What is so special about Spa?

[UnionStrike]

Wait. That isn't a real picture?

It is, someone needs glasses...

 

[PAPPACLART]

I have obviously never raced SPA in real life. But once I tried it on GT5, I was alittle dissapointed with it. I guess I expected more from the hype.

I think though to enjoy SPA (in GT5) you have to really take something with allot of power. Something light with 600bhp and allot of aero is a good place to start. (IMO)

 

[Tower Turn 13]

It is, someone needs glasses...

Haha I was referring to the comment above me, but I guess they meant the gif not the jpeg. I was gonna say I didn't think GT5 would have smoking ads...

 

[sumbrownkid]

You're right, from a racer's point of view.
I, on the other hand, am I horrible racer. I love driving and as a driver/time trialer I'm pretty fast, but as a racer I'm not so great.
I love driving and I'm kind of sick of all the FIA enforced rules regarding tracks, it's ridiculos.
I know that as a time-trial track Nurburgring is better and as a race track new Spa is better but, come on - there's something on old Spa which is beyond epic - it's on open roads.
The sensation of going well over 200km/h and seeing those power poles and traffic signs fly past you as a reference to your speed, I don't know - it's epic because it's something not allowed in real life (you can't go 200km/h in real life without getting in some serious trouble) so the only place you can do that is in game, not GT5 unfortunately.

@JimmyTheHat:
I would but I don't own a PC.

Spa back then did look amazing, but with the speeds and cornering forces cars are capable today, I think drivers would prefer the newer, safer Spa.

Can't blame the FIA for doing what has to be done in regards to safety.

 

[OldF@rt]

In the real world it would have rained in one part of the track and been sunny in another. You can also add fog and snow to that sometimes as well. That's what makes Spa, and the Nurburgring, better than merely great in the real world.

You can add Bathurst to the list - it's nothing to have rain on the top of the mountain and sun at the bottom. And one year (1984?) it snowed at the top in practice IIRC.

 

[Fryto]

As a response to the OP: I can actually understand it. In a game you don't feel the G forces and that's the most special thing about Spa apart from its picturesque setting. Several corners are notorious because they're very tricky to master at high speeds Combined with a high G-force in those corners it provides a unique experience in real life, while you'll just experience the technicality in a simulation like GT5.

The Eau Rouge - Raidillon section is the most famous for its sequence of turn left - compression- turn right- decompression and turn left , all at full throttle in F1 cars. If you can pull up a youtube video of a recent F1 race with the G-force meter you'll understand :-)

Bruxelles hairpin is a low speed corner, but has anice elevation change and is slightly off-camber, what makes it hard to tackle. I'm sure everyone can drive through it, but it takes skill to drive through it fast and not end up understeering off the track.

The double left in the section following Bruxelles is a favourite of F1 drivers as well, because its taken at quite high speeds.

Blanchimont, the high speed left hand corner at the end of the lap used to be one of the hardest corners in 'old' F1. But the asphalt run off area and high downforce levels ofmodern F1 made it lots less challenging. It keeps being fun though, being a 300+ km/h blind left turn.

 

[Jaywalker]

By the way: it is not Spa, it is Francorchamps.

Actually, it's 'Spa Francorchamps' - shortened to 'Spa'.

 

[Haakert]

Another blast over Spa with Schumi in 1997 qualifying. The chicane then was way more challenging.

 

[klassykid9801]

klassykid you're on my craplist now

Dangit, i try to avoid those...

 

[Ravenmaven]

Another blast over Spa with Schumi in 1997 qualifying. The chicane then was way more challenging.

I loved that layout on the old PS1 Formula 1 games. You had to get your braking and entry into the bus stop just right. The exit could throw you straight into the Armco.

Nice find. 👍

 

[Mubble]

Ok GT5 isn't the best in everything... What a realistic damage! In Eau Rouge..

That's simply amazing. As has been said, that puts GT5 to shame!

 

[TwIsTeD_83]

It is one of the world best tracks just like Suzuka and Fuji.But it is not the second coming of jesus like many people say.Personally I like Suzuka a bit more.

 

[Off the Bit]

No, it's ruined.
Here's footage of old Spa-Francorchamps in rFactor2:
http://youtube.com/?v=ohSJGipTO-I

Best track ever made and it got ruined, because of this - I'm seriously considering buying a PC just for rFactor2.


