Ballast

  • Thread starter white_rice
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white_rice

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I have yet to see a discussion about the new feature weight balance (ballast and front/rear balance), and I was wondering if I could get your opinions on the topic and could it be a benefit to us drifters.
Or should we just stick with the suspension settings and LSD settings
 
i would also like to hear peoples opinion on the ballast weight.

I havent really experimented with it much, although Im currently working on a very light car that doesnt have much weight to throw around so its one of the next settings I may play with.
 
I would only suggest adding forward ballast to MR cars. FR/4WD can be tuned just fine with suspension.

Yet another annoying feature that the game lacks is the ability to show you the cars current weight distribution. After going through the lightweight stages I have no idea where the weight was removed from.
 
i have played very briefly with it.
throwing some weight on in the rear of a light FR can give a weight split more like that of a MR, and can potentially increase the rate of rotation during a drift. It can really upset the balance of the car if you dont tune the suspension to compensate for the changed weight distribution.

i dont use it however. I'm not big on the idea of giving my cars weight reductions, just to add ballast back on. Kinda defeats the purpose, imo.
I'll stick to suspension mods to get what i want.
 
d3p0
I would only suggest adding forward ballast to MR cars. FR/4WD can be tuned just fine with suspension.

Yet another annoying feature that the game lacks is the ability to show you the cars current weight distribution. After going through the lightweight stages I have no idea where the weight was removed from.
Click to expand...

This is something that I think should've been in there too. I don't understand why you can add weight to the front or rear, but you can't see what the current distribution is. Makes it a very trial and error process that doesn't need to take as long as it does.
 
in all my cars i balance it to about 30 (rear) with the weight at 20 lbs, feels great, perfect on the ring
 
I just tuned my 94 R32 Skyline Vspec II N1, I have my ballast set at 17 lbs and -35 (towards the front). Its my first AWD car so Im not so sure i have it set up perfectly after 4 hours of practice and tuning. I found the ballast helped the handling a bit, due to the added weight over the front. I need to try the setup out on a few more tracks to tweak it.
 
I like to use the ballast if the settings feel just right, but my tail end is a bit too easy to come out. I normally I just put about 20 Kilos on at about 5 clicks from being all the way to the front.
 
dont belive its really needed, just extra stuff thats all,

however it does help in some cars mainly ur MR drivetrains
 
depends on the car and your driving preferences, like i posted above on my R32 skyline it actually felt better with the weight shifted towards the front.
 
194GVan
depends on the car and your driving preferences, like i posted above on my R32 skyline it actually felt better with the weight shifted towards the front.
Click to expand...

Ow oke:tup: I'll try it out on every car I have then, just need to figure it out for my RX-7 wich sometimes udersteers in corners, and it's just good to use for other cars:tup::)
 
You may have checked them out already, but I found the LSD and Suspension guides in my sig to be quite helpful when trying to troubleshoot handling problems.

Also xsyorra's RX-7 FD settings in the depot have the MOST oversteer of all the drift cars ive used :D Unless youre talking about an FC
 
194GVan
You may have checked them out already, but I found the LSD and Suspension guides in my sig to be quite helpful when trying to troubleshoot handling problems.

Also xsyorra's RX-7 FD settings in the depot have the MOST oversteer of all the drift cars ive used :D Unless youre talking about an FC
Click to expand...

Yeah I've "studied" LSD and Suspension already and really given everything for an oversteering car, but it wouldn't work alone with LSD and Suspension tuning, and thanks for the tip about those settings; it IS a FD:tup::D
 
Just been doing my first experiments with ballast.
Went back to the beginner hall, ff series, with a '95 Eclipse Gt, and put full ballast on it, was surprised to find that moving the ballast fully forward or fully back made the tail loose ! I was expecting it movong it forward, but not back, any thoughts ?
 
Well...

Something me and some friends started was trying to figure out where your body weight would sit in the car, and adding your weight worth of Ballast there.

Gives an interesting, and personalized feel to the car...

Of course, some great big hulking guys might not be so eager to do this.

I think it's better for me because I drift MR and RR cars almost exclusively, and having my 68 kilos at a few tics forward helps keep the nose from snapping back at the end of a drift.
 
Onikaze
Well...

Something me and some friends started was trying to figure out where your body weight would sit in the car, and adding your weight worth of Ballast there.

Gives an interesting, and personalized feel to the car...

Of course, some great big hulking guys might not be so eager to do this.

I think it's better for me because I drift MR and RR cars almost exclusively, and having my 68 kilos at a few tics forward helps keep the nose from snapping back at the end of a drift.
Click to expand...

