[slideways]

I'll get some more laps in with the Supra soon. Had a blast with QC earlier in the RX-7 which isn't really my go to car....

[slideways]

Well for me, you have the ballast spot on. I think I'm about .1s between all 4 cars. Helps when you have QC and Cherno pushing the crap out of you. Hehehe. 

[Wally]

It's looking to me like the ballast is looking pretty good. We'll do the red bull experiment too. There's always going to be variation between people and tracks, so with the reverse grid format (I reckon I'll do the reverse by season standings thing, Marty),  the racing should be close and excellent.

[Wally]

Here are my times so far:


RX-7, 55.358
370z, 55.699
Supra, 56.206

[slideways]

Noticed you on bright and early..
Anyone having downshift issues in the Skyline? Not shifting down sometimes for me. No issues with the others. Will do some more laps in it later in the morning.

[marty]

Noticed you on bright and early..
Anyone having downshift issues in the Skyline? Not shifting down sometimes for me. No issues with the others. Will do some more laps in it later in the morning.

You must be using paddles, no issue with the shifter but also I don't think I have ever had any gearbox or engine damage in the sim car. I did miss an up shift once in my r33 that cost a gearbox however as there is no such thing as shift protection in one of those. I was a bit more cautious driving a friends r34 however and didn't push the gear changes anywhere near as much.

Regarding these cars at this track, pretty much as with all the speed isnt in entering corners too fast. The only corner here thats a bit of a nothing corner is t2 all the others are quite technical and easy to lose more time then you can gain by overdriving them. Im kind of suprised nobody has gone quicker then my times yet, I have setups for all cars in ptracker and they should be a good start. Not sure if all are exactly current but not too far off and start pressures are quite tricky. Here is my little track guide which may help some people get a bit more speed out of the track as I have seen quite a few throwing away time by overdriving a couple sections.

T1 I brake quite early I think its the II marker on the left from the left side of the road, a fairly easy brake application to avoid unsettling the car too much as you dont want the rear end to get too light so do most braking in a straight line. There is also a downshift needed here so best to do that while going fairly straight then its almost a bit of coast towards the apex, once the nose is pointed where you want you can give it power before the apex and if the car is nicely balanced on entry you can get close to full throttle from here. Need to avoid running wide and the rwd cars will be prone to getting loose so may need a correction or slight lift. If its pushing wide then it needs a fairly big lift to avoid getting a wheel in the sand. That corner I think is 3rd gear in all these cars for me.

T2 quite a simple basic long hairpin 2nd gear in all cars, no need to outbrake yourself and also wait a bit for the throttle on exit. If you get a nice entry you should have a couple wheels on the inside curb and then once past the apex you should be able to power out and straighten over the exit curb.

T3 is a very tricky corner this varies between 2nd and 3rd gear in these cars, you cant brake too late but with a downshift the rear can easily get loose. This corner you need to take a bit of the left curb I see most people run way wide on entry and then even wider on exit, the best exit is only the right wheels on the exit curb going 4 wheels wide is slow and unsettles the car too much for the next section.

T4 another key corner but for different reasons, this one in a few of the cars I am on the limiter in 3rd on entry with a small lift. You want to keep the left wheels on the curb here and hold a tight line to avoid pushing wide compromising the entry into the next corner. You dont want wheels over the curbs edge as it will unsettle the car quite a bit but carry just enough speed as you can to keep the tight line. It is possible to go flat on this turn in all cars but its considerably slower especially if your in a taller 4th gear as up the hill it will lose speed. The car will get unsettled and you will be out of control for the next 2 corners if you mess this one up. A tiny lift on entry to get the nose in then you should be flat from here.

T5 is flat and you can take a bit of inside curb in some cars but dont take too much as it will unsettle the car into the next key brake point.

T6 has multiple lines and t4-5 lines will determine which is best here, You can go the wide entry but also a tight entry from the middle of the road may be quicker in some cars. If the tyres arent quite up to temp and pressure especially the left front then the car will understeer on entry then grab and quite often be very loose on exit with power. In racing others this is one of the key pass opportunities but mostly because they went flat from t4 and are out of control by the brake point of t6. They then miss the apex and leave enough room for a bus here, a slightly wider line can be quick but ideal line is hugging the inside curb and on exit just avoid running too wide.

