Tag Archives: McLaren

McLaren (post_tag auto created by Wordpresser)

Prost’s 1988 McLaren F1 @Algarve = 01:27:594

This is a 01:27:594 lap around the Algarve track, racing Alain Prost’s 1988 F1 McLaren. As I write, the lap record is only 11 seconds faster, in a F1 2020 car.

From 2020-10-23 to 2020-10-25, the Formula 1 Championship is at a new racing circuit, where F1 cars have never raced before: the “Autódromo Internacional do Algarve”, in Portimão, Algarve, Portugal. F1 never officially raced, but did test there, in the past.

In a season so competitively poor and lacking dispute for the wins, the interest is beyond the podium. Tracks like Algarve’s are a very welcome addition to the calendar, not just because they are new, but mainly because they are different: in this case, the layout brings variance in the Z-axis. Cars go up and down, frequently! Corners are blinder and wider than usual, allowing and even inviting alternative trajectories, enabling a human-factor not so evident in other locations. I am enjoying it! It is unique and F1 needs variables that can contribute to less predictable race results.

I decided to try it myself, racing Alain Prost’s 1988 McLaren F1.
I have also upped my simulator’s resolution, from 2560×1600 to 3440×1440. The wider ratio is more immersive. I changed for productivity reasons, not expecting gaming benefits, but they are there.

Here is a video of a 01:27:594 (minutes:seconds:milliseconds) lap, using rFactor 2. Contrary to many, I never found the sound of this car’s Honda engine particularly enjoyable or spectacular. In-car, the noise is too regular, providing relatively poor acoustic queues for when to shift gears, up or down. Modern F1 cars literally beep the drivers when it is time to up-shift. This car also had no speed limiter and no driver-assists, and that is good.
I find the McLaren heavy, high down-force, trustable. That is its key positive attribute: it is predictable – after a short time, you know how it will behave, except when on the limit on old tires, when it becomes less clear how the tire wear will condition outcomes.
I dislike the slow gearbox and there is nothing the driver can do, to compensate it: the setup only allows different gear ratios.

Regarding the track itself, it is ever-changing in altitude, and challenging to the left-front tire under braking, because there are two right-corners which require heavy braking while not in a straight line.

The video has two segments: the first ~90 seconds are captured from in-car, exactly as seen, when playing. The second half is footage from the “TV” camera. Enjoy!

Nordschleife under 6 minutes – Alain Prost, McLaren F1 1986 (TV cam)

This is a sub 6 minutes (05:58:xxx) lap around the famous Nordschleife track, @Germany, running Alain Prost’s 1986 McLaren F1 car. Not easy at all! With no driver assists, these cars, real or simulated, are known for their very challenging handling, with sudden bursts of turbo power and an overall mass lighter than modern (2020) F1 cars.

It was so difficult (for me) and enjoyable to race this lap, that I recorded it from multiple cameras: the in-car perspective, the TV capture, a view from the car’s top structure, and a split-screen edit, featuring both the in-car and the TV records.

This is the TV camera video. Check my channel for the other perspectives.

Just enjoy and, if you ever get the chance to try it on rFactor 2 (PC), please do, and share it too!, because, at home, this is the closer one can get to the real thing. No other game approaches this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Fe6Q7qaXTo

https://youtu.be/NMWQA3fdxPM – from in-car
https://youtu.be/0Fe6Q7qaXTo – from the TV camera
https://youtu.be/MAZ9iAcKs_0 – from the car’s top
https://youtu.be/RTnVyKRhGIw – split-screen edit

Nordschleife under 6 minutes – Alain Prost, McLaren F1 1986 (split screen)

This is a sub 6 minutes (05:58:xxx) lap around the famous Nordschleife track, @Germany, running Alain Prost’s 1986 McLaren F1 car. Not easy at all! With no driver assists, these cars, real or simulated, are known for their very challenging handling, with sudden bursts of turbo power and an overall mass lighter than modern (2020) F1 cars.

It was so difficult (for me) and enjoyable to race this lap, that I recorded it from multiple cameras: the in-car perspective, the TV capture, a view from the car’s top structure, and a split-screen edit, featuring both the in-car and the TV records.

This is the split-screen edit. Check my channel for the other perspectives.

Just enjoy and, if you ever get the chance to try it on rFactor 2 (PC), please do, and share it too!, because, at home, this is the closer one can get to the real thing. No other game approaches this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTnVyKRhGIw

https://youtu.be/NMWQA3fdxPM – from in-car
https://youtu.be/0Fe6Q7qaXTo – from the TV camera
https://youtu.be/MAZ9iAcKs_0 – from the car’s top
https://youtu.be/RTnVyKRhGIw – split-screen edit

Nordschleife under 6 minutes – Alain Prost, McLaren F1 1986 (in-car)

This is a sub 6 minutes (05:58:xxx) lap around the famous Nordschleife track, @Germany, running Alain Prost’s 1986 McLaren F1 car. Not easy at all! With no driver assists, these cars, real or simulated, are known for their very challenging handling, with sudden bursts of turbo power and an overall mass lighter than modern (2020) F1 cars.

It was so difficult (for me) and enjoyable to race this lap, that I recorded it from multiple cameras: the in-car perspective, the TV capture, a view from the car’s top structure, and a split-screen edit, featuring both the in-car and the TV records.

This is the video from in-car, as I was playing. Check my channel for the other perspectives.

Just enjoy and, if you ever get the chance to try it on rFactor 2 (PC), please do, and share it too!, because, at home, this is the closer one can get to the real thing. No other game approaches this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMWQA3fdxPM

https://youtu.be/NMWQA3fdxPM – from in-car
https://youtu.be/0Fe6Q7qaXTo – from the TV camera
https://youtu.be/MAZ9iAcKs_0 – from the car’s top
https://youtu.be/RTnVyKRhGIw – split-screen edit

Nordschleife in 6 minutes – Alain Prost, McLaren F1 1986 (from the car’s top)

This is a sub 6 minutes (05:58:xxx) lap around the famous Nordscleife track, @Germany, running Alain Prost’s 1986 McLaren F1 car. Not easy at all! With no driver assists, these cars, real or simulated, are known for their very challenging handling, with sudden bursts of turbo power and an overall mass lighter than modern (2020) F1 cars.

It was so difficult (for me) and enjoyable to race this lap, that I recorded it from multiple cameras: the in-car perspective, the TV capture, a view from the car’s top structure, and a split-screen edit, featuring both the in-car and the TV records.

This is the video from the car’s top. Check my channel for the other perspectives.

Just enjoy and, if you ever get the chance to try it on rFactor 2 (PC), please do, and share it too!, because, at home, this is the closer one can get to the real thing. No other game approaches this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAZ9iAcKs_0

https://youtu.be/NMWQA3fdxPM – from in-car
https://youtu.be/0Fe6Q7qaXTo – from the TV camera
https://youtu.be/MAZ9iAcKs_0 – from the car’s top
https://youtu.be/RTnVyKRhGIw – split-screen edit

RF2 : Racing Alain Prost's 1986 McLaren around the Nogaro circuit, France

One RF2 lap around the Nogaro circuit, France, driving Alain Prost’s 1986 McLaren. Two mistakes of mine and one accident of others easily cost 2 seconds, which means this 01:20:5xx lap could have been a 01:18:xxx lap. Notice that the 2019 Indycar machines lap this circuit in the 01:16:xxx. In other words: 30+ years ago, these turbo powered F1 cars were nearly at the level of performance of modern Indycars, at least believing RF2.

The video includes a “TV” view and, after that, the in-car camera.