[Bould]: Can't one big reason for that be that you can't "feel" the car in the same way on a screen compared to real life?
I mean, the slip might be there (programmed in GT5), but since we can't feel the slip thru the screen (contrary to what would be the case irl), we say that the limit is too steep/we experiance less progression?
Other sims (both on console and PC) manage to communicate this to a reasonable degree, it does require more than just the use of FFB, as audio (tyre noise) and visual (visible body control and suspension) cues are critical.
Its not just that I have never felt/heard/seen this in GT5 across a range of pads/wheels, but that GT5 doesn't even vary it between tyre types. The lack of progression (as I hope will become clear by the end of my post) on road tyres is just all wrong, even at low speeds the progression is none existent. A light RWD car on skinny road tyres should be a learning tool in easy low speed power oversteer (as they are in the real world), in GT5 they just go grip......no grip. An original MX-5 on OEM tyres is a joy to drive with a frankly daft level of progression and communication, GT5 captures none of that via the tyres.
Oh, and would you mind trying to explain more in detail how to read the diagram you posted? It looks really interesting, but I have some trouble reading it properly I think. Thanks.
No problem.
The first basic bit you need to understand is that tyres, being made of rubber (and other stuff) deform as load is placed on them. This includes twisting force, so as you turn a tyre the contact patch distorts and twists, this causes an increase in tractive forces (grip) between the tyre and the surface its on, and this resistance can be felt via the steering (Self Aligning Torque).
You can try this for yourself by getting an eraser, placing it flat on a desk and then with your hand on top of it applying pressure (downwards) and twisting. You can feel the eraser changes shape and the grip increase. However once you get to a certain point (around the grip limit) the contact patch slips too much and returns to shape, with tractive forces and Self Aligning Torque reducing.
However a 'magic' little zone exists just as the contact patch deformation starts to reduce and the Self Aligning Torque drops off when you have the most tractive force available. This is when the most grip can be obtained from the tyre.
So how does this translate into the graph, well the information shown is as follows:
- Self Aligning Torque - Measured in NM the torque generated by the tyre as its contact patch deforms - felt through the steering as an increase in resistance.
- Lateral Force - Measured in kgs, the cornering force generated by the tyre
- Slip Percentage (not named) - the variation between the direction the vehicle is travelling in and the tyre is traveling in. Measured as a percentage difference, as this increases so does lateral force, up to a point (dependant on the tyre) beyond which lateral force drops off.
So as the car starts to turn the slip rate of the tyre will increase, lateral force will increase and SAT (Self Aligning Torque) will increase, so we feel the 'grip' from the tyre (lateral force) as resistance through the steering (SAT). These increase in relation to each other up to (for this tyre) approx 3degrees of slip, at which point we have 650kgs of lateral force and 100nm of SAT. The steering feels 'weighty' and we have a good amount of grip.
Continue to push the tyres however and something different happens (that 'magic' zone), while the lateral force continues to increae (but at a much smaller level) the SAT drops off, with the steering suddenly feeling light. With the numbers looking like this:
- 3 degrees slip - 650kgs lat force / 100nm SAT
- 4 degrees slip - 740kgs lat force / 82nm SAT
- 5 degree slip - 775kgs lat force / 50nm SAT
- 6 degrees slip - 780kgs lat force / 20 NM SAT
Once we get beyond 6degrees of slip with this tyre lateral force starts to reduce. However between 3 and 6 degrees of slip we can see that we can gain an extra 130kgs of lateral force, quite a difference. However the steering gets rapidly lighter, with less resistance as it does, dropping to 20% of the SAT we had at 3 degrees of slip.
It takes a lot of experience, skill and feel to extract this last part of a tyres grip, as most people (hence the broad groups you see on the graph) back off as soon as the steering resistance reduces because they equate grip with resistance. Its still possible to feel what is going on past this point, but care is needed to ensure that you don't overcorrect (as the resistance reduces) or miss-judge the reduced increase inn grip.
Now six degrees of slip as a limit is at the performance end of things and road tyres would be closer to 4 degrees as a limit, however unlike slicks or semis, the large tread blocks move more and the increase in SAT can be much more gradual and the fall off a little less extreme (please note the this is a genarallisation and not a rule - cheap/old tyres can rise and drop in a very nasty manner)
GT5 doesn't do this well at all, the lack of contact patch deformation and the issue with primary ride/low speed damping feedback being feed via the FFB (which does not happen in a real car at all - this is felt via the body not the steering) cause this. GT5 pretty much gives you grip up to point 'X' in terms of lateral force and then beyond that grip just drops. Nor does GT5 account for the differences in these models between Road, Semi and Slick tyres.
Its interesting that LFS was mentioned earlier, as the makes fully acknowledge that one of the weak areas they still have is in regard to the tyre model, particularly deformation.
http://www.lfs.net/
LFS does a lot very, very well (suspension modeling for the limited range they have is excellent), but the current tyre model is not one of them. Its better that GT5's but still has a way to go.
Noise can be made about FM4 for a number of things, but the tyre model (while still incomplete) is streets ahead of GT5's, in that it at the very least covers deformation across two axis and pressure/temp interaction. As a result it offers a more natural path along the graph above and more natural feeling and reacting tyres.
This example I believe helps to illustrate what I mean, watch it slowed down after the spin to see the tyre deformation.
Even Enthusia (despite its many issues) had a better suspension and tyre model than GT5 does (and both FM4 and GT5 could both learn a lot from parts of Enthusia).
Anyway I hope that the above helps explain the graph and as a result what I see as the issues with GT5's tyre model.
Regards
Scaff