Talk:Front-Runner/@comment-27123099-20160507002812

montoym Report for Stage 7

Device: Samsung Galaxy S6 Android

Pre-challenge: R$5,676,535 — 470 — 137/146 Cars — Level 171

Car: Hennessey Venom GT PR86.4 11/26

Controls: Tilt A, Steering High, Brakes Low and TC On, Steering Sensitivity 5 Offline

JKR offline bot #27, Drag Race against Zoe (and other new bots), only need to come 2nd. – I attempted this without additional upgrades (11/26, PR 86.4), but I wasn’t even close. . I did have 1 lucky race where I managed to time the light perfectly and I still lost by 3-thousandths of a sec. (9.089 vs. 9.086). I had no chance for the 2nd car though. I added the 2nd GC upgrades for Drivetrain, Brakes & Tires&Wheels and the final $R upgrades for Brakes and Tires&Wheels finished up while I was playing, so I was now sitting at 16/26, PR 89.1. With these upgrades, I won the first race 9.026s vs. 9.123. 2nd race (Chuck), I won 8.979s vs. 9.105s. I caught a bad light on the 3rd race, but Zoe logged an 8.8s time in her Regera which I was pretty sure I couldn’t beat, so I ended the race happily in 2nd place and onward to 7.2.
 * 7.1 8.979 v 9.105

oddly offline bot #25, 3 Lap Cup at Daytona Speedway, need to win but also tailgate an opponent within 22yd (20m) for 45sec. – 1st attempt, I made my way up to about 8th place and tried to tailgate that car. I kept falling behind though, usually after I’d bump him and get tossed around a bit. The bot in front of me ended up taking out another car in front of him and causing a small pileup (involving me). So, I knew I couldn’t win this attempt so I force quit-restarted it  2nd attempt, I decided to see how tough it might be to make my way up to the leaders and tailgate them. I made it up to morkRING in 1st place pretty easily (within 1 lap) and I proceeded to tailgate him. I generally had no trouble keeping up, but he would randomly hit his brakes and seemed to move around the track a lot as well. Seems the AI is set to make this a difficult proposition one way or another. So, what seemed to happen a few times is that I would brake to keep from passing him and then he’d suddenly take off and would accelerate beyond the 22yd limit and I’d be back at 0 again. 3rd attempt I made my way up to 3rd place and tailgated the 2nd place car. I was careful to not get too close, but to also anticipate when he might brake. I did a good enough job to get my 45sec by about halfway through the 3rd lap. So, once I logged 45sec, I passed him and caught 1st place in a few seconds. I actually took him out and then slowed to win by about 6yds. I also used the mechanic to save servicing.
 * 7.2 2:19.068 v 2:19.204

1 Lap Daytona Speedway, need to tailgate the opponent within 22yds for the entire lap, not necessary to win. – Took me a handful of tries just because the bot (Fontana) was so ridiculous in their driving patterns. Random braking, random turns up and down the track, it was hard to anticipate and keep up with. More often than not, Fontana would brake and we’d collide, then he’d take off and surpass me and I’d fail. On maybe my 6th or 7th try, I finally put together a good run and managed to complete it. This might be a situation where earlier bot management comes back to bite us. Fontana was slow enough that it made this race more difficult, I had to brake way more often than usual to stay behind. Though, that may have also been part of the plan to make this one more difficult.
 * 7.3 Forgot to log time, but it’s meaningless for this race anyhow,

Elimination at Daytona Speedway, need to win, but also complete 5 skids. – Won this one 1st try no problem. Got to 1st place easily, most of the bots were in P1’s which can’t keep up with the Venom on the straights. I got to oooo! And took him out, then turned off TC and performed my 5 skids. I got them quickly because I accidently nearly wrecked myself (forgot to check myself :-P ), and in my recovery, I managed to log at least 5 skids. Paused and turned TC back on and I found myself still 200+yds ahead of 2nd place. I slowed and took out that bot, plus the one behind him. When there were 2 cars left, I slowed to close the gap and finished in 1st easily.
 * 7.4 oooo! offline bot #24,

2 Lap Cup at Daytona Speedway, need to win, but also skid for 20sec (cumulatively, not in a single skid). – You start in 1st place in this event, about 750yds ahead of a pack of the Team bots. 1st attempt, I raced with my car needing servicing and with TC Off, but I sent myself well off track with my skid and the bots caught up and passed me. I raced to the end and got my 20sec, but I was in 4th place by the end and had no chance, force quit-restart. 2nd attempt, still needing servicing and still TC Off, I got 19.5s of skids on my 1st lap then picked up the last 0.5s on the next turn, turned my TC back on and finished out easily, even slowing to allow the bots to catch up at the end. I used the method mentioned in another comment about using the wall to keep your skid going. Start a skid somewhat near the wall, then let the wall hold the back end of the car against the wall while you continue to skid. I did this twice to get the 19.5sec, but on the 2nd skid, I did send myself into the infield, but it allowed me to get a lot more skid time and when I got back onto track, that’s when I had the 19.5s.
 * 7.5 1:37.244 v 1:37.371

3 Lap Cup at Daytona Speedway, must place at least 3rd, but also have to skid 5 times and tailgate and opponent within 50yds 946m) for the entire 3rd lap. – 1st attempt, still using my unserviced car, just to see if I can. Made my way up to 2nd place pretty easily, turned off TC and got my 5 skids on the next turn (still 1st lap).  Once that was done, I turned my TC back on, slowed to get into 3rd place and waited there until the 3rd lap.  All was going well until I got to the straightaways, due to my car needing servicing, I could not keep up and I failed.  Oh well, at least I know this won’t be too troubling once I’m fully serviced.  I kicked off the servicing and will finish later.  In reading other comments, I also noticed that we need to finish at least 2nd as well, instead of 3rd as is stated in the game.  1st attempt after servicing complete and I beat it no problem as I suspected. Made it to 2nd place easily, did my skids then practiced tailgating oooo! Once the 3rd lap came up, I just watched for the braking points and did my thing. I had a slight acceleration disadvantage compared to oooo!, but it was no problem so long as I stayed somewhat close coming out of the corners.
 * 7.6 oooo! offline bot #24,

Post-challenge: R$5,202,793 — 325 — 137 /146 Cars — Level 171

Car: Hennessey Venom GT PR89.1 16/26

Post Stage breakdown – As expected, another GC sink race added in, this time a Drag Race though, and my least favorite method. In any case, I got past it and didn’t have too much trouble completing the remainder of Stage 7, even winning one race (and nearly another), with a car that needed servicing. I think this is what is most frustrating to me about the state of these Special Events currently. We have somewhat fun and beatable races for the most part, but then we’ll be thrown a nearly impossible race that’s only beatable by paying the GC toll beforehand. But, then the races following go right back to being much easier. It’s as though you need the higher PR level just for that one race and that’s it, makes it seem like such a waste. The difficulty level just ping-pongs between easy and impossible, with the higher PR only being needed for 1 race per Stage.