When I say "realistic setups" I mean realistic in terms of how you would set
up a small, lightweight, non-aero car today - stiff front, soft rear,
aggressive diff settings, assymetrical camber, etc. With such setups they
seem to me to handle in a realistic manner, in fact I can pretty much go
back and forth between GPL and GTR without having to relearn anything.
my
> point, but let me explain myself. I have what I feel are fairly realistic
> setups for Monza. I say fairly realistic because inevitably you have to
do
> things to deal with GPL's tire model, but in terms of diff settings,
> understeer, overall stiffness, etc. I think my setups are reasonably
> realistic. I am also using what I feel are realistic driving techniques.
> By that I mean for example I am using only small amounts of trail braking
> and only where it makes sense, but I do not trail brake all the way in to
> the apex; and while I am definitely trying to get a good four wheel drift
> going I am not using opposite lock power slides to exit the corners. I
pull
> the brake bias back as far as I can get away with but I do not use the
> throttle while braking unless I am trying to correct a mistake. Using
these
> setups and driving techniques my best laps at Monza are in the 1:28's.
Okay
> that's still 2 seconds slower than the world record, but when I look at an
> assortment of my best laps in GPLRA and compare them to world record laps,
> the differences are very small and very subtle. The world record lap
> holders are not pulling significantly more g's than I am or getting hugely
> different straightaway speeds. They are simply more precise about nailing
> their markers and better at extracting the most out of the friction
circle.
> I can even find laps of mine where I did the Lesmos or the Curva Grande or
> whatever as well as a world record lap but then blew it somewhere else.
So
> based on this it is my feeling that neither my driving technique nor my
> setups are holding me back, it is only my inadequate precision, track
> knowledge, and consistency that is preventing me from duplicating those
> times. That's why I feel that the alien setups and driving techniques are
> unnecessary.
> > Haq,
> > Setups are mostly a matter of personal taste, but there is one trend
> that's
> > emerged in the past 4 years: as we have become more proficient at
driving
> > GPL cars, the setups have become more twitchy, which does a nice job of
> > masking the tire-models flaws. That is, nobody tried 60/x or 45/x
> > differentials in the early days because the cars handled like roller
> skates.
> > Nowadays, everybody's got incredibly skittish, wildly oversteering
setups.
> > Alison doesn't seem to like aggressive diff settings, so she achieves
the
> > same effect w. sky-high spring rates.
> > The net-net? No, GPL's cars don't handle much like real-world F1 cars
> > (which, post front-engines and before aero, had pillowy soft rides).
I've
> > likened GPL's machines to some of the worst-handling cars I've ever
> driven.
> > But if Steve Kinser, et alia, can get used to the way
infinitely-flexible
> > chassis WOO cars handle on variable-traction dirt surfaces, I guess we
can
> > make GPL cars look like Jim Clark himself was driving them.
> > --Steve Smith