Box Box Box - Sim Racing Players Club [Now Hype Train Enabled!]

[chaozbandit]

One of many reasons why I'm excited to start racing in leagues, even though my pace is terrible: rammers. Whether intentional or not, they just don't give you any racing room and more often than not will just ram you off the track (although the fault is usually them misjudging their braking point).

 

 

Take the above 40 second clip for example. I'm starting to get better at launching the R8, and with the low DF, I got a pretty good holeshot off the line - braking hard into turn 1 I locked up a bit to give the M3 the outside line, only to get rammed from behind by a 12C. Being in 1st gear and just as I let off the brakes, I was pushed off-track only to rejoin beside a SLS who had no idea I was there and turned into me (to the left) to give the Bentley to his right some room. That move pretty much ended my race, as it dragged me into the wall and pretty much destroyed my front end. When I saw the spring pop out over my hood... yeah, I wasn't going anywhere.

 

But enough pCars, let's get some RF2 love! Yes I decided to stick with this game a bit longer but I'm still not adjusted to the FFB so excuse my terrible driving. The AI is set to 100% (max is much higher) with 25% aggression, but even so they don't force a pass unless you are terribly off pace, off-track, or have aids like DRS. That being said, you can keep them behind you most of the time if you're up to the task.

 

 

The beloved skippies! Very fun cars, not slow but fast enough and very light. Definitely have to watch your braking as these do lock up, but because of the weight you can really maintain momentum through the esses. Very easy to race in a group; definitely a good place to start (would love to try Star Mazda but alas they are not in the game). Also tested, unintentionally, the safety car feature - one of the AI ran wide and caught the edge with his rear tires, which resulted in a spin and collecting another car. Caution procedure is similar to iRacing.

 

 

Ah yes, Montreal - a track I've been to only once in real life (this year, actually) and possibly the one I know best in the game so far. Thankfully, being a street circuit, most of the track is surrounded by wall so you aren't mentally inclined to go off-track that much - even then, it's pretty easy to recover since on the tighter corners there is usually curbing and you can catch slides most of the time. Being turbocharged, the only issue I had with these F2 cars is managing boost sometimes and making sure you don't hit the curbing too badly. Definitely a lot of fun, these cars, and a good tool to use if you want to learn tracks. You can start to see the AI getting competitive here.

 

 

Silverstone - not my favourite track, but one I`m starting to learn by the day. While there is a version of this series of car in Assetto Corsa, that copy is 4 years newer but drives similar. Not much to say in this video unless you want to check out the track in the middle part of the video. Of the four cars so far, this is definitely my least favourite.

 

 

Back to Montreal! By this point, I`m much more comfortable with the engine and the cars, but I was in for a treat this time. Formula Marussia is a one-make series (not actually existing IRL) and is based on the 2012 spec MR03, when F1 was still using V8 cars. Going into the race I hadn`t checked my keybindings, and had completely forgotten these cars had DRS (though not sure about KERS) and as such, the AI passed me with ease. The AI also appears to be using DRS without any fear of wheelspin, at any point on the circuit, just like in the F1 games so be weary of that; also, like the AI in pCars, I'm not entirely sure if these AI are affected by cold tires. Very close racing even without the drag reduction, and I had a blast keeping up with them on this track. Average pace was 1m 30s (~15 seconds faster than the Formula 2 car), but on the last lap (L4), I managed to destroy my brakes and slid completely off coming into the hairpin - I first had no idea as there is no indication, and your spotter is useless.

 

Two more videos left to record, those being Formula ISI (F1 from the pre-turbo era; same version of cars as Formula Marussia are based off of) and the road-oriented IndyCars. One major gripe with RF2 is the fact that they limit you to what cars (series) you can pair with what tracks. Originally I had wanted to drive all these cars in Montreal, for obvious reasons, but alas ISI would not permit it. Also, in some combinations, the game simply refuses to load and in other cases, the game doesn't play nicely with OBS resulting in artifacting. The engine itself isnt very hardware intensive to drive, so theres that.

 

If you have any questions, leave em below! It'll probably be a while till the next RF2 video dump since I'll be prepping for the start of my pCars season, so yeah.

[MEC-777]

One of many reasons why I'm excited to start racing in leagues, even though my pace is terrible: rammers. Whether intentional or not, they just don't give you any racing room and more often than not will just ram you off the track (although the fault is usually them misjudging their braking point).

 

 

Take the above 40 second clip for example. I'm starting to get better at launching the R8, and with the low DF, I got a pretty good holeshot off the line - braking hard into turn 1 I locked up a bit to give the M3 the outside line, only to get rammed from behind by a 12C. Being in 1st gear and just as I let off the brakes, I was pushed off-track only to rejoin beside a SLS who had no idea I was there and turned into me (to the left) to give the Bentley to his right some room. That move pretty much ended my race, as it dragged me into the wall and pretty much destroyed my front end. When I saw the spring pop out over my hood... yeah, I wasn't going anywhere.

 

 

This sort of thing happens to me all the time. Corner 1 is always a crap chute. I lol'd at the "ffs" that popped up in the chat after you hit the wall.  

 

What Pcars league (if you know yet) are you planning to join? I'd love to do some league racing but the timing is often not good for me. 

[chaozbandit]

This sort of thing happens to me all the time. Corner 1 is always a crap chute. I lol'd at the "ffs" that popped up in the chat after you hit the wall.

 

What Pcars league (if you know yet) are you planning to join? I'd love to do some league racing but the timing is often not good for me. 

 

The day of that race was pretty rough Tempted to edit together a montage of "turn 1 incidents" out of boredom, but I seem to have luck whenever I qualify in the top 1/3. 

 

Got accepted into ApexOnlingRacing but the races are 3PM EST on wednesdays (deadline is nov 21), applied to RevolutionSimRacing and CanAm Virtual Racing (the best for NA users but races are 1-2 hours in length). Actually, a lot of the guys in AOR race in public lobbies - I managed to get pretty well acquainted with Papand, one of the top RGT8 GT3 drivers, as he was practicing for ESL. Cool dude all in all, and bloody quick. Lap times on average were at least 5-6 seconds faster than mine (but I could just be sucking hard). Just search for his times and be amazed ._. http://pcars.13ms.de/

 

With lectures and all, I can barely commit to a full season in AOR (12 weeks) and will probably be doing select / single events in the other two, plus online MP with randoms when I can (need to practice my racecraft somewhere). Most of the leagues atm (kinetic, ARLA included) are UK / German based hence the timing is terrible for us across the pond; I know there's a few people trying to set up a league over there though (theres one coming to the PS4 soon, he's just polling interest).

