Renault Megane Trophy Nürburgring Challenge?

[wedjim]

Ok progress. Yesterday I kept crashing, but today went well. Much in the gearbox, but I also stumbled onto something I didn't have success with before. Stiffer Sway bars!

I ran two 5:49's back to back, a personal best. Also a best of 1:59.3 first lap and 1:54's are coming easier.

I'll post the gearbox if anyone wants it?

Also much thanks to graveltrap for steering me in the right direction on the initial set up as far as ride height variation and spring variation front to back. Once I got used to the difference my corner speed went up quickly!
It seems this car has a balance feel that requires a spring spread of about 1.25-1.5 for me. And a ride height variation of 5 minimum to 10 max. Higher in front. So I stay in that range and went up and down searching for time.

78/72
9.39/10.87
3/2
4/5
6/7*
.3/.0
-.6/.12

DF 142
407hp . Limited power to 96.4%
0 ballast


The majority of my gains seemed to come from reduced body roll, *sway bars stiffer. That and having a great group to race about a dozen times with. Several races the top three cars were within 1 second most of the race!

 

[Ale67]

Thanks @wedjim, with your last setup my best lap is 1.55.208. I use DS3. Thanks

 

[Polsixe]

This was hard to get on but finally made it. But geez, putting me 15th on the grid and the other 5 guys way up ahead with 10 blank spots, thanks a lot random grid selector! What's with guys trying to blow the chicane full speed and then sitting with a huge penalty time? After the second time why bother, yeah I mean you French guy. Then the system hangs when trying to exit.

 

[SCClockDr]

I was in a room with you for the second time this week and both times the countdown to the race start just keeps recycling over and over and the race will not start. I later raced against rajhcore for three races and my 5:48 times just earned me second place each time.
The grip of the track varies greatly from room to room. Sometimes my car simply will not turn at all. My time can go up to 6:04. That is a 16 second difference!
What changes the grip so much? Does each room have different settings or is it a connection issue? I know SRF can either be on or off when you enter a room, but the 5:48 to 6:04 times were with SRF on.
I have also entered a room with SRF on and in the first race SRF is off but all races after that SRF is on.
One day hopefully I will race against you.

I think I figured it (grip) out.

Track Temperature varies!

 

[wedjim]

This was hard to get on but finally made it. But geez, putting me 15th on the grid and the other 5 guys way up ahead with 10 blank spots, thanks a lot random grid selector! What's with guys trying to blow the chicane full speed and then sitting with a huge penalty time? After the second time why bother, yeah I mean you French guy. Then the system hangs when trying to exit.

Haha, you'll get used to the "random grid selection," putting you in the same spot a few races in a row regardless of car count from race to race.
Wait until you win and get paid for 2nd, or after a race the screen goes to random track views and you no longer control your car, without being credited for the last races finish? But it won't let you exit...be patient, wait it out. Most of the time it magically starts working again.

The track cutting gets pretty ridiculous. I've done it just to catch someone who helped me enjoy the beach a couple times in a row though. lol feels crummy doing it even then. Sucks the penalties aren't more drastic for offenders.

But man it pays good! I got 10th and was paid 300,000+ credits! 2:26 first lap, lmao!

I think I figured it (grip) out.
View attachment 330310 View attachment 330311
Track Temperature varies!

You know what, I noticed one time it looked like it might rain, it was cloudy, but it said zero track surface water. I never put it together, but I'm no doctor!

Wow, that makes sense...you the man!

 

[jlbmel]

I think I figured it (grip) out.
View attachment 330310 View attachment 330311
Track Temperature varies!

First of all, it was great to race against you the other night. Except for a couple of blocking/brake checking fools, the races were very good.
This track temperature deal is not the cause of my track grip problem. I have seen the 32° temp many times before but on all those occasions the countdown to race never starts and after a long period of time I am disconnected from the server. This happened both times I was in a room with @wedjim and was never able to race with him.
Also note that the time is different from the normal 14:00 and it keeps increasing until you get disconnected.
Were you able to actually race at that temp? Every race I have done has been at 47º.
I think the grip problems are caused by our server connection because not all the other people are effected during these races. Some are still able to do decent lap times when I am having no grip at all and can not even break the 2:00 lap time!
This game is so full of glitches that it is no longer funny. I was in one of those races were all the cars are scattered all over the track and warping in and out of view and I was shown as leading by 99:59:59.999! That is a pretty good lead for a 6 minute race.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I can not remember if the countdown to race does not start at all or if it just keeps recycling when the temp is 32º. Either way, it just leads to a disconnect and no race.

