GeoffM wrote:Hey Will, Great write-up!
I love racing sims and have spent hours rounding Infineon in the virtual world. I can only hope to do it in the real world one day.
Could you describe the line through the sweeper 6 and the set-up and line through 7/7a? Also, is 2 pretty much blind because of the elevation change?
Cheers,
Sounds like someone has been playing GT4
Do you have the roadster for it? Turn 6 is kinda different with a roadster. My line started with a quick brake check at the crest of the hill (4th gear) and I set up on the inside middle of the track at neutral throttle. As I progressed through the corner I continued inside till I was on the berm at the exit. I did find a line that carried plenty of speed out of the corner but I didn't drift out to the opposite side of the track. I'd get out into the middle but in line with the left side of the track leading up to 7. Turns 7 and 7A don't really have a line. Its slow no matter what you do. One method is start wide and make a smooth arch through both corners with the right side tires on the inside berms. Another line is to late brake and run it like a decreasing radius corner. I was pulling this in 3rd gear, but doing it in 4th really wasn't that much slower when I got down to 8 where I would have to check my speed anyway. 7 and 7a are a strange set of corners and there are many different ways to get through them. None of which are really bad. The braking zone is more important. 8a is also an interesting corner because its sort of blind and fast. I discovered a line that took me off the race line but only because I didn't need to be that far over to the left. I could late apex it carrying full speed and instead of drifting out to the left like the heavier cars were, I would ride the berm and not even carry half way out to the middle of the track. This would allow me less steering the car through 9 (closer to a straight shot) and there for more speed because I wouldn't bleed any off. I was making up ground on faster cars here. I would then give it all back through 10 because I'm afraid of 10. If you blow 10, odds are you are eating K-rail and tire-wall. That said, with better tires, I might be able to carry 5th gear from the exit of 8a all the way down to 11. Turn 11 is one of those that you just sort of get through. I was having issues on corner exit because the car would start to step the back end out as I rolled on the power. I had no issues pulling it in 3rd (that is unless I found 5th instead. That didn't work so well.) Turn 1 is a little scary because you are really moving. Its wide open and easy, but the exit dictates where you end up on the track setting up for 2. Turn 2 is a tricky corner (especially on cold bias plys). As I came up the hill, I would setup to brake at the outside berm as you go under the bridge. I tried to have all my braking done by the end of it. There are several lines through the corner, most people apex early and drift out toward to the berm on the other side of the track. The downside of this line is that you have to swing back over to the left side to setup for turn 3. The line I started using at the end of the day had me apexing just a little later but it allowed me to pretty much make a straight run down to turn 3. I'd grab 4th gear almost as soon as the back end was planted, about 1/3rd of the way to turn 3. (In other words I'd let the car get settled then grab the gear as soon as I could. The back end was a little twitchy and romping on the power too early would have put me in the dirt some place.) The lack of mass allows for some different lines that aren't open to other cars. Turns 3 and 3a are much like turn 2, but closer together. If you used a late apex into 3, you could use an early apex through 3a that would point you to the left side of the track and the braking zone for 4. I was pulling 4th through 4 and not loosing any ground. I was out of the power band just a little bit, however it was a downhill run and I was ending up back on the race line and right on the edge of traction through 5.
As strange as this may sound, GT4 is very accurate. I set the roadster up in the game as close to what I have in real life (it took a long time since the settings in the game don't really have anything to do with real life.) The game has me lapping in 1:55, but one can push it in the game without fear of eating a wall. In real life, caution comes into play and time is left on the track. I was talking with the instructor who was in the monster 914 GT2 car and they were running 2:18s and I was way ahead of them (They started 2 cars behind me most laps and I couldn't see them in my mirrors after turn 4 of the first lap.) The instructor thinks I was someplace in the 2:05-2:10 range. The monster 914 has run a 1:40 in its current setup at Sears Point just to put it into perspective (Previous owner).
I was back out at the track today and got to look at some photos take at different places on the track. From the front, my car was very flat through turn 2. The body roll that I see in pictures from autoXs is not there ( I guess that says something about the corners in an autoX) The car looks really good. I got to ride along with a guy in a 240Z with a Rebello 3.1L stroker who was running 1:50s and my braking zones were similar, but the more interesting thing I noticed was I think I was much smoother at the wheel. The guy I was riding with is fast and very experienced, yet he was really sawing at the wheel. The car was planted, but he was really making a lot of movement at the wheel. I had to make a few minor corrections every so often but it was because the car was in a drift (but very smooth and orderly. Not like its former tail happy eager to swap ends mood.) It let go with both ends at the same time and all it took were a few small light movements to catch it without much of a change in line. (Always the exit of turns 2, 7a and 11.)
Now the bad news. None of the 4 sessions of tape came out. I guess I didn't start the camera so I got nothing off my friends setup. My computer ate the video off my digital. (I'm dialing 911, I was robbed.)
I do have some pictures that I will post as soon as I get the ok from the photographer.
Will
Sorry, I find modern engine swaps revolting. Keep your G, R, or U series in your Roadster!
