Hey all,
After couple of seasons racing these awesome cars and in the light of the latest DRM 1.3 update, I'd like to post my findings and some advice what cars you can use to have more fun racing, at least to my knowledge. I can clearly make a mistake, so feel free to jump in on discussion. This is NOT a BOP suggestion as I stated in the tagline, but rather wanted to share my opinion in order to have better experience online. A "guide" sort of. At the bottom, there's a simple stupid picture with some of this "classification" represented. The slowest cars were not included in the picture, but sure enough, those two the Marod Scream and the RMT 120 provide for some of best racing for new people to this mod and type of cars.
I am not even sure if this can be shared as a resource on RD but I am hoping to have a better or wider reach to people who are just trying out or already have and like this mod, but can't find a good balance up front.
What is clear right away to those who tried out the mod, the biggest difference in cars is in engine power and performance which was of course a real thing, as usual in racing. Porsche and then Capri ruled the DRM for quite some time back then.
Now we have here in the mod most of the "Division 1" (more powerful) and "Division 2" (quite less powerful) cars that raced back then in the late 70s and early 80s, as is stated in the manual by DRM modding team. Note that even in Division 1 they had huge differences in power but also weight and handling/cornering, braking distances, as well as fuel milage which can prove to be a big advantage or disadvantage on certain tracks.
There are a couple of versions for most of these cars, for example version 1 that was used in 1977, and 2 that was used next season 1978. Pretty much same car but with quite more or just a bit powerful engine for example. Those cars in real life were also changed and updated during one season and it would be nearly impossible to find all the data and model each version and each car of a particular season separately. Now add to that drivers of different experience and skill at that exact time, and you will get wildly varying results.
Now, I will not do the Division 1 or Division 2 separations but I'll try to quite simply separate and classify all these cars according to speed and laptimes at a fast track. That's all with 90% turbo and with default setup, with decent effort on my part. In my opinion, they should race in these separate groups and the differences would be least obvious.
The test track chosen was Road America. I'll be using the mod's names of cars, not the real names:
Heavy and brute power:
- Puriano 3H (1&2) .................. 2:08s - 293 kmh
- RMT 1N ................................... 2:08s - 292 kmh
- Carma 308 (1&2) ................... 2:08s - 292 kmh
Intermediate/well balanced
- Marod Aero ............................ 2:09s - 270 kmh
Lighter and/or slower cars
- Puriano 1H (1&2) .................. 2:10-11s - 275 kmh
- RMT 121 (3) ........................... 2:12s - 271 kmh
- Lardo Monastir (1&2) .......... 2:12s - 260 & 264 kmh respectively
- Yamamoto Delikata (1&2) ... 2:11-12s - 266 & 268 kmh respectively
- RMT 121 (1 & 2) .................... 2:13s - 261 kmh
Least powerful and lightest cars
- Marod Scream ..................... 2:14s - 251 kmh
- RMT 120 ............................... 2:14-15s - 253 kmh
- RMT 1001.............................. 2:16s - 245 kmh (can run 100% turbo without damage)
As you can see the 1001 is a bit left out alone on any track with longer straights simply because it's the oldest and weakest version of the RMT (BMW). It's light weight and short braking distances are not going to be enough to pull out competitive laptimes to the Scream and the 120. Now if you put good and similarly skilled simracers in each of these cars, you will want to have groups of cars like above. Simply, Road America was the most obvious testing ground. But, on a medium speed or slow sharp turns track, put in a Marod Aero, that well balanced loner together with the powerful Brutes, and you will have interesting results. Quite possibly dominating among them where agility might prove deciding. The Carma 308 for example can still be quite competitive even at slow tracks but in longer races its bigger weight and fuel milage will probably make it loose the race. The lighter and/or slower cars can also race with the Aero on similar slower tracks.
After couple of seasons racing these awesome cars and in the light of the latest DRM 1.3 update, I'd like to post my findings and some advice what cars you can use to have more fun racing, at least to my knowledge. I can clearly make a mistake, so feel free to jump in on discussion. This is NOT a BOP suggestion as I stated in the tagline, but rather wanted to share my opinion in order to have better experience online. A "guide" sort of. At the bottom, there's a simple stupid picture with some of this "classification" represented. The slowest cars were not included in the picture, but sure enough, those two the Marod Scream and the RMT 120 provide for some of best racing for new people to this mod and type of cars.
I am not even sure if this can be shared as a resource on RD but I am hoping to have a better or wider reach to people who are just trying out or already have and like this mod, but can't find a good balance up front.
What is clear right away to those who tried out the mod, the biggest difference in cars is in engine power and performance which was of course a real thing, as usual in racing. Porsche and then Capri ruled the DRM for quite some time back then.
Now we have here in the mod most of the "Division 1" (more powerful) and "Division 2" (quite less powerful) cars that raced back then in the late 70s and early 80s, as is stated in the manual by DRM modding team. Note that even in Division 1 they had huge differences in power but also weight and handling/cornering, braking distances, as well as fuel milage which can prove to be a big advantage or disadvantage on certain tracks.
There are a couple of versions for most of these cars, for example version 1 that was used in 1977, and 2 that was used next season 1978. Pretty much same car but with quite more or just a bit powerful engine for example. Those cars in real life were also changed and updated during one season and it would be nearly impossible to find all the data and model each version and each car of a particular season separately. Now add to that drivers of different experience and skill at that exact time, and you will get wildly varying results.
Now, I will not do the Division 1 or Division 2 separations but I'll try to quite simply separate and classify all these cars according to speed and laptimes at a fast track. That's all with 90% turbo and with default setup, with decent effort on my part. In my opinion, they should race in these separate groups and the differences would be least obvious.
The test track chosen was Road America. I'll be using the mod's names of cars, not the real names:
Heavy and brute power:
- Puriano 3H (1&2) .................. 2:08s - 293 kmh
- RMT 1N ................................... 2:08s - 292 kmh
- Carma 308 (1&2) ................... 2:08s - 292 kmh
Intermediate/well balanced
- Marod Aero ............................ 2:09s - 270 kmh
Lighter and/or slower cars
- Puriano 1H (1&2) .................. 2:10-11s - 275 kmh
- RMT 121 (3) ........................... 2:12s - 271 kmh
- Lardo Monastir (1&2) .......... 2:12s - 260 & 264 kmh respectively
- Yamamoto Delikata (1&2) ... 2:11-12s - 266 & 268 kmh respectively
- RMT 121 (1 & 2) .................... 2:13s - 261 kmh
Least powerful and lightest cars
- Marod Scream ..................... 2:14s - 251 kmh
- RMT 120 ............................... 2:14-15s - 253 kmh
- RMT 1001.............................. 2:16s - 245 kmh (can run 100% turbo without damage)
As you can see the 1001 is a bit left out alone on any track with longer straights simply because it's the oldest and weakest version of the RMT (BMW). It's light weight and short braking distances are not going to be enough to pull out competitive laptimes to the Scream and the 120. Now if you put good and similarly skilled simracers in each of these cars, you will want to have groups of cars like above. Simply, Road America was the most obvious testing ground. But, on a medium speed or slow sharp turns track, put in a Marod Aero, that well balanced loner together with the powerful Brutes, and you will have interesting results. Quite possibly dominating among them where agility might prove deciding. The Carma 308 for example can still be quite competitive even at slow tracks but in longer races its bigger weight and fuel milage will probably make it loose the race. The lighter and/or slower cars can also race with the Aero on similar slower tracks.
