Getting traction for my Caterham.

[Killer Lettuce]

I've had GT4 for almost two years now. And today I decided to actually spend money tuning a car.

So the Caterham is my first car im seriously tuning, meaning adding more than just the Race chip and upgraded exhaust.

After getting the car to a range of acceleration, speed and handling im satisfied with, I have one problem. My traction, all through first gear up to 80mph (when it shifts to 2nd) I have pretty bad rear tire spin. Once I shift to second all tire spin stops. Im not sure what I need to do to get it to stop, and im hoping someone can help me.

These are the upgrades i've bought for the car so far.
Exhaust: Semi-Racing
Racing Chip: Sports
Tires: Medium (S2)
Supercharger: Equiped
Brakes: Racing
Suspension: Semi-Racing
Clutch: Twin-Plate
Limited Slip: 1.5 way
Front/Rear Balance: 15

with 270HP.

If you need more specifics on how I tuned the upgrades i've bought just let me know.

 

[sucahyo]

Don't buy flywheel, as it will increase the tire spin more. Aside from using TCS:1, or lowering horsepower, you can use highest final drive to reduce spin a little.

 

[abacacus]

try using grippier tires, or raise the gear ratios, or use traction control.

 

[Killer Lettuce]

Ok, whats TCS:1.
And what about putting more weight on the back, or would that just make the front end too light?

 

[Scaff]

Give these settings a go

All are shown Front then Rear

Spring Rates = 7.5 / 6
Ride Height = 85 / 90
Damper
Bound = 1 / 1
Rebound = 2 / 2
Camber = 2.5 / 1.5
Toe = 1 / 1
Stabilisers = 1 / 3

VCD = 10 / 20 / 20


Brake Balance = 5 / 3

Gearbox = Auto 12 (adjust as required)

Regards

Scaff

BTW - I used these parts

Racing Exhaust
S2 tyres
Supercharger
Brake Balance Controller
Racing Suspension
Fully Customisable Transmission
Fully Customisable LSD
Weight Reduction Stage 3
Stiffness
Oil Change
Racing Chip
Triple Plate Clutch
Racing Flywheel
Carbon Fibre Propshaft
Displacement Increase
Port Polish
Engine Balance

 

[Killer Lettuce]

Thanks Scaff. The only problem with the information you gave me is that it was for the car upgraded with all the high end stuff. Not the mid-range upgrades like I put in my Caterham, I can't even adjust my gear ratios because I still have a standard tranny.

Any other ideas?

 

[Scaff]

The transmission is not your only problem here, the stiff default suspension settings can also an issue (I don't know what you currently have set, I see you have fitted semi-racing suspension so try looking at setting the spring rates to the level in my last post and setting the dampers to around 2 (as you only have single level adjustment with semi-racing).

I would also suggest going for a reasonable high ride height as well, full racing suspension is vital in a Caterham with high bhp, so I would add that to your shopping list.

In short try and get close to the suspension set-up I posted and see if that helps, but to a degree you are going to have to be careful with the throttle, as you have a very light car with a high power to weight ratio. In something like that you can't just mash the throttle in 1st gear.

Regards

Scaff

 

[sucahyo]

Ok, whats TCS:1.
And what about putting more weight on the back, or would that just make the front end too light?

TCS:1 is traction control value set to 1. I usually avoid adding weight to the car. The acceleration gained is less than corner speed ruined.

 

[Killer Lettuce]

The transmission is not your only problem here, the stiff default suspension settings can also an issue (I don't know what you currently have set, I see you have fitted semi-racing suspension so try looking at setting the spring rates to the level in my last post and setting the dampers to around 2 (as you only have single level adjustment with semi-racing).

I would also suggest going for a reasonable high ride height as well, full racing suspension is vital in a Caterham with high bhp, so I would add that to your shopping list.

In short try and get close to the suspension set-up I posted and see if that helps, but to a degree you are going to have to be careful with the throttle, as you have a very light car with a high power to weight ratio. In something like that you can't just mash the throttle in 1st gear.

Regards

Scaff

Ok, thanks. I have yet to try the tune settings, but i'll trust ya on this one.

Just for my own knowlege what does the suspension have to do with tire spin?

 

[Greycap]

The suspension has quite a big effect on the wheelspin, a softer suspension allows the tyres to follow the road more closely and thus gives better grip. It's not so noticable on very smooth courses but makes a huge difference on bumpy ones and when driving over curbs when accelerating.

- R -

 

[Scaff]

The suspension has quite a big effect on the wheelspin, a softer suspension allows the tyres to follow the road more closely and thus gives better grip. It's not so noticable on very smooth courses but makes a huge difference on bumpy ones and when driving over curbs when accelerating.

- R -

👍

100% right, dampers have a big part to play in particular.

Regards

Scaff

 

[Metar]

From my WRS Week 74 expirience, which were for a Caterham on a smooth, though banked, track (Midfield), I'd change Scaff's settings a bit:

No LSD - it seems to increase wheel-spin, while not improving anything (Only on this car, though. Could be different for bumpy tracks)
I'd make equal springrates - I like a harder rear, which is, in this case, equal 7.5s or softer.
More equal ride-height: This car doesn't need more oversteer, does it?
2/2 Bound, 4/4 Rebound: I found 1/1,2/2 too "wobbly" for me - even after the turn itself, it slowly shifted back to the other side, causing massive oversteer once the shift initiated. This way, it straightens out faster out of a corner.
3/3 Anti-Roll Bars: Same reason - less of a sideways swing.
Camber: Front as you wish, between 0.0 to 2.5. Rear, I'd recommend less than 0.5, since camber both causes wheel-spin during accelleration, and doesn't help too much on the rear wheels.
Toe: I'd leave the front toe on 1, but make the rear toe 0 - toe 1 on the front improves the turn-in and response, but I couldn't find an improvement with rear toe.
It gave 1'11.699 on Midfield using R2 (Racing Hard tyres) (As in the WRS Week 74 Results Thread), but also ran pretty good on Suzuka and Apricot Hill.

Those tips are from my own expiriences, with my own driving-style. I spent a whole week working on them, they suit me well.

And one last note: Leave TCS off. Doesn't work on this car. Use carefull throttle-control to keep wheelspin low, or, here's a nice tip: On a car so lightweight, yet powerfull (almost 1000HP per tonne, when fully tuned and lightened: 290HP @ 330KG), you can use the higher gears only - as long as you're running above 80KM/h (That's around 50MPH), it shouldn't have a problem with 4th gear (on a full-custom tranny, Auto 11). No Wheelspin, almost 100% identical accelleration (even without wheelspin in the other runs), and you're calmer because you have one less thing to worry about.

 

[JTSnooks]

Another way the suspension affects acceleration grip is that softer spring/damper rates in the rear allow the car to "sit" or "squat", thereby enhancing the weight transfer to the rear tires. More weight over the rear tires = more grip.