What the Weekly Racing Series has Taught Us...

[Kent]

I've been thinking about putting this thread up for awhile now and got the "ok" from boom yesterday.

Basically, I wanted to start a discussion about what the weekly racing series has done for you as a racer.

I can say that the series has made me much faster...

Thing is, I can recall exactly what started it all.

The week we used the vertigo race car at rome.

It was the first week we all used a car that could be tuned.

That week I learned the basics of tuning a car and over the month following that race, I learned more and more of the subtleties of tuning, from proper toe, to the limited slip.

As the weeks progressed and my knowledge of tuning continued to grow, I slowly started showing faster lap times during the weekly races.

I started placing first on a regular basis. (when maajik wasnt around that is)

Eventually my progress was recognized and I was moved from being an amatuer to a pro.

This was an honor to me.

So... my question to you all is...

Has the weekly racing series helped you as a racer and what elements of this competition have been beneficial to you?

Thanks again goes to boom for starting this series.

 

[made in holland]

I haven't learned much from the weekly series, other then there are a lot more fast racers around GTP then i thought.

Learning how to tune a car properly is a mission impossible for me, my brain just refuses to remember the tuning information.

So i just have to use Boom's settings for the rest of my life.

 

[Griffin]

I've learned that while I may be the best GT3 player among all my friends I suck worldwide lol. I also know nothing about tuning other than messing with the auto setting gear ratio. I don't know much about cars and maybe if i keep using Boom's setting I'll figure out what the heck all the crap means. Untill then its just fun to compare myself to other people instead of a computer.

 

[IDAFC21]

This series has definently helped me become a better racer. i had always considerd myself pretty good at GT until i came here. Most of these guys really put me in my place. haha. Tuning never was really one of my strong points, and it still isnt, but thru these races i have learned to grasp it a little better than i have in the past. I think the biggest way this series has helped me out is in me really trying to push myself and strive for that best time. I know im not gonna be on par w/ the pros (not yet anyways) but as long as i feel ive done my best im always happy w/ my results

 

[Arwin]

The last time Boom posted his setting info, I realised that I was starting to understand settings a little. But of course it's not just because of the three races here, but also other races, but the two races with settings here definitely helped, especially the monaco one.

 

[CFM]

Like some of you have said, I thought I was pretty good at GT too since I have finished all 3 games and am able to get golds on all the licence tests...but what I really learned is that tuning makes the difference. I've been avoiding other peoples setups since about week 5 so I was FORCED to do my own...the last couple weeks I think I've had some good setups,especially this week (week 13). I have also refined alot of my lines and removed alot of 'bad habits' that I had learned by racing vs. the AI cars. The biggest hurdle has been being able to run those walled tracks with out touching any walls...at first like 90% of my laps had wall hits. Now on this weeks race, I can run 90% clean laps. Makes it so much more fun!


And also...

A BIG THUMBS UP TO BOOMBEXUS AS IT TAKES ALOT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO KEEP THIS LITTLE GROUP OF RACERS "ON TRACK"

Here's to you, BB.

 

[Gil]

Boom has been "Yoda" to me for some time.
I haven't been racing, but I have been following the progress, and running a few laps in the little bit of free time that I have. I am getting faster also by working out bugs in some of the more obscure cars in the game with a few other guys.
I doubt that I'll ever have the patience and time to be really fast. But I'm hanging on the fringes.

 

[Cobraking]

it has tought me that , u can race without network adapter no joke.

 

[Kent]

The new boombexus appreciation thread...lol.

No really, we all really do appreciate your efforts boom, thank you.

I wanna say that I like the replies, they are actually very good and exactly what I wanted.

As for some of the "issues," I noticed that alot of people have trouble with tuning.

I learned some about this in the weekly series... so Im gonna give a quick breifing.

springs.
hard front and soft rear= understeer
soft front and hard rear= oversteer

Bound allows the suspension to compress
Rebound forces it to extend again.
(using these two is really an issue of track based racing rather than the car itself)

Camber is the angle of the wheels if you were looking directly at the front of the car.
Increased camber can help holding a turn, but can reduce acceleration and braking.

