car tuning

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by jonneymendoza, Jan 17, 2012.

  1. jonneymendoza

    jonneymendoza Registered

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    In terms of car tuning/setup. what are the key things i should do if i want to do the below:

    1. reduce or increase oversteer
    2. reduce or increase understeer
    3. Accelerate quicker
    4. Have a faster top speed
    5. Reduce wheelspin when breaking(i think someone said to reduce break pressure)

    i am a complete noob btw
     
  2. Hendrix

    Hendrix Registered

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    Well, I'm not sure if they're planning on bringing it back for rF2, but the original rFactor had a very user friendly "basic" setup tab in the garage. It was basically four slider bars, where you could adjust for downforce, top speed/accel, over/understeer, and ride stiffness. It'd be a pity if they don't bring this back as it made car setup extremely user friendly, and easy for everyone to understand.
     
  3. Doc_

    Doc_ Registered

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  4. Nuno Dias

    Nuno Dias Registered

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  5. B00Ts-SA

    B00Ts-SA Registered

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    Thank you for the link :)
     
  6. Bty

    Bty Registered

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    What most setup guides misses is what is the most important thing when setting the car.

    1st: Tire temperture is the key to a fast lap. Of course you will have to make compromises because it's impossible to have all 4 tires on the perfect temperature all the time, mainly beacuse of car balance.

    2nd. Maximum grip while still keeping a responsive car.
    Soft suspensions = more grip
    Hard suspension = car responsiveness

    For slow corners you want more grip, for fast corners you need responsiveness, because grip won't help you, if you miss the apex.

    3rd ...
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 18, 2012
  7. jonneymendoza

    jonneymendoza Registered

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    cool thanks
     
  8. jomaho

    jomaho Registered

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    I hope I'm not overstepping any ethical or regulatory rules here, but I use a great interactive tool developed for Race2Play but it works for all racing sims and even real-life. Get it here: http://www.race2play.com/special/setup_tool Have fun!
     
  9. Bty

    Bty Registered

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    bookmarked
     
  10. B00Ts-SA

    B00Ts-SA Registered

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    jomaho thanks for the link. Great interactive tool.
     
  11. Slothman

    Slothman Registered

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  12. jonneymendoza

    jonneymendoza Registered

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  13. 88mphTim

    88mphTim racesimcentral.net

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    Very nice links in this thread!
     
  14. DrR1pper

    DrR1pper Registered

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    Amaaazing!
     
  15. jimcarrel

    jimcarrel Registered

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    Don't spend a lot of time chasing tire temps as of yet (within Race2Play, with tires not being yet complete, you will never get a good set of average temps to work with) As usual, just my opinion, but I have spent hours watching those tire temps.
     
  16. Axeslayer

    Axeslayer Registered

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    Great tool , now maybe I can get the spark F1 going some fast laps around Spa
     
  17. Guy Moulton

    Guy Moulton Registered

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    If you are just beginning, you don't know what you need, much less how to change it. Don't mess with tuning, just work on your technique and driving a proper line. There is no one answer to your question.

    A set up doesn't make you faster- it allows you to drive the proper line, which is the fastest way around the track. And that's not on one hot lap- in quali you have to drive the fastest IN THAT SESSION and in the race your setup allows you to drive the furthest distance in the given time or do the given number of laps in the shortest possible time.

    The only way to learn properly how to tune is to read up on how to tune but if you are new to sim racing, tuning will only make you slower so read this first.
     
  18. jjcook

    jjcook Registered

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    Have to agree......late sixties f1 racing is back!! so some of the gpl stuff is still relevant as it relates to these cars/history....


    here is a blast from the past that i found useful in the late 90's......but you wouyld also benefit from reading the guide that came with gpl if you can find one.......i think its been scanned and uploaded somewhere on the web...http://alison.hine.net/gpl/

    "I am an artist; the track is my canvas, and the car is my brush."

    - Graham Hill

    The year is 1967. The cars are monstrously powerful, extremely light, and the tires are so hard that a single set will often last three race weekends!

    Brakes are terrible, forty gallons of volatile gasoline surrounds the driver - contained by nothing more than a thin skin of fragile aluminum - and there are no seatbelts.

    The circuits are breathtakingly beautiful, supremely challenging, and brutally, lethally dangerous. Almost forty percent of the drivers on the grid today will eventually die at the wheel of a racing car.

    It is the Golden Age of motor racing, and you are at the wheel.
     
  19. DrR1pper

    DrR1pper Registered

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    QFT!

