Top gear special event :(

[DrkPhnyx]

Can't really add useful advice because it's been covered, and covered well here already.

But I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who found it a blast. I kinda wish there was more than just the one race.

Also glad to see that I'm not the only one who had to break down and resort to aids for the Elise. I suspect that, unless that car is overly skittish (equipped with poor tires perhaps?), the opponet AI are artificially hopped up. I'm all for hanging on to a car by the tail and riding it for all it's worth, but when the AI can blast out of corners like they have RATO bottles, and you swap ends with ANY application of throttle in mid corner or corner exit, something is wrong. I love playing with the Cobra with no driver aids, and that's a true handful, yet it's easy compared to the Elise in the 2nd TG event. It was only with turning on skid correction and ABS and TCS (to might higher levels than I would otherwise ever do) that I was able to use any (even gentle) throttle in mid corner, or accelerate out of a corner well enough not to lose the handful of places I had just picked up through it.

Nice to hear that the Kubelwagen is the last event. I really look forward to that one!

 

[dark_ruffo]

I did not use any aids besides ABS to 1 to beat the Elise thing by some good margin. No bumping nor anything. It took me some trial and error to find the best spots to overtake tho.

 

[DrkPhnyx]

I did not use any aids besides ABS to 1 to beat the Elise thing by some good margin. No bumping nor anything. It took me some trial and error to find the best spots to overtake tho.

I don't have a wheel, and I'm sure that would make some difference, and actually being in the car would make more difference still.

However.... I can overtake them just fine with no driver aids. The problem is that when it comes time to accelerate out of a corner, no matter how gentle I was about it, the car fries the tires and goes nowhere fast, often sideways, and the 4 cars I just passed in the turn go flying by me. And/or in the Follow Through and the left right after that, keeping steady state throttle means going sideways, it only accepted throttle while going dead straight. And when you tone it down to the point where you're not blowing the tires off and acting like a drifter, you can't keep up. The aids were the only thing that made that event winnable at all.

 

[zippy_the_cat]

I found it great fun doing this one. Frustrating at first until you realise that you'll never do it if you drive like the AIs and follow the Blue line. All the advice given above is good. You are on track if you can get to 5th or 6th place at the start of the second lap.
Here's how id did it.
Take #11 on the outside on the exit of the tight 1st left. Go slightly wide on approach, ease off the gas then cut in close and drift wide again. Don't brake, you should pass him on the right as you parallel the cones.
Watch out for #10 who will brake hard for the kink to the left. Drop back a little if necessary and then shoot past him on the right as he goes left. Take the cones out in the process, it's OK they are red and white.
Carry on full pelt down towards Chicago and try to take #9 on the left between him and the tires, braking a bit for the turn and keep a tight line around the inside of the others through Chicago, with luck you'll be in front of #9 as you head down towards the Hammerhead.
Hang back a little from #8 and #7 who will be trying to pass each other but always seem to collide when #7 slams on the anchors. Keep to the right of them and slip past and sharp left on the entrance to Chicago then keep a tight line around without loosing speed. You should leave the Hammerhead hot on the heels of #6.
If you can slipstream him tight through the followthrough and take him down the main runway as you approach the 2nd to last corner.
Don't brake for this corner just ease of a touch and turn in tight, you will fly past #5, and then a touch of brake before Gambon. But try to keep as much speed as possible, you'll need it to keep up with #4 at the start of lap 2.
Tail #4 and take him as you took #11 at the first corner. Using the same method as the first lap you take #3 at Chicago and by the exit of the Hammerhead you should be hot on the heels of #2.
Slipstream #2 on the way through the Follow Through (just don't touch the red cone on the corner) and head on down to the 2nd to last.
Same technique as before should see you just slip past #1 on the entrance to Gambon and over the line in 1st place with about a second or two to spare.
Good luck and keep at it.

Good recounting of the sequence. Your passing corners are Chicago, Hammerhead and Bacharach (second-to-last), and you wanna be on the inside of all three. On the first lap you should be on the bumper of the gray bus leaving Hammerhead on the way to Followthrough. Draft him and pass somewhere on the straights. The key corner is Bacharach, just ignore the driving line guidance, don't brake at all, turn in LATE and clip the inside corner, making sure not to hit either of the buses that will be to the outside between the corners. Second lap, more of the same. I caught the #1 bus leaving Hammerhead, drafted him all the way past the tirewall, then passed him on the straight. He tried to turn into me as I drew even, but I pushed back, rode him wide, then made the cut into Bacharach. That left him well behind, so I tip-toed around Gambon for a 1.9-second win and a bit of celebration for golding the thing after about 25 attempts all told. Key is determination -- after frustration in previous sessions I sat down and said I'm going to stick with this until I beat it. One thing that helped me was working on the Elise challenge as a break after a couple of Samba failures. Come back to the Sambas after babying the Elise around, and you'll find the right control inputs (DS3) are easier to come by.

