This is my first post, need help please...

High everyone, this is my first post on this forum. I have been coming here for days and trying to forge through all of the advice and trying different things. I love this game and am finding myself addicted to it. for some reason I am much better in the game than online. I get stomped online quite often and I don't think I am really that bad of a driver but maybe I am. When I see the same car as mine just pulling away from me on a straight away then I know it has to do with the tune. I have tried different ways of tuning and some have improved my times for sure. Still I feel I really am missing something.

I like to join rooms online where most of the drivers are better than me to learn. However, most if not all so far have not shared their tunes or given me much advice. Then when they do they tell me not to tell anyone. I can understand this but I really wish it was a more even playing field online. If I loose I want it to be because of my driving, not my car setup. So I have been trying to learn how to tune and set-up cars and it is NOT easy. Yes I get some good results at times but I still know I am missing something.

Another thing I have noticed that really bothers me. I have raced with a few guys who know nothing about tuning and they do not tune their cars. These guys have driving wheels and I am on a controller. They are way faster most of the time unless I am in a room with all aids off. Recently I have been driving with all aids off except ABS set to 1. Some of these drivers who kill me with a wheel when aids are on cannot drive with aids off. I don't get it. It makes me feel like something in the game is catering to the wheel. Is this to sell more wheels or am I imagining things? My plan is to get a wheel as soon as I can afford one but it is not high on my wife's priority list...

I apologize if my questions have been asked before. I am sure they have. I have searched and have not found all I am looking for.

The transmission and LSD are what I am having the most trouble with. I have found some awesome tunes on suspensions and can adjust them ok I feel. I think my biggest problem is understanding the transmission / LSD and knowing how to set it for the track I am on. Most tell me to set the transmission top speed with the Final gear so that is what I do. I use this way I found on this site: https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=204024



Is this the best way or do I need to become a rocket scientist? LOL / Is it best to calculate with math? I just do not know. What I do know is many know something I do not so I want to learn. What do I need to do to set up a cars trany & LSD right for a track? I have a good feeling for what cars are faster and such. however there is always that guy or group of guys that pull away from me. I know it can be because of my driving but much of the time I know it is because they have the set-up I don't have.

The LSD is a mystery for me. What has been working on most cars with aids off is 5/5/20. That might be my biggest mistake but it works most of the time. If I can't drive the car with aids off, I don't use it. I can drive most so far.

Sorry for all the questions and again, I apologize if they have been asked before. If you have time to help me online that would be real cool. I have a good mic. Some tracks I still do not know well and I realize I am not the best driver in the world. I think I will improve when I get a wheel. I've been told that anyway. We shall see...

Thank you! Any help would be much appreciated!

Your fellow racer,
Gregg

greggblas online

P.S. Another thing you might want to know, I have not learned to drive manual with my controller. I will do that when I get a wheel. I can drive a real car manual trany great. I see many using automatic drive faster on straight away... so it must be the set-up. I know I have MUCH to learn.

Happy racing!

i Do not race online, tried it once and was winning both races, first time the other drivers kept running intot the back of me, and 2nd time i was just booted mid-race about 20 secs ahead, unless its people i know, i wont be racing online,

One good thing to do is the Lisence Tests, not just get the gold but learn from the tests, this is my second time through the game, lost all progress adn had to start again, the IB 3 FR Cone Slalom gave me fits the first time i had to do it, but if you watch and learn from the tests, they will help, second time through i did it in my second try, (first time didnt count dropped the controller LOL)

Another Idea is the Online Time Trials, you can download up to the 10th place ghost, and if you want you can save the file, this way you have one of the best times around that track for the giving regulations. But this as well should help.

you will never have a perfect clean race with just skill-matching. The max you could have is a shuffle race.. with same pp range for everyone and no tuning.

When you enter a room, with tuning allowed, there will be always someone who has better suspension or better transmission or whatever it is.. OR there will always be someone who can get the most out of their tunes and win.
Dont focus on that/them. Try to learn how to tune the basics, try to understand the changes you make in the sheets and therefore in the road. Thats the most important thing

And for mor help on specific parts of tuning you already know were to find... Its everything there men. take it easy, just keep playing, learning.. With time you will get it. The players who really love the game and cars, always do... its easy.

