yea great marketing job, Nissan!
the only chance you had of me buying your Leaf was by accident, and now that I'm acquainted with it, there is absolutely no chance unless I need something to wipe with. (and even then, I could manage better w/o)
I understand the challenge of driving a slow car, but COME ON!
SLow, boring, silent, and they think that GT fans will want to ever see one again after these tests?
I hate to admit it, but PD/Sony has done a good job setting this us (barring the fact that in the Leaf tests you can drive pretty much wherever you want). Starting in a shitty car doing mundane things has already improved my rusty skills.
If you're just looking to gold the challenges and move on, then yes, they're a waste of time. However, if you're really trying to improve, then I can't think of a better way of doing it.
There's no way I'm going to be one of the top guys, and to be honest, I don't want to advance to England. I've never enjoyed racing, I merely enjoy the online aspect of it. That being said, I have a competitive streak and if I see someone on the leaderboard above me who I feel is generally slower than me, I'm going to work at it til my name is above his. I'm going to study the replays of the faster guys and I'm going to pick up on things. I still may not jump above the guy I'm chasing, but I'll definitely improve.
I'm at a bit of a crossroads with test 2-4. On Sunday, I'll bet I started the test 50 or 60 times. Got down to 31.96x. I think it put me 8rd or 10st, but I was so close to some of the crazies that it was killing me. Finally, after a couple beers and a sleeping pill, I saw 31.942. It was a minor improvement, but I think it put me right on Gar's tail and within sniffing distance of Spec, and I still felt like I hadn't run a good test. (In defense of those guys, they're not eligible, so I doubt they spent much time on that test)
Last night, I spent another hour on it, but never saw another 94, just another 96. My average time had dropped. Instead of running a lot of 32.3s, I was running a lot of 32.1s. Even though I couldn't match my beer-induced time, I learned how to better handle three of the turns (that first turn is still a killer for me). It was frustrating knowing that I only needed to drop another 0.025 seconds for a 3-4 spot jump in my friends rankings and not be able to get it. So, I'm trying to decide if I'm done with that test or not. So far, it's the test where I've learned the most.
In summary, I can see how some would find the tests stupid and boring. But if you use them as a tool, I think they're pretty valuable.