BRC 1955 - The Golden Age [Qualifying R5]

[TheBobWiley]

I'm thinking about quitting the competition. I can't do anything good. I can't even remember what was the time for my current car.

Jason noooooooooo, its all about learning and having fun!
Also, had the coupe doing under 2:41s.... started playing with engine settings looking for more top speed, had to walk away from the computer for about an hour..... now I can't find the settings that got me that fast.... crap

[JasonPoland]

All that matters is having fun.

Having trouble doing a car that's AT LEAST 2:45 at Automation Track combined with some saving problems is not funny for me. So far it looks like 1955 set is worse for me. And I will not use that hideous convertible that everyone else uses. I will wait for the tests. If the time will be bad, I'm outta here.

[Manche]

I am cooking up the wildest entry.... Mid engine minor body. with a minuscule v8

[TheBobWiley]

All that matters is having fun.

Having trouble doing a car that's AT LEAST 2:45 at Automation Track combined with some saving problems is not funny for me. So far it looks like 1955 set is worse for me. And I will not use that hideous convertible that everyone else uses.

I understand the frustration, we need a version of this race that is all about unique cars, crazy huge 8L engines, heavy bodied cars, etc. I realise most people don't have the time to tune, but I'm getting my coupe sub 2:41. My mini does 2:39.20.... so I am surprised I have closed the gap this much. However the coupe is 8 seconds slower on GH because its top speed is just awful.

[Lordred]

All that matters is having fun.

Having trouble doing a car that's AT LEAST 2:45 at Automation Track combined with some saving problems is not funny for me. So far it looks like 1955 set is worse for me. And I will not use that hideous convertible that everyone else uses. I will wait for the tests. If the time will be bad, I'm outta here.

If you feel any better, I'm only 2:46:12

[GenJeFT]

I tried to make my Pax Americana with the HUGE engine into a race car.

I cant get the price under 10k.

[VicVictory]

I'm thinking about quitting the competition. I can't do anything good. I can't even remember what was the time for my current car.

Jason noooooooooo, its all about learning and having fun!
Also, had the coupe doing under 2:41s.... started playing with engine settings looking for more top speed, had to walk away from the computer for about an hour..... now I can't find the settings that got me that fast.... crap

I'd like to say you're right about that, but for those of us who tune and tune and wrack our brains and tune just to get from 2:48 down to 2:47 on a roadster, then watching you just breeze to 2:41 with a coupe and sub-2:40 with a roadster, it's absolutely discouraging.

Nothing against you. You have the time and the knowledge to tweak it. But there are those of us who just flail at even qualifying, and it's not fun at all.

(Not to say there aren't people who have crap cars like mine that DO still have fun... but for Jason and I, the thrill is gone).

Good luck to you in '55. You've done quite well in the current series, and I hope you can continue to build off of that foundation.

[TheBobWiley]

Thanks Vic, I wish you luck in any future challenges you may do.

[TheBobWiley]

So, after entirely too many hours today I not only learned a neat "trick" to suspension tuning, but I think I have pushed the coupe as far as it can go.
It's only about 1-second slower on the ATT, half a second slower on Brands, but 5 seconds slower on Green Hell. Has the same 0-100 and 80-120 times as my (not fully optimized) mini, but has 4-6 mph lower top speed. All of this while weighing 200kg more



Additionally, here is the power curve for my mini. Its so beautiful

[Der Bayer]

Hey guys!

Pre-season testing will still take some time to be done. I have to balance tyre wear a bit better.

Nevertheless, I updated the track announcement in the OP with an additional track.

[Killrob]

Wow, that's amazing TheBobWiley! Really well done on the tuning there, getting that body down so much in time to be competitive The best I managed was around 2:42 on the ATT. Also, that power curve is indeed a masterpiece!

[UltimateBMWfan]

then watching you just breeze to 2:41 with a coupe and sub-2:40 with a roadster, it's absolutely discouraging.

I don't find it discouraging, but maybe because it's my first competition and I haven't seen all the cars breeze past me yet

But I do agree, I find it really funny how I spend 45 minutes trying to get .5 of a second off my time whilst others are doing 9:25's on the Green Hell and sub 2:40 on the test track.

[Tycondero]

I agree that it can be severely discouraging for people to put in a huge amount of effort, thinking that they nailed it with 2:42 on the test track and then finding out that other people are showing off claiming to get sub 2:40s on the same track.

However, I also think that this is part of the game called racing. For me I'm happy to get a good show with the car I'm entering with, which I consider finishing top 10. Of course, everyone who tries to participate wants to win, but don't forget that it is more about the journey and experience getting there.

I agree with BobWiley that you actually do get better at these challenges when you actually try, and to be honest eventhough I can be dissapointed by the feeling of not being there yet when people post faster times I'm also more eager to give it another try as I know that if they done it, it should be possible. I have learned a lot by doing these competitions, a great deal more than just playing by myself. Before I didn't even consider making the powerband as wide as possible, as I thought that cutting off the engine when it reaches peak power is best. Now I know better thanks to these competitions and experimenting. Yesterday I found new ways that improve performance, so every time (eventhough it can take hours to find the small things that can make a difference) I still improve.

[strop]

Somebody earlier said that there is, given the restrictions, a fairly singular approach that is best for the challenge... Or, well, I might have paraphrased that incorrectly, because its both true and untrue. A lot of different approaches will work... But having now built multiple sub 2:42 bodies, I can tell you all good solutions lie on a spectrum of the same principles.

Basically, as bob's power curve shows, you need to match your engine torque profile to your car's weight. That's number one. Number two is getting the handling just right, and there's a pretty quick method for that which others have seen elsewhere.

I'm fairly confident that my sprite build is close to as fast as you can get on a single lap around AT (but also GH, its cornering is simply phenomenal). But it's slightly slower in midrange acceleration than its heavier competitors, so whether it's the best for an actual race is very debatable. I'm going to see what tyre wear and drivability is in these trials and then review.

[Tycondero]

Basically, as bob's power curve shows, you need to match your engine torque profile to your car's weight. That's number one. Number two is getting the handling just right, and there's a pretty quick method for that which others have seen elsewhere.

Care to explain more concerning the amount of torque for a car, which would fit better and where to find instructions to the "quick" method? I'm getting quicker myself as I now know much more how to tune, but knowing of a more systematical way would be better.

Also I agree that good fast lap times are not everything. For one, the race is except for the start only flying laps, also tire wear will affect some races a lot, as you could see the the recent 1945 BRC Races. Furthermore, reliability can have huge impacts on your race. I had a more unreliable engine for 1945 and I regret it, as I sometimes lost a huge amount of time that way and was effectively out of the top 5 because of that.