AC GT3 @ Silverstone - Sunday 17th January 2021

[adie_the_badie]

@boomRoasted

Try your best with it, if you have any problems, try and drive around the problem.

In my opinion, it is a difficult car.

I've given your set up a go on the practice server, & I've improved my old SCG PB with it . I changed a few things on the set-up to get my final time, but that was more down to preference than the few tenths that I gained from the changes - moved the gear ratio up one notch, lowered the suspension a fraction, increased the rear arb and removed the front wing & set the rear to 4. Even with the changes, I still managed to lose the back of the car.

You win lots of races for 'an old fart', so I think you should have a go for the top spot yourself .

Alrighty, then! Finally had some time to hop in the seat to try this out. I tried each of your for about 5 laps and they each felt great on their own. Pat, the gearing was a spot on suggestion. Given the limited option (ratio only) it's driver's preference. The changes I did make were to level off the dampers and suspension. It doesn't feel as "twitchy" but it's a bit more consistent for me. For example, the dampers are (LF, Bump 15) (RF, Bump 11) I split the difference and made them each 13. I increased the rear wing by one but this will probably change as I continue practicing before Sunday.

Not sure how you gents are braking but I found that the SCG needs a fair bit of careful trail braking to keep the rear in control. Had to remove my LC dead-zone to keep minimal pressure without sacrificing corner speed.
-------
Just did some laps after writing this up and set a PB.

 

[Kevin Edwards]

Hi Chris....I won't be racing on Sunday, unfortunately. Please withdraw my name from the list of scheduled drivers, thanks.

 

[Fiberoptix]

Dayum! That's a good time Tim, remind me to unfriend you But we don't mention lap times here according to the rules, which are meant to be broken

Advice I heard from @Kek700 Ernie a long time ago was to pick a setup and pace you can drive for an hour (in these events); he was absolutely spot-on and have always used it. People will have incidents, if you can drive your own race keeping mistakes to a minimum you'll have a ball, keep it up stay as you are mate

That sounds like good advice. I am going to try and run a longer stint today (10 laps longest till now) to see what the car feels like with more fuel and wearing more off the tyres.

Quick question if anybody knows, I got crew chief running (to my pit exit victim) I hope that stops me hitting people on pit exit like I did to you (sorry!). But it keeps telling me conflicting tyre info to ACs app. Hot when they are green on the Hud etc.. is this right or is something configured incorrectly?[/USER]

 

[Raresch]

@Raresch

GT1-EVO sim racing cockpit sale on €330

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Cannot go wrong, can constantly modify it, and make an infinite amount of adjustments

Woooaaa. It wasn't 2 days agiowhen I last watched their cockpits. But it's without a chair.
Could a 100€ chair be comfortable enought?

 

[Kek700]

Alrighty, then! Finally had some time to hop in the seat to try this out. I tried each of your for about 5 laps and they each felt great on their own. Pat, the gearing was a spot on suggestion. Given the limited option (ratio only) it's driver's preference. The changes I did make were to level off the dampers and suspension. It doesn't feel as "twitchy" but it's a bit more consistent for me. For example, the dampers are (LF, Bump 15) (RF, Bump 11) I split the difference and made them each 13. I increased the rear wing by one but this will probably change as I continue practicing before Sunday.

Not sure how you gents are braking but I found that the SCG needs a fair bit of careful trail braking to keep the rear in control. Had to remove my LC dead-zone to keep minimal pressure without sacrificing corner speed.
-------
Just did some laps after writing this up and set a PB.

Sounds like you are well and truly at home with this malarkey.

the damper are set with a ridicules amount of bump for a reason I don’t understand,
I obviously set them to a “near” correct values, was no slower, but neither was I faster. In fact I would for me say it was worse. I try and balance the dampers to the circuit, Although I fear that my driving does not warrant such fine detail, but I suppose it is at least a new approach for me.
Certainly helps with the Nissan, but then the SCG is such a difficult car.
The brakes are pretty hopeless, I tried to use more rear bias, this definitely helps, but being such a precarerious car all it does is sometimes on some corner entry , it unbalances the car, and it is one of those slow spins.
But unfortunately I am not able to have a fine control of the accelerator or brake, no feeling in my feet, so I think your solution would work for me if I was able.

That is a interesting statement too, I can see quite a bit of time for me in these GT3 cars, but because I cannot apply any fine detail in the brake and accelerator department, I am unable to exploit that part of my racing, shame.

