Hat's off to you guys that completed all of the hot lap races.

[99-LS1-SS]

I've just recently started attacking the hot lap times.  First off let me say to landstuhltaylor (R2P BlackBird), you are a hell of a Forza 2 driver!  Your times are pretty dammed impressive!  Actually there are a lot of good drivers here.  It's neat to see how some of you have great times on some tracks and other people have better times on a different track.  I'm finding out that there are just some tracks that I can't tame.  I just run it for a few laps with my fingers crossed and move along to the next track.  Tsukuba long and short are the hardest for me so far. 

When I started my "assault" on the hot lap times I had know idea that it would take as much time as it's taking.  I'm over half way through the D class and I have a LOT more driving to do.  It will be a while before I complete this mission.  Maybe driving on tracks that I wouldn't normally pick will force me to get better (but I doubt it). 

I also want to say that I've kind of gone against what I said in an earlier post about not using scoreboard cars.  I can't remember who made the statement about using the "best tool" for the job but, it had an impact on me.  I'm, by no means, lighting up the scoreboard using the "preferred" cars but I think my times are better than they would have been.  I did realize that I suck at driving missle cars.  I'm lucky to make it around the track without a major penalty.

Maybe one day I'll be ranked...

*Edit*  Crap, I side tracked with my babbling and forgot to ask my question.  Do the downloaded tracks count towards your hot lap ranking?  Do I "have" to run them or can I come back to them? 

[Detrick]

1st - I found that it's taken me approximately 2 months (based on my relatively limited amount of playing time per day) to complete all the hotlapping.  Of course, I've done other Forza related things in between when I got bored with hotlapping.  It is a large task but for me seemed to get easier as I went up the classes.  I've got 13 tracks left in R1 to complete and my first pass will be done.

2nd - You will learn gain an incredible amount of knowledge about your cars, tunes, and all the tracks throughout.  You will know the snakes forward and reverse when all is said and done.

3rd - The DLC tracks do count.

....and don't forget to post your results in the "Let's Chase Blooze" thread in his garage....he just loves that.   

[Placard Rat]

Unfortunately the DLC tracks do make up your total ranking. I wasn't interested in downloading Motegi until I noticed that my A-class rank was a couple of hours off of where it should have been.

I've been focusing on hot laps over the last few weeks and have been making very slow progress. My problem was that I only really had cars I liked in A and B classes so I've been building cars for the other classes as I run the hot laps.

As for the scoreboard car discussion, I don't have a problem with people running popular cars. For my first run through the hot laps I'm trying to see where I can place my own cars, once I hit the refinement stage I may switch to the scoreboard cars just to shave off seconds here and there.

Good luck with running the rest of the hot laps,
Rat

[larryCR]

I don't have a problem with scoreboard cars either. And I've got a few times posted with some of them. (The Audi R10 is one I chose because I like the diesel idea. I later found it was also a scoreboard machine, or became one.) I just don't know that they're the fastest car for me, or the only fast car. Rather than jump in one and find out I still can't compete I find it more fun to work on upgrading/tuning other cars to see how far I can get them.

[Blooze]

Heh, I am starting on my second pass.  This will take much more time in that now is when I will be exploring my garage and various tunes.  In the first pass I just grabbed a car and went - in most cases completing the entire class with a single car.

Exploring my Garage entails building out my Top 10 best cars for each class.  This can not help but involve some of the scoreboard cars.  However, consider this... Scoreboard Cars also sport a Scoreboard Tune.  Most of the time this tune renders the car unsuitable for anything but running hotlaps on that specific track.  In that I do not, and will not, run a Toon like that - I don't consider the fact that the make/model is in my garage means that I am running a "Scoreboard Car"  

If a car makes it on my Top 10 list it will be because of it's QR with a single Toon.  Then the car is Tranked  (That is a new word - I just made it up.  A car that has been "Tranked" has been run on all nine track ranking tracks.)  Once tranked, the car is then pitted against the tracks on which it appears to be best suited.

If when it is all done, I wind up with a time using a "Scoreboard Car", then so be it.

