Forza4 - [NARM] NASA Rocky Mountain Car Club

[Snymo]

This thread is intended to be used by the [NARM] NASA Rocky Mountain Car Club members and those that are interested in becoming members. Topics can include:
- Introductions of the cars you have added to the shared garage and how they are setup
- Suggestions for additional racing classes

Beyond that...anything goes! ;)

[Snymo]

OK, here's what I have shared at the moment...

SpecMiata:
D323, 1994 Mazda Miata MX-5

GTS
B497, 1990 Mercedes 190E 2.5-16
B497, 1991 BMW E30 M3
A518, 2004 Audi TT 3.2
A508, 2003 VW Golf R32
A508, 2009 VW Scirocco GT

American Iron
A557, 2005 Ford Mustang GT
A580, 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS
A581, 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8
A576, 2006 Pontiac GTO (not entirely legal, but try it and let me know what you think)

Vintage Trans Am
A589, 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28
A581, 1973 Pontiac Firebird TransAm SD-455
A548, 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 429 (experimental build since you can't do the crammer swap anymore)

Aussie V8 Supercars
R3-711, #88 Holden Commodore
R3-711, #5 Ford Falcon

DTM & JGTC
R2-833, #04 Audi A4 Touring Car
R2-834, Mercedes C-Class Touring Car
R2-857, #1 Lexus SC430
R2-859, #12 Nissan GT-R

Misc
D309, 2007 Mazda Miata MX-5, Stock

All of these cars have the stock tune on them now (tire pressures, suspension, etc).

Enjoy! ;)

[MHISSTC]

Very nice!

I know what our family is getting for Christmas, so I'll have to come back here and soak up some of this information on December 26th.

:D

[Snymo]

Nice! Come and join the fun once you get all setup.

[Snymo]

I received requests to join the NARM club from the following Gamer IDs, anyone know who these are? Without a confirmation here, I will not be accepting them to keep the club to people we know.

B1GM4N77

Happy Hammer 08

Let me know if you are them or know them? ;)

Thanks!

[chris_venturini]

I just sent a request
my tag is M030

[Snymo]

I just sent a request
my tag is M030

Accepted and welcome!

[Snymo]

As an incentive to get more people out racing with us, I am now offering free car builds to any NARM member. Want to race with us but don't want to drive a "club garage" car and don't have the time, energy or experience to buy, build, tune or paint a car? I can do everything from a basic build to spec (SM, GTS, AI) all the way to fully tuned cars with replica paint jobs.

Here's what I need to know:

OPTION A
1) Car choice - make/model? Any car up to 250,000 credits!!

2) What class do you want it built for? SM, GTS, AI, Vintage TA or SU.

3) If this is not a spec build (SU), do you want it built to the limit or just "good enough"

4) Do you want a custom tune? I can supply the car with the "default" tune or I can optimize the car and provide all the settings and practice times for reference.

5) Do you want a custom paint job? If not, what factory color do you want? If so provide the year, make/model and race series or a link to real photos that I can use for reference and I will try to replicate the design.

OR OPTION B
1) Tell me what class you want a car for and I will pick a car, build it to the max spec and paint it for you.


I'll do what I can to help any of the NARM members out, so just let me know what you want or need. Once I have completed your build, I will gift the car to you for FREE. That's right FREE. You just need to be a NARM member and come race with us. I just don't want to build cars that will end up on the auction site. ;)

So, who needs a car?

PS: If you want a Aussie V8, DTM or JGTC car (outside the 250,000 credit limit), please send me a private message and we can work out a deal.

[chris_venturini]

got my car built...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/_scuba_/forzatrogdor.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/_scuba_/sig-1.jpg

[Snymo]

got my car built...
Chris, what class is that built for? Looks like the beginnings of an AI car maybe.