Lowering the front adds some small amount of down force at wing 6, if you are running wing 7 you could go as low as you can at the front and add a bit more overall downforce. The aero balance of the car will accept that.
I am just not competent enough to extract any performance from the combination, but it is a sensible route to take. In the end for me wing 6 and normal ride height was fine, don’t lower the rear, no gain there, or raise it either.

Waffling over.

 

[Kek700]

Woooaaa. It wasn't 2 days agiowhen I last watched their cockpits. But it's without a chair.
Could a 100€ chair be comfortable enought?

Raresch, not sure exactly what your problem is, I bought a second hand sparco rev2 for about that amount, keep thinking of getting a replacement, but cannot find a good enough reason to shell out £300 pounds on an apparently better and more comfortable seat, assuming it is.
PS.
by the way I get problems with my back after a fall recently, that affects my comfort when driving, the sparco plus a very laid back driving position contains that well, well enough.

 

[Interslice]

Going towards an F1 driving position there ernie!? Looks comfortable in fairness. Is there a reason not to look for a seat from a scrap road car? Comfort wise id say they would be more adjustable and better cushioned. Is it the rigidity of a racing bucket seat you're looking for?

 

[pattikins]

That sounds like good advice. I am going to try and run a longer stint today (10 laps longest till now) to see what the car feels like with more fuel and wearing more off the tyres.

Quick question if anybody knows, I got crew chief running @patrick ******* I hope that stops me hitting people on pit exit like I did to you (sorry!). But it keeps telling me conflicting tyre info to ACs app. Hot when they are green on the Hud etc.. is this right or is something configured incorrectly?

I could see it was unintentional, so the pit exit error was never a problem .

I've got this thing about anonymity. I'm not wanted by the police, honest, but I do like to keep my private life separate from work - prying managers, etc., I'd be very grateful if you could edit out my surname - Patrick or @pattikins , Luddite, old git... will get my attention . Ta.

 

[Fiberoptix]

I could see it was unintentional, so the pit exit error was never a problem .

I've got this thing about anonymity. I'm not wanted by the police, honest, but I do like to keep my private life separate from work - prying managers, etc., I'd be very grateful if you could edit out my surname - Patrick or @pattikins , Luddite, old git... will get my attention . Ta.

No problem at all sir.

 

[Gangsta710]

i'm in 911 this time please

 

[Chris Down]

lambo please

can u add me with Audi R8? @Chris Down

i'm in 911 this time please

Welcome folks! Just a few reminders for the new folks -- before the race, you must:

1. Add your real name in your profile. Don't worry, only premium members can see it.
2. Make sure to also set your in game name to your real name.

Also, please read the rules in posts 1 and 2, especially the golden rule. See you on track!

 

[Goblin616]

Hiya Frank, and a belated welcome to this great bunch of vagabonds & rascals

As Chris says above, and others have too - track time is everything, no matter what you think you've done, it simply cant be enough without time, shed loads of it.

So politely, I'd say the only option is to forget the number of laps you've put in and simply enjoy the trip, racing with everyone around you, and further up the grid as other new peeps fill in behind you. It's a long, and massively rewarding trip, which many don't take 'cos of impatience.

My pc crashed a few weeks ago, rescued a few files, one of which said I'd done 1500+ hrs in the 650S, far fewer than Chris!... but still thought I had the pace for top 10 on a full-ish grid.....

...then, last week I went on a server with a couple of friends who've driven Silverstone irl (I last drove it in the 70's, not much use), their advice was along the lines of - "you're utter in Village, Luffield and Stowe. They helped me take over a second off my pb, after all those hours of hammering laps making the same bl**dy mistakes over and over. My long waffle point is enjoy your time here, the rest will come. But not overnight

Thank you. I should mention I've been racing a long time just not online. I realise there's always more to learn. After reading your post I looked at the map on page 1, and already realised there's 3 corners where I've been taking the wrong line and can probaby improve. I think I'll print out the circuit maps for the future and study those.

Also I'm wondering if anybody can tell me the expected # of laps? Past experience should be able to determine that, and perhaps it can be included in the first page race info for future reference? I was told about 30 laps. It helps do a long-run setup. Also, what's the average pit time? I calculated it at about 40s (20s in-out; 15s tire change.)

Thanks everybody

 

[Goblin616]

That sounds like good advice. I am going to try and run a longer stint today (10 laps longest till now) to see what the car feels like with more fuel and wearing more off the tyres.

