Race RIDOX Replica Garage : Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 ( Base Model ) '09 570PP Sports Soft to Racing Hard

OPTIONAL SUSPENSION UPDATE 1.09 Onwards, offers better stability and handling.

Suspension -INTRAX BLACK TITAN ARC 4 Way Damper with EIBACH ERS Springs -Medium Camber
Front, Rear

Ride Height: 87 87
Spring Rate: 16.67 13.10
Dampers (Compression): 6 8
Dampers (Extension): 7 8
Anti-Roll Bars: 4 4
Camber Angle: 2.2 1.5
Toe Angle: 0.00 0.15

Alternate Toe for more stability :
Toe Angle: 0.15 0.45

Toe for better turn in
Toe Angle: -0.15 0.25


Notes :
It all started with a message from a fellow member Danbojte Then I saw the red car in action at the track ( a picture of it ) and I realized I have the car in the garage, sitting there in stock form with over 200km from lapping Bathurst.

The Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 was born It's a loosely based on real life car, not a full replica so to speak, as detailed information are hard to find, but I do have some of the most important information at hand. I spent a good hour or so to find the needed information, and tuning/testing around 2 hours

First is power and weight, there are many level of power and weight for this car, due to various competition rules and balancing purposes. This build is a base model, a middle ground if you want to call it. Power is at 550CV or 543HP with 550Nm/405lb-ft of torque and 2750lbs or 1247kg. To achieve the torque, I have to use isometric exhaust manifold to bring the torque up at 406.5

I scoured the net for technical information of 458 GT3, I found some that I used here.

Suspension is based on INTRAX Black Titan ARC ( Anti Roll Control ) 4 Way Damper, a great damper kit that received great praise when tested on a 458 GT3 at Spa Francorchamps. Springs are EIBACH ERS, with a set of 3 options front and back :
Front
120-60-280 N/mm
120-60-300 N/mm- Installed
120-60-320 N/mm
Rear
170-60-180 N/mm
170-60-200 N/mm- Installed
170-60-220 N/mm

As these springs rate are way too high and not available in GT6, I used the middle range ratio 300/200 and adapt it on GT6, the front are 1.5 times harder than rear. I used 16.67kg front and 11.49kg rear and it works so well. With damper setup to maintain excellent traction in all conditions, entry, mid corner, or exits, you name it, this 458 GT3 does it well.

For transmission, the real car uses HEWLAND 6 speed gearbox, I managed to get rare information on the homologated gearing. Not sure if the final is fixed in real life, but in GT6 you are free to lower the final for higher top speed. The homologated gearing is setup to take advantage of the 458 GT3 engine peak power and torque, shift point is at 8700rpm ( 1st shift light ) and usable range from 7500-9000rpm. Again, real life spec works wonder in GT6, spot on !! Ignore the 7th gear for the sake of authenticity, if you find the car hitting the limiter on 6th, lower the final, I would recommend 3.725 for Bathurst ( 310+kmh top speed at conrod )

LSD, the real Ferrari 458 uses E-Diff, I read that it uses 2 way with capability to reduce locking rate under braking So, I fine tuned the LSD in GT6, using high preload commonly used on racing cars, and high locking rate on accel and brake. The value has been optimzed, a click up or down of value would give substantial changes Higher gives better traction and response at a cost of tightness, while lower will give more freedom of movement. I set both at 45, this is perfect for most situation. You can fine tune the 458 GT3 behavior just by using LSD - rough guide :
Static initial/preload at 28.
accel 48 / brake 45 ( neutral entry, very tight mid corner to exit )
accel 47 / brake 45 ( neutral entry, tight mid corner to exit )
accel 46 / brake 45 ( neutral entry, moderate mid corner to exit )
----accel 45 / brake 45 ( neutral all around - used on the tune )
accel 45 / brake 48 ( very tight entry, neutral mid corner to exit )
accel 44 / brake 44 ( slightly loose entry, slightly loose mid corner to exit ) - running lower will make the car more loose.

The tuning and testing process was done at Tsukuba, Brands Hatch GP, Silverstone GP, and Bathurst.
This base model managed an easy 2:04.9xx at Bathurst during testing, 53.1s at Tsukuba, 1:24s at Brands Hatch GP, and 2:01s at Silverstone GP

This Ferrari 458 GT3 is very quick at 570PP, with it's deficit in aero/down force, it excels in mechanical grip, balance, traction and acceleration even on higher speed region Red makes it even faster

Important : NO OIL CHANGE

Link to original post on my garage, fee free to visit and share your experience with the car

Ferrari 458 Italia '09 GT3 Replica ( Base Model ) 543HP 570PP Sports Soft to Racing Hard
ENJOY