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does anybody have a good breakdown, of how dampers and spring rate work together...? My tuning is awesome...and I'm wondering if I have this down or if I'm just fluking it...I've read a lot of stuff but some of it is even conflicting...
I think you hit it on the nail right there. The settings for springs/dampers/brakes are not absolute, they are relative to what you started with!Seeing spring rates (in the game) set at 8 or 9 with dampers set at 1 or 2 makes no sense other than we have no way of knowing exactly what the 1 thru 10 settings actually corelate to.
I think you hit it on the nail right there. The settings for springs/dampers/brakes are not absolute, they are relative to what you started with!
Almost all cars start out with something like 2/2 or 1/1 for springs and dampers and brakes at 5/5 (except some of the more exotic models). But I'll be damned if a spring/damper setting of 1/1 or 2/2 on a Cappucino is the same as 1/1 or 2/2 on a Corvette Z06. Same goes for brakes: every car starts out at 5/5. Yet some are more front biased (or even rear biased) than others to start with. I've tuned cars with a brake balance of 2/6 and they were still front biased. So the '2' at the front is actually higher than the '6' at the rear.
That's why I've always tuned by behavior, not by numbers. If the behavior of the car tells me to set the brake sensitivity at 1/9, the springs at 1/9 and the dampers at 9/1, that's what I'll do. But I don't think the physics are faulty, it's just the dials/sliders that are not comparable. If you keep that in mind, you will find there is indeed logic in there.
Can someone please elaborate on exactly what the dampers and spring rate means in terms of the tuning (separately of course)?
What influence each one has when set as high or low value and what is the basic technique to find out which parameter to change (dampers or spring rate) and to which direction?
A "quick guide" like: when car understeer - you need to change X parameter lower/higher, will be great.
Like you I was initially confused at GT5P's tuning settings. They just didn't seem to make any sense. Why would having the rear springs on a FR car stiffer than the front work? The front should be dragging on the ground! It wasn't until weeks later that I realized the settings are car dependent. A spring setting of 6 on the Z06 tuned is not the same thing as a 6 on a Ferrari 599. With that out of the way and that in mind while tuning...
When tuning, I've found it's best for me if I tune the car for the track and then go back and tune over-steer/under-steer. In order of tuning I go points, brakes, dampers, ride height, springs, toe, camber, and then down-force. I often go back and make further changes as I refine the set-up. You have to tune the weight first since it affects all other suspension settings.
Dampers
Affect the "bounce" in the springs, or how quickly the springs stop after an input. They are used during inputs into the suspension and have their greatest affect on corner entry and exit.
- Overall Soft: suspension reacts quickly to bumps maintaining traction, quicker transition to over/under-steer, too soft and the car will be "bouncy"
- Overall Stiff: slows down transition to over/under-steer, if to hard suspensions reaction to bumps decreased and may be bypassed
- Front Stiffer: increases under-steer
- Rear Stiffer: Increases over-steer
- Test: Run over rumble strips
Ride Height
Changes the center of gravity of the vehicle which changes weight transfer.
- Overall: lowering reduces lateral and longitudinal weight transfer during acceleration, braking, and cornering. To low and you'll bottom out the suspension of the car.
- Front Higher: Increases understeer
- Rear Higher: Increases over-steer
- Test on corners
Springs
React to irregular surfaces and changing weight distribution. Take cars overall weight and its distribution into account.
- Overall Soft: react to bumps w/out losing grip, but need taller ride height
- Overall Stiff: reduces roll under weight transfer allowing lower ride height, too high and you'll skip over bumps losing grip
- Front Stiff: Increases Under-steer
- Rear Stiff: Increases Over-steer
- Test under cornering
Toe, camber, and down-force also play a roll in over/under-steer. I'll leave that up to you to research how. Don't tune over-steer by changing brake bias or camber. You'll affect your braking distance and cornering traction.
This is really helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to write it detail.👍
Exactly like I said a couple of posts back: the numbers really don't mean anything, they're just a starting point. Let go of the numbers and let the game do the talking.Like you I was initially confused at GT5P's tuning settings. They just didn't seem to make any sense. Why would having the rear springs on a FR car stiffer than the front work? The front should be dragging on the ground! It wasn't until weeks later that I realized the settings are car dependent. A spring setting of 6 on the Z06 tuned is not the same thing as a 6 on a Ferrari 599. With that out of the way and that in mind while tuning...