rec.autos.simulators

I've been practising quite a lot in GPL and am at the stage where I'm
about in the middle of the field of AI cars (I usually qualify around
5th in a field of 10 or 10th in a round of 20). The big question now
is:
- apart from accelerating faster out of the corners and breaking
later, is there anything I can do to the car setup to make it quicker?
I'm guessing the former will have to come with more practice and
concentration (hopefully). I found reducing the amount of fuel and
adjusting the steering ratio quite helpful but I've left most of the
other settings as they were. I read somewhere that you should check
the tire temperatures and make adjustments to the camber and tire
pressure accordingly. Whenever I look at the 3 temperatures they
always seem to be almost the same (a couple of degrees out) so I'm not
sure if these adjustments will do more harm than good. Perhaps if I
start playing with the other settings (like suspension) the temps
might change more dramatically?
- I've been driving the eagle because I think it sounds better than
the other cars and seems to be more enjoyable (for me, anyway). Will I
need to switch to a different car if I want to go faster?

Thanks,
Mike.

A lot of people recommend the Ferrari, as it's the easiest "fast" car to
drive. The Lotus is the fastest car in the game, but it's harder to drive.
1st gear is virtually useless unless you use an external utility to make
the gearing taller. It's been a while since I last messed with GPL, but
during a recent re-install of my entire system, I tried the Ferrari and
was getting decent lap times with it at Kyalami, although short of my
previous negative times.

Id recommend that you get GPL Replay analyzer at http://gplra.pike.nu/
You can look at your speed, lateral acceleration and slip angle.

Compare your laps with World Record replays found at GPLRank at
http://gplrank.schuerkamp.de/php-pub/gplrank.php  Find other GPL
related links at GPLLinks at http://www.gpllinks.org/

You might find that youre not using full traction in the corners or
not using enough of a slip angle.  But usually concentrating on exit
speed from the corners and proper line are the first priorities and
later braking is the last.