 

[wedjim]

That's true. In the races where I suddenly can't go faster than a 56, the leader can sometimes be flying.

Today someone I never saw before Mexamoon or something like that, ran a 1:53.2 and a total time of 5:46! I got second with a 5:51. Yawn. lol



I am going to more closely watch the temps and times though. Never stopped to think it might vary that much.

 

[jlbmel]

That's true. In the races where I suddenly can't go faster than a 56, the leader can sometimes be flying.

Today someone I never saw before Mexamoon or something like that, ran a 1:53.2 and a total time of 5:46! I got second with a 5:51. Yawn. lol



I am going to more closely watch the temps and times though. Never stopped to think it might vary that much.

During the past week I have raced against two people from Japan that were really fast. The first one ran a 5:45.960 and I was amazed. Then in another race the other person did a 5:45.1! That is the fastest time I have seen. I have done a 5:46.5 once when all the planets were perfectly aligned. lol

 

[lisanorm]

so i wonder if hacked cars can sneak into this event....just a thought..

 

[wedjim]

so i wonder if hacked cars can sneak into this event....just a thought..

I often wonder how much nitrous would help down some of the straights with a taller FD also providing more traction in the corners? :/

 

[neckstrap]

Wedjim,

Your setup advice has helped me a lot. I then added a lot of ballast to increase the power and after many hours of practice and sweat have gotten into the 1:56's. I do not understand how you are cutting 3 seconds off that time! I must be a lousy driver. I will try it out in a race and see what happens.

After a few races, my best finish was 3rd. I like the 416 HP, but the ballast makes cornering a little harder. After each race, I would drop a little ballast and also the power to compensate. It did not seem to matter much. Oh well, at least I was able to buy a couple of $20M Ferrari's!

 

[wedjim]

Wedjim,

Your setup advice has helped me a lot. I then added a lot of ballast to increase the power and after many hours of practice and sweat have gotten into the 1:56's. I do not understand how you are cutting 3 seconds off that time! I must be a lousy driver. I will try it out in a race and see what happens.

Glad to hear that! Graveltrap got me pointed in the right direction and I tweaked his baseline to my liking. Looking for fast, but not too crazy to keep pointed in the right direction. I have tried some crazy set ups, but too squirrely.
The ballast and added power will force different gearbox settings and also overload the tires. Which seem to be at their limit as it is.

I actually want to try lighter with less power and see how fast it would be. But I think I'll try that offline.

As far as lap times. Another trick I picked up from Graveltrap and some other fast guys is shifting to a higher gear early to reduce wheelpin. You would think a lower gear and throttle control would be faster, but it seems a higher gear and more throttle is the ticket.
Lastly, try clipping some of the curbs to straighten the turns out at 4, 9 and 11. Off the top of my head I think those are the numbers.

 

[graveltrap]

I've not run my car for a while, I should revisit post 1.16 and with the T300RS / Omega stand that replaced the DFGT / Ironing board

I do enjoy the one make aspect especially with tuning, but the track got stale after a couple of weeks!

It really needs to be changed out more quickly to keep me interested, I am not that bothered about credits and cars just new challenges and experiences

Great job of achieving your goals and getting to grips with the car wedjim, your running fast these days

It's not just power and weight you have to think about, torque plays a role too

 

[wedjim]

I've not run my car for a while, I should revisit post 1.16 and with the T300RS / Omega stand that replaced the DFGT / Ironing board

Great job of achieving your goals and getting to grips with the car wedjim, your running fast these days

It's not just power and weight you have to think about, torque plays a role too

Thanks. Torque is what moves the car, HP is a calculation of torque and RPM. So I certainly agree!
One of the things I have not tried yet is more power limited down to an extreme. I have gone down to 92% limit to see what would happen, but I got more wheel spin, harder to drive and no improvement in average lap times. With that said, it's very likely I did not optimize the gearbox and FD?