Don't know how to embed but there's the link.

I agree the old circuit was far better than the modern circuit, but I meant it's not ruined in the same way that the Nurburgring GP circuit is a travesty in comparison to the Nordschleife, and today's Silverstone is not a patch on the pre-chicanes layout used up to the mid-70s. My view is what I consider realistic in the modern racing world, either than or I've just lowered my expectations through a few years of watching races at such exciting locations as Magny Cours! Sepang! Istanbul Park!

For me, the thing I like most is road-racing, racing on tracks that we designed not for racing but for everyday use, that follow the contours of the land, that force drivers to adapt to the circuit rather than just adapt the car. (Racing on closed roads I mean, I'm not stupid. Well, not that stupid.)

The modern Spa-Francorchamps is one of the few circuits I can think of that even come close to this today. For sure, three-quarters of the track is not a patch on the old circuit, but I will happily put up with that for the mile or so that has, comparatively, been left as it was.

If the old track was implemented in GT5, I would pay for it without a second thought, none of the hesitation I had over paying for the current DLC.

(I'll stop there because I'm about to start arguing your point for you!)

This is why Spa is so great. If you race the original circuit on GPL, you will understand why it is so famous.

The two main turns, Eau Rouge and Blanchimont, are both in the original circuit. Every other bit has been castrated.

I would recommend buying GPL and giving Spa a go. It was an amazing circuit.

Thank God for Grand Prix Legends, the only game I've installed on every PC I've ever owned. Also the quality and amount of the user add-ons is astonishing, and make it still feel fresh today.

 

[Alfabob46]

History is really what makes a track special but what makes this track so good or any track good for that matter?
It's a question I asked myself when generating tracks in the track editor. Is it tight technical sections, fast flowing ones or a mix of them both?.
I made all different tracks I found technical tracks were good for working on my driving skills but it was the ones with the fast changes of direction and and only a couple of slow 1st or 2nd gear corners that Really gave me a buzz!!.
Spa has some very fast sections with changes of direction and elevation and when taken flat out clipping apexes as they fly by at the blink if an eye is just awesome.
It only has 2 really slow speed turn the first and the last the rest is just fast flowing and technical LOVE IT!!!!!

 

[mykem]

Yep, This was the gif intention, you can see they've removed the HUD information in superior/inferior parts in the image to make this!

From the cockpit view and with cloudy weather it looks a real life footage!

There's an option to remove HUD in GT5 ever since the first patch last year. You can probably do it from the main option menu but the way I do it is to pause when I'm in the car, go to Quick Option and turn OFF the Race Info Display. Once you do that, you'll never have HUD in the car again and I do it even with Standard car.

It would be nice, though, if PD adds a simple toggle switch button so that you can easily pull down the HUD when racing.

 

[MARcFuLLa]

There's an option to remove HUD in GT5 ever since the first patch last year. You can probably do it from the main option menu but the way I do it is to pause when I'm in the car, go to Quick Option and turn OFF the Race Info Display. Once you do that, you'll never have HUD in the car again and I do it even with Standard car.

It would be nice, though, if PD adds a simple toggle switch button so that you can easily pull down the HUD when racing.

I know, i said that because in the video where that gif was generated from the HUD was being displayed!

But i agree with you, to play without the HUD is much better!

 

[Tower Turn 13]

History is really what makes a track special but what makes this track so good or any track good for that matter?
It's a question I asked myself when generating tracks in the track editor. Is it tight technical sections, fast flowing ones or a mix of them both?.
I made all different tracks I found technical tracks were good for working on my driving skills but it was the ones with the fast changes of direction and and only a couple of slow 1st or 2nd gear corners that Really gave me a buzz!!.
Spa has some very fast sections with changes of direction and elevation and when taken flat out clipping apexes as they fly by at the blink if an eye is just awesome.
It only has 2 really slow speed turn the first and the last the rest is just fast flowing and technical LOVE IT!!!!!

I also think some of the corners in this track have so much speed packed into them, even the ones that aren't the fastest overall. Hitting the apexes seems...easier here somehow than other tracks. I have no idea why.

 

[Crowood]

^ watch

Spa ROCKS

 

[The Vanishing Boy]

-> I had a go last night in GT5. And I must say, its a border-line between two types of GT tracks. It has the fun factor of a fictional track, but then again its a real life track!!! I had fun driving around the track.