Default tuning hard or easy?

  • Thread starter DirtDrift
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Like to know if default tuning setting be good enough to drive on the track? Or do you really need to go through and fine tune it so the car drives how you want it too?

There is so much to read through i wonder how someone new to game will be able to start and play it properly?
 
I find the default setups have too much oversteer. this is probably a design choice so that players can actually turn the cars and get round corners; if they made the cars understeer people would complain their cars don't turn. so the first thing I tend to do is balance the rear end so I'm not afraid of getting the power down out of corners.

having said that, some cars seem fine, or need less tweaking, like GT3 and some open wheelers.
 
i wonder how someone new to game will be able to start and play it properly?
No problem with the default setups. If you're new to Project CARS (or the whole genre) just stick with the default setups until you're comfortable with the physics and handling.
 
I find the default setups have too much oversteer. this is probably a design choice so that players can actually turn the cars and get round corners; if they made the cars understeer people would complain their cars don't turn. so the first thing I tend to do is balance the rear end so I'm not afraid of getting the power down out of corners.

having said that, some cars seem fine, or need less tweaking, like GT3 and some open wheelers.

I find it the opposide, very understeery. Front splitter has only 1 deg angle and 8-9 deg on the rear. That's not good for me, I always run max front downforce, medium rear wing and a bit harder rear suspension.

That's about it. But overall, these are small changes I noticed after 100s of hours in other sims. That's my experience with GT 4 and GT3 classes, I have no idea how to tune the open wheelers.
 
I find it the opposide, very understeery. Front splitter has only 1 deg angle and 8-9 deg on the rear. That's not good for me, I always run max front downforce, medium rear wing and a bit harder rear suspension.

That's about it. But overall, these are small changes I noticed after 100s of hours in other sims. That's my experience with GT 4 and GT3 classes, I have no idea how to tune the open wheelers.
just proves everyone has a different driving style i suppose. perhaps i'm too heavy on the power as i find a lot of cars spin out on me exiting corners. i like to steer smoothly through them as opposed to drifting slightly and i want the rear end to behave. i'm looking forward to seeing other people's setups because i'm certainly no expert
 
But i think if you want to get competitive you really do need to get to know the car your driving and the track your on.
And just like in real life competitors will not share their winning setups. Default setup to make it run ok but not competitive ones.

So that means a real race driver will know what to tune!
And the rest of us will need to read up alot to get that competitive edge.
 
@DirtDrift
There are some basic tuning options that are very easy. You can however go as crazy as you want. Usually suspension setup is very tricky because everything you change has 2-3 (unwanted) sideffects.

Here are 3 basic tuning tips:
1. tyre pressures
Optimum tyre temperature is 80-100C, drive 3-4 laps with telemetry on and push hard. If a tyre is overheating go to your car setup and increase the tyre pressure for the corresponding tyre. If it doesnt heat up properly decrease the pressure. Never go into extremes with the pressure as you will lose grip with too low or too high pressure. Usually change with increments of 0.1 bar and see if it helps.

2. Check how much fuel youre using for one lap. Now calculate how much fuel you will need for a race, add 1 or 2 laps to be safe. Go to tuning options and adjust fuel load.

3. See if you can reach your top speed on the longest straight of the track. If you don't reach top speed (high rpm in your final gear), adjust the final drive of the car (if this option is available). Alternatively you can lower the individual 6th gear ratio, keep in mind you then also have to adjust the other gears.

You can also keep an eye on your brake temp (optimum temp between 400-600C) and oil-water temp (<100C) and adjust brake ducts and radiator opening accordingly, this wont make a huge difference though.

This literally takes about 5 minutes and can make a big difference. Like I said only suspension settings take a lot more knowhow to adjust properly. And to answer your question, default setups are pretty decent, however with these small adjustments you can allready make the car faster.
 
Thanks for the info but still lots to go through as I am not just happy with the basics. :)

About fuel for lap? How do you calculate how much you need? See how much you have for 1 lap and then you will know for each lap?

But since everyone knows this we all be equally fast its those special tweaks that cause a player to be a champion! Tweaks and skills! :) That is what so great about the complex tweaking system! It would be even better if components can be tweak too for even more realistic competition. :) Like how it is in the real world!

Think about it if in the real world the F1 winning team gave out their mechanic setup to other drivers to use! All car would be evenly match and each F1 racer could have a high chance of winning.

So if you want to be champion then you got to really understand it all! :)

Perhaps a real F1 driver using Project cars!
You wont be able to beat him with his special setups on default setups!
 
Thanks for the info but still lots to go through as I am not just happy with the basics. :)

About fuel for lap? How do you calculate how much you need? See how much you have for 1 lap and then you will know for each lap?

Yes :)
 
Perhaps a real F1 driver using Project cars!
You wont be able to beat him with his special setups on default setups!
In the case of a real F1 driver you may very well find that you can't beat him using your best special setup even when he is using the default setup ;)

A good setup definitely helps but the skill factor along with car and track knowledge are huge factors.

