Talk:Speedrush TV Challenge - Season 3/@comment-27123099-20160106100326

Here's my experience on Stage 5.

Car stats - 11/28, all R$ upgrades plus 10GC Body upgrade and subsequent R$ Body upgrade applied.

My racing method - Tilt A, Steering Assist Low, Traction Control On, Brake Assist Low. I will occasionally switch to Tilt B, turn off TC and/or change Brake Assist as needed and depending on the goal.

As I've explained in a few other posts, my goal with this event was to give it a shot without spending much time slowing the bots. In the last several events I've entered, I’ve spent a fair amount of effort making attempts to slow the bots. I've managed to win all the vehicles, and often without too much challenge as well. But, I was curious how much of a difference I'd see. Also, my thought was, if I needed to, I could work to slow the bots in Stage 5 to make sure I won the car.

5.1 - My first attempt was to go ahead and try for the 25sec off-track and see what happens. At first, I was able to put up a pretty decent fight on the first lap while staying off-track for about 13sec. I figured if I could do the same on the 2nd lap, I'd stand a good chance to win. However, I found myself spending almost the entire 2nd lap chasing down the 1st place car rather than maintaining a lead and building up off-track time. So, my 2nd lap only gained me another 2sec of off-track time (15sec total) and I finished in 2nd about 100yds behind the 1st place car. So, I restored my game (to regain the lost service bars) and decided to give the reverse lap a try. I don’t recall ever driving this course in reverse so my time was not impressive at all. I also managed to have collisions with a number of competitors along the way as well. I was passed by maybe 5-7 cars before I crossed the finish line (meaning I didn't beat their time), but I was met with a green banner anyhow. It seems like no matter how poorly you do on the reverse lap, you still win this goal. Considering it's 1 lap rather than 2, there's no reason to go for the 25sec off-track in my opinion.

5.2.1 - Speed Snap. This one took me several attempts before I could pass it. Here's my rundown of attempts.

Goal - My Speed - Place

145.xx - 137.xx - 7th (I didn't catch the exact speeds)

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">144.86 - 137.82 - 5th

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">144.63 - 142.26 - 5th (Turned TC Off to gain some acceleration)

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">144.38 - 143.41 - 4th TC Off

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">143.96 - 142.59 - 4th TC Off (3rd was 142.62, so close!!)

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">143.53 - 143.82 - 1st TC Off (I was just happy to put this behind me, didn't try to slow for 3rd)

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.2.2 - Autocross. I won this one first try. After the Speed Snap event, I expected a tougher challenge. Goal was 40.643sec and I placed 1st with 35.718sec.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.2.3 - Speed Record. This one took me 2 tries, wasn’t that tough, but I didn't get the best run the first time and lost speed in the final curve.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Goal - My Speed - Place

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">183.95 - 182.14 - 4th

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">183.95 - 187.57 - 1st (purposely placed 1st so I could take advantage of the mechanic I purchased)

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.3.1 - I read the comments here but gave it a try just to see what happened. First though, I went ahead and purchased a few more GC upgrades just out of curiosity. I bought the 15GC Engine upgrade and the 12GC Exhaust upgrade and ran a race. I lost by about .5sec and I figured I wasn't easily going to be able to have much luck gaining that much time, especially without more upgrades. So, I restored to regain the GC and opted to skip 5.3 for 25GC instead. This also skipped 5.3.2 for me as well, so I didn't have to race either. I don't skip levels much, but this one was relatively affordable and allowed me to continue quickly.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.4 - This one was too easy, I finished in 12.461sec first try.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.5 - This race took me maybe 3-4 tries mostly because I kept surpassing 150mph on the first straight. I switched to Tilt B to have a bit more control and I was able to win on my next attempt. I was in 1st place about 4 turns in and I maintained a 40-60yd lead up until the last banked corner. Through the turn, I gained a little space, but due to the speed limitation, the 2nd place car started coming up on me quickly as we settled onto the straight. Luckily, I was able to keep 2nd place on my bumper while staying below 150mph and I finished just ahead for the win. My time was 1:26.128 vs. 1:26.346 for 2nd place. I used the mechanic here as well so I could finish out the event without waiting for servicing.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">5.6 - This race was surprisingly easy, I won first try without too much effort. I was in 1st place about halfway through the 1st lap and stayed there easily the rest of the way. I finished at 2:37.263 vs. 2:44.516 for 2nd place. I was roughly 378yds ahead at the finish line.

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">McLaren 12C Spider is in my garage now and servicing!

<p style="margin:12pt0in;line-height:15.75pt;"><span style="font-size:10pt;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">I've made comment on the recent string of forced GC upgrades on some of these events and I'll comment again here. From what I've noticed, the times we've had events that force GC upgrades (or skipping) have been for events which feature cars that have relatively affordable upgrade trees. If this is how it continues, I’m OK with that. I'd rather spend 10-30GC to upgrade this car and win than to spend 80-100GC+ on a single upgrade for a more expensive car. For instance, on the P1 GTR, Huracan, Vulcan, and Regera events, I was able to win all of them with no GC used for upgrades or skipping. The 12C Spider and Stingray events, however, I did have to use some GC to pass and/or skip races. Though the amount I spent to win both cars is around 60-70GC total, so I'm not too concerned, I’ve made probably 10x that amount since then.

<span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since RR3 features racers of all skill levels and they open these events to all racers, I suspect that this is the method FM will continue with. They know full well that less experienced players aren't going to have hundreds of GC available for forced upgrades. Sure, they can buy GC with real money, but if novice users are forced to pay exorbitant prices for miniscule GC amounts, I think it's quite likely to leave a bad taste in their mouths and possibly turn them away from the game. So, this allows FM to make us part with some GC to win these cars, but also makes the events accessible to users of all skill and experience levels. Naturally, time will tell, but considering what we've seen recently, this is the tactic I think they are taking.