What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

[OriginalCheezIt]

Alright, so here is my dilemma. I entered an endurance series, and the first race is 700 miles of Daytona Road Course. We are allowed to have codrivers, so I very politely forced one of my friends to become a member of TTS (Team Tuscan Speed) as my codriver in the #17 TVR Tuscan Speed 6 Touring Car. He has never played GT before. I am giving him my extra copy of GT6 when we go back to school, so he will have about 3 weeks to practice. The car is set up for 540pp, at 392hp and 1000kg and minimum downforce. I am currently running 1:54ish on Daytona.
Do you guys have any insider tips for car setup, endurance racing, online racing, etc? I want both of us to be as comfortable as possible with the car and endurance racing, as this series is 19 races long and stretches into November.

By the way, I didn't really force him. I asked and he was cool with it.
Also, for sitting throught this wall of text, here's our car.

 

[carracerptp]

So you are doing about a 6.6 hour race... online? If so I would forget about car setup and start by getting a server grade home network. disconnections or lag will take out 50% of the field.

My only tips are:
figure out your fuel mileage and then the number of stops you will need. Don't want to run out of fuel in the middle of the lap.

Setup your car to handle great on old, worn out tires. So if you are using RH tires, tune on SM tires.

 

[OriginalCheezIt]

So you are doing about a 6.6 hour race... online? If so I would forget about car setup and start by getting a server grade home network. disconnections or lag will take out 50% of the field.

My only tips are:
figure out your fuel mileage and then the number of stops you will need. Don't want to run out of fuel in the middle of the lap.

Setup your car to handle great on old, worn out tires. So if you are using RH tires, tune on SM tires.

It's multi-class with a prototype class, and the race ends when they finish. So a little over 4 hours. Good tip on the tires 👍

 

[wheelman1313]

I'm in a league that, in addition to our standard races, follows the WEC schedule, and runs all the 24 hr races. The best tip I can give you for endurance racing is to tune the car for driveability, rather than speed. It serves no purpose to have a car that's tuned on the ragged edge if you're going to be spinning every other lap. Make sure the car can get you trhough turn 1 at Daytona every time, as I'm sure you know, this is where most people will get caught out. Also, don't worry too much about tires, as you should run almost out of fuel before your tires fade too much. Make sure you are confident in rain, and that your car is set up for it. Most of all, practice, practice, practice. A well prepared driver has a bigger impact than a well prepared car.

 

[nursemorph]

I think car setup etc really depends on how quickly your friend picks up the way the game plays. Having never played GT before, he may take some time to adapt (especially if he's only played stuff like NFS), on the other hand he may pick it up quickly. I think you may need to find a compromise setup that both of you are comfortable with...there's no point having a setup that you can do quick laps with if your friend cannot. I haven't used a TVR in GT5 or 6, but I remember from GT4 it was extremely quick to spin the rear wheels and spin (presumably it hasn't changed that characteristic) so you will probably need a setup focused on reducing that more than anything, to allow for your friend's inexperience. Good luck with it and let's hope your friend catches on quick!

 

[OriginalCheezIt]

I think car setup etc really depends on how quickly your friend picks up the way the game plays. Having never played GT before, he may take some time to adapt (especially if he's only played stuff like NFS), on the other hand he may pick it up quickly. I think you may need to find a compromise setup that both of you are comfortable with...there's no point having a setup that you can do quick laps with if your friend cannot. I haven't used a TVR in GT5 or 6, but I remember from GT4 it was extremely quick to spin the rear wheels and spin (presumably it hasn't changed that characteristic) so you will probably need a setup focused on reducing that more than anything, to allow for your friend's inexperience. Good luck with it and let's hope your friend catches on quick!

He has actually never owned a racing game, so he is a pretty clean slate. And the TVR is actually pretty well behaved. More prone to understeer at the limit rather than oversteer. Although if the off track grip is set to low, putting a rear tire in the grass guarantees a spin. That doesn't happen on the real setting.