Beneath the buzz of a neon light. (Daily chatter)

[Fit4aking]

Most days I look at the "fast" guys and understand that there are people with more skill than me.  Other days I pick a ghost and do my damndest do catch someone higher up the leaderboard.  Last night I had a bit of a revelation.

The Backstory:  Daytona Fever has overtaken Open2nd.  He's Mazda crazy to begin with and a sexy Mazdaspeed3 caught his attention after a win in the ST class.  The cure for this fever could only be endurance racing in FWD cars.  Thus began the car testing session for a set of cars and a build spec that would make them competitive.  Fast forward two hours and a decent list of modern FWD cars, a set build path, and a couple examples were ready for testing on the track.

The Spec: Modern FWD cars (2009+) with a few exclusions.  Full race platform, including weight reduction and roll cage.  Race differential, stock transmission, 245 width drag slicks on stock diameter wheels.  Once that was applied it was up to the individual to fill in the rest to a PI of 510.  I'm sure Open has a more comprehensive run down with a list of eligible cars but you get the jist.

At this point I was listening to lap times being rattled off while a couple other guys joined in the lobby.  Builds were read off and before long there were enough cars built and enough people eager to race that a test session was initiated.  As usual the fast guys took off.  By the end of only 5 laps at Sunset Infield Reverse it was clear that I was nearly 3 seconds off the pace.  A second session in a different car netted the same results.  After a couple more races it was break time to build a few cars and actually put a better tune on the little monsters.  I decided to stick with only one car, the 2010 VW Golf.  I looked over the build and it was solid so I went to the tune.  I worked on the bias, the dampers, the roll bars, tire pressure, all the usual suspects.  It must have taken 20 laps over two tuning sessions.  I was able to knock two seconds off if I really pushed hard but the car just never felt right.  The rest of the guys in the lobby were talkin about how to tune these things and I was kind of listening.  My ears poked up when someone suggested upping the decel setting on the diff to at least 25%.  As I had learned it FWD cars ran low Accel Diff settings and 0% decel.  That was just the rule.  Open confirmed that he was running a mid 40's accel setting and 25% decel to reduce snap oversteer.  That was the problem I was having on corner entry.  I had to try it.

Three laps later it happened.  I knocked an additional 3 seconds off of my lap time.  I went from running 109.3xx's to consistent  106.2xx's.  The car was very stable, corner entry was faster, corner exit was faster, everything was better.  Unfortunately Open ended up getting faster as well so his times fell into the 104.xxx's so I still have some work to do.  The lesson here is that I would have normally tuned the usual suspects and then explained away any left over issues with the fact that I was running an A-class FWD car.  I could have probably learned to drive the car better and knocked a couple tenths off but no more wholesale changes, no more big reductions in lap times.  I obviously still have a lot to learn about tuning and FWD cars in general.  As much as I think I know about tuning a car its still beneficial to crowdsource with other people and share information that can make everyone faster.

Now I have to take everything I learned and apply it to the Mitsubishi FTO before next weeks race at Hockenheim.  If I can knock a second or two off and make it more stable I may have a shot at running in the front group.

[Blooze]

Curious, I tried the diff settings mentioned above on my Cobalt SS FTCC car.  Accel=44 Decel=24.  I too had gravitated to the low Accel 0 Decel values for lack of a better idea a couple seasons ago.  Although no where near as dramatic, I did notice an improvement.  Primarily in the tire "scrubbing" noise that I was getting on turn in, specially if decellerating when turning in.  I was having few (if any) problems with my FF Setup and so have not noticed but a slight improvement in time.  I will probably need to rerun my QR tracks to verify any difference.

I am curious about the "snap" oversteer problems you were having.  Was this lift off oversteer?  If so, what mechanical principles come in to play that affect the oversteer by altering the front diff's decel lock value?  For my part, issues with lift off oversteer have been best handled with the ARB and dampers controlling the forward weight shift.

I have another question about the spec...  the Drag compound?  How did you guys settle on this?

I'm looking forward to more news on this ...

$

[Fit4aking]

More testing is in store with the Diff settings and I'll post the setup next time I log on the Xbox.