Another advice is: participate in some events that you can find here on gtplanet. Clean races and most of the guys are always helpfull.

Good riding

Thanks for the advice Sirviper. Yes I have done some of the Lisence Tests. I have 17 gold, 29 silver and 4 bronze. I should keep that up I know it is really good practice. I've been wanting to get a wheel first...

Online drivers don't bother me because I look for good rooms and good guys who run them. Sometimes I run my own. If I am in a room where someone is bothering me I just mute them. I like rooms with penalties too so if some fool is driving backwards they ghost.

I will start loading the time trials online. Thanks for that advice. What I am really hoping for is someone to advise me who does race a lot online. I feel the real fun is racing real people online. I get a big kick out of it. What I don't like is when some guys get real upset and start cussing people out. If a guy makes a mistake it is one thing. If a guy is running people off the road on purpose it is another. Some guys wine and complain about everything. If there is a guy like that in a room and doesn't get kicked, I leave. Life is to short not to have fun and enjoy it.

Take care,
Gregg

greggblas online

When it comes to transmission tuning you must remember that the the shorter the gear the torquier you'll car will be when coming out of a turn. But this setup will effect your top speed. The same applies for when you stretch your gears. The longer apart you make them the faster you car will be in a stretch but will minimize your torque on your take off and coming out of a turn. So my advise to you is play with the gears you see there isn't a right gear setup for any car. The name of the game when it comes to tuning is what works best for you and which setup you're running on a specific car at a certain track. Practice with different setups on different tracks. Learn the name of the tracks and their configuration that way you'll be able to set your car according to the track. PM me if you have anymore questions and I'll see if I can help. Now while I won't give any of my settings cause I believe each setting is unique to the player and the car that they're using. But trust me experiment and you'll find what works for you.

For the gearbox, RJ's method (the one in the post) is probably your best bet. Though normally, you'd get enough from just taking it down to the lowest final gear setting from default then doing as RJ said and make first long and highest gear short.

Yeah, RJ's method is good and effective. Transmission tuning is of the most subjective parts, second only to the LSD. Driving style dictate your ideal setup as much as the track/car you're driving. Playing around with outrageous gear setups will hastily teach you what is wrong/right for the middle gears, like 2nd, 3rd and 4th. Which you'll spend most of your time in anyways.

For Example, In a 350hp car on Sports Hard tires:
If a mid-speed section of the with a lot of turns you would generally want a wider gear setup for that part of the cars speed range. Such as a wide 3rd gear will range from 60mph-90mph in most 6-speed trannies or 65mph-100mph on 5-speeds. That wat you would go through that mid-speed section without losing time from shifting up to 4th gear in that section. You would generally want a narrower 4th gear since high speed sections in most tracks won't have you going past 120mph for more than 2 seconds before having to slow down for a low/mid speed corner. That narrow gear you be close and accelerate to redline rather fast and using the top end of the car's powerband.

Take this example and adjust it for the car you have in mind. Take into account horsepower, torque and the powerband.. That graph on the tuning setup page that shows you what RPM range the vehicle makes torque and horsepower. Lowest gears you would generally want wide for acceleration and to avoid major wheelspin. It's all up to you! Gran Turismo lets you tune till your heart's content.

Now... with LSD. It is the most subjective of tuning parts because it depends on your style more so than the other parts. Suspensions can be adjusted for personal style but there is generally a few rules that apply to suspension tuning for different events. Rally, Drift, Touge, Track/Circuit, etc. That.. and LSD tuning philosophies don't apply the same to most cars. Not every MR will react the same with similar setups. Most 4WD act alike with a few exceptions. FF are my weakest point at the moment. FR are the most predictable of the lot.

Again the power band comes into play. Ask yourself these questions as you tune your car's LSD

how much power and torque my car makes?
when does my car make this power (as in during which PRMs)?
is there a dip in the torque band? a hill? a plateau? or a peak.
how drastic is the torque band's elevation/drop?
When does my car make horsepower? as well as the other questions pertaining to torque ^^
Now, the question that makes or breaks your setup is...
During which RPMs am I going to be driving the car the most in this track/type of track??

While 'trying out your own numbers notice if the car is under/over steering and adjust accordingly.
GT5 makes available the parts/tuning manual in online mode now. Meaning when you're tuning your car, click the yellow question mark (?) above the settings of each part for a brief yet detailed explanation of what each change each adjustment would make.

