I'm going to use GT:S to educate people about cars

[HAL20XX]

Where I work, we do these manager-lead industry training meetings about twice a month. Usually the topics are related to our craft (automotive marketing), but I thought I would take a step back and make mine a little less formal, and a lot more fun. While those I work with are some of the brightest in the industry, there are a lot of team members that don't necessarily understand some of the performance related aspects of vehicles, nor why they are sought after by enthusiasts. Using my sim-rig, Thrustmaster T300 (+ gated shifter and T3PAs), PSVR, and GT Sport, I want to showcase some of the main concepts.

Where I could use some help from the forum is 1) picking out the best cars to highlight each of the below ideas, 2) see if there are any other ideas GT:S can highlight that I'm not thinking of, and 3) noting anything I should be on the lookout for when setting up my PS4 in a new location (thinking mainly GT's online consideration).

The basic format I have in mind is picking a different volunteer for each of these topics. They're mostly basic concepts, and the whole idea is really to just get my office to have fun, so none of this is going to be taken that seriously. Honestly, I'm probably going to end up voicing over the concept while my volunteers just try to keep the car on the track!

I have 1 hour to fill, and I'm thinking each topic would allow someone to run up to 1 lap per. My ideas for topics are:

• Front Engine (FWD and RWD, so two sessions)
• Mid Engine
• Boosted vehicles
• The effects of downforce
• Manual (gated shifter) transmission
• Paddle shifting

Are there any good examples of vehicles that really exemplify the above? For example, is there a boosted vehicle that runs a ridiculously high PSI? I'm thinking any of the open wheel cars would be a good example for downforce, but I've only had the game for about two weeks so I'm not sure I'll have enough credits in time to buy one. Are there any ideas you can think of that GT could do a good job of showing (I feel like a limited slip diff might be hard to demonstrate)?

I'll be hosting this sometime after mid-July, so I'll follow up with the response from my office (and pics if possible)!

 

[Alpha Cipher]

For showcasing concepts, cars that strongly exhibit the said concepts would be ideal.

For FF cars, a fully upgraded Mégane would do the trick, as all that power would make the front wheels struggle. For an FR car, an LC500 is more than enough.

MR cars are harder to come by though, since a really good FR car can mimic the agility and rotation of an MR. So to best showcase why an MR is the best in terms of agility and rotation, try using the R.S. 01 GT3. It's very nimble, and you can feel that the rotation of the car is somewhere in the middle, rather than at the front. This results in a very lofty steering feel.

For boosted cars, it doesn't necessarily need to have an insanely high amount of PSI, but rather turbo lag. A good car to exhibit this is an old one, preferrably a race car. The F-1500TA is the best example for this, but considering just how hard it is to keep that car on the road in the first place, I'm going to recommend the Nissan R92CP.

Downforce is an easy one, since you only need two identical cars with one having no downforce vs one with it to juxtapose the differences. Basically any Gr. 4 vs N-class car it's based on will work, but I'll recommend the Corvette C7 vs its Gr. 4 version since they have the closest power/weight values I can think of. It'll also be easier to adjust those values to be identical. Put them both on RH as well

Manual and paddle-shifting can be any car, since you can't really emphasize the differences with different cars

 

[HAL20XX]

This is great! And you make a good point about boost (lag vs. PSI).

Now I just need to build up some credits to get these cars.

 

[TT92]

i really hate to throw a spanner in the works BUT you are using the wrong game. Yes it is the prettiest one out there but for what you want to demonstrate it isn't.

Use Assetto Corsa. For a start the clutch actually works and you can even "ride the clutch" just as in a real vehicle. This was one of the things that I was amazed with when I first got the game.

To demonstrate down force use an LMP1 car around different radius curves and you will also notice as the speed decreases so your front wheel traction does under heavy braking as down force is reduced. You have to release brake pressure to stop wheel lock up (without ABS obviously).

The downside is the graphics are on par with GT6 :-( But quite acceptable using a 4K TV and PS4 Pro.

My $0.02 worth.

 

[Crazy Taylor]

I would take a step back and make mine a little less formal, and a lot more fun

Sound good. An informal look at the way different cars work, without being so dull. Could do with more informal works. So bored of being bored with the sim racing is better 🤬.

 

[Knukel]

My hint is that don't forget to turn off the FFB for people without any experience of driving games or they will hurt themselves.
I'd say it's nearly impossible for them to get any information out of the game by driving. Best option would be to make them watch you play and explain, but that would be rather...

I'd suggest Assetto Corsa for turbo cars as it's adjustable. Sauber C9 would be good for showing how turbo and downforce affect speed and cornering at Spa's Eau Rouge!
...But oh boy if you let them drive...

