rec.autos.simulators

> On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 01:16:46 GMT, "Steve Smith"

> >Then I be utterly and totally wrong.  Whip me, beat me, tell me I'm a
> >Democrat!

> >P.S. Thx for clueing me in; I'll use this strategy in my next race.

> NP.  This situation actually came up in a RASCAR race awhile ago,
> whenever we did Pocono with no cautions.  A few of us had to pit for
> fuel, while someone (Mitch I think) ran the whole race in 4th and won.

> Jason

> On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 22:24:32 +0100, Herwig Henseler

> >IMHO this was already the case with NASCAR 1 (!)

> Yeah, there were variables affecting fuel usage in Indycar 1/2 and
> Nascar 1.  I'm trying to go easy on Steve here. =)

> I'm honestly not 100% certain if drafting to save fuel works tho, as I
> don't have any ovals installed anymore.

> Jason

> Well, I've been trying that strategy for years (both in GPL and N2003, and
> both online and off) and it only worked for me once, which I attributed to
a
> fluke.  And while the DTE (distance to empty) in GPL's setup menu screen
was
> usually accurate, N2003's was not only wildly off-the-mark but also
jumping
> all over the place (altho the in-car F3 screen seemed trustworthy).  I
just
> assumed the feature was broken, like so many other promising
might-have-been
> in the games (like GPL's adaptive AI and N2003's brake wear).  I'm glad it
> works as it gives me one more arrow in my quiver (when yer as old & slo as
I
> am, you need a lot of canny gotchas to win races).

> > On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 01:16:46 GMT, "Steve Smith"

> > >Then I be utterly and totally wrong.  Whip me, beat me, tell me I'm a
> > >Democrat!

> > >P.S. Thx for clueing me in; I'll use this strategy in my next race.

> > NP.  This situation actually came up in a RASCAR race awhile ago,
> > whenever we did Pocono with no cautions.  A few of us had to pit for
> > fuel, while someone (Mitch I think) ran the whole race in 4th and won.

> > Jason

> Fuel gauge is suppose to flutter in N2003 as it models real life.  There
is
> no fuel telemetry in NASCAR, only a fuel press gauge and crew calculations
> done manually.  Been more than one race lost in NASCAR due to "hoping" you
> had enough fuel.  Basically when the fuel gauge starts to fluctuate your
on
> the verge of running out but not clear exactly when it might happen.

> > Well, I've been trying that strategy for years (both in GPL and N2003,
and
> > both online and off) and it only worked for me once, which I attributed
to
> a
> > fluke.  And while the DTE (distance to empty) in GPL's setup menu screen
> was
> > usually accurate, N2003's was not only wildly off-the-mark but also
> jumping
> > all over the place (altho the in-car F3 screen seemed trustworthy).  I
> just
> > assumed the feature was broken, like so many other promising
> might-have-been
> > in the games (like GPL's adaptive AI and N2003's brake wear).  I'm glad
it
> > works as it gives me one more arrow in my quiver (when yer as old & slo
as
> I
> > am, you need a lot of canny gotchas to win races).

> > > On Sat, 24 Jan 2004 01:16:46 GMT, "Steve Smith"

> > > >Then I be utterly and totally wrong.  Whip me, beat me, tell me I'm a
> > > >Democrat!

> > > >P.S. Thx for clueing me in; I'll use this strategy in my next race.

> > > NP.  This situation actually came up in a RASCAR race awhile ago,
> > > whenever we did Pocono with no cautions.  A few of us had to pit for
> > > fuel, while someone (Mitch I think) ran the whole race in 4th and won.

> > > Jason

>     Steve, I can remember a C***te race on Ten where I loaded a
> Tally setup instead by mistake. I had a really low numerical final gear
> ratio 3.05 or 3.10. It was a 50% race. Even though I had the slowest
> car I ended up winning the race because I did one less fuel stop than
> everyone else.
>     That was Nascar 2 I can't say I ever tried it with any other version
> but it did alter the fuel rate fairly significantly.
>     I also recall running 242's in Indy 500 with the Buick.

>     Pete

> > The last time I remember it working was in Indy 500, Papy's first sim.
> When
> > I complained to Dave Kaemmer that the game was getting too easy (you
> > couldn't adjust the AI), he recommended that I turn down the boost,
which
> > went from 1 to 9.  I finally got to where I could win races with it set
at
> 1
> > by a clever combination of rpm-preserving line and aggressive blocking.

> > I did notice that you could save one fuel stop in the 500 (5 instead of
> 6),
> > but by itself that wasn't enuf to win (saving 30-40 seconds--there was
no
> > pit-lane speed limit--over a 3-hour race wasn't sufficient to recoup the
> > lost speed), which might have worked in the RW but not in "Indianapolis
> 500:
> > The Simulation."

> > My best lap in that game was a 242.  Anybody beat that?  (Without
altering
> > the wing angle during the lap, that is.)  I saved the screenie
> somewhere....

>Re-read, please.  I was referring to the "Fuel Level: x gallons to x laps"
>value in the setup menu in the garage, which doesn't flutter.  The fuel
>PRESSURE gauge in the***pit isn't supposed to flutter, either...until yer
>almost outta gas, that is.  (If you see it start to drop on a road course
>after you've passed the pit entrance, you can stick a fork in yerself - yer
>done.)

>In N2003, you can modify the AI's overall fuel consumption by editing the
>value in the "ai_fuel_use" line in the [ ai_track ] stanza in the track.ini
>file.  I seem to remember something similar in NT2004, but, hey, I'm batting
>zip in this thread so far.

> On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 13:40:53 GMT, "Steve Smith"

> >Re-read, please.  I was referring to the "Fuel Level: x gallons to x
laps"
> >value in the setup menu in the garage, which doesn't flutter.  The fuel
> >PRESSURE gauge in the***pit isn't supposed to flutter, either...until
yer
> >almost outta gas, that is.  (If you see it start to drop on a road course
> >after you've passed the pit entrance, you can stick a fork in yerself -
yer
> >done.)

> Experience has shown that, from the instant the spotter gives his
> low fuel warning (the first one), which is usually followed by the
> needle starting to drop a few seconds after the message, you
> will be able to drive about 7 miles before the engine starts to
> sputter, and one more mile after the sputtering commences.

>         John DiFool

>I must be driving a lot harder than you.

> What's the fuel usage difference between those in the draft and those
> that aren't? I ran a race earlier where the fuel was above 1X, and I
> was shocked that the 5 drivers in the pack were able to cross the
> line with a running motor.

> Running by myself, I was able to get about 19 laps in before having to
> pit. I was under the assumption that cars in the draft burn more fuel
> because of the higher RPMs.

> > What's the fuel usage difference between those in the draft and those
> > that aren't? I ran a race earlier where the fuel was above 1X, and I
> > was shocked that the 5 drivers in the pack were able to cross the
> > line with a running motor.

> > Running by myself, I was able to get about 19 laps in before having to
> > pit. I was under the assumption that cars in the draft burn more fuel
> > because of the higher RPMs.

> If you're just following someone at the same speed as them, your rpms will
> be more or less the same.  You also won't be using full throttle, as if
you
> were, you'd be catching up with them.  This is why you will use less fuel
> than the guy infront, his car is doing all the hard work punching the hole
> in the air.