Quick question if anybody knows, I got crew chief running (to my pit exit victim) I hope that stops me hitting people on pit exit like I did to you (sorry!). But it keeps telling me conflicting tyre info to ACs app. Hot when they are green on the Hud etc.. is this right or is something configured incorrectly?[/USER]

As far as pit exit goes, my only advice is to watch your mirrors as you're exiting the lane, have helicorsa running, and stay right: as in real life, do not cross the solid line - and only cut across when the road is clear. Something a lot of people need to realise I think is that at racing speed gaps close very quickly. Just because there's a space doesn't mean you move over - at least not in free practice! Wait for zero traffic before moving onto the racing line. (The track map can also help and is can show you where cars are - and this would be even more useful if there was a way to zoom the track map out! (can anybody help with that?)

 

[Goblin616]

The most important thing for your sim-racing set-up: cupholder!

 

[ABru]

@Chris Down mind switching me to the Z4? Think it suits me a lot more in hindsight. Thanks

 

[Fiberoptix]

Hi. In the 911 I really struggle to get the front tyres up and kept to temperature on mediums even after 18 laps on them.

Any tips on starting points about what might be wrong? Clueless about setup, still using the stock one and not sure how driving style may affect it, should I be braking harder steering in etc.. consider changing pressure.

I understand there is a lot to tweak on the car and most of that is beyond my current comprehension. I want to avoid fiddling with things until I know how to translate the feeling of the car to a direct adjustment and actually notice the difference. I also know my pace isn't consistent enough yet to adequately test many setup changes, but it would be nice to get heat in my front tyres none the less.

Any basic pointers to get me started?

 

[HF2000]

Also I'm wondering if anybody can tell me the expected # of laps? Past experience should be able to determine that, and perhaps it can be included in the first page race info for future reference? I was told about 30 laps.

Thanks everybody

Regarding number of laps: I always do a small calculation based on to probable average lap times of the leader which is in my case about 2,5s faster. So if my laptimes are 2.03 than I count 2.00 for the leader being 120seconds. Calculation is than 60x60/120= exactly 30 but without pitstop. To be sure I'll add another lap.

 

[HF2000]

Hi. In the 911 I really struggle to get the front tyres up and kept to temperature on mediums even after 18 laps on them.

Any tips on starting points about what might be wrong? Clueless about setup, still using the stock one and not sure how driving style may affect it, should I be braking harder steering in etc.. consider changing pressure.

I understand there is a lot to tweak on the car and most of that is beyond my current comprehension. I want to avoid fiddling with things until I know how to translate the feeling of the car to a direct adjustment and actually notice the difference. I also know my pace isn't consistent enough yet to adequately test many setup changes, but it would be nice to get heat in my front tyres none the less.

Any basic pointers to get me started?

With the 911 you can forget to get the front tyres in green but in AC the pressure is more important. Make sure it will be around 26psi in race pace.

 

[pattikins]

...
Also I'm wondering if anybody can tell me the expected # of laps? Past experience should be able to determine that, and perhaps it can be included in the first page race info for future reference? I was told about 30 laps. It helps do a long-run setup. Also, what's the average pit time? I calculated it at about 40s (20s in-out; 15s tire change.)

Thanks everybody

Don't forget to factor in a standing start when you make your calculations.

In order for the race to go to 31 laps the leader would have to average 1.58.5. For it to be a 29 lap race the leader would average around 2.02.5 - both cases are unrealistic.

 

[Kek700]

Thank you. I should mention I've been racing a long time just not online. I realise there's always more to learn. After reading your post I looked at the map on page 1, and already realised there's 3 corners where I've been taking the wrong line and can probaby improve. I think I'll print out the circuit maps for the future and study those.

Also I'm wondering if anybody can tell me the expected # of laps? Past experience should be able to determine that, and perhaps it can be included in the first page race info for future reference? I was told about 30 laps. It helps do a long-run setup. Also, what's the average pit time? I calculated it at about 40s (20s in-out; 15s tire change.)

Thanks everybody

125 second laps, that means 29 laps,
Mid fielders like me have to take into account all the hold ups, so 29 laps is about right, as I am not looking to watch every 1/10 sec I can. For 30 laps as a safe guard.
It is nearly always best to run a 50:50 race for best pace, 50% fuel + tyre change, have done all the calculations for most combinations. When you are thinking of a top 5 place then worry about strategy, but even that does invariably not work out.
There are too many variations that can occur.
When I have qualified high up the amount of problems are greatly reduced. Then you can start to seriously consider a different formula.
But I can guarantee you that I will do a 50:50 race.
I find that strategy racing becomes quite dull, rather run flat out for 60min.
I think that about covers it.

Come to think of it Han @HF2000 always gets one over me in the Strategy stakes, could ask him.