Reducing tire wear in an R34

[PARAGON GT]

Ok Tuners of G.T. Planet. I need a little assistance.

I recently began tuning & testing out my '99 Skyline GT-R to run in some of the endurance races in the endurance hall. After some initial runs I have adjusted the car to handle fairly well for my driving style. My only problem , as I have found in all 4WD cars, is that I tear through my front tires at an alarming rate.

Now the car isn't overly built. It only has 404hp, so I'm not lighting up the tires coming out of every turn. I do get some squealing, but nothing that promotes white smoke rolling out from under the car.

I ran the car in the New York Endurance to test things out, but I only managed to make it 15 laps before having to pit because the tires are screaming red. The back are still somewhere between yellow and orange

My car settings and degree of tuning are as follows.

'99 Skyline GT-R

Power:
Racing exhaust
Sport Intercooler
1st Turbo kit
Chip

Drivetrain:
Full Trans - set at 9
Racing Flywheel
Triple Clutch
Carbon Driveshaft
LSD:
Front
IT - 25
LA - 20
LD - 45

Back
IT - 15
LA - 45
LD - 40

Suspension:
Racing set as the following -

SR 12.5 / 23.5
RH 105 / 112
SB 6 / 6
SR 3 / 3
CA 2.5 / 2.0
TA 0 / 0
s 5 / 5

Other:
Brakes:4 / 5
VCD - 45
Weight Reduction - ZERO
Driving aids - All off

Now I'm trying to only tune this car so that I can take it back to its stock specs when ever I would like to. So basically anything that permanently changes the car has been purposely left off.

Now I have gone through and searched the forum and did come up with many settings for a fully built Skyline, but none for one that is partially built.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

Take off the LSD, your car will handle better and make less wheelspin at the front therefore making the tyres work less, it's a Skyline thing. I would have thought that keeping the suspension soft would help too, but I'm not sure. My reasoning for that would be that the tyres would follow the road better and be in better contact therefore they will slide less, and sliding hurts tyres. Anyone else actually know what they're talking about, I'm just throwing in theories- don't know for sure, but worth a shot.

 

[PARAGON GT]

Really? I thought if I dropped the torque setting down that it might reduce tire wear.

I'll have to give that a shot.

 

[CraftyLandShark]

The Nissan AWD system in the GT-R functions essentially as RWD, except when it detects slip at the fronts - then and only then does it apply torque forward. Applying either an LSD or a VCD removes and replaces the very capable stock system. I would reccomend removing both. And just a note - on other AWD vehicles, setting your VCD as low as possible (10), you force 90% of the car's torque to the rears, limiting the amount of wear in the front.

I think you'd likely get better results not just in tire wear, but in handling, if you invert your bound and rebound settings. You generally want a softer bound to allow the car to absorb variations in the road surface and a stronger rebound to return the grip back to the road as swiftly as possible. The very strong bound settings are probably also causing more resistance between the tires and the road than you want when the tire meets an irregularity in the track surface. Also, your spring rates, esp. in the rear, are astronomically high - you might try reducing them as they may be violently forcing too much weight to the wrong places at the wrong time.

 

[nd 4 holden spd]

What he said, nice avatar CLS

 

[CraftyLandShark]

Haha thanks ... she's my baby

 

[PARAGON GT]

Thanks CLS. I'll give that a shot to see how that goes.

I appreciate the input.

 

[Leonidae]

The Nissan AWD system in the GT-R functions essentially as RWD, except when it detects slip at the fronts - then and only then does it apply torque forward. Applying either an LSD or a VCD removes and replaces the very capable stock system. I would reccomend removing both. And just a note - on other AWD vehicles, setting your VCD as low as possible (10), you force 90% of the car's torque to the rears, limiting the amount of wear in the front.

[GT-R fanboy mode engaged]*ahem* it's other way round. if the in-car computer detects REAR wheels slipping, it sends torque to the fronts. if it would be the way you described it, it would only worsen the slipping of the tyres in the front, no?[GT-R fanboy mode disengaged]

otherwise you're spot on. althougth, I've noticed recently that all AWD cars in the game are better with completely stock AWD system.

 

[CraftyLandShark]

Yeah you're quite right, slip of the keyboard ... strike that, reverse it! Perhaps because I made Beer Barbecued Pork Chops tonight and sampled a bit too much of the primary ingredient!

 

[Rotary Junkie]

SR 12.5 / 23.5
RH 105 / 112
SB 6 / 6
SR 3 / 3
CA 2.5 / 2.0
TA 0 / 0
s 5 / 5

Springs are a good bit too stiff, esp. in the rear. I'd try something more like an 8/8.3kg setup, with the rear being the stiffer of the two if you like a somewhat tailhappy setup. If not, I'd try maybe 8/6.8 or so, with the stock LSD and VCD.

 

[PARAGON GT]

Thanks for the input guys. I adjusted the bound and rebound and it made a world of difference in handling. But I haven't had a chance to see how it will affect the tire wear. I also dropped the spring rate too. I can't wait to give it another go to see if I can pick up another lap or two between pits.

I also dropped the VCD.

 

[CraftyLandShark]

I also dropped the VCD.

Still gotta drop the LSD to reinstate the factory torque-split system. I think you'll be pleased if you do.

 

[PARAGON GT]

Well I ran the first event today. 200 @ New York.

As mentioned before, originally I was only able to manage 15 laps before my front tires were bright red. After taking the advice here, I was able to go roughly 20 laps before having to pit. Quite an improvement if I say so.

I still rain with the fully adjustable LSD. It did seem to help, the stock LSD seem to transfer too much torque to the front tires when the back slid a little bit.

So thanks for the advice.

 

[CraftyLandShark]

Glad it worked out for ya! 👍

<edit> although if you really do prefer the car with the LSD, you may as well go ahead and use the VCD set to '10' as well, if reducing tire wear is your goal, since having the LSD fitted already nullifies the stock AWD system.

 

[PARAGON GT]

Thanks CLS

I have to admit though, I didn't notice any real changes to its handling characteristics from using the LSD. The car still pulled like it did when I used the stock LSD, except less violently. Which I can assume was because I dropped the alloted amount of torque going to the front differential. But it still pulled when I needed it too, and not when it wasn't required.

The VCD has serious implications to the GT-R's handling. It totally threw off its stabilization system in a not so beneficial way. Needless to say, Thats one device that I will not be reinstalling again. Its a shame that you can't sell off spare parts.

 

[CraftyLandShark]

It could be then that the LSD doesn't remove the stock system, and only the VCD does - I freely admit that I'm no GT-R fanboy, that's Finnish territory They may be better able to explain what's happening than me.

 

[Megasoft Office]

-Lower the rear ride height
-Camber adjustment to the front wheels depends on your driving technique
-The car is naturally heavy, adjust your driving technique accordingly
-Don't steer-lock in either direction when turning

I'll give you the complete LSD settings from my MCR GT-R if none of the above help. It should neutralize the BNR34's tendency to understeer through corner entry.