All cars here take 4 to 6 laps to get tyres to temps and pressure so you need to be aware of this, the car will just get better as you get the tyres closer to working temps. Also if overheating or getting over or under pressure on the left rear it will tend to get very loose at t1, if the left front is over or under then it will understeer quite a bit there and also into t6. Right front is critical for t3 as until this is up to temp and pressure that corner is quite a bit slower.

[slideways]

No paddles but have my G27 shifter rigged as sequential. Never had the same issue with another car. Just eating and I'm jumping on for some more laps...

[Joe]

I remember some other cars that only allowed you to shift down if you were going slow enough for the gear. Think it was the GTR... can't remember now...

[marty]

No paddles but have my G27 shifter rigged as sequential. Never had the same issue with another car. Just eating and I'm jumping on for some more laps...

How do you make a g27 shifter sequential? also if using sequential in game it will be the same as using paddles so there will be some added shift delay and quite likely shift protection. You really don't want to shift down at such high RPM anyway as this just causes wheels to lock a little and in the r34 it also adds understeer as all 4 wheels lock for a little on too aggressive a down shift.

I have never tried paddles or sequential on a manual car in AC so I don't know if it adds auto lift and blip, this would be likely along with shift protection. Realistically if there was no downshift protection then it would just lunch a gearbox every time you try to shift at too high an rpm. Quit a few modern cars now have pre selection of gears. You press the paddle and if the rpm is too high it will just delay the shift until you get into a safe range, fairly sure the r35 has this but again in other peoples cars I don't tend to abuse them as much as my own.

Cars that don't have that will just reject gear changes and that can be quite an awkward feeling but In games sims everyone abuses the crap out of everything and if you noticed how violent a way too early downshift is in reality you probably would do it less in games too or at least I tend to.

I think there was an f1 era that had multi preselect gearboxes so full semi auto, on the downshift you just flicked the paddles as many times as you want then it will give the perfect rpm for each downshift. I dont think this is permitted any more as most of the cool tech has been banned and they have added weird more complicated stuff to the cars. Like what we are getting in the new DLC with the 2015 Ferrari, a season in this would have less runners in the last round I think then the current lotus/ferrari season.

I suspect that will be like driving the 312t or 72D while trying to write a python app, quite a challenge but I would be up for a season in it just not sure how many others would.

[slideways]

Strong rubber bands. It comes from my V8Supercars days and I've never changed it. Never liked the feel of the H pattern anyway. Sorry about the poor quality pic. Webcam's as old as me. 
Turns out I had to give it way more rpm on the blip and all is good. Don't like the car though. I have auto lift/blip turned off and do my own.

[Bruce]

Strong rubber bands. It comes from my V8Supercars days and I've never changed it. Never liked the feel of the H pattern anyway. Sorry about the poor quality pic. Webcam's as old as me. 
Turns out I had to give it way more rpm on the blip and all is good. Don't like the car though. I have auto lift/blip turned off and do my own.

yepo, that's it, I have seen more elaborate methods, but this is the most effective/reversible, not to mention "cheap", opps I mentioned it!

[slideways]

Can't believe I've done 655 laps on your server Marty. Can't be right surely.

[marty]

Seems all cars are real close here, main issue for the Supra especialy is heating tyres as the 2 ballasted cars with the extra weight generate some more heat. The r34 with awd generates front temps quick so next track I wil add tyre blankets.

[Wally]

Tyre blankets might be a good idea, to compensate for some cars being ballasted and some not. I find that the tyres tend to cool to their normal temperature relatively quickly with tyre blankets. They mostly seem to help avoid just the cold start.

[marty]

Jap pack is on at the new track, server set for send to pit on jump start. Stracker may over count lap numbers minorating may not be working but other then that it should be all good. I will jump in later tonight and sort out any issues if I can and also give the new cars a proper run.