Lowest PP Quest: Indy Road Course

[StuckGamer]

I've found that the Indy Road Course in the Seasonal Event "750 PP Real Circuit Tour" is a bloody good money maker, and I've tuned down dozens of vehicles in the quest to see which one can go the lowest and still pull out a win.

So I thought it might be fun to see how low others can get a vehicle and still win. What's the least PP you can win this race with, using what vehicle, and what tuning? We all share and everyone wins.

OH YEAH... there's just one rule that I give myself: the 2J Race Car is off limits. I just don't find it fun to drive and feel like it's a cheat/exploit of sorts.

** UPDATE **

Last Won with: Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6) RM '06 @ 652 PP (as suggested by CyKosis1973)

Settings:

Aero: 35/60
Ballast: 0/-10

LSD: 25/40/10

Height: 0/0
Spring: 10.0/6.0
Ext: 8/8
Comp: 4/2
Anti-Roll: 4/5

Camber: 2.3/2.3
Toe: -0.05/-0.15

Brakes 5/8

Transmission
- Reset to default
- Final Gear to 3.420
- lower Top Speed to 224 mph
- 1st Gear: 3.710
- 2nd Gear: 2.368
- 3rd Gear: 1.675
- 4th Gear: 1.247
- 5th Gear: 0.977
- 6th Gear: 0.806
- Final Gear: 4.025 (upper Top Speed to 211 mph)

 

[NOSWaster]

So you're in a quest for the lowest usable PP car and expect others to come here and tell you what they use, but you won't tell other people what you use? Okay then.

 

[StuckGamer]

Of course I'll share. It's just that:

1. it's still an ongoing process for me

2. I didn't want anyone to feel bound to the car I'm using (or forced to NOT use it)

3. I didn't expect anyone would care what I'm doing, since I'm a novice at best

But whatever, if you really care what I'm working with it's the Jaguar XJR-9 LM Race Car '88. I've now had that as low as 664 PP and find that it's working better than the Sauber, Bentley, Hybride, or Courage (the other cars I've been working with mostly).

 

[CyKosis1973]

Not sure I'm familiar with the particular event you're talking about, 750PP is way outside my comfort zone. However, when I felt grinding was necessary, I used to run a mildly tweaked version of the below, from the Mad Finns. Good strong car, which I'm sure I was running at 650PP. Punches above it's weight, in my opinion...

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1+

{Cy}

 

[TeddyFreddy]

I haven't done the race you're talking about in this post, but I have done the Ferrari Formula 1 challenge that is open for another 5 days.
I've got the F2007 tuned down to about 825-830PP and I'm doing the Eiffel Circuit race (the last one) which, with the 50% log-in bonus credits gives me about 2,000,000 credits per win. I've got full downforce both front and rear and the engine power limiter is set to about 65-70%, don't really remember as I'm stuck in a B-Spec endurance race and can't check at the moment.
Keep in mind though that you need to drive flawlessly and you'll basically be able to reach first place in the very last chicane. I've messed up the slightly and still won though, but that was by slipstreaming past the leader after exiting the last corner at a considerably higher speed than him and catching up to him, essentially a few seconds before reaching the finish line so it's kind of a gamble.

 

[StuckGamer]

Not sure I'm familiar with the particular event you're talking about, 750PP is way outside my comfort zone. However, when I felt grinding was necessary, I used to run a mildly tweaked version of the below, from the Mad Finns. Good strong car, which I'm sure I was running at 650PP. Punches above it's weight, in my opinion...

Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1+

{Cy}

Thanks for the tip! I'd like to play around with that, but I'm not positive if it's the Z06 (C6) RM '06 or the ZR1 (C6) RM '09 (though I'm pretty sure it's the former).

