Softs v's Hards

With people saying that there are issues with the hards.. I'm asking is there really ???

I personally don't think that there is much wrong in the difference. We have had smaller teams on hards pulling fastest laps... BUT.. It's the opening few laps that does all of the damage...

Softs normally come in within a lap or two where as the hards take two or three times longer...

I would ask the devs to have a full 100% distance test race where all tyres are optimum or 2 shades cooler that optimum and see what the results are like before anything else...

I know that another issue is the main temperature of the track.. We was on Abu Dhab today and they do seem close enough once the temps are in for both....

Softs should be around .500 to 1 second per lap faster, but it's the opening laps where there are 2 to 4 seconds difference that seems to be the main issue.

There is no 'serious' issue with hards. I run hards at many places. Common strats for me (at this time of the year) look something like this.

Aussie - SHHHH
Malaysia - SHHHH
China - SHHHH
Bahrain - SSSSSS
Spain - SHHHHH
Monaco - SSSSSS
Turkey - SHHHH
Silverstone - SSSSSS
Germany - SSSSSS
Hungary - SSSSSS
Europe - SSSSSSS
Belgium - SHHHH (mind you, only because I was in traffic, usually run SSSSSS or  SSSSSSS)
Monza - SSSSSS
Singapore - SSSSSS
Japan - SHHHH
Brazil - SHHHH (or maybe SHHHS)
Abu D - SHHHH (or maybe SHHHS)

I guess the best argument is tracks where hards should work (eg Bahrain) they are just pure slow even when the track is hot and places like Spain, hards are quicker than softs even in negative temperatures.

Jason, are you sshhh-ing on us ?

lol

I guess the point I was just trying to make is hards can be efficient any where really. Obviously strats vary depending mostly on temperature and/or position on track (some strats being better for clean air and others being better for heavy traffic etc) but hards do work almost anywhere (with a few exceptions) as long as it isn't freezing cold.

8.5* of the 17 tracks (actually 50%) the tracks are Hard Tire runners. I see no issues here.

0.5 from switching between the conditions of Spa.

I was on about how long they take to heat up.. and I have just done a full season of nothing but softstaking them down to around the 40% + 1 in lap...

7 stops on softs beats 3 stops on hards.. No.. Nothing wrong at all... O_o

I wasn't about the issues once they are up to temp, I was on about how long they take to heat up and can kill someone race...




and Jacob is only a tallent 9.. :)

I thought he had a pet snake and it made the post for him.. lol

I think for the sake of realism, something will be done. I mean, common... 7 stops at Valencia in a 100% race ?

Hmm... so this must be Jason and his pet...

This is what I am trying to get across... before any changes happen.. Bring both tyres up to some sort of temp as soon as they put the tyres on and see what happens before anything else...

Andrew and Jack said to us a few days ago in the PCGC Room that they will look in to the hard tyres and see what changes are needed. So that is why I posted this in the 1st place.

In fairness, you also have to account for the fuel weight and shorter pit stop times in this particular instance. Just because hards last longer doesn't mean they overcome the weight penalty of only doing three stops versus a car that has next to no fuel in it on a stint-by-stint basis.

I'm not saying there's some element of unrealistic behavior in seven stops vs. three, but within the iGP system on a seven-stop strategy you are pushing full on every stint, light on fuel, and short refuel times - you're also likely removing yourself from traffic jams by ducking to the pit lane so often. That all adds up to a marked advantage.

@ Tony & Jason..

So is it better to treat the hards more like softs in the way of fuel ammounts over % deg ?

As the hards are around the 40% mark before you can push a little more and softs are around the 50%.. So if you fuel for them rates, then that is putting a lot of fuel in the tanks.. So is it better to use the hards to around the 50% marker as well then?

I was wanting to use hards @ Monza and run them like softs with around 8 to 10 laps per stint.. Is that a better way to treat the hards?

I think you'll find that as the weather warms up in the latitudes where it is still approaching spring, the hards will be more effective. Over the winter, at most venues the hards would never heat-cycle fast enough to be viable. If you tried them at Monza in an 8-lap sprint stint on full push, you wouldn't get the tires to optimum temperature before you'd be on the pit lane. That should change a bit with the warmer weather, but remember that the hard tires take longer to "come in" than the softs - which makes them fairly useless as a sprint tire.

@ Rob (This is Jason - second account)

3 stops hards is a much faster strategy than 7 stops softs around Japan of all places, even if the temperature is like 2 degrees. I'd argue that one to the grave. If 7 stops managed to win I'd go as far as saying something else is critically wrong (Design, drivers, was one manager afk or something?)

But yes I do see your point about how long they take to heat up, but in all honesty the hards are already a very dominant tyre at many tracks as I've already stated - Make them even more forgiving and then you're just going to be reversing the problems you speak of (1 tyre being too strong), not fix it.

Very good point. So if they do bring in tyre blankets, then it would probably be the softs that will need a little looking in to.

Probably yeah. The best part about the softs is the 5/5 max push time. Send them out pre-heated and you might aswell always run hards lol.

I know this is a little bit of an old post, but all softs at Bahrain? That really works?

I'm new here but it just seems so odd that softs would work somewhere like Bahrain. But I guess you are 5 stopping it, so that probably has something to do with it. I've found to keep tires cool at Bahrain, even hards, I have to keep the push levels at either 1 or 2. 

Guess I'll give it a shot, I'm not truly competitive this season anyways.

Thanks for this post, it's very informative.

Is this all still the case?

I think you need to look at the time of year it was posted, and adjust for the season change. Also keep in mind that the #1 manager in the game posted it, so he is obviously in the elite tier and has KERS.