AC GTE / GT2 @ Watkins Glen - Wednesday 2nd September 2020

Neilski · Sep 3, 2020

GeekyDeaks said:
That being said however, I did accidentally stumble across a change that literally transformed my braking in non-ABS cars. I bypassed the G29 wheelbase. I was mucking around with something else and had not the slightest intention of keeping it that way due to aforementioned reason, but it made such a massive difference that I have now stuck with it. The G29 has some quirks (sloppy ADC, funky brake mapping), none of which seem particularly egregious, but removing all of them has made it so I can now brake confidently in cars like the corvette and skippy.

Is this still with your DIY load cell? I'm thinking of trying that or something very similar.

GeekyDeaks · Sep 3, 2020

Neilski said:
Is this still with your DIY load cell? I'm thinking of trying that or something very similar.

Yeah, and I made great pains to get the most out of the voltage range the G29 would accept by having both the gain and offset adjustable in the amplifier circuit. Unfortunately, it would only stubbornly accept about 1.48v to 3.0, which is less than half the range the ADC is likely to be using as a reference. Judging by the figures you sent me before, it looks like the G27 is much better in this regard. I think part of the problem is that they compensated for that blasted rubber block. After you hit around 80% brake, the G29 doubles it's sensitivity to the voltage, so an increase in brake pressure is twice as effective right in the zone of threshold braking than it is earlier on. The block also restricted the range of the pedal and because they still used the same pot as the accelerator and clutch, they just factored in the reduced voltage swing too

You have made me realise that I can probably get even finer resolution out of my mod though as I totally forgot to adjust the gain and offset to use the entire voltage range rather than what the G29 would accept.

Kek700 · Sep 3, 2020

@G-Slev
It is so easy when trying to learn or look for advice, you just get totally over loaded and confused.
Scott summed it up perfectly, look well ahead, brake early enough so get the nose of the car to the apex, use apex at centre to just passed centre apex.
When you can go as fast as you can and with a 100% Reliability.
Then pose a single question the forum.

pattikins · Sep 3, 2020

Medilloni said:
So sorry Ernie for the attempts to get past you in the 2nd race, my bad both times - the chicane... I'd watched you brake at the white line and my braking point was a car's length later, so thought I could pull it off. Then the downhill lefthander I went for the inside and missed the apex by a foot, otherwise it would have been clean (I hope!). Not the way I like to race - too many mistakes, and hope I didn't spoil yours

All in all, couldn't get within my best times by a mile, which I'm used to .. though other than the above, really enjoyed it. Had a v quick look at the replay and looked to be some great and fair racing, so I hope you enjoyed it, and HUGE thanks for everyone turning out tonight

After seeing you do 1.44.5 with medium tires in a practice session, I was expecting you to record a sub 1.44 in the qualy round. I couldn't get near that time with any tyre compound, so I was surprised to see you finish behind me in the qualy - my PC was struggling with the number of drivers on the grid so I had to turn off all

my apps to stop my frames dropping below 70 (should be 90 - VR), & I think that had an impact on my 'disappointing' qualy time. Do you think your PC was effecting your performance?

Unfortunately, someone ran in to the back of my car @ the end of the race & the impact knocked my wheel out of sync (didn't have my hands on the wheel @ the time). The only cure for it was to restart the PC and either way it meant that I was out of the second race. It did give me the opportunity, however, to watch the second race, switching from one driver to the next. Fortunately, I managed to catch some of your & Chris' attempted overtakes...

It's such a difficult track to overtake, I was lucky that I wasn't put in that position in the first race. As it jus so happens, the first race had the 'best' crash of the day...

pattikins · Sep 3, 2020

Can I ask a serious question. Is there anyone that can see any merit in using the chicane/bus stop?

G-Slev · Sep 3, 2020

pattikins said:
After seeing you do 1.44.5 with medium tires in a practice session, I was expecting you to record a sub 1.44 in the qualy round. I couldn't get near that time with any tyre compound, so I was surprised to see you finish behind me in the qualy - my PC was struggling with the number of drivers on the grid so I had to turn off all my apps to stop my frames dropping below 70 (should be 90 - VR), & I think that had an impact on my 'disappointing' qualy time. Do you think your PC was effecting your performance?

Unfortunately, someone ran in to the back of my car @ the end of the race & the impact knocked my wheel out of sync (didn't have my hands on the wheel @ the time). The only cure for it was to restart the PC and either way it meant that I was out of the second race. It did give me the opportunity, however, to watch the second race, switching from one driver to the next. Fortunately, I managed to catch some of your & Chris' attempted overtakes...

It's such a difficult track to overtake, I was lucky that I wasn't put in that position in the first race. As it jus so happens, the first race had the 'best' crash of the day...

And that also neatly summarises why it was utter lunacy for whoever it was to stop on the racing line.

pattikins · Sep 3, 2020

G-Slev said:
And that also neatly summarises why it was utter lunacy for whoever it was to stop on the racing line.

It was a bit Schumacher-esque and I don't understand the reasoning behind it. I did watch the first race from the perspective of the person in question (that's when I came across the crash in the video) and up until parking on the racing line there was nothing wrong with their driving (I did fast forward, so I might've missed summat) that I could see. It looked like they just ran of fuel - twice. Bizarre.

P.S. If anyone is unsure about how much fuel they need for the race I don't mind sharing the info - I've only ran out of fuel once in the last few years, and I still blame the

driver for lapping in the race quicker than their qualy time

.

G-Slev · Sep 3, 2020

pattikins said:
It was a bit Schumacher-esque and I don't understand the reasoning behind it. I did watch the first race from the perspective of the person in question (that's when I came across the crash in the video) and up until parking on the racing line there was nothing wrong with their driving (I did fast forward, so I might've missed summat) that I could see. It looked like they just ran of fuel - twice. Bizarre.

