Official Forza 4 Race night thread!

[m0r1san]

vshah's chances of winning are only getting better

 

[QuikWgn]

Gee if everyone hated my car pick so much you just could have said something instead of leaving town

 

[vshah]

i tried to convince him to take his 360 with him, but he said it was too heavy

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I'm thinking of investing in a Fanatec setup. I actually have driven quite a bit on tracks in real life, and I'm a good driver, but I've never been able to translate that into driving with a controller - it's just such a different interface and provides no feedback (other than rumbling). Interested in comments from any club members who've driven extensively with a controller and a good force feedback wheel.

 

[QuikWgn]

A first you are going to be at least a couple seconds a lap slower with the wheel then you controller times even though its a more familiar interface. I've done autocross and dozens of track days including Skip Barber, and have been racing some form of motorsport almost consistently since I was 13 (mx, Quads, local and divisional NHRA, etc) and consider myself a competant wheel man. I kinda gave up on my wheel simply because of the setup time/inconvenience. I had a homemade 'playseat setup' and it took up room and time to get it out and hooked up etc. I'd play the Wednesday night races on it, but when i just wanted to race for a half hour the controller was just too convenient. if you are gonna lay down bucks for a wheel and pedals you really need to lock up you controller and play consistently on the wheel. That was my experience.

 

[m0r1san]

I've been playing racing simulation games with the controller since GT3 (10 years experience). I also have some autocross experience.

Last month I tried vshah's Fanatec setup and I was horrible. Understeered heavily into turns.. plowed into walls.. plenty of snap-oversteer on exit. However, looking past how much I sucked - it was a ton of fun!! I didn't fully realize how much fun it was until I tried one of the A-class "autocross" events. First time ever breaking a sweat while playing a racing game.

That said, it really brings the game to a new level of immersion and it seems that faster lap times can ultimately be had. In the end, the hardest aspect of the setup I experienced were:
1. Brake feel.
1. Manual with clutch when entering turns.
2. Force-feedback on bumps, while turning.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Thanks, guys! I wish I had the ability to play-test it before sinking $600-700 (I would get a RennSport wheel stand as well). Also not sure whether the CSR or the GT2 is the preferred setup.

 

[vshah]

csr is the preferred setup, it has better cooling than the gt2 which was supposedly prone to overheating.

the biggest difficulty i have is adjusting to different cars. if i race one car with the wheel for a couple days, i'll "get" it and not be spinning out all over the place. but as soon as I buy a new car, it just responds so differently that a lot of re-learning has to be done.

also driving higher power cars without assists is quite frankly scary with the wheel. it's impossible to react with your arms and legs as fast as you can with your fingers, so keeping an 800hp rwd monster under control is understandably more difficult.

it's all worth it for the immersion though.

i've gone from mid-pack towards the end of f3 to solidly end of the pack with the wheel in f4, but i haven't really put enough time into it to improve.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

csr is the preferred setup, it has better cooling than the gt2 which was supposedly prone to overheating.

the biggest difficulty i have is adjusting to different cars. if i race one car with the wheel for a couple days, i'll "get" it and not be spinning out all over the place. but as soon as I buy a new car, it just responds so differently that a lot of re-learning has to be done.

also driving higher power cars without assists is quite frankly scary with the wheel. it's impossible to react with your arms and legs as fast as you can with your fingers, so keeping an 800hp rwd monster under control is understandably more difficult.

it's all worth it for the immersion though.

i've gone from mid-pack towards the end of f3 to solidly end of the pack with the wheel in f4, but i haven't really put enough time into it to improve.

Thanks!

What are you using for pedals? What are your thoughts on those? My sense is to spring for the ClubSports, since at a minimum I would get the CSR Elites.

 

[vshah]

Thanks!

What are you using for pedals? What are your thoughts on those? My sense is to spring for the ClubSports, since at a minimum I would get the CSR Elites.

i figured might as well get the clubsports...i know i'd regret it if i got the CSR elites.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

i figured might as well get the clubsports...i know i'd regret it if i got the CSR elites.

I'm in the same boat. I didn't want to be rude if you'd chosen a lesser pedal, but the ClubSports seem like the way to go.

 

[eightkyle]

Thanks

 

[QuikWgn]

Finished the carbon fiber Vodaphone livery for the Volvo @ 2am... Please feel free to shower me with accolades for all my hard work

 

[Phanuel]

*has his reservations about a 2am paint job...* "Oh god it's hide..good"

 

[vshah]

hey guys...can't join tonight, need to finalize wedding invitations with the fiancee.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Hey guys, had a blast finally playing with y'all (I'm BongSmokinHippo). I need to get a mic so I can actually communicate... There were a couple times I felt like apologizing but couldn't. Bah, you probably deserved it. Sorry I had to duck out before the soccer, but I have to help the fiancee toss together some food. See you next week!

Incidentally, I have to commend QuikWgn on the car. It was fun to drive, it was faster than I was expecting, and you could still turn it loose in the corners. Drifting in a Volvo? Madness... The livery was good too, nicely done there. So props all around; good choice.

 

[QuikWgn]

Thanks for the props. I encourage more people to choose spec type cars for those of you that haven't raced with us. It makes for closer racing IMHO. I tried to make the car I chose as neutral as possible to not favor assisted drivers or non-assisted drivers. I'd be happy to help provide some tuning suggestions and paint assistance if anyone needs help for their week.

 

[vshah]

Go ahead and take the pick for this week. I should be on but I'm cool with passing the pick. Something could come up between now and then for me.

ready to pick for next week?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I spent a while in photomode last night trying to get some good shots of the Volvo so people who were gone can see what they missed out on. Sadly, I wasn't able to get any shots from our races, so I had to settle for a few solo shots of the bizarrely magnificent Volvo 242 Turbo.

You can check out more from that series and all my Forza 4 photo work at my Flickr page. And if you like 'em, you should find me on the storefront and vote so I can get those silly achievements for people viewing your pictures.

QuikWgn: Are you going to make that car (tuning file and design) available via the storefront? I'd like to do some homespace shots, since the carbon fiber livery doesn't show up very well in-game. That, and I just liked the car a lot. I'll toss some credits your way for the trouble.

 

[vshah]

quik, i'll definitely buy that car if you put it on your storefront!

 

[QuikWgn]

I already have the livery up in my storefront, and I'll put the tune up there too. It is a real nice full Carbon body and you are right that you can't really tell how nice it is in the races. I think I put it up for 25k....

 

[vshah]

AT discount? :awe:

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I can gift it if you'd like; I'm not exactly hurting for credits (in the process of trying to up my affinity to Level 4 with all manufacturers for free upgrades, I've gotten past Driver Level 70).

 

[vshah]

haha no, i was just kidding....i have plenty of creds.

 

[QuikWgn]

If you PM me on XBL while I'm playing FM4 I will lower it down to 10k for ATOT members.