Is it possible to win all cars in Free Racing mode?

[Ryan81]

Hi everyone!

I just joined gtplanet today and was wondering if you guys who have completed EPR know if it's possible to acquire all the cars by just doing Free Racing?

I have reached Level 17, Stage 4 on Driving Revolution and while I'm pretty confident I can complete it, I don't think I could do it by getting an "S"

According to the completion rate, I have only completed about 40% of DR, presumably because I haven't attained an "S" on every level and stage. However, I still unlocked Group E & D cars without getting an "S" on every stage up to that point. Does getting an "S" only apply to unlocking cars which are Group C or above?

Now, I have collected 197 cars in FR but some are proving to be elusive e.g. Ford GT, Mercedes SLR, Caterham R500 Superlight, the Ruf's and the Mazda 787B and the Audi R8's. When I pick the R390 GT1 or the McLaren F1 GTR, I only manage to race against the likes of the Nismo Xanavi GTR, Supra Essoflow, NSX prospec, CLK-DTM, etc.

I have the Bugatti EB110 but when I race with it in FR, the likes of the SLR, GT, Nismo Skyline, Ruf Turbo R, etc never seem to appear, despite the fact that they have similar performance. Any help would be appreciated

 

[Wolfe]

Yes, with enough patience, you can earn every car in Free Race (especially if you've already earned most of them). However, unlike Enthusia Life, I don't think Free Race bases its AI selections on drivetrain type, country of origin, or anything like that, so all you can do is pick things that are around the same level of performance.

One tip I can give you is to choose the BMW M1 (if you have it) to try to get the Caterham. If I recall correctly, those two cars are almost always pitted against each other.

 

[Ryan81]

Yes, with enough patience, you can earn every car in Free Race (especially if you've already earned most of them). However, unlike Enthusia Life, I don't think Free Race bases its AI selections on drivetrain type, country of origin, or anything like that, so all you can do is pick things that are around the same level of performance.

One tip I can give you is to choose the BMW M1 (if you have it) to try to get the Caterham. If I recall correctly, those two cars are almost always pitted against each other.

Thanks for the tip, Wolfe. Ironically, I did race against the M1 Procar on a previous occasion but I don't think I completed the race and so subsequently I don't have the M1 in my collection. What car would you recommend to use in order to be pitted against the M1?

How about the Ruf's and the SLR? Would it be best to use a rally car as opposed to a Class A car because I find that using a class A car usually pits you against class B cars.......

Not sure what to do as far as the Mazda 787B and the Audi R8 is concerned. Whenever I choose an R390 GT1, McLaren F1 GTR, Nismo Xanavi GTR, etc, I'm never pitted against either of the two...........Any suggestions?

 

[Hun200kmh]

Thanks for the tip, Wolfe. Ironically, I did race against the M1 Procar on a previous occasion but I don't think I completed the race and so subsequently I don't have the M1 in my collection. What car would you recommend to use in order to be pitted against the M1?

How about the Ruf's and the SLR? Would it be best to use a rally car as opposed to a Class A car because I find that using a class A car usually pits you against class B cars.......

Not sure what to do as far as the Mazda 787B and the Audi R8 is concerned. Whenever I choose an R390 GT1, McLaren F1 GTR, Nismo Xanavi GTR, etc, I'm never pitted against either of the two...........Any suggestions?

I'm not sure about the 787,but IIRC the R8's (both of them) are prize cars from some "R" class races.

I think I created a thread a long time ago about this, I'll try to find it.


EDIT: my bad, you were talking about FR, and my reply was about EL. Anyway, I found my old thread (+2 years old ... ) but it's also about EL. Here's the link:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=77213

 

[Ryan81]

Thanks for the reply, Hun200km/h.

I now have 209 cars and I'm just missing two and for the life of me, I just cannot seem to race against them.

