Suggestions for El Capitan 200 - now with Race Report!

Thanks for playing. Good night.

 

I like to drive just about anything on El Capitan. It's an awesome track. Like the '63 vette. If anything, I'd recommend non-FF's.

 

ya non-ff cuz ff sucks and has understeer frs and mrs may have oversteer but is easily controlled

 

You also need street tires...So he did not use the F1.

 

i used the NSX LM road car and it work fine stock with an oil change

 

Overkill!

 

meh, i used the trueno ss and beat them pretty easily.

 

With major modifications of course, right?

 

I used the Elise IIIR and had a great time. But, looking back on it, it was an awfully easy race in the Elise fully tuned at 331 hp, it wasn't even close really, I was laps ahead. You might scale that back a bit and run it with either stage 2 turbo or NA tuning instead of stage 3 (like I used) for a harder race.

 

well, the turbo'd one. everything bought for it naturally. comes out to what, 315 hp? so yea, i guess major modifications?

 

Well, I got a short opportunity to play last night, so I tried a couple of cars from my list.

First up was the Great Pumpkin Audi TT. I added NA1 tuning, the FC trans (widened to 8 autoset), triple plate clutch, and race FW. This sped up the shifting substantially. I had forgotten my notes from Digital Nitrate's field compilation, so I went with the first field without the MS Elise or the Zonda. Unfortunately this had the Proto Spirra in it. 200 points on the block.

The little TT is still a hoot to drive, but the Spirra took off from the outset. My TT was quite good through the back side of the course but I gave up most of that gain on the front straight. I was falling steadily behind the Spirra but running second when I got nudged at the kink in the front straight, and spun in the sand. This was a killer, BUT the situation was hopeless anyway. On S2 tires I barely made 10 laps on the fronts, and really only 9 decent laps. The other cars are making 11-12 laps at least. So time to try something else, or go to a fuller build on the TT. But I hate cars that eat front tires, so I'll probably skip it, even though I love the way you can throttle-steer it.

I reset the console and got into my relatively-built Top Banana M Coupe, with full race suspension and about 390 hp. This car seemed a shoe-in during its Track Meet audition at El Capitan but last night I realized that was on R-compound tires.

So I switched to S2s and found a field that didn't have the MS Elise, the Zonda, or the Spirra. Hot shoe was the Shelby S1 followed by the TVR 350C. This actually looks like a relatively tight field, though the first two were clearly a bit quicker (why the AI loafs around in the Viper is beyond me).

I started the race and got left at the line, but was picking off the back markers by the Hoopdie. The M Coupe is a bit down on top speed, but the braking is stupendous. By lap 7 or 8 I was about 8 seconds up on the Shelby. But then, it all started to go wrong. Not quite as quickly as the TT, but the front tires went away again, and I started losing ground. I held on through lap 11, falling back to third. If the Shelby and the TVR had pitted on 11, it would have been a workable position. But they stayed out, and I had no choice but to go in, meaning the race would have been unwinnable. So I retired again.

What tires are you folks using? I need to make at least 11 good laps out of a set to make a 5-stop strategy, and I'm using S2s up in 10 or less. I don't know how I'd even get down to a 4-stop, 13-lap interval. Fun as El Capitan is, all of the long, fast sweepers are lefts, meaning the right front goes away sooner than anything else.

 

Try using S1's, or maybe N2's. They should last longer, but you'll sacrifice some handling ability.

 

I don't see how thats happening to be honest, my BMW M5 fully modified lasts 10-11 laps on Sport Mediums.(I know this becuase I B-Spec overnight everyday to get money ).

I also don't know how the AI Pagani Zonda pits every 20 laps


Maybe try it with an MR car on Sport Hards and see how it goes, MR's don't wear out their front tires as quickly, I reccomend maybe a Lotus Espirit with Ballast?

 

That would more than likely eat up the rear tires, George. Duke would probably be drifting on the 4th lap!

 

You never know, Duke might be a good drifter

The cheapest Pagani Zonda won't eat away tires, that could be another option (might need ballast for a good race), I'm pretty sure the tires won't get eaten as quickly (note post #74).

 

Didn't know you were leaning towards the Zonda. Well, that might be a good one, but like you said, ballast qould have to be a must.

 

But you might have to drive more on the AI side (slow and steady wins the race) to keep the tires in good shape for longer.

 

I don't care about cars that use up rear tires - you can always go to a softer front compound to even out the wear, because no matter what, you're always generating oversteer. I just hate cars that use up front tires, because nothing you can do will prevent the terminal understeer they exhibit.

So, yeah, I may end up with an Elise or maybe my Speedster, but I have a lot of seat time in that platform so I'm hoping to use something different.

 

Hmm...maybe something with better weight distribution. Maybe an RX-8?

 

The M Coupe should have damn near perfect weight distribution. The TT is of course nose-heavy. I guess I'll have to try one of the tuner S2000s, maybe, because I don't own an S2k. I've got an NSX in that acid green color that would probably work, too.

 

I haven't driven the M Coupe yet, what's it like?

Acid Green...

 

I like the M Coupe, but it's not my absolute favorite. With some additional power, it tends to understeer on the throttle, and I don't like understeer. It can also be slightly squirrely at high speed, but overall, it's a fun car. The brakes are amazing - you can brake very late if necessary.

 

why not to try some old Group B homologation models, like Pug 205 T16, Ford RS200, Renault R5 turbo etc?
And if you want REAL challenge, try using regular new Elise, that has the old, rover K-series engine with about 120bhp.. or even better, Toyota MR2. And if you want to try something bit more powerful, try out vette ZR-1 and apply my suspension settings on it in order to make it turn. go and see my gallery just to see how much it turns..

 

i just finished doing it about half an hour ago. i used the buick special tuned up. I won it easily.

 

That's an interesting thought - I've got a bit of a soft spot for the RS200 in particular. Or if you want something that should really wag it's tail, how about the DeLorean - should be there or thereabouts with some mods....

 

The Buick Special has those little pizza cutter front tires because it's a drag car. Isn't it a total understeer queen?

Hey, the DeLorean might be fun. Hadn't thought of that.

 

Don't forget, that in a way, MR2 is Group B homologation model too. Toyota did build three rallycar concepts on the platform of first gen MR2. Imagine MR2 with AWD and 600bhp and that's it.

 

As I mention before, I recomend the amuse S2000( not the monster one with 500+hp) the other one with 200 something. Another tunner S200 is the spoon. A little funner to drive if you ask me( less hp and not as light) make for some good racin'!

 

Hi Duke,
Can't understand why pitting after 10 laps is such a hardship, the AI cars go in on anything from lap 11 to lap 19 (Aston Martin to Pagani respectively.)
In a 390HP M Coupe you should have enough of an advantage to lose time in the pits but win overall. I managed it in an unmodified Supra RZ '97 running 325HP, but lineup is critical.
This post shows how I was able to overcome the AI field.
Notice that I dropped back to 5th place after 1st stop on lap 10, 3rd place after my lap 20 stop and also I put in 2 x 8 lap stints at the end of the race to slot in between the AI, and ensure I didn't finish the race fighting worn tyres. The MOV was nice and rewarding too.
This lineup appears about 7-10 entries after a console reset, look out for it, it sounds ideal for your M Coupe to take on.

Noticed you've already referenced Digital-Nitrate's excellent info link for this race, but check this link out too, since it lists all the pit strategies for the AI cars