GRM Project Cars 2 - Series 5 *Insert Clever Name Here*

Brad / All. Something to ponder

Since I have now spent considerable time tuning the Toyota it will now probably be considered a ringer with my tune if you it it up against the other cars with out much tuning  

Because of this should we consider a series of all humans in Toyota’s and I share my tune with everyone?  

Should I try and work some magic on some of the other cars and share the tune?  I/we would need another week at least if we do this.  

Not allow tuning with the exception of a couple key things (brake bias and steering are the two I would want). I really would not want this as I know how good the car can be and it would be frustrating.  

Maybe we do none of this as this is all based on testing at Fugi and other cars may be better at other tracks?   

I don’t want to drive the Toyota. 

There is a joker rule that allows drivers to change cars if they choose. You are welcome to share your tune.

I think I would hate driving someone else’s tune without changes about as much as driving a default setup. 

I don’t mean to poo-poo on your idea, but this is supposed to be an open series that allows drivers to pick their own cars. The next series will be a spec car (probably the Aussie V8s, but that’s a conversation for another day).  If your car/tune is a ringer I expect to see you challenging Sauce. 

In reply to BradLTL :

I agree and also won't be driving the Toyota, but that thing is a monster at Fuji. And by that I mean 2+ seconds clear of the McLaren and the Ferrari, and I have a pretty good tune in the Ferrari.

That said, I don't know how things would shake out over the course of a full race (we were doing 5 lap sprints) or at a different track. What is apparent is that the bar has been set, and I need to spend some more time playing with the other cars to see if it can be met. 

I suspect different tracks will have different top dog cars. 

I got a 1:32.4 lap today after re-doing my gearing and using suspension settings I came up with using the calculator.  I'm going with the Toyota, since Dean wants black, I'll take red. 

No you misunderstood sharing my tune was for a baseline for others not as a you must drive it as a series. People could use it or not.  Up to them. I forgot about the joker rule. That gives people choices. 

The black trimmed Toyota is obviously faster. 

We were smoking the AI last night and I had them set at 90/30. The only issue is that I think at least two of us got punted by the AI. I know I got the boot while leading. The AI never braked and centerpunched my door as I was coming down to the apex of the last corner.  

A really cool moment was TJ and I over undered each other in four consecutive corners. It was tones of fun. 

I think I will be on tonight to do more tuning. I need to work on long runs and see how the tires are wearing.  We have not really looked at that yet. These cars can eat tires. 

With the room set to accelerated tire ware I am sure that this is going to come in to play. I started looking at this last night and taking some wing out of the rear helped move some of the ware to the rear and lessened some of the front ware. 

Sitrep:  The Toyota isn't a ringer.  Apparently when I was testing the Ferrari I was on hards vs softs, switching to the appropriate sprint compound put it right back in contention.  I also tried the Merc and it too is right on pace.  I still want to play with the Panoz and Porsche to see where they stack up, but there isn't a car so far that's well ahead of the rest.

Right now the Ferrari is most likely going to be my choice, with no ABS or TC it isn't the most forgiving to drive but when you get it right it's a fantastic car.  

I messed with the Porsche and it needs lots of work. It has lots of potential. 

I started playing around with the McLaren this morning. The downside is that going into T1, it is about 10mph slower than the Toyota. Still working on some gearing changes to see if I can get it a bit faster. I have it where it is almost fun to drive, but not quite there yet.

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The Ferrari and the Merc are both prime examples that flat out speed is not everything. 

Brad. You should add fog.

dean1484 said:

Brad. You should add fog.

We had fog last series at Fuji. I’ll add it late at the Nurburgring. 

We did?  Ok don’t remember that. 

I played with the Panoz, Porsche, and Nissan a bit this afternoon. The Panoz I got into the 32's without much trouble but it was eating tires, would need some more tuning for race setup but outright speed is there. 

The Porsche needs torque, I can't get the gearing to line up all the time and it loses a little bit in a few places where it ends up between gears. I ran a 33.4 but with a bit more tuning it might get a little faster. 

The Nissan. I hated this car at COTA: the brakes were awful, I didn't like the handling and the power delivery is weird. That said, it was a monster in a straight line so I decided to give it another shot. I still don't really like how it drives, but it can hold its own on the straight with the Toyota and was faster than the Porsche. Someone may want to play around with it some and see if it works for them. Just remember to crank up the boost. 

I managed to make the McLaren drivable, but am a couple seconds off the pace with it. I like the sound, just not the lap times I can get in it. It drives a bit like Sauce's F50 setup. If anyone wants the setup, I'll be glad to send it.

I've been messing with the Merc and my best lap is only around a half second off my best Toyota laptime. It is about 10mph slower than the Toyota at the end of the long straight, but I can brake later. I need to run the Merc with more downforce than the Toyota for some reason. Haven't tried it in a race yet, just on the track by myself. I need to try the two cars out on some of the other tracks in the series before I decide between the two.

In reply to T.J. :

I'd be interested in trying the McLaren tune if it's similar to the Ferrari, I haven't been able to get it to work for me. 

In reply to e30Matt :

Ok, I'll look for you when you are on and send it to you.

I did a 30 min race with the AIs set to 100/40 in the Merc. It was fun, but a bit draining since I was trying to save tires and I have to avoid the curbs in that car.

I wanted to see how it did on tires. I ran softs and tried my best to not abuse them until the last couple laps and the left front was maybe 1/4 left on the graphic at the end. I may try the same race on hards to compare.

In reply to T.J. :

Remember that tire compounds have to do with temperature and not necessarily grip. Running softs in too high of temp will wear them faster and cause them to get slick. Conversely, Hards in cold weather are useless. 

You may see similar pace without the wear on hards. 

In reply to BradLTL :

Correct.

If I have my numbers right from the Yorkie video, softs are for track temps 32F-86F and hards are for 77F-140F. So, for a track temperature of around 80F, either can work. In that case, it seems that the softs have more grip than the hards to me. I'll try the hards and see how they hold up over 30 mins before Wed.

Game on tonight!!!!!   Is Argo going to join us?

Yeah, where has Argo been?

I invited someone I met in an open lobby a couple weeks ago, but I'd be surprised if he shows up. I'll send him an invite tonight once the room is up.