When selecting cars or building a setup how does the chart work in determining a car’s abilities and how does one compare them? Also how does any of this relate to the car PI score?
For instance take these 3 cars:
If I were to compare these 3 via the chart I would assume that the 3rd car this the best with a PI score well above the other 2. I would assume that the other 2 cars would have similar PI scores with the 1st car having the higher of the 2 PI scores. The actual case is that the 1st car is the 2020 Acura #6 ARX-05 DPi with a PI score of 943, the 2nd car is the 2021 Cadillac #31 Whelen Racing DPi-V.R with a PI score of 950 and the 3rd is the 2023 Cadillac #31 Whelen Engineering with a PI score of 941.
Even more fun is if I dig into the performance listing for the 3 cars I see:
Top Speed 0-60 60mph Lat G 60-0 ft
2023 Cad 202 2.6 1.61 81
2021 Cad 197 2.9 1.61 76
2020 Acr 201 2.5 1.61 78
When looking at those I would not rate the 2023 Cad as having the best acceleration, braking and handling of the 3 cars.
The only stat that is somewhat accurate is handling, u could even calculate it since it’s ~ ((low speed g’s + high speed g’s)/2 - 0.9)*10
Acceleration takes lunch time into consideration, what makes lot of op engine swaps show lower values, even tho power to weight ratio is better, so just look at pwr.
Speed score is often limited by default aero setup, and default gearing, so it’s not always accurate.
Braking… This probably is more or less accurate, tho u can increase braking power a lot by increasing downforce
I don’t trust the chart at all, because I don’t know how it’s calculated.
I don’t trust PI either; it is clearly broken when you look at how much the meta cars dominate in open multiplayer and rivals.
None of the metrics tell the whole story.
top speed
How long does it take to get to this speed? On most tracks you won’t reach it (unless you’ve geared for a lower top speed). Handling and acceleration are usually more important (to an extent, depending on track).
0 - 60 mph time
This and 0 - 100 mph time are more of launch metrics for the start of the race, not as useful for corner-exit acceleration. They’re greatly affected by gearing, so the 1/4 mile time is probably more reliable. Power/Weight ratio is a decent measure of acceleration which ignores launch, but doesn’t take into account a few things that’ll slow some cars more than others (power band, gear shifts, drag).
60 mph lat g
It depends how sharp the track’s turns are; 120 mph lat g is a better handling measurement for something like Eaglerock’s Oval. This takes more aero into account, whereas 60 mph lat g is primarily tires.
60 mph - 0 braking distance
100 mph - 0 braking distance is a little more practical, but braking is mostly affected by the same things as handling so I ignore it when comparing two cars. I look at it when tuning brake balance, but telemetry is better.
Best bet is to test drive the vehicle before buying it. If it sounds decent and handles alright you have more chances at winning the race because you enjoy that vehicle over what the stats might tell you.
AWD is a good example of how pointless the spider chart really is
