Yes, the update confusion affected us all, I also scrapped my Letara racing car and my CSR car also wasnt updated, but if this challenge is considered as good by the community, it will return next year
@Fayeding_Spray : Despite being definitely affected in a negative way, your car is still in the budget. I will let it run as it works. You even scored a point, but I didn´t take away the one Herman gained. Scrutinized once again, it is still rule compliant despite no resubmission, so why should I exclude it then?
@machalel: You forgot to adjust the cost somehow, you are 600 over budget. Sorry for not telling you this when I started the race. But, 3 quality points less in tires make the price 79.900. I did exactly this. You are disqualified for the first race for this unfair advantage, however, I will run the car in the next race with the adjustments I did, pretending the garage fixed the issues meanwhile - that´s how it would have worked in DTM.
Different tracks means that cars with different strenghts and weaknesses can indeed become better or worse in the ranking - today the fastest cars are honored, as it is about engine power today. Not only, but it plays a more important role. The car by @machalel now joins us with cheaper tires that meet the requirements of HTM. Favourite is of course the Metalwagen, but we will see how this turns out.
Without penalties, rank 1 and 2 would be almost on par - and the Arlington seems to be a lot better in cornering than at pure speed. But the remaining two races will be on twistier roads, and the black car will be back soon, as we assume.
It is obvious that the Arlington lacks power compared to the Metalwagen, while the Mara does have an advantage in the engine as well. Now on a rather long track, with both curves and straights, we will see how this will end.
Since HTM seems to be popular among the entrants, I decided to add a fifth race! This will also leave CSCS entrants a bit more time, another update isnt likely to appear now as the devs are doing their christmas parties.
As of now, top 5 standings are: @moroza 60P - this car is a nut impossible to crack @Texaslav 40P - twisty tracks make it the only car the Metalwagen has to fear thanks to superb suspension @ErenWithPizza 37P - very flawed in terms of stats but fast as hell @AndiD 28P - the surprising underdog @Riley 25P - not bad for a speedrun build, btw.
This is NOT the last race, but if the Nordwagen wins again, the winner is crowned - but the fight for silver and bronze is still open. Let´s see what happened today:
Now, with one race left, it is already decided that @moroza wins HTM 2000. The second place is most likely taken by @Texaslav, thanks to the perfect suspension tuning of the Arlington, but the third rank in the championship isn´t decided at all, with @ErenWithPizza , @AndiD and even @Riley in striking distance.
The Arlington really feels at home on this twisty low-speed track and crawls into the exhaust of the Metalwagen, but it´s not enough. Although it is very close this time.
A top 3 in the final race!! Clearly I was lacking power, or perhaps overall suspension tuning. Very happy with that though, it feels like more of a win than other challenges for some reason. Now to see where I place overall
13 @Mausil: 0 Points → you are still a beginner, that´s totally fine, and the update affected you.
11 @Fayeding_Spray: 1 Point → yep, the update took a lot of potential from this car.
11 @HermannMatern: 1 Point → it was worth a try, wasn´t it? Not too far off from frequent scorers. Drivability was quite good.
10 @Vento : 11 Points → Seems disappointing considering where you end up elsewhere. But racing challenges are really very different from QFC, CSR, etc. I am quite low scoring here too, so I decided to host instead of compete in racing. It should be said that this car tops at both drivability and reliability, if I decided for another system including a bonus, it would have been far up I guess. Unless I included design as a judging factor
9 @machalel : 15 Points → quite a recovery after missing the first race because of a DQ. Penalties have hit quite hard, but still competetive.
8 @Snarklz : 17 Points → Solid midfield. Suffered a bit from penalties.
7 @Ludvig : 18 Points → good looking and capable. Both drivability and reliability are solid. Lacks racing engineering knowledge, so its basically the Vento situation in better and with good design.
6 @Danicoptero : 19 Points → The Tarske never had an hour to shine, but neither to disappoint. Successfully avoided penalties, too. With solid and steady results it managed to get quite far.
5 @Riley : 45 points → well, I guess if you are knowing what you do with real life race experience and knowledge about engineering for speed, its possible to score well with a speedbuild.
4 @AndiD : 50 points → Of course the Mara takes the reliability crown. Besides that, its also faster than the brands image would suggest. Two times bronze, mainly thanks to the strong engine.
3 @ErenWithPizza : 55 points → Two podiums as well, with one of them being silver. Doesnt just look like Lightning McQueen, its also equally fast and seems to have a rocket engine. Penalties however hit it hard. But I guess, if the stats were better, it wouldn´t have been that fast. Left budget on the table that could have spent for quality.
2 @Texaslav: 70 points → The only car to put the Nordwagen under pressure. Drivability and reliability were very good, among the top 3. A faster engine could have made it win in the last race.
1 @moroza and @DrDoomD1scord : 100 points. Scored everything that was possible. Do I need to say more? Propably not.
So, this was HTM 2000, I hope you have enjoyed it, and I am also open for honest opinions for a possible sequel in 2024 if I find time and motivation for it.
How about some statistics of equipment choices and performance? I wondered for a minute if MR and a flatplane crank were major advantages, but apparently the Metalwagen wasn’t the only one with either? Was there anything obviously unique about its engineering?
The season results were as I expected, with the Me(n)talwagen taking a clean sweep across all five rounds. Congratulations to @moroza on nailing the brief and annihilating the opposition with a little help from @DrDoomD1scord!
Anyway, what is that beast based on? I’m guessing it could be any one of the '95 American Dream, '98 Stradale, '98 Rewind Time, or '99 Carrera GT-like body sets in either a mid- or rear-engined configuration.
Honestly, while I expected it to be competitive - every prior AI-piloted racecar I’ve made (LM, and ALC x2) was the fastest in its event even if not ultimately winning - the complete shutout and some of the individual margins surprised me. Like Riley, apparently, I also have some IRL experience on racetracks, but I struggle to see how that mattered. While basic concepts - lightweight, small and slippery, big and wide powerband, even gear spacing, tight and balanced suspension - are soundly based in reality, ultimately the car’s prowess is due to a minmax-fest of intensive suspension and aerodynamic finetuning and cheesy exploitation of the rulebook and physics model. Just like real racing.
For a learning opportunity, anyone may DM me for a copy of the .car.
Its nice to see some data breakdown though for people like me.
I thought I had a decently performing car, until I got blown out of the water with the top 5 performers.
I think some of my shortfalls were:
Too long a wheelbase car, making the chassis too heavy and expensive to ‘tune out’ (I was something like 100kg over the weight floor)
Front mounted engine layout harmed agility
General suspension tuning (I have limited knowledge about how each suspension property impacts the cars’ behavior on the track)
Getting distracted with BeamNG exported drivability
Still a fun competition though. I got to see a lot of great examples of these cars, and how to improve my own. When I started to see other people’s aero bodywork, it made mine look childish. Mods are an element of modeling that I have not spent a lot of time with, but evidently they are the way to getting the right look.