 

Acutally, the easiest league to get into would probably be ClanAOD - touted as the most international group of the bunch - but because of the size, I'm not sure it'd be that much different than regular online MP. I've seen a few of their members out and about as well, but worth a shot if you're willing.

[brownninja97]

Some asshat has shared my Ford GT LM GTE and my AMG GT VLN, while the physics are rather old im rather pissed, beta testers cant be trusted at all.

 

oh well

 

cancelling those projects as well as the porsche 934 pack which id nearly finished modelling. Im disappointed though, who in their right mind would share beta work

[chaozbandit]

Some asshat has shared my Ford GT LM GTE and my AMG GT VLN, while the physics are rather old im rather pissed, beta testers cant be trusted at all.

 

oh well

 

cancelling those projects as well as the porsche 934 pack which id nearly finished modelling. Im disappointed though, who in their right mind would share beta work

 

Dang that sucks yeah you cant trust BETA testers with sensitive information ever, unless they are people you know personally or make them sign legal work. Unfortunately, thats just how things go nowadays. And even then, as game betas have shown us, there's no real way to prevent people from sharing the content (even in alpha stages) barring not sharing the content yourself to begin with, which places quite a burden on yourself.

 

Shame, I was really looking forward to it! Guess theres no chance to drive it anytime soon QQ. Best of luck with your future projects though.

[brownninja97]

Dang that sucks yeah you cant trust BETA testers with sensitive information ever, unless they are people you know personally or make them sign legal work. Unfortunately, thats just how things go nowadays. And even then, as game betas have shown us, there's no real way to prevent people from sharing the content (even in alpha stages) barring not sharing the content yourself to begin with, which places quite a burden on yourself.

 

Shame, I was really looking forward to it! Guess theres no chance to drive it anytime soon QQ. Best of luck with your future projects though.

Thats the horrid thing, i know the guy in real life, hes in my class, i gave it to four people, three are officials on the forum that have worked on big cars like the shelby and the upcoming 917/30(they wouldnt share it because each of them has put a stupid amount of time into helping and optimizing the model) and one is a friend, well former friend. Lost around £130 due to the prices for external models. Im likely gonna see him tomorrow and im gonna have to try very hard to not knock him the f**k out. Never really been betrayed before. 

[chaozbandit]

Thats the horrid thing, i know the guy in real life, hes in my class, i gave it to four people, three are officials on the forum that have worked on big cars like the shelby and the upcoming 917/30(they wouldnt share it because each of them has put a stupid amount of time into helping and optimizing the model) and one is a friend, well former friend. Lost around £130 due to the prices for external models. Im likely gonna see him tomorrow and im gonna have to try very hard to not knock him the f**k out. Never really been betrayed before. 

 

Definitely grounds for terminating the friendship right there, but still give him a chance to at least voice reason. Doesnt hurt to at least get some closure, even if you don't want to hear it. 

 

Dont be too hard with the physical stuff

[MEC-777]

Thats the horrid thing, i know the guy in real life, hes in my class, i gave it to four people, three are officials on the forum that have worked on big cars like the shelby and the upcoming 917/30(they wouldnt share it because each of them has put a stupid amount of time into helping and optimizing the model) and one is a friend, well former friend. Lost around £130 due to the prices for external models. Im likely gonna see him tomorrow and im gonna have to try very hard to not knock him the f**k out. Never really been betrayed before. 

 

Dude, that really sucks. I don't understand how people can stab other people in the back like this and think they can get away with it, especially when you SEE the person on a regular basis. *smh* 

 

If I were you, I'd certainly give the guy a piece of my mind.  :angry:

[brownninja97]

Definitely grounds for terminating the friendship right there, but still give him a chance to at least voice reason. Doesnt hurt to at least get some closure, even if you don't want to hear it. 

 

Dont be too hard with the physical stuff

i cant guarantee that im going to get physical, ive only fought twice both times on the defensive for silly reasons. Im going to verbally rip him apart though. he very well knows i could easily dox him, im not gonna because im not a psycho but seriously wth. his justification is gonna be interesting.

 

Dude, that really sucks. I don't understand how people can stab other people in the back like this and think they can get away with it, especially when you SEE the person on a regular basis. *smh* 

 

If I were you, I'd certainly give the guy a piece of my mind.  :angry:

internet cant protect this troll

[chaozbandit]

As my first race dawns ever closer (I've technically missed three already, but whose counting!?) I've been logging a "few" more practice hours whenever I can. Below are some highlights, and I'd be humbled if you checked them out, even if you're sick of seeing the R8 by now.

 

 

The R8 is surprisingly quite nimble even on the limit, but push it any further and it becomes quite twitchy with low drag and a load of fuel. Make no mistake, the pendulum effect is much less pronounced here than compared to the RUF but you have to be on your guard and constantly watching temps. Sweet spot Ive found so far is keep tires above 90 but below 110C, at optimum pressure, and to keep brakes between 400 and 650 as often as possible. But still, mistakes do happen be it the fault of the car or not.

 

Exhibit A: as Ive been doing a lot of GT3 lobbies, I've been seeing a lot of familiar faces. I of course don't know any of the guys, but I certainly know who I can put trust into when it comes to clean racing (and a bit of fun every now and then). Deerzween was a solid driver at race pace but his Z4 just didn't have the cornering speed of my less-draggy R8, as evident at both Spa and Nurburgring where I easily made up a 2-3 second gap in the matter of a lap, though it could be attributed to those pesky gravel traps. A few love taps at Spa but better traction ultimately kept me out of trouble, and come the second race I was able to do it cleanly.

 

 

Amazingly enough the tussle occurred on the very last lap with my overtaking done approaching La Source and his attempted over-under as we came onto the start/finish. At the Nurburgring, it was just a matter of him going wide but still very side-by-side.