Toe is the angle of the wheels when looking down at the car.
Negative toe creates oversteer. (same for the front and back)
Positive toe creates understeer. (front and rear.)

stabilizers will tighten or loosen the cars suspension during flex. (as when one side is moving and the other side doesnt... a stiff stabilizer will keep the sides from moving away from each other, more so than when the stabilizers are low.)

Im gonna attach this really simple diagram for the toe and camber.

Notice the thin black lines... they represent what the tires look like when affected by the suspension mods.

In the case of camber.. what happens during a turn is, the forces of the "g's" push the car to the side... it causes the tire to want to "fall over" so to speak.

This is combated by increasing camber, making the tires lean inward, and then during turning the "g's" cause the tire to push outward and actually just make the contact patches of the tire even bigger than before.

With toe... it is hard to explain... just think it over when looking at the diagram and remember that the negative toe points the tires inward and positive toe points the tires outward...

Positive makes understeer, negative makes oversteer.

Hope that all helped.

 

[Kent]

sorry, couldnt make an attachment to the "quick reply box" at the bottom of the thread.

 

[Kelly]

The weekly race has taught me nothing except I should be in amateurs but I guess I'm just special
Some cars I can do really well in ( the easy ones that everyone enjoys drivin) I really enjoyed beating Mr P in week 3 with the Vertigo, that has to be my highlight!
It seems to be the high performance FR's and MR's I perform best in (depending on the track) I don't have that much of a problem setting up cars, I know the basics and just work on it from there ( with the help of other peeps too 👍 )

Anyway I've enjoyed these weekly races and since they started I haven't entered a competion anywhere, I think I've had it with the online comps ( until GT4 ) no doubt I'll have to wait ages for that , I so wanted it to be xmas but I doubt it somehow

And thankyou Boom for putting us up a fresh challenge every week 👍 I would probably still be going around all the boards entering comps if it weren't for this keeping me occupied in my free time. The rest of you guys ...I would like to thank you all for treating me like one of the lads, you're the best bunch of guys around when it comes to being gentlemen

And one more thing... am I the only one to have taken part in ALL 12 the races so far?

 

[CFM]

Originally posted by lotus350
And one more thing... am I the only one to have taken part in ALL 12 the races so far?

Most likely, I missed week 4 when I spent the whole week car shopping and then driving my new car

Maybe IDAFC21 ran them all, he seems to be there every week as well.

 

[Luxy]

Wow. My story sounds a lot like everyone else. I thought I was hot s*** until I qualified in beginner. Over the weeks, I've been learning tuning (I now am able to look at other people's setups and predict what the car'll perform like) and more recently have been recognizing a lot of bad habits in my driving.

I think the biggest quantifiable thing I feel is that I could now choose any car in the game and drive it reasonably well (hell, I finished the Italian Avant Garde race!)

Thanks Boom for a fun series...

 

[pedrodaman]

Im much the same as most of you ..I thought i was great at the game but not Ace..I knew there was folk out there a lot better than me ..

I,ve played all the GT games all of which i never touched the setups while racing ..As for the OLR stuff i only found this forum 10 months ago and i,ve been here since..
I then found Racing-line so i tried my best to see what i could come up with tuning the car myself etc ..most of the times i submited where in the top 5 (At the time) ..Not too shaby ..i also took part in some spot race's with other GTP members but this was post a time someone beats it and so on ..But there was nothing to be learn there as no one discussed sets etc..

After that i hadn't touched the game for months (was getting sickend by it all)It wasn't till i was browsing the forums that i noticed a spot race posted by Lotus i never really knew you guys back then but i knew you guys & Gal where really good 👍
So decided to try my luck (with the settings Lotus posted) i was amazed that i got within just over a second of Mr P and i beat Lotus into the bargain (dunno if you,ve been back to slaughter my time yet ..That i guess was the whole starting point for me and i have you two to thank for that

Then Rob started this series ..At first i was unsure of setups ( i was begging for sets like a kid wanting candy) but from all the help i got regarding setups was great i would give names but there is so many to remember..But i can honestly say that each and everyone that is racing the series has helped me heaps so i thank all of you as well.. I just hope that i,ve been able to help some of you folk out with my somewhat limited knowledge..