[raybob9289]

That is a Cool AI car.
Here is mine.
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg52/raybob9289/New43Camaro.jpg

[chris_venturini]

k, now its built to AI rules
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v64/_scuba_/trog1.jpg

[Snymo]

With all of the Vintage Trans Am racing we've been doing lately, there has been some talk about creating a second class for a different kind of Vintage car. I've been playing with several cars at this point but before I go much further I wanted to see ho much interest there might be.

Here's what I have so far in a class I'm calling Vintage Super Cars (VSC):
C398 - 1967 Corvette Sting Ray 427
A512 - 1965 Cobra Daytona Coupe
C399 - 1971 De Tomaso Pantera

I've upgraded components similarly to what we are running in the VTA cars (Full race chassis and suspension, sport trans, race diff, 15" race tires and full areo, plus appropriate engine mods to make cars competitive). PIs are falling into the low to mid S-class range (S600-S630) range. Initial testing at Road Atlanta has them about 2-2.5 seconds per lap faster then the VTA cars (or about 1:30.XXX).

Other possible entries might include:
C396 - 1967 Lamborghini Miura P400
C415 - 1968 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 "Daytona"
B440 - 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO
A503 - 1965 Cobra 427 S/C
A562 - 1966 Ford GT40 Mk II
A570 - 1967 Ferrari 330 P4

And from the not really vintage, but cool car list :)
1981 BMW M1
1984 Ferrari GTO

So again, before I go too much further, does anyone have any thoughts on this class, the cars included or if they should be faster, slower or the same speed as the VTA cars?

[ker]

Other possible entries might include:

A503 - 1965 Cobra 427 S/C



just as a side note. the 427 - really didn't race all that much as this was the same time ford asked shelby to concentrate on the gt40 program - and shelby went with the ford money. i think a better vintage option (if they have it) is the 289 cobra (predecessor to the daytona coupe). this was the car that did the most winning and raced by the most folks. if the game is anything like reality - the 427 was a very front heavy (and heavier) car while the 289 was a much lighter and better balanced race car.

just a thought.

[GaryM05]

Thanks Rick, I love this idea for a class, and like the cars listed! In addition to what you've got so far, I think it would also be fun to see the Ferrari P4 and GTO from the 'maybe' list, and the GT40 as well.

I know this class will probably take more work to balance out than the VTA class has, since the starting points are pretty different in some cases, so if we have to start with just one or two options I'd be up for that (and would suggest a Ford/Shelby and Ferrari for those, just to be historically significant.)

I think this will be a fun new class and a good addition to our recent Vintage fixation. :)

[Snymo]

Kevin, unfortunately the Cobra 289 is not in the game, just the Cobra 427. Although the Daytona Coupe has the 289 (I think). Since the Corvette has the 427 I thought it might be doable, but it will be a handful to drive in the game....which isn't always a bad thing! :)

Gary, I think the Ferrari 330 P4 and GTO and the Ford GT40 would be awesome additions. When I said "Other possible entries might include:", what I really meant was that I would be building these up to see if they were competitive and are already on my list. :D

One bad thing about these cars is that some of them are REALLY expensive. The Ferrari 330 P4 is 9 million credits and the Shelby Daytona Coupe is 5 million. With that said, I was able to get both of these cars in the Auction House for a fraction of their original prices. I got the Ferrari for 750K and the Shelby for 1.9 million. So, if there is one drawback, it will be buying some of these cars. However, if several of us have these we might be able to put multiple versions into the Club Garage so that people could borrow them and not have all of them be the same color (as an example).

[Snymo]

OK, initial testing has been completed of the VSC cars. I've got builds and tunes for four cars that are all within 0.3 seconds of one another. They are just enough faster then the VTA cars to be fun, but they are very controllable as they have much more downforce and mechanical grip (wider tires).

I'm also actively working on builds for all of the other cars I posted earlier, except the 1964 Ferrari 250 GTO. At 9 million credits it's just too expensive to buy. I couldn't even find one in the auction house for less then 20 million, so I think we'll pass on that one! ;)

Here's what we have right now with their lap times:
71 Pantera - 1:30.166
67 Miura - 1:30.332
67 Corvette - 1:30.378
65 Daytona Coupe - 1:30.430

I will share all of these cars tonight in the club garage to let people try them out and see if they like them. If so, we'll move ahead and post up build specs and stuff.