 

 

Exhibit B: more random chaos! Although in this case, I do attribute partial blame to myself - all was going well off the line, managing to make it through traffic cleanly up until the mountain. An unfortunate misjudgement on my part lead to me collecting the wall and losing too much momentum; $ta$ had the outright pace advantage on me, but I wasn't expecting him to shoot up the inside like that, which sent me flying into the outside wall. What was worse was that a white 12C immediately came into the gravel trap and rear-ended me (not shown in the clip) but my race was done (again).

 

 

Exhibit C: probably the most fun I've had in an open lobby in a long time, cut short by a rookie mistake, again on my part. I know coming into this I'd have a slight pace advantage having driven so much on the track, but looking at quali where everyone was lapping < 2m10s, it wasn't going to be an easy fight. The R8 was still in its low DF setup and I easily reached 260+ kph in the draft, which was enough to keep up with the pack but I still need to practice racecraft when it comes to braking in said draft and managing front end grip without the aero advantage. Still, good fun weaving through the lot as they slowly made mistakes (or rammed into me); would have probably had a good chance at challenging for P3 without the spin though.

 

 

Not sure if I was racing the actual James Hunt, but it did give me a chuckle. IF it was him, I would get absolutely destroyed though I don't imagine he would have much experience driving GT cars, having mainly been in F1. Those pesky 12Cs seem to go just a bit faster than the R8 and have both better aero and braking, I feel, but are twitchier at the limit imo. Lessons learned here were that you have to keep your cool and focus on running your own pace, trying your best not to focus on the cars around you; in doing so, you become less distracted with explicitly trying to overtake them and are better prepared in waiting for an opportunity to present itself. Like going three wide down the front straight at Road America!! Too bad the guy in the aston quit early, since I couldn`t get a photo of the pass after the fact since only two entities were shown in the replay.

 

 

 

One of the bonuses of endurance racing is that the cars actually get dirty - probably quicker so if you take a few trips into the dirt / gravel. After 20-30 minutes, you see clear dirt and tire build up on the sides and rear of the car - a special party trick of the R8 being those exhausts, which being centrally fitted mean that any flames (of which there are many) will make visible burn marks on the bumper, as seen here. Also note the wooden skid plates on the front splitter! 

 

[chaozbandit]

Hehe so Matt just put this up

 

 

@MEC-777 He's UK based so unfortunately his leagues, AOR and RSR, follow the terrible time schedule though as far as I know RSR has a more flexible schedule and dont have a full season commitment. He does do some more casual lobbies, so I may keep an eye out for that. He's an ex TGC member but their two-race a week schedule can be pretty demanding (though being a GT3 league, all the racers are pretty clean and competitive).

 

I really like the guys in AOR.

[chaozbandit]

You've probably seen bits and pieces of this in places, but I'm finishing up the edits on a Portimao special! Well, kind of. I was intrigued after watching Chris Harris' video and decided to give it a shot in Assetto Corsa. Expect the post to go up here tomorrow? In the meantime, have some teasers!

 

 

Also decided to give the Corse Clienti stuff a go, curious after driving the P1 around and falling in love with the track and similarly driving the C7.R and amazed at the pace of a racecar here compared to the "hypercars." The cars in question: LaFerrari (reference for you to compare the other laps to), 458 GT2, 599XX EVO, FXX K in that order.

 

Laptimes for the hybrid trilogy are pretty much in line with what Harris did, but I never intended for it to be a 1:1 representation. Still good fun in doing it though.

 

[chaozbandit]

Good news! Actually, I meant to post this earlier as soon as I found out, but fell asleep rendering the upcoming vids, and now it's 5:20 AM and I might as well get out of bed!

 

 

Yup! As some of you may recall, I mentioned (a few posts ago) that I would be competing in the 2015 season of the ApexOnlineRacing (AOR) GT3 League (AOR Forum Link), now in it's third season. This is one of a few notable series that has been active since the days of the pCars beta builds, and has attracted talent from all areas of the world - as you'll notice quickly if you browse their forums, the majority of the racers participating in S3 are European (mainly from the UK) with only a handful of Americans, and myself being the only Canadian. This is mainly due to the fact that the races are set to start at 8 PM UK time, which is usually mid-day across the pond, and just further brings to light the necessity for a North American based league for those who grow tired of the madness that is online MP. Just to give you an idea of what the competition is like in this series - a few of the top guys (Yorkie065 and TonyR, for example) have been actively involved in the development of pCars with The Gentlemens Club (TGC) since SMS started testing league racing; Alex, EJ, and F1-Masa (fisifan91) are consistent top finishers in the ESL Go4 Cup and are quick enough to make it into the monthly finals; others still are top time trial drivers (Papand is in the top 1% for the Ruf RGT-8 GT3 at a majority of tracks, and often holds the #1 time); other notable entrants are those from similar start-up leagues such as PCDC..

 

AOR promotes clean and fair racing between its drivers, with a strict authority when it comes to on-track discipline. Unlike iRacing, there is no automatic system for determining faults and penalties so everything is done through the judgement of the Stewards, however these are open to appeal at any time after the race should one feel they are being penalized unfairly. Upon entering the league, it is assumed that all participants showcase a good deal of awareness and sportsmanship, whilst still respecting such things as track limits; ontop of that, it is assumed that you will be able to commit to the full season and will be penalized, or removed from, the league upon not showing without fair reason. Changes coming from Season 2 are the introduction of weather, changes to time progression, updated car selection and new championship structures, and updated rules - all of which I will get into down below. For more on the basic structure and rules set of the league, feel free to visit the following links and browse at your leisure: League Info, League Rules

 

Before we get into car selection, a bit of administrative stuff. Unlike in Season 2, car selection is now completely open and no longer tied to limited quantities, thus removing the Manufacturers' Championship. In its place are a Driver's Championship and a Team`s Championship, for both the Elite and Pro leagues (clarification provided below)  with the only requirement being teams be of no more than 2 drivers, with both drivers using the same vehicle and team liveries. It is not mandatory to run in a team, should you wish to drive the whole season solo, and teams can be formed at any time in the season with the consent of both parties. As you can see below, all of the current GT3/GTE/GT2 cars in the game are approved for selection, with the caveat being that if a car of this class is introduced in a DLC during the season, drivers will be forbidden from switching to it. As for assists, Traction Control (TCS), Electronic Stability control (ESC), and Anti-Lock Braking Systems (ABS) are disabled for all vehicles, with the exception of the BMW M3 (E92) GT2 which has proved to be too OP in pre-season testing. Full Damage has been enabled, with both Tyre Wear and Fuel set to real; Mechanical Failures have been disabled because GT racing is already pretty hectic; Flags and Penalties are also enabled. Drivers are allowed to change their vehicle selection at any time prior to the start of the season, however come November 25th 2015, selections will be locked.

