Question about upgrades

[Lufferov]

Newbie here... I've started a Build Your Own Team game from the bottom up. I am struggling to get any results, now into my third season, lap times are 2-3s slower than everyone else and I'm finishing last in every race. I'm not seeing any improvements in performance regardless of what I do to upgrade the car. I've invested in new engines, gearbox, brakes... everything, I work to improve the performance and reliability (reliability is one area I do see improvements).

But each time I start a new season all my car parts I developed are back to being "Original" and I'm starting from scratch. So how am I ever supposed to progress? It's like groundhog day every season.

[CBR JGWRR]

Original just means it is what you started with that season - compare the numbers between one seasons' original parts and the next seasons' original parts, the latter will be better. Otherwise it is a bug.

Further, the performance gap in ERS is something like up to 200 points or so between where you start and where the AI starts in a CYOT, so if they've developed as well as you have then you'll still be behind. (it's unlikely, but it can happen, like any RNG event)

It isn't just about the cars either; what are your drivers like? If you still have the starting people you will be going backwards as those guys have almost no redeeming qualities.

[Shiznyte]

Same as the OP here. It seems like NOTHING I do to try and improve my standings matter.

3 seasons of nothing but 19th/20th no matter what I've done. I get that it's a new team and it was gonna be bad for a while. But holy hell...IF I manage to get ANYTHING other than last it is cause the other drivers crashed out.

New mechanics/designer has done nothing. Was a waste of money. Developing parts has done nothing and they just disappear at the end of every season. Waste of money. Upgrading HQ has done nothing. Waste of money. Spending 17 million on the best possible car instead of 3 million has done nothing. Such a huge money investment for literally no change at all.

So what the actual ^&*( do you have to do in this game to get anything other than last place? There is no rhyme or reason to anything as far as I can tell. Spend a TON money and get nothing out of it. The only thing I have not changed is my drivers. But when you sit back and think to yourself, "Ive spent 60+ million in upgrades to the HQ, developed parts, new team and the absolute best car I could. How could changing drivers matter at all?".

It is beyond frustrating at this point cause there seems to be no info available to make any of this make sense to me personally.

[Vince286]

the part you developpe during the season become your basic for the next season.

the drivers can do a big difference. The first time I try build your own team, I build a scout building, I found this young unsigned driver. She was the bomb. I hired her and fire Faith Anthony and immediately I saw the difference. Normally with Anthony I was finishing 17-19. But with the new driver she went up to 13-14.

[Inardesco]

Make sure to develop your parts during the season and to start developing risky parts halfway through, pile these up but dont run them.

Risky parts are still valid parts for next years car.

And yes, starting drivers suck, get drivers with 2-3* and 4-5* potential.

[SBGaming]

Which series are you playing in? My understanding is open-seater is alot easier than the other series. In my first season I managed to do pretty well, hitting 6th in the team championships. Faith Anthony even got a 2nd place finish in the final race of the season. I hired Franky Kinney as a reserve as she was a Pay Driver, and ran her in practices to get a bit of extra cash. I think she typically has a decent enough Feedback stat which helps with practice in tweaking your car.

If you want to watch how I did it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MY2jKs-Moc&list=PL_TaLox9IfpbmpOYLaETasKEFHPhdC5va

Basically, one of your very first purchases should be the Factory upgrade to give you additional staff and upgrade slots. This allows you to maximize your performance and reliability improvements. Season 1 is a building year. Your priority is to set yourself up to have a good season 2. If you tell the chairman that you're going for a 10th place finish for the first season, then there is no pressure on you to perform any better.

It's all about the money. When sponsor offers come up, wait until you've gotten the three possible options, and then choose the one that gives you the best per race payment (or in the case of the race bonus sponsors, one that gives you a big upfront payment especially for the sponsor slot for placing 3rd or better, since you're not likely to place that well). If a sponsor offers a large upfront amount, divide that number by the number of races the sponsor is offering to figure out the per race amount, and choose whichever gives you the most on a per race basis.

