Last week I received 2 more tunes from the legendary suspension and also a transmission from r34love for my AW11 tune! First let me say when I posted the AW11 tune review, when I was not too familiar with Mr. Suspension, I thought that was it, that that was the end of the tune, as to be honest, it was already leagues ahead of my own original tune.
Colour me surprised when he mentioned that the LSD needed more tweaking (which he tested through each individual value in the LSD through all the turns at Matterhorn Rotenboden, my preferred testing track) and that he was calling up transmission specialist r34love to get the gear ratios down perfectly! Therefore it seems, I will will providing reviews for the AW11 tune as it evolves and changes as Mr. Suspension and his shop-mates help perfect the tune further!
Anyways lets get started on the two tunes I was provided with last week, this time around I will also use time attack results on Matterhorn Rotenboden, one of my many favourite tracks that also features good high speed and low speed corners, while having a sub-2 minute lap time. A tune will spend at least 10 laps attempting for a 'best lap' with minimal cutting on the grass and runoff areas. My AW11 tune testing however usually runs for 30 laps, due to my obsession with the car!
You must keep in mind that these tunes (tunes other then the AW11) are not optimized for tracks, and use close gear ratios and the Shako "base" LSD and suspension tunes, for truly "tuned" vehicles of perfection, you must request a vehicle to Mr. Suspension who will then fine tune the vehicle to your driving and preferences. Only the AW11 is optimized for Matterhorn Rotenboden, therefore all vehicles are capable of achieving better lap times through refinements or simply better driving !
Spoon DC2, high revving vaccum!
LAP time: 1:47.5 on Sports Soft tires.
Let me start by saying, I really love Mr. Suspension's normal DC2-R tune! that car is a monster which can punch above its weight, and puts out only
225 hp @ 6700 RPM and
175 lb-ft of torque @ 6700 RPM. This Spoon DC2 which has its engine modded by the legendary Spoon themselves should therefore be much greater right? Well, not exactly. While Mr. Suspension did modify the Spoon DC2 to bring the most out of its potential, it seems PD has again flubbed up the vehicle it was supposed to simulate (like my AW11!) resulting in the amount of torque in the low end very lack luster, and the amount of power or speed in comparison to revs very underwhelmingly slow (this tune features
240 hp @ 7800 RPM and
175 lb-ft of torque @ 7400 RPM), perhaps VTEC just isn't simulated outright. There is also no weight reduction available for the vehicle (
1075 kg), resulting in a heavier final weight then the weight reduced-normal DC2-R (
903 kg). (Difference of
172 kg)
Now enough of the negatives, lets talk about Mr. Suspension's magic! While the Spoon DC2 ingame seems to understeer quite a bit with no modifications, Mr. Suspension has managed to counteract the understeer and put forth a more neutral turn in, however unlike Shako's normal DC2-R, chances of getting some fun slight oversteer is quite impossible, with even off throttle turning remaining neutral. The first three uphill turns in Rotenboden seem quite slow, as expected of a FF vehicle, perhaps also due to the lack of low end torque. During the downhill high speed sections the car performed spectacularly, maintaining 180 km/h (112.5 mph) on the long high speed right turn, right before the huge altitude drop, after which the Spoon vehicle has difficulty turning out of into a left turn at the bottom of the drop. In conclusion I must say that, while I expected more from PD on representing this car much better (esp the sound), akin to the real life monster, Mr. Suspension fixed the worst of the symptoms of understeering and horrible turn in that the stock Spoon DC2 possessed.
In comparison here is the times of the earlier FF tunes I tested:
SUPER EGG (EG): 1:46.0 on Sports Soft tires
Shako DC2-R: 1:45.5 on Sports Soft tires
Spoon DC2-R: 1:47.5 on Sports Soft tires
Miata Tune, bringing a pocket knife to a gun fight.. is lethal?!
LAP time: 1:43.3 on Sports Soft tires
Shako FD: 1:45.2 on Sports Soft tires
Let me start off by saying that I really enjoyed Shako FD quite a bit, it was quite literally the ultimate grip machine, with completely neutral handling and sharp cornering, all the while producing impressive times for a car with
275 hp @ 5200 RPM but an impressive
370 lb-ft of torque @ 3900 RPM! The stock Miata is similar to the FD in a lot of ways, well balanced, light weight, and an absolute ball to drive at the limits! It should come at no surprise then, that the lightweight Shako Miata is a magnificent tune to drive, producing results that even surprised me!
The Miata is quite literally on par with the FD, if not
better then the FD going around the track. The difference is weight is noticeably high (
1050 kg vs
831 kg, difference of
219 kg) and perhaps the sole reason for the Miata's superiority and complete domination of the low and mid speed corners! The high speed right turn, as prior mentioned in the Spoon DC2 review, is a prime spot to see how fast the car can go while staying on the track. The Miata achieved 186 km/h (116.3 mph) while stable, which in my eyes is very good. In comparison the Shako FD achieved 196 km/h (122.5 mph) which is the highest speed among all the tunes I've tested so far (on SS tires). The handling greatly overshadows the engine, which happens to be supercharged, by a great amount,
240 hp @ 6500 RPM and
217 lb-ft of torque @ 5500 RPM paired with a lacking default PD close ratio 5 speed gearbox. In conclusion, the fastest road car on Sports Soft tires I've tested! The Miata is defiantly sharp with its handling and as adept to changing directions as a dragonfly, this hairdresser's car is not to be underestimated!
AW11 Tune Update! Now with LSD and Transmission!
I will try to make this short and sweet, as the words accumulated above this review starting to scare me. The AW11 received a tuned LSD last week from Mr. Suspension, making braking and acceleration into and out of turns nearly effortless compared to before the update. Even down the incline of the Matterhorn Rotenboden, the AW11 behaved and did not spin out or greatly oversteer as I approached the sharp left turn. The first corners on the prior mentioned circuit is also easy to tackle now, with again no great oversteering tendencies!
I also received a new transmission tune from r34love which also increased the pace and efficiency of the gears during corners of the AW11 by a great amount! Corners where I would be shifting gears in before or after the apex to maintain the power are now resolved to only one gear. 6th gear, now a tall gear used for straights, is also capable of going over 300 km/h (180 mph)!
After both of these updates lap times at Matterhorn Rotenboden have improved:
Shako AW11: 1:49.8 on Sports Hard Tires (Before updated tune)
Shako AW11: 1:47.7 on Sports Hard Tires (After updated tune)
That's a massive difference, and that's not all! I entered the AW11 in the 600 PP Seasonal Event at Mount Panorama (For laughs) on Sports Soft Tires and here are the results! Not bad for a 489 PP car, eh?
View attachment 185677 View attachment 185678 View attachment 185679View attachment 185681
Well, that wraps up this review, I hope you give Mr. Suspension and his shop a try!