ORCA DTM-SPEC GERMAN GRAND PRIX! Events complete

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Good racing last night. The Heat race was fun and (for me) the first half of the Feature race was fun (the second half was rather boring). A little disappointed with the low turnout but we ended up with 7 for the Feature race which isn't too bad. To me the cars all seemed fairly even and the racing was as close as it was in the Silvia or Alfa. Props to Carr and Marcus for driving the slightly slower A4 in the hopes of balancing the field, and it seemed to work fairly well, at least during the first 10 laps before we all got spread out.

Looking forward to doing it again on Saturday, hope we get a bigger crowd!

Heat race results:

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Feature race results:

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Congrats on the double Sag...guess I don't have to ask how the new wheel is working for you:)
 
Sorry I couldn't make it, I really do miss racing with you guys, lots of fast and clean racing goes on in the ORCA races I have been in. If there is room Saturday, I would like to join, but can't confirm I will be there until pretty much a hour before hand. I am also going to need some time breaking in the new wheel, just found my new T500RS on my from step this morning, replacing the G27, I just hope i dont regret it. :scared:
 
^ If last night's attendance is indicative of Saturday's crowd, there should be plenty of room for you even at the last minute. Hope you can make it, it's been too long since we raced together!

Talk to Owens about switching from the G27 to the T500RS, he's been having nightmares with the pedals of the T500 and has had to swap/replace them multiple times in the ~1 year he has had it. On the other hand I've had my G27 for just over 2 years now without any issues. I've never used a T500 though so I can't comment on it other than what Owens has told me about the pedal issues.


Did anyone else's car feel rather different last night once the race had started? Everything felt fine in practice (although I was well over one second off my previous best for some reason) but once we started racing it suddenly felt very pushy through every part of the track whether I was in traffic or not. I had one incident of massive aero push going into the first turn, I had a decent tow on Marcus so started braking early but still PLOWED into the back of him (sorry Marcus) as if I hadn't braked at all.
 
^ I'm convinced it was all aero push. In race one on cold tires it was pretty hairy. And after that every time I got within draft range of anyone I'd almost immediately blow a corner and fall back again. During race one, in turn one despite braking pretty early and trying to pull the nose out of the draft a bit I think I bumped Sag on every lap.

P.S. After a year of heavy use, pedals on my G27 acquired the need to for a monthly cleaning. CSPv1 I currently have are on a third load cell. So I now expect any pedals to require some attention sooner or later.
 
BrandonW77
Did anyone else's car feel rather different last night once the race had started? Everything felt fine in practice (although I was well over one second off my previous best for some reason) but once we started racing it suddenly felt very pushy through every part of the track whether I was in traffic or not. I had one incident of massive aero push going into the first turn, I had a decent tow on Marcus so started braking early but still PLOWED into the back of him (sorry Marcus) as if I hadn't braked at all.
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No worries Brandon. Brakes are like chewing gum; I was taught to bring enough for everyone. The braking is very odd with these cars as unlike a normal street car they achieve peak deceleration near initial braking input, and taper off as speeds and downforce drop. The downforce gives them excellent brake response, but it is difficult to maintain optimum braking pressure as aero loads reduce.

I had experienced those symptoms when we raced previously, although I wasn't in the pack much last night to notice anything. Phantom lag.
 
dsgerbc
^ I'm convinced it was all aero push. In race one on cold tires it was pretty hairy. And after that every time I got within draft range of anyone I'd almost immediately blow a corner and fall back again. During race one, in turn one despite braking pretty early and trying to pull the nose out of the draft a bit I think I bumped Sag on every lap.

P.S. After a year of heavy use, pedals on my G27 acquired the need to for a monthly cleaning. CSPv1 I currently have are on a third load cell. So I now expect any pedals to require some attention sooner or later.
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I forgot about the cold tires and aero push so I plowed some guys in turn 3. Then again, and one more time for good measure. I have always said the brakes feel different in a race with or without the draft in GT5. It's very small but different.
 
dsgerbc
P.S. After a year of heavy use, pedals on my G27 acquired the need to for a monthly cleaning. CSPv1 I currently have are on a third load cell. So I now expect any pedals to require some attention sooner or later.
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I've not had any issues with my pedals yet, they may very well be due for a cleaning but so far so good. I do have the small issue where an aggressive over-correction can knock the wheel slightly off-center but I guess it's a piece of cake to correct by tightening one screw (I just haven't done it yet).


Marcus Garvey
No worries Brandon. Brakes are like chewing gum; I was taught to bring enough for everyone.
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I wondered what the heck you meant by that comment last night! I just figured it was drunk-speak. :drool: lol

carracerptp
I have always said the brakes feel different in a race with or without the draft in GT5. It's very small but different.
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I've often thought the same thing. There's just something slightly different when the race goes green, I spend lap after lap practicing and think I have the track down pat but once we start racing it's like I have to learn everything all over again. Example: the left-hand kink before the long back stretch (Kumho-Kurve), during all my practice I was able to get through there pretty easily in third gear with some gentle braking. Last night, even when I was by myself on the track, the same approach would send me very wide across the curbing and I had to apply a lot more brake to get through there, losing momentum in the process.
 