 

[Ryan81]

Yes, with enough patience, you can earn every car in Free Race (especially if you've already earned most of them). However, unlike Enthusia Life, I don't think Free Race bases its AI selections on drivetrain type, country of origin, or anything like that, so all you can do is pick things that are around the same level of performance.

One tip I can give you is to choose the BMW M1 (if you have it) to try to get the Caterham. If I recall correctly, those two cars are almost always pitted against each other.

I have found out, Wolfe, that some cars just never appear on certain courses in FR mode. For example, in order to win the Mazda 787B and the Audi R8 2003 I had to race at Rev City, rather than Speediapolis. I have managed to earn the M1 and took your advice and kept trying it out in order to win the Caterham.

I must have tried well over 100 times, going from course to course with the M1 and praying that the Caterham would appear. Nothing has happened, unfortunately. Same thing with the Audi R8 2004. I only seem to race against the 2003 version, no matter what course or car I choose. Do I need to complete DR in order for these cars to appear in races in FR mode?
These are the only two cars I need to complete my collection and start collating 0-1000m times (love seeing how the cars all compare to each other in terms of acceleration and speed) I do that on GT, too.

 

[Wolfe]

I have found out, Wolfe, that some cars just never appear on certain courses in FR mode. For example, in order to win the Mazda 787B and the Audi R8 2003 I had to race at Rev City, rather than Speediapolis.

That makes sense, actually. I believe each car has different odds on different courses, depending on how well-suited they are to the particular course. The game probably arranges your AI opponents based on those odds.

I have managed to earn the M1 and took your advice and kept trying it out in order to win the Caterham.

I must have tried well over 100 times, going from course to course with the M1 and praying that the Caterham would appear. Nothing has happened, unfortunately.

Well, from what I recall, the M1 and Caterham are pitted against each other on Marco Strada day/dry. If I'm right, the whole field will be nothing but those two cars.

If it still doesn't work, I'll have to hook up my PS2 again and investigate.

Same thing with the Audi R8 2004. I only seem to race against the 2003 version, no matter what course or car I choose. Do I need to complete DR in order for these cars to appear in races in FR mode?

All I can recommend is trying again and again with the R8 2003, 787B, or one of the other prototypes. The R8 2004 is one of the fastest cars in the game; I doubt the JGTC cars or other touring cars will be enough.

These are the only two cars I need to complete my collection and start collating 0-1000m times (love seeing how the cars all compare to each other in terms of acceleration and speed) I do that on GT, too.

In my experimentation I've found that the 0-400m times are often off by as much as a second from the real thing, but it would be great to have that resource here for purposes of in-game comparison. 👍

 

[Ryan81]

That makes sense, actually. I believe each car has different odds on different courses, depending on how well-suited they are to the particular course. The game probably arranges your AI opponents based on those odds

Quite true. Also, I suppose since the 787B is quite possibly the fastest car in the game, the computer probably thinks it would be too easy to win on a fast course like Speediapolis with the Mazda.

Well, from what I recall, the M1 and Caterham are pitted against each other on Marco Strada day/dry. If I'm right, the whole field will be nothing but those two cars.

If it still doesn't work, I'll have to hook up my PS2 again and investigate

Ah, I don't think I did that combination. I think I tried the Marco Strada when it was either night/rainy or both (I think it's that by default). I'll try that, cheers.

Gotta go to work now but when I get back, I'll definately give it a try 👍

Thanks for the tips for the Audi, too.

 

[Ryan81]

I just tried to do Marco Strada day/dry and realized I haven't got it in my FR course selection I've only got the night/wet course and the Caterham doesn't seem to come up on that one.

But surely there must be some other combinations other than the M1 on that particular course? If you know of any, Wolfe, please share

How do I acquire new courses? Do I have to progress further in EL? (I'm only ranked about 920th at the moment)

 

[Wolfe]

Well, I loaded up Enthusia, and on Marco Strada wet, when I choose the Caterham, it pits me against the M1. When I choose the M1, it pits me against the Caterham. You could also try Route de la Seine. When I brought the M1 there, it pitted me against two Caterhams, along with another M1 and a couple Evo VII rally cars.

