Car of the Month February - Saleen S7 '02 - Can you tame this beast?

[TurnLeft]

Well the month has went by fast, I thought I would find the time for this but that hasn't happened. I've had this on my agenda for a long time, seems the word "time" is quite small right now . It's great to see some new people joining 👍, and some old faces still hanging on . Good luck to all of you and @Bowtie-muscle great job your doing 👍, you never know, you might get in the Herald after all .

 

[Lapse]

Well may be is too late, but I found an alternative configuration (only a little modification) from my S7 set up.
I made it for Tsukuba Time Trial some weeks ago, and corrects some sliding issues.

If someone interested, only need to change this values:

Dampers - Comp. (F/R): 2 / 1
Dampers - Ext. (F/R): 6 / 7
Anti-Roll Bars (F/R): 3 / 2
Camber Angle (F/R): 0.0 / 0.0
Toe Angle (F/R): -0.10 / 0.10
Brake Balance (F/R): 4 / 2

Final Gear: 4200

* No ABS. (And without any other digital assistance)

 

[Bowtie-muscle]

Well may be is too late, but I found an alternative configuration (only a little modification) from my S7 set up.
I made it for Tsukuba Time Trial some weeks ago, and corrects some sliding issues.

If someone interested, only need to change this values:

Dampers - Comp. (F/R): 4 / 1
Dampers - Ext. (F/R): 6 / 7
Anti-Roll Bars (F/R): 5 / 2
Camber Angle (F/R): 0.0 / 0.0
Toe Angle (F/R): -0.20 / 0.20
Brake Balance (F/R): 5 / 2

Final Gear: 4200

* No ABS. (And without any other digital assistance)

Added a link to this post with your tune.

 

[Lapse]

Added a link to this post with your tune.

Thanks! But it appears on the OP with 550pp and it was a 600pp tune

 

[Bowtie-muscle]

Thanks! But it appears on the OP with 550pp and it was a 600pp tune

Oops, sorry, I will fix that.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Anyone tried my Saleen replica and got into 1:21s at Big Willow ?

 

[TurnLeft]

Anyone tried my Saleen replica and got into 1:21s at Big Willow ?

That's real fast on CS , I might have time to post one but I can't see where I will find the time this week to test any of these, my future to be has made a schedule of "things to do" for me , didn't think there was so much preparation just to get married . Next month should be better since I have a week off, after that it will be a crazy 3 months at work. If I find time I surely will test as many as I can, but I can't promise.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

That's real fast on CS , I might have time to post one but I can't see where I will find the time this week to test any of these, my future to be has made a schedule of "things to do" for me , didn't think there was so much preparation just to get married . Next month should be better since I have a week off, after that it will be a crazy 3 months at work. If I find time I surely will test as many as I can, but I can't promise.

You can download the replay included in the post then use it as a ghost Finding time to drive, I can relate to that I have been trying to find more time to post my cars too

 

[TurnLeft]

Saleen S7 550PP / SS - ABS/1 - All other aids off

Built for - Super - Willow Springs 20-mile Challenge & Ascari Race Resort 10- Lap Challenge.

Car:Saleen S7 ‘02
Paint:Copper Red Mica
Rims: Standard - OZ Wave

PP: 550
HP: 447
WEIGHT: 1107kg
WEIGHT DIST: 52:48

TIRE(S): SS ( for lower grade tires throttle control is a must )


GT Auto:
Oil Change - No
Rigidity Improvement - No
Front Aero - No
Wing - No
Flat Floor - No

SUSPENSION: Custom Adjustable
RIDE HEIGHT - 90/83
SPRINGS - 12.50/10.80
COMP - 5/3
EXT - 2/6
ARB - 7/5
CAMBER - 0.7/0.0
TOE - -0.09/0.27

BRAKES: Race
BRAKES - 7/8

TRANS:Full Custom (install all power upgrades first!)
FINAL TO - 2.000
TOP SPEED TO - 211mph
1ST - 4.997
2ND - 3.399
3RD - 2.692
4TH - 2.140
5TH - 1.776
6TH - 1.506
FINAL - Don’t touch, leave at 2.000

