(Drift) How to tune dampers

  • Thread starter Psytro
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Singapore
Singapore
Hello everyone. Not sure if anyone is still here because GTPSP is such an old game now but I just got it on my PSVita and am loving it. Its also my first racing "sim". Especially drifting, I'm still pretty new to it but would like to get better. I have been reading up on guides on how to setup the car for drift. Seems that there are two trains of thought, more oversteer to turn in easier or more understeer in order to throttle more during the turn. (Please correct me if im wrong.)

After reading multiple posts, I think I have a pretty good idea on how to set up the springs, I generally use stiff (7+) in the front and slightly less stiff at the back depending on the car. (Im using the fd3s and the sileighty). But I have no idea how to tune the dampers and would like to find out how you guys tune dampers to suit the spring rates.

1) In GTPSP, the game says "higher values means more stiffness", is this referring to rebound or bound (or both)?

2) Can anyone recommend a method of setting them up, ie starting values and adjustments made.
For instance, when adjusting springs, my method is to start with 8/8 and adjust after a few laps, but I feel that changes in spring rate seem more noticeable than changes in dampers.

3) What should I expect in the car behaviour with changes made to damper values?
For springs I believe if the front is stiffer, weight transfers to the back wheels during a turn and hence more understeer entering the turn.

Sorry for the long post and necroing the forum. Apart from the GT subreddit which seems to deal with newer GT games, I did not know where else to seek help.

Thank you.
 
Last edited:
Front stiffer = more understeer

Rear stiffer = more oversteer

It's a bit simplistic but that's the general gist of it. I'm not an expert tuner but drift cars are set up for more understeer, ironically, so you can use the power to break the rears loose and maintain that angle throughout the turn instead of the car pivoting round. Entry oversteer can be induced with brake bias/handbrake/feint technique so doesn't require suspension setup for it.

It's been years since I played GTPSP so I can't remember if they have separate bound/rebound setting. If it's combined, just treat them as spring rates basically. It's running a simplified physics so don't overthink it and just do trial & error to find the best setup.
 
Thanks for the reply. When doing trial and error, lets say the car oversteers, how do you tell that it is the spring or the damper that needs tuning?
 
Springs should be your first port of call generally. Once that's dialled in, dampers can be used to fine tune things.
 
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