It’s week 4 of the mid engine events from Wednesday 2 October, which means we are getting to the fast cars in R class. So far, street tyres have dominated these medium length races, as no pit stops has been the way to go. Will that remain the case with cornering and power now being essential?
The Porsche 911 GT1 and McLaren F1 GT may prove dominant but what will rise to challenge them? Post your tunes here and let’s see what has most success!
I’m a bit unclear what counts as a production car here. The Ferrari F40C appears to be excluded. I’m guessing the FXX-K Evo is as well? Is the Brabham likely to be an option? Some of the Lamborghinis might now be a bit more attractive? I think I might try a Pagani to start with and see how I get on.
I’ve built Zonda and Spano street tyre builds which seem reasonably promising. I’ll do a bit more testing/tweaking tonight and share them. They won’t be on pace with the meta but might be reasonable alternatives (I was focussing on cars we couldn’t use in S).
I just tried to do an R Class race and it’s still S 
Doesn’t change until about 1am UK time tomorrow (so about 7 hours time).
The pool of cars that still provide streets and decent handling is quite small.
I assume 911 GT1, F1 GT and the GMA will be the go-to options.
I can see the Valhalla being the off-meta choice. Good handling, csc V10, a bit too much drag.
I have prepared the Saleen S7 LM for power tracks and also the Zonda C and Spano.
Parts:
V10 engine swap with centrifugal supercharger
Race Front Bumper
Race Rear Bumper
Street Hood
Race Trans
Race Driveline
Race Diff
Heaviest Wheels/max rim size
Street tire compound/max width
Race weight reduction
Race Camshaft
Race Valves
Race Displacement
Race Fuel System
Race Ignition
Race Exhaust
Race Air Filter
Tune:
29.5 PSI
29.5 PSI
6.10/1.64/1.17/0.94/0.76/0.64/0.51
-1.2/-0.8/0/0/7
40/22.40
538.2/552.3
min/min
3.5/3.5
11.0/11.0
9.8/9.8
50.1/-38.5
max/max
48%/125%
70%/7%
Won’t be as good as the meta cars but should be competitive at less technical tracks - 19.5 in rivals at Indianapolis.
What times are you doing in it? I suspect the reality is that the GT1, F1GT and T50 are well clear of the other options but I’ll probably generally avoid them (I confess I do have a street tyres F1GT tuned though just in case).
Probably get a bit more competitive as people realise that race tyres (again) don’t work and a few street/sport tyres tunes get shared.
This is about on par with my attempt at a street tyres F1GT I think. I’ve only tried it in rivals and didn’t want to save so was rewinding with a best time of 18.1 (which I think is really a 17.9 because of the ridiculous bug where it adds 0.2 seconds if you rewind).
First race I got was Le Mans. Threw together a no aero Valhalla and won fairly easily - best lap 3.40.3. I’m guessing the Bugattis are probably the way to go for that event?
I had 3 or 4 races in the GMA. My R900 build uses the stock engine. Lots of Players DNF’ing when the penny drops that race tyres aren’t going to last. Mixed lobby sizes 4 to 17 cars.
I think I need to start being slightly more aggressive - as if a good driver in a good car gets clear I don’t get chance to catch up after I’ve finished faffing around with the back markers avoiding collisions.
Inquiry for you faster folks…
Before you begin on-track testing, what indicators do you look for in cars that give you the initial impression they have potential to be competitive?
I’ve never been good at determining which cars & builds will be competitive, and it takes me a lot of time to test them all out, so I’m just wondering how I might make the process faster for identifying potential and narrowing down the list of which cars & builds to test further.
Thanks. 
I just wing it. Generally I try to build somewhat “proper” i guess if PI is permitting but given my way of playing sometimes adversity strikes and I’m limited to what i can do. Safe bets (for the most part) would be good handling rating I suppose. For specific builds of a car its trial and error, HOWEVER having a good group of friends you interact with regularly can sometimes shed light on an idea you may not have covered or can provide some information in tuning maybe (or technically driving to be fair) that can give you that little extra nudge.
Someone that takes the competitive scene more serious may be able to provide a better answer but as someone that’s “casual competitive” where I’m not scorching any boards any time soon, but can put up a fight now and again hopefully some insight has been provided 
Valkyrie choice though is just “oh this can drop to R class, lets see what this can do.” in all fairness.
Won at Kyalami in the Spano. Had a close battle with 3 F1 GTs for a few laps but they all pitted. Ended with the fastest lap of 1.40.1 - was trying to get in the 39s but messed up the last corner on both the last two laps.
I tried a Zonda with its default engine (fully upgraded), stock/street tires (max width), full aero, race weight reduction, race transmission, & race differential.
Easy podiums in lobbies at Hockenheim, Hakone, & Catalunya, but I gotta be gentle on the throttle & brake early.
The tires easily last the entire race without pitting.
I do like sticking to stock engine but I felt the V10 was quite a bit better for the Zonda (sadly it is usually the meta choice). Sounds like you are doing well with it though!