I have 5 cars with slightly different gearbox's and FD's. As well as minor setup variations. I will take one to try some things today if you can share some ideas?

 

[SCClockDr]

I've been off the grid for a few days, unplanned trip to greet returning granddaughter from Thailand. May try to get setup on their PS3 today.
Just prior to departure my car went into oil & engine deterioration mode. The loss of torque fails to recover once PP is returned to 530, a 10ftlb deficit while there was a 2HP gain. The car was more sluggish than before though the times I was getting were not that bad, just more difficult to achieve.
Still have 800Km's to go to fully deplete the oil, then I will try various parts, etc. to see if there is any way to restore the torque & HP to increased values with the PP @ 530.
My defensive driving training is coming along nicely. Now have many races without being pitted. Not quite sure how I'm doing it, it almost feels like luck but the aggressor was behind and in position then they missed me and overshot their exit. A sweet feeling indeed.

 

[haejuk]

I really enjoy this event, even though I can't get a lower lap time than 1:59 yet. I like being able to focus on a single car that everyone else is driving and try a lot of tunes while being very well rewarded for racing online. I only wish the event cycled through a few courses.

 

[Daduce1947]

My defensive driving training is coming along nicely. Now have many races without being pitted. Not quite sure how I'm doing it, it almost feels like luck but the aggressor was behind and in position then they missed me and overshot their exit. A sweet feeling indeed.

It does feel good doesn't it :-)!! As you're saying Doc, I've also had good luck driving hard while keeping defensive driving in mind helps keep me on the track when another is trying to beat me up. I use the driving line and generally hold tight to it. I can't recall how many times I've heard and felt another car hitting me, I hold MY line with at least a little throttle [I've learned as we approach the corner and need some braking,, they have a hard time knocking me off the track if I have a little throttle applied],, check my rear view and see they're slowing down because they got the penalty. Driving hard but with an attitude toward defensive driving, keeping an eye on those who got a penalty and the resulting "ghosting" also helps me negotiate the first three corners avoiding the usual 3 to 6 second penalty. If all goes well being placed on the grid toward the rear is not a challenge, in many instances I kind of like it,, it gives me the chance to see downrange and a chance to get some heat in the tires before I start pushing the line.
I've not ran the QM's for a few days as my credits are maxed, already have the 15 and 20M exotics in my garage so am more focused on trying, trying, trying to lower my laps in the TT's. Let's hope when they do change the QM's there's at least one of them will allow us use our tuned cars, is loads of fun like this Megane event has been and pays the HUGE truckloads of credits NBRing GP pays!

See ya out there guys!!

 

[graveltrap]

I have to drive the car again to have ideas!!

I'll post the gearbox if anyone wants it?

78/72
9.39/10.87
3/2
4/5
6/7*
.3/.0
-.6/.12

DF 142
407hp . Limited power to 96.4%
0 ballast

Super nice I like it a lot, I might race it later

I did plug it into a car with chassis rigidity, used your diff settings from an earlier post 5/14/15.

I couldn't match your power settings either I got 407bhp / 47kgfm with stage 1 with intake tuning limited to 94.9 percent. No idea on the state of the oil in this car it might have been changed at some point...

Gearbox would be nice, the one on my car hit the limiter

Also used 5/5 brake balance.

Ten or so laps in Arcade time trial with a best of 1:54.223 the majority were 1:54's..,

Puts power down really well, very nicely balanced, doesn't do anything crazy, just works, I would like some more steering in the high speed S, but that's it!

 

[SCClockDr]

The Michael Schumacher S's are a challenge indeed. It seems if enough speed can be attained prior to entry and a late enough entry to avoid the paint on the left, that section can be run at or near to full throttle.That leaves no margin for any other situation however. It seems the added speed generates the needed DF to get'er done, the kitty litter or a spin is the result otherwise.
I slight lift on entry with wheel in it works when others are present. Only need brakes if a slow mover is in the way to avoid a collision penalty.