LSD:Full Custom
INITIAL - 7
ACCEL - 7
DECEL - 9

CLUTCH TYPE: Standard
CARBON SHAFT: Standard
TORQUE CENTERING DIFF: None

POWER PARTS:
ENGINE TUNING - Standard
COMPUTER - Standard
EXHAUST - Standard
MANIFOLD - Standard
CATALYTIC CONVERTER - Standard
INTAKE TUNING - Standard
SUPERCHARGER/TURBO -
POWER LIMITER - 81.5

WEIGHT REDUCTION - Stage 3
CARBON HOOD - Yes
WINDOW WEIGHT - Standard

BALLAST -
DOWNFORCE -


NOTE:

 

[Lagwrath]

Hey Guys, first time posting a tune on here. Forgive me if it's not in the proper layout as I'm writing this on my phone after being up all night. Not tuning. Just have insufferable insomnia.

That said, a little info on the S7 I attempted to tune. I tune everything at Green Hell pretty much not remembering anything I've read in tutorials, so I just experiment since GT is like the twilight zone for tuning sometimes anyways, and tried using a DS3 so it would be more universal which proved insane and futile for me so I went back to my wheel. A finesse car to be sure. Pulled a 7.05.36 but wiped out in slow corners twice because I gunned it and tranny wasn't set properly. Hit 200 going down to Bilstein and hit the rev max. This was also just tuned now after the 1.16 patch (midfield is fun with the right hp hehe) and seemed easier than earlier today.

Spec: S7 '02 (no interior...yay)
599pp
Oil change
Rigidity improvement
max weight reduction
carbon hood
added a supercharger
no engine upgrade
racing brakes
ss tyres
and a bag of potato chips


SUSPENSION
F / R
Ride Height
70/105
Springs
13.47/ 8.52
Dampers
4. 2
6. 4
6. 2
Camber
0.9. 0.3
Toe
-0.10. -0.02 (went from massive understeer to just twitchy enough)

LSD
/5
/5
/15

Trans
1. 3.267
2. 2.210
3. 1.624
4. 1.332
5. 1.101
6. 0.909

Final (for Nürber) 2.870 (that might've been the short setting )

No body add ons
TCS-0
ABS-0
other Aids- 0 or off (I hate aids)
100% power

oops, racing brakes- 2. / 3

You'll notice I kept 1st and 2nd gear long as the "torque steer"/tyre spin is ridiculous due to the 600 something ft/lbs of torque.

Hope this helps somebody. Check it, rate it, hate it, like it, whatever.

Thanks
wheel was a fanatec csr with csr elite pedals. And if somebody could tell me how to get the clutch pedal to work I'd be ever grateful though I've read it sucks as much as it does in Forza because some Kazeurism with dog box timing making it go to neutral if you miss the shift.

Thanks again.

 

[sinof1337]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

 

[CORRUPTEDDISC]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better, but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:
***Temporarily removed, apparently YT lost 2/3s of the video ***

Great vid dude, and loved your assessment of my tune Yeah I guess it is a bit beastly, but that's due to the facts that I by far mainly specialise in top speed tunes and that I like stiff, heavy cars to wrestle with

 

[TurnLeft]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

Wow, that is the best presentation I`ve seen so far, absolutely fabulous 👍. You`ve got a great narrative voice, the video is superb, and the review is entertaining. I see you still like spinning out of corners, and you don`t even need a wet surface , BTW I did notice a few scratches on mine, but I won`t hold a grudge against you, this was just to good, felt like a BBC automobile special .

I will at sometime be able to try these out, (writing this from at work), as soon as time permits and that my right arm gets back healthy ( can`t play more than 10 minutes at a time for now) I`ll post some reviews either here or in the garages.

Again WOW, loved this.

 

[Acan]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

awesome review.👍

 

[Bowtie-muscle]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

Simply OUTSTANDING!! Best review ever (well, maybe), just an awesome way of reviewing and comparing the tunes. I have no problem with your review of mine, just a bit of noticeable understeer is accurate.

