AC BTCC - BMW vs Nissan @ Donnington GP - Wednesday 16th September 2020

[Glovebox]

Can one of the faster guys in the BMW share their setup with me? I'm dying to know what to do to get faster

 

[stribbeck]

I used the standard setup, didn't change anything but the fuel and soft tyres.

 

[HF2000]

Thanks for this great combo, @Medilloni . Really nice to have competitive cars where one is FWD and the other RWD. Will try the Primera the next time. Missed the podium in both races because of my own mistakes and inconsistency but had a lot of fun.

@Kek700 : incredible pace with the Nissan in race 2 . Well done. You were on softs?

As for a circuit with overtaking opportunities maybe you can have a look at the Luccaring https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/luccaring-circuito-dei-baluardi.6544/

 

[Kek700]

@Glovebox

I have what I think is a strange driving style, so setups are quite important for me, it is where I can close the gap to talented drivers, for most the setup is much less important, so once you have set tyre pressures, a standard set up usually gets you there.
I am sure once you have become really quick then setup starts to again rear it’s ugly head. By then you have accrued enough knowledge and talent to sort setup out to your liking anyway.

@HF2000 Yes, softs, the last 4 laps are quite precarious, but the rears stay good, You end up with a much less oversteering car, due to the complete loss of grip on the front. First it is green, then yellow, then red, then blank bar, it feels like canvas.

 

[HF2000]

@Glovebox

I have what I think is a strange driving style, so setups are quite important for me, it is where I can close the gap to talented drivers, for most the setup is much less important, so once you have set tyre pressures, a standard set up usually gets you there.
I am sure once you have become really quick then setup starts to again rear it’s ugly head. By then you have accrued enough knowledge and talent to sort setup out to your liking anyway.

@HF2000 Yes, softs, the last 4 laps are quite precarious, but the rears stay good, You end up with a much less oversteering car, due to the complete loss of grip on the front. First it is green, then yellow, then red, then blank bar, it feels like canvas.

Oh I see. That's probably why you could managed reasonable lap times with the tyres almost gone. With the BMW the rear tyres are gone in the last laps and I loose a lot of time there to avoid drifting and oversteering. A skilled driver will do better I guess.

 

[Reik Major]

Oh dear, I'm so sorry if I caused any trouble at T1 of race 1.

I was happy to qualify on pole by a blink of an eye. But then, extremely unfortunately, the awaited message from my wife came in when the lights went on green. I decided to complete lap 1 and drive into the pits but the little lag in concentration caused me miss the breaking point into T1, so I hit @Erik Axelsson into the side.

I pulled off the road then and saw Erik go on in the lead, so I just exited, hoping it didn't harm anyone else.

I have my lesson learned, to only sign up when my participation is secured for the whole event.

Sorry again folks.

Is someone interested in my Nissan pole setup? I could post it tonight...

 

[Kek700]

Yes I would. thankyou

 

[HF2000]

Is someone interested in my Nissan pole setup? I could post it tonight...

You did a 1.33.0? Yes please!!!

 

[640er]

Can one of the faster guys in the BMW share their setup with me? I'm dying to know what to do to get faster

Hi Gabe I just watched a few of your qualy laps and wanted to give you some advice on things you could improve.

• Gearing - I saw you hitting the limiter in 6th. Did you change gearing? Default was pretty ok for me.
• Wrong gears - In some corners you used 3rd insted of 4th gear, killing your momentum which is critical at this circuit. Old Hairpin (4th maybe even 5th) and Coppice (4th) works better for me.
• Early shifting - Sometimes you were not using the full range of a gear. I don't know the power curve of this car but in general, you want to use the full range of every gear.
• Apex and track width - Try to use the full width of the track. Watch a lap of @Erik Axelsson, his driving style is very clean and a good reference.
• The Esses (T9) - You are loosing a lot, I mean A LOT, of time there. Don't approach them as 2 corners, instead take a much more direct approach and try to make a straight line out of them. 4th gear is also recommended there. For example, I got 3 laps deleted in qualy because I went all in at this section just because gives you a massive time gain if you hit it correctly.
• Melbourne Hairpin - Braking point is a bit early. The 100m? board is a good indicator, maybe even a tiny bit after.

I ran pretty much default setup. Only changed pressure, fuel, and the front ARB was one click softer.

 

[Medilloni]

Can one of the faster guys in the BMW share their setup with me? I'm dying to know what to do to get faster

Hi Gabe, I posted a setup for the Bimmer in post #99 in this thread, hope it helps.

But, Ernie alludes to this in his post above re setting a car up in that it's a personal thing for many - the vast majority of standard setups are very good. The only reason I like to change it is so I can drive it in a style that gives me enjoyment (ie I'm not a fan of understeer, whereas some people like the safety this can give). If I make a setup, it's not likely to make anyone else faster, though because I can drive it the way I want, it is usually faster for me... and in the case of this car, it doesn't give any more overall grip imo, just cuts some of the understeer up to the apex.

Without the advice of many people here, in the two years I've had of this, I wouldn't have improved, 'cos their advice was something I didn't want to hear (if I'm honest!).... it is simply practice, then practice more.