We decided to run Drag Slicks because they offer excellent grip characteristics but wear very fast.  So far I've been able to run upwards of 70 laps on some tracks without getting the tires to the point that they have a huge effect on lap times.  With the drag slicks you can have tire wear play a part in race strategy without having to run an hour long race.  All the benefits of pit strategy, decline in vehicle performance, but none of the driver wear associated with long races.

[Fit4aking]

I tried, I really really did.  Forza just wasn't smiling on me last night.  After watching a ton of Sim Racing videos yesterday I was pretty psych'd to go home and run some serious laps but it was not to be.  Blooze posted a faster time than me in the Laguna Seca Challenger time trial so I tried to beat it.  Other than a few slips the ghost I was chasing ran smooth and fast.  Eventually I strung together a solid lap and bested the translucent car by a few hundredths but it was a struggle to get it all just right.

Instead of car testing or rebuilding or hotlapping I decided to knock off the last few races in World Tour.  I must have selected 10 cars that I wanted to drive before the game fit me into a race around Catalunya.  Reluctantly I ran a fugger tuned car for a win against Rossi and crew.  The next race was Honda Civics around Le Mans.  Who in the hell thought that would be a good idea?  The entire straight was the car topped out at 128mph due to aero drag and I wasn't even running downforce.  Boooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggg.  I did manage to win with a C390 car while the rest was in auto-tuned C425's.

The last race I was able to finagle the system into letting me run my newly minted Volvo in a C-class heat race event.  That was fun, I really like that car but I was years ahead of the pack after a solid start around Nurburg GP. 

Season 10 started abruptly and every event was R1.  No matter what car I chose the first race MUST be in R1.  So much for driving whatever car you want.  I backed out of the WT and went back in half a dozen times with everything from E-class muscle to A-class handling but all 3 choices were R1 in some form or another.  I even tried to sneak in an R3 but to no avail.  Guess I got away with lower class fun cars long enough and have to suck it up and run the LMP's. 

Season 10 may take a while due to disinterest in those things.  Unfortunately that round of frustration meant I wasn't in the mood to do anything else in Forza-land either.  Grr!

[BarbecuePete]

The next race was Honda Civics around Le Mans.  Who in the hell thought that would be a good idea?  The entire straight was the car topped out at 128mph due to aero drag and I wasn't even running downforce.  Boooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggg. 

Season 10 started abruptly and every event was R1.  No matter what car I chose the first race MUST be in R1.  So much for driving whatever car you want.

That's pretty much why I haven't bothered with the world tour and am only picking and choosing races through the event list...

Unless i'm online and its a 'Spiny Special' where he's stuck us in R1's around Kaido or a 'Dirt-struction Derby' and we're in Stock Cars around an oval, I rarely go beyond A Class of my own choice...

I agree that some event's are just stupid as well... C class Civic's on LeMans?, did you just sellotape the trigger down and come back 5 minutes later when the car had finally reached the end of the straight?

At the other end of the scale I've seen 6 laps of Camino Mini in A class? and I'm sure I've seen one which has 5 events and two of them are Suzuka west!

I wish they'd spend a bit more time thinking about what tracks to put in the events....They just seem to go, 'Ah this race will be about 5 minutes, we'll put that in' 

[Blooze]

I tried, I really really did.  Forza just wasn't smiling on me last night.  After watching a ton of Sim Racing videos yesterday I was pretty psych'd to go home and run some serious laps but it was not to be.  Blooze posted a faster time than me in the Laguna Seca Challenger time trial so I tried to beat it.  Other than a few slips the ghost I was chasing ran smooth and fast.  Eventually I strung together a solid lap and bested the translucent car by a few hundredths but it was a struggle to get it all just right.

I cleaned out the Cheeze account specifically for and 'cause of this challenge.  Gonna get me a SS Camaro, by gum.  They said that that Rampage dude wasn't done yet so I got to frettin' over his 111 how much he was gonna improve it.  And then I start gettin' notices that folks are takin' my 103.9 down left and right.  So I went and tried to fix it.  It took a few laps, but I figured if I could hang with you till the 4^th turn I could maybe get enough ahead to hold you off to the finish line.  Now I got a 143.1 - I hope that is enough.  I really got plans for that Camaro.  I almost bought one once from a friend - drove it quite a bit.  Like the '65 GTO and the '57 Chevy, the SS Camaro is one of "my" cars.

