Inconsistencies between races?

[daschund]

I've been noticing some inconsistencies from race to race on the daily races, and was wondering if other people are noticing this too...

Case in point: I've been racing the C race without refueling. Start with fuel on 3, and then at the end of the straight on the 4th lap turn the fuel to 4. Normally that gets me to the end of the race with 0.2 laps of fuel (which, in LeMans, is a pretty big stretch of pavement). So today I am racing my first race of the day and all of a sudden I'm dry on the exit of the Porsche curves. So I chalk it to some whatever that might have happened in the race that made me use more fuel, and go on to the next race. So on the next race I turn the fuel to 4 on the beginning of the straight instead of the end, to make sure that I don't run into the same problem again. To my bewilderment, I run out of fuel right after Indianapolis.

I also noticed some inconsistencies from race to race on the penalty system and also from car to car on the same race (for example, on the last race I got over 15s of penalties from track limits even thou after the first 5s penalties I thought "I'll make sure I'm really far from the track limit from now on" but still would get penalties on almost every corner even being absolute sure that I had at least two wheels inside the white line). I had cars in front of me going two cars out wide on the Mulsanne corner and getting no penalties and me getting .5 or .8 for just breathing outside the line in the same lap.

Anybody seen/noticed that kind of stuff?

 

[Scuderia Paul]

I have never noticed inconsistencies with penalties between different cars. What I have noticed is that some players have the track limits perfected.
I have a feeling that it may be possible to avoid a penalty, or at the very least, incur a less more lenient one by running wide before the track limit 'trigger point'. This is not something I have tested but it had crossed my mind several times when following other drivers.

As for fuel usage there are several possible factors. The most obvious is if you are using different cars which will of course have their own fuel consumption rate. You could be shifting at a slightly different point, which over 5 laps of Circuit de la Sarthe, is a decent number of gear changes. Slipstreaming more is potentially a huge variable when you are racing different people each time and as you could be racing in a pack.

The likelihood is it is a combination of such factors.

 

[daschund]

Yeah, I understand the factors that would make fuel consumption different, but I was using the same car (or else it would be a pretty stupid question) and in the last race (the one I ran dry earlier) was the one that I actually had a car in front of me most of the time, so it should have helped me use less fuel, and instead I went out of fuel earlier. All else basically the same, no spins, both races pretty clean without having to fight for position (which also makes a difference, I know). That's why I asked, because both races were very similar to all the ones I've raced before, but had extremely different fuel results.

 

[JayRS200]

You're maybe reving a bit higher, going down the gears a bit faster, on the acceleration a bit more through sweepers and on corner exit, braking faster and later.

Sticking to a certain lap time might help.

Or PD have done something wrong which is not beyond the realms of possibility. (Which explains the penalties).

 

[vvise]

you're missing variables to the equation. for example: drafting reduces fuel usage.

 

[Sven Jurgens]

Does drafting actually reduce fuel usage? I also noticed that in the R92CP I ended up using more fuel by drafting. The engine revs go higher while drafting, thus using more fuel. You only use less if you apply less throttle to draft behind, not when going full out trying to hang on to a faster car. I guess it's not that simple as getting somewhere faster uses less fuel.

 

[JayRS200]

Does drafting actually reduce fuel usage? I also noticed that in the R92CP I ended up using more fuel by drafting. The engine revs go higher while drafting, thus using more fuel. You only use less if you apply less throttle to draft behind, not when going full out trying to hang on to a faster car. I guess it's not that simple as getting somewhere faster uses less fuel.

Short shift much earlier when drafting. Lift and coast before braking and go down the gears low in the rev range. You can also go round corners in a higher gear/lower revs.

 

[Sven Jurgens]

Short shift much earlier when drafting. Lift and coast before braking and go down the gears low in the rev range. You can also go round corners in a higher gear/lower revs.

Yes, yet GT over exaggerates the effect, probably due to always going with x5 fuel consumption or more. However if you're already in the highest gear, drafting a faster car, which is easily possible in GR.1 on Sarthe, you will use more fuel due to the higher revs. The fuel consumption multiplier outweighs any gains you make from drafting.

Of course the reverse is also true. If you draft a TS050 (slower car) for example and lift off the throttle simply sticking behind them you will save a lot more than you normally would at normal fuel rates.

You can easily go from using 24 liters per lap to 20 liters per lap on Sarthe by short shifting while not losing much pace. Or 1.33 mpg to 1.60 mpg. (Based on Audi R18 '18 on Sarthe last week) A 20% gain while racing near top speed!

I experimented with the 4C in race C this week. Without short shifting I have to run in FM4 all the way to make it. @4 - 88% power/135% range (from the fuel consumption thread) With short shifting I do faster laps and easily make it on FM1. And that's the first time I ever tried short shifting, instant better result. So it seems RPMs is much more important for fuel use than any drafting or lean fuel mix.

 

[kilesa4568]

Raise the fuel map when you're in a draft. A high fuel map can hold station with FM1 if you're close enough to them. Rinse and repeat for tracks like La Sarthe to save a lot of fuel.