[Guide] DIY RaceTuning & other quick Tuning Resources

[PJTierney]

I'm sure dedicated Forza Motorsport 7 tuning guides will end up on the forum eventually, but in the meantime here are a few resources that I have been using for quite a while as my "reference book".

The Forza information's specific to Forza Motorsport 4 and older games but the basic principles should still apply to Forza Motorsport 7.

As always, your mileage may vary and there is no one "correct" way to tune a car. In any case, grab a cup of tea, soak up some knowledge and start test-driving.

----------

Although I am reasonably quick and have been tuning/racing online for about a decade, I am not a "master" and the days where I would race competitively are long behind me. There are many people on this forum who tune and hotlap "for a living" (in the Forza sense) and I advise you to seek them out and learn from them.

Please don't take these guides and resources as "the one way to tune your car"; some of the information may no longer be accurate, and some of it may be flat-out wrong when it comes to Forza Motorsport 7's physics system, but there should be enough information in these that you'll find something useful, and if it makes your virtual racing experience a little better then I'd consider than a good thing.

I do want to give some nuggets of advice however, specifically aimed at less experienced players:

• To tune well you need to be able to tell whether a change in performance and laptime is because of an adjustment you made to the car or because of an improvement in your driving line or technique.
• Before you think about tuning you must first think about driving. The best tune in the world won't help you if you're unable to keep it on the road.
• If you are a consistent driver who can put in consecutive laptimes within a few tenths of one another then it will be much easier to notice when a settings change is allowing you to go faster.
• If you are not a consistent driver then tuning may not help you. In fact, it may make your problems worse as a tune can either hide or exaggerate bad driving habits.
• A good laptime is determined by the following factors, in order of decreasing importance: Driver Skill & Experience > Car Choice > Car Upgrades > Tuning Settings
• The goal of tuning in my opinion is not to make you go faster, it is to make your car more comfortable so that you can push it harder. Ultimately, it is your driver skill that is getting those laptimes,
  the car/build/tune simply ease the difficulty curve.

Good luck.

----------

Real-World Tuning

• Aero
• Anti-Roll Bars
• Camber
• Caster
• Differential
• Dampers
• Springs
• Tyres
• Tyres (Part 2)
• Toe
• Transmission

Forza-Tuning

• Aero
• Anti-Roll Bars
• Camber
• Caster
• Differential
• Dampers
• Springs
• Tyres
• Toe
• Transmission

Tuning Troubleshooter

• Carrol Smith's Fixes

----------

You can also find additional guides by another user here, which should provide for some interesting reading.

----------

----------

Another handy link, Worm's tuning guide from Forza Motorsport 5 (adapted from Forza Motorsport 4).

----------

----------

 

[UnshavenYapper]

• The goal of tuning in my opinion is not to make you go faster, it is to make your car more comfortable so that you can push it harder. Ultimately, it is your driver skill that is getting those laptimes,
  the car/build/tune simply ease the difficulty curve.

You might want to point out that different builds works better for different tracks. E.g Handling for The Alps, Acceleration for Sebring.

Other then that i can only say its another great thread by you! 👍

 

[EngieDiesel]

This tuning calculator has been posted in a couple of other threads: http://www.bg55.com/u2scforzatuner-fm7.php#results

Now, it isn't going to take all the work out of setting up a car for you. You'll still have to go through and adjust pretty much everything depending on the track you're running or certain characteristics that a specific car will have. But since Forza's racing suspension model behaves largely the same way across all cars, it will give you a solid baseline to work from so that you can more easily tell if the changes you're making are actually helping or not.

Another thing I've found is that if you're not that experienced with tuning, it's easier to start with the "big stuff" that has the most effect on handling and work inwards to understand how changing settings is affecting the car. Start with the aero, then when you feel you have it at an acceptable range move on to the sway bars, then the brakes, then springs and dampers, and finally the differential. Then you go back to the top and make a second pass in the same order for fine tuning. Since this concentrates on one system at a time, it makes it easier to figure out how adjusting this is affecting that, and as you get more experienced you can later work on things in different orders without being confused as to why the car is suddenly acting funny in certain part of the track.

 

[AlienDeathRay]

Bumping this post.

 

[Dopplegagger]

Thanks PJ. This will come in handy. A guide is always useful, at any skill level.