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dsgerbc
^ I'm convinced it was all aero push. In race one on cold tires it was pretty hairy. And after that every time I got within draft range of anyone I'd almost immediately blow a corner and fall back again. During race one, in turn one despite braking pretty early and trying to pull the nose out of the draft a bit I think I bumped Sag on every lap.
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I agree the effect is very strong, perhaps stronger than before, and it can catch almost anyone out. During one of the practice races, I was following Marcus, and despite him not going particularly quickly (he had an issue), I was slowly falling back in the draft because I just could not adjust to the seemingly strange aero push as I was messing up every other corner. It seemed like my braking distances were varying almost randomly. I thought it might have been all in my head, but perhaps it has to do with the increased brake sensitivity in dirty air or perhaps the brakes are a little different in dirty air as carracer says.
 
its going to be borderline if I can make the event guy's,
 
TDZdave
its going to be borderline if I can make the event guy's,
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Hope you can, we'd enjoy having a new face on the grid. You can join at any point, on Tuesday Owens wasn't able to make it for qualifying or the heat race but showed up just in time for the feature. Saturday's feature race will likely start around 3:30pm EST, feel free to join at any time before that if you're able. 👍
 
is there someone I need to send an FR too?
 
^ Send a PSN FR to: ORCA_Champ, we use that as a private lounge to hold all club practices and races in. Let me know if you're not familiar with how it works.
 
I'm guessing its like C.R.A.P or wurks.ca?
 
^ Yes. The ID won't show up as being online but if you click the coffee cup you can join the lounge and see who is already in there. 👍
 
I can probably make it this Saturday guys. I'll bring a couple of the cars.
 
SagarisGTB
I agree the effect is very strong, perhaps stronger than before, and it can catch almost anyone out. During one of the practice races, I was following Marcus, and despite him not going particularly quickly (he had an issue), I was slowly falling back in the draft because I just could not adjust to the seemingly strange aero push as I was messing up every other corner. It seemed like my braking distances were varying almost randomly. I thought it might have been all in my head, but perhaps it has to do with the increased brake sensitivity in dirty air or perhaps the brakes are a little different in dirty air as carracer says.
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That is the phantom lag I was talking about. There appears nothing out of the ordinary, except the grip is very inconsistent and lap times are all over the place. Phantom lag. I have a feeling everyone was experiencing it, with some perhaps not noticing it. I know I experienced it. When it happens I tend to go into cruise mode, as I haven't found any remedy for it.

In the past others have noted a possible correlation between supposed incidents of lag and some drivers not being hardwired. Also, I read in the past that sometimes not everyone in the room always experiences it, and sometimes it is only lag between two or three drivers and not everyone can see it. I know that with a group I used to drive with, there was always one specific driver that I would have serious lag when driving in proximity. Unfortunately it is largely unpredictable and there seems no certain fix. It used to be fairly common, but seemed to have disappeared until the past month.
 
I'll be MIA most likely Saturday. Got a birthday party to attend at 1pm. May get done and be home to catch the race. Then at 5ish my boy is having a sleep over for his Birthday on Sunday.


NOTE : Add waaaay more fuel then suggested. I ran out TWICE. Uggggh the faster fuel/tire is new to me and thought PD suggestion + 4 liters would be suffice like normal wear/consumption.
 
Before the supposed 'fix' several months back, one can tell if he had 'phantom lag' by timing his laps off a replay with a stop watch and comparing times to in-game clock. They would diverge. I experienced it lots of times before, I don't believe that was it this time since I'd only get similar symptoms around other cars.

Anyway, sadly, I'm out for Saturday. Have fun guys and don't forget to splash some fuel during pit-stop. Apparently the game won't tell you if you need it and suggest zero gallons on it's own.

Just in case this helps anyone, I'd rank the cars according to laps I can manage.
1. TT-R, the fastest. Very easy to put power down early. Eats rear tires quicker.
2. CLK. It's fast and easy to drive, about ~0.4 seconds slower on average (during the first few laps) than TT. No idea how it behaves in-race and in-draft. Possibly very difficult to adjust to driving in traffic, and if you're stuck behind someone lapping a second or so slower, I doubt you'd be able to pass. Tire wear is really nice so I'm gussing in clean air on laps 5-10 it's outright the fastest car.
3-4. Astras (don't have the Vauxhall, or rather I have one that's ruined). It's about 0.5-0.6 seconds slower than the TT. Eats rear tires. (I ran 5-1 BB to even it out).
Had to splash 5 gallons during pit stop.
5: M3. About a second slower than the TT. The loosest of the bunch. If you don't adjust BB to even-out the tire wear, it becomes quite a handful later in the run. I like this car, I would've driven it if Brandon wasn't in one already.
6: A4. About 1.3-1.5 seconds slower than TT. Sounds like it's got a rotary in it, or something else very angry. Not sure how much fuel to put in, ask Carr, he reportedly ran out at the finish line.
 
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dsgerbc
6: A4. About 1.3-1.5 seconds slower than TT. Sounds like it's got a rotary in it, or something else very angry. Not sure how much fuel to put in, ask Carr, he reportedly ran out at the finish line.
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12 gallons I think. I guessed it almost perfect. I was hypermiling (Coasting) the last lap trying to save fuel. I still just saw the fuel bar disappear a few yards before the line.
13 or 14 would have been better.
Also, in the A4 you need to be quick with the down shifts. Even a little off and the car won't turn-in.
 
BrandonW77
Wasn't trying to prove you wrong or anything, just wanted to make sure others weren't trying to convert liters to gallons. 👍
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I'm amazed you Merkins know what litres are! Then again, I think your gallons are different to our gallons. Here there are approx 4.5 litres in a gallon.
 
RDAardvark
I'm amazed you Merkins know what litres are! Then again, I think your gallons are different to our gallons. Here there are approx 4.5 litres in a gallon.
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There are 3.785411784 litres liters in a U.S. gallon. Obviously you all are doing it wrong.

Marcus Garvey
If anyone here wears a merkin, I will not race with you.
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I had to google it, but...........:lol:
 
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