 

Cars Available (Incl. All DLC Prior to Patch 6.0)

Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3

Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE *

Audi R8 (Gen1) LMS Ultra

Bentley Continental GT3 **

BMW M3 (E92) GT2

BMW Z4 (E89) GT3

Ginetta G55 GT3

McLaren MP4-12C GT3

Ruf RGT-8 (991) GT3

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG (C197) GT3

 

* Requires the Astin Martin Track Expansion

** Requires the Racing Icons Car Pack

 

Race Calendar

 

 

 

Now that you've seen the calendar, you might be curious as to how each event is set up. While Patch 6.0 did (finally) bring us the ability to set race length to a time rather than a distance, AOR have opted to keep the distance formula for the sake of tradition. The 10 event season (5 tracks determined by fan vote, the other 5 by AOR staff) takes place over the course of 12 weeks, allowing for a 2 week break for Christmas holidays. Lap counts are adjusted according to a 1 hour time slot, however in-game time progression is set at x5 (meaning 1 hour of real time = 5 hours of simulated time) with weather set to sync to race. For those unfamiliar with pCars' weather system, the session can be set up with various "slots"; each slot will amount to one weather condition, and the transition period between slots will be determined by automatic RNG (note: the length of the transition period will also be random). This is the first season AOR has introduced the weather mechanic to its leagues, so hopefully all goes well.

 

You'll also notice that each race has it's own race start time in addition to a calendar date (set to the real-world date of the race); this will add a slightly unique feel to the races, and is definitely something you don't see in public lobbies. Adding racing during both the night and sunset, along with the weather, should prove to be an interesting challenge and nobody really knows just how much of an equalizer these factors will be - because, if we`re honest, these guys are bloody quick. On the hardware side, there is a dedicated server running the various League runtimes within direct vicinity of the Coventry server over in the UK, with automatic background services regarding automatic event startup, maintenance, and a deep-link system that allows participants to join without going through the in-game browser. For reference, here are my ping and speed tests: 

 

 

Participating Drivers

 

There has been significant interest in this year's Championships, and as such there has been sufficient numbers to full two leagues on the PC platform! (the same is the case for both consoles, XB1 and PS4, however I am not in a position to comment on either). As you can see below, there are two groups: GT3 Elite is the Tier 1 league, whereas GT3 Pro is the Tier 2 league. Upon completion of the season, and provided that there are openings, the top 4 drivers will be considered for a promotion from Tier 2 to Tier 1, with the top driver (essentially the Driver`s Champion) being guaranteed a spot; do note that if you prove to have a quick pace off the get-go, you will be fast-tracked for such a promotion. New drivers entering this year have also been placed according to their pre-season time trial results, with some of the really fast guys placed in Tier 1 from the get-go (thus some of the drivers finishing in the top 4 in Season 2 remain in Tier 2). Additionally, drivers who have signed up after the maximum of 24 drivers per Tier have been placed, will be allotted a Reserve spot in the event that a driver is unable to participate in an event; this is on a first-come, first-serve basis so Reserve drivers should always be on call if they wish to have a drive. Lastly, at the request of any driver, they can be downgraded from Tier 1 to Tier 2 with grounds of legitimate reason, be it lacking pace going into the season or other real-world matters.

 

 

2015 Season Progression (Track Prep, Race Preview, Race Results)

Race #1 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Nurburgring GP (Week of November 25)

Race #2 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Donington GP (Week of December 2)

Race #3 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Zolder (Week of December 9)

Race #4 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Sonoma GP (Week of December 16)

Race #5 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Dubai Autodrome GP (Week of January 6)

Race #6 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Brands Hatch GP (Week of January 13)

Race #7 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Hockenheim GP (Week of January 20)

Race #8 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Snetterton 300 (Week of January 7)

Race #9 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Watkins Glen GP (Week of February 3)

Race #10 | Audi R8 LMS Ultra @ Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (Week of February 10)

[chaozbandit]

Click here to return to the main thread.

 

AOR GT3 Pro | Season 3, Race #1 | Nurburgring GP

The release of the following posts may all seem ill-timed, but that's just the unfortunate way that they came to be this year - especially with the timeline that AOR uses to release this info. But nevertheless, let's get started!

 

Track Preview

Everyone will have a different way of going at this, but I've found a decent "standardized" process for myself. Basically I take my Caterham SP/300.R, from my pCars Track Guide series (going up later today) with it's base tune and use it to fine-tune my driving both on- and off-line as a prep exercise going into the race. Not only does this give you a slight heads-up as to how to manage traffic, but lessons learned from driving a LMP3 car can also be applied in a similar fashion to your GT3 car (in this case, my Audi R8 LMS Ultra which also runs a base tune).

 

So what of this legendary F1 and endurance circuit? Well for one, it's not particularly harsh on tires and one set can easily last you the race distance; interestingly enough, the grading actually heats up the RL tire the most but places the most tyre wear on the FL; both FL and RR tires are linked when it comes to pressures and temperatures, leaving the FR the coldest and the most likely cause of understeer. The layout itself is very fast and flowing so equalizing these pressures should aid in overall lateral grip whilst keeping the front end stable in the two low-speed hairpins and two chicanes. This is critical in placing confidence in the car, though equally important is keeping yourself calm and consistent while maintaining race-pace. Braking points will be key here as there is little to no run-off and most of the time, you'll be riding on the very edge of the hardened curbing though don't go too far or you'll get penalized for violating track limits. Keeping the brakes at optimum temperature will also help the tires maintain their grip, something that is mission critical when you see the conditions below. Issues I see going into the event are the usual concerns regarding traffic and managing tyre wear.

 

 

Was lapping consistently in the 1m 53s range with the SP/300.R.