As for me, I have simply run out of time to get anymore tested this month, sorry guys, life just got too busy. And after that review, well, it just would not be as good anyway. I will be posting the March Car of the Month this weekend and do plan and getting to more of the tunes. (There are a few more days in March, that should help). It is another car suggested to me and I believe most will rather enjoy the choice. So for everyone who submitted a tune this month, PLEASE come back and submit one next month. The car is just as fast as the S7 at 550pp, and a bit easier at 600pp. Not easy, but easier. The car was a blast in GT5, but not quite the same in GT6.

Looking forward to see what you gentlemen can come up with tune wise, and I am sure mine will not be the crowd favorite. That's ok with, some times you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains (Or snows here in the Northeast) Again my apologies for not testing more, but I will do my best to try and get more in next month.

@shaunm80

@Rush471

@xande1959

@Otaliema

@sinof1337

@Ridox2JZGTE

@shmogt

@Acan

@Lapse

@TurnLeft

@Lagwrath
Thanks for making it worth it for another month.

 

[Otaliema]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

Absolutely brilliant way of doing the review. I'm impressed you got my name right I come to back and do a higher power tune of the car on SM tires life just got in the way. Great to hear you liked it and fit you well. Did you feel there was any understeer in my tune I couldn't seem I get that feeling out at Ascari

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

The video review is unique and very interesting way to review the tunes Thanks for comment of the replica, I thought the car will be excluded as it's not a specific tune for racing I should have written that the comfort soft tire is not compulsory in the replica tune, more like recommended tire for realistic grip level when compared to real life stock factory tire. It should be able to be driven on sports tire and racing tire ( I tried it on RH tire )

On CS tire, it needs throttle modulation on high speed long corners like in Big Willow long right curve and Indy Road last turn. For gearing, there's the high final ratio option that can make the S7 accelerate much quicker for racing. The S7 buyer has freedom to choose the available range of ratio offered by Saleen.

Overall I'm happy with the review 👍

 

[Lapse]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

I really like your review, one of the best ways to do it I have seen!

 

[shaunm80]

Just a couple of things before my reviews; it should go without saying that this is all just my opinion, and your mileage may vary. Also, although I mostly only focused on the negatives of the cars, none of them were undriveable, or even too bad; its just that some were better than others. Honestly, there were a lot of things I could have done better(like actually hunting down the right paint chips), but I kinda got to the point where I had spent way to much time on this to be bothered redoing stuff.

@Lagwrath I'm sorry I didn't get your car in, but you posted as the video was rendering I'll try to do a quick text review for you in the next couple of days.

Anyways, on to the good stuff:

Really impressed with your review. I can honestly say, I haven't seen such a direct comparison between all the tunes in one go before in GT6. Very good narrative of the car itself as well. Excellent job.

 

[TurnLeft]

Saleen S7 '02 - Review
@shaunm80

As I started out it felt rock solid 👍, I thought I might getaway with murder with it, then the long curve going into the start line arrived, back to reality .

Control: very easy with no surprises from the front end, the rear is another story, if you are not careful in out of curves you easily will make a 360 or more from the burning tires, but all this is easy to adapt to. My main gripe came from off throttle turning, it just kept pushing me out, this was with TC=1. I then tried it with TC=0, the car became more lively, demanded more control but was way more fun to drive, brought my time down by 0.400 which is quite a leap. It still showed signs of oversteering while off throttle but some how it felt much better to me, quite fast by the way. Very good for a fast made tune. 👍

 

[TurnLeft]

Saleen S7 '02 Review
@Bowtie-muscle

If taming it was what you intended, you’ve succeeded at 100% 👍. This car was very easy to drive at Willow Springs, you could basically floor it from anywhere and never loose control, braking was great, in fact I only found one thing that bothered me, and this has to do with my driving style. I found the car too safe , ( just went to check that the TC was at 0), it felt like the TC was on, I always felt that I was being robbed of time and my lap times indicate this. A little too much mechanical grip for me (most likely perfect for the rest of the world ), but would be a great asset on a 10 lap or more race. Great Cool Blue Machine. 👍

 

[TurnLeft]