[Snymo]

71 Pantera
67 Miura
67 Corvette
65 Daytona Coupe
OK, the four cars above have been shared in the Club Garage. They have my tune on them, but I you'll get the idea. ;) Let me know what you think.

[GaryM05]

Just took these for a test drive - great job, Rick! All were fun but drove completely differently, and it took me awhile to adjust to the fact that these cars can actually stop, and have more than 4 forward gears!

I think these would be a good addition to the Vintage racing experience.

[MHISSTC]

Rick, I'd like to build one or more of these for own garage. Are you going to post the build specs for the VSC cars, or are you still fine tuning these?

Here is my VSC car review after a quick 5-7 laps in each:
All of the 4 VSC cars are fun to drive, but each behaves differently.. ...a very good mix.

While I really wanted to like the Miura, it was the hardest for me to drive because it was very prone to going into a 4 wheel drift that was very hard to modulate with a handheld controller. It'll take some time to learn to finesse the car, but it's going to take the most work to drive fast.

I liked the Daytona, but it's still going to take some getting used to. It seems like it has a heavy nose that pushes through the corners until the power comes on and then it oversteers. Again, this was difficult to modulate with the controller.

The Vette was pretty good. I like it because it sat up higher than the other cars and you could see further down the track, but it also felt a little tall through the corners. It had a little under and oversteer like the Daytona, but not nearly as much throttle oversteer. It almost felt like it was low on power, or maybe didn't have as much torque down low. I found myself frequently bouncing off the rev limiter wanting just a few more RPMs out of it.

I groaned when I got into the Pantera since it's visibility with out front was the worst of the bunch. However, it was easy to drive fast. Handling seemed the most neutral of the bunch and it was the only one I was able to run a quick 5 laps in with all of them being clean. I was also able to set my quickest lap of the bunch in this car. It's my favorite.

Fastest lap times:
Pantera 1:33.340
Corvette 1:33.608
Daytona 1:33.769
Miura 1:35.168

[95sprtcpedrvr]

Hey Rick, what about those of us (possibly) that would like to get their hand in on the <2.5 liter class of vintage T/A???

[ker]

Hey Rick, what about those of us (possibly) that would like to get their hand in on the <2.5 liter class of vintage T/A???

peter brock datsun.............:D

[95sprtcpedrvr]

peter brock datsun.............:D

You know it, Although I'm interested in driving the Alfa Romeo GTA Stradale.

[MHISSTC]

You know it, Although I'm interested in driving the Alfa Romeo GTA Stradale.

That would be fun.

I'm still interested in to doing a 3.0-3.8L postwar/pre-1966 LeMans style race. The problem I see is some of the car choices are kind of limited. You only get to choose from cars contained in the game and only some of them are available as downloadable content you have to pay extra for. Not all of the downloadable content has become available yet either, so there may be more offerings in the future. Get online at forzamotorsport.net and tell them what you want to be released in the future.

The vintage stuff is really fun, but I'm all for mixing it up too. You can come up with all kinds of fun race themes:
Thunder from Down-under (only Aussie V8 cars)
Eurotrash Econo-smash (only the smallest cars from that other continent)
Spec Pinto
Blitzkrieg Buffet (German cars)
Land of the Rising Sun-day (Japenese cars)
etc, etc.

[95sprtcpedrvr]

I built up an Omni that I'm pretty happy with!!!

[Snymo]

Guys, Dillon did some research on this a while back....

