rec.autos.simulators

ok, let me start by saying i love all forms of motorsport (hell, ive even
been watching the supercross from america)

heres my take on the nascar cart oval vrs f1 race tracks etc....

When i think of motor sport id like to think the guy who is going to win is
the guy who drove quicker, braked later, accelerated sooner than the next
guy, which is what you have to do if you want to pass someone.  Now this
happens in F1 as the cars have such a small aerodynamic footprint,
slipstreaming is virtually non existant.  OK, so Mika will win races even
though hes not as quick as Schumacher because his car is better, but you get
that in all motorsport.

What bugs me about most big ovals, and some small ones, is that the cars who
lead are handicapped by the fact that they hit the air first,  NASCAR and
CART have imposed measures that allow all but the leader to gain speed by
not being 1st (a la every arcade racer).  Sometimes their imposed bodyshapes
et al dont work like they should, and then look what happens - Daytona,
floor it, turn left.  Shucks, im in second place but im still only going as
quick as the leader. DOH.

It just seems artificial to me to see devices like the handford wing or body
shapes designed to speed up chasing cars.  People say the amount of lead
changes in a race point to its entertainment value, but its not racing to
see 2 guys changing position every lap because they get a tow down the
backstretch and the winner is the one who is second on final lap - 1.  Give
me Schumacher driving quicker through a corner, getting on full throttle
earlier, and passing because hes made his car go quicker.  Thats racing
(when it happens)

but thats just my opinion.

pez

I can agree with alot of that. But I have noticed that Sierra has modelled
the drafting quite a bit better than their previous games. Talking about N3.
With the old ones, you had to be perfectly lined up with the car ahead of
you, in order to get any draft, and then *any* draft would pull you right on
up there with them really quick. In N3 you get buffetting effects if you're
in a tight pack of cars, especially 2 or 3 wide going through a turn. Car
will sometimes shake or sway from the virtual wind coming off the other
cars. Can get you downright loose if someone runs right up on your bumper,
taking the air off your spoiler, better not be making any quick movements
then, lol, cause you practically don't have any rear wheels at that point.
Even though they are touching the track, they have 0 downforce on them when
a car behind you has his bumper shoved up your tailpipes. I've spun many
times at Dega simply from that alone. Never bumped or touched, just I was
running low down on the line, having to turn a little harder to do so, guy
drafts up on me and poof, i'm either doing a 360 exiting the curve, or my
car just runs for the outside wall. Either way, it's most of the time race
over, lol.

And believe it or not, but the lead car *WILL* get drafting benefits even
though he's in the lead. In my example above, someone on your bumper and
taking the air from your spoiler, there's less downforce on your rear,
therefore less drag, and you do go a bit faster. In a 2 car draft, the car
behind will always run faster than the car in front of him, but that's not
to say the guy in front is not getting any benefit. I'll use Dega again,
since it's a prime drafting track. If I'm behind the leader and drafting
him, but not too close that I have to let off the gas, by the time I run up
on his bumper I might be doing around 210mph by the end of the backstretch,
obviously I have to let off to keep from wrecking us both out. I've led with
a patient driver sitting on my bumper, and been "pushed" down the
backstretch running as high as 207mph, with me in the lead and the whole
field behind me. My usual speed I hit at end of backstretch by myself is
203-204mph, depending on how I exit turn 2. All that from "drafting" while
in the lead.

Some races I do see tons of lead changes, but there's also some races with
very few. I've ran a few long races and I recall one with 7 lead changes,
another with 26 changes. Both at Dega and both roughly the same distance.
One was 25% the other 30%. Lots of lead changes means 1 of 2 things to me.
It's either a fixed setup race (IROC) or a bunch of impatient drivers. Guy
in 2nd place has the best spot on the track. All he has to do is coast
around the track in the draft, he's getting far better gas mileage, less
tire wear since he isn't running quite as hard, car will run a little cooler
cause the rpm's are down, even though the mph is same or higher than what he
could run by himself. Basically a patient driver content to run second, this
can be a huge strategy. When the leader goes to pit, you can stay out up to
a dozen more laps if you do everything just right. That should be time
enough to pull away from the former leader. Then find a lapped down car to
run behind the rest of the race, it's all yours then. But too many times,
everyone wants to lead the way, wants to win the race on every curve, lol.
Or use the draft to slingshot them into the lead at every opportunity
because it looks "cool". I'd rather slingshot only when I needed to.

For what it's worth, you do need to draft at times in F1 too.

Destin

That won't always work though.  Assuming there's no cautions,  you still can
get breezed by.  If 3 or 4 cars pit together,  they're going to be faster.
There's a 1mph difference between a 2 car and 3 car draft.  So if you use that
stragety, the race better not be long.

Racer X
Veteran Sim Racer
Victory Lane-
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/1423/