higher gears I use the R1 (or is it R2?) button to delay the upshift by about 1000RPM.

TIA
 
Cut your rear toe setting back to about -0.5 or -1.0. Also, stay a gear higher than you'd think proper. Both of these things will help extend your rear tire wear to make it work for you.

I ran the series in a F094/H, which is not quite as fast as the /S version. Here were my settings:

Spring: 17.4/17.5
Ride: 45/45
Dampers F: 5/5
Dampers R: 5/5
Downforce: 0.75/1.50
Camber: 3.0/1.0
Toe: +0.0, -3.0
Brakes: 18/18

Autoset: 35
F/D: 4.062
LSD: 15/30/30
ASM: 0
TCS: 1

My fastest lap in this race was 1':18.242". My total time was 1h:48':05.323" My margin of victory (MOV) was +41.547 over the F094/S, +1 lap ov er all but the F090/S, who was +2 laps. I pitted on laps 9, 18, and then every 10 laps after that. Normally I don't qualify, but I think I did start from the pole on this one.

Focus your attention on driving smoothly and not goosing the car out of corners. This will not only help your tire wear but it will make your lap times fall as well! I'm a mediocre driver in online circles (solid Division 3 material) and I did it. You can do it too!

Welcome to GTPlanet.
 
I actually loved this race. I think I remember finishing 30 ahead of the other f094. The biggest thing that I remember was that running the two hairpins without going below third gear somehow really helped (I think I had been having both traction and spinning problems when I ran a few laps for practice). Just find the line that works best for you and keep it nice and smooth.

I was going to suggest a higher ride hieght but then I remembered that you are pretty much screwed if you catch the rumbles one this course no matter how high you are.
 
One other suggestion - KILL THE ASM. Bad news and it only slows you down, and lot.
 
This is certainly possible, in any of the F1 cars. On my last pass through GT3 (4th time to 100%, I'm a total GT nerd!) I completed the full F1 Championship in each of the cars with ASM and TCS at 0, and Cote D'azur was never a problem. Certainly Test Curse and Super Speedway were a problem for the F090/S, but Cote was easy enough.
I did the game on automatic for the 1st 3 passes, and manual on the last. Manual is way quicker, but its certainly possible on auto too, especially with the upshift trick you mentioned.
It sounds as though you've already done what I'd have suggested with the gearbox, gear settings are more critical on Cote than anywhere else, except the test course. I found if you can make 7 fast laps between stops then you should be OK. If you find room to push out to 8 laps once, you can finish the race with 10 stops. If you're already 2 - 3s quicker than the other F094/S then you should be more or less OK. You'll find his last lap before he pits he loses another 6 or 7s because his tyres are shot to pieces.
Make sure your downforce is set to maximum for this circuit.
Other things you can try are:-

Re-enter the championship numerous times, there is a lineup available without another F094/S in it, in which case the F094/H is your biggest, but slightly slower headache.
Change your brake balance to 14 front 17 rear. This makes a looser car entering corners, with a tendency to oversteer, but will preserve your front tyres a little.

I'd have to load GT3 to see what my exact settings for the cars are, and that's not possible just at the moment. (Some way into a GT4 endurance race!)
Practice makes perfect. What are your current best laptimes?

Welcome to GTP.
 
Here's a settings guide to GT3 F1. All of these have completed all races F1 GT Championship and are set up for Cote D'azur, being as it's the last race.

Car:-

F090/S. 972.0 miles. (more miles since I wasted time trying to get pole position on Test Course! The most beautiful handling but least powerful of the F1s.)

Spring rate F 17.8 R 18.0
Ride Height F 45 R 45
Shock Bound F 8 R 8
Shock Rebound F 8 R 8
Camber Angle F 2 R 1
Toe Angle F -0.5 R -3.0

Brake Balance F 18 R 21

LSD.
LS initial Torque F 0 R 30
LS Accel. F 0 R 30
LS Decel. F 0 R 50

Gears.
Auto Set 33.
Final drive 4.062.

Downforce F 0.94 R 1.42

ASM & TCS 0

F687/S. 962.8 miles. (the quickest F1 car in GT3 in my humble opinion, one of the finest turbocharged 80's monsters ever.)

