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Post by Mudcat on Jul 17, 2020 14:03:38 GMT -5
Just trying to keep things tidy
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Roo
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Post by Roo on Jul 19, 2020 14:26:21 GMT -5
So my outing in Sweden was less than ideal. First off I'll say that I've never gotten fully comfortable with the FWD cars. The H2 FWD aren't too bad, but the rest I just can't seem to get into a rhythm with. The chassis can be fine, but the way power is deployed just doesn't mesh with my driving style.
I'd also been playing F1 2020 lately, and coupled with my previous outing in DR2.0 being the Group B Pug, I was perhaps less than respectful of the car's need to slow down. Group B instills enough fear to be leaning on the brake pedal quite hard and often. I didn't have the same respect for the relatively "pedestrian" R2s, which led to problems.
Stage 1 went well enough. Did a double roll along the ground about 1/2 a mile in, but still 6 seconds up at the first split. Stage 2 was interesting as I was almost flat out, but still 2 seconds behind An70ny. Not sure who that is, but they're certainly fast.
Stage 3 was where it all started to fall apart. I was on one of the fast, almost flat sections where you really needed to lift slightly for some of the corners. Tagged a berm and it sent me into a barrel roll with a forward flip, about 20 feet off the ground. Lost both doors and the front left wheel. Replaced the tire, only to do a repeat barrel roll and flip combo a mile down the road, thankfully without a puncture on landing that time. Dropped me back to 1.5 minutes off the pace at the end of stage 3.
Started gaining some time back in the next few stages and thought I might be able to get back up to the leading time at the end if I didn't make any more mistakes. Had a slow roll on Stage 6 which didn't help. Stage 7 I got completely out of shape over a jump through a quick right-left flick, which speared me into a pile of logs with a front puncture to boot. The car was pretty ragged after that impact.
Had a good Stage 8 where I was absolutely flat out in the heavy snow and managed to claw back some time. Stage 9 didn't go so well and just kept whacking the berms, though no barrel rolls this time.
Stage 10 was the final nail in the coffin. The car was mostly OK but I was still falling behind a bit. About half way through I drifted wide over the double bridge and ran straight into the guardrail with the front right corner. Speed of impact was 106 mph and terminal damage.
I may have been able to salvage a 2nd place finish if I'd kept it on the straight an narrow, but I just didn't get on with the R2s. Now I also know that An70ny is a very strong driver, so I have a better idea of my competition. If I'm cruising at a relatively comfortable pace I'll loose out a little time, while if I push as hard as I can I'm able to pull out a little buffer. The trick is to do that without making mistakes and crashing, as a single puncture will pretty much put me out of contention for the win. Looking forward to the challenge!
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Post by Mudcat on Jul 19, 2020 14:45:24 GMT -5
Ah, was wondering where you could have crashed out, the guardrail is that one spot that I too have once creamed at top speed. I did set the league to open so anyone can join and advertised on both Steam and Codemasters forums. So not sure where folks see it, but happy to have some more racers. Shame we don't have the full roster of drivers from before to add to, but they know where to find the league and I'm not going to beg anyone either. Even disbanded the other 2 clubs just so there was no confusion. We'll get back to the other type league again, full season and what not in a particular group, but for now I'll just be content to build from here up. Hopefully folks join both the forums and the league, but not sure that's ever going to be 100%. Onto Sweden... looks like it will be up to me to set the slow time standard once again
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521
New Member
Posts: 1
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Post by 521 on Jul 19, 2020 14:57:16 GMT -5
Onto Sweden... looks like it will be up to me to set the slow time standard once again Not so fast or is it slow. Hmm
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Post by Mudcat on Jul 22, 2020 0:14:04 GMT -5
Well that was terrible on my part. Not sure what the deal was, but on the stages where the snow was falling I would get real motion sick. Hit some random spot and crashed out and I wasn't too upset because I was thinking about bagging it anyway cause I just kept feeling ill during it. oh well, onto the next one!