P.S. If anyone is unsure about how much fuel they need for the race I don't mind sharing the info - I've only ran out of fuel once in the last few years, and I still blame the driver for lapping in the race quicker than their qualy time .

I use ACR fuel to get an idea of how much I need per lap, then add a bit extra.

pattikins · Sep 3, 2020

G-Slev said:
I use ACR fuel to get an idea of how much I need per lap, then add a bit extra.

Yes, that used to be my method, especially short races. Unfortunately, in my quest to reduce the load on my cpu, it was one of the first apps that I jettisoned. I now calculate the fuel (& laps) with the aid of a spreadsheet. The ACRLfuel app is great @ what it does though.

Kek700 · Sep 3, 2020

pattikins said:
Can I ask a serious question. Is there anyone that can see any merit in using the chicane/bus stop?

NO NO NO and NO .

640er · Sep 3, 2020

pattikins said:
Can I ask a serious question. Is there anyone that can see any merit in using the chicane/bus stop?

Noooooooooooooo

That's where I loose so much time

Medilloni · Sep 3, 2020

pattikins said:
After seeing you do 1.44.5 with medium tires in a practice session, I was expecting you to record a sub 1.44 in the qualy round. I couldn't get near that time with any tyre compound, so I was surprised to see you finish behind me in the qualy - my PC was struggling with the number of drivers on the grid so I had to turn off all my apps to stop my frames dropping below 70 (should be 90 - VR), & I think that had an impact on my 'disappointing' qualy time. Do you think your PC was effecting your performance?

Sadly (annoyingly!) I can't blame it on my pc anymore Patrick, since Rasmus performed absolute miracles with it (it's a very old pc), along with his advice on running apps etc, It's now superb no matter the track, number of cars... just runs sweet as a nut

Edit: last time i looked frame rate was around 90 I think... either way, it's plenty good enough for me, could easily get over 100 if I cut some detail out.

The problem is me, if I've had an easy day I'm ok, if it's been a tough day like yesterday copd & tiredness make it hard to concentrate. Wish I had a more technical reason

The other evening I could plod around in the mid/high 44's with race fuel for a good distance, so, it was just practice but I still get a good kick out of it when I get a good lap time. I'll ask the Mrs to give me an easy day for this Sunday

Kek700 · Sep 3, 2020

pattikins said:
Yes, that used to be my method, especially short races. Unfortunately, in my quest to reduce the load on my cpu, it was one of the first apps that I jettisoned. I now calculate the fuel (& laps) with the aid of a spreadsheet. The ACRLfuel app is great @ what it does though.

I find your PC problem really perplexing, sure you do too. if I could raise my eyebrows on your systems lack of modern up to date parts I could live with that.
Are you certain you have nothing running in the background robbing your system of resources.
Cannot believe my extra 600mhz processor speed and 200mhz ram speed is night and day difference,
have you remove AC background recording, maybe steam recording or back ground effect.

Kek700 · Sep 3, 2020

Medilloni said:
Sadly (annoyingly!) I can't blame it on my pc anymore Patrick, since Rasmus performed absolute miracles with it (it's a very old pc), along with his advice on running apps etc, It's now superb no matter the track, number of cars... just runs sweet as a nut Edit: last time i looked frame rate was around 90 I think... either way, it's plenty good enough for me, could easily get over 100 if I cut some detail out.

The problem is me, if I've had an easy day I'm ok, if it's been a tough day like yesterday copd & tiredness make it hard to concentrate. Wish I had a more technical reason The other evening I could plod around in the mid/high 44's with race fuel for a good distance, so, it was just practice but I still get a good kick out of it when I get a good lap time. I'll ask the Mrs to give me an easy day for this Sunday

This is not really going to help, but on occasions that has happened to me, just loose 1 second of lap time. Even though I was online practice server. every thing exactly the same.

Medilloni · Sep 3, 2020

Kek700 said:
This is not really going to help, but on occasions that has happened to me, just loose 1 second of lap time. Even though I was online practice server. every thing exactly the same.

Look on the bright side me old fruit, when we have the good days we appreciate them more

stribbeck · Sep 3, 2020

G-Slev said:
And that also neatly summarises why it was utter lunacy for whoever it was to stop on the racing line.

That was my car spinning thru the air in the video glad I wasn't on vr, i had a little tap on the back of the car and off I went probably was just netcode as we were very close and I was getting the odd elastic car effect in the race.

Medilloni · Sep 3, 2020

G-Slev said:
And that also neatly summarises why it was utter lunacy for whoever it was to stop on the racing line.

I've pm'd the person involved Gary.

Interslice · Sep 3, 2020

That's an awful chicane. Like most of them it looks shoe-horned in for health and safety. Think of the dives! I do like it though

, the exit speed is perfect for the next sequence of corners!

pattikins · Sep 3, 2020

Kek700 said:
I find your PC problem really perplexing, sure you do too. if I could raise my eyebrows on your systems lack of modern up to date parts I could live with that.
Are you certain you have nothing running in the background robbing your system of resources.
Cannot believe my extra 600mhz processor speed and 200mhz ram speed is night and day difference,
have you remove AC background recording, maybe steam recording or back ground effect.

'Perplexing' is a much nicer word than I would use to describe my PC issues

. Interestingly, George @GEO147 has a very similar Ryzen system to mine, but I don't think he does any online races with the Odyssey+ headset. If I was running on a single or triple monitors I don't think that I'd have any issues.

I've thought about switching off the recording, but given it's importance in terms of incidents & so on, I'd have to be convinced that it would have a meaningful impact on the cpu.