 

[StuckGamer]

I haven't done the race you're talking about in this post, but I have done the Ferrari Formula 1 challenge that is open for another 5 days.
I've got the F2007 tuned down to about 825-830PP and I'm doing the Eiffel Circuit race (the last one) which, with the 50% log-in bonus credits gives me about 2,000,000 credits per win. I've got full downforce both front and rear and the engine power limiter is set to about 65-70%, don't really remember as I'm stuck in a B-Spec endurance race and can't check at the moment.
Keep in mind though that you need to drive flawlessly and you'll basically be able to reach first place in the very last chicane. I've messed up the slightly and still won though, but that was by slipstreaming past the leader after exiting the last corner at a considerably higher speed than him and catching up to him, essentially a few seconds before reaching the finish line so it's kind of a gamble.

Yeah, that's an issue for me. As I mentioned, I'm no pro driver (plus I don't have a wheel), so running flawlessly is somewhat of a rarity, especially in an F2007. The Indy Road Course is fairly forgiving, and still generates over 1.5M credits with low PP and 200% bonus.

 

[CyKosis1973]

Thanks for the tip! I'd like to play around with that, but I'm not positive if it's the Z06 (C6) RM '06 or the ZR1 (C6) RM '09 (though I'm pretty sure it's the former).

I believe it is the earlier model too, the '06. I would fire up the PS3 and tell you, but I'm having error 8001002B issues at the moment

{Cy}

 

[TeddyFreddy]

Yeah, that's an issue for me. As I mentioned, I'm no pro driver (plus I don't have a wheel), so running flawlessly is somewhat of a rarity, especially in an F2007. The Indy Road Course is fairly forgiving, and still generates over 1.5M credits with low PP and 200% bonus.

Honestly, after getting used to it it really became easy. I had only done about three races when I wrote my first comment, but now I can easily end up in first place with an 830PP car after just 4 laps, and I am using a controller. The reason I pick the Eifel Circuit track is because it is really, really wide and once you get used to the track it's incredibly easy. You should be able to win quite easily with an 830PP car even if you feel like you're not the most experienced driver, and with a 200% bonus you should get about 2,500,000 credits. Let me know how it goes if you decide to do it.

 

[StuckGamer]

Honestly, after getting used to it it really became easy. I had only done about three races when I wrote my first comment, but now I can easily end up in first place with an 830PP car after just 4 laps, and I am using a controller. The reason I pick the Eifel Circuit track is because it is really, really wide and once you get used to the track it's incredibly easy. You should be able to win quite easily with an 830PP car even if you feel like you're not the most experienced driver, and with a 200% bonus you should get about 2,500,000 credits. Let me know how it goes if you decide to do it.

I'd love to give it a shot. If you have the opportunity and don't mind posting the full tuning, it would be greatly appreciated.👍

 

[StuckGamer]

I believe it is the earlier model too, the '06. I would fire up the PS3 and tell you, but I'm having error 8001002B issues at the moment

{Cy}

Ugh... bummer.

Well, I got the '06 race modded and set up with Mad Finn's tune. It is quite stiff for the way I drive, so I moved the ballast to +50 (0 kg) and pumped the brake balance up to 7/5. Took a few races, but I managed to win at 554 PP, so that's pretty excellent (1.77M credits with the 200% bonus).

Not only that, but I took 1st place on the 4th lap (of 5) and it's still too stiff for my taste, so it seems there is room to drop even lower. Only problem is I'm not knowledgeable enough to do much from this point.

I fully understand the physics of cornering, but I'm still learning how the mechanical parts of the vehicle affect those physics (and how they affect other vehicle mechanics). I like to dive into a corner (with no gas/brake, followed by full brake when necessary) and then roll out of it from the apex with full gas. My goal is not to drift, mind you, but to get the vehicle steering controllable to the point just before it would drift. From what (I think) I understand, oversteer is my enemy, but the only tweaks I've had consistent success with are:

1. moving the ballast into +

2. bumping up the brake balance

3. adding Toe in to the front and Toe out to the rear

Everything else is just a stab in the dark... total hit or miss. Any advice or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

 

[CyKosis1973]

Ugh... bummer.