 

[wedjim]

I have to drive the car again to have ideas!!



Super nice I like it a lot, I might race it later

I did plug it into a car with chassis rigidity, used your diff settings from an earlier post 5/14/15.

I couldn't match your power settings either I got 407bhp / 47kgfm with stage 1 with intake tuning limited to 94.9 percent. No idea on the state of the oil in this car it might have been changed at some point...

Gearbox would be nice, the one on my car hit the limiter

Also used 5/5 brake balance.

Ten or so laps in Arcade time trial with a best of 1:54.223 the majority were 1:54's..,

Puts power down really well, very nicely balanced, doesn't do anything crazy, just works, I would like some more steering in the high speed S, but that's it!

Well, you're faster with it than I am! lol
My gearbox is:
Max speed 112
3.281
2.453
1.89
1.514
1.243
1.051
FD 3.72

My LSD is:
5/16/24

I also tried max wing today, 150, Seemed to just make it a tad easier to drive with no real negatives. Have to get it thru my head it's not like tuning 3D cars. haha

Today I tried for more steering and found something good. Probably in between your original setup and what I'm running.
83/75
8.42/10.02
3/2
4/5
6/7
0.2/0.0
-.06/.12

Seems as though softer is a little faster, but also edgier?

I also tried moving the power around a bit today. I still get my best laps in the 97-99.2% range. I went all the way down to 79xx% but the car wouldn't even hit the rev limiter in the straights any longer with the same gearing.
And, I went slower by a tenth or two.
I am not using engine tuning at all, std., but rather all the other options to try different power bands.

Maybe that's next?

The Michael Schumacher S's are a challenge indeed. It seems if enough speed can be attained prior to entry and a late enough entry to avoid the paint on the left, that section can be run at or near to full throttle.That leaves no margin for any other situation however. It seems the added speed generates the needed DF to get'er done, the kitty litter or a spin is the result otherwise.
I slight lift on entry with wheel in it works when others are present. Only need brakes if a slow mover is in the way to avoid a collision penalty.

I have been doing things like ghosting the car intentionally, backing off entering the "Schumacher S," and just letting the ridiculously fast guys by. Been getting top 5's on all but the most ridiculous races. 5 wins today paid 2.5million credits alone!

I let Moxitops and Maxi-Turn(?) the ridiculously fast Japanese guy thru today. The Japanese guy ran consistent 5:45's and 1:52.3's WITH the barricades in place. Not to mention a 1:57.4 first lap!

Hol-E-crap!

 

[graveltrap]

I shall try it properly later and see if I can remember how to race...Once I've fixed it...

​

 

[Jaywalker]

I'm not at my PS3. Does anyone know when this event closes?

 

[PJTierney]

I have been doing things like ghosting the car intentionally, backing off entering the "Schumacher S," and just letting the ridiculously fast guys by. Been getting top 5's on all but the most ridiculous races. 5 wins today paid 2.5million credits alone!

I let Moxitops and Maxi-Turn(?) the ridiculously fast Japanese guy thru today. The Japanese guy ran consistent 5:45's and 1:52.3's WITH the barricades in place. Not to mention a 1:57.4 first lap!

Hol-E-crap!

Moxi and a Greek driver were in our lobby last night, those guys are seriously quick.

Before they showed up I was trading wins with you, but after that I was miles off.

I think I'm going down a wrong direction with my setup. The car feels fine but I'm hitting 56/57s instead of the 55s I was doing a week or two ago.

Is it possible to take the Schumacher S flat out with the right setup?

 

[wedjim]

I'm not at my PS3. Does anyone know when this event closes?

I'll take a note today if it says and let you know. Off the top of my head I don't think they say with the QM's.

Moxi and a Greek driver were in our lobby last night, those guys are seriously quick.

Before they showed up I was trading wins with you, but after that I was miles off.

I think I'm going down a wrong direction with my setup. The car feels fine but I'm hitting 56/57s instead of the 55s I was doing a week or two ago.

Is it possible to take the Schumacher S flat out with the right setup?