In most of the races in the first season atleast one of my drivers performs well enough to consistently achieve RussJet's 75K Sponsor race bonus. It might not be much, but every bit helps. I even was able to achieve Wan Chai's 9th place sponsor bonus ($450K) once or twice during the season.

In my recorded series I went with the Financial background. By the end of the season with the background, I had saved enough money to basically buy a free Engine, which was worth somewhere over $1.5M. That 5% savings applies on EVERYTHING that you spend money on. Salaries, HQ upgrades, car parts, even dilemmas. Anytime you spend money you're saving money.

In the first season I believe I built 3 Engines and 3 Gearboxes, and possibly a suspension or two. While my cars were ranked on the low end, I don't think they were the lowest on the grid. To prepare for the end of the season, because your best parts carry over their performance numbers, maximize the performance bonuses on one set of parts by using illegal parts, but don't run those parts. Whatever gives you the maximum potential bonuses, and then use whatever time at the end of the season to boost the performance to maximum. Fairly certain I had Engines and Gearboxes that hit over 100 Performance points from the base values at the start of the season.

If you can, find a mechanic with the Nurse Perk. It'll help with the start of the next season.

Even with the mediocre starting drivers from the Create a Team, smart micromanagement in determining when to pit, when to put them into overdrive, will give your drivers the edge and allow them to place higher up in the standings.

[Inardesco]

The easiest series to be competitive is the Endurance series because cars are more equal.

I got a podium in the first season of Endurance and got championship in 3rd which was where I was starting to get high finishers in single seater. GT-series is the worst to start in because performance between cars is the highest.

[Lufferov]

Right, I'm now into my forth season... I spent the last two seasons improving my parts, upgraded my factory, this year I paid for the most expensive car I could. As far I can tell, there's nothing I know of that I could do to progress any further without going bankrupt. Just did the first race of the season and I am still THREE SECONDS a lap slower and finishing last.

I've tried scouting for new drivers, I picked up one (Lapalma) but other than that the drivers are either worse than I already have, or aren't interested in talking to me. I've scouted all the unemployed drivers, all the drivers in the current series... no joy what so ever. I just don't know what to do!

[Lufferov]

My current team stats are:

Car: 10th
Drivers: 10th
HQ: 4th
Staff: 4th
Sponsors: 3rd
Pit Crew: 6th

I don't have a clue how to improve my car anymore than I already have, and I can't get any other drivers... I feel like I'm just totally screwed here. In every other area I'm doing fine!

[Inardesco]

You can always turn the difficulty slider down.

There are a few other threads where you can find a lot of information, read through those and hopefully that'll help you

[Shiznyte]

Seems like a lot of great info here. Thanks guys.

My first team was rolling in $$$. I did most of the money boosting things right, just need to get a better team sooner and develop parts better. I had no idea the stats of your best developed parts are used for next years car.

The new team is up and running and I hope to put some of this in practice and see if I get some better results this go around.

Kinda derpy but I didn't check YT..just kinda came here annoyed looking for answers after the wikis I found seem to miss much needed info on important game points.

Thanks for the help, much appreciated.

~Shiz

[Lufferov]

I genuinely don't understand what this game wants out of me? I've just got Lapalma who is my best driver (2 1/2 star) a perfect setup in all three areas. I've invested in engine, brakes, suspension for performance and reliability. She's got a 10% performance increase for Level 2 Soft Tyres and a 10% performance boost for Level 2 Race Trim. Went into qualifying and got 19th... (my other driver qualified 20th). Then in the race she was just over FOUR SECONDS a lap slower... I mean WTF?

How is this even remotely possible? Just the slightest glimmer of hope would help... but 4 seasons of playing this so far and I've only ever finished last (except for beating crashed and retired cars). Something to give me a clue as to what I need to change, because I just can't see it. My factory is Level 2, I have a Test Track, I have Scouting facility.... but NOTHING seems to effect my results. Unbelievable!

[Inardesco]

2,5* drivers are crap, seriously...you need at least 3* driver in the ERS, 4ish* in ASPC and 4,5*+ in WMC.

The only reason for you to keep that driver is if s/he has open stars.