Above All, Practice.



If you would take the time, feel free to send me a friend request. I usually host private lobbies with friends and drive and tune together and show off our cars. You could learn a thing or two hanging around. Also, my tuning thread is a side-project of mine I update on my free time to share my setups and style.

There are exceptions to every rule...

Including my normal gearbox setup. As I mentioned, most AWD cars will require 1st shortened (which then requires shorter 2nd and 3rd to prevent excessive RPM drop and shift time), possibly to the extent that a higher top speed/autoset setting will be more efficient. This also applies to certain RWD cars.

And then there are those vehicles that make peak power well before redline and slowly nose over past it... In which case, if you use automatic, you'll want ratios wide enough to drop RPM to just slightly below peak power on each shift (though this does depend on the car quite a bit as well).

One final note... Gear "lag" or the time it takes for the next gear to engage is determined by the spacing between gears. Tighter gearing means quicker shifts, but the higher gears do not need to be as close as the lower gears to eliminate the lag.

The gear ratios work like this. Say you have a six speed transmission as most of the gt5 cars do, flipping the transmission is the best way to get the first and last gear as close to each other as possible. Setting the first gear plays on how your car launches and how close it is to second. You want a good hard launch with minimal tire spin. The higher you can get this gear (especially for low power and 4wd/awd vehicles) the tighter you will be able to have the transmission. Your second gear has a few roles also. What RPM it drops to, what speed it will climb to and how close it is to 3rd. For a 6-speed transmission this is the same for 2nd through 5th. Your 6th gear gives you your top speed and decides where your rpm's drop to when coming from fifth gear. Adjusting the gears for optimal shift points is only necessary when using an automatic transmission.

Your absolute best bet is to grab a calculator or get on your computer and build a calculator that displays the ratios difference between the shifts, rpm's that each gear will drop to, the gears themselves of course, and if you wish and know how to do it, shows the top speed capable that each gear can give.

I'm going to use the premium '89 Fairlady Z 300ZX TT 2seater as my test car and high speed ring as the course since it has low and high speed corners, best raced on with minimal or no downforce, and is the best track to use without any aids to prove you have control on your own.

Rated at 649hp at zero miles, 1223kg and 569 PP's, my transmission's top speed in the top right is 225mph. My final gear after flipping the transmission is 2.625. These speeds and rpm drops are all assuming shifting is done at 8100 rpm's. Launching in 1st gear with a 2.950 ratio minimizes wheel spin and still pulls hard up to 76 mph. Going into 2nd gear with a 2.246 ratio dropping only to 6167 rpm's, it reaches 100 mph before 3rd comes. Going down to an even closer 6351 rpm's, 3rd gear hits 128 mph with a ratio of 1.761. 1.421 is the ratio for 4th gear at 159 mph while dropping to 6536 rpm's! That's only a 1564 rpm drop and the shift into 5th is even closer at 6721 rpm's and a ratio of 1.179while reaching 191 mph. And finally for top speed on high speed ring and other tracks with similar length straights, the 6th gear at 1.006. With a total top speed of 225 mph at 8100 rpm's, this last shift only drops to 6906 rpm's.

Now if you have noticed that at each shift, the rpm's get closer and closer. This is perfect as the higher gears are also adding more total top speed than the lower gears. 2nd gear adds only 24 mph, as 6th gear adds 34 mph. Getting these gears to do this took me quite some time and a lot of thought, and my gears have been proven the fastest and everyone loves the smoothe even shifts with very minimal shift times.

For this car and this track, you will not find any better transmission setup. The most basic way to setup a transmission is to have a calculator ready. Set your first gear the way previously mentioned by all tuners. Choose a percentage of first gear, such as 75%. So say first gear is 4.000. 75% of it would be 3.000. That would be your second gear. By Being that 75%, that means if a car was taken to 8000 rpm's in first gear, when shifting into second, the rpm's would drop to 6000 rpm. Also with the initial 75%, do not go any lower than 75% again for 3rd gear or it will become uneven and the balance will change on how the car goes into 3rd. The best setups for track have a continous progression in the percentages of the gear ratios. Adding 2-3 percent for each gear will make your car keep pulling hard as it's staying in the rpm band that it should. Say 2% for example, 3rd will be 77% of 2nd gear's ratio which would be 2.310. 79% of that is 4th at 1.825. 81% of 4th is 5th at 1.478. And 83% of 5th is 6th at 1.226.