[Fit4aking]

Haven't gotten a single notice from the Rivals Challenge that my Road King time has been beaten.  I guess there isn't too much interest in heavy modern muscle on Laguna Seca.  Fingers crossed I find a fun car in the garage soon but we'll have to wait and see.

Did a lot of C-class testing last night with two cars that have been in my garage for a while.  One of them has been shuffled around a lot because I wasn't sure where it fit in the best and the other is a real gem that looks fantastic all by itself so it has been in the collector section under a cover.

Took my Volvo 240 out for a solid flogging around Catalunya National in hopes of besting a 1:28 for an upcoming spec race with the EXOR guys.  Only mandated parts are drag slicks (for tire wear purposes), a roll cage (for virtual safety's sake), and no more than 400hp (to prevent arming a missile).  My initial build is solid and I can hit the mark on lap 3.  The car is consistent.  93.xxx opening lap, 89.9 second lap, and then mid to high 88's until the tires start to fade away.  I think a rework of the build is in store to remove some width in hopes of gaining an adjustable transmission.

After that I reluctantly pulled one of my classic Ferrari's out of the trailer, well away from the hustle and bustle of pit lane.  The Dino really shines in the sun, even though its black.  This car sports a "power" build.  I say that because I didn't reduce the weight of the little MR Italian Pony, and I didn't add any width to the grip of the Drag Slickes.  Just setting the spec parts on it put it at a 1.009 lateral g rating.  That's crazy for a C-class car, oh wait, it was barely over D350 at that point.  Added full aero to balance the front grip, added race roll bars to balance it in turns, then an adjustable diff to keep the rear inline.  Filled in the C425 PI gap with power parts, race exhaust and a race air filter nearly capped it out so I added some snazzy wheels and a lighter drive shaft.  Out of the gate this car is a real turd.  Factory gearing is holding this thing back like the cage on one of them rodeo bulls.  After you get through a poor launch and build a bit of momentum though, hold the phone!  I could almost hold it wide open after the first hairpin all the way to the second hairpin.  No need to let off, just upshift and turn.  Opening lap, even with a poor start, was high 92's, second lap was deep in the 88's and subsequent laps were low 87's running a conservative line to not beat up the tires too much.

Could a modified, street tire build with the Dino be the Javelin Slayer in C-class?  Perhaps around Infineon if the uphill section doesn't upset the little car.  Not sure.

I think I'll try losing a bit of power to squeeze a race trans in the thing because I HAD to slip the clutch to get a good launch with low power and all that rear grip.  Only a better first gear will fix it within the series spec.  Really liking this little car and even though the Volvo is a contender the Dino may just get the call to race if I can work out a launch strategy.

[Blooze]

I couldn't reproduce my current time after 30 laps... 

Unless they start sending out notices like... "That silly damned GICheeze tried to beat your for an hour and a half today." ... then it is not likely that you'll be getting any more notices on my account.

$

[Fit4aking]

Not to toot my own horn but I'm damn excited about something and I want to share!

Exodus race last night in the ITC race with my trusty dusty Mistubishi FTO.  Prior to the race I must have run 4 practice races with some of the other series racers to sort out cars and brainstorm tunes.  After that I ran a bunch of 5 minute sprint races to simulate qualifying.  What good is finding a miracle lap in a free run session that I can't duplicate in the alloted time for qualifying?  Right.

My fastest overall time around Suzuka East with no traffic, no added pressure, or people talking in my ear was 59.7xx (C390 Spec build).  I was aiming for less than a minute and just barely made it.  Once I could repeat it in less than 4 laps I knew the car was set, at least the qualifying tune was set.

I set off to run 15 lap sessions to simulate the race distance.  I didn't putz around either I tried to run as fast and as consistent as I could for the entire time.  I could run a repeatable 60.1xx or 60.3xx all the way to the end of the race as long as I didn't overshoot a turn or blow a braking point and overheat the tires.  It was a real pain to mess up the first two corners, overheat the tires, and then not have them cool down until after the sweepers.  Those laps were in the low 61 second range.  Well off pace.  I must have worked all of that out over the course of 2 hours one night and didn't have to change the tune away from the qualifying setup.  Things were very positive at that point.

