The Peugeot 905

[Fred.The.Baddie]

(Sorry, this won't be a huge writeup, as is typically seen here)

I took a long time to save up the money needed to buy the Peugeot 905, and I am SO glad I did.

This thing is amazing. Once you buy it, you'll find that it has not 381 kW / 512 HP, as rated on screen, but a rather nice 634 kW / 851 HP. It weighs only 750 kg, which means that it corners even more insanely than the other LM cars. I tried it out in a few World Championship races with completely stock power, and was quite a bit ahead of the competition that included the Sauber, R92CP, Minolta, etc, by the end of the race. The low weight definately helps with tyre wear.

It takes a little bit of tuning, as other people have said, to get the car as perfect as you want it. Random info on the car:

It performs best with maximum downforce.
Raise the rear a couple of increments to avoid the rear-end scraping phenomenon.
It's top speed without upgrades is about 370 km/h (230 mph) down Le Sarthe.
To help the slow gear changes, use the tranny trick, and it doesn't turn out so bad. I've gotten quite used to the slower changes and don't mind them at all.

It's performance is basically up to the driver. The low weight means it can corner as fast as you can get it to. I find it handles better than the 787B and the Bentley. It might be similar to the R8, but I haven't driven that enough to compare fairly. The only thing I don't like about the car is it's torque, at something like 520 Nm / 383 ft-lbs (I don't remember exactly.) You do notice it sometimes, but the lower weight of the car is the plus to that minus. I couldn't think of much else to write here, so hopefully I'll be able to answer questions about the car if anyone has them.

So, without mods and a tiny bit of work on it, you should be able to beat the GTWC without much trouble. I won't stop driving this for a long time
----

Well, I finished the GTWC, and the only race I didn't win was Hong Kong, where I came fifth It really was a lot of fun and although Zardoz has some fair points below, I am very satisfied with finishing it with a slightly less user-friendly car.

 

[Zardoz]

While it does pretty well on some tracks, there are many that it doesn't like at all. This is a car that will require a lot of careful chassis tuning. To me, its the biggest disappointment in the game. PD has not done right by it.

It did not do very well in my Sarthe II Le Mans car enduro test:

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=61921


.

 

[Phil McCavity]

thx Fred, saving some cash up to get it LOL

 

[PhilSamui]

How much did it cost????? 👍

 

[Zardoz]

How much did it cost????? 👍

3,500,000. You're better off with a 787B for that price.

There are at least six Le Mans cars available for purchase that will serve you better than the 905.


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[lnasphinx]

3,500,000. You're better off with a 787B for that price.

There are at least six Le Mans cars available for purchase that will serve you better than the 905.


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Zardoz, i read your test. but you tested it ONCE. and the b-spec driver sucks, that's one thing that we all know....
so mabe the Peugeot 905 isn't so bad

 

[Zardoz]

Zardoz, i read your test. but you tested it ONCE. and the b-spec driver sucks, that's one thing that we all know....
so mabe the Peugeot 905 isn't so bad

The 905 was the first LM car I bought. I tried it on many tracks. It does pretty well on smooth surfaces, but the bumpier it gets, the worse it does.

Its terrible on Sarthe. It just dances right off the course. I find it undriveable on the Nurburgring.

Perhaps somebody will come up with a miraculous suspension setup for it, but I've tried several variations, and while they've helped, I can't get this car to really settle down and be anything like the top Le Mans cars.

I will always feel that PD deliberately screwed this car up, for some reason we'll never know. The real car was feather-light, had underbody ground effects pulling it down, and had that huge two-level rear wing bracketed by big tail fins. The V10 engine was based on a Formula One unit. It should be a monster in GT4, but they've configured this great two-time Le Mans winner as a marginally-good field-filler with a defective transmission.

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[Fred.The.Baddie]

but the bumpier it gets, the worse it does.

Its terrible on Sarthe. It just dances right off the course.

This really baffles me, as I found it to be smoother than the R92CP on Le Sarthe. It was quite enjoyable. Did you modify the suspension greatly? I only made very small changes.

 

[Zardoz]

This really baffles me, as I found it to be smoother than the R92CP on Le Sarthe. It was quite enjoyable. Did you modify the suspension greatly? I only made very small changes.

Well, now we're both baffled.

I (and others) find it really hard to keep on the road on Sarthe. It also wanders around badly on the straight for me, and I've seen several posts from others who talk about the same thing.

It is terrible for me with stock suspension settings. I incrementally raised it up and softened the springs and shocks, and its better, but still touchy compared to other cars. Touching the grass or dirt always results in a spinout.

 

[icon]

Well, now we're both baffled.

I (and others) find it really hard to keep on the road on Sarthe. It also wanders around badly on the straight for me, and I've seen several posts from others who talk about the same thing.