    There's no point in changing the setup if you are unable to keep a near consistent hot-lap time. For example, if you find that (for example) out of every half dozen-or-so laps you perform that you are suddenly a lot quicker than normally, then there's a chance that it's because on those particularly quicker laps you've (consciously or unconsciously) taken a better racing line and/or applied the combination of accelerator and brake better (i.e. driving closer to the limit - bringing you closer to the maximum possible grip = overall quicker lap times).

    When i first started racing in rf2 i was tbh only a narrow minded lead-footed driver. I would (abruptly) slam on the accelerate, brakes and snap rotate the wheel into and out of a turn. After realizing that no matter how many times I drove around a particular circuit and/or asking the other racers who had the best/better lap times if they could please lend me their setups, non of it helped me even come close to the times that they were capable of (and consistently) achieving.

    Then, i decided to listen to a few words of wisdom from a friend who i knew races frequently in rf1 (he's very quick). He told me to learn about the driving line before I try to race properly and to learn to be smooth (e.g. J.Fangio, J.Stewart and J.Button smooth). I never quite understood exactly what he meant by all that because in many ways when it came to an actual race, i always found that when someone was behind or in front of me (i.e. under extra pressure), it was as if all logical consciousness went out the window, lol. My arms and legs tense up and i just wanted to slam on the accelerator, slam on the brakes, snap the wheel right or left in the hope of getting ahead or staying ahead in the race. So i started to look for what advice the pro's had to give and found that to be more beneficial than any setup i borrowed possible could (though i am not saying setups are not important, they in fact very crucial to potentially getting that final millisecond edge in lap time over your competitor but before all that, priority must be given to perfecting your racing technique). The analogy is very much "learn to crawl before you walk" and the relevance for racing as well as forming a good foundation for future improvement is that it forms the bulk of what it means to actually race a car around a track. After all, you are not only trying to be the fastest (which is in reality nearly all down to the car as you are just needed to hold down the accelerator) but you are need as the best "Conductor of the Orchestra" in keeping the car as-well balanced as possible throughout the duration of a race which will therefore give you more consistent grip which is what is really required in order to perform quick lap times.

    I looked to jackie stewart videos and found him to be brilliant at explanations. Here are just two such examples (and there are many more on utube if you want to take the time to look)...



    &




    Complementary to them, here is a 5 part (well actually 4 part, as the first video is like a "what we'll be talking about..." introductory video but still good to watch) on particular aspects in racing to be aware of and to focus attention towards.

    SDU / The '4 Fasts' - http://tinyurl.com/sd120310
    SDU / Driving Skills - http://tinyurl.com/sd121010
    SDU / Passing Skills - http://tinyurl.com/sd21111
    SDU / The Racing Line - http://tinyurl.com/sd4811
    Starting w/ Karting - http://tinyurl.com/kartskills
    SDU / Car SetUp - http://tinyurl.com/sd81911


    One last thing, the best way to put all of this into action is to simple take your time. You don't have to learn/train yourself in offline mode, you can go online also (i find it to be a more enjoyable experience overall). Just take your time and take it slow for as long as it takes for you to know with great certainty that your taking the racing line. Don't mind if others are whizzing past you. Then after nailing that down, working on how to get around a corner without loosing too much speed and yet also getting the best possible exit to destroy your old lap times. The hardest thing of all is in not letting yourself return to the old habits. In the early days of doing all this, you'll probably think "this is so slow...doesn't feel like it could be possible quicker driving like this". But soon enough after following all the advice and trusting in the lap times over your general "feeling" towards the technique, you will certainly be quicker overall as technique is first and foremost the most important aspect to racing. Make sure you note what you current quickest times are so you that you can compare the difference when you eventually perfect your technique.

    To put all this into context, after no more than 1-2 weeks my lap times on average had improved, depending on the track in question, anywhere between 5-10 seconds. That's how good using the right technique can be.


    Ok, rant over & sorry for over-thread jacking :p
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 15, 2012
  20. Bart S

    Bart S Member

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    The dude above is totally right about learning the driving line, use the default setup you have to make every corner as smooth as possible hitting the apex using steering accelerator brake and coasting. Once you got your line right everytime, you can start braking as late as possible and accelerate as early as possible applying different techniques such as trail braking, when you are then on the limits it is time to start messing with the car.
    One thing to note is the track rubbers in that means going out on a green track and trying to hit your PB everytime is useless, and doing a setup is useless as the car just slides too much to make a solid judgment on your corrections, you could be out 5-10 sec between green and rubbered.
     

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