---------------------------------------------------------------------
All American Championship

Laguna Seca:

Here we have the best America has to offer from our game: a collection of real-life FIA/GT2 machines, fake LM race cars, and a handful of racing glory from the past.

Unfortunately, many of the cars you see driving these events will be overkill in our hands; the Team Oreca Viper, Camaro LM, and Esperante being some examples. If you use one to try and qualify, you may find yourself seconds ahead of the others--the race itself will then become a pack of squirrels following a fox. So if you've got one of these machines, it might be best not to qualify....instead start from 6th and work your way up.

I recommend we do it like we did in Gran Turismo 2: buy a non-race car like the ordinary '03 Dodge Viper SRT-10 (instead of an Oreca), and then attach a wing/spoiler kit if you want a fair challenge. Certain cars that appear as Ai like the Gulf Ford GT40 and Chaparral 2D are underpowered and boast handling disadvantages and would perhaps make good cars for us to try racing with full qualify laps, but otherwise the winged street cars are the funnest, edgyest to go. Plus, there's something cool about entering your own highly-customized vehicle!

......One car to avoid having within the Ai line-up is the 1970 Chaparral 2J. It weighs in at just 1,089 pounds and features ground-effects that allow minimal airflow underneath + a suction fan that keeps the 2J's g-forces phenomonally high. The real-life Chapparal 2J was banned after less than a season back when it raced, and in the game creates an unfair advantage whether you drive one or the Ai does.

The Panoz Esperante is another one to exclude. In GT3 the poor Esperante struggled as an Ai car. Now, it's powered with 741 bhp and runs unfairly in comparison to other Ai, so eschew this one when you see it as well.

On the other hand, a good set of races can be had if you include the Dodge Viper Team Oreca, Chevy Corvette C5R, Chevy Camaro LM, and at least 2 Ford GT's. The thing i like at this level is: not only are the races close, they can be a bit unpredictable as well. You might see the Viper lead one race and a Ford GT Spec II lead the next. :tup:

• R3 medium racing tires with full custom parts (all of them) and downforce needed. If your car is a highly-modified street machine (with spoiler/wing kit) make sure you also get as many weight reductions as you can unless your car is already very light.

• If you qualify too fast, you might wanna try letting some cars pass you then see if you can keep up with them & pass them. Forget your lap time; see if you can match the Ai as they travel and use this as a guide to de-power your car.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hot Rod Competition

Laguna Seca:

El Capitan:

rear-drive
Laguna Seca:

 

El Capitan:

 

The Hot Rod Competition was my first experience with New York and El Capitan. I dug the layout of these 2 tracks, the variety of competitors i faced, and wound up racing here again and again.

There are some ferocious competitors here but the Shelby Series 1 and '03 Dodge Viper SRT, and '99 Viper GTS take off with the best W2P advantage. I will call these three guys Group 1 (G1) If they don't show up, usually any Corvette, or even the Dodge Neon SRT4 or Ford Focus will substitute. These slower models are what I'll call Group 2 (G2).

• Use anywhere from 10 to 40 hp less if the secondary (G2) "substitutes" are present and start in 3rd or 4th place, and a G1 car starts in 5th.

Use up to 70 hp less if a G1 or G2 car starts in 5th place and no better cars (G1 or G2) start on places 1 through 4.

Finally, if the field is packed with power-trucks, the Pontiac GTO, Camaros, and/or Mustangs, you can safely lop off up to 90 horses.

....No matter what mods you perform, it may still be difficult to predict how the final outcome will be. A Shelby Series 1 can be placed mid-pack, work its way to the top, and win...but the driver could also fuck up his cornering and you'll find yourself in a race that feels much too easy.

• Ignore the A-spec point categories. Some single and double-digit point races can wind up being very competitive depending on the line-up of cars that show up, so if you've got a 10 point race, look who's sitting near pole position first before you reset!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Stars & Stripes

Infineon Raceway: 11.22 (4,150)


Go patriotiC!!!! Take one for da team! For these, I've categorized the Ai into 3 groups:

Group1 (G1) includes the Shelby Series 1 and any Vipers. Shelbys generally dominate over Vipers.

Group 2 (G2) includes any Corvettes.

Group 3 is everyone else.

Try to have G1 cars sitting no higher than 3rd place for a good, fair battle, and G2 or G3 cars sitting near pole.

I like these because there's a bit of unpredictability with the Ai. Anyone can wind up winning, not just the lightweight Shelby Series 1. Currently the ratios above have been calculated for muscle cars that handle poorly with the exception of the 1¾ ton category (4,150 pounds). For this, i used a Chrysler 300C which handles better than old muscle. I couldn't find anything else this heavy to fit this category other than a truck; and trucks deserve their own ratio system.

If you enter a good-handling sports car like a 4th-gen Corvette, Mustang, or a Lexus you'll need to drop 50 to 100 horses (more for 2-seat sports cars, less for a Lexus sedan basically). You may also need to equip lesser tires like N3's to reign in your advantage for something of this category if you can't limit power any further. Obviously, some sports cars like the Viper or Shelby Series 1 carry too small a P2W ratio no matter what you do, and you shouldn't use these vehicles.

• If there are no G1 cars in the mix, power can be downplayed. (TBA)

• S2 medium sports, racing brakes and semi-racing suspension recommended! Fixed Limited-slip devices (1-way, 1.5 way, or 2-way) generally are a must for any vintage vehicles.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Muscle Car Competition

Who wants to get clumsy? Most of these cars pack staggering horsepower but atrotious handling--true to form and the way it should be!

Without a doubt, the '62 Buick Special steals the show with its lower ground clearance and lighter weight, therefore i have included 2 P2W ratios. Very rarely, a Shelby Cobra 427 also appears in these, but (seriously) it hardly ever shows up.

If the Buick Special is in postions 4 or 5, you can use the first ratio since it will be fighting to get to the front. If it is near pole postion (first or 2nd place) at the beginning, you'll want to stack more horsepower (a lot more) to catch it. Which is actually kinda fun.

• The Ai cars seem to be on softly-dialed sports suspension and definately have S2 medium sport tires, and so should we. Matter of fact, you can use a combo of medium sport tires up front and hard sports in the rear if you want to all a sudden pretend you're Richard Starsky or Luke Duke.

• Limited-slip devices and racing brakes are also recommended. Use a STOCK transmission unless you absolutely need a full-custom one. Many muscle cars have short gearing and so the full-racing gearbox is a necessary buy to keep you rolling down those longer straights.

In any case, dial your transmission high enough so that you're only using 4 gears if you wanna keep things real (there were no 6-speed transmissions in the muscle-car era!!!).