Well, I got the '06 race modded and set up with Mad Finn's tune. It is quite stiff for the way I drive, so I moved the ballast to +50 (0 kg) and pumped the brake balance up to 7/5. Took a few races, but I managed to win at 554 PP, so that's pretty excellent (1.77M credits with the 200% bonus).

Not only that, but I took 1st place on the 4th lap (of 5) and it's still too stiff for my taste, so it seems there is room to drop even lower. Only problem is I'm not knowledgeable enough to do much from this point.

I fully understand the physics of cornering, but I'm still learning how the mechanical parts of the vehicle affect those physics (and how they affect other vehicle mechanics). I like to dive into a corner (with no gas/brake, followed by full brake when necessary) and then roll out of it from the apex with full gas. My goal is not to drift, mind you, but to get the vehicle steering controllable to the point just before it would drift. From what (I think) I understand, oversteer is my enemy, but the only tweaks I've had consistent success with are:

1. moving the ballast into +

2. bumping up the brake balance

3. adding Toe in to the front and Toe out to the rear

Everything else is just a stab in the dark... total hit or miss. Any advice or suggestions are welcome and appreciated.

I wouldn't like to make any suggestions on changing a Mad Finn motor, those guys know what they're doing. The only thing I changed was the diff, I reduced INT and ACCEL to suit me.

As a general rule, if you want the car to rotate more, the following will help:

• Reduce Initial Torque
• Lower rear ride height
• Increase front spring and/or reduce rear spring
• Reduce rear extension
• Increase rear compression
• Lower front ARB and/or increase rear ARB
• Increase front camber and/or reduce rear camber
• Add negative front toe and positive rear toe
• Move brake bias to the rear

I'm happy to be corrected on any of the above. Any changes you do make, make them incrementally, do them one at a time and pay attention to what you're doing so you can revert 👍

{Cy}

 

[StuckGamer]

Exactly the type of advice I was looking for. Thank you so much.👍

I don't think I can improve their tune in general, but I hope to tweak it just a bit to fit my driving style. If I can slice corners the way I like, I should be able to shave a few seconds off my laps and maybe drop another few PP.

 

[CyKosis1973]

Not a problem, my pleasure. Tinkering with other people's cars is how you figure out things. That's how I started. Find a garage that publishes tunes that fit your style the closest, look at the things they do and then start applying those things to other cars. Find cars that platform share or are similar in terms of size, weight and drive train. You'll find that it's possible to use an almost identical build on cars that are only mildly related.

An example of this is my VW/Audi group of 450PP cars, an almost identical build on four different cars, which seems to work ok 👍

{Cy}

 

[StuckGamer]

After reading the tuning guide cover to cover, as well as countless posts in this forum, and now discussing it with someone, I feel like I'm finally starting to understand the mechanics of tuning. Just won the Indy Road Course with the 'Vette '06 at 652 PP (1.8M credits), and it's all because I have the vehicle behaving more like the way I want it to (still some room for improvement though). Details in OP.

 

[TeddyFreddy]

I'd love to give it a shot. If you have the opportunity and don't mind posting the full tuning, it would be greatly appreciated.👍

Yes, no problem. I have this week off of school, so I really don't have anything better to do anyway.

Transmission:
1st Gear 5.310
2nd 3.631
3rd 2.683
4th 2.060
5th 1.644
6th 1.363
7th 1.174
Final 5.620
Max speed 340 Kph
(Stock but with max speed set to 340)

Downforce: 150/200 Front/Rear
Power Limiter @ 63.0%

This gives me a performance point of 825, whilst putting the power limiter at 65,4% gives you 830PP.

I've realised though that once below the 840PP mark it doesn't really get any more difficult winning the race as the track has two high speed sections followed by a series of sharp turns where you should be able to gain 2-4 seconds each lap. My fastest lap with this setup is 1:02:544 with slipstreaming on both high speed sections, 1:03:653 for the fastest lap as 1st place. If you can keep an average of about 1:06-1:08 you should easily win the race, though.

EDIT: I won the race by 0,8 seconds with 810PP just now, lowest so far.