[S4b1n]

Very nice selection of cars, and so cool to have a FWD car also.
I understand the idea of preventing cutting, and I think it's a lot about getting used to it. To me, today it seemed like in quali the rules were stricter (i had one-two wheels on kerb and 2 wheels definitely within whites and i got invalidated time, same as others), whereas in the race it was probably how it should be (2 wheels within white is ok). However, I don't know how the game implements this, so it can just be my bad impression

My impression so far:
- 911 RSR is absolutely great to drive with clutch and H-shifter. I might have another run at it, since the previous series in which I raced it, I underperformed, even though I like how the car feels.
- M3 - feels nice when cornering, quite predictable. Good candidate also. A bit OP now in terms of cornering speeds if you ask me, but I'm sure Sven will fix it to fit nicely with the others (I reckon that less camber will make it corner slower).
- AE86 - didn't drive it yet, but it felt quite close to the M3 acceleration/speed wise (maybe slightly faster), but seemed slower around corners. Could be fun to drive. If it is, it will be quite a challenge to pick a car - might just go random
- Fulvia - good acceleration, not that good while cornering. Maybe more diff power could help on corner exits a bit, otherwise I will not touch it again
- Escort RS - I didn't drive it tonight, but I have driven it in the past and I can't say I'm a fan. I'll give it a go at some point, but I don't really see myself racing it

[S0ul01]

Good Racing yesterday, especially Brands. I quite enjoyed that.
Anyway, here's a wall of feedback:
The cars:
- AE86: A very nimble little car. It feels like you're in control at all times and tackling corners just feels satisfying. Good job on the setup!
It has two downsides however. Low straight line speed makes you an easy target for passes and makes passing others tough. You have to be brave with this one to gain positions. Bonus points for drift passes without spilling water.
The biggest downside however is that goddamn rearview mirror! Cars that are easily over 10 meters away look like giants who are very close to pushing you off track. Who thought it would be a good idea to have a magnifying glass as mirror? I panick all the time.
Conclusion: Would totally deliver tofu with

-Porsche: A big enigma to me. When i first used the car, it felt stable, almost undriftable. It felt heavy but quick. The only problem with it arises, when you shift down a tad bit too early. Then it tries to kill you and your entire extended family.
When it starts to drift, it is uncatchable. You better start praying, because countersteering won't do jack. When the tyres degrade, that's when the real nightmare starts. The tiniest slide becomes a 180 spin.
Conclusion: I was almost lured in by it. I have seen its true face though. Stay away from me, evil beast!

- Escort: I have driven it at the trackday last week but not yesterday. I can't say anything about the current setup, but the cars feels nimble as well. The gearing is odd but it's quick enough.
Conclusion: I could live with this car

BMW: Did not try it because it will obviously be changed.

Lancia: What an ungodly creation. Whoever made that mod has to have a deep hatred for that car.
Conclusion: No.


The penalty system:
Qualifying: Very, very strict! But here, it's alright. You learn to drive the track carefully, which hopefully translates into good behaviour in the races.
Race: Not a fan, really. I think the system causes more chaos than help. Evade an accident but get one wheel on the grass? Penalty. Then you have people taking the penalties with other cars around them and it all becomes unpredictable. You have cars slowing down on the straights or not accelerating after the corner.
This causes a lot of rear ending, or evasive maneuvers, which get penalised themselves. At one point i looked in the rear mirror for just a second and almost got a heart attack, because the two cars in front of me decided to take a penalty on the straight next to each other and I almost ran into both of them.
I think if we use an automated system during the race, it absolutely needs to be less strict.

[Mr Chip]

Enjoyed last night, think this could be a brilliant series with these cars if Sven works his magic, and gets them even closer.

Had an awesome battle with Dima at One point, and was cm’s Behind Urlauber in a photo Finnish. It all bodes well

The AE86 I think will be the “safe bet” - fairly predictable, but not particularly quick.

The Fulvia the exact opposite - but still fun, and interesting controlling understeer with the right foot for z change

As for the penalty system - my 2cents is that it’s good to ave for qualifying but not or races. As Soul said, it’s too unpredictable, in the first place, and even more so when people decide to take their penalties.

It’s frustrating as I know it’s annoying when so obviously people will “take advantage” of every possible gain, but to me, those people are quickest anyway and I don’t think it will make much difference to my personal results. I do however understand that all those battling at the sharp end need it to be a fair battle.

Maybe we need to improve the appeal/punishment/trust procedure; but then that’s more work for Sven; and having done a few really simple series’ now, more work is not a good thing!

[BarryTrotter8]

Was a bit bad tempered today, so apologies for somewhat snarky replies. Everything was also not really planned well, since I still had to do testing work and prepare the server/entry list about five minutes before the race.

The BMW obviously needs some more ballast; something went wrong with copy pasting, need to look up the actual correct ballast value.

Regarding the cutting rule: I'll look into it further. I need to see how cuts are registered on the server whenever you choose that option, and how I could manage excessive cutting from there on. The best solution I'm thinking of is to use the invalid lap zero tires out for qualifying and a slightly more relaxed setting for in races; either 2 tires out with a cut number limit, or something else. The past situation where about 50-80% of the field went four-wheels-outside-white-lines at least once or twice per lap is definitely not a preferred option for me anymore.

All in all had a lot of fun. Very solid battles at Zandvoort!

