Caterham Challenge

[HarryHibbs]

I will definitely do those races. I like all of those tracks (except Snetterton which I haven't been able to test yet) and I've watched some Caterham, Mini, and Ginetta races at Donington on YouTube.

I forgot to mention - I finally started playing around with the diff and it makes such a huge difference! I prefer a loose diff, with 20nm preload and 2 or 4 clutches. With a tighter diff I find myself struggling with wheelspin on corner exit - this probably just means that I have to improve my driving. Loosening the diff makes me faster and makes the car a lot more controllable so that's where I am for now.

I've cooled on the Lancer a bit since I started clutchless downshifts. The Copa Classic Passat and Gol have a similar driving style and I think I prefer them on track. They are slower than the Lancer, but they feel faster to me because they are lighter. The Passat is the most similar to the Lancer, but I like the Gol best because it feels more nimble and lively. As a generalization, the Gol pivots to oversteer more whereas the Passat slides sideways more. I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on the Lancer vs the Passat and Gol.

Thank you again for making this challenge! I've gotten much better at finishing races without crashing, and it's a very rewarding way to race.

Great to hear! Yes the diff can make all the difference (pun intended). Sounds like you're getting a good idea of how to use it to help with the Caterham on corner exits. I also like the looser settings. Have fun in the last three races. The Caterham was what finally helped me make sense of how to get around Cadwell Park.

All those clunky Brazilian cars are a blast to drive IMO, especially on the Brazilian tracks in AMS 2! I guess it's not surprising that they feature in the sim, given Reiza's HQ location, but I'm sure a lot of folk never even think to try them.

I'm going to spend more time with the Lancer R, racing alongside the RS, 'dogboxing' it (clutchless shifts) in an attempt to keep up. I think there's a good follow up challenge in there.... TBD.

 

[coldsalmon]

I've found that AMS2 can't really simulate a dogbox on upshifts. Clutchless upshifts will kill the gears in about 1 lap, if you try to do it fast. This is because it takes a long time for the engine to slow down and match revs, and the gears are grinding the whole time. You can rev match downshifts instantly with a throttle blip, so clutchless downshifts are both faster and less harsh on the gears - and this is also the only time when you need to do it because your left foot is using the brake. I guess you could theoretically upshift by shifting into neutral and then waiting for the revs to match before completing the upshift - but this is slower than using the clutch. In my research on real clutchless shifting on a synchro gearbox, they recommend using the clutch for upshifts and doing clutchless downshifts.

EDIT: Of course you can always use autoclutch to simulate a dogbox, but that is too forgiving - you can still do rev matching for fun but there is no feedback if you miss.