 

[Straightsix9904]

I own a cat.

Loads of useful advice Sir_Flynn, let us know when you get that gold.

👍

 

[Demon-Dub]

Big tip for the final Top Gear Challange series, might seem silly to say but someone should. Don't let the tach top out! You drop from 50/51 down to 45. If you hold the speed right at 49 you will pull ahead on them. And I used a controller and was able to feather the gas to hold my speed. The AI will tach out, thats a huge advantage on this track. Got 1st my 2nd try.

 

[KyleR]

Sorry, I can't be bothered reading the whole thread so this has probably already been suggested.

I like you, was stuck at this event. I did the Specials when I first got the game, got whatever trophy I got first and then onto the next, just to complete them. I however came back to them 2 days ago and the first thing I did was put the TCS down to 1, then I golded it (and the rest of the Top Gear) with my first complete race. Of course I got DQ'd a few times for various reason, but I was always on Gold winning pace right from the off. Don't be afraid to use drifting technics, such as stabbing the brake before a corner and hammering on the throttle using the oversteer to guide you round

 

[saidaouita]

I am so glad that I'm not the only one hating the lotus top gear event.

Best I can do is Silver. Gold with the VW's.

Big tip for the final Top Gear Challange series, might seem silly to say but someone should. Don't let the tach top out! You drop from 50/51 down to 45. If you hold the speed right at 49 you will pull ahead on them. And I used a controller and was able to feather the gas to hold my speed. The AI will tach out, thats a huge advantage on this track. Got 1st my 2nd try.

With the crossing traffic make sure to time it right. I know when I finally won Gold a few cars in front of me got picked off.

 

[KyleR]

Best I can do is Silver. Gold with the VW's.

i found the Lotus one all about late braking and using understeer to point my way out of corners and try gain an extra few MPH and then late brake again.

 

[JA5ON_GT]

The first time I tried it I came last! Two more attempts ended in a similar fashion so I gave up. However, I came back to it this last weekend and got the gold after an hour or so (not sure how many races that amounted to!).

The key thing I found was to ignore the driving line guidance, especially the suggested braking. You hardly need to brake at all, throw that bus around the track like a crazy person. And don't give up too early - I didn't take the lead until the last bend on lap 2. 👍

There's bound to be some YouTube vids showing people doing this - have you had a look?

Edit : Here's one : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqWayAqCj18

Yeah, Youtube guided me through this with gold : ). Saved a lot of time.

 

[rubbaduck]

Did they change this event after 1.05!! or am I getting better!

I decided to start again, and see how far I could get without buying another car (other than the first).. so either win them or find where you can get too..

When I got to this challenge, I was amazed, I golded the camper vans first time round, and the lotus event after 3 attempts!! previously the best i could get on any of these was a silver.. anyone else feel this is the case?

Maybe you have got better skills after grinding so much in the game

I found it hard too, got silver after a lot of attempts, got DQ a lot. Tried 2 or 3 times with Lotus, couldn't finisha lap then gave up the whole event... After seeing your post, will try again later.

 

[DrkPhnyx]

Maybe you have got better skills after grinding so much in the game

I found it hard too, got silver after a lot of attempts, got DQ a lot. Tried 2 or 3 times with Lotus, couldn't finisha lap then gave up the whole event... After seeing your post, will try again later.

That definitely plays a part for sure.

For the vans, as has been mentioned many times here, draft. And learn your shift points. I think 3rd starts at around 31 or 32, 4th at 44~46. Try not to brake, and always brake as late and little as possible (none needed at first turn, a tap at chicago [lean on the others] and a bit more at the hammerhead, none through followthrough or next left, none needed at bacharach/penultimate either, and just a touch at gambon).

First time I beat it, I used the DS3 analogue sticks, and took the lead at gambon. After hooking up my Logitech Momo last night to see if it would work, I tried it again and took first before the penultimate bend (bacharach).


For the Elise, I strongly recommend driving aids - heavy TCS and ABS with stability or anti spin or whatever it's called, on. Adjust as needed. It's about the only thing that levels the playingfield against the AI IMO.