Tight, Challenging Races

  • Thread starter ZZII
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There is nothing better than a nice, close race. I hate beating the competition by a mile in a car not even close to the others in power. Of course, I want to beat the game first. But after I would like to go back and try to find some good, close, fun matchups. I've been told that I should start posting some close matchups in the write-ups section and that others may follow. So if you have a close matchup, let everyone know. Give the series, the car you used, and the parts/settings. Here are two that I have recently driven:

Series: Italian Avant Grade
Car: Zonda C12S
Settings: Maxed out at 10XX HP. Super-slick tires. You may actually have an easier time controlling this car if you back off the HP a little.
Comments: This race in anything but the Zonda Race Car is difficult. The C12S has amazingly bad brakes (like "rice-pudding," I hear). If you stick with it and break in straight lines, though, you can overcome the bad handling. The Zonda Race Cars pit on the first race, but on the second they may not so you have to stick with them the whole way. They will bang you around in the turns, but if you can get ahead, you can hold a lead. If you are still behind at the end, go desperate and ride the walls. It worked for me! Anyway, it's a good, frustrating challenge

Series: GT All-Stars
Car: Mazda RX-7 LM Race Car
Settings: Maxed out, Super slicks. Tune for each race.
Comments: This car is a true underdog in this series. It will get killed off the line by the R390, the 787B and the GT-1. However, with super slicks and a little luck, you can re-gain the lead when the competition pits. From that point, it is a nail-biting race to teh finish as they close in on you. On Test Course, the RX-7 with the perfect settings (sorry, I didn't write them down) can actually out-run the R390. However, once the oil gives out the races become virtually impossible. I would only do one at a time, not the whole series.

Post your good matches!
 
:D Really Kool Idea ZZII ,
Check down this page a little for "WAAAAAY TOO Muach Fun!!!", (yeh I know there's no "a" in much...Sorry) for my closest documented race. Wish now I'd kept better notes my second time through, had quite a few "Nail-Biters"!!! Personaly I hope you get LOTS of posts here...UB57
:D
 
yea. it wasn't my intention to steal your thread, sorry. anyway i too hope we get more posts of close races. i find it amazing how i can shave 2 seconds off my lap time when i am being chased by rabid R390's and 787B's on lap 14 of 15 in a tight race.
 
I feel the exact same way, ZZII. Flogging the competition by a lap and a half is just NOT FUN. I once had a race in Silver Arrow that I won by .03 seconds, and that was one of the funnest races I ever ran.

In the enduros I wound up beating the competition by, the lowest margin was about 10 laps, I think. NOT FUN. Also added to the . . . I won't say boredom . . . monotony, let's say . . . added to the monotony is going round and round and round the same track for 60 laps or more. NOT FUN. I like nice close races.
 
Yep, that's my point exactly. I usually use a car with about 200 less horse power, or a road car against race cars (see my Mistral report), when I race enduros, just so the rest of the field will give me some bloody competition! :mad:
 
Yeah, I guess you're right. Perhaps I'll set the Auto Setup real low, so I hit the rev limiter all the time, thus slowing me down a bit.
 
My most recent AI racing was in the Pro NA Cup and the Pro Boxer Cup. In both races I was running an RGT with T3 tires, weight reduction, racing suspension, but stock horsepower at 390 or so. Starting from the back of the pack, I was in 2nd place by early in the first lap, but in the NA races the Zonda C12S was very quick (particularly at R246) and in the Boxer races it was the other RGT (particularly at DF2).

In both cases, I worried away at the dominant car's lead (with the rest of the pack way behind) for a few laps, the duelled for a few laps, until passing for keeps on the 7th or 8th lap. Fun racing to that point, but instead of making me defend my lead for the last lap, both the Zonda and Ruf pitted after the 9th lap, meaning I could cruise to a 20"+ victory, instead of sprinting to a narrow win...

GRRRRRR!
 
