Is there a strategy for endurance races?

Question

I haven't had any trouble getting 1st place on the Endurance challenges in Real Racing 3 up until now. I'm playing the "Maplethorpe Tyres Precision Driving" Endurance event, and for some reason I can't seem to get more than about 6.5 miles or so before the time runs out, no matter how well I drive the course. And yet I'm seeing there are people out there logging 10 miles or more. My cars aren't fully upgraded; but could that really be the 3 to 4 mile difference? Up until now I haven't had to fully upgrade my vehicles to stay competitive so early in a series (I'm only 34% through this one). I even skipped ahead to the next couple of events and won them easily. So what am I doing so wrong on this one?

Answer 1

The maximum amount of time you can have on your clock is 90 seconds. You gain additional seconds in two ways: passing cars and completing a lap. Passing a car nets you ten bonus seconds on your clock. Each race gives you a different amount of bonus time for completing a lap -- I've seen 10, 15, and 20 second bonuses given.

In any case, you must not just blindly race around the track, passing cars and completing laps as fast as you can. You must budget your time. If your current time is 85 seconds as you are about to pass a car, you should ease up on the gas and wait until it reaches 80 seconds. THEN pass the car, in order to net you the full bonus of ten seconds. Likewise, if you are about to complete a lap AND pass a car, you should slow down, complete the lap (thus getting the lap bonus), and once your clock dips below 80 seconds, THEN pass the car.

Playing in this fashion will allow you to obtain those high endurance times.

Answer 2

I'm with asylum on this. To avoid overtaking until the clock reaches 80 usually means (especially on the first couple of laps) braking hard because the cars on the first couple of laps are usually much slower than you. So you lose a lot of speed and once you do overtake you have to accelerate again. And if you don't get your timing right, you might not pass the car until the clock hits something like 75 seconds. So you may gain a few seconds extra at the expense of having to slow right down and lose momentum, something that will cost you those seconds.

Slowing down towards the end of a lap just get the most bonus seconds is equally pointless. Regardless of whether you slowed down or not, you will still start the new lap with 90 seconds on the clock. The only issue is whether or not slowing down means you have more cars to overtake. And surely this is an issue with how the game spawns new cars. But you still have to overtake those cars to get the bonus 10 seconds and by slowing down you've simply given yourself more distance to make up.

Answer 3

If you really have trouble with a single race, just disconnect and try the game offline, as the in-game AI cars are much slower than the online "time-shifted" ones. Note if you have already tried that particular race in the current playing session it will remember the downloaded racers, so leave the game and come back in and it should reset to the AI.

You could choose to play the whole game offline if you are really struggling, but note you will get no bonuses for time-trials this way, and you will have a nagging dissatisfaction at not truly completing the game!

Answer 4

Just race in a lower tier car within the selectable cars for that race. If you choose your highest PR car the race will be much more difficult. I found for the endurance races I like to choose my lowest PR car fully upgraded. The distance to first place is about 35% less and the Ghost cars are slower.

Answer 5

My experience is that it is best to go as fast as possible from the start, don't hit anybody, and stay on track as well as possible. There are always new cars up ahead to catch, even if the bulk of the cars my be in the first lap or two. Trying to 'optimize' the time your earn from passing another car or the start/finish line by hitting the brakes is, in my experience, counterproductive.

Answer 6

What i think is happening with game, is that it chooses opponents according to your car's level. You do not really need full upgrades, anytime in the game. I am always getting stuck at the Endurance races, generally finishing at 6th, 7th place although I have a fully upgraded Koenigsegg Agera... Not sure about the reason,... Try re-joining the race several times, sometimes the opponents become easier if you try more than a few times in a short period of time :). Hope this helps ;)

Answer 7

Dont care about PR,dont bother about getting some extra tick tick on the clock by sacrificing your speed...just focus on your driving skill & the ability of your car(braking,handling & acceleration etc)..win will the breeze then.

Answer 8

I'm new to rr3 but have been playing racing video games 40 years. I was having the same issue. Especially at Indy. I've experimented with starting out not passing any cars until the last possible second, then be as smooth and as fast as possible. Boosted my milage from 15.5to 21+. It helps not to overclock if you can do it without losing too much momentum. In unforeseen situations, what I've never been able to do is to lift momentarily, then right back on the gas. Such as when that car you're ready to pass outside turns out to be two cars you have to slip between to avoid contact

Answer 9

"as you are about to pass a car, you should ease up on the gas and wait until it reaches 80 seconds"

This is a common misunderstanding. No, you shouldn't wait, it's the worst thing you can do. Because it is not time you want to maximize, but distance!

An example: let's assume you wait out the N seconds 'til it reaches 80, so you slow down. Now compare the distance you traveled during that N seconds with the distance you could have been traveled if you didn't slow down (!).

My strategy is: don't collide with other cars, don't get off the track, and follow the optimal line all the time.

Another tip: usually the first two laps are the warm-up, because as long as you start a lap with 89 seconds, it is insignificant how you completed the previous lap (f.e. going on the outer arc, because it means more distance). However, when starting the 3rd lap it will be important that you didn't collide and your car is at full performance.