And not forgeting Rob for putting this whole thing together ..I know he's a busy man but still manages to keep this thing going (Respect )

To sum up i,ve gone faster than i ever though possible ,My tuning knowledge is becoming better, i,ve met some really cool peeps here..But would love to meet in life..i,ve also gained new found respect for cars that i otherwise would have never tried out..

I may never get into pro status but that dosn,t bother me..The way i see it we are all racing togther and i,ve enjoyed every race i,ve taken part in (Even if i did hate the car )
I wish i could take part in every race but thats just not possible.. I feel i got to put in more than a few hours to get a result ..

Sorry if i seem to be going on here but you asked

Just one more thing it is a great privilidge to be racing all of you

Now time to take that Falcon for a spin as i notice CF man & IDAFC are pulling some nice sectors

Later

 

[Kent]

Well I dont know about everyone else... but I can say I have been here for every race except one... the rally.

Thing is, I was here and posted replies during that week on occasion... I even played gt to get cars I knew we would use, like the gt40, during that week.

So technically I havent put in a time for every race, only 11 of 12.

However, if it had been a road race, I wouldnt have skipped out... oh well, atleast I called it at the begining of the rally week-"Im not racing this" and didnt just try to race and not turn in a time.

 

[miata13B]

Well, the Weekly series and learning, those two go hand in hand for me.

It started back in week three for me when the learning process started.

I knew all the fundementals of tuning but didn't know how to apply them.

I also thought I was pretty fast racing, no one I played in my area could

ever touch me, learned that lesson too.



First off Thanks Boom for setting this up I remember before this started

a few of us were talking about doing something along these guidelines.

I am happy to see it through. Coming into this event I had a hand on how-

to tune a car, but it is a little more based on my real car then anything.

I knew what every feature did to a car but tuning a GT car is a lot different.

I really owe Max E and Gokents a lot for the learning of tuning for GT. Thanks guys




Before any of this happened, it was actually Gil that turned my head towards

a comparison of the S2000 that re-ignited my interests in GT3. At the time I

reigned on my roommates and people coming over that see the game and

say they are the shiznit at it. Then they walked away in dismay. Although

I have to say my best victory was actually a 15 lap defeat against a

person coming into my house stated that. I ran the Vertigo in Rome

versus the F688. I held 1st place for 11 laps. . . The guy I played had lap

1,2,3 and 15 as the lead laps. The first three laps all I heard him say is

how the he## are you still behind me. He matched my lines though

at the end and got me by 1.5 seconds. I have to say, that Vertigo is a

beast to keep up and lead a F1. The guy was good too, he probably hit maybe 1 wall every two laps which was good enough by my standards when racing someone that is not strict on the rules. I had 3 wall hits during the whole 15 laps. That definately showed how much my skill improved.

To summarize it, this weekly series gave me a lot. It first of all gave me

a place where I could talk to people that actually love this game. It also

brought me towards the next evolution of tuning and finally gave me a

goal to reach. I will take a F1 out with the Vertigo and other cars we

have tuned Thanks Boom for keeping this going.




Ps I also learned one more thing. have more then one memory card,

you never know when yours is going to fry, like mine did last friday.

I am about 50% complete now, almost to the point where I can jump

back into the game here.

 

[IDAFC21]

Originally posted by CarbonFiber Man
Most likely, I missed week 4 when I spent the whole week car shopping and then driving my new car

Maybe IDAFC21 ran them all, he seems to be there every week as well.

Actually I took a pass on last weeks race w/ the NSX. I just needed a little break last week. But thats the only one ive skipped so far. im back in it this week!