Hey Sven,

dont sweat it. It was a nice event yesterday. I especially like the car choices. Nice retro cars:-). I was testing out a few, but for me it always takes a bit to be good and understanding a car. So maybe my feedback is not the best here;-). Nonetheless, I tested those 3 cars...

I mostly drove the AE86 which seems to be very well setup already. Tyres are well heated nearly all the time. Not too much understear or overstear. The only problem I had was with downshifting. But I bet this one is on mean. Normally I am driving very aggressive, braking late and using downshift to get some extra braking power. With this one at least for me it was impossible. I then always did the Takumi, if you now what I mean . Just one problem...the car is damn slow on the straights but the fastest in the corners.

The Ford Escord was also very nice. This one was also good in terms of tyres/understear/overstear. I would say it is a little easier to drive this one then the AE86. But it is really hard for me to say which one is faster. I would say Escord/AE86 are nearly same.

The lancer instead is like a princess...like a very old and fat one. I hope she will die soon. I was testing this one on Zandvoort for a couple of laps and really disliked its understear. Full throttle were really only possible on straights. In nearly every corner you had to dispense the throttle. This also lead to overheating of the front tyres. I am not sure if it is possible to balance this one. It is definitely slower then the cars above. 

Havent tested the BMW and Porsche.

I also got a little frustrated with the cutting rules. 2 tyres outside the whites really should be allowed for qualifing and the race. I agree with you that something needs to be done here. I think last season this was abused a little.
But some reasons why the rules should not be to strict here:
- Real racing is using the full track, 2 tyres outside the track
- Sometimes during race you need to give a little space to avoid an accident
- It is dangerous to give too many punishments, because this way a lot of people have to slow done and this could also cause more accidents

[SN/-|KE]

Dammit. I missed out on a epic race it seems

[edtheshed]

Great selection of cars. I won't be driving the Lancia... lol but apart from that, could be any of them!

Regarding the penalties, getting your lap dq for two wheels outside the line is not the one for me. It wouldn't be so bad, but what makes it even worse is that the rule is inconsistent. Some corners I can put 2 wheels on the kerb and its fine, some you get a penalty. I don't know the best solution, but it has to change from this.

[Fragmonkey]

Im sorry I missed this. Been spending time playing some games with my partner as she's having a rotten time at work and needed a distraction. Definitely sounds like a fun selection of cars though. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for the next event. Good work Sven!

[MinDer K.]

What can I say about the cars that hasn't been told?
It's a great choice of oldies, shame the Lancia is so hard to turn! In other way I like the body shape and engine looks powerful.

I havn't tried the M3, I'll do some test during the week; got something in mind I'll explain.

Except the Fulvia, all cars look competitives against each others, despite the differents tyres:
You did a great job on settings, Sven, considering RSR and Escort have slick'70 tyres vs semislicks for AE86.
After the right ballast applied on M3, the car can still hold the other on accel; actually I think AE86 is better at this due to very short gear ratio and lightweight.
But still, the M3 appeared to be at least 1 second faster on any track. I was literaly shocked when Sven overtook me on the outside in T4 on Laguna Seca: I thought my braking was efficient and kept good speed in corner, but the hood followed by the entire car was passing on my right side.
The RSR is known to be very grippy, ballast seems to be adequat to keep the pace, I feel the car very predictive.

So here's my opinion:
 Tyres have evolved with decades since radial's was populated resulting more grip with the years. Not only races' ones but those for road too, including semislicks.
For exemple, WTAC 2017 authorized 2 types of tyres (Advan Neovia and A050) with limited wideness of 295. I was surprised there were not running slicks, considering the monsters on track (Audi R8 1:1 says everything, 3rd time in its class).
I've read after that people who tried those A050 were saying it was basically a slick tyre with sculptures.
 AC try to recreate this evolution, the RSR has slick 70s and doesn't look a race machine against poor vehicules despites the among of grip in every ways, the AE86 has present-day semislick and can handle corners nicely with a good line, so I think the Hard 90s DTM tyres would fit well for the M3.
The actual weight is 1205kg with pilot and ballast, when smallers are around 950-975. Ballast may be reduced too in order to stay with other (specially in corners) while keeping the natural feeling of the car.
Also I don't know what could be the timegap between H and M, but I always felt more confortable with hard ones on other cars, the loss of grip is more progressive and forgiving.


The qualif' penalties are surprising at first, especially when I had to discover each lap how many tyres were allowed; but I think it's a good idea to allow only one tyre or none outside the lines. Some chicanes and corners can be abused like RBR's T1 if 2 tyres out are allowed.
In race, I think penalties are more a problem.
First, in case of crash ahead, what do I choose? I can take a penalty to totally avoid a car or take part of the crash and avoid penalty. Less than 0.5sec to answer in race.
Second, in case of crash where I've been hit hard enough to lose control and gone off track, I can have a double penalty, so the driver who is waiting me.
Third, AC penalties are very intrusive and were very strict, forcing me to not pay anymore attention to the race and lift off gas before checking mirrors. Also, nothing say to the drivers behind if the car in front has a penalty, can cause a big crash first lap (everybody's hot!) because, why the f*** someone would slow down?

I don't know if you release gas when touching the grass can avoid you penalty, but IMO race penalties shouldn't be as hard as qual.
It's something to clock a good lap with a clear track, that's not the same with 10 guys around, 3 wide sometimes.
I may have missed that, maybe the cutting rules can be more explicit, like said on to top of all new race's topics.

It was a very good racing night, fair and close, sometimes epic, battles! I enjoyed every laps