Nurburgring 24-hour endurance in A-spec: Your experiences?

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Berrern

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Hi,

I'm currently about 18.5 hours into the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race, and I'd like to hear some of your experiences with this race.

Personally I'm using the Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car, with Medium racing tyres. I find that using harder tyres reduces the grip too much; I want to drive fast ;)

The only drawback in using Medium tyres is that I have to pit every round - and also the tyres are pretty orange before reaching the long straight part.

I've been driving this race for about 6-8 days now, seeing as I work a lot and don't have time to do it in a day or two.

My fastest lap times have been:
6'30.44
6'20.08
and yesterday I managed 6'02.11 :)

These lap times does include a (approx.) 26-second long pit session.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your experiences on this track - how long time (days) did you spend on it - or did you drive it in one go? What's your best lap times, what tires do you use, etc. etc.

I also had a look at the Fastest Times, and noticed that someone had gotten a lap time of just below 5 minutes on this one, that's not bad at all! But how did he get lap times like that?

The reason I made this thread is that I've seen people bragging about their lap times on this track, uploading videos and such - but I still haven't seen any discussion about proper racing on this track. It seems most people drive it in time trial or other modes, without tire damage; no wonder you get those amazing lap times then :p

Anyway, post your experiences please, I'd like to compare my own "tactics" and lap times with you experienced lot :)
 
i havent done that race yet
is it close racing with that car and having to pit every lap?
 
exhorst
i havent done that race yet
is it close racing with that car and having to pit every lap?
Click to expand...

Nah, not really - it's way faster than the other cars. I chose my fastest car for this race, as I didn't want to drive 24 hours and end up with a second place :p
Also, we're three people driving this race, one which has never played GT before, so I didn't want to take any chances.

I'm currently on lap 153 - and I'm 7 laps ahead of the second place.

My only disappointment with GT4 came in this race, when I noticed that the light/shadow settings (i.e. daylight) never changes through 24 hours (well, it's still 6 hours to go, but nothing has changed so far).
 
Yet to get to 25% so can't open Endurance racing! Too busy finishing Mission #34....

Is it timed to 24hrs and so you finish the lap you are on or is it a case of 200laps or thereabouts?

I'd be concerned about burning my PS2 leaving it on for 8days!
 
Speedbird223
Is it timed to 24hrs and so you finish the lap you are on or is it a case of 200laps or thereabouts?

I'd be concerned about burning my PS2 leaving it on for 8days!
Click to expand...

It's timed; after 24 hours have passed, all cars have to cross the Finish line before the race ends. This normally involves driving 1-2 laps after the 24h marker is reached.

I see some people are concerned with leaving the PS on for too long, so I've made a thread about it here.
 
If you can do such a thing, I honor you. A Save Game feature would have still been good, so you can at least be proud to have the freedom to save so you won't have to worry about staying with it all for all the way. But if you cannot do all 24 Hours on your own or with someone else, then it makes you no less of a person. If I did all this, I'd still respect you for running the race than shying away like a scared dog.

Having said that, I haven't A-Spec'ed, but wanted to share an opinion.
 
Your vehicle must not be set up properly. There's no way it should burn through medium tires in one lap. You might want to adjust traction control or gearing to save those tires. Does your vehicle's tires have plenty of body clearance. Not enough may be causing extra wear.

I can easily get two laps turning six minute plus laps. With a Toyota GT-One I was able to turn 2 consecutive laps in a time of 12:22.006 and that was with a couple of near dead-stop off-road excursions. The last lap was 6:03. My eyeballs were jiggling. The tires I used were soft fronts and medium rears. Both had turned light orange at the finish of the second lap. I didn't really optimize the vehicle because I just wanted to get an idea of what to expect. I did this with just one lap of practice before the race. I finished about seven seconds in front of the Toyota 7 in the WCT Nurburgring race. With proper suspension setup and practice the GT-One should consistently go sub sixes.

So really, you should get more out of your medium tires.
 
