n2003 Rave!

If you don't like papy Nascar titles, don't read this post because it's all emotions after having fun! :) I am seriously impressed. I have bought and raced the papy Nascar titles since Nascar 1 on my 50Mhz Dx2. The result today is far better than I ever believed was possible. Yesterday I had some time to spare, and loaded the Jasper setup at Watkins Glen. At last I got the "feeling" when the tires were up to temp, and I pushed hard for 10 laps or so. I just have to rave about the handling of the car! I was absolutely on my limit, mashing it through the gears, heel-toeing and on the edge. Every lap entering the back straight with a touch of opposite lock - the FF effects telling me exactly what the car was doing, so I wasn't even close to losing it. Onto the kerbs in the exit of the final turn every lap because my entry was just a tad too fast, watching the lap time steadily falling into the 1m13s. Never before has a Papy sim been this controllable. You can balance the car perfectly on the brakes, get the rear to step out just a tad on entry, and you can feel the chassis squirming under you when you are hard on the anchors. And you can also be late hitting the brakes, and save the car from situations previously lethal. Even the Kerbs can be used, carefully, but still usable. You know when you've lost or gained a tenth...when you're pushing too hard or when you knew you could have carried more speed into a turn. Tweaking the setup brings some expected reactions, especially when you stiffen all the corners up. The car starts jumping, jacking on it's shocks, the suspension complaining from the load of the monster racer. There still is some low-speed understeer I'm not happy with, but still very much an improvement over N2002. As a real-life racer without the $ these days, this is indeed a pretty good compromise. And if you're not using a clutch and a proper shifter, you don't know what you are missing... Just had to get this off my chest, and no, I'm not employed by Sierra ;) Setup: modified Actlabs perf. pedals w/clutch GPL shifter Logitech wingman ff wheel /Matt Knutsen www.gplea.org

Hey Andre! Long time no speak! Um, well I dunno if I'd be allowed to do that by the gplea guys ;) Seriously, I'd love to, but I haven't even finished my personal car, I have to drive some more first.. /matt "Andre Warringa" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding news:[email hidden]...

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> On Tue, 11 Mar 2003 09:29:23 +0100, "Matt Knutsen" > <[email hidden]> wrote: > > > >/Matt Knutsen > >www.gplea.org > > Does this mean we can expect some great N2003 graphic updates soon? ;) > > Andre >

On Tue, 11 Mar 2003 09:29:23 +0100, "Matt Knutsen" <[email hidden]> wrote: >/Matt Knutsen >www.gplea.org Does this mean we can expect some great N2003 graphic updates soon? ;) Andre

Matt Knutsen wrote:

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> > Yesterday I had some time to spare, and loaded the Jasper setup at Watkins > Glen. At last I got the "feeling" when the tires were up to temp, and I > pushed hard for 10 laps or so. I just have to rave about the handling of the > car! I was absolutely on my limit, mashing it through the gears, heel-toeing > and on the edge. Every lap entering the back straight with a touch of > opposite lock - the FF effects telling me exactly what the car was doing, so > I wasn't even close to losing it. Onto the kerbs in the exit of the final > turn every lap because my entry was just a tad too fast, watching the lap > time steadily falling into the 1m13s. >

[agreed with quality of sim] Hmm...I have seen several regulars here in the past decry FF precisely because it DOESN'T tell you exactly what the car is doing. Since I am an intermediate driver (at best) and have never driven a real racer, I don't know if this is true. I find FF mainly useful for keeping the car going in a straight line (the feedback sort of "locks" me into a turn, esp. at the ovals). But (using the MS wheel) I don't notice any telltales letting me know that I am on the edge of spinning out... John DiFool -- ============================================ Reach heaven far too high ============================================

"John DiFool" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding

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> [agreed with quality of sim] > > Hmm...I have seen several regulars here in the past decry FF > precisely because it DOESN'T tell you exactly what the car is > doing. Since I am an intermediate driver (at best) and have never > driven a real racer, I don't know if this is true. I find FF mainly > useful for keeping the car going in a straight line (the feedback > sort of "locks" me into a turn, esp. at the ovals). But (using > the MS wheel) I don't notice any telltales letting me know that I > am on the edge of spinning out... > > John DiFool

Well, yeah..I guess it depents on what you're "feeling for". In my case, as an example, coming out of the outer loop(?) at the Glen, when you get to the point where you can floor the throttle the rest of the way out, I think the FF gives very good feedback. But, I'd agree - it gives only subtle hints which you have to combine with what the eyes see. Sometimes the car just snaps round, or on ovals, if you turn in too sharply you might start a slide that won't be saved no matter how much lock you put in. And I don't think there's a way that you can feel that through the wheel only. Imo, what the FF does very nicely, is to confirm what you see with your eyes, adding to the seat-of-the-pants feel that needs somehow to be recreated in a simulated environment. When you are hard on the brakes, and say your right front loses a bit of grip, you can feel the car pulling to the left through the FF, let up on the brake a bit, and so on. I used to run the MSFF as well, but I think it gives more spongy FF details than the logi, it just doesn't seem to have the same power. /matt k