- 574
- Daytona Beach
- sloppysmusic
I am about to do the Tier 1 Pirelli World Challenge series using a GT3 car. As most of these handle pretty well in their default setups I hadn't planned to do much if any tuning. So I decided to put them through some road tests to see which handled the most nimble and quick in my inexperienced hands. Would have been too easy (and boring) to just do 10 lap sessions of a flat race track so decided to start off by using them on challenging road courses.
Stage 1:Full Azure road circuit.
Anyone who has raced on here will know that the course requires a stable car that will recover well from the occasional driver error plus one that can jump and land safely plus take corners after bouncing. Several cars failed every time through uphill adverse camber hairpins...
Stage 2:Bannochbrae Road Circuit.
Similar to Azure in being a bumpy road but also much faster. Heavy braking before downhill bends and stability through winding back roads is essential.
All cars set up from stable default using 80% brake pressure. 75/50 brake ducts and 25% radiator. All tests using slicks. Every other setting default.
To pass the test each car had to be driven at a quick but not crazy speed, and be able to smoothly complete the time trial without failing. I allowed the occasional spin out IF the car could recover quick enough to record a good time around 7:40 mins (Azure) or 2.20 (Bannochbrae).
A few were very quick and fun but despite breaking segment times would then always spin out on an uphill hairpin. The idea being in these tests that the driver should be able to concentrate on driving fast without being on edge about losing control.
After several hours I had 'passed' the following cars:
Ferrari 488
McLaren 650S
Porsche 911
Renault RS01
Audi R8 LMS
BMW Z4
The cars that 'failed' ALL either spun out during the course (after 3 attempts each) or were just not agile enough to get round at all (required too much braking/gear changes before corners or handled bumps badly). All tests were carried out without me pushing the cars at all.
Stage 3: Long Beach Street Circuit.
Now I wanted to test the cars at a circuit I knew very well that would require precise braking and turns to do well. With the walls here poor braking or sluggish turning will wreck a good time. Radiator grill fully closed at 0% now.
Only 2 cars survived this test, both producing reasonable times of 121.xx. The Porsche also drove smoothly but SO MUCH slower due to its much higher gearing compared to the other cars. As you cannot tune this down it gave me times 3 seconds slower at 1.24.xx. On faster circuits the gearing would be an advantage but acceleration is lost completely here. I will bear this in mind if I do Le Mans or Spa in the future as a one off race but for a whole series I would have to pass.
Ferrari 488
Renault RS01
Both these cars proved very nimble and reacted quickly and smoothly to this tight track, braking nicely at 2nd gear for the important hard turns, where other cars had to use 1st and lost precious time. Nothing between them at this point!
Now we finish with some 2 car track tests to see which will be my pick (although I'd fully recommend both from the grueling tests so far)
Stage 4:Sakitto GP
Not driven on the edge to break records but smoothly and quick, aiming for the kind of drive you would do in an endurance race. Conserve tire wear and used same technique for both cars.
Ferrari up first.
Very easy drive. Averaged 1.48.5 over several easy laps. Needs more gear and throttle work on the S bends than the Renault.
Renault 2nd.
The 7 gears really help out here and 1.47.50 was the average time.
The Renault had the advantage here as it held the long corners well without any lift off throttle which the Ferrari DID need to prevent going off track. Of course tuning would help here but this is a default setup test thread!
(Note: I also tested the Porsche here as it only 'failed' Long Beach but could just get times around 1.51 without a lot of work - so it's still just between the two cars now..)
Stage 5:Zolder
A great track for testing handling with some unconventional bends (the opening section) plus hairpins and chicanes.
Tricky circuit indeed! Each car took several attempts before I could go around cleanly.
Despite weighing the same the Ferrari just 'felt' lighter and hugged the tight corners easily. The Renault felt like an LMP car but without the downforce. More power oversteer available but not always wanted, not a great track for this car.
Ferrari averaging 1.37.4 the Renault 1.38.5 (and I had to work for that).
Stage 6: Nordschleife
As both cars have their strengths, the Ferrari handling short tight circuits better and the Renault preferring larger tracks I decided I could be doing this all night! With both cars splitting the spoils of time trials. So the Ring would be a good test for ease of driving with a little bit of everything thrown in. Albeit a LOT of medium corners but not many tight ones. Again the drive will be smooth and quick not pushing the car so as to not get TT disqualified. I have taken neither car around here before so it's the perfect 'novice' test IMO.
Each car had just two laps to perform. First lap driven quick and careful, the onus being on PASSING the TT and no fails. The second lap with the car pushed a little more using the experience car feel from the first lap.
I have a fair amount of experience with this circuit, starting back in the 'Mission 34' Gran Turismo 4 Days...So I will rule out any sizeable advantage for the Renault being the 2nd car tested here. Any slight advantage with running the Project Cars version twice with the Ferrari would be negated by that too. I've just run 2 laps with a different car!
First up the Ferrari:
1st safe lap 7.34
2nd semi-pushed lap 7.15
Next the Renault:
1st safe lap 7.29 (I actually slid a fraction off track half way thru first attempt annoyingly so the test is not quite first attempt)
2nd semi-pushed lap 7.23 (TBH I didn't feel as confident pushing this car as I did the Ferrari, which is a point to take in consideration. Probably due to the slight power oversteer and general feeling of 'heaviness').
Sooo..
I did a
3rd pushed lap 7.13.
Which pretty well shows these cars while different produce similar results here with adjusted driver handling.
Conclusion?
I love both these cars after all that testing! They BOTH give you confidence at almost all times, which is vitally important for the driver choosing his first GT3 car. The main difference being the Ferrari feels better at smaller tighter tracks and the Renault better at bigger tracks. So check out the races in the series you are about to do and make you choice. You can't go wrong either way.
If you have the time, do all these tests yourself for best results. You want to feel 'at home' in any car you intend to race hard with. Don't just race with what everyone else says is the 'best' or what looks cool, we are all different hence the great choice of cars. Me? I'm going to use them both, depending on the tracks in the series. For endurance both the Ferrari and Renault are very stable and fun to drive and you're gonna have a lot of fun!
DISCLAIMER:
All this testing was carried out by a very sloppy but fairly quick driver using a Logitech G29 wheel and pedals. Results may differ from driver to driver. Absolutely DO try this at home for best results. Tests were designed to see how a driver not used to any of these cars would be able to get the car around any track they chose with the least of effort and calamity. A good driver on pure race tracks could probably get all of these cars to perform well. Here we are looking for the easiest car with the least (none!) tuning and tweaking required.
