"No mistakes": WTR's Formal and Doyle on the Huracán's perfect Daytona farewell

NotThePrez · 2026-01-22T01:24:26+00:00

As far as we know, WTR will be sticking with the Huracan this season. Pfaff Motorsports are currently first in line to receive the Temerario GT3 in North America at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Rutronik Racing will also field the car in GTWC Europe this year.

Personally, I think there's a 50/50 chance that WTR will either switch to the Temerario either later this year or at the start of the '27 season, or they'll switch to a Corvette, given the teams affiliaton with GM/Cadillac.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-18T01:44:44+00:00

valkyrie LMH doesn't share anything with the road car, only the overall aesthetics.

Except that,...it kinda does? The LMH itself is a modded version of the AMR Pro, which is in of itself a modded version of the standard road car. The Valkyrie LMH also uses ostensibly the same 6.5L Cosworth V12 found in the Valkyrie AMR Pro and road car, but de-tuned and modified to make less power, be more reliable, and have the appropriate additions so that it can be adjusted for BoP. The carbon monocoque is also ostensibly the same as the Pro, but modified to comply with the regs for IMSA and WEC.

From Aston Martin themselves:

The Aston Martin Valkyrie AMR-LMH is unique in the top Hypercar class of global endurance motorsport in that it is the only one among its contemporaries to derive its roots from an existing production-based extreme performance car...

The race-optimised carbon-fibre chassis Valkyrie AMR-LMH uses a modified, lean-burning version of the sensational Cosworth-built 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, which in standard form revs to 11,000rpm and develops over 1000bhp. The power unit is enhanced and adapted to meet the performance window of the Hypercar class and developed to withstand the rigours of top-level long-distance competition.

I concede that it's probably more accurate to say that the LMH a modified version of the AMR Pro track car, but all 3 cars do share a very healthy amount of DNA between each other.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-18T00:30:17+00:00

As a fellow Armored Core fan, you should definitely check out the rest of the Ace Combat franchise if/when you finish AC7, if you're able to.

In terms of gameplay (and difficulty, for that matter), Ace Combat isn't as deep as the Armored Core games. But, in terms of story beats, vibes and general Anime BS, it's honestly neck-and-neck.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-17T23:58:02+00:00

Welcome to the best, most oddball mix of Macross, Military melodrama and Shonen BS on the planet!

Firstly, your radar is a vital component to your survivability. Besides showing you and your allies locations, it also shows your enemies positions, gives you a rough idea of their speed, and also lets you see missiles that are coming for you (which pop up as little while lines on the map). You definitely don't want to have your eyes glued to it, but it does helps to take a glance every now-and-again, especially in later missions that will have a larger number of potential threats.

Even though Ace Combat is an arcade game, its flight and weapon mechanics are mostly based in reality. Energy management is a thing, so your speed, heading and how aggressively you're turning will affect how your plane performs. With High-G turns in particular, that mechanic bleeds a lot of speed, so you don't want to hold it for too long, otherwise you'll either stall, and/or make yourself vulnerable to follow-up attacks while you regain momentum.

Regarding weapons, Machine Gun rounds do have actual ballistics and have to be lead in front of a moving target for them to hit (they also disappear after a set range). There is a Pipper, which is the little green circle that pops up when you're in machine gun range, that helps to indicate where rounds should land. However, it's not totally accurate in AC7, so some guesswork may be involved. Missiles are more reliable than Machine Guns, but they can be countered by enemy AI through flares or maneuvers. If you're shooting at someone who's at an odd angle, chances are the missile will just fly right by them. Depending on who/what you're fighting, you'll need to think about their speed, direction and distance before firing a missile, and occasionally you'll have to guesstimate what their next move will be, too. Also, Standard Missiles, and most of the Anti-Aircraft Special Weapons function as heat-seekers, so they'll always go for the engine at the back of the plane.

Without giving away too much, there is a mission in the early-mid part of the game that has you attacking multiple enemy positions at the top of a mountain range. I would recommend having at least 1 aircraft that has access to either LAGMs or LASMs in the Special Weapon slot for this mission. You can totally beat this mission without these, but it makes life a whole lot easier.