 

Weather Preview

I feel like AOR staff were slightly inspired by the WEC round at this track when it came to sorting out the calendar; either that, or they were just really eager to try out the weather system. Nonetheless, this will be my first time driving on GT3 full-rain tires for an extended period of time and being wet, I will have to increase the aero balance on the car. Regular race-pace in the dry on soft-slicks is approximately 1m58s, however expect times in the wet stuff to be a few seconds slower, probably 2m 6s or thereabouts. The R8 is particularly twitchy as most of the power is in the upper-mid end and despite being mid-engined, traction is still an issue - emphasized more so in the rain, so I'll have to be extra careful on the throttle and try not to get carried away whilst the faster guys work their way past. Strategy wise, this is a full wet race with the fog clearing halfway through, so no opportunity to switch off of the full-wets to the inters (I should be fine once they get up to temp, though before then who knows; also have idea how they will feel if and when I flat-spot them). Fuel-wise, I will probably be making a one-stop at the maximum so I'll have to adapt to the additional weight of fuel at the start. I don't expect visibility to be much of an issue as neither the fog nor precipitation are particularly heavy.

 

 

Like the days of Ayrton Senna, "rain is the ultimate equalizer" holds true here, and I look forward to seeing how I stack up! Wish me luck this Wednesday.

 

Race Recap & Video

Would have been in serious trouble as I had forgotten to save my replay, a mandate by AOR staff, and was fully expecting an inquiry into my driving regarding the four or five instances of light contact I made. Saved by the bell when a fellow member of PCars Friends Steam Group sent me his replay file, while allowed me to complete my race coverage. Write up, videos, and pictures are available at the link below.

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/460773-box-box-box-project-cars-assetto-corsa-players-club-now-dirt-nfs-rfactor-friendly/?p=6631753

[MEC-777]

What time of the day (real time) do they run their practice, quali and races? Would love to do this, but I bet they race while I'm at work.

[chaozbandit]

What time of the day (real time) do they run their practice, quali and races? Would love to do this, but I bet they race while I'm at work.

 

Yeah, it would always be while you're at work unfortunately I'm skipping lecture for this, as bad as that sounds LOL.

 

Free practice is whenever you want; since they announced the weather conditions ahead of time, it's expected that you practice the exact race conditions on your own prior to the event. There are a few guys that set up public practice sessions randomly, just so they have a few friends to play with, but the same premise essentially (I think Yorkie065 set up at least 2, with the practice time set to 24H). Quali is a 20 minute session ahead of the race itself, with a 5 minute warm up inbetween.

 

Race start is 8PM UK time (3PM EST) on Wedesdays. 

 

They do the occassional social "for fun" races that are 1, 2, and 3 hours in length in the off-season but the timing is essentially the same.

[chaozbandit]

Today is launch day for the new DLC! Couldn't have come at a worse time, I already have exams and AOR to deal with But alas, expect some sort of video to come from this! The DLC is already on the store for XB1 and PS4 (albeit higher priced) as of posting, but has yet to make an appearance on the PC.

 

**UPDATE**

AMD has released their crimson drivers for all their products, so definitely check out the new software in addition to the DLC if you have time today! Updated for all products and available for up to W10x64.

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download

 

Project CARS - Classic Lotus Track Expansion – Content Overview 

 

 

Vehicles

Five new vehicles:

 

Free car

• 1970 Lotus Type 49C Cosworth

 

Pay Package

• 1965 Lotus Type 40 Ford

• 1963 Lotus Type 25 Climax

• 1965 Lotus Type 38 Ford

• 1967 Lotus Type 51

 

Tracks

Four new Layouts

• Rouen GP

• Rouen Short

• Hockenheim Classic

• Silverstone Classic

 

Liveries

10 more community-created liveries:

• Bentley Continental GT3 - Bentley Team HTP #84 (24h Nordschleife 2015)

• Bentley Continental GT3 - Bentley Team HTP #85 (24h Nordschleife 2015)

• Caterham Superlight R500 - Momo Corse livery

• Ford Sierra Cosworth Group A - Momo Corse livery

• Lotus 78 Cosworth - Momo Corse liveries (2 team cars)

• Lotus 98T Renault - Momo Corse liveries (2 team cars)

• Palmer Jaguar JPLM - Momo Corse livery

• BMW 320 Turbo Group 5 - BMW Junior Team #11

• BMW 320 Turbo Group 5 - BMW Junior Team #12

• BMW 320 Turbo Group 5 - BMW Junior Team #13

 

Career

Two new invitational events:

 

Lotus Vintage GT Challenge - A three-round series featuring the Lotus Type 40

Start Date – May 29th 

Location –Silverstone Classic, Rouen Short, Hockenheim Classic

Unlock Criteria - Win the GT3 Asia-Pacific Trophy

 

Lotus Vintage Formula Challenge - A three-round series open to all Classic Lotus Formula cars

Start Date – June 1st 

Location – Rouen GP, Hockenheim Classic, Silverstone Classic

Unlock Criteria - Win the Formula C British Series

[chaozbandit]

Quickie update.

 

So... I'm at a loss for words and feeling kind of down after what was an abysmal performance; while we had been doing a fairly good job in our private practice session, everything just kind of hit the fan when the race started. Not only had I not accounted for the rain stopping midway, thus rendering my car setup useless, but I was barely able to manage a decent enough pace to really challenge for spots. Tried my best to be courteous to the leaders as they came past - I was lapped by someone in P7 IIRC; ironically, one of my friends was also in this race and I may have gave him one... or two... or many love taps, without malicious intent of course. I ultimately paid the price for it because the contact did 30 points of aero damage to my R8, which basically took my car out of the running for the better part of 8 laps (out of 30).

 

This is my very first competitive event, so I'll leave it at "ambitious but rubbish." Even with only 21 cars on track and light rain, the FX8350/ single 290 struggled a fair bit and, ontop of fighting the tires and trying to keep my cool, I lost confidence by the lap. A very abrupt lesson that I need a heck of a lot of practice if I want to be more than mediocre and play with the big boys; next week's race is Donington in overcast conditions.

 

 

So that's that. I leave you with the first 5 laps of Race #1, as I am currently rendering 2 separate 1-hour long videos for the event, plus several videos about the DLC afterwards. From what I hear, the GT3-Elite class was much more eventful.