I started out to do the 24hr in a-spec and got to about 13 hours before I decided I had better things to do and stopped. However, that doesn't mean I won't try again in my new game. I really did this run this time to learn the track for Mission 34 and that was accomplished after 100 or so laps so there wasn't much point in continuing. I was using the MB Touring Car and racing against other Touring cars, mostly. The competition is adjusted to what you bring to run, so there really isn't much need to drive the fastest car you have. Whether you run 190 laps or 250+ laps you still have to go 24 hours. As far as the race, my main competition was the Audi A4 Touring Car and I was able to lap him every 30 laps or so. Once he was lapped it got REALLY boring for me, so a couple times I just sat by the side of the track for 10 minutes until everyone passed me. Then I would chase them down until I had a lap on them again. Made things more interesting and made some time pass as well.
 
Your crazy, and anyone else who races that race in A-Spec is crazy. lol
Atleast by the end of the race, you should have that whole track memorized.
 
This race bored me to death. I chose the A4 Touring Car, so that my competition would be close to me in its performance. The first 2-3 hours were sketchy cause I didn't know the track, but after that I was racing the clock every lap. I could go about 5-6 laps on tires and I got down to a 6:39.xxx with the A4. I think that is pretty fast. Those are flawless laps. The comp. A4 was about 30 seconds slower a lap! I was really hoping to battle the full 24 hours, but the computer didn't stand up to it at all.
 
I rocked the Minolta with Super Hard rears and Hard fronts and they are real orange every 4th lap. Run in the 6:20s consistently; won by like 40 laps.
 
Well, SRV, some people are such devotionalists for games. Ask all the people who'd do deathmatches in SOCOM II or one of my personal favorite game series, Unreal Tournament/Championship. Sometimes, I guess that if you want to be one of the "cool kids" on GTPlanet, you'll have to perform tasks like 24-hour A-Spec'ing. It can be done, but I don't think EVERYONE has the same stamina and time as one another. I'm not saying this is dumb, just that not everyone can do this. So that's why I said that if you can do such a thing on this twisty Hellhole, I commend you.

By the way, don't you just love (hate) it when you have a car, and another competitor has the exact same car as yours? When I do this endurance, I'm going to use the Ford Falcon XR8 Race Car. Aussie power in Germany.
 
I can see the XR8 going through lots of tires LOL!

I've done this race b-spec, but want to do it a-spec without pausing the game ever, one weekend soon...
 
In A-spec, huh? Well, I drove 3 hous of 24h in A-spec and I must say...it was the most boring experince in GT4.
 
it would be good if there was a comp somewhere on this site to see who can do the largest amount of laps in a car of choice at 24 Hours of the Nurb!
 
After debating weather to bother doing the 24 hours race in a spec or b spec mode i did it in a spec mode in 1 sitting,using the nissan r{godknows what}cp.{the fast one}.neway i ended up using the racing hard tyres and was 27 laps infront of the second place car,at the end of the 24 hrs i had covered 732 laps.....never again!
 
Berrern
Hi,

I'm currently about 18.5 hours into the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race, and I'd like to hear some of your experiences with this race.

Personally I'm using the Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car, with Medium racing tyres. I find that using harder tyres reduces the grip too much; I want to drive fast ;)

The only drawback in using Medium tyres is that I have to pit every round - and also the tyres are pretty orange before reaching the long straight part.

I've been driving this race for about 6-8 days now, seeing as I work a lot and don't have time to do it in a day or two.

My fastest lap times have been:
6'30.44
6'20.08
and yesterday I managed 6'02.11 :)

These lap times does include a (approx.) 26-second long pit session.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your experiences on this track - how long time (days) did you spend on it - or did you drive it in one go? What's your best lap times, what tires do you use, etc. etc.

I also had a look at the Fastest Times, and noticed that someone had gotten a lap time of just below 5 minutes on this one, that's not bad at all! But how did he get lap times like that?