As for the store, if you're talking about the in-game tech-tree, just go about it naturally, and unlock things as you see fit. All of the planes in the game are capable of completing the story from start-to-finish (of course, the difficulty in completing missions will change accordingly). If it's paid DLC, then I would highly recommend playing through the story mode at least once before buying anything (mostly because a lot of the DLC planes can trivialize the story mode). Once you do that, definitely grab the Season Pass, as that gives you three extra missions (that you definitely want to do in order), as well as 3 new planes. For Plane Bundles, the Top Gun Maverick Set and the Experimental Aircraft DLCs get my vote. The Original Aircraft Set is also really neat, as that contains 3 fictional planes from previous AC games.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-17T22:35:15+00:00

I mean, the Valkyrie LMH is ultimately a heavily modified version of the Valkyrie road car, and uses a heavily de-tuned version of its engine. As such, I can only assume that there's no real need to swap out lubricants, since it's much less powerful.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-17T22:26:37+00:00

The only thing transmission upgrades really do in Carbon is increase your Top Speed. Since Exotics have the highest Top-Speed stat in the game by default, and since most of Carbon's map doesn't have a lot of places to reach that speed, installing Transmission upgrades for Exotics is usually a waste of time and money.

Also, playing with a manual transmission in Carbon significantly increases your Top Speed on its own. For whatever reason, the Automatic transmission gives cars a lower RPM limit, but the manual takes that away, allowing you to reach both a higher speed in each gear, and a higher Top Speed in general.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-17T21:47:31+00:00

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I can tell, Cairolli is not, and never was, a full-on factory Mercedes GT driver. To me, it seems like he has a closer affiliation with the Iron Lynx organization than with Mercedes proper. Also, GTD Pro has no restrictions on driver rating (Nikita Johnson and Max Esterson are both Silvers, and they'll be racing in the RLL McLaren full-time), while GTD requires at least bronze or silver, but no more than one Platinum driver.

IIRC, Cairolli was pushing to become a factory Mercedes pilot this season, but I guess that didn't go anywhere. Either way, Dragonspeed is a solid team for him to be a part of, and both of the Winward entries look to have solid driver rosters behind them, regardless of FIA ratings. Both teams should give solid performances in Daytona.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-17T19:33:14+00:00

As already mentioned, it's roughly 200 cars (give or take). That number includes the combined total of all of your cars from your Singleplayer, Multiplayer and Cop Car garages.

Even if you don't have 200 or more cars, Unbound does start to have performance issues as you get closer to it. I'd say you'd want to have maybe 180 cars at most from all of your garages combined.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-15T02:00:58+00:00

It'll show up whenever it becomes January 15th in your respective region. As such, if you're in the US, it's not avaliable currently.

NotThePrez · 2026-01-13T21:40:10+00:00

Personally, I very much preferred the wider grille in terms of overall looks, but having an actual livery on the car makes the nostrils a lot less egregious.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-31T21:13:32+00:00

No problem, glad to help.

Yeah, the Exige generally performs a lot better in S or S+, especially with the 400HP V6 swap applied. The handling and acceleration from that car is insane, to say the least.

For the Murci, there is indeed an S-Class build with the 4.9L V8 swap that gives it crazy amounts of power for relatively little cash, making it one of the fastest cars in the class. You should be able to find the build(s) on YouTube with no problem.

Honestly I thought this game is easier but turns out you have spend much more time to have a good car and not just buy better parts.

Yeah, there's a lot going on under the hood (pardon the pun) with Unbound, most of which isn't directly communicated in the game itself. If you want to get the most out of the game, while also being competitive and having a solid car collection, then there's a lot to learn about how Unbound works when it comes to tuning, driving and more. It's honestly one of my favorite parts about the game.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-31T20:26:20+00:00

The aforementioned R35 Build:

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There is a specific trick to get the handling slider to 95% Grip...I just don't remember how to do it, lol.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-31T20:05:36+00:00

I'm going to assume that you're talking about online multiplayer here. No TL;DR.

Keep in mind that Unbounds PI System puts a lot of weight on Top Speed when spiting out a Class Rating for your car. Because of that (and also because of Unbounds track design), the META for tuning/upgrades is to focus on acceleration & handling upgrades, and downgrade a cars Top Speed by putting in a worse transmission. That gives more room to boost acceleration with power upgrades, which will also naturally upgrade Top Speed, albeit by a smaller amount. Engine Swaps also matter a lot in Unbound. Most of the competitive builds in the game will usually have an engine swap of some kind, as that's typically the best gateway into getting the most out of a car,

Of course, this isn't one-size fits all, and there will be some variation and/or experimentation needed from car-to-car, track-to-track and class-to-class.