Spring rate F 17.6 R 17.7
Ride Height F 45 R 45
Shock Bound F 7 R 7
Shock Rebound F 8 R 8
Camber Angle F 2 R 1
Toe Angle F -0.5 R -2.0

Brake Balance F 17 R 21

LSD.
LS initial Torque F 0 R 25
LS Accel. F 0 R 30
LS Decel. F 0 R 50

Gears.
Auto Set 32.
Final drive 4.062.

Downforce F 0.96 R 1.22

ASM & TCS 0

F094/H. 957.6 miles. (My setups were progressing by this point due to what I'd learnt from GT3 WRS top dog racers)
Spring rate F 16.7 R 16.9
Ride Height F 48 R 48
Shock Bound F 7 R 7
Shock Rebound F 7 R 7
Camber Angle F 2 R 1
Toe Angle F -0.5 R +0.5

Brake Balance F 14 R 18

LSD.
LS initial Torque F 0 R 12
LS Accel. F 0 R 20
LS Decel. F 0 R 20

Gears.
Auto Set 32.
Final drive 4.062.

Downforce F 0.97 R 1.47

ASM & TCS 0

F094/S. 954.5 miles (the last of the F1s to run the F1 championship. Best setup that I could come up with, decimated everything, but really not my kind of racing. Been a while, but do remember lapping the other F094/S towards the end.)
Spring rate F 17.4 R 17.5
Ride Height F 47 R 48
Shock Bound F 7 R 6
Shock Rebound F 7 R 6
Camber Angle F 1.6 R 0.8
Toe Angle F -0.5 R -1.5

Brake Balance F 17 R 21

LSD.
LS initial Torque F 0 R 12
LS Accel. F 0 R 27
LS Decel. F 0 R 28

Gears.
Auto Set 30.
Final drive 4.062.

Downforce F 0.98 R 1.48

ASM & TCS 0

F686/M. 944.0 miles (most powerful, but shows its age compared to the newer cars. Power is a useful asset at the ovals though.)
Spring rate F 17.3 R 17.7
Ride Height F 45 R 45
Shock Bound F 7 R 7
Shock Rebound F 7 R 7
Camber Angle F 1.7 R 1.5
Toe Angle F -0.5 R -2.0

Brake Balance F 18 R 22

LSD.
LS initial Torque F 0 R 25
LS Accel. F 0 R 30
LS Decel. F 0 R 50

Gears.
Auto Set 33.
Final drive 4.062.

Downforce F 0.96 R 1.46

ASM & TCS 0

F688/S. 941.1 miles (the least exciting of the F1s in GT3, but still capable of victory! The 1st F1 I won in Roadster endurance, and 1st one to win F1 Championship, including Cote D'azur, despite an unconventional brake balance setting.)
Spring rate F 17.8 R 17.9
Ride Height F 45 R 45
Shock Bound F 8 R 8
Shock Rebound F 8 R 8
Camber Angle F 2.0 R 1.2
Toe Angle F -0.5 R -2.0


Brake Balance F 21 R 18

LSD.
LS initial Torque F 0 R 30
LS Accel. F 0 R 30
LS Decel. F 0 R 50

Gears.
Auto Set 34.
Final drive 4.062.

Downforce F 0.95 R 1.45

ASM & TCS 0

These are by no means "the best" or "the fastest" F1 settings ever. But, they got me by, if you want real F1 "super" advice, suggest you PM 3rdgenracerX he is a GT3 F1 GOD!
To be honest the cars I put most GT3 mileage on were Mini Cooper 1.3is! (1456.5 miles, 736.3 miles, 398.0 miles & 196.2 miles respectively, 4 of them, 2 on each 100% save I've kept, & at least 2 won Passage to Colloseo endurance! Some more than once!) That gives an idea of the sort of racer I am! I also used to hold myself fairly well in Div 1 GT3 WRS.

If you're putting in 1'15 - 1'16 laps on Cote, you'll be fine.

Can I suggest a MAX drive for next Father's day present? I certainly don't believe in cheating at all, never have, never will.
BUT, its a useful way of swapping settings with other users and if you're planning on joining the WRS later on, replay verification is appreciated, (though not absolutely required) and I found that joining in the GT3 WRS improved my driving 100-fold! If you can submit a few lap replays to some of the GT3 veterans here, we may be able to help you improve your lap times on Cote. If you can download & follow a ghost car of a faster driver, you'll learn where time is gained & lost.

