- 6,118
- Finland
OK, we all know that the tuned Elises are the best cars in their class and that the system is flawed to a point. I did some quick research, pitting the Elise against the Amuse S2000 GT1 Turbo. The findings can be seen below, with conclusions.
Lotus Elise 111R / Tuned
100% power, 248 bhp
90% weight, 621 kg
R3 / R3 tyres
20 / 35 downforce
...650 pts...
Amuse S2000 GT1 Turbo
65% power, 460 bhp
111% weight, 1243 kg
S2 / S2 tyres
10 / 20 downforce
...650 pts...
And their idea was to make things fair. I assume this would have meant that every car with 650 pts would have performed approximately equally and was probably done in good belief but as we can see the system doesn't work at all.
Let's begin with the WPR. Every bhp in the Elise has to propel almost exactly 2500 grams. However, every bhp in the Amuse has to proper almost exactly 2700 grams. The more powerful car is being punished already and this is just the beginning.
But the ridiculousness doesn't end here. The PWR difference might be bearable but the amount of handling robbed isn't. The Amuse is crippled with little more than half of the downforce of the Elise and tyres that are medium DOT legals while the Lotus is running on soft full slicks.
And to make things ever worse, even if they had a similar WPR, the same downforce and the same tyres, the Elise would still win because there are no downsides for lightness but a lot of advantages. It would still decelerate better, corner better and even accelerate better out of slow corners.
In my opinion the power loss doesn't take away nowhere near enough points, neither does adding weight. Going from full downforce to minimum downforce makes a huge difference on the track but in points it's roughly equivalent to losing 7% of the power which makes hardly any difference on a flowing track. Moreover, dropping from R3 tyres to S3 compound cripples the car completely but costs only a bit more again than that power decrease.
In short, what should be changed in my opinion:
Lotus Elise 111R / Tuned
100% power, 248 bhp
90% weight, 621 kg
R3 / R3 tyres
20 / 35 downforce
...650 pts...
Amuse S2000 GT1 Turbo
65% power, 460 bhp
111% weight, 1243 kg
S2 / S2 tyres
10 / 20 downforce
...650 pts...
And their idea was to make things fair. I assume this would have meant that every car with 650 pts would have performed approximately equally and was probably done in good belief but as we can see the system doesn't work at all.
Let's begin with the WPR. Every bhp in the Elise has to propel almost exactly 2500 grams. However, every bhp in the Amuse has to proper almost exactly 2700 grams. The more powerful car is being punished already and this is just the beginning.
But the ridiculousness doesn't end here. The PWR difference might be bearable but the amount of handling robbed isn't. The Amuse is crippled with little more than half of the downforce of the Elise and tyres that are medium DOT legals while the Lotus is running on soft full slicks.
And to make things ever worse, even if they had a similar WPR, the same downforce and the same tyres, the Elise would still win because there are no downsides for lightness but a lot of advantages. It would still decelerate better, corner better and even accelerate better out of slow corners.
In my opinion the power loss doesn't take away nowhere near enough points, neither does adding weight. Going from full downforce to minimum downforce makes a huge difference on the track but in points it's roughly equivalent to losing 7% of the power which makes hardly any difference on a flowing track. Moreover, dropping from R3 tyres to S3 compound cripples the car completely but costs only a bit more again than that power decrease.
In short, what should be changed in my opinion:
- All round heavier tolls on lightweights to combat their inherent advantages
- More points loss for decreasing power
- An increased points importance of downforce
- Bigger points steps for the tyres