 

[Kent]

I thought it would be a good idea to write about this setting/tuning philosophy.

Basically I believe that you should start with "nuetral" settings.

level out everything.

Do a moderate ride hieght, bound, rebound and springs. Each should be set the same for front and rear in their respective settings.

Toe left at 0/0 and camber at 2/1

Then based on how the car performs adjust each setting that would effect the car, only slightly changing other settings if needed to compansate. (such as ride hieght and spring settings.)

Transmission is pretty simple, however a new element Im playing with is the Limited slip differtial.

The limited slip can truly change a cars ability to induce oversteer during acceleration.

I still dont get into the braking slipage... it just doesnt seem to fit my driving style when its all cranked up.

Basically thats it...

If you ask me, I would say all beginners still struggling with settings should try this on occansion when learning to tune.

I hope this helps someone out.
-kent

 

[pedrodaman]

That was pretty much how i started this weeks race as a well balanced setup is allways a good thing ..But can be tweaked small amounts at a time ..Rather than going gung ho on the setup changing everything at once without running any test laps first.

I used to do this and it cost me wins because the car did not feel right (Astra) is the perfect example of this ..

 

[Viper_Maniac]

The only thing I learned is that I'm just average compared to everyone else on the board. I dont think I got any faster from the races that I did compared to before the series.

 

[Kent]

Originally posted by pedrodaman
That was pretty much how i started this weeks race as a well balanced setup is allways a good thing ..But can be tweaked small amounts at a time ..Rather than going gung ho on the setup changing everything at once without running any test laps first.

I used to do this and it cost me wins because the car did not feel right (Astra) is the perfect example of this ..

I dont remember what week the astra was, but I know that it was in the time where I was just picking up on this idea about tuning that I mentioned.

I think the astra was the first car I tried it on.

Also, viper maniac, stick with the races and do a bunch, then you will eventually start to see your times improve.

Just playing the game on a regular basis will make you better over time.

 

[CFM]

Originally posted by GoKents
Also, viper maniac, stick with the races and do a bunch, then you will eventually start to see your times improve.

Just playing the game on a regular basis will make you better over time.

Yeah, what he said We need some more regulars in the series.

 

[Viper_Maniac]

What the? Are you really from South Bend, Indiana?

 

[CFM]

Originally posted by Viper_Maniac
What the? Are you really from South Bend, Indiana?

Yup. You too?

 

[Viper_Maniac]

Yes.

 

[Mr P]

The weekly races have taught me that even though i thought i could play this game quite effectively ! a good set up will chew up raw skill with ease , it seems that a players abilities should not be based on there TT and License times and it also taught me that GTP has amassed quite the race crew compared to a year ago this place now has some very fast mutha's 👍

Well done Boom on a great and successful series

 

[Kent]

I was intrested in doing another thread about how the gtp stacks up, this would be a fine thread to talk about that in.

I was kinda hoping that Mr.p and a few others with experience on other olr boards would put up their opinions.

I know the gtp doesnt have the out-right fastest racers, but it does have a great deal of good racers, especially when you look at the records we have created vs the records at other sites.

So how do we stack up as a group... are we worthy of being recognized as a group of fast mutha's as P put it?

 

[Max E.]

i learned that in spite of all his efforts, Mr P. is my beach

also boombexus lives in vail and likes to cook and is skinny also.

 

[boombexus]

Originally posted by Max E.
i learned that in spite of all his efforts, Mr P. is my beach

also boombexus lives in vail and likes to cook and is skinny also. [/B]

I learned that Max loves to eat foods that are high in fat! He has some splendid recipes for a heart attack! Just PM him for your cardiac party on a plate. Killer meatloafs and heart stopping mac and cheese!


Not skinny, RIPPED!!! boo-ya!

I'll break you in half private fatbody!

 

[miata13B]

Originally posted by boombexus
I'll break you in half private fatbody! [/B]

Isn't that Private Snowball? And Who is that Communist $#@% Twinkled toed #$%#sucker down here that just signed his death warrant?