FGT ride height question

[yarrmateys]

Hey guys, I have a question about ride height and a bit of granturismoland physics.

The car I'm using is the FGT, with 70/90 (max) downforce, everything else default (suspension, tranny, LSD, Racing Hards) with the exception of ride height.

The corners I'm testing are Eau Rouge, Blanchimont, and 130R.

With the default ride height (0/0), these corners can be taken flat, but the entry has to be absolutely inch-perfect. Road position, steering input, it's like guiding something through a tight place. So with my skill level it's more of 50-50 chance of making it.

So I'm surprised that at +10/+10, the corners become easy flat! I can screw up my entry, and just hold the gas, the car will make it no problem. It's not just easy flat, it's lazy flat, even if the turn-in is late, I stay at the middle of the road, etc.

At -10/-10, on the other hand, for all the three corners, the car will just hopelessly understeer off if taken flat. I have to lift somewhere.

Never bothered with mixing and matching min/max with F/R, though.

I was under the impression that lower ride heights make for more nimble cars. I understand that for Eau Rouge at least the car may be bottoming out thus the explanation for -10/-10 understeering. But Blanchimont and 130R, elevation wise, are very level corners.

Can anyone explain why this is the case? Does this have much to do with the other settings, or has anyone else tried fiddling with the FGT? Is this somehow related with the ride height bug I'm hearing about where front is rear and rear is front?

 

[mistersafeway]

The ride height glitch (which many people have reported is fixed) means that high is low and low is high, not front is rear and rear is front.

 

[MrGrado]

If you think of 0 / 0 on full custom suspension as an arbitrary starting position and not the original ride height of the standard vehicle then you will find adjusting suspension much easier.

If you are prepared to accept that PD might have guestimated some values for the car your tuning which effect handling and suspension then you will find adjusting suspension much easier.

If you are prepared to accept that there is more to ride height than lowering the center of gravity for your car then you will find adjusting suspension much easier.

If you are prepared to accept that those values you decided were going to make your car go nice, aren't necessarily that great just because you decided they were going to be, then you will find adjusting suspension much easier.

 

[Motor City Hami]

Can anyone explain why this is the case? Does this have much to do with the other settings, or has anyone else tried fiddling with the FGT? Is this somehow related with the ride height bug I'm hearing about where front is rear and rear is front?

The FGT is tricky. Have you driven it with the load indicator turned on? This is one of the few cars where the load indicator is actually helpful. The FGT will bottom out very easily. On some tracks I like a raised ride height on the FGT and on more flat tracks it can be lower.

NASCARs at Daytona are very similar. I have found more speed by maxing ride height because the car works better over the bumps with less disruption to corner balance.

 

[yarrmateys]

I see. I was posting largely as validation. My ride height settings for the FGT lies mostly within +5/+5 to +10/+10, which, at first glance, look weird. I could never make (-/-) RH work.

The 'arbitrary values' explanation sounds good to me. +10 might be low, 0 is lower, -10 is 'rock bottom.'

Another test corner of mine was the Schumacher S in Nurburgring. I could never take it flat out in any setting, but I can seem to take it smoother at +10/+10, 0/0 difficult, with -10/-10 having me understeer into the sand. Of course it was the bumpy Nurb, bottoming out was likely the case.

I turn on the tire indicator, but can' t make much out of it. I only get the (!) bottoming out sign when I go over the kerbs and not on paved roads.

 

[Adrenaline]

Fun ride height test for the FGT, run The High Speed Ring, and enjoy the last turn!

 

[Motor City Hami]

fun ride height test for the fgt, run the high speed ring, and enjoy the last turn!

+1

 

[citycar]

You can try increasing the spring rate and suspension bump settings to try to stop the car bottoming out. With some experimenting you might find a happy medium.

 

[yarrmateys]

Well even if I don't have tangible increases in laptimes (because it's hard to drive within tenths in Suzuka or Spa), the fact that I can go through these almost-flat out sections, easy flat, I guess is good enough justification for the high ride heights I have on (+5/+5 to +10/10).

Thanks all for your inputs.

 

[CSLACR]

Raising the ride height on rwd cars very rarely lets you down.