A Look at the LMP Cars...

In the G1:GP we are using the 2001 to 2003 LMP cars for our sportcar series. That gives quite a range of cars to choose from.

The years featured where mainly dominated by the famous Audi R8 so it's no surprise that that is a popular car. However are there options that are competitive. The Panoz won several LMP races and has been competitive in our series. The Cadilac proved to be pretty competitive too and the Riley and Scott wasn't far behind (interestingly the early Caddy was an evolution of the R&S IIIC ).

I am considering requesting a chassis change to add variety to the series so have been taking a look at the different cars. I'm using the same setup for all cars with the exception of gearing. Fuel loads were quite heavy so pole is likely 2-3s quicker.

Gearing seems to be in two flavours which probably reflects the maximum RPM of the given engine. There are also two styles of engine. a 6l normally aspirated typically V8 (could be V10) or a 3.6-4l V8-V10 Twin Turbo.

I'm going to look at some of the cars around the mosport park race track and achieved a 1m06.987 in an R8. This is therefore one of the benchmarks I'll be using. The other is 'feel'.

The Doran Lista, Dallara with a Judd engine was first up. This car I struggled to get a competitive time in with the setup I was using. The car feels inherently loose althuogh it is pretty quick in a straight line.

Courages C60 was also a struggle. The car feels low on grip and a bit unstable under braking. I wasn't able to attack T2 in the same was as the R8.

The Lola also has the Judd engine and is a pretty fast option. I got a 1m07.467 out of her and she's probably really just lacking a little downforce. Nicely balanced car though.

The RS has the same engine as the faster Panoz in an Elite 6l all be it slightly less power. This is a car I feel at home in. I quickly got a 1m07.097 and very impressed. May well be the car I change to.

The Caddy probably unsurprisingly feels similar to the RS and has a similar pace. I got a 1m07.1 fairly easilly so comparible.

Most people have been using the Elite powered Panoz LMP01 so I took the LMP07 out for a spin next. It doesn't feel bad but the lower power of the 600bhp/387ftlb mugen is noticeable. 1m07.5 seemed to be about the best I could get in a quick test.

The next car surprised the hell out of me. The Dome is powered by the powerfull Judd engine (the most powerfull engine available) but is a little known car.. well I did a 1m06.7 (and was 0.4s down on pb at second split.) so a 1m06.3 was doable. Definatly something to look at.

The LMP02 Caddy was next up. Apparantly this is a Caddy chassis rather than the LMP01's RS derived one. I quickly did a 1m06.5 so another interesting choice. Having got two stunning times I decided I'd finish up going back to the R8 as I felt I might be learning the track better too.

Before that I went to two more cars. Firstly the banned ( due to a pitstop bug) Bentley. The Bentley is interesting as it's the only closed cockpit car in the series. This car had a heavier feel than the others and didn't feel quite so 'glued' as the open cockpit models.

The Reynard is the most underpowered car. In fact I've seen it flagged as a 675 model on some websites so I wonder if the sim is depicting it as a 675 chassis with a 900 engine. It feels very nimble and easy to drive on the limit but the lack of power does show. Sulla has been fairly successful with the car but she most likely is having to push very hard throughout racing and has been hampered by lack of LC.

Finally I went back to the R8. The previous 'mark' time had been set in a 2003 model. so what could I do in my usual mount. The answer was a 1m06.343.

So alongside the R8 and Panoz LMP01Evo I'd say the Caddy's and Riley and Scott look most competitive. The Dome is also in the mix while the Reynard is a car that relies on drivers being able to be work well in all kinds of corners. 

So if anyone is looking at a R8/LMP01Evo alternative take a look at the R&S or the Dome.