The reason I made this thread is that I've seen people bragging about their lap times on this track, uploading videos and such - but I still haven't seen any discussion about proper racing on this track. It seems most people drive it in time trial or other modes, without tire damage; no wonder you get those amazing lap times then :p

Anyway, post your experiences please, I'd like to compare my own "tactics" and lap times with you experienced lot :)
Click to expand...

I used a all stock Audi TTR ABT, and i was figuring on 6"18´s during like 3 or 4 laps.
 
street-drifter
at the end of the 24 hrs i had covered 732 laps.....never again!
Click to expand...

732 laps x 14.2 miles = 10,394 miles! That is further than London to Auckland :sick:
 
Speedbird223
732 laps x 14.2 miles = 10,394 miles! That is further than London to Auckland :sick:
Click to expand...


i don't think he's talking about the same track, cuz if he ran a lap time of 5 minutes per lap non stop he would have done 288 laps after 24 hours...
 
gibus
i don't think he's talking about the same track, cuz if he ran a lap time of 5 minutes per lap non stop he would have done 288 laps after 24 hours...
Click to expand...

And at an average speed of 433mph...and 1min 58secs per lap :sly:
 
I did this in a pesky c6o judd race car. Took 45 and a quarter hours. Did roughly four hours sunday night, Ten monday and ten tuesday. I have written this up in write ups title:Nurb 24 hour a-spec report, (i dont do b-spec). I only have three endurances to go!
 
Hi,

I have been reading this thread, and I see that the words A-Spec and B-Spec modes are talked about.

Does anyone want to explain what these are, as i'm new to GT? :)
 
Need4GT
Hi,

I have been reading this thread, and I see that the words A-Spec and B-Spec modes are talked about.

Does anyone want to explain what these are, as i'm new to GT? :)
Click to expand...

In A-Spec, you are doing the actual driving. In B-Spec, the cpu does the driving for you, but you can give the cpu driver instruction on how to drive like overtake and pit. So B-Spec is kind of like simulating games in a season in a sports video game but you have a little more control.
 
pompey88
you left you're ps2 on for 8 days woah!
Click to expand...
Personally I plugged my ps2 and tv in a battery backup for the computer as down here in Florida lighting is a not to uncommon thing. :rolleyes: It took me 8 days to win the 24hr 'ring with my minolta, and I ended up winning by 43 seconds, I pitted every 4th lap, my best last was 5'52.30 with RH/RH setup, everything else pretty much bone stock.

I would have to say that it definalty was NOT worth sitting here doing all of that in A-spec for 42 pts! :grumpy: I b-speced with with the Form GT I won and his best lap was compairable to mine, but he went up almost 50 laps, in about a day .
 
I finished it using the Minolta and was 18 laps ahead, all A-Spec. I found that the super hards up front worked best and kept me on a good line, even in the bumps. When I tried softer tires the car was two twitchy.

Berrern
Hi,

I'm currently about 18.5 hours into the Nurburgring 24-hour endurance race, and I'd like to hear some of your experiences with this race.

Personally I'm using the Minolta Toyota 88C-V Race Car, with Medium racing tyres. I find that using harder tyres reduces the grip too much; I want to drive fast ;)

The only drawback in using Medium tyres is that I have to pit every round - and also the tyres are pretty orange before reaching the long straight part.

I've been driving this race for about 6-8 days now, seeing as I work a lot and don't have time to do it in a day or two.

My fastest lap times have been:
6'30.44
6'20.08
and yesterday I managed 6'02.11 :)

These lap times does include a (approx.) 26-second long pit session.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your experiences on this track - how long time (days) did you spend on it - or did you drive it in one go? What's your best lap times, what tires do you use, etc. etc.

I also had a look at the Fastest Times, and noticed that someone had gotten a lap time of just below 5 minutes on this one, that's not bad at all! But how did he get lap times like that?

The reason I made this thread is that I've seen people bragging about their lap times on this track, uploading videos and such - but I still haven't seen any discussion about proper racing on this track. It seems most people drive it in time trial or other modes, without tire damage; no wonder you get those amazing lap times then :p

Anyway, post your experiences please, I'd like to compare my own "tactics" and lap times with you experienced lot :)
Click to expand...
 
