rec.autos.simulators

by **jon** » Mon, 10 Feb 2003 06:52:54

Never really got into setups with 2002, but I seem to be hooked on 2003.
Spent all morning working on a Daytona qualifying setup, and so far have
trimmed .3 off my best qual. Have had a blast. Only took six hours.

Now I was thinking, since it is faster, and it almost drives itself through
the turns, it should make a good 20 lap car. Took some of the tape off,
changed the gearing and headed into a papy race. Got the pole, and was
promptly accused of being a grass cutter. I have never felt so flattered in
my life. :)

Did ok for the first 2 laps. Pitstop multiplier was set at 3x ( that is
about enough for 13 laps I think ).

About lap four, the second place car gets under my bumper, and my car won't
turn. Up until then it was a little tight, but not that bad. A couple more
laps it was so tight I was having to let the gas off coming out of turn four
to keep from hitting the wall. Had to let all five cars that had not yet
been wrecked go by.

I know I forgot to compensate for the downforce I was losing by taking the
tape off, and the fuel burning off just made it worse. But at the end my rf
was about 40 degrees hotter than the others. Will the tire being this much
hotter make the car tight? Wish I had wrote it down, it was something like
230 or
thereabouts.

Another thing. Why did a car getting on my bumper make my car tighter? I
thought that was supposed to make it loose, but nooooo, I ran right on up
the track and wet myself when I almost hit the wall.

And about the pitstop multiplier... the manual says the it increases fuel
and tire wear. Fuel was burning real quick, but after all 20 laps
at 3x tires were barely worn at all. The rf was worn just a tad more than
the others (I figured it would at least be yellow), but they all had a lot
of green left. Does it seem like the tires ain't wearing anywhere near as
fast as the fuel, or is it just me?

I thought using the multiplier would be a good way to test tire wear on
setups for longer races, but if they don't wear quicker....

by **Jay Taylo** » Mon, 10 Feb 2003 07:05:44

The short answer to tire wear and the 3x wear setting, is that tire wear in
general at the plate tracks is very light. You could probably make 2-3
green flag stops for fuel before you would have to take tires. With the
smaller fuel cells and all you should see it create alot of different
pitting strageties, as taking fuel and 2 tires each stop will probably be
more normal. Also just because the tires can physically last that long,
doesn't mean you would want to do so, as the loss of grip would start to
make dealing with heavy traffic a real handful.

Jay Taylor

by **Wayne M. Greno** » Mon, 10 Feb 2003 08:33:41

As far as getting tight, I think you were a victim of the dreaded aero push.
With the other car right behind you, the air doesn't force itself onto your
spoiler as much and just flows over the hood of the other car reducing your
rear downforce.

I think...

by **Glen Pittma** » Mon, 10 Feb 2003 08:43:43

You are right about what happens with the air, but no air on the rear
spoiler should mean a loose race car, not a tight one.

Glen Pittman

> As far as getting tight, I think you were a victim of the dreaded aero
push.
> With the other car right behind you, the air doesn't force itself onto
your
> spoiler as much and just flows over the hood of the other car reducing
your
> rear downforce.

> I think...

> > Never really got into setups with 2002, but I seem to be hooked on 2003.
> > Spent all morning working on a Daytona qualifying setup, and so far have
> > trimmed .3 off my best qual. Have had a blast. Only took six hours.

> > Now I was thinking, since it is faster, and it almost drives itself
> through
> > the turns, it should make a good 20 lap car. Took some of the tape off,
> > changed the gearing and headed into a papy race. Got the pole, and was
> > promptly accused of being a grass cutter. I have never felt so flattered
> in
> > my life. :)

> > Did ok for the first 2 laps. Pitstop multiplier was set at 3x ( that is
> > about enough for 13 laps I think ).

> > About lap four, the second place car gets under my bumper, and my car
> won't
> > turn. Up until then it was a little tight, but not that bad. A couple
more
> > laps it was so tight I was having to let the gas off coming out of turn
> four
> > to keep from hitting the wall. Had to let all five cars that had not yet
> > been wrecked go by.

> > I know I forgot to compensate for the downforce I was losing by taking
the
> > tape off, and the fuel burning off just made it worse. But at the end my
> rf
> > was about 40 degrees hotter than the others. Will the tire being this
much
> > hotter make the car tight? Wish I had wrote it down, it was something
like
> > 230 or
> > thereabouts.

> > Another thing. Why did a car getting on my bumper make my car tighter? I
> > thought that was supposed to make it loose, but nooooo, I ran right on
up
> > the track and wet myself when I almost hit the wall.

> > And about the pitstop multiplier... the manual says the it increases
fuel
> > and tire wear. Fuel was burning real quick, but after all 20 laps
> > at 3x tires were barely worn at all. The rf was worn just a tad more
than
> > the others (I figured it would at least be yellow), but they all had a
lot
> > of green left. Does it seem like the tires ain't wearing anywhere near
as
> > fast as the fuel, or is it just me?

> > I thought using the multiplier would be a good way to test tire wear on
> > setups for longer races, but if they don't wear quicker....

by **Jerry Hunnicut** » Mon, 10 Feb 2003 08:43:40

I'm thinking you picked up a little speed when he got right behind you and
made it push. I know the feeling....it's still a blast to have to DRIVE