[Lufferov]

But I've tried recruiting new drivers and nobody is interested. I've build a scouting facility... Lapalma can go up to 4 star, but I don't know how you improve that?

I've seen a few good possibilities from my scout, but when I approach them they say they don't want to race in the ERS. How much should a be paying for a driver? It seems some of them are very expensive and given that I'm spending all my money upgrading the car, I don't have the funds to drop 400-500k a race on my drivers.

[SBGaming]

Taking a look at my save from the end of the season I posted about, I wouldn't worry too much about what you can do with the car. The decisions you make in the race and the nature of RNG in the race will probably play the biggest role in how well you do. Sometimes despite your greatest effort, you'll end up midfield, and other times you'll place at the back of the pack, but sometimes you might even surprise yourself with how well you do.

My car was ranked overall 10th, and I only managed to edge out Predator in Top Speed (Engine) and Medium Speed Corners (Suspension).

I'm fairly sure the best chance I had with good placements with the drivers and car available to me was on the tracks with slower speed corners where your opposition has less opportunities to pass you, compared to tracks that feature long open straights.

When it came to the parts I ran in the final race Engines with performance ratings of 108 (Good) and 68 (Average). I also ran Gearboxes of 100 (Good) and and 65 (Average), and Suspensions of 100 (Good) and 60 (Average). The end of season risky Engine was a 173 Performance (Good) and the End of Season risky Gearbox was a 135 Performance (Good).

If I throw on the risky parts onto my cars dropping the average parts, the Engine ranks 7th on the grid (ahead of Octane, Archer and Predator), with Gearbox ranking 9th. Season 2 would probably have seen me develop some additional Engines and Gearboxes, so I imagine I could have kept up with the pack if I tried. I'd be comfortable saying I could finish somewhere in the midfield at the end of the second season (6-7th), although I wouldn't be surprised if I hit Top 5. Default driver contracts also expire at the end of the season, and I may have had a few replacements in mind.

For most of the season I had drivers placing midfield, some doing worse than others depending on the race. Often falling back in the pack and relying on other drivers to crash or have mechanical issues to give me an extra place or two. Gomes had a 4th place finish in Guildford, and a 3rd place finish in Tondela the race afterwards. Anthony's only decent finish was the 2nd place finish in the second Black Sea race. Prior to the final race Gomes was sitting in 10th in the drivers standings whereas Anthony was 17th. After the final race Gomes dropped to 13th and Antony catapulted up to 11th. All this with a car rated overall worst on the grid, on par with what Predator has ;)

Prior to the final race of the season I was sitting in 8th in the Team Standings 4 points behind Dragon Race China, 34 points ahead of Archer BMR and 98 points ahead of Predator. The last race being worth double points meant that I shot into 6th in the Team Standings 16 points head of Dragon Race, and 21 points ahead of Octane (who had been in 5th in the Team Standings prior to the final race). One race can make a huge difference where you end up. I was pretty content to end the season in 8th prior to the last race, since there isn't a sizable difference in the prize money in the ERS, so to hit 6th was epic. The last episode of the playlist I linked to should involve the race itself.

Stay positive and don't count yourself out. Despite having a car that's at the bottom of the grid, and drivers who aren't much better, you can do surprisingly well.

[Inardesco]

Първоначално публикувано от Lufferov:

But I've tried recruiting new drivers and nobody is interested. I've build a scouting facility... Lapalma can go up to 4 star, but I don't know how you improve that?

I've seen a few good possibilities from my scout, but when I approach them they say they don't want to race in the ERS. How much should a be paying for a driver? It seems some of them are very expensive and given that I'm spending all my money upgrading the car, I don't have the funds to drop 400-500k a race on my drivers.

In ERS you dont need to pay more than 50-70k for drivers. Anything higher is a waste.

Lapalma will improve race by race and week by week. The week by week improvements depend on Age factor and your HQ buildings. Simply mouse over the stat and you will see the increase per week.

When you leave the race weekend and get back to HQ you can see the financial result of the race and on the driver screen the race weekend improvements.

Get another driver like lapalma, give both lf them long contracts and focus on car development.

Keep scouting all the new drivers and favourite those with high potential for later retreival