I'll be honest I'm not much of a tuner. In fact all I did was add Racing Suspension: Soft, Racing Brakes, Transmission to manage gear changes mid-turn, and ballast position. Oh and those clutch plate things. But no LSD. I don't know how to work that magic.
I have a present for you... merry Christmas
Tuning Guide (Quick Reference)
<LSD-Limited Slip Differential>
Initial Torque - Higher number produces more under steer and a lower number produces more over steer
Acceleration - If the inside wheel spins first, raise this setting. If the outside wheel spins first lower it.
Deceleration - (braking, turn-in and when coasting) Raising creates stability but induces under steer
lowering induces over steer but makes the car looser during deceleration
Street cars 5-7 on pure race cars like LMP, JGTC, FGT, F1, 2J, etc., much higher setting.
<Fully Customizable Transmission>
(Add any planned engine upgrades first.)
Classic Close Ratio Flip - Reset to default / final gear max / top speed minimum
Highest gear max - almost all the way; nearest 5
2nd gear on low powered cars, move left a little to a round number.
2nd gear on medium powered cars, move left about half way available on the slider.
2nd gear on high powered cars, move most of the way left to a round number.
Middle gears, set to even spacing between 2nd and the highest gear.
1st gear, move left per standing starts –low power, not much, high power most of the way.
Reset final drive to the left until the car hits the rev limiter at the end of the longest straight.
Low Final Close Ratio Flip - Reset to default / final gear 4.000 / top speed minimum
Highest gear max - almost all the way; nearest 5 / Final gear minimum
Evaluate top speed if car tops out at the end of the longest straight move to the next step.
If not, return to beginning step set final gear 3.500then3.000or4,500then5,000, and so on.
Goal is to have the final drive number as low as possible and still top out @ the end of the
longest straight.
2nd gear on low powered cars, move left a little to a round number
2nd gear on medium powered cars, move left about half way available on the slider
2nd gear on high powered cars, move most of the way left to a round number.
Middle gears, set to even spacing between 2nd and the highest gear.
1st gear, move left per standing starts – low powered cars not much & high powered cars most
of the way.
<Fully Customizable Suspension Kit>
Ride Height Adjustment (mm)
Smooth tracks (90% of tracks in the game), front and rear lower by ¾.
Bumpier tracks like Nurburgring, Trail Mountain, Eifel’s hill changes, etc., front and rear ½
• Better front grip than rear, use a lower front RH than rear.
• Better rear grip than front, use a lower rear RH than front.
Spring Rate - General stiffness
• For street cars 400PP and under, I like spring rates just below the middle of the slider
• For street cars 500PP and under, I like springs at the middle of the slider.
• Street cars over 500PP, I like spring rates slightly above the middle of the slider.
• For higher powered cars and race cars, I like stiffer springs, near the ¾ mark on the slider.
Front/Rear Balance This is 100% backward from the real world and I cannot explain why. Description reads like real world, but the settings do not do what the in-game guide describes.
• For more front grip than rear, run higher front springs than rear
• For more rear grip than front, run higher rear springs than front
Dampers
Dampers need to match the spring rates. Spring rates set to the middle of the slider need dampers set with extension just to the right of the middle (say 6) and compression just to the left (say 4). For lighter spring rate settings or heavier spring rates, the dampers need to move to be at similar spots on the slider.
Front/Rear balance- Using dampers for changes to front/rear grip can be difficult. Make small changes to the front, then retest against your ghost. Then make small changes to the rear, rinse and repeat.
For more front grip than rear
• Run a much wider ext/comp split on the front (medium-heavy springs front dampers
@ ext9 & comp5)
• Run ext/comp split near equal on the rear (springs at middle of the slider, rear dampers
@ 5/5 or 5/4)
Front settings will drop the nose quickly when braking & hold the nose of the car down longer when accelerating. Rear settings will allow the rear of the car to raise and lower equally, thus giving it a quick lift under braking. I have run rear settings with extension lower than compression to make the rear of the car snap up quickly.
For more rear grip than front do the opposite described above.
• Narrow split of front extension/compression.
• Wider split of rear extension/compression.
Anti-Roll Bars
Groupings of cars have different needs. Low powered cars on comfort tires work better with lower ARB settings. High powered race cars on racing tires like higher settings. Drive in chase cam or watch the replay in chase cam. If it leans over in turns or sways back and forth through switch backs, the ARB settings are too soft. Now this may only be on one end of the car so change front and rear separately. If the car sit flat with no body roll and seems to four wheel slide in the corners, the ARB settings are too stiff. ARBs front/rear grip. For more front grip than rear, run lower front settings than rear For more rear grip than front, run higher front settings than rear
Camber Angle (-)
For more front grip than rear, run higher front camber settings than rear. Put the front camber on the sweet spot and lower the rear camber until you've removed enough rear grip to get the car to rotate. For more rear grip than front, run lower front camber settings than rear. Set the rear camber on the sweet spot and lower front camber until you've removed enough front grip to stabilize the cars rotation.
• Comfort tire sweet spot is 1.5 to 2.2
• Sport tire sweet spot is 2.0 to 2.8
• Racing tire sweet spot is 2.5 to 3.5
• Dirt tire sweet spot is 3.0 to 4.5
• Snow tire - have not tested
Toe Angle
Toe settings do seem to be completely linear across the settings. Rear toe has a more significant effect on car rotation. Front toe doesn't seem to add much corner grip just moves the grip to the part of the corner where you need it. I use front toe to balance the corner for a smooth entry, mid-corner apex and exit.
• Front toe: Higher negative number, more mid corner and exit grip and slightly reduced
turn in. Zero is a neutral setting. Higher positive number, better turn in and less mid-corner
and exit grip. Some high powered cars like LMP cars will have a low negative front toe
number, neutral or a bit of positive front toe.
• Rear toe: Higher negative number, more over steer, more rotation. Don't be afraid of
negative rear toe on FR cars. If the car isn't rotating, add negative toe. Most 4WD and FF
tunes have negative rear toe. Zero is a neutral setting. Higher positive number, more
planted rear, less rotation. Most of my FR, MR and RR tunes have some positive toe.
<Brake Balance>
1-10 are strength numbers, 1 being lowest braking power and 10 being the highest.
• DS3 - Higher rear settings and much lower front settings can induce some trail braking
over steer.
• Wheel - Run more even brake balance and often with a bit higher front settings.
<Ballast Position>
Ballast position can be useful for changing the front/rear grip characteristics of a car, but it cannot add grip. 50/50 is not best for every car. Ballast is tricky because it can help add grip to one set of tires while taking it away from the other. Moving ballast to a sliding end of the car can increase grip, if the tires have not reached their maximum grip level. If tires on one end of the car are turning red, there is too much weight on that end of the car. Moving the ballast position away from the red tires can actually increase grip on that end of the car.
<Down force>
Aero can be a valuable tool for changing front/rear grip. Most cars in GT5 suffer from under steer, so if PP limits are not an issue, I normally max front aero then adjust rear aero to get the desired balance between down force and rear rotation. Down force vs. Power in PP racing-Based on the car and track you have to decide which is best. On a track that rewards power like Monza you want low down force but that same car on Trial Mountain will be uncontrollable without aero. Try to get away with as little down force as necessary to keep the car on the road.
Mustang for me. 👍