As for the activity.  The building, testing, practise, rinse and repeat nature of this activity is what captures me about this game.  In my mind, it is the ability to do that, that is the most "Sim-Like" property of the game.  Think about it - what do you think Jeff Gordon is doing right now?  You betcha... same damned thing only in a real car.

$

[Ske]

This is something that's been bugging me for a while to be honest... I think I just have to start running them snakes! It probably also means building a missile of some kind for NY and the speedway, but so be it - I'm a completionist at heart and gotta do it sooner or later. I love the scoreboard cars though, they definitely push me to learn the tracks!

[TheJohnNewton]

I'm the "best tool for the job" guy    I'm currently running through this myself.  I'm torn betweeen putting down a quick time in every track/class to get a complete overall rank vs. putting down a good time.  I sometimes find I get stuck on one track/class searching for that next couple tenths that I just know I can get and then an hour has gone by!

[Blooze]

Sort of curious to see what sort of Missle Car you come up with for running the Snakes...

$

[larryCR]

Sort of curious to see what sort of Missle Car you come up with for running the Snakes...

$

It will need reverse thrusters.

[JG4tr]

I'm the "best tool for the job" guy    I'm currently running through this myself.  I'm torn betweeen putting down a quick time in every track/class to get a complete overall rank vs. putting down a good time.  I sometimes find I get stuck on one track/class searching for that next couple tenths that I just know I can get and then an hour has gone by!

That sounds exactly what I will be facing when I get around to hotlaps too. If I'm not careful, I can end up in a situation where I'm saying to myself "well, I haven't been able to improve my time in the last hour. I guess that's all I'm gonna get tonight!"

[fndrbndr]

I really like the scoreboard cars, and even race them for "real" in some cases.  My love of cars is most intense in two categories, the muscle cars and the hot hatches.  In the case of the latter, I think it's mainly because they look like a lot of fun, and seem relatively easy to get started with, and I'd love to race something eventually (SCCA or some such), or at least get a car for track days (I'd also like to do some bike track days eventually).  Given my interests, yeah, I like the scoreboard cars.  That said, I haven't done all the hot laps, or even close.  I may not have done ANY of the R-class tracks.  For some reason, I get less interested as the power increases.

[Detrick]

I may not have done ANY of the R-class tracks.  For some reason, I get less interested as the power increases.

You know, I had a strong desire to quit hotlapping altogether after I got out of S class.  I just didn't have the desire since I never race U through R1 online.....but then a couple of things happened that got me through - 1) I decided to run the Mercedes in U-class and after hitting on a tune I liked I found the car to be an absolute hoot to drive; 2) I finally discovered that a lot of the R4 cars actually work out to be a lower PI then most of the S998 and I suspect many of the R3 cars are actually closer to U999 cars although I would really need to compare lap times to be sure and I haven't gotten that far yet;  and finally 3) ...by the time I got done with the first and second revelations I was on to R2 class and fell in love with the Saleen....

My point - I think you may find those classes just as enjoyable as D through A if you stick with it and find those gems you like to drive.  Hope this made sense.....

[Ske]

Sort of curious to see what sort of Missle Car you come up with for running the Snakes...

$

Updated the post for clarity

[99-LS1-SS]

I'm the "best tool for the job" guy    I'm currently running through this myself.  I'm torn betweeen putting down a quick time in every track/class to get a complete overall rank vs. putting down a good time.  I sometimes find I get stuck on one track/class searching for that next couple tenths that I just know I can get and then an hour has gone by!

What I usually do is run a maximum of 4 laps.  Or, if I run a lap that is pretty good and I don't beat it on my next lap I just stop and accept that time.  I'll go back later on the tracks that I stink at. 

@fndrbndr - At this moment I feel the same about the faster (U through R1) cars.  I think those will be a "grind" to go through in. 

[larryCR]

@fndrbndr - At this moment I feel the same about the faster (U through R1) cars.  I think those will be a "grind" to go through in. 

I thought the same thing, so I decided to bite the bullet, start with R1, and work my way down. I must say that it was a blast. Jumped in the R10 and had a ball with it (once my senses were recalibrated from running stock class cars).