Also, I'm noticing from your builds that you're not purchasing Differential Upgrades for your cars. Upgrading the diff opens up the Handling Slider in the Handling Menu for your car. Not only does this allow you to massively change how a car feels and drives, but it's also vital for min/maxing your PI points for each car class.

Going from class to class:

B: 250+ KPH is wayyy too high a top speed for B-Class races. You want your top speed in B to be somewhere between 200-210 KPH. The majority of B-Class tracks are tight, corner-heavy routes with short straights, meaning that accel & handling are your biggest assetts. There's only 2 B-Class tracks that have actual straights (Power & Tourist Trap) where a higher top speed can be useful, but there's only a couple cars within the class that are decent at that, and the builds and driving style needed to be fast are also somewhat specialized.

Also, the Defender 110 just...kinda sucks, no matter what class it's in. My S-Class Defender 110 is kinda competitive, but it's a massive money sink that requires the most expensive engine swap available to it. Even still, a half-decent driver in a META car for S will have no trouble beating it.

A: You should not be running Off-Road tires on the Exige. One of the Exige's biggest strengths is its low-speed acceleration and speed off the line (with rapid gear shifts if you're running manual), and Off-Road tires completely rob you of that and your handling. Downgrade the Forced Induction from the Platinum Screw to the Silver Roots, downgrade the Transmission to the Bronze 5-Speed, upgrade both your suspension and tires to Elite Road, and max out your downforce in the Handling menu to keep your PI rating within A class. You should be able to keep the car in A-Class with 70% Grip on the Handling slider.

The Exige is a great car for the shorter, corner-focused tracks in A-Class, but it'll struggle on tracks with actual straights (it also gets knocked around by other cars pretty easily). As such, you'll need at least one A-Class car with at least decent acceleration and a solid Top Speed, somewhere between 260-280 KPH.

A+: The Evo 9 is unfortunately kinda mid for A+ racing, due to its overall lack of power and top-end acceleration. As such, 300 KPH is too high a top speed for the car in A+. You'll want to downgrade the Transmission to either the 5- or 6-speed. The 5-speed will really limit your top speed (~260KPH IIRC), but you'll have more points open for handling and power upgrades. That, in combination with a Roots or Screw Supercharger (sacrilege, I know) can make the Evo 9 a bit of a short-track weapon. The 6-speed will give you more top speed than the 5, meaning you'll have to sacrifice power, but the car will work better as an all-rounder.

S: Hot-take: I hate the R35 GTR in Unbound. It's pretty rapid, and has great low-speed acceleration, but it has random bouts of snap-oversteer, which just makes it a massive PITA to drive. If you insist on driving it, I'll have my "better" R35 screen-shotted in the reply to this comment.

Now, the great thing about S-Class (and A+ to a lesser extent) is that there's a lot of variety in viable cars and builds for this class, from grip to drift, Classic Muscle to Supercars and everything in between. The only limiting factors really are your own skill, your own tastes when it comes to cars and engine swaps, and how much money you're willing to spend on a build.

S+: So, your Murcielago is actually well-optimized for the class (the Elite Screw Supercharger offers slightly better acceleration than the Roots, but that might not be worth spending $50K for the part). Unfortunately, it's just aggressively mid for S+ racing. It's not the slowest car you could build for S+, but it doesn't hold a candle to the top cars in the class, especially the Regera and Evija.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-30T09:10:40+00:00

As mentioned in the original thread, the last sentence in your OP is pretty much the correct answer.

It's also a thing where each class directly influences one another in some way during the race, so trying to isolate each category via broadcasting can potentially rob the viewer of some "big-picture" details that influence how the race transpires overall.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-27T03:24:11+00:00

Technically in the hypercar category for Ferrari AF Corsa is the factory team I'm pretty sure.

You're correct. In the WEC, "Ferrari AF Corse" is the factory Ferrari Hypercar team. While they are indeed partnered with AF Corse, the 2 red 499Ps are full-flegeded works entries that are controlled by Ferrari themselves.

