rec.autos.simulators

Man this game is the s__t.Line lock,*** brakeand the two step makes
this game so cool,but where in the heck is the supercharger/turbo in the
engine setup?Find it strange that they mention these power boosters in
the glossary but they don't offer them in the game.I hang around some
drag racers and have raced a little myself(Heartland park is 25 miles
away from me) and the tire setting are a little confusing.Do I really
need to a tire engineer,I know of no sportsman class racer that has this
option.I think that just providing tire sizes(diameter and width),a few
choices of *** compond and a option of a radial tire used by the
stockers would of been fine.This is what the real racer guys have.Also
would be nice if all the doorslammers didn't look like pro mod
cars.Speaking of cars,go to the Bethesda website to download the new
car(94 Mustang).If you guys are having trouble holding the car during
burnouts its probably because you don't have enough tire up front,real
cars do this.Well ,time to get back to racing.
Have Fun
Garry
Lawrence,KS

        Here are a couple of time slips!

        8 Cylinder

TIMECARD
--------

Class:        HEADS UP
Tree Type:    COMPETITION
Tree Delay:   .500

Track:        MOROSO MOTOR PARK
Elevation:    5
Temperature:  66 F
Humidity:     10%
Barometer:    29
Wind:         0 DEG AT 40 MPH

                                       LEFT LANE                RIGHT LANE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
               DRIVER:             CHRIS WHEELER                    BROKER
                  CAR:    QUAKER STATE FUNNY CAR           1968 CHEVY NOVA
              DIAL-IN:                  HEADS UP                  HEADS UP
         ELAPSED TIME:                 00:05:570                 00:04:455
           DIFFERENCE:                                                    
           TRAP SPEED:                    320.15                    337.74
        REACTION TIME:                    00:079                    00:016
           60ft. TIME:                 00:01:135                 00:00:845
          60ft. SPEED:                     68.59                     92.45
 1/16 MILE (330) TIME:                 00:02:752                 00:02:059
1/16 MILE (330) SPEED:                    160.37                    207.30
  1/8 MILE (660) TIME:                 00:03:919                 00:02:991
 1/8 MILE (660) SPEED:                    226.10                    271.28
         1000ft. TIME:                 00:04:840                 00:03:783
        1000ft. SPEED:                    278.79                    310.79
        ROLL OUT TIME:                    00:080                    00:079
        0-60 MPH TIME:                    00:990                    00:540
       0-100 MPH TIME:                 00:01:700                 00:00:930

        6 Cylinder

TIMECARD
--------

Class:        HEADS UP
Tree Type:    COMPETITION
Tree Delay:   .500

Track:        TEXAS MOTORPLEX
Elevation:    5
Temperature:  40 F
Humidity:     10%
Barometer:    29
Wind:         0 DEG AT 40 MPH

                                       LEFT LANE                RIGHT LANE
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
               DRIVER:               ALEX SLATER                    BROKER
                  CAR:        1990 DODGE AVENGER           1968 CHEVY NOVA
              DIAL-IN:                  HEADS UP                  HEADS UP
         ELAPSED TIME:                 00:05:233                 00:04:641
           DIFFERENCE:                                                    
           TRAP SPEED:                    344.91                    297.74
        REACTION TIME:                    00:138                    00:003
           60ft. TIME:                 00:01:117                 00:01:006
          60ft. SPEED:                     73.81                     85.22
 1/16 MILE (330) TIME:                 00:02:618                 00:02:261
1/16 MILE (330) SPEED:                    172.51                    206.48
  1/8 MILE (660) TIME:                 00:03:701                 00:03:191
 1/8 MILE (660) SPEED:                    244.23                    273.62
         1000ft. TIME:                 00:04:555                 00:03:975
        1000ft. SPEED:                    300.16                    315.40
        ROLL OUT TIME:                    00:075                    00:071
        0-60 MPH TIME:                    00:920                    00:750
       0-100 MPH TIME:                 00:01:520                 00:01:170

        Regards, Pete

        Gary, initially I would agree 100% about the tires but after playing
with these suckers for the past few weeks, I think I should be appling for
a job a Goodyear or Hoosier! Its amazing how the different amounts of
HP effect the way the tire reacts and reaction times. I do know that
different classes of cars use sidewall stiffness as a factor in determining
many things .ie reaction time, growth, weight of vehicle but I never
dreamed of what a difference.
        Its my understanding that they may be adding some of the
features you mention in upcoming patches.

http://www.racesimcentral.net/***.com/burnout/  

        By the way for those of you are that interested I have been starting
to get a large number of requests on setup tips. What I will try do do for
those
that are having trouble is put  together a Setup Help guide and if Tim
McArthur
over at  the Launch Pad lets me post it there, I will . Not that I profess
to know all the
nuances of the game but I am managing to get some good times! :-)
        Just as an example I have managed to hit a 4.455 at 337.74 on 8 cylinders
with a less than 800 cu. in motor and 4.641 at 334 with a 6 cylinder motor
of less than 600
cubes. Although, the 6 is very touchy and the 334 was with a 4.69. I blew
over
in the lights on the 4.641 run. Just give me a few days to put down my
thoughts.
By then the patch may be out and the computer AI cars might be able to
give
you a good run heads-up! I won't give you my setups but I will help you
figure
what makes what work!

