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- SlyckTires
Some Notes on Laguna Seca Endurance, Spec A (Apologies if there's somewhere more specific for posts of this type)
Some Notes on Laguna Seca Endurance, Spec A
First off, I figured I'd use a car from the USA, since that's what the computer was running. 415 - 420 bhp sounded about right, so long as the car wasn't much lighter than 1600kg. I'd run B spec overnight with a loony tune RS6 just to get it done, so I reckoned I ought to keep it more honest for my own run.
Attempt 1, using a Dodge Challenger with a 'box, full suspension and aero, turned out to be a massive overkill. Have to say I didn't take a lot of notice of the opposition cars, however. Thirteen laps in and I was close to 50 sec ahead and was mightily bored.
Attempt 2 consisted of the new Camaro, box fresh, which ran well, if a little loose, until a Viper '02 clawed its way from the back of the starting grid. I managed to hold it off, along with a Plymouth Cruiser, until a minor off resulted in it flying by, gathering about 2 sec a lap, never to be seen again.
Attempt 3 was the same car but with sports soft tyres fitted. I had to reload several times before there was a Viper in the starting grid, this time in the slot before me. I made a good start and put some quick laps in and by the time my tyres went off (I was really struggling by lap 19) there were 12 seconds between us. The plan was to not add fuel, since the tank was on about 60%, but a clipped barrier on the way in meant I triggered the pit actions before I could change it. By the time the pitstop was over, the Viper was in first by about 34 seconds. Interestingly, I was still second, so there wasn't much other competition to worry about it. So with things looking interesting, I set off in pursuit, wondering when the Viper would eventually pit.
Well, he hadn't bothered by the time I passed him, 6 laps later. Admittedly, there were some good laps in there, a 1:36.4 in particular stands out, since 37-39 was more like the car's performance. I wasn't really paying attention when I did it, so there may have been some drafting somewhere out on the back straight, but Laguna doesn't have any real straights so I'm not really sure. This was more than disappointing, as it strongly suggested there wasn't going to be much more in the way of competition for the next 74 laps. By lap 30 I was 12 sec ahead again, with still no sign that the Viper was pitting, although it's lap times strongly suggested its tyres were way past their best.
The second set weren't lasting as well as the first, so I decided to switch to 15 lap stints, with the third cut to 10 just to get me back into step. The Viper was 18 sec adrift when I emerged, after noting that a total fill up would have been 31 litres before declining it. Two laps later the Viper was more than a minute further adrift, so I assumed he must've had an off on his in lap, or it took a full minute to refuel. If the latter, this might indicate that fuel consumption rather than tyre wear was the main driver for the pit stop strategy of this particular car. A bit dumb, considering the tyres must've been ragged much earlier. Having said that, it's possible the game used driver fatigue as a a pit guide, in much the same way as the spec B pit strategy (it's a pity this isn't switchable as I'm very keen on leaving spec B races running all by themselves - friends and family don't 'get' that you have to keep looking in on a game that plays itself...)
Anyway, lap 42 arrives and I can see the Viper on the road as I drop out of the Corkscrew and I'm past just under the Bridgestone Bridge a lap later.
Stopping on 46, I accidentally trigger the pit actions again before setting fuel to zero (seems a bit too easy to do) but as it happens, a full tank seems to aid handling and I hit a couple of 1.35s in the next few laps. The Viper has unlapped himself but is still over a minute down. If I can avoid it, I won't refuel again, unless it turns out I'm right about the handling. I once had an Opel Manta and that handled much better with some weight over the rear axle (that is, until I stoved the front end in on a roundabout...)
The Viper gets lapped again on 59 despite the fact I'm lapping poorly, in the 1.39s. I pit a lap later and I'm past again by 66. Clearly he's given up and I'm feeling the boredom creeping in. The only thing keeping me interested is composing these notes in my head while I drive, so at least that's something I wouldn't have been doing if I'd just blitzed it with something like the Sauber. Mind you, I would have been done by now.
All that was left to do now was to set the fastest lap (lap 80, 1.35.319) and add to the quota of lapped drivers. The last 3 laps were done at a very leisurely pace (I was nodding off) and so to the 228k credits and 158k xps (still not making much of an impact on the 640k gulf between L29 & L30) and the realisation that there went 2 and a half hours I'll never get back.
To sum up, you could use the Camaro (it's the one from the icon for the race) with no mods at all and still win, just so long as you can put in the odd 1.40 and don't pit too often. Enjoy.