Pretty cool idea, but does it really simulate a driver being at the wheel?

I've only ever used ballast to help my FF cars drift, or turn easier. I found that a little weight here and there can really help some over steer when suspension tuning won't help anymore. 👍
 
Since nobody has mentioned it in this thread so far:
Has no one of you ever tried to shift the weight balance WITHOUT adding weight? I did that to the old RUF porsche, because balance was simply messed up after full weight reduction (Bottom was way too heavy). So I just shifted the weight a little bit forward (without adding ballast) and the car instantly got driveable/driftable. After that I've only added ballast in very extreme cases (for example, when an AWD car was so heavy in the front that shifting weight without adding ballast did not do the trick).

Oh yeah, and Onikaze:
Are you absolutely certain that the weight of the car does not already contain some 70kg's for the driver? I mean, the gas is being calculated too... why not the driver? Maybe the weight of the driver is not displayed in the garage, but added when driving. Has this been discussed anywhere already?
 
Mr. Apex
Since nobody has mentioned it in this thread so far:
Has no one of you ever tried to shift the weight balance WITHOUT adding weight?
Click to expand...

ooh, now there's an interesting idea...heh, i'll have to see for myself what this does to a car.
I guess it does sorta make sense to be able to do that. It'd be like relocating the battery or something like that. No weight change, just a change to distribution....

for you, two thumbs up
👍 👍
 
umm... thanks for the flowers.


TankSpanker
heh, i'll have to see for myself what this does to a car.
Click to expand...

maybe try it with the RUF BTR '86 (full weight reduction, full power upgrades). on other cars the change wasn't clearly visible to me at first... with this one it is very apparent. i would be interested in your opinion after trying this out.

and... if anyone can prove i'm wrong, please let me know. :odd:
 
Wait, it's been shown for sure that gas weight is calculated?

Nice to know that.

No, I'm not sure that the game includes the driver or not.

Only way to check is to compare the weight of the cars in game with the weights IRL.

Edit: I just went and checked up on something, I know that my BMW M5 weighed 3773 lbs when I converted it from kilos to lbs, but the site I just saw said 3868 lbs....

Odd...and I know I didn't do a weight reduction, as I never do them with my Ring cars...

Final Edit: BMW Z4 in game=3003 Lbs, BMW Z4 in real life 2998 Lbs, no room for driver weight there.
 
i went home yesterday and tried the weight shifting thing (without adding ballast) with my NSX type S. just shifting the weight 5 (units?) towards the rear made a huge difference (wonderful corner entry oversteer). try small adjustments, i've now reassured myself that they work.

Onikaze
1) Wait, it's been shown for sure that gas weight is calculated?

2) Final Edit: BMW Z4 in game=3003 Lbs, BMW Z4 in real life 2998 Lbs, no room for driver weight there.
Click to expand...

1) sorry, i guess i'm not being very precise here: no, i am not sure of this. i'm just guessing because the cars actually have a fuel gauge and everything... it would make sense, because cars getting lighter while consuming fuel is always a huge strategic factor in motorsports...

2) umm... what do you mean by the term "real life"? actually (IRL) the displayed weight of a BMW often includes a 68 kg driver and, like, 80% of the gas tank filled or something (altough other manufacturers seem to drain all fluids and remove anything detachable from the car to measure their extremely optimistic "dry weight").
 
Well, I've yet to see the Car listed at differing weights from right around 3000 Lbs in real life, so I would presume that GT4 doesn't account for the Drivers weight.

I've seen as low as 2998, and as high as 3030, which could be accounted for with options packages and fuel loads.
 
Onikaze
Well, I've yet to see the Car listed at differing weights from right around 3000 Lbs in real life, so I would presume that GT4 doesn't account for the Drivers weight.

I've seen as low as 2998, and as high as 3030, which could be accounted for with options packages and fuel loads.
Click to expand...

yeah, could be. can't really say what is or isn't included, plus i dunno what's common in the states. in german or british car publications the same car sometimes has weights that differ for over 100 kg. :grumpy:

BTW, nice signature. :)

offtopic: seen the new PS3 GT Vision trailer yet? 20 something cars, dozens (or should i say hundreds?) of blokes walking around in the pits (GTP vid section).

nice weekend, everyone. spend it well, spend it on the nurb.
 
Oh yeah, I was watching it and thinking..man...if they can do this with an updated GT4 engine, imagine what the GT5 engine they've probably been developing for a year now will be like...
 

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