        Pete

funny car with no wind at Houston. I'm looking forward to seeing your setup
guide, because whenever I get going much fast than I do now, I find it hard
to keep the car under control.

Kevin

        Kevin, yes its true I do have a tail wind and it does help the setup! But
not for the reason you might think. Take your best setup and put the
tailwind in.
It does pick you up a fraction in ET. Yes, you are correct the temp helps
the
traction but the HP falls off sharply with an increase in temp. It is a
tradeoff
I have played with many combinations of both with similiar final results.
        If you notice the 6 cylinder is much more responsive to temp changes
than the much higher HP eight cylinder. You can only get so much power to
the ground.
        With the 6 you can see the 60 ft times fall off sharply but with the
cooler
denser air the mph pick up a whopping amount on the other end of the track
as
does the ET. I'm not convinced I have found the perfect balance between the
two but I will try! :-)
        As strange as the weather may seem it is very close to what happened
at a divisional points race last year with resulting unbelievable times
recorded
in the sportsman categories. All of the times I have run are within the
perimeters
of the game. You still have to figure out what settings to run in order to
get the
car to hook and ET. With temp and wind to take into account as well as air
density the car definitely reacts much differently to not having them. But
since
this is an all out headsup setup that I'm trying to go as fast as possible
with I feel
it is fair game. You are welcome to try the numbers I have used and
duplicate
or better my own.
        Actually, when you get your setup dialed in perfectly the car runs
extremely straight and true. Blow overs are my biggest problem. Most setups
I
have seen from other racers are using far too big of motor combinations and
they can't hook them up. My HP numbers are very low in comparison to other
posted setups I have seen.

        Pete

   You are definitely one of the main ones posting about "Burnout"
that appear to have a very good grasp at this game/sim in relation to
real-world drag racing and seem to have discovered what it takes to do
well within the sim (understatement).  I'm sure many others (like
myself) would GREATLY appreciate your efforts on developing a FAQ file
to share with us all... and hopefully the other "pros" among the
r.a.s. group here will join in and help you in this effort to provide
a FAQ file for us all to benefit from with their valuable
contributions as well (especially for us "newbies" so that we can have
some fun with the sim without having to spend zillions of hours
beating our heads against the wall trying to learn Drag Racing A-to-Z
as well as how to translate that knowledge to the way things work in
this sim in order to drive a car straight down the track at a
respectable speed/time somewhat consistently without actually giving
away all of your own special setups & secrets that you worked
long/hard at developing).  The manual and basic setups that comes with
the package are better than nothing, but definitely leave a lot to be
desired!

   Many thanks, in advance, for your efforts on a much-anticipated
Burnout FAQ file! :)

  - Robert -

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/5655

10% humidity, 40 degrees f and a 40mph tail wind? a chevette
could run good with that kinda enviroment ;-)

        Thats very true but the challenge is to figure out how to take
these optimal conditions and then dial the car in. I'm actually trying
to get you guys up to speed! :-)

        Pete

        Robert, thanks for the kind words. I will try and get my thoughts
into an organized state and put them down. It is amazing how much you
one can learn from this sim about chassis, motors and Drag Racing.
        I applaud Bethesda for having the courage to try something
such as this in an untried market. It isn't perfect but it is an excellent
learning tool. I have several friends who I conned into trying the game
even after professing to have no interest in drag racing but to listen to
them talk now and how many hours they have put into tweaking the game
shocked me. Mind you their wives aren't to impressed with me and I'm
a person non grata in several households right now! :-)

        Pete

Hey the times are impressive, but what I really am impressed by is the
Reaction times!  How the hell are you running so fast off the lights?  My
average is about a .130 now and I can't seem to get any quicker.  But then
again I never red light.

(or at least *I* certainly do realize and appreciate what you're
trying to do!)

Thanks!  :)
- Robert -

ICQ Pager: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/325605
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/5655

        What, you have to do to get the reaction times down is play with the
delay box until you start red-lighting and then back it off a notch. The
key is
staging the same way every time you race so that you eliminate all  the
varibles.
Unfortunately, the game in its present config(which I understand is being
corrected) starts the timers as soon as the tree goes green, so you have to
react quickly!
        If you choose not to use the delay box, then as in real life the only
other way to effect your reaction is through altering you rollout in the
beams.
So, you have to physically change the size of the front tire either by
running
a larger or smaller circumferance or adding or subtracting air from the
tire
depending on whether you want to pick up or slow down your reaction time.
Softer tires increase your rollout by making the patch seen by the beams
larger,
were the converse is true by putting more air in the tire. You can also
deep stage
 the car in the lights in our to get quicker reaction times but this will
also slow your
ET marginally because you are running a shorter distance to the end.
        Last but not least you can change the stiffness of the rear tire carcass
to increase or decrease the reaction time. A softer setting causes a more
springy effect and you may launch harder, faster but it also takes time for
the
tire to wrap up, thus slowing the launch. A stiff tire sidewall will launch
the car
very quickly but will not have as great a traction. Weight of the car will
also
make a determination.
        Hopes this helps!

        Pete

" would post a setup-guide if someone makes it up."- Tim McArthur