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keets
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by keets on Jul 23, 2020 2:25:53 GMT -5
My rally didn’t get off to the greatest start as I clipped a bank and burst a tyre within 30 seconds of the start. Tyre replaced, I was always going to struggle.
The slushy stage, I was way off the pace, but checking the times for the rest, in the mix.
Bad luck Roo on your terminal, it looks like we would have been close had you finished.
Interesting the nausea thing Mudcat, as I also had a bit of that “woooah, I don’t like that” feeling. I think it was on one of the shorter stages in the snowy forest. I can only describe it as the same feeling I had when trying the rover in Elite Dangerous. I’ve never had it before in Dirt Rally and I can play in VR quite comfortably.
Onwards to the next one. I’m not sure I’ll be first down the track for this and may see how you guys do.
Hopefully some of the other regulars will rock up.
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keets
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by keets on Jul 28, 2020 17:05:17 GMT -5
Well that was fun, exciting and disappointing in the end. I’m now a Pug convert, I wasn’t driving this before as Roo was “team pug”, but what a nice car to drive. Responsive, turns in nicely, quick, drifts well and can even get it to oversteer. On to the rally, really close for a number of stages. I lost a few seconds on the first two, then gained some back, then lost some, then had a puncture and elected to carry on. I think you must had done the same Roo as An7ony overtook us both. Then I got more time back on the next as I was quickest, then another puncture, but this time I couldn’t keep it on the island. I hit a bunch of spectators for a 30 second penalty, then drifted wide and got another 24, then slipped off the bank for another 8. I think one stage cost me 1m 56 seconds. realising I was out of it, I pushed a bit too had fun at the same time. all very close and enjoying the competition. Mudcat, where are your times. 🙂
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Post by Mudcat on Jul 28, 2020 17:26:59 GMT -5
I'm saving the worst for last. I've been meaning to drive this thing all week and something always comes up, plus I'm going to wind up being last place anyway, so I haven't been too urgent enough about driving it lol.
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Roo
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Post by Roo on Jul 28, 2020 19:53:00 GMT -5
Well, this rally was a roller coaster of emotions for me. Thankfully it ended on the high side. First up: Good news: I'm back in a Puegeot 205! Yay! Bad news: It's a GTI, not the T16 Evo 2. Aww... On the handling side, the GTI is probably the best FWD car I've driven a significant distance (the F2 kit car only went about 1.2 stages before smashing into a pile of logs, so no real seat time there). Braking, corner entry, and mid corner are all great, in that you can chuck it in and rotate it as much as you want with trail braking. The downside for me is as soon as you get on the throttle, you feel the cursed understeer of the FWD layout. The GTI is much better than most, in that when you wrench the wheel around and floor it, the front axle actually will haul itself around, but you still can't balance the car on the throttle like you can with RWD or 4WD. It also felt like the center of gravity was a bit high, in that after chucking it in and hitting some of the higher berms it felt like the car was about to roll over (in one instance, there was no "almost" about it ). For the rally itself, up to and including Stage 4 everything went great, very smooth and no major incidents. Stage 5 and the rain came down, which led me to slide off the track and down into the trees. I was only a few feet off the trail, but had to recover with a 8 second penalty. Stage 6 I shot off the track in one of the non-forest areas that was still on the side of the hill. Was driving along beside and below the track for quite a while, until I came across a fence. I figured I could just plow through it, but it stopped me dead from ~60 mph. Quite a smash, but not terminal. Got a 24 second penalty to recover I think. Stage 7 started OK, until I went wide and smashed face first into a tree. Still amazed that wasn't terminal, and didn't even damage the car too severely. Another few incidents, including a slow roll (see comment about center of gravity above) and taking a "creative" interpretation of the track limits (running along side it for probably a 1/4 mile). Also went off the side of the hill again in the non-forested area, and ended up stopping and then running up the embankment as fast as I could, vaulting over the fence that was guarding the side of the track. Good thing no one was around to see that one! So I'm sitting there for a few days, thinking I've thrown away another stage win, when I see that An70ny finally posted some times. My eyebrows kept creeping higher and higher as I realized that not only had I not thrown away the stage with my 40-odd seconds of penalties, but we were about 2 seconds apart with two stages to go. I was anxiously trying to remember how I did in the last two stages, wondering if I might have pulled off an upset. Checking back an hour later, I saw that not only had I extended my lead in Stage 11, but An70ny must have binned it in the last stage, as I ended up over a minute clear. Yahoo!!! So, like I said, bit of a roller coaster on this one. Definitely looking forward to the RWD and 4WD in the next couple of rallies. And very happy to welcome Keets into the Pug family!
