Formula Maza, thoughts?

[Sarsippius]

I know I started that other thread and said I wasn't planning to move up to the Mazda next season but I'm starting to reconsider.
What are peoples thoughts on the Mazda? By the sounds of things it can be a pretty tricky car, maybe even harder than the skippy? I'm also a bit wary about some of the physics issues I've seen discussed on the main forum. I don't like the idea of needing to use setups that exploit the flaws just to be competitive. Before the first wave of invites I was pretty keen to give this car a shot but now I'm not too sure.

[ysu]

I've tried it, but I was so far off the pace I left it at that and concentrated on the skip instead. Its easier to drive than the skip, by default, but to go really fast...damn that's hard.
I can't comment on physics issues, when they have last updated the car with a more open diff it became quite good IMHO.

Ah but the setup is probably going to play a much bigger role this time.

[Bauer]

I havent raced it yet but I like to do qually session in it to learn the car. I find it easier to drive than the skippy but ultimately it will be harder to drive on the ragged edge as that edge has a lot more speed. I did a qually session at Infineon yesterday and had 10 SR points or something stupid. It was all from hitting a curb mid corner and losing the rear end. I dont think I enjoy the skippy so much that I wont want to move up. But I dont want to race the Mazza until this season is over.

As for setup exploits, I simply use what is realistic and run in fields where my time suits. Im not into tweaking beyond realism just so I can keep up with someone. Id rather be in a slower group.

[Simone Gelli]

I have only tried the mazda for a few laps at summit point,(1:07.300)i like it a lot,it is of course a different thing from the skippy,is faster,and is more precise,brakes seam better in the sense that you can abuse then a bit,but it is a very hard drive if you want to keep the lap times,very intense,hit a curb and you r gone and with the races i heard being longer, prepare to keep a towel around you neck this summer...i will give it a go and buy all the tracks necessary for the season

......the Iracing tracks are amazing lol .... i am addicted to racing sims but first come my passion for music,my electric bass

[Sarsippius]

There seems to be a lot of divided opinion about it, some stopped racing it because of the physics issues, namely very low tyre pressures having the most grip and the aero model missing some important areas.
I probably won't be able to help myself and will get it. Part of me wouldn't mind going round in the Skippy again now that I'm comfortable with it and know all the tracks but the other part thinks another 12 weeks is a bit long to still be driving the same car.
I'm also thinking once I've got my C license I'd best give any rookies a wide berth, from what I read the SR is pretty harsh once you're on C. I'm curious about the truck as well so will probably get both series at the same time but with it not being released till the end of the season there won't be much time to get practice in. I tell ya, life's bloody tough sometimes, so many hard decisions to make

[DarrenM]

Yeah, I gave it a miss this season. It's should be getting a full overhaul in the update so hopefully they fix some of the major issues, like minimum wing being fastest at every track. I think they might have got some feedback/assistance from Alex Ardoin to try and get things right.

I'm sure there will be more racing it next season, but a lot of people will be doing the skip barbers as well. We'll probably have to get organised in our timezone to get good grids in both. One on tuesday and the other on thursday or something like that.

[Sarsippius]

Well I've got the car now and I'm not minding it so far. I guess most of the issues have been sorted now with some further improvement to come tomorrow. I can see how some might find it a frustrating car to drive, it's taken me a bit to come to grips with it. I suppose because of the aero it doesn't have the progressive turn through the corners like the Skippy, it's taken me a while to get used to the way it turns in so much on initial entry and then seems to understeer quite a lot. Practicing at RA I would find myself entering the corners way too shallow and and then feeling like the car wouldn't turn through the rest of the corner but once I got used to managing that initial bite to get a better entry the rest seemed to fall into place. I managed to get my pb down to a 6.495 which I think will be competitive, a good 2s off the best times at RA but for such a long lap it's about where I'd expect/hope to be.

[KNAPPO]

Ive had it for a few weeks now but just thrashed around on the base line set.
But now you blokes have been posting up times ive been trying a bit harder today.

After getting a Huttu setup im about a second off a decent lap time.
But having said that i have destroyed so many Mazdas im not game to try a TT or Qualy tomorrow morning till im comfy in the car.

[GT VIRUS]

Me and the skippy are doing it tough, but i love the mazda. I was planning on making this my main series until i realised i wont get to half the tracks due to not having road america and silverstone. Still should be fun though

[Quincy]

Race time tonight 8pm... Be there or be square!!

[thornz]

What have the fields and racing been like in the Mazda so far this season?
I have been considering joining back up to give it a crack, but wanted to see the numbers racing first to see if its worth my while.

[Quincy]

During the evening, shithouse numbers. 6am, 8am races have been getting 20 - 30 drivers.
Standard of racing in the morning is spread, normally come across the 5 top runners in the series. I had my first inc free race a day or two ago, it's only taken me 4 weeks! I was using the advanced setups for the Mazda, which I could handle, but pretty inconsistent. I swapped to the basic sets, and pulled of the zero inc race... I'm pumped for the rest of the series now!!

[KNAPPO]

Havnt done one race yet this season.

[Quincy]

Thanks to the "3" drivers that signed on last night... blah.

A heavy down pour of rain, woke me this morning at 5:40am.... Had to get up and close some windows/doors etc, then thought to myself, race, race, race, race, race, race........ 6am, signed on, 20 drivers FULL GRID!!! Awesome...

Lap 3 "black flag" for unsafe pit exit, speeding in pit lane etc... WTF!!!! I wasn't anywhere near the pits?? So I've jumped from 10th up into 6th by lap 4... still having the black flag on the screen... What do I do!>> ?? It's definitely a bug, but i;m still going to have to clear it...fuck fuck fuck!!! Race ruined, back to last after completing my 60 second stop go penalty....fuckers!

Emailed Nim to inform them of this.... Should have gone back to bed.

[pab]

It's caused by lag (the server lost data from you for a sec and tried to predict your path, it predicted that you went down pit lane, so gave you a penalty). Possibly caused by the storm? The problem we have is that (and it has been confirmed by a staff member that this is the case) penalties are assigned on the sever rather than on the client, so it's not the line you actually drove that is assessed for penalties, it's the line the server thinks you drove.

Perhaps you might like to make a post and revivie this thread to try to help encourage them to fix this.

[Quincy]

done.

[thornz]

Well, think I'll save my money for now, cant be arsed getting up early in the morning to race.

[Simone Gelli]

[quote="Quincy"]Thanks to the "3" drivers that signed on last night... blah.

A heavy down pour of rain, woke me this morning at 5:40am.... Had to get up and close some windows/doors etc, then thought to myself, race, race, race, race, race, race........ 6am, signed on, 20 drivers FULL GRID!!! Awesome...

you are possessed!!!! actually hearing that sort of voices early in the morning is not healthy,

[Quincy]

Tell me about it!

I could have gone back to bed, but I know I would have tossed and turned. I was pretty much awake, and it was getting light. Plus my track record with the Mazda at Infineon needs some boosting points wise.... I would have jumped into the 8am race as well, but the rain got really heavy, flooding sections of our house, so my priorities changed pretty quick..