Experimental UKGTR driver ballast skin pack released

[Simon Gymer]

Well of course. There aren't any skinned versions of those cars. Select just the 'original' class and they will appear.

Oh I see, that makes sense. 

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

Oh I see, that makes sense. 

One of the rare bits of the universe which does.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

GTR2 Manager BETA 5 is now out; this one includes a ballast range of -20 to +120 which appears to be what GTR2 actually supports.

[psuedo]

even better....you scheduled to try it out?....if you need a hand testing anything give me a shout.

[Dave 'Gizmo' Gymer]

even better....you scheduled to try it out?....if you need a hand testing anything give me a shout.

Not yet, although it's installed on the server and we can try it during any fun race without prior planning. We'll see how the ballast test goes tomorrow night first and then make a decision on whether we can carry on testing with the experimental pack or need to test GTR2 Manager without it.

[Flash]

I did some testing with this ballast pack yesterday.

Having less weight in the car is definitely not always an advantage. I was concentrating on the F360 GTC on the Oschersleben B track, as it seemed to fit better than, for e.g. the Saleen.

Using the -45Kg weight was a real nightmare - consistently running wide on the 3rd and 4th gear corners even after several laps, whereas the standard weight  was a lot more controllable. Maybe it was just a case of having some extra speed with the lower weight and not backing off enough before turn-in, but even if that is the case, it makes for a less flowing drive and hence more of a disadvantage.

My laptimes with -45Kg were a couple of seconds off the time with no weight adjustment.

But, yes, I know, this test is just to see if the ballasts work at all and not the amount of ballast. From the testing I did I would say they certainly do work with the F360, offline at least.

[popabawa]

Maybe it was just a case of having some extra speed with the lower weight and not backing off enough before turn-in, but even if that is the case, it makes for a less flowing drive and hence more of a disadvantage.

If you are used to the standard weighted car then it will take a bit of adjustment to get used to the subtle differences in the ballasted cars. I suspect if you did another 20-30 laps you'd be quicker in the lighter car.

[Flash]

Possibly - well we'll see tonight 

[psuedo]

I have just done a little testing of the Vertigos at Oschers.   Some quite interesting data I think.

Each test was conducted over 30 laps using the exact same setup.

test 1: Standard...(ukgtr) ballast.
test 2: +45 kg
test 3: -45 kg

            Best Time    Eclectic Time     tyre wear         Fuel use     max lat 'g'     max long 'g'   

T1.        1:02:6         1:01:1             F. 15 R. 5         0.881          2.64             1.31
T2.        1:03:6         1:01:8             F. 15 R. 4         0.891          2.69             1.26
T3.        1:01:9         1:00:5             F. 13 R. 5         0.851          2.61             1.32


I also averaged the times in blocks of 10 laps for each test:

            1st 10           2nd 10         3rd 10

T1.       1:03:7           1:02:5          1:05:1
T2.       1:05:1           1:05:4          1:04:9
T3.       1:02:6           1:03:6          1:03:2

My analysis.
        The balasting seems to work and do the job it is intended for. The heavier car is definately slower but with no significant problems with tyre wear or fuel use. It still drove reasonably stable and whilst being a little more difficult to handle was not in anyway uncontrolable. The average times show a slight improvement towards the end of the session, probably due to fuel usage evening up the weight/balance of the car.
       The lighter car was definately quicker again with no significant tyre or fuel usage problems. It seemed a little easier to drive from the off, with little 'getting the feel of' required and the average times show it to remain fairly evenly balanced throughout the session.

My conclusion.
      Driver balasting will help towards evening up the field and making for closer racing without any major problems with car handling, tyre wear or fuel usage issues. Whilst the cars do 'feel' and perform differently it is not in a overly noticable form that will prohibit drivers quickly becoming accustomed to the changes.

[Kerr]

Decided to do a little practice today and was pleased with the outcome.

Since I mostly use the Lambo it was only fair I used that to base my opinions.

Going around Spa I found the -45kg nearly 2 seconds a lap quicker than +45kg from the off but after a few laps the +45kg was losing another tenth or two every other lap. Which I guess is exactly as predicted.

Both -45Kg and +45kg cars felt fine. It really did feel you were carrying more weight as the lighter car felt nimbler and achieving higher straightline speeds especially from those after fast corners.

[Aagramn]

Thanks Pseudo and Brian, that's useful.

[popabawa]

That's nice work Psuedo, thanks for writing that up 

[psuedo]

No Probs.....I might do similar for every track......the extra practice Nearly made me competetive.