Just before the race I ran 20 minutes worth of simulated qualifying to be sure I could still hit the times.  I was a little off but still confident that I would pull it together.  I ended up qualifying 1st with a 60.435.  It's a whole different ball game when there is a field full of ghost cars all qualifying at the same time but I had the fastest time by a very small margin.

I started on the outside and lost the drag race to the first turn and spent 9 of 15 laps within 100ft of the leader with no way to pass or really get a good run on him.  We were that evenly matched.  I overdrove the first turn on lap 10 and he gained 100ft on me.  I managed to fall back into my pace and made up a little of that distance by the start of lap 15 but I knew I wouldn't be able to pass unless the leader made a mistake, which he didn't.  I never stopped pushing though and ended up a very satisfying 2nd place giving me the best finish of the season for my FWD screamer.

The second race was an inverted start based on lobby points which put me in the back and after a very hard fought 15 laps I ended up in 6th in a cluster of cars that was as evenly matched as I have ever seen.  One of the closest races of mixed cars in a long long time.  Not only were the people around me vying for position in this race but also within a few points in overall series standings.  It will be fun to see how the final tally shakes up the overall leaderboard and I can only hope that the 2nd place boosts my points enough to pull me slightly ahead going into the last race next week.

Once I sit down and start working out Road Atlanta I'm confident that I can work the car out enough to run the fastest race possible.  I can only hope its enough on the long straights of one of my favorite tracks.

[Blooze]

Good job - both on the race track and on the report!!

I was wondering... how often does gear choice quandry show up in your consistency efforts?  And, what sorts of adjustments do you make when they arise?

$

[Fit4aking]

It's been a while since I stopped by the cafe but things have been rather busy in real life an in the gaming world.  Mass Effect 3 is out and I'm entirely hooked.  Like, I haven't even thought about playing Skyrim hooked.  Every time I play I try to find a lull in the storyline to break for the night but sometimes a series of events will string on for an hour or more and I just can't put it down.  Still not finished, no spoilers please.

It's no secret that the wonderful staff over at Turn10 have dropped a title update on us and sent a few cars up the ladder, I know at least 3 cars in my garage need tweaking.  I set out to put preliminary builds on several cars that seemed to eternally stay on the round-tuit list.  My unicorn Camaro SS is a real joy to drive in C-class, I have a B-class C3 Corvette that is still getting sorted out, and a peppy Lancia Stratos to flog around Amalfi.  I also took a couple "losers" and rebuild them while on my parts spree.  My Focus made large gains into B-class and I'm fairly happy with it there as an alternative to all of the company it keeps.  I have an S-class Viper and a low R3 Viper as training cars that are really fun to drive but not class killers so they will only be used to get to know tracks and practice turn-in, etc.  I also have a Spec Miata for another Exodus series that is only adjustable with tire pressure, sway bars, diff settings and final drive gearing.  The qualifying race at Sedona was a bust and I was hopelessly off pace but managed a 3rd place around Maple Short Reverse for the series opener.  Tonight we run Sunset Reverse and that will test the ability of the drag slicks to handle high speed braking and cornering.  Should be fun.

Blooze asked about gear choice and when setting up the FTO and now the Miata (even the Mosler tbh).  Gear choice is absolutely crucial when racing with other people and that carries over to hotlapping a bit but not entirely.  I try to shift as little as possible and that means running longer gears.  Sure I sacrifice a bit of acceleration but it saves a few tenths per lap and forces me to keep corner speeds as high as possible to eliminate having to downshift out of a corner.  I have even found that running a 4 speed instead of a 5 speed means I can get on the gas faster and run one gear longer while other cars with the same power have to disengage the engine to upshift.  I keep accelerating and if done correctly I can couple the faster corner speed, the lack of downshift, no power loss due to upshifting on a straight, and no loss of focus on doing anything but driving the car into a faster overall race time, not necessarily a fast lap.  It's one thing to try to knock a tenth off of a flying lap but it's a whole new ballgame when you try to knock 7 to 10 seconds off of a 40 lap race.  Now that there is pit strategy involved I can pass a few cars while they stop just by having a faster overall race.  A lot of that is done with the transmission gearing and tailoring it to each track or even to a section of the track where I can make the most gains.  The FTO was geared to run the entire set of switchbacks just below redline in 3rd gear even though that meant 4th gear ran past he start finish line and I was barely into 5th entering the braking zone for the first turn.  That's only two gear changes per lap.  Imagine if I tried to optimize a 6 speed to hit redline at the braking zone?  I would imagine no less than 5 gear changes per lap or more.  Even with the clutch that is time wasted unnecessarily.  In order to remedy this I run an optimized car then work on trade-offs.  Do I need to run max speed on the straight or can I tune it to run better in the turns?  Can I eliminate one gear change per lap without sacrificing top speed or can I push it even farther and run one gear around the entire track?  (It has been done!)  Can I run less camber to save tire wear, or less caster to increase turn in without upsetting shock balance?  It all comes down to tuning and knowing what I don't "need" to run a repeatable lap even if it isn't a killer time I need repeatability over speed sometimes.