Some Notes on Laguna Seca Endurance, Spec A
First off, I figured I'd use a car from the USA, since that's what the computer was running. 415 - 420 bhp sounded about right, so long as the car wasn't much lighter than 1600kg. I'd run B spec overnight with a loony tune RS6 just to get it done, so I reckoned I ought to keep it more honest for my own run.
Attempt 1, using a Dodge Challenger with a 'box, full suspension and aero, turned out to be a massive overkill. Have to say I didn't take a lot of notice of the opposition cars, however. Thirteen laps in and I was close to 50 sec ahead and was mightily bored.
Attempt 2 consisted of the new Camaro, box fresh, which ran well, if a little loose, until a Viper '02 clawed its way from the back of the starting grid. I managed to hold it off, along with a Plymouth Cruiser, until a minor off resulted in it flying by, gathering about 2 sec a lap, never to be seen again.
Attempt 3 was the same car but with sports soft tyres fitted. I had to reload several times before there was a Viper in the starting grid, this time in the slot before me. I made a good start and put some quick laps in and by the time my tyres went off (I was really struggling by lap 19) there were 12 seconds between us. The plan was to not add fuel, since the tank was on about 60%, but a clipped barrier on the way in meant I triggered the pit actions before I could change it. By the time the pitstop was over, the Viper was in first by about 34 seconds. Interestingly, I was still second, so there wasn't much other competition to worry about it. So with things looking interesting, I set off in pursuit, wondering when the Viper would eventually pit.
Well, he hadn't bothered by the time I passed him, 6 laps later. Admittedly, there were some good laps in there, a 1:36.4 in particular stands out, since 37-39 was more like the car's performance. I wasn't really paying attention when I did it, so there may have been some drafting somewhere out on the back straight, but Laguna doesn't have any real straights so I'm not really sure. This was more than disappointing, as it strongly suggested there wasn't going to be much more in the way of competition for the next 74 laps. By lap 30 I was 12 sec ahead again, with still no sign that the Viper was pitting, although it's lap times strongly suggested its tyres were way past their best.
The second set weren't lasting as well as the first, so I decided to switch to 15 lap stints, with the third cut to 10 just to get me back into step. The Viper was 18 sec adrift when I emerged, after noting that a total fill up would have been 31 litres before declining it. Two laps later the Viper was more than a minute further adrift, so I assumed he must've had an off on his in lap, or it took a full minute to refuel. If the latter, this might indicate that fuel consumption rather than tyre wear was the main driver for the pit stop strategy of this particular car. A bit dumb, considering the tyres must've been ragged much earlier. Having said that, it's possible the game used driver fatigue as a a pit guide, in much the same way as the spec B pit strategy (it's a pity this isn't switchable as I'm very keen on leaving spec B races running all by themselves - friends and family don't 'get' that you have to keep looking in on a game that plays itself...)
Anyway, lap 42 arrives and I can see the Viper on the road as I drop out of the Corkscrew and I'm past just under the Bridgestone Bridge a lap later.
Stopping on 46, I accidentally trigger the pit actions again before setting fuel to zero (seems a bit too easy to do) but as it happens, a full tank seems to aid handling and I hit a couple of 1.35s in the next few laps. The Viper has unlapped himself but is still over a minute down. If I can avoid it, I won't refuel again, unless it turns out I'm right about the handling. I once had an Opel Manta and that handled much better with some weight over the rear axle (that is, until I stoved the front end in on a roundabout...)
The Viper gets lapped again on 59 despite the fact I'm lapping poorly, in the 1.39s. I pit a lap later and I'm past again by 66. Clearly he's given up and I'm feeling the boredom creeping in. The only thing keeping me interested is composing these notes in my head while I drive, so at least that's something I wouldn't have been doing if I'd just blitzed it with something like the Sauber. Mind you, I would have been done by now.
All that was left to do now was to set the fastest lap (lap 80, 1.35.319) and add to the quota of lapped drivers. The last 3 laps were done at a very leisurely pace (I was nodding off) and so to the 228k credits and 158k xps (still not making much of an impact on the 640k gulf between L29 & L30) and the realisation that there went 2 and a half hours I'll never get back.
To sum up, you could use the Camaro (it's the one from the icon for the race) with no mods at all and still win, just so long as you can put in the odd 1.40 and don't pit too often. Enjoy.
