Power/Weight ratio: ratio of the cars Hp and the weight. how many Hp per kg. the more power per weight the better.
Height: the lower the better, lower cars means low Centre of gravity. this helps cornering but increases the risk of smakcing the bottom of the car on the road.
Damper: stop the car repeatedly bouncing while driving. absorbs the energy the springs exert when compressed by the car. stiffer dampers mean a stable car, but only relly on smooth tracks. bumpy tracks will jolt the car around as the there is not much movement in the suspension.
Stabiliser: is a bar that ataches to the chassis and rest on both sides of the suspension. stops alot of the lateral roll around corners, barrel rolling on other words. the car tilts up on the outside tires, decreasing the contact area (unless there is camber set to them wheels), the body also raises the COG.
Gear ratios: short ratios, keep the revs higher, acc is fast, but top speed will be hurt. high ratios means higher top speed, you'll stay in the same gear for longer but will evetually reach a higher top speed. high powered cars, 700Bhp plus and you'd be looking at up to the highest auto settings. when tweaking the ratios, the futher to left the slider is the higher the ratio will be, generally this will mean higher top speed but require much more effort from the engine to do so. first gear you will want to set short, (to the right) to get the car moving and keeping the engine in the peak power range. the rest of the gears will follow from this. find the peak power of the cars and set the ratios so the gine stays for the most pat in that region.
i usually set my cars up with very stiff suspension. dampers set to high and rebound around 5-6 notches higher. dampers bout 75% to the right. spring rate up to 15kg/cm usually. the car is lowered significantly too, but is balnced by the hard suspension.
the stiffer setup keeps the car flat across the track, but can get a bit wild on bumpy tracks, and apexing lifts the car up a fair bit too.
my main car is a 960Bhp camaro race car, gear ratios are set to the higerst auto setting, and first gear was lowered, and sixth raised. the final ratio is the differential, and effects all gears but has a big impact on the car. you'll be running this high whichever way.
the main idea is to change on thing at a time, and in small increments. saving when you think the car is running well.
try and focus on one aspect of the vehicle at a time.
anyway, does weight reduction matter much?