The best way to find a starting percentage is to choose your rpm you wish to shift into the next gear at, like the 8000 i used for the example. Then choose a rpm you are willing to drop to when going into 2nd gear. In the example, I chose 6000 rpm's. Take the rpm you are willing to drop to and divide it by the rpm you are going to shift at. For the example, 6000 divided by 8000 equals 0.75, or 75%. That would be the starting percentage. Choose a percentage you wish to continuously rise by and stick with it for all the gears. Constant adjustment of this percentage may be needed to get the particular last gear you are looking for.

I did make a calculator to do this automatically. It wasn't easy to make, but it's a medium level calculator to use. But it's an extreme time saver to get the perfect gear ratios within half an hour. Even less time for the high powered and/or lightweight cars as the first gear can easily break 100 mph without any acceleration issues.

Let me know if you have any other trans tuning questions and I will get back as soon as I can.

I do know a bit about the L.S.D., but it's now 5A.M. and I'm going to bed. Good night and happy trans tuning.

While you can fine tune the heck out of just about any part of this game, I'd put transmission tuning 4th or 5th on the list of priorities as far as tuning goes, certainly behind overall suspension setup, LSD and choosing the right parts to max PP. I don't think you can go wrong with RJ's method for most cars, and my method is similar. Pick a top speed about 20 km/h higher than the top speed you want, shorten the top gear as far as possible, stretch out 1st as far as possible and then evenly space the rest of the gears. Works for most cars that have peaky power. I pay little attention to the torque curve. Then you have to fine tune first for your ideal launch and readjust from there. Works for most cars just fine. Adjust the FGR to suit the track.

I raced in the 137 hp Capppucino Cup for three seasons. At Monza w/o Chicanes, we'd normally exit Parabolica in third and shift up through fourth to fifth, peaking around, if memory serves, 220+ km/h. In practice for a few laps, I tried shifting down to fifth exiting Parabolica. The car sounded like it bogged down and was barely accelerating, but come the end of the straight, the speed was exactly the same, to the km. Not saying that will work with every car but it does suggest that with some cars transmission tuning isn't all that important.

I've also recently began using the 6 speed close ratio tranny in a lot of cars as opposed to my usual custom tuned transmission to escape that annoying tranny whine, and have found so far it has made no difference to lap times. Certainly being able to tune for individual track sections and corners has it's advantages but unless you are competing in a series or a time trial of some sort, it's a lot of work for little gain.

Johnnypenso

While you can fine tune the heck out of just about any part of this game, I'd put transmission tuning 4th or 5th on the list of priorities as far as tuning goes, certainly behind overall suspension setup, LSD and choosing the right parts to max PP. I don't think you can go wrong with RJ's method for most cars, and my method is similar. Pick a top speed about 20 km/h higher than the top speed you want, shorten the top gear as far as possible, stretch out 1st as far as possible and then evenly space the rest of the gears. Works for most cars that have peaky power. I pay little attention to the torque curve. Then you have to fine tune first for your ideal launch and readjust from there. Works for most cars just fine. Adjust the FGR to suit the track.

I raced in the 137 hp Capppucino Cup for three seasons. At Monza w/o Chicanes, we'd normally exit Parabolica in third and shift up through fourth to fifth, peaking around, if memory serves, 220+ km/h. In practice for a few laps, I tried shifting down to fifth exiting Parabolica. The car sounded like it bogged down and was barely accelerating, but come the end of the straight, the speed was exactly the same, to the km. Not saying that will work with every car but it does suggest that with some cars transmission tuning isn't all that important.

I've also recently began using the 6 speed close ratio tranny in a lot of cars as opposed to my usual custom tuned transmission to escape that annoying tranny whine, and have found so far it has made no difference to lap times. Certainly being able to tune for individual track sections and corners has it's advantages but unless you are competing in a series or a time trial of some sort, it's a lot of work for little gain.