Also note that the same setup doesn't work for everyone, some people like to drive a car that is a little loose where others like one that is a little tight. Loose is generally faster but it also depends on the driver.
 
just proves everyone has a different driving style i suppose. perhaps i'm too heavy on the power as i find a lot of cars spin out on me exiting corners. i like to steer smoothly through them as opposed to drifting slightly and i want the rear end to behave. i'm looking forward to seeing other people's setups because i'm certainly no expert
You're talking about throttle induced oversteer, which is different from entry or mid-corner oversteer. I think most of the default tunes are very "safe" meaning neutral to slight understeer on entry and mid-corner. This is easily remedied with minor adjustments to the dampers or springs.

You must pay attention to tire temperatures and you must tune with tire temperatures in mind. The best handling tune in the world won't help you if your tires are at 70C or 110C. To be as quick as possible you must be in the optimium zone. Use small tire pressure adjustments to affect tire temps, brake duct opening, camber etc. You'll have to do some research on tuning but it really works as it's intended and I find it a lot of fun to tweak and mess with cars and get them to do what I want them to do.
 
You're talking about throttle induced oversteer, which is different from entry or mid-corner oversteer. I think most of the default tunes are very "safe" meaning neutral to slight understeer on entry and mid-corner. This is easily remedied with minor adjustments to the dampers or springs.

You must pay attention to tire temperatures and you must tune with tire temperatures in mind. The best handling tune in the world won't help you if your tires are at 70C or 110C. To be as quick as possible you must be in the optimium zone. Use small tire pressure adjustments to affect tire temps, brake duct opening, camber etc. You'll have to do some research on tuning but it really works as it's intended and I find it a lot of fun to tweak and mess with cars and get them to do what I want them to do.
just to clarify, the tyre temps are the 3 digit numbers grouped above each tyre in the telemetry? wall temp and tread temp? if so, I've gone out with stock tyre temps that are around 190-200 degrees. a lot higher than the recommended temps then.
 
just to clarify, the tyre temps are the 3 digit numbers grouped above each tyre in the telemetry? wall temp and tread temp? if so, I've gone out with stock tyre temps that are around 190-200 degrees. a lot higher than the recommended temps then.
I'm on Celcius but yes, that's them. I've found most cars leave the pits with 90C, which is around 190F I think, so keeping it close to that is ideal. I've found going over just a few degrees reduces grip, so slightly under seems to be safer. The three temps are inside, middle, outside and the inside, outside is opposite on left and right. With proper camber inside is usually hotter than outside, moreso on the front. Remember too, that from track to track, corner to corner, temperatures vary. Blasting down the final straight on the Nurb you might lose 15C or 30F on your tires, which will make the car handle differently through the final set of corners and even starting the next lap until you get them back up to temperature again. Monza is like that as well and basically any track with long, straight sections.
 
I'm on Celcius but yes, that's them. I've found most cars leave the pits with 90C, which is around 190F I think, so keeping it close to that is ideal. I've found going over just a few degrees reduces grip, so slightly under seems to be safer. The three temps are inside, middle, outside and the inside, outside is opposite on left and right. With proper camber inside is usually hotter than outside, moreso on the front. Remember too, that from track to track, corner to corner, temperatures vary. Blasting down the final straight on the Nurb you might lose 15C or 30F on your tires, which will make the car handle differently through the final set of corners and even starting the next lap until you get them back up to temperature again. Monza is like that as well and basically any track with long, straight sections.
ah yes I'd forgotten about the metric/imperial systems. well that's ok, I'll double check later but I think most of my temps are usually within the recommended range. thanks
 
@DirtDrift
This literally takes about 5 minutes and can make a big difference. Like I said only suspension settings take a lot more knowhow to adjust properly. And to answer your question, default setups are pretty decent, however with these small adjustments you can allready make the car faster.

Suspension also isn't that complex to understand. You just have to adjust the understeer/oversteer balance with springs and slow damper settings to achieve desired balance:

- stiffer setup provides less weight transfer and more slide (which also means higher tyre temps). Stiff front will make the car lazy to turn in, because the soft rear will grip more and push the car out.

- softer provides more grip, which means a soft front/stiff rear will make the car oversteer or eliminate excessive understeer (default setup). See how stiffer rear ARB fixes this problem:

 
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The more complex stuff IMO involves:

-Working with slow dampers to get better weight transfer on acceleration and braking. Stiff dampers will not provide good weight transfer, but I don't know how much influence can this actually have in practice.

-Fast damper tuning for quick car stabilization when going over curbs. If the car bounces 3 times after landing, you can't get the power down early and you lose the line, so you need to soften them. With good tune, the car should "swallow" the curbs without much disturbance, which should translate into faster laptimes.

Looking at the summary screen can be very confusing, but when you section that in into parts and learn about them, it makes everything much easier.
 
Suspension also isn't that complex to understand. You just have to adjust the understeer/oversteer balance with springs and slow damper settings to achieve desired balance:

- stiffer setup provides less weight transfer and more slide (which also means higher tyre temps). Stiff front will make the car lazy to turn in, because the soft rear will grip more and push the car out.

- softer provides more grip, which means a soft front/stiff rear will make the car oversteer or eliminate excessive understeer (default setup). See how stiffer rear ARB fixes this problem:


Not trying to be that guy, but stiffer doesn't mean less weight transfer. It means faster weight transfer and softer means slower transfer.

Oh and that video made me laugh a lot, I mean a lot.
 
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