It is terrible for me with stock suspension settings. I incrementally raised it up and softened the springs and shocks, and its better, but still touchy compared to other cars. Touching the grass or dirt always results in a spinout.

I've heard a lot of complaints about this car and to be honest I really like the way it looks so i decided to test it out on a few tracks and a few other cars just for comparison's sake.

Yes, the gear change can be brutal to some people. Especially to those who depend on torque for the holeshot out of the corner. I think this is why most people are having trouble with this car, as you really have to pick your lines well to drive fast due to lack of torque. And yes, it is very very fast if driven correctly.

I tested it on a few locations; Sarthe, Nurb, Cote Azur, and Fuji (2005). The one that gave me the most trouble is Cote Azure due to the slow and sharp corners that require a car with more torque. This leads me to believe that this car is somewhat specialized in running at tracks with mostly medium turns to high speed banks.

On that note, i'd like to address that this car has a huge amount of downforce. In fact the reason why it banks so well is because of this, but this also means that it requires very smooth inputs. This comes to mind at the Nurb and you're right, it does spin out in grass (what MR doesnt?). It is a little too nimble and that is another reason why you may feel it "wandering" as it reacts to every bump on the road.

Compared to modern prototypes like the Bentley and Audi's it is not as stable. The Bentley and Audi are not as twitchy and are much more point and shoot types of cars. Perhaps its the downforce characteristics of the newer cars or maybe cuz they weigh a little more. The Peugeot doesnt give anything up in handling IMO but the gear shift is where it loses a lot of ground to these other cars.

I also tested the R92 and that thing has a lot more grunt but it seems that the aero package and handling is not as good as the 905. I'm gonna try the Sauber and the Toyota/Minolta cars later on but I think the conclusions would be similar in that other cars have more torque for the holeshot and the 905 also loses out from gear shifts.

I wanted to post my opinions earlier but i havent had enough track time with other cars to make a more educated statement. The Peugeot 905 is definitely a great car in the game. It has awesome downforce, nimble handling characteristics, and a high top speed. Its Achille's heel is the combination of low torque that results in slow gear changes. The car's deficit, however, can be overcome by smooth race lines at speed tracks where it can shine like Sarthe and Nurb. It is definitely not made for GT type tracks with slow hairpin corners due to its low torque. Certain driver's will hate this car so its not for everyone. As Zardov has said there are other endurance racers if you are on a budget and not used to the driving style needed to win in a 905. For me it is so far my favourite car in my garage.

And just food for thought I didnt really tune it much; I used the so called close cog set and turned ASM (understeer) to 9, ASM (oversteer) to 8, and TCS to 3 or 4. Totally stock suspension settings and no power upgrades.

 

[Zardoz]

...this car is somewhat specialized in running at tracks with mostly medium turns to high speed banks...

...and turned ASM (understeer) to 9, ASM (oversteer) to 8, and TCS to 3 or 4....

Absolutely.

The Peugeot is great on some tracks, beyond pathetic on others.

At the suggestion of a guy on another forum, I tried the 905 for the first time last night with 10/10 ASM, and was amazed at the transformation. It almost completely stabilized it on Sarthe, where its pretty much impossible to keep on the road with zero ASM. The biggest improvement is braking. Now I can take full advantage of its superb braking power without swapping ends half the time.

This is the first time I've used any ASM at all since my earliest GT3 days. I turned it off for good back then and never tried it again on any car. My instinctive, knee-jerk, robotic action has always been to zero out ASM immediately upon winning or buying a car.

The Peugeot must have lots of ASM to be usable in GT4. The silly transmission and bad throttle response will always kill it on some tracks, but as you said, its great fun on many others.

Still, we'll never know why PD felt they had to handicap this beautiful race car with so many weird idiosyncracies.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Zardoz, i read your test. but you tested it ONCE. and the b-spec driver sucks, that's one thing that we all know....
so mabe the Peugeot 905 isn't so bad

Thats not exactly true. Your B-Spec driver might suck, but others might have more expirence, so they drive better

 

[icon]

well i think that the ASM and TCS control feels very different from GT4 and GT3. there may be a few hardcore racers who drive faster with those controls completely off but not likely. in real race cars (like today's F1's) there is TCS control. my point is that we cant blame the 905's handling if we turned the TCS and ASM off. in that case any high HP car would be hard to control with a DS2 controller. also to be honest i dont think PD handicapped this car. we'll never know unless we asked the race drivers but perhaps this car really goes "off cam" as another member has stated due to its small displacement and natural aspiration. I still feel this car is very fast and we shouldnt be so quick to write it off as a dud because as i've said, it handles great and has plenty of power at the top of the powerband.

