Hey guys, I'm pretty sure this has been discussed before, but unfortunately my long-term memory identifies as a short-term memory. So if you don't mind, I have a few questions about the current state of track evolution. Long story short, now that tyre pressures are implemented and also the time of day-related issues seem to be fixed in multiplayer, we re-introduced this feature in our current season, every session takes place at a different part of the day. But we're getting complaints from the drivers about the unpredictable grip levels throughout the event. And it made me wonder how can we help them a bit in terms of preparation. - If I remember correctly, RR has no dynamic track evolution implemented yet, so the grip and temperature is static for a given session, right? - Still, the grip level increases as the weekend progresses (in practice we have lower grip in general, qualy has incredible grip and races are at least similar to qualy). - The current time of day also affects the available grip through track temp I presume. - But how much randomness is there in the process? So if I start a practice session at Mid-Ohio in the morning, will the grip level always be about the same, or some factors can affect it on top of that? - We are also getting complaints about "strange car behavior" during superpole qualys. Do the tyres or the track behave differently in those cases? I guess the ideal starting tyre temps must be part of the problem, because it's almost impossible to reach ideal rear temps on a WTCR car starting from the pitlane.
I'm pretty sure the grip level is the same in all sessions right now. I don't think the time of day makes a difference. In qualifying sessions with a rolling start, your car is spawned with ideal tire and brake temperatures.
I asked JF Chardon some months ago and he answered the grip was now the same in all sessions, that wasn't the case in the past. I think time of the day changes nothing too. Maybe the grip "inconsistency" that people talks about is just linked with tire temperature, if you ask too much to tires they will get hot and lose efficiency until you lower temperature. This is quite recent in R3E I think. I sometimes read on forums that some people find one or another car has a "random" behavior, about the Porsche 991 Cup for example, but I don't experience that and by default I would think this is mostly due to driving technique leaks.
So tyre temps and fuel load make all the difference? That's strange, because even I got the impression that FWD cars tend to be more understeery and twitchy during practice sessions with the same setup. Is it just placebo then?
Yup mostly placebo though as you pointed out the preheated tires and brakes in rolling quali can make a big difference as those temps will be much more optimal than what you can do yourself.