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Tuning the transmission is a bit of work at first, but it's worth the hassle. Staying in the powerband throughout the whole transmission is a must. Not just one or two gears. Two gears out of a six speed transmission is only a third of the transmission. The idea is to remain around the peak hp of any car so that it pulls as hard as it can all the way to top speed.

You can't just tune one gear and leave the rest and expect to have a tight transmission. Especially with 2-5 on a 6 speed trans where those 4 gears when adjusted independantly, affects the gear before, during and after the one you are in. If you were to adjust 4th gear, you would have to readjust 3rd and 5th. But when you adjust those 2 gears, you have to adjust second and 6th also to keep a good balance for what it is you are trying to do. Anyone can adjust first gear for a great launch, as well as anyone can adjust the 6th gear for a top speed they wish to hit. The hard part is trying to keep the rpm's high all the way through the transmission to get that top speed without bogging out the engine while trying to get there.

While adjusting one of the transmission gears to help prevent a slide does work a little, it also cuts power and prevents hard pulls to get back up to speed. Instead of bogging out the engine to make it around a curve is most likely a bad idea as it will not be consistent while tire wear is on, another way to prevent oversteer is to not hold the accelerator down around a curve. There is nothing wrong with part throttle around a curve and then with having a tight uber-close transmission, there will be no lag from having a gear too far away. Especially with turbocharged cars with stage 3 turbo's where you need high rpm's to spin the turbo, you need a tight trans to get back up to speed after a corner where over-extending a gear to get around a corner while smashing the gas is likely to make th car work harder to get back up to speed as it has climb from the excessively low rpm drop that was just made to get around a curve.

If you are spinning out while going around a curve and you think it's because the engine is producing too much power, lay off the gas. If you are still having problems getting around a curve, re-tune the suspension or the L.S.D. to help keep control of the car. Any excessive drop in the rpm's no matter where you are on any track is going to hurt your cars ability to power through the track as it won't have the power it should from the unnecessary extreme drop in the rpm's.

avgtuner

Tuning the transmission is a bit of work at first, but it's worth the hassle. Staying in the powerband throughout the whole transmission is a must. Not just one or two gears. Two gears out of a six speed transmission is only a third of the transmission. The idea is to remain around the peak hp of any car so that it pulls as hard as it can all the way to top speed.

You can't just tune one gear and leave the rest and expect to have a tight transmission. Especially with 2-5 on a 6 speed trans where those 4 gears when adjusted independantly, affects the gear before, during and after the one you are in. If you were to adjust 4th gear, you would have to readjust 3rd and 5th. But when you adjust those 2 gears, you have to adjust second and 6th also to keep a good balance for what it is you are trying to do. Anyone can adjust first gear for a great launch, as well as anyone can adjust the 6th gear for a top speed they wish to hit. The hard part is trying to keep the rpm's high all the way through the transmission to get that top speed without bogging out the engine while trying to get there.

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I agree wholeheartedly, I'm just saying that for most cars on most tracks you can accomplish these goals with RJ's method or my method or Praiano's method which is also similar or identical to RJ's. Once the top speed for a given track + draft is input into the FGR to get your ideal top speed, a an evenly spaced spaced 5 or 6 speed will do what you need it to do without having to calculate down to the 1/1000 th of a gear ratio. And for many cars on many tracks, the 6 speed close ratio gearbox is just about as good but it varies from car to car.

As I said, certainly if you are tuning for a series or time trial or for some specific purpose then some more specific tuning may yield some very slight gains.

Thanks everyone for your advice. I do not quite understand it all but I am trying to digest it. Some of you talked over my head for sure. I think getting a wheel and then using manual transmission will probably be a huge improvement for me. I have seen many who do not do much tuning but have a wheel and drive manual and that seams to make all the difference in the world. Till then I will hack at these settings and try to learn as much as I can. This game is a blast!

Thanks again,

Gregg
greggblas

Take the "drive manual" step first.

Some cars are completely useless without using manual transmission regardless of how you do the gearing.

@ Rotary Junkie

I think you are right however I just don't think I can really get good at it using a controller. I have tried and it is not easy at all. Seams unnatural to me. So i will go manual as soon as I can afford to get a wheel. I look forward to it.

Thank you all and take care,
Gregg
greggblas in GT5

Grab a slow car and just keep going.

Also, you'll have to do a lot of relearning when you go to a wheel either way.