[chargercrazy]

I never thought about trying to minimize the number of gear changes per lap.  I always tried to maximize acceleration with the number of gears I had to play with.

Very interesting.

[Fit4aking]

Last week was 35 laps around Road Atlanta Short.  I set the gearbox to run 3rd and 4th only in testing with a sport trans.  That's one down shift going into the first turn and then one upshift at the top of the uphill sweeper.  Other than that is was hold wide open and rev it slightly past redline in 3rd.  I was able to see the improvement when the guys in front of me broke and downshifted twice, and when I steadily pulled them on the back straight without having to remove power to upshift.  I'm pretty sure it helped on that track and I still had 5th for the few times I had a solid run and drafting to get me going that fast.

Same car on Road America and I was watching everyone pull away as the gearing was too long for the straights and the car wasn't torquey enough to pull out of the slow sections of the track.  I'll be running a 5 speed on any long tracks in the spec Miata but rest assured I'll keep that wonderful 4-speed setup saved for shorter tracks.

Not sure it will help on a hot-lap car but when your trying to best 13 other players anything that saves time is worth trying.

[Blooze]

That is a pretty good explanation of the thought process.  Thanks Fit!!

$

[Fit4aking]

Busy weekend.  Wifey was out taking care of some Search and Rescue training and certifications so I was home with the boys.  Thankfully they still have quiet time and I get a chance to use the TV. 

First up was to complete Mass Effect 3, which I nearly did on Saturday night.  Wrapped up my first play through Sunday afternoon and I wasn't as disappointed as the rest of the world seems to be.  The story ran its course and not every story has a set ending.  It is what it is and I'm still amazed at the story that was told over three very solid games.

Next up.....FORZA!  Knocked off some events in World Tour with the cars I've been working on in hopes of being done with it soon.  So far it still sucks.  I'm on either season 8 or 9, not sure, and 2 out of 3 events are R1 on every track.  I spend more time swapping cars looking for the list to change than I do actually playing.  I wish you could just exclude a car class completely but that is wishful thinking.  Also went through and finished up the paint for donpost and sent copies of it and a few others out to those that asked for them.  I had forgotten how much time it took to paint cars and there is still little joy in logo making for me.

Even managed to get back into Skyrim for a little while and reacquaint myself with the mechanics of it.  There will be more from Finley and Lydia that's for sure.

There was a marathon on Sunday morning with back to back to back episodes of Top Gear.  In one episode they had a showdown of budget racers and guess what???  Both are in Forza ripe for the pairing.  I'm going to go through and build them both up to the top of their class and then bump them up to A-class to see how well they do against each other and the RWD lot. 

Ford Focus RS vs Renault Magane RS 250

Both cars start in low to mid B-class and I already have the Focus RS built to B500 with positive results.  I never thought about the Renault until I saw them flogging it around the track with less understeer than the Focus.  Compared to other lower class FWD cars  these should stack up well and make for a good race.  More to come as time allows.

One last tid-bit.  I gave up coffee, have limited my caffeine intake to next to nothing, and severely cut back on sweets.  Guess the ole coffee pot will be on decaf tea duty from here on out except for an occasional coffee treat.  Turns out I was staying awake through sugar and caffeine jolts and crashes all day and that wasn't doing me any good.  Also started walking or riding my bike to lunch during the week and getting out for a bike ride on the weekends to see how hard I can push.  Hope to start running but I'm not quite ready for that yet.