Saleen S7 '02 Review
@xande1959

This one reminded me of a quarter horse we had, his name was Eldo, very powerful horse, and riding him was very dangerous, he was unpredictable , had a mind of it’s own , but when you were able to master him (at least temporary), it was most gratifying. This car IS NOT for beginners, throttle control is a must, you can decide the amount of turn in you want by applying the gas, too much and your off the track. The same applies for braking, easy on the brakes or you’ll be facing in the wrong direction. Off throttle turn in is marvelous, the car wants to go were you want. Knowing how this tuner drives helps to understand the minding behind it, you need total control of every aspect of the car, once you get close (took me 3 laps at Willow Springs before I got the hang of it - sort off) you’ll be driving an amazing machine, in my opinion this is how a real super car would react at the speeds I was going - 298 kmh, so definitely not for the faint of heart and for those who like safe rides, if you want to see how it felt riding the horse we had and feel alive then you’ll be amazed by this power horse. 👍

That's a pic of my girlfriend tiring him out before taking him out on a ride. One day in the woods he decided he didn't want her on his back and threw her onto a tree, broke her arm and that was the end off him. We sold him and got another quarter horse called Robbin who was an amazing horse, if you wanted to turn left, just apply a little pressure with your left knee to his side, as soon as he didn't feel your legs on his side he would slow down and stop, was much better for my 8 year old son back then and especially for me .

 

[xande1959]

Eldo a suggestive name for this machine to shred tires, but very effective when trying to tame the machine you accomplish your goals, not walked in Willow Springs, but I tersta it, thanks for the words, the name Robin also and cool but King england would not like.

 

[Bowtie-muscle]

Saleen S7 '02 Review
@Bowtie-muscle

If taming it was what you intended, you’ve succeeded at 100% 👍. This car was very easy to drive at Willow Springs, you could basically floor it from anywhere and never loose control, braking was great, in fact I only found one thing that bothered me, and this has to do with my driving style. I found the car too safe , ( just went to check that the TC was at 0), it felt like the TC was on, I always felt that I was being robbed of time and my lap times indicate this. A little too much mechanical grip for me (most likely perfect for the rest of the world ), but would be a great asset on a 10 lap or more race. Great Cool Blue Machine. 👍

Safe was kind of my aim, it is quite the unruly car and making it safe tamed it. Did feel that it has a touch of understeer though. An easy drive for anyone even if this means it's not the fastest. But you can trust it to not change on you in a corner and leave you in the weeds unless you over push it.

Thanks for the review, and for doing the others as well. Will get them all linked up when I can.

 

[shaunm80]

Saleen S7 '02 - Review
@shaunm80

As I started out it felt rock solid 👍, I thought I might getaway with murder with it, then the long curve going into the start line arrived, back to reality .

Control: very easy with no surprises from the front end, the rear is another story, if you are not careful in out of curves you easily will make a 360 or more from the burning tires, but all this is easy to adapt to. My main gripe came from off throttle turning, it just kept pushing me out, this was with TC=1. I then tried it with TC=0, the car became more lively, demanded more control but was way more fun to drive, brought my time down by 0.400 which is quite a leap. It still showed signs of oversteering while off throttle but some how it felt much better to me, quite fast by the way. Very good for a fast made tune. 👍

Thanks for the review. I agree with you about the spinning if you go in too hot but as you mentioned, once you get use to the car and its habits, you can manage to not spin fairly easily. I think I mentioned in the tune notes that this car still had some oversteer but I left this in the tune as it was better than the alternative which was a understeering slow monster.. Noone likes a slow Saleen S7. That just aint the done thing in my book

As you can tell, my recent experiences of FITT tuning is making my tunes work better with TCS 0. I am amazed you could control this animal with TCS 0 though, well done on that. Excellent review all round.

 

[TurnLeft]

Safe was kind of my aim, it is quite the unruly car and making it safe tamed it. Did feel that it has a touch of understeer though. An easy drive for anyone even if this means it's not the fastest. But you can trust it to not change on you in a corner and leave you in the weeds unless you over push it.