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Post by Mudcat on Jul 29, 2020 2:51:56 GMT -5
Having only driven the pug when we ran this class the other times I tried the VW, kinda like it, takes a bit more of a beating. I dunno, I guess the good news is that when I drive clean I'm only about 3 seconds behind per sector, which is still 12-15 seconds a stage. Other than actually practicing and not waiting till the last second to drive, not really sure what else to do, I guess I could take my spare off Really though, probably need to get with the times and just cut down my wheel rotation and be done with it. Oh well, the good news, the forecast for Finland is clear and dry throughout, so WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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Roo
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Post by Roo on Jul 29, 2020 20:06:17 GMT -5
A bit of practice could definitely be in order. Certainly helps to run a stage or two in practice before starting the official rally to get used to your chosen car and warm up. I've also taken to running each of the long stages in the designated location the day before starting the official rally. Not so much to memorize the course, but mostly just to see if there are any bad calls or trouble areas, and also to get a general idea of how the stages flow. I usually bolt on the hard compound tires so I only get a general idea of the course. Real rally drivers get to do a recce run too, so it's not outside the norm in reality.
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keets
New Member
Posts: 20
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Post by keets on Aug 1, 2020 2:33:58 GMT -5
I have the need to warm up as well. I’ve been splitting the rally’s in two for a while now that we’re into the warmer weather. The main reason is that my VR headset has me drenched in sweat. If I do all 12, I’m soaking. I have no idea why this is, as I don’t get the same when I play DCS.
I’ve found if I don’t warm up after pausing a session, it takes me a couple of stages before I’m back on my pace and not clipping berms.
I’m still loving this game and the racing with you guys, hopefully the others will come back to it, as it’s really good fun with more people.
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Roo
Junior Member
Posts: 64
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Post by Roo on Aug 1, 2020 21:00:53 GMT -5
Fully agree with needing a warm up after a split. I've broken the rallies up into two parts of 6 stages pretty much from the start. I discovered early on that around stage 6 I start making small mistakes, and they only get worse if I continue on from there. Taking a break for a day means I'm much less likely to end it all with a high speed face to face meeting with a tree.
It may be worth sending a link to the new league to Chipwich and Aginor. They've probably seen that the old leagues were shut down, but since they haven't really been around here they may not know that the new one is up and running. Not to pressure them into joining the forum necessarily (although that would be great), just to let them know it's available if they want to jump back in.
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Post by Mudcat on Aug 1, 2020 21:31:39 GMT -5
just to let them know it's available if they want to jump back in.
I don't believe they are unaware, if so it's by choice and not because information hasn't been made available.
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Post by Mudcat on Aug 2, 2020 18:10:36 GMT -5
4 up and 4 down, no one has even made it through stage 3 so far lol. I was clean through all of stage 1, except one spot where i flew into a pole. Really I only grazed it, but it cut both left side tires.
Survived till the end, survived stage 2 on 3 tires. Then on stage 3 I went off and plowed headfirst into a log pile - the end.
I don't remember Finland being so damn deadly in DR1.
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