It definitively depends on the track (or track charakteristics). The Ford isn't the fastest car on all tracks. However it seems that there are cars which have less weak points than other cars. The Ford is one of them. If you would choose 10 completely different tracks for a test run, then obviously you would find some specific cars mostly in the upper half of the grid. Quite often the "usual suspects".
Yep, the Ford is probably the easiest/most forgiving to drive. It doesn't punish slight mistakes like other cars do. But it's definitely not the fastest. Ford top speed: 299 Nissan top speed: 306 Camaro top speed: 300 (Tested with lowest wings and height, longest final drive, on a very long straight )
Maybe this can be helpful Now, which number will Allie eat? 299 or 300? Remember, Allie always eats the biggest number.
@Christian Göpfert You obviously don't know anything mate, you didn't spend the pre-release beta time relentlessly testing this car against the others. Oh wait... Stop winding up the customers!
We try to give our feedback and to show the dev what can be improved. But you think everything is super cool and defend even the bad things, then I wonder whether you're the right beta testers. Without constructive criticism they do not come to more. For me there is some thing to improve. (Setups, Aerophysics, many bugs to come with the TT update.'and Tyerwear) I for my part would bring the game more and that's why I try to present here my feedback. I know it is not easy all the cars to balancing, but the ford is obviously the fastest.
That is quite the presumptuous assumption to make. There is quite a lot of feedback that goes around not only between the beta-testers and devs, but also the testers as a whole. People will share their opinions and others will refute it with proof (usually real world lap times or in-game lap times). There is quite a lot that goes into not only offering feedback, but also on the devs part to see if they can implement the thoughts offered. Most cars in each class are quite close to each other by virtue of them needing to be so one car doesnt blow the others out of the water. What fun would that be right? Each of the cars does go through rather extensive testing not only from the guys making the physics for the cars (who are quite fast in their own right), but also by the testers. If you think that a certain car is faster than the others, dont just judge that based off some random league and which car gained the most points per driver, as that isnt the best representation of performance differences between cars. Far too many variables for that to show a credible difference in car performance. Namely, each car was driven by a different person of different skill. That right there is enough to toss out most results about car balance. So, if you would like to help prove your point that the Ford is OP compared to all other GT3's... Why not do a simple test. Take the Ford to Zandvoort. Start a leaderboard challenge in fact. Do a minimum of 10 laps there on the default setup, or until you are really struggling to get any more than 2 tenths better per lap. Dont just drive 2 laps, and call it good. Next, do the same in each of the other 9 GT3 cars. This is the best way to give a fair comparison between lap times and performance differences. But wait... The first car you test will be your slowest, since you will only gain more experience as you test more cars. So test the Ford all over again. Set a new fast lap with it... and now the other 9 cars again. Once that is done, post those lap times here! And lets see how they stack up! Then, do it on 8 other tracks to show that Zandvoort wasnt just an outlier. This is pretty much the process that many testers go through with determining performance. As you can see... it takes a shed-load of time. Getting accurate results takes more than 2 laps in each car. You need to widdle out every last second off your best time that you can until you cannot possibly go any faster. Then use those to compare. But, some people arent good at hot lapping times to use as comparisons. Some people may feel that between 2 cars, their best times will be around 2 seconds different. Well, usually no car in any class is that far apart from another. Phew, this was long. Dont think Im being defensive here... but there is a lot of statements about certain performance issues, without any proof to back up the claims. And the one guy that did provide some proof... showed the opposite of the claim in this thread
Good morning @Max, it appears @nate already beat to a response so please don't take this as Beta Testers trying to gang up on you, or anyone else for that matter. Everyone's feedback is always welcome, regardless of view point and even the way it's written, my previous comment was really aimed at the guy who said @Christian Göpfert didn't have a clue what he was talking about, he's one of the hardest working testers we have and he's fairly quick too. @nate touched on some of the testing process but there is more too it, that process isn't completed just once, it gets completed and then discussed between the testers, "ultimate" lap times are then debunked by another tester and the car in question revisited, a lot of the time a car will be deemed OP by one of us behind the scenes while another will be said to be under-powered or lacking in a certain area, only for another tester to go fastest in it. Take me for example, I dislike the Ford, it's fairly quick on the default setup as soon as you get into it but, I don't really get along with it's handling characteristics, where as, the Audi doesn't feel as hooked up on the default setup yet, it suits my particular driving style better than the Ford, so I'm quicker in it. In my opinion, the Ford is well balanced and in-line with the other GTR3 class cars, it is stronger than some on certain circuits but suffers quite badly on others, that was what I found, as with the other GTR3 cars and that is the feedback I provided to @Sector3. Other testers may and certainly did have similar but varying results but, we all provided that feedback which is what @Sector3 have been using as an aid to developing the cars.