Hope you enjoyed it, and that you can join us for more races

I have what I think is a strange driving style, so setups are quite important for me,

This is the only reason I make changes too Ernie, and (re the huge waffle above) often go back to standard to see my lap times after track time spent with a setup I like - often there's nothing in it (tenths max) simply because I've practiced and learnt the track better. But I'm far more consistent 'cos I can drive in a way that feels natural, and not have to adapt driving style, which imo is a pain

 

[thom462]

Had some great racing, in particular with @thom462 thanks for being so fair buddy, that was great 'nip and tuck' racing

Yes was fun racing. Unfortunately had not such a good race pace, running on medium. Hope to have better race pace next time.

 

[HF2000]

Thanks for this great combo, @Medilloni . Really nice to have competitive cars where one is FWD and the other RWD. Will try the Primera the next time. Missed the podium in both races because of my own mistakes and inconsistency but had a lot of fun.

@Kek700 : incredible pace with the Nissan in race 2 . Well done. You were on softs?

As for a circuit with overtaking opportunities maybe you can have a look at the Luccaring https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/luccaring-circuito-dei-baluardi.6544/

@Medilloni and @Denis Betty I forgot to tell you that on the site of the Luccaring link there's an onboard video (6 min) that gives you quickly an impression of the track with a slow and a fast lap.

 

[stribbeck]

Thanks for this great combo, @Medilloni . Really nice to have competitive cars where one is FWD and the other RWD. Will try the Primera the next time. Missed the podium in both races because of my own mistakes and inconsistency but had a lot of fun.

@Kek700 : incredible pace with the Nissan in race 2 . Well done. You were on softs?

As for a circuit with overtaking opportunities maybe you can have a look at the Luccaring https://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/luccaring-circuito-dei-baluardi.6544/

Enjoy the battle in race 1 with you, shame you spun as I don't think I would have got passed.

 

[HF2000]

Enjoy the battle in race 1 with you, shame you spun as I don't think I would have got passed.

It's the story of my (racing) life, Simon. I'm very consistent in making at least one big mistake in every race . You just have to wait for it. Up till that moment I also really enjoyed our battle.

 

[Kek700]

@Glovebox
Now that’s a good example, it is not unknown for me to pinch John’s setup to the front of the car, it is not unusual for that to give me a bit more time off my lap. Because John likes a grippy front end and happily deals with the resultant oversteer.
I give up front end grip for stability, when all is exhausted, if John posts his setup it then becomes a great source to short cut a lot of setup time.
There are those talented soles that are just quick, and by that I mean they hold their speed through the cornering process. There is probably a racing drivers saying for this, that bugger has raw speed or something like that.
That is of upmost importance, some thing I do not have , so I look at my average stregnths and focus on that , stability, getting the car into the apex and getting it out. It is a poor substitute for raw speed, with setups I can go some way into closing the gap to the people that have that raw speed. There is in AC no magic setup that you can hand out and everyone that uses it goes as quick as an alien, in fact when I dish my setup out invariably everyone goes slower with it.
What is the point of all that waffle, do not get engrossed into setups to give you somehow great driving talent, that is virtually totally independent of that in AC.
You find what you are good at and hone the setup to that. I get hammered by people that barely spend five minutes on setups. I spend ages sometimes of fruitless endeavour, then occasionally I get it spot on. I am still average but the setup has made the most of all of those average bits, and made me reasonably competitive.
I could name all the drivers on our racedepartment online racing that have that raw speed ability but they might get all embarrassed, we don’t want that, funnily they may not be aware of it themselves.

 

[Erik Axelsson]

Can one of the faster guys in the BMW share their setup with me? I'm dying to know what to do to get faster

Here is my setup for the BMW if someones interested. (I'm not good with setups, I usually just put alot of laps in to get fast) Anyway I managed a high 1:32 with this one, also you have to be a little creative with tracklimits in the chicane (stay on the curb)

If you want more, they are running these cars at SRS this week at Donington National. Nice competetive racing if you want a contrast to the friendly club racing ( I love these club races )

It's usually a shite show in the midfield during crowded hours but most people race very clean and some are crazy fast!

Thanks for organizing, looking forward to next event

 

[Neilski]

Can one of the faster guys in the BMW share their setup with me? I'm dying to know what to do to get faster

Another thing worth considering is riding along in the replays (or indeed in real-time during practice sessions).
If you don't have the replays we can upload them and post a link

 

[Reik Major]

You did a 1.33.0? Yes please!!!

Ok, here you are...

The rear of course tends to step out, so key is to let it help you turn the car but avoid letting the rear overtake you.

So when turning into the chicane, it's important to have most of the braking done and slightly be on throttle again. Also weight transfer under braking is a bit tricky...

 

[Kek700]

Edited

 

[Medilloni]

Ok, here you are...

The rear of course tends to step out, so key is to let it help you turn the car but avoid letting the rear overtake you.

So when turning into the chicane, it's important to have most of the braking done and slightly be on throttle again. Also weight transfer under braking is a bit tricky...

Oooh, sounds like my kinda girl

Huge thanks for this Reik, look forward to seeing you again soon