Soooo.... what did you drive today?

Been driving the '86 Opala a lot lately, figured it was finally time to learn historic Interlagos. Long way from being competitive but it's pretty fun, and long. Recommend people try this track out if they haven't before, it's not as intimidating as it first seems.

 

Love sideways a lot.
So In my Favorite List.
1) Old Stock cars.
2) Formula Vee
3) Lancer Evo X
4) Boxer Cup
5) Super Truck

 

I've been having a tonne of fun with the kart racing.
I haven't enjoyed kart racing that much in other games but find it very addictive in this one.

 

Ran a 30 lap race at Goiania with the F301. It was quite the race - I made a last minute adjustment adding a bit of Front ARB to help with the added fuel weight of the race load, as my Qualifying setup is intentionally set for a good deal of oversteer. I added too much though and lost my hard earned pole position and dropped to 9th within a few laps, suffering from dramatic front lockups (I'm thinking the front-end simply had no room for weight transfer) and rapid tire degradation.

I started trying to find ways to improve lap times and regain positions. Moved my brake balancing a bit, started braking earlier and utilized a lot engine braking over pedal braking and I finally started to find speed and grip in new ways on the track. A fast pit stop gained me two places and I had a fantastic fight for a fourth place finish. Truly exciting race and its why I come back to AMS over and again.

 

little supertrucks and F V10

 

Formula Vintage! I tried the Lotus 49 in pCARS first (garbage), then in Assetto Corsa (not garbage I guess) and finally did a few laps on Monza in Vintage 12 cylinder beast in AMS. I don't really play that much AMS, but the introduction of 1960's F1 cars got me to buy the whole Membership Package and I am glad I did. I've been missing out. With all the cool stuff Reiza has been doing, I think I'll make this my primary sim.

 

Haven't spent much time in the Super Trucks since the early beta but felt like going back to them. Also the last corner at Spielberg might be the hardest apex in the entire game. Car's unstable from the jump landing and you can't really see it that well. Plus if you run onto the yellow sausage it's likely going to spin you out.

 

the v10 at montreal, just had this nostalgia feeling of geoff crammed days...

 

Today I tried something new. I had a long and tiring day at work, so I did not really feel like racing... Then again, nothing relaxes me more than turning my toy steering wheel and listening to a V8 purr.

Here is the winning formula:
1. Get some nicely flowing track with autumn colours by Patrick
2. Start a private test session with the Camaro (set the car to manual and no assists)
3. Set the time to 7:30 PM
4. Start Winamp/Spotify or whatever you use and play the soundtrack from the movie 'Drive'
5. Turn on the headlights
6. Turn off the HUD
7. Relax a bit, it's not a race and not a hotlap cometition
8. Just drive

I am now as calm as mountain lake on a summer evening. I actually gave it some thought as to which sim would be best here and Automobilista was the only choice

 

Formula Vintage at several tracks today. Default setup is really quite good!

 

@mmaruda That's a cool idea. I'll need to give that a shot.

 

Some friends put up a session to go learn and have drunken shenanigans at the long Mendig layout, but I couldn't join so I went and drained a Metalmoro fuel tank at VIR instead.

 

i was driving the classic's last night. I really really enjoy that car , the physics, the ffb, the feel, the look, the sound. Its just that era of f1 that fascinates me totally. And the AI around interlagos at 105% were great, even had some passing down the back straight, not sure if it was drafting or just slow exit / outbraking etc. My fav car in AMS for a while!

 

A good week to be doing it eh? Too bad we don't have any GTLM cars in AMS. I think a Neils programmed C7R would be a wet dream.

 

3 enormously fun laps against AI at '67 Machwerk tarmac version in Formula Vee.

 

Formula Vee is fun on every track. A Vee on Laguna Seca and VIR is a seat on a rollercoaster.

 

One of my all-time favorite combos today, the HistorX 911 @ Machwerk and was surprised that ffb felt really good and, while might be placebo, even better with low force boost at 60%. Also, I get the advantage of running without vsync in AMS which I was never able to do in rFactor

 

Forget the 911, the Vintage drives great here which surprises me because I thought it be too cramped but it wasn't and I have a great time sliding the thing around the many tight turns and also having a number of opportunities to open her up too on some of the high speed sections. My new favorite car with this track now which is great also because the HistorX AI is terrible which is not surprising.

 

When I first bought GSCE/AMS, there were quite a few cars that disappointed me because I found them undriveable. That didn't matter - I loved the Brazilian V8 Stockcars so much that I didn't need any other part of the car roster. As I gradually became a slightly better sim driver, some of the cars piqued my curiosity - surely they couldn't all be bad? Could it possibly be that (gulp) the fault was mine?

To cut a long story short, my favourite thing about AMS, other than its PC optimisation, is the wide variety of driving styles the sim requires. It's as though each car is a whole new game in itself. To take just four cars as an example:

Formula Vee: a superb training car that emphasises the importance of preserving momentum and keeping the car balanced. 60mph has never been so exciting!

Formula 3: point and squirt. Fast enough to thrill but slow enough to forgive mistakes.

Formula Retro: Delayed but brutal acceleration with death-defying skids in fast corners.

Formula Classic: Like driving a tumble-dryer. It will give you nosebleeds. FFB really puts you in the hot seat.

And that's before discovering the tail-happy Boxer, the nimble Lancer, the bumper-car Mini, the oil-tanker Opala, the frankly terrifying SuperKart and all the other fun cars. Like I said, it's as though AMS is many games in one - especially when combined with the surprising and original selection of tracks.

All of which makes me glad that I bought the DLC package and access to AMS Beta. There is a lot to look forward to.

 

The SuperKart is Automobilista's secret weapon. It hardly ever gets mentioned in AMS reviews and threads, probably because there are so many exciting cars in the sim that demand one's attention. But the combination of great FFB, low ride height and blistering speed is seductive. Drive them at Brands Hatch and Cadwell Park and see what you think.