[chaozbandit]

PCARS IS ON SALE!! 

 

So a half hour video takes me 2 hours to render and each of the hour long videos takes over 4, so RIP. Will probably post tomorrow. In the meantime, some of the guys in GT3 Elite have uploaded their raw videos, which I would as well if I wasnt so pedantic and wanted to sync up the replays as well. Ontop of that, purchased and tried out the new PCars DLC - so far, of the four cars I only really like the Lotus Type 38 (and the 49C whenever thats added), and the only track I really like is Rouen Les Essarts; both historic Spa and Monza (yes, the full 10km variant with the banked oval!!) are missing from this DLC and will probably be released by spring 2016. Still, no updates on that secret scottish point-to-point track from way back when; there's definitely an IndyCar DLC coinciding in release with the next IndyCar season as well as a Ford DLC, with possibly new USA tracks and the updated (COT) NASCAR bodies.

 

 

 

Some notes on the physics of the Classic Lotus expansion:

Lotus 51

Neat car here. It was a case of Lotus updating an older design to create what was the birth of Formula Ford racing as we know it. The engine is a 1.6L Ford Kent crossflow from a Cortina good for about 115hp @ 6500rpm. Very smooth and plenty of power for a car that weighs less than 900lb empty. Gearbox has a full range of Hewland Mk8 ratios to choose from; it was standard gear for the car after moving away from the (unreliable) Renault Gordini unit. Our reference car was laser scanned so the suspension geometry is new using the points that gave us. Surprising amount of pro-dive at the front, but it is otherwise quite similar to the Type 25 and works very nicely. Set it to use the same tire options as the Lotus 25. This was a beginner Formula Ford car from '67 and I think it is fair to assume that the tire tech available would have been equivalent to what went on F1 cars a few years earlier. It is not super sensitive to having great rubber anyway. 115hp doesn't tax the rubber, plus the chassis is so light and balanced that they barely have to work at all to put in fast times. Lovely (easy) car to drive and should make for some fun MP racing.

 

Lotus 25

It's like a baby Lotus 49 - less weight, tire, and engine - and much better for it. There is good data available on the 1.5L Climax V8 and it is a peach. 200hp with a very smooth torque curve all the way from 6500rpm up to the limit at 10500. Not at all like the later DFV that hits you like a second engine turns on when over 7500rpm. It even made good mileage! averaging around 23L/100km at Monza. Very cool little engine for the time. Aerodynamics are typical early-60s stuff, with aero lift at speed but a low drag number thanks to tidy engine packaging. Expect top speeds up over 150mph when the track lets it run long enough. Gear ratio selection is from the original ZF 5DS10, which is to say somewhat limited. It wasn't the greatest unit and it's no surprise that restorations typically switch to a Hewland box. Doesn't work against you too much, though, as the Climax engine is happy at relatively low rpm and excessive shifting is unecessary. Suspension design is another fun look into very aged car design. It does most everything in a nice way, but uses high camber gain as a key design element - note the large angles on front top wishbone and rear top link. Means the car is plenty happy running right near 0° camber as it leans them into the turns under chassis roll. It does work quite well for cornering balance in testing here, but isn't lovely under braking and over bumpy sections. The large changes in roll center with suspension movement aren't highly desirable as roll balance can become out of sync front to rear. Both our Vintage Open Wheel 1962 and 1965 tires are available to use, with 1965 being the default. Redesigned the tire carcass and tread to a more convincing feel. They give a great view of how tires were developing over the life of the car, as the brands progressively experimented with softer and softer rubber. Tons of fun, whichever tire you choose.

 

Lotus 38

The 4.195L Ford Quad Cam is good for just under 500hp @ 8800rpm and is buttery smooth. Ford’s Cosworth DFV gets all the attention, but for the time this engine was every bit as impressive. It won just about everything from 1963-71, including 6 Indy 500s over 7 years plus one more in turbo form in 1977. Power goes through a ZF 2DS-20. Yes! that's a 2-speed version of the 5DS-20 that was common in other forms of racing. It's a very different feeling, but you won't really miss the gears because the engine provides good torque even down low. Means a little more work getting the right gears for each track, but you've only got two to worry about. A new rule in 1965 meant that 2 pit stops were required over the 500 miles, so fuel capacity was reduced to just 60 gallons. Tires could last the whole race.

 

The monocoque chassis has a lot in common with the Lotus 25, except it is shifted about 3.5cm left of center. This puts the lateral weight balance at about 52% left and means the suspension geometry is asymmetric. All points for that were taken from our scanned model. It doesn't ruin the car for turning right, but it does lead to some unusual behavior in how it puts down power and it does handle slightly differently in left vs. right turns. In general, it handles beautifully so long as you treat it with respect. There is a lot of power on tap.

 

Made a new tire for it from the Vintage Open Wheel base plus the new heat model ideas I've been working on for other cars. It's different enough from the F1 cars that this is needed, and Firestone did make something new specifically for this car.

 

Surprisingly, I’m turning low/mid 7-minute laps around the Nurburgring with it. It's really not that far off the Lotus 49 despite being a bit heavier and down 3 gears. Very good fun at historic Silverstone.

 

Lotus 49C

There weren't huge changes from the 49 to 49C. Subtle changes to the suspension, monocoque, and wheelbase made the base package more refined. Cosworth worked on the DFV so it would run a higher rpm good for 430hp; the 1967 version could get that output at 10000rpm, but only for a couple of seconds before detonating. The big change, of course, was the addition of wings as aero was starting to be figured out. One of my books mentioned this particular aero package being good for around 450lbf downforce while cutting top speed to ~175mph, so that is what we've matched. Gearbox changed from a ZF to Hewland and the much wider range of ratios that comes with it. 

 

Lotus 40

This turned out to be a surprisingly cool car. Famous driver quote about it was ‘...Lotus 30 with 10 more mistakes’ but it’s actually a lot of fun to drive! Not exactly a perfect balance of chassis, engine, and tire, but it makes for an engaging drive. This was a classic case of taking a light car and finding some way to shove a big engine in it. Proper hot rod stuff, but in a sports prototype kind of thing. Suspension geometry could mostly be pulled from the scanned model. Tires are shared with the Ford Mk.IV. Set it to use a Hewland FG500 4-speed gearbox. Engine is a Ford 289c.i. V8 good for about 380hp at 7000rpm. Kinda like a race-spec version of what's in our '66 Mustang. These Type 30/40s ran any number of combinations for engine and gearbox, but this seems to give a good representation of how most of them ran early in life. Overall it's a good match for the Ford Mk.IV. Sharper handling, but down on top speed.