Interestingly enough, when I brought a Caterham to Rev City the game pitted me against a Ford GT, Ruf CTR, M1, SLR, and Evo VII rally car. It seems the best you can do is choose A-class cars (or the Evo VII rally car, for an alternative to the M1) and keep searching.

As for earning more courses, yes, all you have to do is progress further in EL.

 

[Ryan81]

Well, I loaded up Enthusia, and on Marco Strada wet, when I choose the Caterham, it pits me against the M1. When I choose the M1, it pits me against the Caterham. You could also try Route de la Seine. When I brought the M1 there, it pitted me against two Caterhams, along with another M1 and a couple Evo VII rally cars.

Interestingly enough, when I brought a Caterham to Rev City the game pitted me against a Ford GT, Ruf CTR, M1, SLR, and Evo VII rally car. It seems the best you can do is choose A-class cars (or the Evo VII rally car, for an alternative to the M1) and keep searching.

As for earning more courses, yes, all you have to do is progress further in EL.

Yep, all the cars you mentioned except the Caterham have turned up when using the M1. I used the Evo quite a few times too but without success.
It could be because you are using the Caterham on Rev City as opposed to choosing the Evo or M1 or any of the other cars.

Try it and see what happens

 

[Mick777]

You don't need to do any 'Life' mode stuff to have access to all the cars / tracks for free racing / time trial. All you need to do is finish 'Revolution' and all 'free races' (remember that if you get flagged in a race it doesn't count).

 

[JustAnotherBlur]

To whoever bumped that recent Enthusia physic vid (mazda slalom), thanks much. That introduced me to the world of Enthusia. Heard about this game when it was released but lukewarm media review made me bypass it. Now I know better. Last night was a sweet four hours of exploring around....

My background. Raced Forza, Toca 2 and 3, GT3, GT4, GT5P, F1CE and FC using DFP. Without going into an in-depth discussion on these games, I have lost an unhealthy amount of time on GT4 time attacks trying all sorts of driving techniques gleaned from an inordinate amount of time obsessively watching (and replaying) onboards, mostly F1, hoping the thing translates to my recreational indoor kart racing, or at least result in better game times.

Anyways, I fired up Enthusia last night and went FR. The only R class was the R390 GT1. Used that on Tsukuba (I know, a terrible track to pass AIs, but that was the only track I knew). Went up against a TS020 and an F1 GTR. I heard about the black flag so I tried to race cleanly, but those flags kept on popping up. Finished first a couple of times, each time with at least one black flag, but could not understand why I did not win cars (went to gtplanet to find answers; apparently I had to have no black flags and win in three laps!).

Went back against a field including a TS020 and 787b, on five laps to give me time to close down the splits and setup a pass. Finished third-second (the TS020 would always win) but with a couple of minor bumps on corner exit (crowding out other cars apparently, as I could not see has far they were abreast; I prefer to drive using the onboard view), or dropping off-road too much when I gave them space alongside.

I worried a hard earned win would not give me cars using five lap-FRs, so I changed to 3-lap FRs. This time I was up against a TS020 and R8 (the R8 would always win, btw). After about 30-45 minutes of reloading after trial overtakes and black flags, I nailed a win. Wanting the 787b, I went back with the TS020 (along with the BMW LMR, I used that a lot in GT4), against a 787b and an F1 GTR. Won that (a bit easily since by then I knew where to pass them cleanly, but still hard driving-wise).