 

[HAL20XX]

i really hate to throw a spanner in the works BUT you are using the wrong game. Yes it is the prettiest one out there but for what you want to demonstrate it isn't.

Oh, I completely agree. However, what GTS can offer that AC can't is PSVR compatibility. That's just something that will put this presentation over the top!

And wow do I agree with your clutch point. GT's implementation is absolutely awful.

 

[HAL20XX]

My hint is that don't forget to turn off the FFB for people without any experience of driving games or they will hurt themselves.
I'd say it's nearly impossible for them to get any information out of the game by driving. Best option would be to make them watch you play and explain & that would be rather...

I'd suggest Assetto Corsa for turbo cars as it's adjustable. Sauber C9 would be good for showing how turbo and downforce affect speed and cornering at Spa's Eau Rouge!
...But oh boy if you let them drive...

Originally I was going to demonstrate the points to everyone, but then I realized that it would be a lot more fun to turn random volunteers into unknowing demonstrators. This part is more about keeping everyone entertained. Where the education will come into account is the voice over I'll be providing.

Also, I've had a lot of people use my rig that have never used one before and FFB wasn't really ever a concern. If anything, I'll make them sign a waiver

 

[GT_Alex74]

Honestly, VR is just a gadget and won't really bring anything to the presentation, especially since the person driving will be the only one to experience that. I think it's better to keep it on a regular screen, so spectators actually see the same thing as the driver.

And yeah, use Assetto Corsa if you have it, even putting GTS tyre model aside, it just offers so many tools GTS doesn't have, such as tyre temperatures / pressure indicators, boost pressure settings.

What I'd do :

FF : Alfa Romeo Giulietta QV
FR : BMW 1M
MR : Porsche Boxster S 718 (there's two versions, regular manual gearbox and PDK gearbox so that's perfect for the transmission showcase)
RR : Porsche 991 Carrera S
4WD : Nissan Skyline R34

These cars have more or less a similar power to weight ratio (except the Alfa), they're all from the same era (expect the Nissan but it still has modern tech) and they're not twitchy supercars.

For the downforce demo, I'd say run the 991 Carrera S, then switch to the GT3 Cup so people can feel the difference between road car and race car on slicks, then the GT3 RSR to show how downforce improves the race car.

For the boost pressure demo, the Supra Time Attack is perfect.

 

[senzr]

I think this is a great idea, BUT I'm not sure if an hour's gonna be enough. You'd need to explain the basics of drivetrain configuration, weight distribution, tires, friction circle, understeer/oversteer BEFORE you even get to the driving.

A friend of mine is a freelance BMW driving trainer, and he took at least a whole day to explain those theories to a casual audience.

You might even need to consider running some sessions over the same track with different cars as "control" to show the differences in performance, relative to the same piece of road. Maybe you could stick to a really short track that's easy to remember, like Tsukuba, and choose your demo cars by class accordingly. Because learning a long track will take forever for noobs.

The other thing is the skill gap. I've had buddies who drive but aren't gamers try my wheel rig out (T-GT, T500 RS pedals, TH8RS shifter, PSVR), and they can't drive for ****. They can't wrap their head around a simulator and just mash the pedals, crashing everywhere. Even one guy who fancies himself a decent driver in real life (he's got the new MX-5 Miata) couldn't keep the virtual Miata on the road in GTS. What's pretty obvious to regular sim racers like us would be totally new to non gamers. Just sayin...don't assume it'll be easy to pick up n play for people with no experience.

Also, if you really wanna make the car response more realistic, turn off all those aids, except for ABS. Let the learn the effects of too much/too little inputs, and how it affects chassis balance without the aids stepping on to correct them.

Actually, I think you might wanna consider using the cars with the lowest power possible in different drivetrain configurations on Comfort tires to demonstrate your points. I don't think noobs could handle Gr3 or 4, haha. Throttle modulation will not be one of their strong points.

 

[Macboyilija]

For manual vs paddles demonstration you can perfectly use the Toyota MR-2 i think.

Remember: for earning credits easy you can win 300.000 credits in 12 minutes with the KTM or Alpina on Blue Bay professional League. See relevant topics.

Good luck and let us now how it went !

 

[Alpha Cipher]

I don't think noobs could handle Gr3 or 4, haha

Gr. 4 is honestly the easiest class of cars to handle. But you do make points about the skill gap though, and reminds me of this

That said, a revision about my car list would be:

FF: Mégane Gr. 4
FR: RC F Gr. 4
MR: GT by Citroën Gr. 4
Turbo: A fully upgraded Nissan R32. Have them run the car from a standing start in 4th gear with no rev buildup. They will experience a surge of power at around 3-5k rpms
Downforce: Stays the same