As far as I know, the main competitors were the BMW 2002, Porsche 911 (not in the game due to lack of P-cars), Alfa Romeo GTV (also not in the game), and Datsun 510. This site seems to have a pretty good history:

http://www.bsedan.com/hist25.html

According to it, other competitors were the Mini Cooper, Ford Escort (the British one, also known in the states as a Mercury Capri), Volvo PV-544, VW Bug, Toyota Corolla, and some sort of Fiat-based Abarth. None of those are in the game yet. Here's an official car list:

http://www.forzacentral.com/forum/forza-motorsport-4/37015-forza-motorsport-4-car-track-list-%5Bfinal%5D-dlc-%5Bwip%5D-updated-november-29th.html

If we were to stick to actual SCCA Trans Am cars, we'd be limited to the BMW and the Datsun. The Escort is coming in a download pack, but I can't find any actual Escorts that raced in Trans Am. Maybe a better idea to just expand it to any pre-1975 car under 2.5L and call it something else?

Based on what's available in the game, I don't know how much fun these cars or the racing would be. With that said, I'm not the only one that can build up a class. If you put together a list of cars and builds sheets post it up for everyone to see. I can help test things out if needed. Just make sure there is enough interest before you go through all the effort. Maybe a poll to see what others might be interested in.

[Dillon]

If I have time I'll play around with some of those cars. I think a pre-1975, under 2.5L class could be fun...I experimented with them in Forza 3 and had a good time, but it would be basically another GTS-type class in terms of speed. And since not much information is available on what cars actually raced, there would only be a few liveries we could recreate (BRE 510 being one of them). But making your own "vintage style" livery could be fun too :)

[raybob9289]

The only small bore racing that blew my skirt up was spec Miata. The GTS was kinda fun but the most fun I've had was Vintage Trans AM. I think we should do cup cars (NASCAR) at Sears Point and Road America.
just my .02cents

[95sprtcpedrvr]

That's way kewl!!! I already have some info for the <2.5L classes and I'll put something together by this weekend.
Granted there might be some cars that weren't actually raced but can meet the requirements.

[95sprtcpedrvr]

Sorry guys something came up this weekend and had to head out.
This is the info I have gathered;

FM4 CARS

CAR LIST:
Alfa Romeo GTA (might be able to increase bore)
Porsche 911 Classic
BMW 2002
Lotus Cortina
VW Super Beetle
Ford Pinto
Fiat Dino
Fiat Abarth
Jaguar (I couldn't find a listed model)
Volvo 122S
Saab 96
Renault Gordini
Corvair
Ford Anglia
Mini
Datsun 510
Alfa Romeo GTV
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a list I found and marked the ones for 1970 from an actual calender schedule. Frown faces indicate tracks no longer existing.

TRACKS:
Sebring
Road Atlanta
Road America ‘70
Laguna Seca ‘70
Sears Point
Lime Rock ‘70
Bryar ‘70 :(
Mid Ohio ‘70
Mosport
Watkins Glen ‘70
Riverside ‘70
Daytona
VIR
Bridgehampton ‘70
Marlboro Raceway :(
St. Jovite :(
Kent ‘70 :(
Mt. Tremblant ‘70 :(

[95sprtcpedrvr]

Also wanted to add that the GTA and GTV competed in the same class. circa 1970

http://images52.fotki.com/v639/photos/8/1011428/8031386/sideEverettKwechAlfasVSPikeBMW-vi.jpg
http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o236/tjones02_bucket/995183_1800TiSA/Heinz%20Eckhardt/Picture2.png

[Snymo]

FM4 CARS

CAR LIST:
Alfa Romeo GTA (might be able to increase bore)
BMW 2002
Ford Pinto
Datsun 510


John, the 2002 isn't really in the game. Instead it's the 1973 BMW 2002 Turbo, which isn't what raced in the <2.5L TA class and based on PI is outclassing the other cars. For that matter, so is the Alfa!

F100 - 1973 Ford Pinto (in the Jalopnik Car Pack only)
F108 - 1970 Nissan Datsun 510
E202 - 1965 Alfa Romeo Guilia Sprint GTA Stradale
E268 - 1973 BMW 2002 Turbo