RX-7 at El Capitan 200 miles

[Skygrasper550]

so, since i was getting a little bit bored at the Capri Rally on earning cash, I decided to try something "different".., so, I checked the Endurance Hall looking for that famed El Capitan 200 miles enduro.I also considered this as my first endurance race attempt I previewed the race, and as I saw the possible opponents, i now decided on which car I would use.

PROLOGUE​

i decided to take chances and use my tuned Monaro CV8. (click here to see specs)

So, here I go. TTL Holden Monaro CV8 @ El Capitan 200 miles - 177 A-spec pts

Opponents:

1. Lotus Motorsport Elise
2. Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG
3. TVR T350C
4. TVR Cerbera Speed 6
5. Shelby Series 1 Supercharged


Lap 1: I had a slight burnout as I launched from the starting grid. First, the long left-hand sweeper. Everybody was trading paint so hey, why not join in?? I squeezed my way to pass my opponents, to find out I was only in 2nd place, seeing the Lotus Elise in front of me. I easily passed him before the steep hill after the short tunnel. So then, I started to pull away. The performance of my Monaro was great, it was fast enough and handling wasn't a problem. (it's because I tuned it ) It was perfect for this course.

Laps 2-6: I managed to gain a 9sec lead during those laps, I had to pull away from the Lotus as far as I can, while easing off my driving style, as even a faint screech could hasten up tire wear.

Laps 7-8: Tire wear quickly settled in, I was very surprised. I can feel a little bit of "twitchy-ness" as I was continuing to drive. Maybe it's because of the Monaro's weight, it "eats" my tires. I had to ease off more to preserve my tires, but then the Lotus started gaining on me, inch by inch, split-second by split-second.

Lap 9: My tire wear meters already turned red-orange too soon, the Monaro already generating understeer it wants to drift. But now is not the time to drift!! The Lotus was now right on my tail at T3.

Lap 10: I had it, my tires turned red and my Monaro became a drifter. This car was just too punishing on the tires, I will certainly lose.

So, I pressed and hold the power switch on my PS2 Slim then I pressed it again. This time, I had to choose a better car, something that has the same or better performance than the Monaro, and yet lighter so that the tires can beg for mercy. I looked around in my garage and looky here, I found my TTL Mazda RX-7 Spirit R. I hopped in then quickly entered the El Capitan enduro for the second time. I will get my revenge!!!

When I entered the race, the opponent was the same lineup as before, perfect. I decided not to change my settings, and as I "clicked" A-spec mode, *gulp* here I go. *gasp* 200 A-spec points??!! but then quickly slapped myself because I believed in my FD's performance.
As the engines roared, the countdown started. 3...2...1...START!!

THE RACE​

TTL Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD3S) @ El Capitan 200 miles - 200 A-spec pts (click here to see specs)

Opponents (same as last time):

1. Lotus Motorsport Elise
2. Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG
3. TVR T350C
4. TVR Cerbera Speed 6
5. Shelby Series 1 Supercharged


Lap 1: I had a better launch start than the Monaro, a bit of wheelspin but was taken care of instantly by throttle control. As my opponents pulled away from the line, I caught up on the sweeper. Trading paint again I passed the Elise on the downhill on T2. Time to pull away again.

Laps 2-7: I managed to open up a bigger gap, 12 seconds. That's 3 seconds more than the Monaro, thanks to the FD's lightweight and supreme handling. To my surprise, the tire wear meters still showed yellow at the end of Lap 7, compared to the Monaro which hit orange at Lap 8.

Laps 8-10: Tire wear settled in, but to my surprise again, it had little effect on the handling of my FD. I can still push this car. So I opened up the gap more by 1 second, but the Elise is keeping a fixed distance.

Lap 11: At the end of Lap 11, I decided to enter the pits. Surprised yet again, the Elises also pitted!! So did the two TVR's. As I leave the pits, I entered Lap 12.

Laps 12-18: As I left the pits with fresh new tires and 10 additional liters of fuel, I decided to take the opportunity to open up the gap further. Pit in for Shelby at Lap 13 and Merc at Lap 14. By Lap 16, the gap was now up to 20 seconds.

Laps 20-21: Tire wear again settled, but still had very little effect on the performance of my FD. During these laps I decided on when I should enter the pits again.

Lap 22: At the end of this lap I entered the pits. As I got out, I was still ahead of the Elise. Good, the gap was big enough for me to stay on the lead.

Lap 24: Pit in for the Lotus and the two TVR's. As the Elise exited the pits and made its way on the T2 marker, he was now 38 seconds behind. Replay recording finished (which I didn't save, stoopid me )

Lap 26: Pit in for SL 65 AMG and Series 1. As I reached T2, I lapped the Merc.

Lap 30: I decided on my strategy. Since I was pulling away a great deal from the Lotus, I would make my pit in after every 11 laps.

