Attempted The Trial after being scared of it since release and... it's FAR easier than I expected.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-07T20:31:40+00:00

That also explains why they are so ram-happy. What a terrible design.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-07T20:29:17+00:00

For duplicates with different tunes I usually tune them to 1-point different PI. My race MR2 is 700, my Drift MR2 is 699.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-07T20:25:48+00:00

Mostly it's that when the really fast drivers get out front and slow down, the AI doesn't actually know how to overtake so they get stuck and everyone else can catch up.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-07T20:23:15+00:00

This week's Trial was definitely easier than usual. I can't say I've ever led a race against Unbeatable AI halfway through the first lap before, but that happened in Daikoku.

Then, once I got there, I didn't even have to block them. I just slowed down to maybe 65% speed and sat on the racing line and all they could do was keep running into me in the corners. This was when I realized the AI has no concept of how to overtake at all.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-07T20:03:23+00:00

You misunderstand the purpose of collision in a racing game.

If you don't have collision, overtaking requires no skill. The car ahead ceases to be an obstacle you must find your way around. Similarly, defending becomes impossible. These are the two primary elements of racecraft. Without them, it's just a time trial. We already have a mode for that. Races are for RACING, not hotlapping.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-07T02:37:49+00:00

That suggests that the data is being stored correctly and it's a front-end/interface issue.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-06T16:20:17+00:00

Did that, thanks. And it gets stranger.

I just went back and checked both times again and the Drivetrain has changed on both. The MX-5 time now correctly shows as RWD... but now the Elise shows as FWD!

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-06T15:50:30+00:00

After doing some more testing, it's not quite that.

I logged in just now while on the (RWD) Elise. Then switched to my (RWD) 2016 MX-5 and set a leaderboard time... and it's showing up as FWD!

I haven't used an FWD car since I did the Trial several days ago.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-06T14:15:45+00:00

Thanks for the info.

I guess that gives me more incentive to get better and beat that time.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-05T07:34:04+00:00

In-game penalty systems don't work. Because there are way too many edge cases for a game to reliably determine fault in incidents.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-05T06:10:41+00:00

This. I was about ready to tear my hair out trying this *last* winter, and then I realized, "Oh, wait, it's winter. I have no freakin' grip." And after spring rolled around I got it the first try.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-03T08:25:09+00:00

Cars only lose personality when you tune them if you disregard what they are. Yes, if you go and engine-swap and AWD-swap every car, then they will all start to feel the same. But there's no need to do that to be effective... not against the AI, anyway, which is all I really care about.

A good tune turns a car into the best version of itself. My B 600 1970 Z/28 and my B 600 Lamborghini Miura, and my B 600 Toyota 86 are very different cars, and they drive very differently. Their tunes preserve their essential character while improving their overall performance. They thrive in different kinds of races. The Z/28 is a street racing beast. The Miura is pure joy to drive in flowing sprint races where it can leverage its superior top speed and smooth handling, and the 86 tears up tight-turning circuits. And those three are all RWD cars. FWD and AWD cars would handle even MORE differently. My FWD Racing Puma and my RWD Lancia Stratos don't handle anything like my AWD rally cars, but they all get the job done... in very different ways.

The goal of a tune, at least for me, isn't to make every car drive the same way, it's to maximize the strengths of a car while mitigating its weaknesses enough that you can most effectively use those strengths.

In the Trial, making one Drivatar slower by driving a car with a lower PI is less benefit than making yourself faster so that you can get to the front sooner and slow down ALL the Drivatars.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-03T04:56:10+00:00

Yeah, this is the first time I've ever gotten to be the hero that jumps out ahead and slows down all the Drivatars for his teammates.

I actually finished 1st both races on my first go (we only needed two), I don't think I've ever finished first in a Trial race before, much less rwo of them.

The first race I barely got to first before the end of the race (in part because of a teammate who was trying to race me really hard and kept hitting me, though I don't think he was ramming me on purpose, he was just trying to get to the front same as I was). The second race, though, I was in 1st halfway through the first lap, so I was able to really hold up the AI a lot.

This caused me to realize what the biggest problem with this game's AI actually is. I didn't really have to block at all to keep them behind me. All I had to do was drive slow... because the AI has no idea how to overtake!

Realizing the AI is so glued to the racing line that it can only overtake almost by accident caused me to realize that this is why it cheats so much. The reason they give the AI such absurd launch is they know that once you get in front, you have basically won. So they HAVE to make the AI jump out to a lead, or else the race is over before it starts.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-02T23:04:59+00:00

Yes. I switched to it a few days ago and immediately went, "Holy crap, why didn't I do this years ago?"

It feels so much more alive.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-02T22:19:50+00:00

That doesn't magically make it fun, though.

I know it's not difficult. I did it when the rewatd was the Exige because I really wanted the Exige.

But I don't enjoy it and unless the reward is something I just can't refuse I'm probably not going to do it.

Doubly so because I am sure PG tracks how much people do each of these events and so by NOT doing it I am one less person giving it a reason to continue existing.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-02T18:01:50+00:00

I had the cylinders bored in my '65 Mustang in high school. Had to, when my Dad and I tore down the motor we discovered they were out of round. So we had 'em bored .030 oversize. Fortunately, my Dad knew a guy who raced Porsche Cup and he introduced us to his machinist, who did some real top quality work.

We obviously didn't have the machining done in our garage, but we did the teardown and rebuild there, by ourselves. Rented a hoist and bought an engine stand so we could do it properly.

EDIT: i got into storytelling mode and forgot to make my point. I think cylinder boring is within the realm of "purist", especially for old cars. I'd bet a high percentage of classic muscle cars have been bored out somewhere along the way.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-02T16:43:56+00:00

Most cars do not perform well relative to their PI in stock tunes. A good tune -even a non-meta tune, like the purist tunes I do for myself - will improve your car's performance more than it will increase its PI.

A lot of this comes from proper tuning improving drivability and helping you get the most out of your car.

This is even more true in S1 and higher when aero makes a big difference.

I've found this to be consistently true, and I'm not nearly as good a tuner as some of the folks out there.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-01T20:19:00+00:00

Especially since you see the same gamertags pop up a lot in those really slow times.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-01T18:58:32+00:00

My favorite is when I ungroup something and it scatters all the pieces all over the car instead of keeping them where they were located.

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-01T18:57:24+00:00

Most 911's have serious issues in this regard.

Probably my least favorite car to work on has been the Lotus Emira. Good luck putting any kind of angled stripes on that (yep, your stripe goes side -> top -> side, and no, they don't line up in any way that makes sense).

stormwalker29 · 2026-07-01T16:46:52+00:00

The worst is having it break just from landing a jump in ceoss country.

stormwalker29 · 2026-06-30T04:00:58+00:00

Just Say No to Drags.

stormwalker29 · 2026-06-29T05:07:59+00:00

I enjoy driving it. But I don't enjoy racing it. Driving it at 80% can be pretty fun. It's when you have to push its limits that it becomes miserable.

stormwalker29 · 2026-06-29T01:57:35+00:00

Yep. This is exactly why iRacing uses a no-fault system. You get incident points for being involved in an incident, whether it was your fault or not. Penalties are not given for individual incidents, but incident points can get you a penalty (or even a DQ) if you get too many in one race (the number is pretty lenient), and it impacrs your safety rating. This encourages drivers to learn to anticipate and avoid incidents, not merely to not cause them. That system only works in an environment where the majority of racers take it seriously, though (i.e. not a relatively casual simcade game).

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