Insight / Speculation into B-Spec Bob's Attributes

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JadeRaven

JadeRaven

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Okay, the categories we usually see about B-Spec Bob, whatever his alias may be, are: Speed, Mental Strength, Strength, Experience, Personality, Win Ratio, Class, and the up, down or level arrow.

When we go into "My Drivers" and take a closer inspection we have three more categories: Braking, Cornering and Accuracy. Also we have the ability to retire the driver.

I would assume that the Braking, Cornering, and Accuracy would all be combined into the aggregate "Speed" bar in the limited view. Braking and Cornering seem pretty straightforward - how late Bob can brake, how much speed can he carry through a corner, perhaps how well he sets up corner exit, etc. However, "Accuracy" seems a little more ambiguous.

What is accuracy? Is this just overall smoothness, ability to pass, agility, control over the car? Is it a catch-all to everything that isn't cornering and braking? I do notice that when creating a new B-Spec driver, while you can usually click a few times to get some decent "cornering" and "braking", it is rare to come across one with more than almost zero accuracy. On the other hand, all of my reasonably developed drivers have an accuracy bar surpassing that of their cornering and braking.

How much effect does the arrow have on the driver? As it is supposed to indicate the current form of the driver, does a down arrow really negatively impact the driver's performance? Conversely, does a driver on good form with an up arrow get a boost to his normal performance?

Will there come a time when the driver's attributes start to decrease or level off, giving a need to retire the driver?

And also, do the categories such as win ratio and personality have an effect on how the driver performs, or are these just informational?

Does Bob mind if we pick the lime green uniform for him, or does is he indifferent to such vanity?

For some questions in the GT world we may never have answers :D
 
The in-game manual could've done a way better job of explaining how B-spec Bob works.

But solving all the questions sounds like an interesting and fun task though.
 
I think Bob prefers red as he is a winter. I didn't make that up. Bob told me so.

All good questions though. I'm new to B-spec and have only managed 4 or 5 races so far. I'm interested in taking B-spec through to the end and noting how the driver's skills progress and then eventually start to decline. I wonder will the decline be evidenced in the driver's personal stats or will it be something I simply determine on my own based on his win/race ratio.
 
I tell you what, he certainly does get better in individual tracks and tracks as he learns them.

Just did the classic championship in the 330 P4 and after three races he had made an improvement of 5 seconds on his best lap.
 
Accuracy is the ability of the driver to follow the best racing line, probably lap after lap.
 
JamboGT
I tell you what, he certainly does get better in individual tracks and tracks as he learns them.

Just did the classic championship in the 330 P4 and after three races he had made an improvement of 5 seconds on his best lap.
Click to expand...

If that might be the case, will you remember wich of your 6 drivers have the experience on that particular track? So far, as fun as your idea is, i have found no proof at all that this is the case. In fact, when I let my new lvl 0 driver join a 200km endurance race it instantly levelled up to lvl 12, with stats just as good as a lvl 12 with many more races(and with your theory more track knowledge).

I drove this lvl 12 on races his own level and he smashed the competetion while having no track knowledge at all.

In my point of view things are a lot more simple than people like to believe, based on what i've seen at lvl 27.
 
In GT4 it was pretty mysterious how your driver improved, and he seemed to get points for driving certain cars on certain tracks, etc. This time it does seem more like a simple leveling up/points per race, but I wouldn't put it past PD to have some hidden points and such throughout for Bob to find along his career.
 
Naturally I'm no where near seeing it happen yet, but I'm assuming when the experience bar at the bottom fills up, subsequent races will begin to decrease stats rather then raise them, as that driver is "past his prime."
 
Mine hardly manages to drive a Mini. I've tried the European Hot Hatchback Race in B Spec and he's not comfortable with any cars and keeps crashing out at London.
 
I let Bob drive a 220 HP Prelude in the first Sunday Cup race and he slipped to dead last, over four seconds slower than the driver in front of him. He spent more time on the grass than the track after I told him to slow his pace down, which I did multiple times. He hasn't been allowed to be near any of my cars since.
 
I have an Italian driver named J. Barone who has a cool personality and only drives Italian cars (a 500+bhp Maserati Gran Turismo) and I have to spam pace up and overtake through out the entire race for him to do something.

While I have a hot blooded Japanese driver S. Yoshioka who flies around the track with reckless abandon in his Red '91 RX-7. I actually have to tell Yoshi (that's what I call him) to pace down on occasion as he drifts the crap out of the corners and spins out at least 2 to 3 times a race and will still place in the top 3 on a city map or always first in a race with long straights.
 
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