A Few Ideas for Series

[bimmerlovere39]

A few ideas... they were floating around in my head, so I figured I might as well put them on the web

GTS Challenge: German cars, either in A or B class, running either Slicks or DOTs respectively, limited by power/weight ratio

GTS Challenge: German cars, either in A or B class, running either Slicks or DOTs respectively, limited with in-game HP and weight restrictions.

A-Class General: A Class, 2500-3000lbs, 300-400hp

B-Class General: Similar to ACG, but with different restrictions

Setup/Spec Solstice: Think Spec Miata, but a little heavier and with 120 more horses

Roadster Cup: A Spec series made up of Cobras!  Running ~S900, using DOT tires and platform upgrades.  And a race exhaust.  Because its loud.

Ultimate Snake Showdown: U-Class Cobras 

[fndrbndr]

I like the idea of a non-spec series.  I was considering A class, RWD, 300-400hp, either a very long car list or a short list of prohibited cars.  This is based loosely on the settings Hoplee uses in his rooms.

I'm also considering running a spec miata series at some point in the future.

[fndrbndr]

Oh, and the Setup idea is a good one, as well.  They're about 2200 lbs built out for full grip at the top of C class....I tried one as a Tiny Terror.

[fndrbndr]

Crazy idea....Why not run the next "season" with a spec we already have?  I mean, think about it:

Want American Iron?  you can pretty much throw a dartboard and hit a serviceable AI spec around here. (M-Inc, LMMS, ALS)

Want small classic sportscars?  Hop and I have you covered.  (Though I'd probably include some sort of tire rule or other refinements in hop's spec or cut the Porsche from mine)

Want high-end modern supercars?  Bimmer has that posted in his garage.  (I still think we should run these again)

Wanna stick the the small FF cars?  Sockmonkeys!  (These are custom-made for online racing, but I personally want to do something other than FF for the next series)

I'm not sure we need to reinvent the wheel for every "season" that we run.  If we don't have a spec for what we want, then figuring out new specs would be fine, but is it necessary?  I guess my suggestion is that instead of talking about specs, we should talk about concepts.  What KIND of racing do you want to do?  What sort of series do you want to emulate?  Why?

[TopBoost]

Want high-end modern supercars?  Bimmer has that posted in his garage.  (I still think we should run these again)

That would be cool.  I'm sorry I missed it the first time around.

[BarbecuePete]

I'd like to give the supercars a run... Its one part of Forza i've not really explored yet...

[Open2nd]

I like the idea of a Spec Miata/Solstice Cup myself.

In keeping with fndr's idea though, we could spec the Solstice using a challenge from month's back...  Forget the challenge specifically, but it had us running Solstii and eventually the E30 was brought in iirc, the challenge was at one of the Suzukas..  B700, tire restriction, <300 hp, no engine swaps, full platform etc. etc. for a start?

[bimmerlovere39]

IMO, the supercars aren't terribly balanced and are getting dangerously close to being too much car for safe, online racing.  The restrictions are pretty lax, too. 

By the way, I was being dead serious about the Roadster Cup idea.  Along These lines: http://www.factoryfive.com/chalhome.html

I'd like to see something along the lines of the cars we saw in the B-Class MV enduro that we ran, in either B- or A- class, if you know what I mean. 

[fndrbndr]

My only issue is that two things make something "too much car" for safe online racing.  One is grip.  The other is reaction time.

Ever try running R1 against the AI?  The AI is insanely aggressive, but there's another issue: you can't really hit the brakes fast enough to stop when you need to, turn where you should, etc., unless you anticipate.  Human reaction time becomes a limiting factor.  My guess is that this is the issue in the Supercars as well.

On the other end of the spectrum, consider the bajillion-hp missiles that give the rest of us a bad name.  Why can't some of them get through a turn cleanly?  They have zero grip.  They'll pit manuver anyone who goes through a corner with them because they don't have a choice.  I've seen a few people drive missiles cleanly (Snyder and Hop come to mind), but I've also seen plenty of people who don't, and I suspect grip is part of the reason.

Why do I bring this up?  Well, it's simple, really.  It seems like the S900 roadster runs a pretty severe risk of being "too much car."  Thoughts?  Comments?

PS: It does look fun, though.  I'd be totally willing to run these as an enduro Friday night and find out whether they're doable.

[fndrbndr]

So I was thinking over the spec solstice idea.  I don't particularly like the idea of staying with spec racing, but I like the idea of limiting options significantly.  My thoughts:
Require full race platform, including slicks. Those can be spec'd or left to the builder's discretion.  (I'm open to the idea of also spec'ing width)

Aero:  Builder's option.  If you want full aero for a grip monster, go ahead.  If you want to maximize top speed by eliminating drag, good for you.

Power:  Instead of requiring specific parts, have, say, a 300hp cap.  That will put it in B class, I believe.  Wanna put a turbo on like the cars on setup?  OK, fine.  Rather achieve the same goal (power) with cams, or exhaust, or whatever?  That's fine, too.

As an alternative, these make acceptable grip monsters in C with full width slicks and full WR (very little power upgrade, though)

Comments?

[bimmerlovere39]

The Cobra is a little tricky, but really not THAT bad.  I don't think we should run them this weekend for the Enduro (possibly as a support race, tho) - I may enlist you and a couple others to build cars out to a test spec to see. 

[Open2nd]

I'm available. 

[Snyder005]

how about a stock tuned R3 challenge, similar to the ifca events I am running in.  It is great fun, and the cars are a select group which makes the races very even for the most part. 

The series forces off some assists, but it could be opened more to allow a greater range of people to use.

We have the R-classes, so why not use them 

[bimmerlovere39]

I will likely avoid R for a number of reasons, and I have no intentions of forcing stock tuning.  IMO that defeats half the purpose of this board.

[fndrbndr]

+1/2.

I like stock tuning for a race every now and then.  It certainly helps level the playing field if you've got a room with a couple of newbies in it or want something very specific.  For a season of races, though, I'm with Bimmer...it avoids the most interesting part of the game.  One of the really good things we've seen in the Clio Cup is the ability for differently-set-up cars to run with each other very competitively.  Bimmer and I have very different setups, but spent about 20 laps bumper-to-bumper last Sunday.  That's less intriguing if we're just in the same exact car.