That was some fun racing! When I can race within a second or two of another racer, that is fun. Especially if there is no intentional beating and ramming, just hard racing and maybe a rub here and there!

With my softer and slightly higher setup posted above, I can enter the Schumacher S flat out in 5th, blip the throttle just after left wheel input back to about 70%, then back to full throttle all the way out using the right curb a little.

I noticed my black car slowing down and I restored chassis rigidity. It helped. But last night I tried the yellow factory car which only had 120 miles on it with the same setup and I ran 1:54's back to back.

The age of the car matters somehow, even if the setup numbers all look the same.

 

[PJTierney]

Is there any performance difference between Standard, Base Model and Anniversary versions?

 

[wedjim]

Btw, last night I did quite a bit of racing, until I maxed out again. But I got three brake checks in the process. This infuriates me. When I race someone clean for almost an entire lap and try to find a clean way by. I must have backed off three times on a couple of occasions, even though I had the inside line. Simply because I saw they wouldn't yield the spot and allow a clean pass. Then we get on the straight and I'm drafting about a car length behind and brake lights, BAM, 9 second penalty!
I still caught back up and passed them...less gently.
Do people ever think, wow that guy made up a 5 second penalty 3 times now, if I let them by and see what they are doing I might learn something?

I did find out last night that 12th place still pays over 200,000 credits!

lol

Is there any performance difference between Standard, Base Model and Anniversary versions?

I haven't found any, so if there is its within my margin of driver errors. I have a STD and an anniversary model I haven't used much, once I decided paint was fun. Today I'll try the blue car and see what happens.

 

[SCClockDr]

@wedjim
I save replays when I get battered about and study the behavior just prior to the incident. Brake checkers seem to be quite consistent setting up. This has also helped with those that like to pit me & others.

It's been a few days as I am on the road, was wondering how 1.17 has affected things. Especially the tyranny bug.

 

[graveltrap]

It seems I have forgotten how to get through the first lap melee! I found find myself at the back of the field by the end of the 1st sector 4 out of 5 races

Enjoyed the battle back through the field for few podium finishes though

I managed to check out once a put 5:51 together, slow first lap but then two 54's

Didn't like the gearing and diff settings so ran it with what I had initially, also added more front c:censored:r which made me faster but took away the nicer handling and feel of wedjims suspension set up...

 

[wedjim]

@wedjim
I save replays when I get battered about and study the behavior just prior to the incident. Brake checkers seem to be quite consistent setting up. This has also helped with those that like to pit me & others.

It's been a few days as I am on the road, was wondering how 1.17 has affected things. Especially the tyranny bug.

Good idea, I'll need to review some of the saved races I have saved 3 or 4.

The update seems good, I get in rooms easier for QM...might just be luck. The seasonal races they added are a lot of fun too.

It seems I have forgotten how to get through the first lap melee! I found find myself at the back of the field by the end of the 1st sector 4 out of 5 races

Enjoyed the battle back through the field for few podium finishes though

I managed to check out once a put 5:51 together, slow first lap but then two 54's

Didn't like the gearing and diff settings so ran it with what I had initially, also added more front c:censored:r which made me faster but took away the nicer handling and feel of wedjims suspension set up...

It censored the word Camber? Or you did? I'll have to try some different settings. Haven't messed with camber much lately.

The first turn is always a mess. I have learned to try and pitch my car in, REALLY close to the inside of the turn. Causing it to ghost and turn under those who always overshoot the turn. I usually come out of turn 1 in the top 3 or 4 spots. But that doesn't mean somebody isn't going to tap on my door and give me a 5 second penalty for having the nerve to be in front of them? lol

 

[wedjim]

Ok, I did a half dozen races with the blue anniversary version. This car only had 44 miles on it to start out. I noted first there are far less engine tuning options. I tried the three possibilities with mixed results. The slowest was max power limited back. 388 ft lbs, I think it was about 77% from memory. For me it wouldn't pull a much taller gear, but without more gear it generated more wheel spin and lost steam at higher revs. Bottom line for me was 94% limit was the best lap times.

Tonight, trying some camber settings and gearbox tuning. Graveltrap keeps me thinking!