I was just racing in a the beginner championship at Midfield. I really thought I was gonna get beaten by that annoying little Autobacs MR-S. My RX-7 only has t2 tires, a stage two turbo w/ intercooler, and an untweeaked racing trannie. (I really need to go an get the handling mods after this championship).
I won by 0.011 seconds. I believe that's my closest race ever..
 
In Arcade mode yesterday at Test Course i won by only 0.009 seconds. I was in a Camaro SS and the AI *actual competition for once:P * was in an NSX.
 
i found a good race!
its the last championship of beginner league(cant remember wot its called) in a fully modded lupo cup car!
the opposition is:
escort rally: 300hp
xsara rally: 300hp
focus rally: 300hp
206 rally: 300hp
celica rally: 300hp
new scooby rally: 300hp
old scooby rally: 300hp
c-west razo silvia: 3**hp
autobacs mr-2: 3**hp

and a fully modded lupo cup car has 287hp
the most i won by in the series was 1.574 secs ;) and that was against the rally cars only:eek:
the autobacs mr-2 and c-west silvia are a lot quicker;) :P
 
The whole lengthy description is in my Pro All-Japan GT thread, but on the 15-lap Test Course race in a stock Viper Oreca I got this result:

Margin: +0.164" Pennzoil GT-R
Margin: +0.253" Denso Supra
Total time: 29':22.229"
Fast lap: 1':55.691"
Average: 1':57.481"

Nothing like winning a half-hour race by less than 2 tenths of a second!
 
I tried to start a thread for this on the main GT3 board (I'm new :banghead: ) and they sent me here. Its good to see other racers that like competition!
Today I decided to go with an american theme, but I'm not a big fan of the american car makers so I decided to race a fully tuned (387hp) US spec ITR (Acura) in the Seattle enduro. I thought that battling big V8 rear drive muscle would be tough in a front driver, especially in Seattle with the high-speed sections and the elevation changes in the turns, which tend to make FF cars push even worse than usual.
Qualifying showed that my prediction was right, as it took me quite a few laps to nail down a decent line. I finally managed to qualify 2nd, behind the Corvette Z06. The race was a tight battle, with the AI slamming me every time I tried to pass and running me into every wall when they could stay on my tail. All 5 AI pitted every 7th lap, while with T2 tires I needed to pit only on lap 14 and lap 27. The field remained tight for the large majority of the race, and everyone finished on the lead lap. I was never down more than 7.7 seconds, and could never pull more than an 11 second lead until the AI pitted on lap 35, letting me stretch my lead to over 20 seconds.
I held that 20.xxx lead until turn 1 of lap 40, when the Camaro that I had just lapped decided to use me instead of his brakes, slamming me into the wall. :mad: :mad: :mad: I spent the rest of the lap battling with him, making 2 clean passes only to have the SOB slam me into the wall and pass me both times. I finished the race on his tail, after he chopped 7 seconds off my lead. :irked: This race only intensified my hatred of Camaros...I vowed never to drive one again after having the "pleasure" of getting Gold on license A-7.

P.S. Also try the PD cup in a stock Lotus Elise 190 (your choice of tires). I ran Tokyo R246 reverse (PD cup #10) today as a test race and had a blast! I challenge anyone to win this race with a lower-powered car. :P
 
Originally posted by Pulse414
I held that 20.xxx lead until turn 1 of lap 40, when the Camaro that I had just lapped decided to use me instead of his brakes, slamming me into the wall. :mad: :mad: :mad:

I guess that is the "emotion AI" that GT3 promised. I hate that, and Seattle is one of the tracks where they do that a lot. The other is SS11. You should've hit him back on the final turn.;) I vaguelly remember racing the Seattle Enduro with a Mustang SVT Cobra, some true American "big V8 rear drive muscle," but it must not have been a very exciting race. I respect anyone who tries it with a FF...it's not an easy task. Anyway good write up of a very interesting race. Now go back and win it...you won't be dissapointed. This is where I won the amazing ZZII you see as my avatar. Good luck.
 