 

[Fred.The.Baddie]

Well, to clarify a few things: I always use no aids, except I ran the GT World Championship with TCS on 1 to help preserve the tyres. So in my review I was talking about its true handling, and it was indeed great.

On PD phucking it up: I have some clips of the car in real life and its gearbox switches as fast as any modern racing sequential gearbox today does. So they screwed that up. The engine would have had the lowish torque figure; being a detuned F1 engine, they never have spectacular torque figures in the first place, and I think they would've based their values on the car's real-life figure anyway.

On the reports of it handling badly: As I said before, I never had any trouble with it in the first place (Le Sarthe, etc) and that was without aids. I don't want to call myself a better driver than you guys, but maybe I just 'clicked' better with the car or something

I'd like to very shortly compare it with the Toyota 88CV, which I recently won:

The Peugeot is remarkably better in the handling department. The Toyota is the car that bounces around all over the place for me, like the 905 for Zardoz. It's a real hassle down the Le Sarthe straight. So.. much.. bouncing... The 905 has this slot-car stickyness about it that I love so much. It makes me think that PD did in fact implement its strong ground-effect downforce.

The only thing the Toyota does better is go fast. Its greater power is noticeable right off the line, as well as the gearshifting that the 905 should have.
I found it a slighty harder to drive car than the 905. Not as much downforce, much more bouncing, less user-friendly. It'd probably set a faster time on tracks with long straights, but the 905 just sticks like a slot car better than the Toyota does. And it's way smoother. I can't get over the Toyota's suspension

 

[Zardoz]

...The Peugeot is remarkably better in the handling department. The Toyota is the car that bounces around all over the place for me, like the 905 for Zardoz. It's a real hassle down the Le Sarthe straight. So.. much.. bouncing... The 905 has this slot-car stickyness about it that I love so much. It makes me think that PD did in fact implement its strong ground-effect downforce...

This is so weird.

Its as if your version of the game swapped the bodies of the two cars on their chassis. Its like you have the Toyota body on my Peugeot chassis, and vice versa.

I don't understand this at all.

(BTW, do you have the PAL or NTSC version of the game?)

 

[Fred.The.Baddie]

Hehe, strange indeed.

I have the PAL version. I was under the impression that NTSC didn't get the Peugeot as well as about 7 other extra cars, but I might be mistaken.

Funny that you mention car bodies being swapped around; I actually submitted a thread a while ago about a time when I entered a race where the Jaguar body spawned with the engine and gearbox of the 905 in it. Seriously. I was freaked out. But the thread never appeared. I had video evidence and everything.

 

[Zardoz]

...I have the PAL version...

...Funny that you mention car bodies being swapped around; I actually submitted a thread a while ago about a time when I entered a race where the Jaguar body spawned with the engine and gearbox of the 905 in it. Seriously. I was freaked out. But the thread never appeared. I had video evidence and everything.

AH HA!

Now we're on to something. Do you suppose for some unfathomable, weird reason PD has opted to make the cars quite different in the two versions? There can hardly be any other explanation.

Your body-swapping glitch is bizarre. We'd like to hear more details on it if you care to enlighten us.

BTW, NTSC players got all those extra cars the Asian players were screwed out of. We have the Jag, Chaparrals, and all the others just like you.

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[sejtur]

I'm gonna buy this car after I've won the DTM about 7 times.
Thx for the great thread.

 

[icon]

I decided to take the peugeot into the "like the wind" race. The competition was your usual onslaught of le mans racers; Nissan R92, Sauber C9, Mercedes CLK-GTR (LM), Toyota Minolta, and an ugly yellow duckling, the Gillet. I tried it box stock and it didnt have the gear for top speed needed to keep pace nor did it have the grunt to stay with the pack early in the race, but I was determined to beat the rest of the field with stock HP. The car stuck to the ground like glue as usual so i figured if i decrease the downforce it will help reduce some drag and add some straightline speed. I lowered the car to the ground and decreased ASM and TCS slightly. The last thing was the gear ratio. I needed the cogs to be closer early on so that i can be in the race without being left behind. This is a double edged sword of course cuz then the higher gears will be spaced out as a result for gearing for the top speed.