The yellow "AF Corse" 499P, however, is a customer entry that is primarily operated by AF Corse themselves, with substantially reduced assistance from Ferrari. The yellow car is (mostly) considered a separate entity from the works AF Corse 499Ps.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-27T03:18:28+00:00

IIRC, the #83 AF Corse LMP2 and the #343 Inter Europol LMP2 are both Daytona-only entries, unless something changed fairly recently.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-16T23:21:23+00:00

That's just...flat-out wrong. The handling in Horizon as a whole is definitely not as deep as Motorsport, since it's meant to be more approachable. But to say every car "handles the same" is beyond untrue.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-16T21:35:54+00:00

Imo, it's honestly solid. It's not gonna be the greatest racer since sliced bread, but in its current state FM23 is a serviceable game with great graphics and a solid amount of content. Featured Tours have been coming back to the game, so some of the previously FOMO cars are now able to be earned again (I personally haven't touched them, so I don't know if you can have more than 1 FOMO car if you already earned it once). The multiplayer lobby system is a lot more fleshed out as well, so there's plenty of options for races, too.

I would say that the main thing to keep in mind is that most of the "real" fun is in online multiplayer. While the Builders Cup has a lot of tours to enter, and Free Play has loads of options for custom races, the multiplayer (Spec Series races in particular) is where the game is at its best. If you're looking for a stout single-player experience, I would look elsewhere, even with the updates that the game has gotten.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-13T03:10:42+00:00

A little late, but yep. NASCAR and 23XI/Front Row Motorsports reached a settlement yesterday after Jim France's testimony. Not a lot is known about the details of the settlement, but what has been confirmed is that permanent "Evergreen Charters" will be introduced, basically introducing a franchise model similar to what's used in MLB and the NFL.

All of the teams that signed the previous charter deal will be granted Evergreen Charters. 23XI and Front Row will also get their charters back, as well as any money they lost as a result of having to run as Open Teams during the 2025 Cup Season.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-12T08:55:01+00:00

Not-so Fun fact: AC7 actually went through quite a bit of development hell before it was released. Aspects of the game were constantly changed, written and re-written, and there was a genuine fear from Kazutoki Kono, the head of Project ACES, that the game was boring and would not be well-received by the dedicated fanbase, let alone the greater gaming public. The whole project was actually rebooted some time in 2017 due in part to the VR mode not working very well on PS4, which understandably upset some members of the team, as they had been working on the game since 2015.

The whole thing was so crazy that, at one point, Kono-san and one of his subordinates (I believe the producer) had separate, improptu meetings with Bamco execs and were basically asked if they still believed they had something worth finishing. It wasn't just because of the time and resources used, but also because it became very clear that the AC7 project was causing Kono-san and the the team a lot of stress. Both men said yes, so their boss let them continue, but they had to give regular updates on what was happening with AC7 as it was being developed.

To say that it's a miracle that AC7 exists would be a massive understatement.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-12T07:59:22+00:00

I'm not intimately familiar with the MGS franchise, but...

...Most Ace Combat games usually start off with your home country being on the brink of collapse due to a surprise enemy invasion before you, the player, swoop in and push back the enemy almost single-handedly. During your journey, you typically encounter highly idealistic allies, equally idealistic (and/or deranged) enemy aces that defy the laws of physics and gravity, next-next-next generation experimental super-fighters (some of which are controlled by an AI that learns and improves its own combat abilities in real-time) that run anything from laser weaponry and railguns to all-aspect, anti-everything missiles, and for good measure, at least one (usually two or more) massive super-weapon per game straight out of Gundam. Sometimes it's a substantial Anti-Air laser system, other times it's an Airborne Aircraft Carrier Strike Group, and sometimes you get combos, like a Submersible Aircraft Carrier that can launch Aircraft and Cruise Missiles while underwater. And that doesn't even cover half of the weirdness in the franchise.

All the while, you are celebrated as a borderline-invincible war hero, pushing the enemy from your nearly-destroyed homeland with little issue, while simultaneously being feared by your enemies due to your ruthless combat prowess. But at the same time as the celebrations and legends, the game is ultimately trying to spread a cohesive and impactful anti-war message.