This is a very good point I tried to allude to but didnt really cover much in my post above. A good example of this is actually with the GTO class, which is being worked on now too. There is a car that I am clearly 2 seconds faster in just about everywhere, yet none of the other testers can replicate my lap times. Im no alien, but my times are quite a lot faster at a couple tracks. Does this mean that the car is OP? Not really. Everyone else's results say otherwise. Perhaps Im the outlier there and my results dont prove anything, It's really tough to gather a definitive statement about the performance of a car when only 1 person is making those claims, even if they back it up with lap times. Since, as Dave said, others may show proof to the contrary. Im not sure if this was discussed either in the last handful of pages, but perhaps the Ford just has an easier default setup to go fast with. Not every default setup is the exact same for every car... since the cars all have different physics beneath the hood. Not saying this is the cause for the differences people feel, but it is another possibility to cover. Feedback is always welcome whether it is praise or being very critical of certain aspects of the game, so dont be bothered by the thoughts that I share if they dont agree that the Ford is OP without some more proof. Cheers
I definitely understand your point, but that approach with the default-setup isn't quite good. As some already stated - the Ford for example is quite fast and handsome in corners - that alows a lower wingsetting for the Ford in comparison to the Nissan for example. I know - the default setups uses some of the cars specifica but not as much as might be possible. Same with the Vmax-Test from Christian. Yepp - the Ford is slower than the Nissan with Wing = 1 on a straight. But for Vmax isn't the only aspect for a fast laptime. In a Setup you need to find a balance between high top-speeds and fast speeds in Turns. For Christians test a Wingsetting of a moderate 3 for the Ford and 6 for the Nissan would be closer to those settings that are used.
I drive with many fast guys every day. We tested not the cars on one day. We push all the cars to limit. We drive singel events or championships together. For all our race driving we 1 or 2 weeks together. We test cars a lot and thoroughly. Build setups for many cars and think it's fast, then you go 4 to 5 round the ford and is equipped with a quick-built setup 0,5-1,5sek faster? After three races Gt3 we decided against a Championship for this class. The reason was the Ford. We want a colorful field and not a championship with 10 Ford Gts. A other big thing is the gear rate of the mclaren. I hope to Gt3 championship like the DTM Wintercup to open your eyes in this point. I drive in a big community. We are all a littel bit frustrated withe the game for many small thing we founded 4 or 5 mouths ago. Nothing changed. The informations from the Devs is to time not so good (I hope for a Devstream). I know is big coming, but I hope all the small errors are also eliminated. @ Devs. If you need more tester and feedback. We would like to help with our.
I would assume that under aspects of seeing the "sim" thing in a sim, what counts is whether the differences between cars or the superiority of one certain car matches with facts from reality or not. The alternative would be to have, for reasons of game balancing, cars that look like real cars, but by physics and performance are fantasy cars. Is the Ford GT in reality that superior like some claim it is in the sim? Do the GT32 cars in general match the driving characteristics of their real world counterparts? They surely drive very differently than their pendants in AC.
Thats why the only possibility at the moment is to exclude the Ford out of the championship until the Handicap weight will be added.
Btw, I'm sure nate didn't mean me but @SVG BIOSPORT here: https://forum.sector3studios.com/index.php?threads/gtr3-class-update.3382/page-11#post-53723 What one writes and another reads into it, eh? People say the Ford is the fastest GT3 car. I do a test and show that it isn't in terms of max speed, e.g. max possible performance output. (which of course isn't the only aspect, but it is one.) As a result I'm being told that I have no clue and need to shut up, that I say everything is super cool and that I'm an incompetent tester. And after this you wonder why the devs don't comment here more often? I have my theory about that, but of course that's also just my clueless guessing. My statements reflect what I think. I'm not being paid for doing this, nor am I a member of S3S or Raceroom in any way. If something (or somebody) is wrong (from my pov) I don't hesitate to say it. But what I said about the BOP regarding the GT3 class is not only based on my experience but also the info we get from the people who created these cars and their physics. And if someone like @Marko Hartikainen - who is lightyears faster and more experienced than me and most other guys on this forum and who has all the figures and data - says the cars are very closely balanced, I'm terribly sorry, but then I tend to believe him rather than somebody saying "the Ford is 2 seconds faster" without backing this statement up with any form of evidence.
After wintercup i have the time to give you more times black on white. But the leaderboards times today are not the benshmarks. All the fast drivers have the same car for competion to each other.
For the german speaking : http://sportscar-info.de/2016/02/09/bathurst-sro-will-die-einstufung-des-audi-r8-lms-pruefen/ The summery is: A car can have a lot of downforce/cornerspeed OR a lot of power/topspeed or something between. But some people, and me too, find that the Ford has to much of both .
Just want to give a shoutout to the beta testers taking the time to comment in a nice, clean, and much more friendly way than I would at this point in this discussion lol. It's so frustrating to suggest the same option for actually testing the difference between the cars only to be told the same thing again that "In this small sample size that I had the ford was OMG OP so you are all wrong." So just wanted to commend you guys for your input here and I hope it eventually gets through some of the...more dense walls you're trying to get through.