One last thing. The Bus Stop Chicane at the end of the tunnel straight, is the singularly most critical point for making time on the AI at this circuit.
Put plainly & simply, they suck, with a capital S, at this section. Make sure to brake early enough, that you can take the 1st left/right and then flatten out the remainder of it by accelerating clean away out of the 2nd chicane. Go in hard & you'll come out slooow! Go in sloooow & you'll come out faaaaaaaaaaaaast!
Learn the course in something slow & it'll pay huge dividends when you come to something with more HP than Kg!

PM me for replays & other info if you want.

:cheers:
Smallhorses
 
Good tips, I didn't even have to try all of them, but I think the setups worked well. Finally won this race...... by less than a second over the other F094/S!

Doing the F1 series now, and after that will have just one endurance and I'll have my first 100%! (and maybe only).

Wow, I wish I would have tried setting ASM to zero earlier! It took several laps to get used to, but it's great! Besides not limiting power output, it seems that slides are more predictable, so you have more control in turns just by a blip of the throttle or when entering the corner, a quick tap on the brakes. Cool.

Most of my settings I'm now running ASM = 0 and TCS = 1.

Just wondering, how many of you here use a steering wheel for this game? I have a Logitech driving force, but I didn't really like it when I first got it. I ALMOST hooked it up again because I was finding my thumb would get sore and I wasn't pressing the X button down to full throttle! But didn't need to anyway.
 
carlskr
Good tips, I didn't even have to try all of them, but I think the setups worked well. Finally won this race...... by less than a second over the other F094/S!

Doing the F1 series now, and after that will have just one endurance and I'll have my first 100%! (and maybe only).

Wow, I wish I would have tried setting ASM to zero earlier! It took several laps to get used to, but it's great! Besides not limiting power output, it seems that slides are more predictable, so you have more control in turns just by a blip of the throttle or when entering the corner, a quick tap on the brakes. Cool.

Most of my settings I'm now running ASM = 0 and TCS = 1.

Just wondering, how many of you here use a steering wheel for this game? I have a Logitech driving force, but I didn't really like it when I first got it. I ALMOST hooked it up again because I was finding my thumb would get sore and I wasn't pressing the X button down to full throttle! But didn't need to anyway.
Click to expand...

I've got the same wheel you've got, but the only time I use the DS2 is for drag racing (WDS) - I've tried running regular tracks w/the DS2 but I find I have a LOT more control over things with the wheel - I still use ASM though, set low, but on nonetheless, I find things more predictable with it on than not, but that's just me.

UMP
 
xcsti
I'd actually advise the opposite since most of monaco is composed of slow corners.
Click to expand...

The F1 calender of setups has always regarded Monaco as one of the highest downforce tracks on the circuit, though it has many slow corners, it doesn't have many fast straights either, so a high downforce setup works better. From my WRS experience too, more downforce on a tight, twisty circuit has always yielded quicker laps. I may be wrong, but hey, everyone drives different and what you advise is more than likely perfect for your own driving style. I've seen a few of your posts round here, you're a Scooby fan and more of a rally guy, right?
So there's more than a thing or 2 you could teach me there! I suck with a capital S at rallying!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not criticising, just confirming each & every one of us uses the fabulous variety of GT settings to maximise their own particular style.

@ carlskr good job on the Cote win! Less than 1s MOV? That does sound like my sort of racing!!!!
Which 2 enduros do you need help with? I have considerable experience! Won 2 of them in a Mini Cooper 1.3i!!!!
I'll happily offer advice on those too. 👍
For all 4 passes to 100% on GT3 I used DS2 and D-pad, no analogue controls, couldn't get the hang of them after doing GT1 & GT2 on the PS1 without a dualshock controller with no analogue sticks! Now for GT4 I've switched to the wheel, and can't imagine GT4 without it. Haven't tried it back on GT3 though so I'm not sure how I'd compare.
 