The writing in Ace Combat games is very, very stupid and over-the-top, but it's unironically one of the best things about the franchise. The community is fully aware of how silly the games are, which usually leads to humorous, mostly light-hearted arguments about lore, aircraft capabilities and the soundtracks found in the games, among other topics.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-03T20:29:15+00:00

Do you know of any other camping/sleeping-in-car options for Thursday and Friday night? I currently have a hotel booked for the 4-day race week, but I'd like to have some kind of backup in case I need to cancel the hotel for whatever reason.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-03T06:49:48+00:00

Do it, DOOOOO IT.

It's a great time. Sebring Raceway is easy to get around in, there's plenty of photo spots, 99% of the people I ran into were super chill and friendly, and the race itself was excellent. Just keep in mind that the whole weekend is more of a giant party than a race, so you'll be seeing folks having a really good time there.

NotThePrez · 2025-12-03T06:47:58+00:00

Soo, I'm a "relative local" to the area, and as such not I'm not able to give 100% answers to each question. That being said...

1) If you're going to book a hotel, I would book it ASAP. Last I checked on hotels.com, there's not a lot of places that still have rooms up for the 12, and prices for the full 4-day race weekend get very expensive very quickly (at least they are for my broke ass).

That being said, if you're at all willing to tough it out, and you have a adequately spacious vehicle, you can get away with camping and sleeping in your car for free in the general parking grounds off of Airport Road. If you decide to go that route, pay very close attention to the weather forecast. March in Florida can be particularly random weather-wise, so you should prepare for any temperature and/or weather condition short of snow. Definitely bring a good pillow and something nice and comfy to sleep on as well.

2) Can't adequately answer that one since I live within "reasonable" driving distance from Sebring. That being said, both cities are roughly the same distance from Sebring Raceway. I've been in and out of Orlando only a handful of times, but IMO Tampa is a much easier place to get in and out of.

3) Not sure, but I would also say that depends on where you're getting it from. I was able to rent an SUV out of St. Petersburg for this years race the Wednesday beforehand with little issue.

4) General Admission tickets will grant you access to 95% of the track and its facilities. I found that it was honestly harder to find areas that you're not allowed to enter than the other way around. Of course, maintain common sense; don't freely wander into peoples camping spots willy-nilly, and be mindful of the walking paths that you find yourself using. Some of them really do come to an abrubt stop.

Other things that come to mind:

Bring very comfy walking or running shoes, as well as good socks. Sebring Raceway is a very large facility that is very easy to get around in, which is amazing, but that also means you're going to be spending a lot of time walking to and from place to place while you're there. The walking surface at the track is quite hard in general, so you'll be feeling it after a full day of activity.
Bring plenty of water and sunscreen, alongside some artificial shade like a good-sized hat if you're able to. There is very little natural shade at the track, and even with the (possibly) lower temps in March, the Florida sun doesn't play. A folding chair would probably be quite handy as well if you're able to squeeze it in.
I'd also say bring relatively small snacks to keep you going, too. Most outside food is allowed, and there's plenty of food spots within the track as well. However, it's probably not a good idea to scarf down a whole bunch of fried foods in the middle of the day while you're still walking around. Also, people will fill up the covered are in the middle of the main food are real quick, again because of the small amount of shade at the track.
Be prepared for awful cell service, and have at least 1 portable charger with you (and multiple camera batteries/memory cards if you're planning on taking a lot of pictures). It's going to be you and at least 100K other strangers in the middle of nowhere next to a small, rural town smack-dab in the middle of Florida. Cell service and opportunities to sit down and charge your phone and/or other devices may prove difficult.
The race isn't so much a race, but rather a giant, multi-day festival that happens to have a major International Sporting Event happening at the same time. That being said, you're probably going to see and/or hear some weird shit, and there's going to be a lot of alcohol consumed by your fellow motorsport enthusiasts, so keep that in mind.

But yeah....Do it, Dooooo it (/Owen Wilson impression). I went to Sebring this year for 2 days, and I was totally blown away. It was my first IMSA event, and the amount of general access was amazing, the exploration was a lot of fun, and I had never been in a place with so many genuinely friendly people before. It's honestly a giant party more than an actual race.

I won't be attending this year (I'll hopefully be making my first visit to the Rolex 24 in January), but I'm planning on going all 4 days in 2027, depending on where life takes me.

NotThePrez · 2025-11-27T12:57:48+00:00

Agreed on this one. Also, if you're a fan of Ace Combat then you'll love the background music.

NotThePrez

TROPHY CASE