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- Sydney
Heres something I have noticed since the game came out and it is intricately tied into the huge elephant in the room that everyone with a good understanding of physics and cars seems to have noticed, the reversed ride height suspension setup issue.
This is NOT another I think the settings are reversed or not thread. They definitely are. This is a theory of mine that delves into what this implies about the game.
PDs philosophy on tyre physics an grip seems wrong in fundamental way.
Lets think about it using common examples.
In REAL LIFE if you pop the front of a car up and drop the rear end, the weight on the front wheels will be minimized and stroke of the front wheels will be huge. This in REAL LIFE will mean cornering ability of the car will be rubbish and the car will understeer like a boat.
In GT5 the opposite is true, the car has an easier time changing direction and turning.
Why?
Because GT5 puts an emphasis on lightness above all else when it comes to tyre physics which is not true.
I think The physics engine approaches the matter like this “oh the weight on the front wheels has reduced therefore I can turn more easily”, and the hilarity ensues.
The problem is that in real life grip has a LOT more to with than just weight tyre compound contact patch and tyre width.
It has a lot to do with how much force is placed on the tyre as well. In other words a heavier car will apply more force to a tyre which means more grip.
All heavy cars in Gt5 seem to plow like boats around corners and all light cars go around corners on a dime.
As I've said it is not as black and white as this contrary to popular belief.
Many light cars are less stable and grippy than heavier cars because they skip along the road instead of groping the road like a heavier car.
Lightness does not necessarily guarantee good handling or even good cornering speeds in real life but it GT5 is always seems to be the case when you take into account fudge factors or base values of a cars grip, like contact patch etc.
In other words base values and other factors of a cars grip which is the reason cars like the GTR R35 have good grip in GT5 despite being a heavy car. I don’t think this is because GT5 got the physics right, but because of baseline grip values based or a "fudge factor" if you prefer.
In real life the GTR DOES have incredible grip but since real life physics do not make physics mistakes it is for the right reasons, and not the same reasons as in GT5.
Offcourse more weight will make a car harder to turn in the grand scheme of things, but it will also fundamentally lead to other avenues to counteract this. It seems PD has not taken into account properly the increased weight is offset by the increased pressure on the tyre and thus increased GRIP.
In other words if you cant be stuffed reading more than a sentence the reason for the reversed settings “glitch” in my opinion is
A higher front end =less weight on the front tyres = GT5 thinking this will make it easier to turn but forgetting that more weight is what is giving the tyres grip in the first place. This is not how it works in real life
Lightness generally means is there is less weight to have to shift around and the implications of this are certainly MOSTLY positive, but in some cases as what I am trying to point out it is negative. The lighter car will apply less force to the tyre and therefore it will be able to provide less road holding ability to the car.
This is an extremely important fact that Imo is not addressed properly in GT5 and is the cause of the reversed feel of the physics.
This is NOT another I think the settings are reversed or not thread. They definitely are. This is a theory of mine that delves into what this implies about the game.
PDs philosophy on tyre physics an grip seems wrong in fundamental way.
Lets think about it using common examples.
In REAL LIFE if you pop the front of a car up and drop the rear end, the weight on the front wheels will be minimized and stroke of the front wheels will be huge. This in REAL LIFE will mean cornering ability of the car will be rubbish and the car will understeer like a boat.
In GT5 the opposite is true, the car has an easier time changing direction and turning.
Why?
Because GT5 puts an emphasis on lightness above all else when it comes to tyre physics which is not true.
I think The physics engine approaches the matter like this “oh the weight on the front wheels has reduced therefore I can turn more easily”, and the hilarity ensues.
The problem is that in real life grip has a LOT more to with than just weight tyre compound contact patch and tyre width.
It has a lot to do with how much force is placed on the tyre as well. In other words a heavier car will apply more force to a tyre which means more grip.
All heavy cars in Gt5 seem to plow like boats around corners and all light cars go around corners on a dime.
As I've said it is not as black and white as this contrary to popular belief.
Many light cars are less stable and grippy than heavier cars because they skip along the road instead of groping the road like a heavier car.
Lightness does not necessarily guarantee good handling or even good cornering speeds in real life but it GT5 is always seems to be the case when you take into account fudge factors or base values of a cars grip, like contact patch etc.
In other words base values and other factors of a cars grip which is the reason cars like the GTR R35 have good grip in GT5 despite being a heavy car. I don’t think this is because GT5 got the physics right, but because of baseline grip values based or a "fudge factor" if you prefer.
In real life the GTR DOES have incredible grip but since real life physics do not make physics mistakes it is for the right reasons, and not the same reasons as in GT5.
Offcourse more weight will make a car harder to turn in the grand scheme of things, but it will also fundamentally lead to other avenues to counteract this. It seems PD has not taken into account properly the increased weight is offset by the increased pressure on the tyre and thus increased GRIP.
In other words if you cant be stuffed reading more than a sentence the reason for the reversed settings “glitch” in my opinion is
A higher front end =less weight on the front tyres = GT5 thinking this will make it easier to turn but forgetting that more weight is what is giving the tyres grip in the first place. This is not how it works in real life
Lightness generally means is there is less weight to have to shift around and the implications of this are certainly MOSTLY positive, but in some cases as what I am trying to point out it is negative. The lighter car will apply less force to the tyre and therefore it will be able to provide less road holding ability to the car.
This is an extremely important fact that Imo is not addressed properly in GT5 and is the cause of the reversed feel of the physics.
