- 3
- tonykart34
After not playing this game for a few years, I decided to get back into it so that I can be ready for the release of GT5 (hopefully this fall). I remembered when I last played this game, my favorite car was this 190E. Bored at work, I stumbled across this website and the extremely interesting online community for GT4. I was particularly interested in the setup and tuning sections, because as a former kart racer, I was drawn to this aspect of the game.
After exploiting the 'easy money' cheat in GT4 by continually racing the Rally race on the Costeria d'Amalfi and selling the C260,000 Toyota Rally Car, I was able to purchase the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II. I decided to test the car in the same Capri event, because why not make some money while I perfect this beautiful car?!
To begin, I went through a few of the setups I found on GTP Forums and I must say, I was a bit disappointed. Almost all of them made the car really bound and weren't well balanced. Of course, a lot of this has to do with driving styles and what not, but I though something would be, at least, close to something I would feel comfortable racing in. No worries though, I decided to do a 'tune' of my own and after achieving the exact result I was looking for I figured that I should share it with the online community.
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II
Upgrades:
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes & Controller
Engine Tune-up 2
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
Racing Suspension
All Drive Train Upgrades
Weight Reduction 3
Stiffness Kit
S3 Street Tires
Final Power: 373 HP
Setup
Aerodynamics: 13 / 18
Spring Rate: 13 / 14
Ride Height: 70 / 66
Damper B: 8 / 8
Damper R: 8 / 8
Camber: 2 / 1
Toe: 1 / 0
Stabilizers: 3 / 3
Brake Bias: 5 / 4
LSD: 7 / 20 / 10
Ballast: 0 / 0
Aids: 0 / 0 / 0
Transmission:
1st: 3.731
2nd: 2.460
3rd: 1.652
4th: 1.256
5th: 0.931
Final: 3.450
Auto: 10
Explanation:
My main issue with most of the setups I tried from these forums is that they had no mid-corner roll. I could not get the car to pitch smoothly at the apex, grip, and power out of the corner. This setups allows me to brake late, maintain stability under braking, roll the car at the apex and power up with nice, smooth application of the throttle. Also, and this is the biggest improvement in the car, the long, sweeping corners no longer required me to wrestle the car around them. Instead, I could now twitch the the car into the corner and roll it around without wheel spin or drift, nice and smoothly.
Since I have to run the Sport tires with this car (due to the series it is able to enter), the 373 HP is a bit too much for the S3s to handle. However, I geared a bit low to take advantage of the power and the engines ability to pull, which lowered wheel spin under acceleration naturally and doesn't make me feel like I am short shifting.
Results
The car is absolutely perfect for me to drive as I have used this setup at Opera, Monaco, Capri, Grand Valley, Suzuka and Midway with incredible results. I raced in the Pan-Euro Championship for my first racing event and finished 2nd. After going flag-to-flag in Opera and Grand Valley, my underpowered 190E (despite going to a neutral front toe, zeroing my camber, and bottoming out the down force) just couldn't keep up on the long straights of Circuit de la Sarthe. I ended up finishing third because I could make up ground in the technical sectors and took advantage of a late race collision from some of the front runners, but I learned my lesson... buy an engine upgrade just for this event and perhaps some nitrous because the technical sectors are quite moot if you have to make up half a straight-away!
I regained my form with another flag-to-flag drive in Monaco and headed into the final event 4 points ahead of the SL600 - who magically makes up time on me at the end of every race, despite the fact that I always set fastest laps in the last two laps! Oh well, that is video games for you.
So on to the dreaded Nurburgring, a track that I find so boring that I didn't qualify. And this was my mistake. I could only get into 4th before getting chewed up on the long straight, bumped off the track on a high speed kink, and spinning and swirling all around. DNF... championship lost...
Next time I will learn my lesson and buy a Stage 3 engine upgrade just for la Sarthe. A stage 3 would be too much for the tires to handle on any other track, but since Sarthe is such a snoozer it will definitely work. Then I can have the title wrapped in a bow so I don't have to run the, most annoying, Nurburgring race.