Then tried the F1 GTR, and faced another F1 GTR. I out-launched the other F1 GTR so the rest was easy. The closest chasing competitor was the Xanavi GTR. Then raced a G'Zox NSX just to see who I'd come against. This was hard, against the JGTC/SuperGT Supra and GTR. This race gave me the BMW M1. Then tried the M1 for kicks and faced against the TVR Tamora (no Caterham though). Tried the Tamora expecting horrible handling. At low speeds (this is Tsukuba) and turn 1, it seemed manageable and comparable to what I have felt before on GT4 (e.g., Ruf Yellow Bird, entry to turn 1 of Grand Valley) or on FC (F430 Challenge car, turn 1 entry on Mugello), although the braking to the hairpin before the back straight spit me into the outside after I ran out of road to correct. I half-expected this would happen, as I noticed a similar but slightly dampened response on the more stable G'zox NSX, and noticed the CLK DTM twitching on the same spot when I was following the DTM car.

(If useful to other users, I can help tell where to pass cars --but only on R class as I don't know the others-- on Tsukuba and what to do to avoid bumping into them pesky AI cars. You can apparently fairly crowd out and bump a bit, as long as the car is "half-car or so" behind you, which is pure guessing when you are using the onboard camera view.)

And the handling, I loved it! I could finally use what I thought was the technique I have seen on F1 onboards, and the car response seemed spot on relative to my steering and pedal combinations (visually, on horizon markers). To put my handling comment on perspective, in my view, GT4 always had horrible post-entry to mid-corner understeer (I don't mind mild exit understeer). I would wish for a hybrid FC-Enthusia front end physics and steering feedback, and an Enthusia back end.

This is already long. All I wanted to answer was that it is possible to get the 787b matchup against the R390 GT1, but my enthusiasm for this game got the better of me. Sorry and thanks for reading.

 

[homeforsummer]

To whoever bumped that recent Enthusia physic vid (mazda slalom), thanks much. That introduced me to the world of Enthusia.

Might have been me, as I've used it in a couple of threads fairly recently. So you're welcome That video was my first look at Enthusia too, and it's a game I simply wouldn't have even taken a look at were it not for GTPlanet.

Winning without black flags in three laps is a challenge, especially at tracks like the Nurburgring - managing to pass all the cars on the narrow circuit and then managing to complete three whole laps without putting so much as a wheel on the grass is pretty difficult! Worth doing though, it does improve your driving... and in fact, Enthusia as a whole does well to discourage the bumping style of driving due to things like the Enthusia Points.

 

[Hun200kmh]

... and in fact, Enthusia as a whole does well to discourage the bumping style of driving due to things like the Enthusia Points.

I don't play Enthusia since probably over two years now, but I remember that it became clear to me when I first started playing it (2005) that who ever developed this game made the best they could to set it apart from the "bump to win" kind of racing that all GT players (myself included) were used to.

And that was both refreshing and amazing, considering that this game had no damage. And that this "black flag/enthusia points" system was even more effective than damage (I also played TRD3 and, even with damage, it was clearly less costly in that game to "bump" others than it was in Enthusia).

It's really, really sad that the excellent work Konami did with this game is probably going to waste. But, on the bright side, I said, and say it again, I believe that the excellent physics of Enthusia are probaby the main reason for the notorious upgrade (in this same department) from Gt4 to GT5P.

But clearly PD didn't learn it all, because in GT5P we keep on having (in offline mode) some ridiculous "one lap wonder" tests where the average gamer is almost invited to use again the "bump to win" technique. I understand that PD may prevent themselves to copy the black flag system (not to face copyright claims) , but I'm sure that it won't be hard to implement a different system to pursue the same objective.

 

[homeforsummer]

The best system I can come up with is to dock money from the winnings at the end of the race every time you bump another car. In online racing, punters who bump their way to the front, hitting people maybe four or five times, would get to the prize screen to find they're awarded no money whatsoever.

 

[MustangSVT]

The best system I can come up with is to dock money from the winnings at the end of the race every time you bump another car. In online racing, punters who bump their way to the front, hitting people maybe four or five times, would get to the prize screen to find they're awarded no money whatsoever.

IMHO, the best way is how iRacing does it. If you bump into anyone, you get deducted points, and you need points to progress to the "faster" cars.