 

 

Also, surprisingly the start of GT3 Pro was pretty tame compared to the guys in GT3 Elite. A few of the top guys were all over the place, and overall it seemed like a much more intense race (the guys in my tier were all 3-6 seconds apart, judging by how quickly they lapped me in the latter half of the race). Still, that doesn't stop them from dive-bombing each other in the first race of the season!

 

 

Browneskiii (no relation to @brownninja97, I presume) aka season 2 champion always puts up great recaps. Both tiers had their own teamspeak servers, and the events are hosted via the AOR dedicated servers (pCars also updated prior with VAC support)

 

 

His post-race recap:

 

Wow. Wow. Wow. Such a good race. Not the best pace by me, but yet again I somehow got the absolute all out of my car and myself when it counts!

 

Qualifying: My first lap was my best, and again, it was a pb 2:02.9 and started 5th! More than happy considering I was thinking I'd only get just inside the top 10.

 

Race: After some amazing starts over the previous 24h (8th to 2nd and 8th to 1st in the first lap alone!) my actual one wasn't amazingly good, but I still went from 5th to 3rd before the first corner, and almost got @khaki in the first sector. The top 3 got away relatively quickly, but I was making no mistakes whatsoever and the top guys were so I got into 2nd.

 

I was holding up @F1-Masa like crazy for a few laps but he finally got past at the hairpin and then I held up @Tipple and @Papand so much, and quote "Your car was like trying to pass a building" (Tipple, 2015.) but he finally got through, after going side by side for a few corners and shouting at me I don't think Papand actually got past at any point, but his pace was definitely better than mine!

 

Papand pitted on lap 17, and I actually thought he was going to undercut both me and Khaki, but it wasn't to be, and we both pitted and came out together ahead of him. I was now settling down for a 5th place but it was the time when the race really picked up big time! @Yorkie065 behind me after Papand span was running about a second a lap faster than me with the same amount of laps remaining as he was behind. Khaki and Tipple had a coming together, and because of that Yorkie caught fully up, and it was me in front of Tipple and Khaki, while Papand caught back up to us. So 3 faster drivers at the point were all behind me ready to pounce on any mistake. But typical me, I didn't make any mistakes and I somehow came home in 4th! I think my pace was only good enough for like 8th or 9th, so I am more than happy with 4th! 

 

Tipple's recap!

 

Where do you even start after a race like that... :jawdrop:

 

Qualifying went pretty well I managed something in the 2:02s, but it was a fair bit off of my PB of a 2:02.2 Still good enough for 4th on the grid, after @Miniblack beat me by 0.010! :finger:

 

The race didn't exactly go to plan, I got a dreadful start and was down to somewhere around 9th place heading into Turn 1. I then started attacking @Papand and managed to get through around the outside of Turn 2 on Lap 2. Now it was time to start closing on @Browneskiii, sadly he managed to put up a great defence and I just couldn't get past him. A few laps later @F1-Masa had a track cut penalty or had some sort of moment, this put him right in the mix with me and Browneskiii. He got through after a lap or two, then after a stern shouting and a brief side-by-side battle through the whole of Sector 1, I managed to get by. From here to until I pitted on Lap 18 it was just a matter of staying consistent and trying to get a gap to the guys behind, sadly I made a few mistakes whilst trying to get every tenth I could out of the car and ended up costing myself a few seconds. I came out around 5 seconds ahead of Browneskiii who was just ahead of Papand and @khaki, but didn't practice dry pace too much and wasn't feeling too confident. After what seemed like a long battle Khaki managed to break free and started to close in on me at a scary pace. Once he caught up we had a brief battle but I managed to stay ahead until the end of Sector 2 where he missed his braking point or I braked too early, not really sure if I was just slow :unsure: I got pretty bad damage and a penalty for this and this allowed Browneskiii and @Yorkie065 to catch up. With Browneskiii passing me and Yorkie hot on my heels. Heading into the hairpin Yorkie went for a move and our cars got caught on each other and we were unable to turn which resulted in him ending up off the track (sorry!). And I was left to deal with Papand who was lurking behind waiting to pounce on any chance he got, thankfully I managed to hold him off and finished 5th (barely).

 

Not too happy with 5th because I felt like I could've and should've had a better result. But the quality of racing and immense fun that I had more than made up for that! Congrats to Miniblack on the win, great drive with a very close finish. Thank you as always to @FisiFan91 and the other organisers for making these awesome races happen! 

[MEC-777]

@chaozbandit - I know the feeling. Can do lap after blistering lap in practice, shaving a tenth or so off every time you cross the line. You're in your groove and feel like you know the track/car intimately. 

 

Then you start a race and it just doesn't feel right. You can't concentrate and keep missing your marks. Minor mistakes turn into big ones, killing your pace after every missed apex. It sucks. You'll get better though. I know it. Don't be discouraged. Consistency is key. Keep hitting your marks even if it feels like you're braking too early. It's better to hit that apex and carry that momentum than run wide and loose it. I know you know the essentials well, so there isn't much for me to tell you. Just keep at it! 

 

Loving the new DLC content. Haven't tried the Silverstone and Hockenheim classic tracks yet, but I like Rouen GP a lot. It's quite treacherous actually. It's narrow, a bit rough and those curbs at the sides! Deadly if your tire(s) catch at the wrong time. Especially in the 98T with full boost at full chat.  

 

The new Lotus cars are a lot of fun. Really enjoy the 49C with aero package. Adds just enough downforce to make the car drive-able, yet the hard-as-rock tires still allow some fun sliding action. 

 

Did 2 MP races last night that were both a lot of fun. Both consisted of 10 min practice, plus 10 min qualifying, and 5 mins warm up befor ea 7 lap race.