Good job, Pulse! Sounds like it was a fun race, in a frustrating way! The best ones are always kinda like that!

I've run the Seattle Enduro in a 350-odd hp Evo (early in the game), in a stock Clio racecar, and something else that escapes me at the moment...
 
Originally posted by ZZII
Now go back and win it...you won't be dissapointed. This is where I won the amazing ZZII you see as my avatar. Good luck.
Hey ZZII...sorry if there was any confusion, but I DID win by 13 seconds, and I got the ZZII! It was an ugly red one tho, and I already have a sweet black one so I sold it. No disrespect! ;) Sorry I didn't list lap times and such...I didn't intend to write this up when I started, but I was so damn proud of myself afterwards that I just had to. Thanks for the input and keep it comin!
 
No problem ZZII...I've been known to make a mistake once in a while myself. :eek: So...you want a red ZZII do you? Sounds like its time to hop in that Integra...:P
 
What's up ZZ? Have you had any races worth posting lately? I just ran the Seattle enduro again, this time in my stock Lotus Elise 190, 196 hp with T3 front/T2 rear tires. It was great! I could tell it would be a challenge from the start, when they rocketed out to an over 8 second lead on the 1st lap. With about half the hp of the other cars, I concentrated on perfecting my line and not losing time to the AI. I kept slipping back about a second or 2 a lap, and gaining time back when the AI pitted (every 7 laps). I managed to reach 2nd place on lap 14, but was then spun out by the VERY aggressive driver in the Viper and went back down to 4th. I pitted on lap 20, and came out -32 seconds (my worst point in the race). This being my only stop, and knowing that the AI had 3 more scheduled, I guessed that I could close the gap by the end of the race, barring any nasty tricks the AI would try to play. After I warmed my tires for a few laps, I began putting down consistant 1'44.xxx laps, keeping the AI from gaining more than a fraction of a second on any given lap. Finally, as the AI took their last pit stop on lap 35, I gained the lead for the 1st time in the race. I had 12 seconds on them when they came out (my best point of the race). I still was +11.xxx on lap 40 when I came up on that dirty Camaro Z28, who I knew from prior experience did not like to be lapped. I battled him for most of the lap, but was forced to take it easy because if I couldn't make a perfect pass, I knew I'd get spun out and likely lose to the Z06. It was a nail-biter as the Z28 forced me into a nasty slide through the big box chicane, but I managed to drift thru and save it. :scared: I gave the Camaro his space and finished the race clean, in 1:11'19.630.

Corvette Z06 +8.577
Mustang SVT +16.421
Viper GTS +20.615
Camaro Z28 +1'18.005
Camaro SS +1 lap :lol:

Here's the best part - my prize car was an amazing sweet-lookin' WHITE ZZII, with BLACK rims...first time I've seen it. :D
 
Since I got 100.0%, I've been leisurly looking for some good races. I went all the way back to beginner league and found a good short race. The NA Grand Valley race in beginner leage with a stock FTO is a short, but close, race. The FTO is equal to most of the opponents, and slightly outmatched by the MR-S. I didn't qualify and had to climb up from sixth to second...but the MR-S had a good (4 second?) lead. On the second lap I managed to close the gap with nearly flawless lines and on the final s-turns I snuck passed it. I was able to get enough speed out of these turns to hold the lead down the final stretch and win by a second or two. However, I did not qualify. Had I qualified first or second the race probably would not have been as challenging. Worth a try though.
 
Another Tight Challenging Race 👍

:D Was running a "Test" for an OLR League & found this one:

R390 ROAD CAR @ Mistral Enduro. Turbo "1" ONLY but all other upgrades allowed, but BE SURE you have the 787B to run against. 2+ Hours & I only beat it by 11+ SECONDS w/Numerous Lead Changes!!!...UB57
:D
 
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