GT4 Challenge

[bemani]

Originally Posted by doubleurx

Shifting gives you way more control on the turns. Last night I was in the 126's pretty consistantly. I'll try again today and mess around with the top speed settings a little more. I doubt I'll be gaining 3 seconds though. I keep coming in too hot on turns 2 & 3 which is where I am losing most of my time.

Most of the time I just engine brake the damn thing, I can't drive auto in GT4.

[cody]

If I had a reason to record my sessions (for humor perhaps?), I would VHS it and then hook the VCR to the tuner card in my desktop. If I capture with high res MPG, I can convert it to DivX with Dr DivX and get a nice looking yet small size file.

[zpeed]

Just get under 25 1'24.806. Where the hell can I shave off another second?

[sperry]

I ran a 1'22.898" earlier today, I recorded a video that'll I'll upload later tonight.

[bemani]

Could only get mine down to 23.5. I just cannot do both turn 2 & 3a correctly in the same lap.

[doubleurx]

You guys are all fast. I haven't gone under 25 yet. If I get some more time late tonight I'll give the wheel a try - my thumbs hurt!

[sperry]

Here's the video. I'll go over the room for improvement later, but I think a 1'21.xxx is in the car (but probably not the driver).

[cody]

Originally Posted by sperry

Here's the video. I'll go over the room for improvement later, but I think a 1'21.xxx is in the car (but probably not the driver).

Tease...

[sperry]

Originally Posted by cody

Tease...

Fuck... the network went down while uploading it...

Edit: looks like my attachment got lost, I'm FTPinng it up... it'll be there in like 30 minutes... our upstream isn't huge, and the stupid network is slow tonight.

[cody]

[sperry]

Bam!

http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20P...1_1-22-898.wmv

[cody]

Originally Posted by sperry

Bam!

http://www.seccs.org/gallery/Car%20P...1_1-22-898.wmv

Your a god damn Jedi.

[bemani]

LOL. After watching your video, I realize I'm short shifting at 6.5k.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by cody

Your a god damn Jedi.

Actually the more I watch that lap, the more time I think there is to make up:

T1: Could be closer to the wall (driver's left) to shorten the length of the track. (Worth maybe .05s)

T2: Could have carried a touch more speed, since I didn't need all of the run-out. (Another +.05s.)

T3: Same as T2, there's more room on the exit than I used, so I must not have been going fast enough. (+.05s)

T4: Turned in too early, missed the apex. (+.1s)

T5: Took it flat out, no real mistakes, I just didn't line-in to T6 correctly. (+0s)

T6 (the carrosel): Off line on entry (enterance is actually mid track according to Skimonkey who used to work at the track and has a *ton* of miles there). I also apexed too early, and didn't get close enough to the curb. The correct line is to come off 5 mid track, then trail brake down the hill, apexing right at the start of the curb on the left, then washing out all the way to the exit. Doing it right would make a huge difference since it leads to a long straight. (+.3s)

T7 (1st hairpin): I blew the braking point, and was way hot into the corner, missing the apex. This should be an early apex, followed by a late apex into the esses. At least I got my exit pretty good, so I didn't give up too much leading into the esses that are taken flat out so they're really like a long straight, making T7 very important... maybe the most important corner on the track. (+.2s)

Pre-esses (not numbered): I did pretty well over the curbs. It's flat out, and you cut as much as is "legal" (two tires on track) to straighten it out. You can cut the split curbs a lot more than I did, but it's risky... sometimes the car stays flat, other times you get unsettled a lot and lose time. Since I had a good lap going I too the lower risk of not cutting too much. The whole goal is to come off the split curbs to T8 at the right angle so you can flat foot it through 8 and 8a. (+.05s)

T8, T8a (the esses): I cut over 8 pretty well, sometimes the car bottoms out as you com off the curb, and it makes the turn in to 8a skittish. You sorta just have to get lucky. I waited just a millisecond too long to turn in to 8a, missing the curb. Also, I must have scrubbed too much speed in 8 because the car wasn't moving fast enough to need all the washout on 8a. When done right, you should squarely drive over both the curbs in 8a, then carry all that speed through T9. (+.2s)

T9: This is still flat-out through here. I'm not totally sure what line is fastest. Sometimes I stay right to get a better line in to T10, but I feel like I'm having to cover an awful lot more distance, so I sorta started just driving down the middle of the road. There's probably not much time to be made here, you either got it right already or you didn't. However, setting up for the T10 right hand sweeper is very important. (+.05s)

T10: I was late turning in. When done right, you drive over the curb on an early apex. But if you're too early, you end up in the tires on the corner's exit, and if you're too late, the car won't ever get to the curb (kinda like in my lap). If you nail it the car can stay at about 6200 rpm through the turn, and you'll get a *huge* run down to the final hairpin. This corner makes and breaks my laps all the time. I've been .5s up on my ghost lap, then just barely miss this turn and lose it all. One trick to getting this right is to give the car a tiny left foot brake tap as you turn in to help the front end bite. I'm actually pretty violent on my turn in as well, since I'm trying to get the rear to rotate a little so I won't have to lift to avoid the dirt on the exit. (+.2s)