I took the 905 out and lined her up in 6th spot. The green was lit and we raced off down the straight. Already I was 3.7xxx seconds behind the lead car. I was able to slip behind the slow Gillet and slingshot down the 1st corner into the second straight. I was 3.3xxx down the back straight but without any other cars i could use to draft for a while. The car couldnt make any gains on the pack of lead cars down the straight so the only chance for me to get close was working the long corner banks. The car was planted and so i took a lower line thus decreasing the travel distance without losing any speed. I crossed my fingers and hoped i made up some time with this move. Down the straightaway again and the lapse time is now 3.1xxx and it continued dropping as i came down the straight. My persistence prevailed by the 3rd lap as I got to the tail end of the group in the back straight. They were racing 2x2 with the Nissan and Sauber in front followed by the Minolta and Mercedes dangerously close behind. I made my move right before the bank and surprised the group on the inside and took the lead. They immediately split 4 wide as the end cars tried to make gains. The Sauber lost out to the Minolta and the CLK had to give in to the rest. The Nissan raced my Peugeot as he caught the pocket in the air behind me. I went high and he tried to pass on the inside, but he didnt have the speed. Down the back straight again i decided this was going to be a losing battle especially if we swing 3 wide again with the minolta racing up behind me. I slowed down to box out the toyota and slip in behind the Nissan. We took the bank with the Nissan leading, my Peugeot in his draft, and the Toyota on the inside trying to pass us both. The early racing must have killed their tires cuz to my surprised both the Nissan and Toyota pitted before the last lap! I can now see the CLK somehow gaining behind me so I let him by in the back straight. I was tucked right behind his bumper going into the last bank before the checkered flag and all I had to do now was time my strike. I planted the pedal down to the floor before the bank ended and squeezed a .3xxx second victory over the CLK.

 

[Zardoz]

The Test Course can actually be fun if you can have a decent slipstream battle. I'll try it with the 905 set up as you described.

 

[Madd Dog]

I can't believe I've been playin GT4 now all this time and totally forgot all about the Puegeot 905!!

 

[Zardoz]

I can't believe I've been playin GT4 now all this time and totally forgot all about the Puegeot 905!!

A. Since you're in Edinburgh, you must have the PAL version of the game.

B. It seems that there could be a drastic difference in the handling characteristics of the 905 between the PAL and NTSC versions of GT4.

C. If you buy and try the 905, please let us know what you think of it.


Signed -

Your friends stuck with the NTSC version of the 905

 

[Madd Dog]

Well, haven't used it much yet, to busy training Mr B-spec on how to win endurance races. The 905 is a bit of a beast tho, took on a couple of laps round Le Mans and its a fight to keep it straight on the Mulsanne straight. Has a tendancy to skip around a bit, dunno if it was just me but it had quite a bit of understeer, and I didnt alter the set up much either.

 

[Zardoz]

Well, haven't used it much yet, to busy training Mr B-spec on how to win endurance races. The 905 is a bit of a beast tho, took on a couple of laps round Le Mans and its a fight to keep it straight on the Mulsanne straight. Has a tendancy to skip around a bit, dunno if it was just me but it had quite a bit of understeer, and I didnt alter the set up much either.

Okay, thanks for the reply. This is exactly how it acts for me.

On very smooth, fast tracks (like Tokyo R246) it isn't that terrible, but if the track is bumpy or tight, its pretty awful.

Try it on Laguna Seca. You won't believe how bad it is there...

 

[sejtur]

I just bought it (PAL), and the only disadvantage is that its gears change so slow. The rest is alright. 👍 I tested it on sarthe, and it wasn't bumpy at all, and it had 799 HP. ( i don't know either how the game does that!)

Does somebody know how to shift the gears faster, or does it just require manual transmission? Or shifts the car with MT still slow? I'll try out sometime.

---

Damn, it doesn't help to shift manual...

 

[Sti04]

I just bought it (PAL), and the only disadvantage is that its gears change so slow. The rest is alright. 👍 I tested it on sarthe, and it wasn't bumpy at all, and it had 799 HP. ( i don't know either how the game does that!)

Does somebody know how to shift the gears faster, or does it just require manual transmission? Or shifts the car with MT still slow? I'll try out sometime.

I believe it should be the same with MT or Auto. what you can do is, to go to setting, then change the gear ratio in the gear setting.

 

[sejtur]

Okay, I'll try that out.
But I don't think it'll help much with how fast it shifts, but maybe it'll fasten the lap times.

 

[Sti04]

Okay, I'll try that out.
But I don't think it'll help much with how fast it shifts, but maybe it'll fasten the lap times.

By shortening gear ratio, it will speed up the rev in each gear, but you will be losing top speed eventually.

 

[sejtur]

Okay, I'm going to do that.
I realised that with the stock car, front racing/m, back racing/h tires, you can win the championchip in the professional events easily! If I then shorten the gears, so the top speed is around 335 km/h, I can win the championchip with 2 fingers in the nose! (dutch expression) 💡

 

[gumpy]

Fred.The.Baddie - do you use ASM on both the Peugeot and the Minolta. As Zrdoz has said he normally uses zero.

Zardoz maybe try both Minolta and Peugeot with ASM on 10 and see whether you get the same characteristics as Fred.