Lap 33: Pit in. I reached Lap 34 as I exited.(contuining from here, I don't quite remember what happened, so I'll just shortcut )

Lap 34: I begin noticing, my FD becomes faster and faster on the straight, gaining an extra 4 km/h. I thought, maybe because of the lighter fuel load.

Lap 36: Pit in for the 3 British cars.

Around Laps 34-44: Lapped the Shelby Series 1 (I think )

Lap 44: Pit in. My gas tank became red as I entered, so i decided to have it half-full.

Around Laps 45-55: Lapped the two Trevor's. Fastest lap achieved: 1:52.060.

Lap 49: As I was chasing the Lotus on the straight, I noticed it was no ordinary Lotus. It was faster than me on the straight (WTH?? ) but then I was way faster in the corners, so I lapped him. This race just now became a sure win

Lap 50: My FD is blazin', it's friggin' fast , it's unbeatable. All I needed to do now is to finish the race with ease

Lap 55: Pit in for Lap 56. Half-full gas tank, fresh new tires. The Elise unlapped itself as I entered into the pits.

Lap 57: This became a cat-and-mouse chase as I lapped the Elise again.

Lap 60: Pit in for the Lotus, Shelby and TVR T350C.

Lap 62: I had so much time on my hands, so hey, even on yellow tires, I still dived in to the pits. I traded paint with the Cerbera on the pit lane entry I thought I was going to hit the concrete wall so I squeezed my may. Now in front of the Cerbera in and out of the pits, I pulled away from him. "So long, you sucka!!

Lap 66: WIN!!! before the race ended, I prepared my phone's camera and as I reached the finish line, I took a picture of the only evidence of my race

So, I won, with 250,000 credits of cold hard cash, and a brand new Minolta Toyota 88C-V LMP Race Car.

Race Results:

Win!!1. Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A - 2:08:29.600
2. Lotus Motorsport Elise - -:--:--.---
3. Shelby Series 1 Supercharged - -:--:--.---
4. TVR T350C - 2:08:41.937
5. TVR Cerbera Speed Six - -:--:--.---
6. Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG - -:--:--.---

I have to say, this is a fairly easy race, but you will get tired if you are not used to endurance races, just like me

I was stoopid enough to not save the replay, because me and my eyes were just too tired.., and so, here is my only living proof of the race:

Now, one question remains on my mind: am I elligible to join Club 200??

 

[VTiRoj]

Club200 is for stock cars, sorry =drifting24/7=. But a stock RX-7 will probably win here too and provide a less boring race so theres an idea for you.

Shame your Monaro couldn't cope with the tyre wear, but at least your RX-7 earned you 200 points. If you had equipped S1 tyres, you could of stayed on track longer without pitting.

Nice race report though and welcome to the unofficial Tuner Car Endurance Club. I've done it in the NSX-R and Mafs did it in his TCv3 S14 Q's. Its unofficial though because I just made it up just now.

 

[Smallhorses]

Hi =drifting24/7=, nice report 👍
However, in answer to your final question, as VTiRoj has already pointed out, CLUB 200 is restricted to stock entries only, no tuning other than an oil change and tyres up to S1s.

As he's said though, a stock RX-7 should be capable of hammering this race, it's been done before: El Capitan 200 miles (MkII!) (200 A-spec points) even against one of the hardest lineups available.

The AI are notoriously slow on cold tyres here, and I'm fairly certain that a stock Holden Monaro could win here if fitted with SH (S1) tyres and even pitting every 10 laps. It was possible to do it in a stock Holden Commodore SS, so the Monaro should be OK: El Capitan 200 miles. (MkIII!) (200 A-spec points)

This is a really useful guide which'll help you to try and pick out a suitable AI field to race against in any enduro in GT4. You can use it to figure out when your opponents will pit in, enabling you to select the more frequent pitters for an easier race, or to go up against those with the biggest pit windows if you want more of a challenge: Complete AI Pit strategy guide for the 16 Endurance Races.

That said, good luck laying off the temptation to tune, and going for a stock entry at El Capitan 200 miles next time. Then we'll see you over in CLUB 200!

 

[Skygrasper550]

yeah i know already. Club 200 is for stock cars, but hey, just asking .., i just did the race for the money, not for the challenge, so that's ok for me...,

 

[Smallhorses]

yeah i know already. Club 200 is for stock cars, but hey, just asking ..

If you know already that it's for stock cars and you've used a tuned one, then why even bother asking?

It's like turning up to a swanky Golf Club where you've no chance of affording the yearly fees, and "just asking" on the off-chance that they'd let you in!
The laughter will follow you out of the clubhouse!

That said, I'm pretty certain you've got the driving skills to beat El Capitan 200 in a stock car for 200 points. It's about the easiest race to get 200 points on in a stock ride, (Dodge Ram cheats excepted ) and we'll welcome you happily when you've done it! 👍

 

[Arppa83]

Great story, again
Fun reading


i'm out of long comments