T11 (second hairpin): I think the fastest way to make this turn is in 3rd gear. A traditional out-in-out line should be fastest, and you need to use every bit of track available. Keeping the car in 3rd is hard, because if you slow too much it boggs. Since I knew I had a good lap going, I went for the safer 2nd gear turn. I also turned in a tiny bit too early, but was also going a touch too fast so was still able to make a good exit. (+.1s)

T12: Just like T1, I could have hugged the wall a little bit more. IMO if you stick to the dark "line" on the track, you're just driving too far. You can hug the wall all the way from the exit of 11 and go straight off 12 heading for the S/F line. (+.05s)

So anyway, by my count there's about 1.35s out there to pick up. The only problem is that a perfect lap is impossible. The goal is just to know where you want to put the car and just drive enough laps. Eventually you get every corner pretty close to perfect all in one lap. Just guessing I think I probably ran about 100 to 120 laps over 3 days to finally put this one together. And in another 100 laps I'll probably get another one this good, 'cept maybe I'll fix T6, T7 and T8a, and get into the 1'21"s. But for now, I'm tired of Sears Point, so I'm gonna stop running laps unless one of you guys beats my time before the challenge ends.

[M3n2c3]

1'25.841, after running laps for about two hours. That was at about 3AM, so I might try again tomorrow when I'm less fatigued, but I don't know if my thumb and the thumbstick will allow me any more finesse than I'm managing now. I want a wheel

Turns 2 and 3a are the bane of my existence.

[bemani]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

Turns 2 and 3a are the bane of my existence.

My comrade!

[doubleurx]

Originally Posted by cody

Your a god damn Jedi.

Or, Scott, you have way too much time on your hands!

Nicely done. I'm gonna give one more try before Tuesday with the wheel; but I can't touch that time.

I think we need some live races. It would be easy enough to bring a console and a couple of controllers to a meet.

[M3n2c3]

Scott, what kind of time do you get when using the controller instead of the wheel?

[sperry]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

Scott, what kind of time do you get when using the controller instead of the wheel?

I bet I could break into the 1'40"s... just barely.

I *totally* suck with a controller... the only game I can handle a controller with is Rally Sport 2 on XBox. At least the XBox has the long-pull triggers for the gas and brakes... the PS2 controller is just impossible for me since it's impossible to have analog steering, gas, and brake, and be able to left-foot brake.

Oh, and the reason I'm so used to a wheel is because I've been racing with one since about 1997/98 when AtomicLabMonkey and I used to race online in a NASCAR 2 league. You *had* to have a wheel to be competative, when the alternative was the keyboard.

[M3n2c3]

I don't feel quite so bad about my time, then.

Man, if I had any place to mount it, I'd have one of those Logitech GT4 wheels already. I do ok with a controller, but the range of motion on the thumbstick is too short to steer with any real accuracy. When I watch your replay, it's obviously much smoother than mine.

That's the main trouble I'm having with turns 2 and 3a - I know where I want to be going, but I can't make my thumbs do it.

[sperry]

Originally Posted by M3n2c3

I don't feel quite so bad about my time, then.

Man, if I had any place to mount it, I'd have one of those Logitech GT4 wheels already. I do ok with a controller, but the range of motion on the thumbstick is too short to steer with any real accuracy. When I watch your replay, it's obviously much smoother than mine.

That's the main trouble I'm having with turns 2 and 3a - I know where I want to be going, but I can't make my thumbs do it.

Something that helps with 2:

Try to stay wide out of one then cut it back in towards the burm on the left up the hill, kinda like I did in my recorded lap, but even moreso. The idea is to get a really straight run up the left side of the hill so you can brake in a straight line, then turn right over 2, rather than the whole brake while turning left up the hill, then throw it right manuver. 2's hard enough because it's a blind apex, you might as well make the braking/turn-in a little easier.

The same goes for 3/3a. Although the hill isn't as fast or as long, it's still a very similar turn. Also be careful of the curbs in 3/3a... you can clip them, but if you hit 'em hard, you're gonna be in the grass.

Also, even though you can go flat out up the hill after 1 and at 3, it's okay to give up a little speed there, since exiting the next turn is far more important than carrying speed up the hills.

And just like driving in real life, it's a huge advantage if you can imagine the track up ahead. You know what the road looks like over the hill, try to imagine it one corner ahead and let your brain automatically drive the car there, rather than just looking at the 6 feet in front of the car that you can see and try to react.

[tysonK]

Originally Posted by sperry

Something that helps with 2:

Try to stay wide out of one then cut it back in towards the burm on the left up the hill, kinda like I did in my recorded lap, but even moreso. The idea is to get a really straight run up the left side of the hill so you can brake in a straight line, then turn right over 2, rather than the whole brake while turning left up the hill, then throw it right manuver. 2's hard enough because it's a blind apex, you might as well make the braking/turn-in a little easier.

Yeah I started doing that and got much faster on the front section.

I like that sequence now.

[bemani]

23.165, still can't break into 22

[cody]

That's still really good...just not good enough, unfortunately. Sperry should be disqualified or somthing. I only managed to break into the 26's.

[M3n2c3]

Originally Posted by cody

Sperry should be disqualified or somthing.

We should just force him to use a controller instead of a wheel.