Update: i've managed to update the GP2 mod to 2011 specs.
It lacked engine power, regulations have changed since 2007(the mod was done with default 605kg weight and torque scaled to fit.. The easy way out, all mods handle like a dream if you take both power and weight off.. it's inertia hack, something that marketing department loves, it makes cars easy to handle without gaining laptimes/topspeeds). Mass and inertia are now realistic and based on latest (2011) regulations and car dimensions (plus some guesstimations about centre of gravity based on different formula mods from GTR2, Race07 and rFactor, i used few mods to compare values...)
Wings are balanced just about right, if you gain top speed, you lose cornering. From three separate tracks and setup sessions, the overall downforce is a bit light in the sweet spot and causes a real driving effort on all types of corners. IMHO, this could free two tactics, with F3000 there is very little to tune the car to fit anything, really. Put more wings and top speed seems to stay intact, take some out and it still stays on the ground. Setups between races and people are frighteningly similar suggesting that there really is one setup that suits almost all tracks and driving styles.. Boring...
Tires work in the edge that tire management is done changing driving style rather than setup. F3000 tires can take such a beating that it doesn't seem to matter how you drive. These are more fragile and punishes from pushing too much. Single laps are easier to do and difference between qualy and race should increase.
Setup is tighter than F3000, drive height has more effect, skidding on the floor has more penalty but i found a setup that staid off the ground and still quite low with softer springs. It isn't an issue unless you try to go full soft+drop, the setups we use now are not IMHO realistic. It' should be also a safety issue, it is in the real life. They wouldn't check the boards if skidding wouldn't cause positive effects; we get away from that completely..
Mass correction helped immensely. The whole mod just screamed a touchup, basic physics are solid (suspension geometry etc..).
The whole engine is tuned to fit naturally aspirated 4L V8 with sophisticated electronics. It does not go past limiter but it does not shut the whole engine off-on in rapid succession like F3000 does.. It just stays flat 10k (actually, i think it stays at 9,900-10 000, @10500 engine brakes in all situations, overloading the engine past 10k, more than 5 seconds 2000RPM overrotation and it starts to fail. Going from 6th to 2nd should blow any engine.. ). Unfortunately since Race uses that stupid random engine health at race start, one can't make it really realistic unless we want to have mechanical DNFs so one can take about ten or so before it drops from 50% to 10%. Nothing a modder can do about it, random engine health is stupid and hardcoded, no way to simulate a real engine and make it work in online multiplay league.
It's about ready to be sent to volunteers, i can assure you it's fun to drive even now (between F3000 and this.. F3000 gets 8 points, this gets 9..). Tire tests can't be done alone. And David, sorry, your time needed.. Maybe three-four lap test at some point sometime in the distant future, not asking more than 30 minutes including installing. Simply cause you have spent time outside F3000 and Race07 with this sort of vehicles recently, i know your setup preferences and driving style, plus skills that can take a vehicle over the limit and reveal the truth.. Not that this doesn't apply to all but i need someone who knows his **** and is not afraid to give negative feedback
