TRACKS

I headed to the Testing Session and set the weather to a constant to get a feel of the physics at certain tracks. The first track I chose was Daytona since I wanted to see the restrictor plate package in action by its lonesome. After the track loaded, you are shown the two tabs: Info and Laps. (In race, you have: info, laps, and standings. For online play, you have: info, laps, standings, and latency.) If you open the Event, you will see the track logo and the options (weather and type of driving mode) that were set in the previous menu. If you click on the arrow, you are then presented with a map and the specifications of the track. You also see the laptime record and the driver's name at the track. There is also a location for one of your profiles for your personal best lap at the track that is located under the real life record holder. If you clicked on the tab for laps, you will are presented with the laps you drove that is shown either in time or speed. You want realism? Pick time.

Other options available are at the bottom of the screen: Options, Garage, Pause, Back and Drive. I don't know why there is a Pause feature in the testing session as all you are doing is just testing with an infinite amount of time. But there is a little box near the bottom right portion of the screen that does show you the elapsed time of the practice session. I don't know the significance of it either but it does also show you the weather. You can also export these laptimes.

Above this box is a little replay window that provides two pull-downs for what driver you would like to view and what camera you would like to use. There are buttons stacked below the replay window that mimic the controls of a VCR or a DVD player. You have the ability to view the replay in letterbox since the little window doesn't show the speeds or laptimes. If you depress the letter S, you can get the laptime sheet showing your laptimes. The replay controls are still shown and if you want true full screen, just hit the spacebar and that letterbox appearance goes away. If you want to go back to the letterbox mode, just hit the spacebar again. If you would like to do some editing, NR4 gives you the ability to cut your replays and then save them or you just save a whole replay depending on how much memory you have allocated in the core.ini file. The more you allocate, the longer and bigger the replay you can save.


GARAGE:

Well it is now time for me to head to the garage to see what new innovations have made their way into the game. My blood starts pumping in excitement as I click onto the appropriate shortcut, the screen changes and voila! I see before my eyes a new setup sheet layout using the same GPL scheme. My eyes are overwhelmed with the abundance of setup tweaks, as they are some new ones that I have been waiting for some time and I mean a longtime. These new additions such as: caster, left/right track bar, ride height, toe in/out and the breakdown of dampeners (rebound/compression) have been truly desired since the second sequel and of course the traditional settings are still available with refinement of tire pressures which are broken up in half pound increments. (At the track, you can adjust the tire pressures at .25 increments) So I am very pleased with the dismissal of the one-dampener/spring package of the past and it's about time!

I find myself going to one of the two pull downs available and looking at what setups are available which happen to have four setups per track that are: easy, intermediate, fast and qualify. Each of these default setups vary in difficulty and speed. And hey, just like GPL, you are able to bring other setups from other tracks to help you try things out. If the track happened to be close in layout, or you find a base set-up at another track that fits your driving style then you can import that set-up without leaving the game.

Since NR2 you had the ability to add comments to your setup that you could note the characteristics of your setups and it is still evident here. Plus, there is also a track note section where you can add the conditions of the track, grooves used or practically anything. I feel that this is a great asset if I ever forget what the setup did or plan to share the setup with your fellow racers.

So far NR4's garage is very thorough by having most of the setup options available pertaining to the 2001 season. Yet, it lacks bump stops, trailing arms, and the ability play with fenders but this will do for now.


ON THE TRACK:

I loaded up the fast setup and exited out of the garage. My heart was starting to beat loudly, my breathing getting heavier as I clicked the 'Drive' button. Sitting in the newly redesigned cockpit, I felt as though I was lower and further back. I hear the newly redesigned engine sound that sounded as if it was definitely smaller than a 358CID small V8 as it lacked some oomph in the lower frequencies. The cockpit gauges have been slightly redesigned for the new cockpit with a new addition of a fuel pressure gauge since real racecars don't use a fuel level gauge. I clicked my left and right views buttons to check the views and when I did, the engine sound moved to the opposite side of the view I chose which signified that the engine was in the middle front of the car. As I peered to my left, I noticed my pit crew standing around and as I looked to the right, I saw some of the track and the enormous grandstands. Hey now, there was no pit wall! Alas, we have finally gotten realistic pit lanes! I looked in the mirror to check out the new detail of the rollcage and rear spoiler. Hey, that rollcage looked real in the mirror!


DRIVING:

Restrictor Plate Track

As I sat there on pit-road at Daytona, I was in awe in what I saw on the track. I saw the boom for the cameraman that was perched high above the pit-lane. I could see the infamous yellow merge line that prevented you from going onto the track after leaving pit-road. Although you can drive over this line but there is a penalty if you do it during a race. Lastly you could view the 4-story banking of the track. I began to hit the gas pedal a couple times with the transmission in neutral just to see the response of the engine through the tachometer, which acted as if it was a drag racing engine. That didn't make sense to me as majority of endurance engines have a heavy rotational assemblies thus a slower ramp up in RPM would have been expected. I depressed my clutch button and engaged first gear and then brought the revs up to around six grand and let the button go. I heard a slight chirp of the rear tires as the 3400-pound started to progress forward. This whole action sounded as if the engine bogged down, which it did. And I recollected, "450 or so horsepower and no tire spin? What gives"?

Anyhow, staying under the yellow line and shifting into the second since the engine no longer pulled past 7000 RPM, the speed of the car began to increase at a slower but steady rate since I was using a tall gear. When my spotter told me I was clear to merge, I went onto the track slightly after the entrance of turn one. I shifted into third and then fourth. After each shift, you are greeted with a movement in the cockpit as the auto clutch engages and disengages. As you turn the wheel, you see the cockpit sway left and right. As the speed increase, you are introduced to the road and wind noise thus telling me that there is some serious speed here. I am on the backstretch now and the car is slowly building up speed and momentum. As I entering turn 3, I decided to take the high line for the next several laps to make the track longer thus getting more speed. I noted the transitions of the weight when entering the turn and my wheel started to get heavy as the load on the front tires began to rise. Turning the wheel ever so slightly to prevent scrubbing speed, I see and feel the chassis react to my inputs.

After two laps, the car was car almost at full speed and I changed my line and started running the bottom of the track. Upon driving in the turns, the wheel began to get a bit heavier and heavier as the speed started to increase. If I made a mistake in the turns by accidentally hitting the apron I was quickly greeted with the sound of the car bottoming out which upset the car a tad. I noticed the engine was pretty tapped out around 6500 RPM. NR4 really does have a restrictor plate! Whoopee!