Beginning Tuning Advice

[mr_serious]

hi all,
I'm not quite a beginner - having made extensive use of tuning options in many driving games since Geoff Crammond's F1GP, however I have always pretty much gone on instrinct and feel and never really tried to get an in depth understanding especially since the abilities and effects of tuning (I am really talking setup here ie suspension & LSD) are so different.

Since I intend to race online I would like to improve my knowledge in this area, so I have downloaded scaff's GT4 tuning guides and started doing some experimenting to get a feel for how the settings affect the car.

I started using my Caterham Seven Fireblade, but I am finding that the effects are often rather subtle on that probably due to its low weight.

I am about to change to a heavier vehicle, not too high powered - I am thinking the Volvo C30 for the moment.

What cars would you recommend to play with that can provide more obvious
feedback from the effects of suspension settings?

thanks

 

[danlimski]

hi all,
I'm not quite a beginner - having made extensive use of tuning options in many driving games since Geoff Crammond's F1GP, however I have always pretty much gone on instrinct and feel and never really tried to get an in depth understanding especially since the abilities and effects of tuning (I am really talking setup here ie suspension & LSD) are so different.

Since I intend to race online I would like to improve my knowledge in this area, so I have downloaded scaff's GT4 tuning guides and started doing some experimenting to get a feel for how the settings affect the car.

I started using my Caterham Seven Fireblade, but I am finding that the effects are often rather subtle on that probably due to its low weight.

I am about to change to a heavier vehicle, not too high powered - I am thinking the Volvo C30 for the moment.

What cars would you recommend to play with that can provide more obvious
feedback from the effects of suspension settings?

thanks

try these 3 and let me know...
- audi pikes peak quattro '03
- land rover range stormer concept '04
- toyota tacoma x-runner '04

my 2 cents, dan

 

[nasanu]

I am about to change to a heavier vehicle, not too high powered - I am thinking the Volvo C30 for the moment.

That car handles great as is. You could only make it worse by tuning it. Tune an F40 for me, I can not get the back of that car to stop trying to overtake the front under braking. I am sure there are some damper setting that will help.

 

[mr_serious]

well the effects on the volvo were also very, very subtle...

All aids off;

I 1st did 10 reference laps (grand valley east) on sports hard tyres, stock suspension.
Tendency to understeer

Then applied the fully adjustable suspension with default values.
Slightly tighter.

I then maxed the ride height, but it barely changed the handling at all.

Minumum ride height - felt ever so slightly tighter

changed springs to minimum - barely noticable.
changed front spring to max - left rear at minimum. - slightly more oversteery, but well within drivable bounds.

swapped to min front spring, max rear spring - still felt more oversteer inclined than stock.

changed back to min front and 6.5 rear - still felt more oversteer inclined than stock.

This was all done in my lounge, so I switched to GTLife practise mode to make sure things felt the same. and they did.

So I took the Pikes Peak quattro to TGTT once again stock, with adjustable suspension.

I did a similar set of changes and then ended up maxing everything on the springs, dampers, and bars.

Basically the effects are mostly so subtle you can drive through them. I was not able to get either vehicles to bottom out or become so oversteer inclined or understeer inclined that they were undriveable.

The effects of the suspension seem much reduced from GT1 (where I could easily make a car completely un-driveable by maxing settings)

I am so far somewhat confused :/ The suspension certainly seemed to have a much greater effect on the Ford focus, which I find undriveable stock, but was able to silver the madrid challenge with once I softened the rear suspension (and it felt very different)

 

[mr_serious]

That car handles great as is. You could only make it worse by tuning it. Tune an F40 for me, I can not get the back of that car to stop trying to overtake the front under braking. I am sure there are some damper setting that will help.

I'll have a play with that next then... What do you reckon is the bumpiest most uneven surfaced track in the game?

 

[mr_serious]

That car handles great as is. You could only make it worse by tuning it. Tune an F40 for me, I can not get the back of that car to stop trying to overtake the front under braking. I am sure there are some damper setting that will help.

I am running a stock f40 - sports hard, TCS 5, ABS 1 on Trial mountain and it seems fine and stable under braking. It's traction I am really struggling with at the moment!

is your F40 modified in any way? Are you using ABS or not?

 

[SS_1182]

The F40 is a pig, and really it's like that by design. Don't expect a miracle.

 

[nasanu]

I'll have a play with that next then... What do you reckon is the bumpiest most uneven surfaced track in the game?

Trial Mountain or deep forest. Both have ups and downs and lots of different camber corners.

I am running a stock f40 - sports hard, TCS 5, ABS 1 on Trial mountain and it seems fine and stable under braking. It's traction I am really struggling with at the moment!

is your F40 modified in any way? Are you using ABS or not?

Fully modified. Abs=1, everything else off. Traction is fine for me, I can control it, but I go aggressively into turns braking up to the apex. When the back comes out it is very sudden and hard to control.

 

[mr_serious]

Fully modified. Abs=1, everything else off. Traction is fine for me, I can control it, but I go aggressively into turns braking up to the apex. When the back comes out it is very sudden and hard to control.

As I said in the original post I am not really experienced enough at this to offer any qualified advice. I'm still struggling to get a handle on how much of a difference (or not) the suspension settings are affecting the handling in GT5.

But it sounds like a weight transfer problem I would be looking at the spring balance and damper settings, maybe try stiffening the rear dampers one or two notches at a time.

EDIT:
Having put race softs on it I can drive it TCS off, but unmodified it seems stable under braking even without ABS

 

[Project41]

hi all,
What cars would you recommend to play with that can provide more obvious feedback from the effects of suspension settings?

I'd recommend finding a sports car to tune at first, I started on a RUF RGT, and I would not recommend it (RR setup). I'd start with a FR car with moderate weight and hp, maybe the Maserati GranTurismo S or perhaps a Mustang or Lotus? Idk, I tune what I like, pick one you like and just practice, good luck!