It's true, you COULD setup the road cars with more accuracy than your average road car if you bought all the right bits, but I think there would be more depth to LFS if we had the fully-adjustable racing cars and the less-adjustable road cars. Just give us a few options to tweak the balance and a few options for spring rates, etc and I'll be happy.
I think Road Car changeability should remain on tyre pressure change as its commonly used with Road Cars, and Steering configurations in the Setup Options because of different Steering Wheels Hardware.
Other than that, the Road Cars should be setted up as closely to reflect there supposed to be Road Car behaviour as possible.
I think that would be very much in the philosophy of Live for Speed.
But Opinions differ surely. Would be interesting to here Scawens view on this
I didnt miss your point at all and know the topgear item you are on about. Yes the wing allowed the car to go faster around the test track..... Yes.... And .... So what.
I want a car with too much power, bring it on as cars become interesting when a stupid mistake with your input causes game over.
Everyone is in the same boat so it becomes skill from then on to drive in a way that allows you to complete the race at a pace you can cope with. Last night I took part in 12 people 10 lap race in RA's and it was great fun.
The skill with any car is driving as close to its limits. So keep the RA pure, and no it does not have one IRL.
Personallt I think the Audi looked better without the wing. So what it was a widow maker if you pushed it too hard but then so was the old 911
I had no intention of really wanting to put a wing to the RA since it's quite fine as it is (even for kb!). Of course, those who like a small touch of extra stability can wish for one. The truth is , it's mid-engined design has a massive LACK of rotational inertia, that's why it feels more unstable than it really is. It's definitely a bit twitchy, but that's just because it reacts so quickly. It's actually a very balanced car under power, especially on corner exits (downforce cars excluded of course), much better than the FZs that basically lift the front end and plough through. And the RA has just enough power to do very well, not the stupidly overpowered abomination known as the CCX.
The AUDI TT I was talking about was so bad in terms of rear axle lift even a slight crosswind could send you down the mountain. And no, you don't need stupid driving to achieve that. Just a little gust of sidewind at autobahn speeds(on the autobahn of course). If you hate visible spoilers, it's a non issue, since so many cars have retractable spoilers that pop up at preset speeds anyway so it won't affect the vaunted kerbside looks some here treasure more than their lives.
And to win (or do a great lap in the stig's case), you must finish (aka NOT go terribly off). In case you're wondering, the stig had to short shift the car to push it to its handling envelope. More power than usable is simply a terrible idea. You add all that weight and hardware and trouble to achieve massive power that can almost NEVER be used even on the drag strip. All the while ruining handling balance with the extra weight (stronger and heavier drivetrain), using up more petrol to achieve NO significant performance advantage in any realistic situation (road or track). Seriously, THAT much excess power is only good for nothing more than silly burnouts, doughnuts and all kinds of silly tire shredding melarchy. No matter how hard one tries, the laws of physics dictate that a car can never exceed the performance evnvelope of its tires.
Well, as oversteery and unstable as the old porsches were, they really aren't that bad if you understand how they handle and do a couple of minor tweeks (tire pressures, alignment settings, etc). They are rather slow reacting thanks to their massive polar moment of inertia. If you're good at weight shifting you can easily cope with its handling. Good setups go a long way too. And don't try to rotate it more than necessary, it simply doesn't work.
Oh if you want the purest supercar experience, try the McLAren F1. No power steering/brake booster/ABS/TC/SC. Brilliant, smooth power in a package that actually handles it very well.
Must be why 1960s F1 (GPL) never caught on then as that was light 400bhp monsters on tiny rubbish tires and no downforce
The way I view things is that while it might not be the best solution to the problem having a car where a mistake with your right foot and you are toast is just great. The absolute focus you need to drive it is huge.
So then a race becomes do you follow the stig lap one and short shift or do you try lap 2 and push to get that extra bit of speed.
As you say, you have to finish to win. I have placed well in long races because I drive at race pace from the off. I lose pace against everyone that runs at hotlap pace for a few laps and then I pass them sat in the kitty litter with cooked tires.
This is the appeal of cars that are bonkers, more of a challenge.
Don't worry, mid engined cars are always going to force drivers focus at the limit. It's what you get when a car rotates on the slightest touch of the steering. Good news is that the lack of rotational momentum for a given turn rate also makes it easier and quicker to get it running straight again, if you're paying attention.
In REAL enduros like Lemans, you don't run 100% of 100%. You run 100% of 80% of the cars absolute limit. A small touch of mechanical empathy goes a long way to improving relaibility.
Not sure how you mean there, been to Le Mans a few times, the cars seems absolutely on edge going round the track. Especially the Vipers, squirming all over the place.
For instance, if you brake just 10 meters earlier for a corner than absolutely necessary, you can save a LOT of brake wear with relatively little loss of lap time. For instance, the AUDI R10s had speed to spare, so to go faster overall it's better to go a bit below its limits. This saves fuel, wear and tear while covering distances more quickly simply because of less pit time. And given that drivers drive such long stints (up to 3 hours in some cases), it's no surprise that some cars end up squirming around or going off inadvertantlly.
The only reason to push cars to the absolute envelope is for situations such as need of superior position or that you're is simply too far behind everyone else. If cars were pushed 100% all of the time, they might not even last the distance. Goes a long way to explaining why many simply don't finish.