Conclusion
I hope someone uses this setup for this car and likes it. And, I hope you enjoyed my incredibly long-winded write up. Good luck to everyone. Ciao Ciao!
After exploiting the 'easy money' cheat in GT4 by continually racing the Rally race on the Costeria d'Amalfi and selling the C260,000 Toyota Rally Car, I was able to purchase the Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II. I decided to test the car in the same Capri event, because why not make some money while I perfect this beautiful car?!
To begin, I went through a few of the setups I found on GTP Forums and I must say, I was a bit disappointed. Almost all of them made the car really bound and weren't well balanced. Of course, a lot of this has to do with driving styles and what not, but I though something would be, at least, close to something I would feel comfortable racing in. No worries though, I decided to do a 'tune' of my own and after achieving the exact result I was looking for I figured that I should share it with the online community.
Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V Evolution II
Upgrades:
Racing Exhaust
Racing Brakes & Controller
Engine Tune-up 2
Port Polish
Engine Balancing
Racing Chip
Racing Suspension
All Drive Train Upgrades
Weight Reduction 3
Stiffness Kit
S3 Street Tires
Final Power: 373 HP
Setup
Aerodynamics: 13 / 18
Spring Rate: 13 / 14
Ride Height: 70 / 66
Damper B: 8 / 8
Damper R: 8 / 8
Camber: 2 / 1
Toe: 1 / 0
Stabilizers: 3 / 3
Brake Bias: 5 / 4
LSD: 7 / 20 / 10
Ballast: 0 / 0
Aids: 0 / 0 / 0
Transmission:
1st: 3.731
2nd: 2.460
3rd: 1.652
4th: 1.256
5th: 0.931
Final: 3.450
Auto: 10
Explanation:
My main issue with most of the setups I tried from these forums is that they had no mid-corner roll. I could not get the car to pitch smoothly at the apex, grip, and power out of the corner. This setups allows me to brake late, maintain stability under braking, roll the car at the apex and power up with nice, smooth application of the throttle. Also, and this is the biggest improvement in the car, the long, sweeping corners no longer required me to wrestle the car around them. Instead, I could now twitch the the car into the corner and roll it around without wheel spin or drift, nice and smoothly.
Since I have to run the Sport tires with this car (due to the series it is able to enter), the 373 HP is a bit too much for the S3s to handle. However, I geared a bit low to take advantage of the power and the engines ability to pull, which lowered wheel spin under acceleration naturally and doesn't make me feel like I am short shifting.
Results
The car is absolutely perfect for me to drive as I have used this setup at Opera, Monaco, Capri, Grand Valley, Suzuka and Midway with incredible results. I raced in the Pan-Euro Championship for my first racing event and finished 2nd. After going flag-to-flag in Opera and Grand Valley, my underpowered 190E (despite going to a neutral front toe, zeroing my camber, and bottoming out the down force) just couldn't keep up on the long straights of Circuit de la Sarthe. I ended up finishing third because I could make up ground in the technical sectors and took advantage of a late race collision from some of the front runners, but I learned my lesson... buy an engine upgrade just for this event and perhaps some nitrous because the technical sectors are quite moot if you have to make up half a straight-away!
I regained my form with another flag-to-flag drive in Monaco and headed into the final event 4 points ahead of the SL600 - who magically makes up time on me at the end of every race, despite the fact that I always set fastest laps in the last two laps! Oh well, that is video games for you.
So on to the dreaded Nurburgring, a track that I find so boring that I didn't qualify. And this was my mistake. I could only get into 4th before getting chewed up on the long straight, bumped off the track on a high speed kink, and spinning and swirling all around. DNF... championship lost...
Next time I will learn my lesson and buy a Stage 3 engine upgrade just for la Sarthe. A stage 3 would be too much for the tires to handle on any other track, but since Sarthe is such a snoozer it will definitely work. Then I can have the title wrapped in a bow so I don't have to run the, most annoying, Nurburgring race.
Conclusion
I hope someone uses this setup for this car and likes it. And, I hope you enjoyed my incredibly long-winded write up. Good luck to everyone. Ciao Ciao!