Small,
Yes - less than 1 second MOV! Nerve-wracking, but fun.
My daughter was in the room at the time, and about 5 laps from the finish she said she couldn't understand why I was so concerned, because I had something like a 30 second lead at that point.
I told her... "just watch, my tires get bad, my laps times will get SLOW, and 2nd place is going to get closer." Sure enough. I didn't think he'd get THAT close though.
I was sweating by the time I finished and my right thumb hurt!
 
Isn't a 30 second lead enough to allow you to do a pit stop, and come out with a small lead (about 5 seconds) on fresh tires?

And if you added the pit stop as your strategy, since it would have been for only 5 laps, you could actually have shortened several of your other shifts and avoided running on bad tires then, too.
 
yeah, can the traction control and stability management systems. use manual gearbox, but dont shift down to the lowest possible gears, esp. the very slow corners - saves on wheel spin and tyre wear.

try to concentrate on smooth lines as opposed to quick laps - they will come with 'nice' driving
 
E16rik
does anyone have the euro version, so that person can send the optimal settings for the pp001/002?
Click to expand...

Optimal settings for which course? They're all different. ;)
As far as I can tell, from other posts on GT Planet, the P001 = F094/S (so use the settings for that car) & P002 = F686/M (so use the settings for that car) 👍
 
E16rik
does anyone have the euro version, so that person can send the optimal settings for the pp001/002?
Click to expand...
Use the 001 - whichever is the newer-style car - and just reduce the rear toe to about -1 degree instead of -3 degrees. No ASM. Traction control at 1. That should be plenty.
 
By the way, I found this race damn near impossible because I was using automatic transmission - I had to change to manual gears to do this race, but when I did things got a whole lot easier... didn't need to mess around with the settings at all really... just took ASM and TCS off and never dropped down into 1st gear, always kept it in 2nd for those really slow corners...
 
The bulk of my posting from a now-dormant forum...
http://www.granturismoforum.com/showthread.php?threadid=72056


F094/S (Côte d'Azur/Monaco)

Spring Rate - 10.0 - 10.3
Ride Height - 49mm - 51mm
Shock Bound - 5 - 5
Shock Rebound - 5 - 5
Camber Angle - 1.7 - 1.0
Toe Angle - -0.5 - 0.0
Brake Balance - 22 - 23

LSD i/a/d - 5/10/5

Gears:
- 1st - 5.517
- 2nd - 3.564
- 3rd - 2.539
- 4th - 1.902
- 5th - 1.499
- 6th - 1.242
-----------------
- FD - 4.000
(Autoset 38 - I never changed this)
Downforce - 1.00 - 1.50 (max/max)
ASM - 0
TCS - 2

With this I found I could just about stretch to pits every 9,
So I did 9,18,27,36,45,54,62,70 (of 78).

I shouldn't give my race times...
1-49:56.734 - fastest lap 1:18.738
+34.705 over F094/H only
(no F094/S, although someone else reported the AI F094/H beat the AI F094/S at this race).

Given that I won by 34 seconds, then even pits every 8,
8,16,24,32,40,48,56,64,(71 or 72)
should still have won, and probably would actually have saved more time than the time of the extra pit stop.

I seem to remember one other player there found two things about my setup really helped them; maxed downforce, and reduced LSD. The reduced LSD helps you get the car smoothly round the tight hairpins.

I could believe the race is a whole lot more difficult in the PAL version when you are guaranteed to have one-or-two AI competitors identical to your car. Although, IIRC, the AI F094/H tends to beat the AI F094/S at this course. The cars are spec'd identically, but for some reason the F094/S seems faster (or at least easier to control). The difference between having Senna drive instead of Hill, I guess. Plus there were a few obscure changes made in real life later in the 1994 season due to regulation changes.
 
Lots of people have used the right stick for gas and brake to yield great results. Personally, I use the buttons. The stick will probably give you better control, but I just feel that the buttons are easier - less movement from gas to brake, and you can hit them both at the same time.
 
i just won the race with the original settings. the trick is knowing when the comps are pitting. in this race its every 10 laps. just pit every 10 laps till 60, then pit in l. 69, you'll go in sooner, but your tires will be fresh sooner too.
 
Smallhorses
Here's a settings guide to GT3 F1. All of these have completed all races F1 GT Championship and are set up for Cote D'azur, being as it's the last race.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info SH. My eyes always glazed over when it comes to tuning.
 

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