That's what is great about different types of tuning , there are different types of races and a greater variety of drivers, we need some for every situation. As for oversteer/understeer I still have trouble analyzing that, I think it's more of finding the right angle and speed for that setup, I'm sure I can take a car that understeers and make it oversteer by going too fast in the curve, maybe one day I'll understand what it really means .

I agree with you about the spinning if you go in too hot but as you mentioned, once you get use to the car and its habits, you can manage to not spin fairly easily.

I've been trying to change my approach for testing cars (Not easy changing old habits), I try to find the way the car wants to be driven and not "I want the car to drive this way", it makes you change some of your braking spots and changes some of your driving lines but you can learn a lot about tuning and driving this way. I've been using quite a bit of abs/0 and it's incredible how much I've learned about body weight transfer with this, if you don't easy the car in, you're lost.

As you can tell, my recent experiences of FITT tuning is making my tunes work better with TCS 0. I am amazed you could control this animal with TCS 0 though, well done on that.

When I started out in GT6 I was using TC5, than went to TC1, finally to TC0, I kept getting faster. Now I'm trying to work on using MT, depending on the cars I'm sometimes faster with one or the other. I have absolutely no issue with using TC or ABS, I think some cars will benefit greatly from using these and others will be hampered, also the drivers input is important, whatever makes you faster is the right road for that moment but always keep all the opportunity doors open, it can always be useful.

the name Robin also and cool but King england would not like.

Maybe the king of england wouldn't like that , but my queen of hearts loved it .

 

[TurnLeft]

Saleen S7 '02 Review
@Otaliema

Ok, I’ll be brief, ..........very good. That’s it man.

Another excellent car, feels a bit like mine but with less indecision, the fastest so far on SS, 0.086 faster than @shaunm80 at Willow Springs ( forgot to tell him I was faster with his than mine ). I tried it first with SM as put in your tuning spec sheet, I found it quite easy to control, maybe because of the previous car I tried, but still had no major issues unless you count me spinning off to go check up on the sandman 👍(yup, he does exist), I put one or maybe two wheels off the road on the last curve, that might have not helped though. It has a slight floaty feel that I like, and responds very well to any change in direction, the only time that I found throttle control to be an issue was in the up and down hill section, the rest was easy speed management. BTW I figured out what the right pedal was for, why did you put a second pedal to it's left? Never found the time to try it . Excellent tune.

 

[Otaliema]

Saleen S7 '02 Review
@Otaliema

Ok, I’ll be brief, ..........very good. That’s it man.

Another excellent car, feels a bit like mine but with less indecision, the fastest so far on SS, 0.086 faster than @shaunm80 at Willow Springs ( forgot to tell him I was faster with his than mine ). I tried it first with SM as put in your tuning spec sheet, I found it quite easy to control, maybe because of the previous car I tried, but still had no major issues unless you count me spinning off to go check up on the sandman 👍(yup, he does exist), I put one or maybe two wheels off the road on the last curve, that might have not helped though. It has a slight floaty feel that I like, and responds very well to any change in direction, the only time that I found throttle control to be an issue was in the up and down hill section, the rest was easy speed management. BTW I figured out what the right pedal was for, why did you put a second pedal to it's left? Never found the time to try it . Excellent tune.

Thank you sir. Your reviews are always fun to read. My goal was to make it safe and fun and fast all at the same time.
I will get a 600 pp version tuned here soon

 

[cbarbosa]

Despite i'm being way less active in GTP and with less time in testing cars, now that February CoTM is over, just wanna say a big thanks to @Bowtie-muscle for creating the CoTM threads and all the great tuners and tunes that filled this thread with awesome chances of driving great and sometimes forgotten cars...

And wanna express my apologies for only tested a few cars, but with a new job time is getting shorter and shorter... I really wish I could have tested all...

Now that March is up and a new great car is due, see you guys on the track! 👍

 

[TurnLeft]

Thank you sir. Your reviews are always fun to read. My goal was to make it safe and fun and fast all at the same time.
I will get a 600 pp version tuned here soon

Why do you always have to see how far you can go before all hell breaks out? Just make sure the "Chicken Pedal " is working properly , I may have to use it this time .