 

First race was with the Lotus 49C at Watkins glen. I qualified 3rd (out of 14) and finished 4th. I got a great launch/start and pulled out ahead, but made a mistake trying pull out a bit of a lead on the uphill section after the start. Back end got loose and I couldn't save it - hit and slid along the wall. Following that, several people tried to use me as a bumper while going round corners. I then got crafty and just started waiting for the people ahead to make mistakes. And make mistakes they did, lol. One by one they fell prey to the merciless handling of the 49 on lower speed corners. I stayed as consistent as I could, not trying to push too hard. Eventually caught up to and passed a few others to slide back down to 4th on the 2nd last lap.

 

Second race was in the Lotus 72D at Hockenheim. Again, 10 min practice/qualifying and 5 min warm up prior to 7 lap race. Managed to get used to this car on this track fairly quickly and fell into a fast grove. After that I just got faster and faster with each lap, shaving tenths off at a time. Landed pole position with a full 1 second gap between myself and 2nd fastest. (8 car grid) Clean launch at the start, pulled out ahead with enough of a gap so late-brakers couldn't touch me at the first hard right hairpin turn. The rest of the race was just me trying to remain calm and consistent (easier said than done in this car). The power on acceleration caught me off guard a few times causing me to correct or run off a little, but no major/crippling mistakes, surprisingly. 2nd place car never really caught up. Just kept pace at a bout 5 seconds back the whole time. Felt great to pull off a pole and win like this. Usually I end up stuck mid-pack among people who have no clue what "racing room" is, or I do get the lead, only to make some kind of major mistake(s). 

 

Wish I could have saved the replays. After both races when I crossed the finish line and it switched to external camera, the game froze then went to BSOD with a "thread stuck in device driver" error message. Since PCars is the only game that has done this since installing the new Crimson drivers, I'm assuming it's an issue with the game. Uninstalled the game last night and re-downloaded over night. Will try it again tonight and see if the crashing persists. I also lost my saved game data for some random reason (this was before I uninstalled it). Not cool.

[chaozbandit]

@MEC-777 Yeah, out of boredom I went back to look at the race footage during editing - the self critique is a bit disheartening but I know where to focus my practice now. Can barely manage a dry pace of < 2 min, which is already off-pace from the top half of the field, and my wet pace was also 3-4 seconds off though I could hit 2m7s/2m8s pretty consistently. Probably something to do with the setup, but it's something I'll be working on soon. Patch 6.0 places a lot of attention on tire wear and how you manage the heat buildup, which doesn't cope well with my driving style as of patch 5.0, in which I like to slide the car around and correct on exit with the throttle. By the time I stopped to swap off my wrecked rain tires, my strategy was already 3-4 laps late.

 

The next race is at least in the dry, so I can grab a bit more confidence knowing that - only issue is that it`s a night race, and I haven`t driven Donington for about 3 years - the last time I gave it a whirl was back in NFS Shift 2.

 

The new DLC is definitely a blast - some people have had minor issues and crashing loading the Silverstone GP, but both Rouen and classic Hock are a blast; as you can imagine, I`ve driven both and definitely prefer the classic 60s street course layout. Fast and flowing, with most corners requiring only a minor lift - a technical challenge for the modern GT3 cars because of the weight and the elevation change / uneven surfaces. Definitely recommend you stay within track limits because the raised curbs will lift wheels at speed, and dropping one side of the car into the dirt will suck you in! As for Hock, there a bit of debate going around regarding accuracy, specifically around the second and third chicanes and whether the model is based on the 60s version or the one raced by F1 in the 70s-80s, when drivers were really attacking the curbs. I'm inclined to believe it's the former, as clip the inside curb now and you'll send that side of the car straight into the air

 

 

Fastest lap in the SP300R was 1m45s, with the latter half of the video showing just how critical aero is on this track; also the pitlane is so short that you'll miss it for sure down the front straight at speed!

 

Those races definitely sound intense - the lotuses (lotii?) are definitely a handful, but from the DLC the Type 38 is so far my favourite. I hadn't tried the 49C yet, as it wasn't yet updated in the game on launch date but I will be revisiting it when I have time - the 49 is quite the handful so more aero would be interesting. Actually, I had a pretty decent MP race after the league failure - R8 at Monza, qualified P4 but was given a provisional P2 after the the two frontrunners disconnected (the prior P1 rejoined at the back); Got the holeshot into the first corner but unsurprisingly rammed off-track as I got through the chicane, then pushed wide entering parabolica; the guy who rejoined (and had P1 before) survived the chaos and challenged me for two or so laps, with a few over-under swaps but his car had less aero so he pulled me on the straights. The last half of the race was just managing the pace back to P4, but in a field of 20 it felt like a minor victory.

 

I've had a slight bug after Crimson as well but not related to pcars - using my 15.7 overclock on crimson resulted in the card black-screening on post, or no post at all, presumably from excessive power draw - unfortunately I haven't the chance to shut down the overclock as of yet so my top PCIe lane is useless atm. Moved the 290 to the slot below and reset the overclock, now at stock speeds but updated fan profile and conservative clock speeds. Will need to play around with the in-game graphics settings to see how much I can get out of the new drivers. Getting FPS drops in a 24 car lobby = bad news, especially with the addition of weather

[brownninja97]

Have you guys tried the new R8 in assetto corsa, i want to compare it to project cars but my brother has gone back to uni(i used his account to stream it) and i cant afford to spend £20

[chaozbandit]

Have you guys tried the new R8 in assetto corsa, i want to compare it to project cars but my brother has gone back to uni(i used his account to stream it) and i cant afford to spend £20

 

I was actually planning on doing a comparison later today but currently sorting out the Crimson drivers. Will try to get things recorded and rendering this weekend while Im off at the rally; both games have the V10 but the pCars is a tad twitchy at its default setup, but I havent driven it since patch 5.0. Havent had a chance to drive AC v1.3.5 yet either.

[brownninja97]

 

Beta testing has its perks. 

[chaozbandit]

So browsing the forums while I wait for these overclocks to stabilize and run through their benchmarks. Then going to cap some stuff for pCars and AC, then some queued up renders before I leave the city. But after seeing these two cars below... I am excite.

 

 

Hands down, I prefer the Polo R to the WRC, especially having driven them both in WRC4. Watching this video actually makes me miss driving around Trento Bondone... actually, excited to take these out to all of the hill climb tracks I have - especially Lake Louise!

 

Also... this one's for you @MEC-777