Curently into it for 11:30 hrs. 3 laps ahead of leader, and hardly trying.

DFP / A-spec

Car=Nissan MOTUL PITWORK Z (JGTC) '04, because it was what I had at 25% that had any speed and good control for this God forsaken track! Loaded it up, tweaked all my settings and strengthend the driving assists a bit and it actually is a blast to drive. I used AT because the track is too technical for MT for 24 hrs. It's great for power turns (with the DFP) as it luanches you out of 2nd into 3rd at about 100mph and throws u back into ur seat like a real racing car should. It also handles the Nurburg very well and blows the comp away.

TIRES: F=RD, R=RSH, for even wear, get about 4 laps on 'em. Also they wear out the sametime I need fuel, so pitstops are even.

Best lap: 6:38.871.
PS, you can slipstream on the last straightaway, I've got it up over 220 slipsrtem'g. And it does over 210 on it's own.

I actually didn't realize that I was in for a real 24hr race when I started. Even though I'm an Old GT head and owned and play'em all many times and used to post on major sites when GT3 came out and figured out how to play the hardway and not depend on posts to guide me through. Plus I just don't have the time anymore as I'm married now and have 2 kids now, I'm not the only kid in the house anymore. This time I came to this post to see what I was in for, sure enough it's really 24 hours.

It took me 3 days so far, (about 4hrs a day 1/2hr here and there). Because I'm on vacation this week, I'll stick it out. At this point, the draw is the Poly FGT '04 you win, "Otherwise, I'd quit!"
Plus, once I'm done, I can join the small club of phyco's that actually did it. :crazy:

Well, my breaks over, back it again. I havent slept in 3 days!

PS, If U are playing this game without the DFP, U are not playing this game. I did the 1st 10-15% without it. It sucked. Now I just clamped the DFP onto the arm of an old solid oak dining room armchair added a 25lb freeweight (to stop it from tilting when I get crazy) Whala!!! I beat races and completed requirements that I couldn't do with the PS controller. And like I said, I've played and beat GT3 many times with the controller. U can't get away with truely experincing this game whitout the DFP. I'm not a salesman, I'm just telling Ya! 👍

Good luck to ya all, maybe I'll post again someday. everything about this game is pretty much out there in Cyberspace now. U don't need me anymore. :(
 
Sorry for the late response, but I've been moving houses.
Anyway, I finished the race - and ended up 11 laps ahead of the second place. All in all it took nearly 14 days before I finished it.

I didn't manage to set any new lap-records, not even in the last lap where I didn't have to pit (had a 360 degree "accident" on the straight beacuse of very orange tires), so my best lap is still 6.02.11 (which includes a pit-stop).

When I passed about 20/21 hours, I started getting quite bored with this race, as my lead was so dominant. I found a trick to cure the boredom, we (there's 3 of us racing) started writing down eachother's checkpoint times and compared them, trying to beat eachothers time on every checkpoint instead of just the lap time. It turned out to be great fun :D

I find it hard to understand that so many people B-spec these races; I wouldn't "brag" of an x% GT4 completion unless I'd driven everything myself. After all, I bought the game to drive, not to spectate ;)

SirBerra
Your vehicle must not be set up properly. There's no way it should burn through medium tires in one lap. You might want to adjust traction control or gearing to save those tires. Does your vehicle's tires have plenty of body clearance. Not enough may be causing extra wear.
Click to expand...

Yeah, maybe this is the reason. I got the Minolta just before this race - and I bought every upgrade available for it. However, I didn't change any settings apart from the transmission and downforce (transmission=19 IIRC, downforce=max both front and rear); are the default car settings really so bad that it makes such a huge difference to tyre wear? Or maybe it was the downforce that killed my tires?
To the people who did this race with the Minolta; what settings did you use, and how often did you have to pit?

street-drifter
After debating weather to bother doing the 24 hours race in a spec or b spec mode i did it in a spec mode in 1 sitting,using the nissan r{godknows what}cp.{the fast one}.neway i ended up using the racing hard tyres and was 27 laps infront of the second place car,at the end of the 24 hrs i had covered 732 laps.....never again!
Click to expand...

