The Mongoose Challenge...

[Blooze]

This is a let's get ready challenge but not to move till they announce an end to wipeage.

With almost everybody getting cleaned out, I thought it might be cool for all of us to run the B class snake tracks with a MInc car.  But what car?  And with what setup?  So the challenge is to come up with a sort of low speed sprint car build for one of your Muscle cars, and use it to set a time on the Snakes.

This thread will be dedicated mostly to the tuning, no scoreboard required.

I see transmissions being big in this one, and weight.

Whacha think.

[Hoplee]

I'm not sure that anything can beat the 'Vettes out of the hole. The Chevelle or Charge might be able to pull it off, but wouldn't take the corners as well.

[Blooze]

My initial impulse is the Z28 or maybe Shelby.  Didn't think Vettes - I seldom do...

[Hoplee]

IMHO, the Z28 maintains speed better than most of the muscle cars. The SS Camaro accelerates better but still falls short in every category when compared to the vettes.

[Blooze]

So it looks like there could be a variety of different Mongoose cars...

[Fit4aking]

I may have to send a Tiger to do the Mongoose's job.  A GeeTO Tiger that is.  I think tuned for grip that would do well as a Camaro alternate.  But my 500KR is still green and box stock so who knows.  It has to work it got widetrack remember.

[Blooze]

The wheel base and weight of the Pontiac may be an issue on these tracks.

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[Big Mooing Cow]

My first choice would be a Z/28.  Probably one set up with all the handling mods I could afford.  Its back end is much more tame than the other cars, which means (for me) better acceleration out of the corners.  And those tracks are ALL corners.

I wouldn't take my Charger anywhere near it.  I'd spend so much time trying to keep the car in line that I would miss most of my apexes.

[Hoplee]

I wonder which muscle car is the narrowest. Simply being more narrow can help you out when it gets twisty.

[Hekalite]

The Z28 was the leader at Maple Valley though I don't think we had opened it up to the Vettes at that time.  Am I to understand you are talking about running all the Snake tracks?  That's a little crazy isn't it?

[Fit4aking]

Sometimes crazy is a good thing.  We spend so much time on the popular tracks that the little ones often get overlooked.  I like Boomslang but I despise King Cobra.  Mainly because its soo long and its so technical.  I suck at that track and I avoid it.  I'd bet that learning a line around there and building a car to handle all of the challenges encountered there would imporove everyone.  If nothing else the short tracks will force some type of throttle control.

I may have to try them in my newly aquired ZR-1 this evening for grins.  Then it out with the GTO because I have to be difficult and rebelious.

[Spiny Anteater]

Definitely one to try with the lowest weight possible. I was going to say with the fattest tyres as well, but on second thoughts maybe not as after a certain point it's only the rears which get wider which seems to play havoc with the suspension.

As for which track, I have to disagree with King on this. I love Cobra because it gives you such a variety of corners and you have to really concentrate. Boomslang is probably one of my least favourite tracks, mainly because there just seems nothing to it. Plus I'm really bad at it as well 

[Big Mooing Cow]

My favorite by far is Inland Taipan.  That's the short one with the triple-switchback:

http://www.msxbox-world.com/gallery/albums/Xbox-360-Screenshots/Forza-2-Arcade-Free-Run/normal_Pic29.jpg

It feels the most like a real track of all of them.  Turns 1-5 have a really nice flow to them that's a ton of fun with a RWD car, the switchbacks require a TON of patience to get right, and Turn 10 (snicker) is a good make-or-break turn, kinda like the last turn on Laguna Seca.

It's a fun track in reverse, too.  The triple switchbacks come very early in the lap, which makes Lap 1 in a crowded race a big handful, but the corners open up progressively after that, again making it fun to balance a RWD car around the track.

I like it better than Silverstone, that's for sure!

Boomslang is OK for slow FWD cars cause the racing gets REALLY tight.  Russel's Viper and Copperhead are a decent alternative to NYC... I actually prefer them to NYC because you need to pay a bit more attention, whereas NYC is drag->simple turn->drag->complex turn->drag.

[Fit4aking]

The thing I like most about Boomslang is that the braking zones are off-camber and up/down hill.  I know they aren't hard braking zones but it your car is a little twitchy it is amplified there.  Plus most of the corner exits are also off-camber so accel diff settings come into play.  It is short but in a 10 lap race you can pull ahead and almost lap some onliners that aren't familiar with the way cars work.

As far as King Cobra goes, it is a nice track for variety but no matter ho many times I run it in any car I can't seem to find ANY rhythm to the track.  Every other track including Nurberg has a sense of rhythm or flow.  That darn track is so random that I can never get happy driving it.  Maybe I'm just a nut-case.  All of the different short track sections have a good flow that allows you to fall into a driving cycle on the track.  When you put them all together there is no cohesion.  Its like listening to the radio with no transitions between songs, your hummin along and next thing you know your out of tune and its awhole different song.  I find myself lost on that track all the time incorrectly anticipating the next turn and its just not good.  DD should know that KC is where the term "Crunchy Goodness" comes from.  I'm a body mans best friend after a few laps there.  I think I need to follow someone around there a few times to figure it all out.

[Big Mooing Cow]

I completely agree, King.  The track has no flow whatsoever, there's no down-time between complexes, there are lots of walls very close to the track, there are very few elevation changes, and the design requires a bunch of SuperDirt to stop cars from cutting the corners, which is horrible considering the only fast way through the track is riding the rumble strips and hoping to heck you don't hit the SuperDirt.

My best laps on that track are where I just relax and drive slow through the tight stuff to avoid penalty and SuperDirt.  Good tracks encourage you to drive faster, not slower!