732 laps? 732???? How the hell is this possible?! I covered between 200-240 laps (can't remember atm), and you've covered 3 times as many laps? Haven't tried the Nissan 92CP too much myself, but it can't be that much faster (if any) than the Minolta - after all I took the straight in 371km/h - and ran at about 320-350 on the other more or less straight parts.
Please elaborate!

Axolot2
I would have to say that it definalty was NOT worth sitting here doing all of that in A-spec for 42 pts! :grumpy: I b-speced with with the Form GT I won and his best lap was compairable to mine, but he went up almost 50 laps, in about a day .
Click to expand...

What is the deal with these A-spec points anyway? Do they lead to anything, like winning a car when reaching x points? People seem to be so concerned about their A-spec points, but personally I don't pay much attention to them.
Hopefully someone can enlighten me :)

musclehead
PS, If U are playing this game without the DFP, U are not playing this game. I did the 1st 10-15% without it. It sucked. Now I just clamped the DFP onto the arm of an old solid oak dining room armchair added a 25lb freeweight (to stop it from tilting when I get crazy) Whala!!! I beat races and completed requirements that I couldn't do with the PS controller. And like I said, I've played and beat GT3 many times with the controller. U can't get away with truely experincing this game whitout the DFP. I'm not a salesman, I'm just telling Ya! 👍
Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more!
I bought the DFP (and a metal frame with a racing seat :D) when I was at about 22-23 hours, and I was really excited to see if I could improve my lap times with it. However, the manual stated very specifically that I had to turn off the PS2 before hooking it up, and I didn't want to take any chances when I was only less than 2 hours away from completing the race - so I had to wait. Imagine how demotivating it was to finish this race when the DFP was waiting and screaming for me to use it :p
 
musclehead
Curently into it for 11:30 hrs. 3 laps ahead of leader, and hardly trying.

DFP / A-spec

Car=Nissan MOTUL PITWORK Z (JGTC) '04, because it was what I had at 25% that had any speed and good control for this God forsaken track! Loaded it up, tweaked all my settings and strengthend the driving assists a bit and it actually is a blast to drive. I used AT because the track is too technical for MT for 24 hrs. It's great for power turns (with the DFP) as it luanches you out of 2nd into 3rd at about 100mph and throws u back into ur seat like a real racing car should. It also handles the Nurburg very well and blows the comp away.

TIRES: F=RD, R=RSH, for even wear, get about 4 laps on 'em. Also they wear out the sametime I need fuel, so pitstops are even.

Best lap: 6:38.871.
PS, you can slipstream on the last straightaway, I've got it up over 220 slipsrtem'g. And it does over 210 on it's own.

I actually didn't realize that I was in for a real 24hr race when I started. Even though I'm an Old GT head and owned and play'em all many times and used to post on major sites when GT3 came out and figured out how to play the hardway and not depend on posts to guide me through. Plus I just don't have the time anymore as I'm married now and have 2 kids now, I'm not the only kid in the house anymore. This time I came to this post to see what I was in for, sure enough it's really 24 hours.

It took me 3 days so far, (about 4hrs a day 1/2hr here and there). Because I'm on vacation this week, I'll stick it out. At this point, the draw is the Poly FGT '04 you win, "Otherwise, I'd quit!"
Plus, once I'm done, I can join the small club of phyco's that actually did it. :crazy:

:(
Click to expand...
completed today. Never do that again! I test drove the F1, What a let down! 👎 Oh well, it better win me some races. A week of NO SLEEP!
Well, thats why they call me MUSCLEHEAD! DUH!
PS, next time i do an endurance, I'm hooking the PS&DFP to my UPS. I was so parinoid that we'd take a power outage I was always freaking out!
 
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