FITT M Power Challenge
(
Grip real, TCS 0, ABS 1, AT)
Initial Impressions: after a lap or two
Final Impressions: after 10ish laps
Tuner 1: M3 Chrome line
2:08.545
DC = 7
Initial Impressions:
- Very predictable and easy to drive
- Decent rotation
- 6th Gear struggles and feels too short
- Brakes feel weak
Final Impressions:
Although the initial impressions were that the car seemed predictable but this changed as we got closer to the limit. It was a tricky car at the limit, it wasn't dangerous but you could never be exactly sure of how the car was going to react from one moment to the next, it almost felt like it had active driving aids cutting in at inopportune moments (I checked everything was off).
The car squirmed around a lot coming out of 2nd gear corners, felt as though the diff was locking and unlocking with the powerband causing the car to twist in the direction of the outside rear as you got near the top of the rev range. I suspect as the power drops away in the high RPM the diff was loosening and causing slight over-rotation.
Late corner rotation was good due to the application of rear camber but this made it difficult to use advantageously, the rear would slip as soon as you put the power down so you'd have to wait until the car was straightened out.
Overall it felt like if I had the time to learn the car and track corner by corner until I could do it perfectly the car could be very quick but in the time I could only string a few sections together and struggle through the rest. It didn't do anything badly but I never really felt in control, I was always having to react to the car rather than being able to predict what it was going to do.
Tuner 2: M4 Coupe
2:08.860
DC = 9
Initial Impressions:
- Very precise and sharp
- Good brakes
- Plenty of grip
Final Impressions:
A wonderfully balanced car, precise and neutral on entry with good brakes. Good mid turn rotation and just enough slip at the rear to maintain rotation on exit without lighting up the rear tyres and spinning away the tyres.
Honestly couldn't work out why the car wasn't faster though, straight line speed was good and the car felt great through the corners. I can only speculate that the stiffness of the springs is costing speed in the slower sections earlier in the lap.
The car was a touch slippery which is a symptom I'd usually associate with overly stiff springs, if the same balance could be achieved on a softer set up then this car could be devastating.
Tuner 3: M3 GTR
2:05.389
DC = 9.5
Initial Impressions:
- Darty on entry
- Develops slight understeer late-mid corner and exit
- Doesn't like curbs
Final Impressions:
The car felt little twitchy at first and reacted very directly to input but once you get to know it a little better its very easy to get pointed in the direction you want to go. The brakes were simply superb, accommodating for trail braking perfectly and allowing me to maintain rotation on the brakes all the way to the apex where necessary. Slight bit of shimmying around when braking in a straight line but entirely manageable as long as you didn't need to make any sudden corrections when coming in hot.
The one thing I wasn't entirely happy with was the LSD during acceleration out of the slower corners, often power would suddenly shift to the inside wheel and cause all sorts of drama. This would range from simply wasting drive in some occasions to outright twitches and unrecoverable high speed wobbles. The problem didn't really present itself until you started hunting for every last bit of speed where confidence and predictability are important, when running out onto the slippery bits the last thing you want to be worrying about is a sudden twitch from the rear.
Its not a massive problem though, the car is still devastatingly fast and a joy to drive as it is, a more consistent and predictable diff would just be the icing on the cake. All in all a fantastic drive, well done.
Tuner 4: M3 Coupe
2:07.690
DC = 7.5
Initial Impressions:
- Brakes work well
- Car feels heavy but rotates well
- Loves to spin up the inside wheel
Final Impressions:
The car felt a little too soft and wobbly for the speed of the track. The grip was good in the slower sections but this was often cancelled out by the LSD dumping power onto the inside wheel and destabilising the rear end. In the faster sections the LSD was doing a good job of allowing me to stay on the power but the suspension was letting the car lean over on its door handles and forever pushing wide.
I would advise more compression damping to reduce the body roll and maybe follow with a reduction to ARB stiffness to compensate grip and prevent the car feeling too solid. Increasing LSD Initial and Accel should clear up the power delivery problems and stabilise the rear a little.
Overall the car just felt a little too specialised for one part of the track and in turn unsuitable for another, sometimes it was fun, sometimes it was frustrating.
Tuner 5: 135i
2:09.024
DC = 10
Initial Impressions:
Final Impressions:
I had a lot of fun in theis car, really enjoyed how sharp and responsive this thing was. Its a shame this car comes with bicycle tyres otherwise it could have been a real contender.
It wasn't entirely without fault, the front tyres would light up and push wide if you ran ever so slightly deep and the diff would cause the car to squirm its way out of the slower corners. These were merely exagerations of driver error however and the car can hardly be blamed.
Great fun, well done
Tuner 6: M3 Coupe
2:08.402
DC = 7
Initial Impressions:
- Easy enough to drive
- No major surprises
- Understeer building from mid corner onwards
Final Impressions:
Very safe and easy to drive consistently but the understeer on exit made it hard to push any harder and reduce lap time.
On entry through to mid corner the car was very stable and predictable for the most part but I was forever waiting to get the power down on exit.
Some of the settings appeared to be directly conflicting rather than complimenting, adding a bit of rotation here and adding understeer there. When building try to establish what the individual changes are doing and how dramatic the effect is so you can make more difference with less changes. The result will be a more consistent car rather than one that displays different characteristics at different moments.
Tuner 7: M3 CSL
2:06.914
DC = 5
Initial Impressions:
- Quite a lot of understeer
- Very composed on the power
Final Impressions:
The car was far too stable and prohibitive, it was solid when you got on the power but the understeer prevented this trait being of any use as I was waiting so long to get back on it.
The brakes felt really weak for a car this light, many times the car would just fly past the turn in point despite ample braking room being given. I suspect the high front damper compression snd slightly stiff springs were responsible for the poor braking and some of the understeer, the rest I suspect is due to the front ARB balance and excess rear toe.
Tuner 8: M3 Chrome line
2:08.440
DC = 8
Initial Impressions:
- Very positive turn in
- Slightly unsteady mid corner
- Decent brakes
Final Impressions:
The car felt very light and responsive in spite of its bulk but also felt a little floaty and slippery, an interesting car to drive but a difficult one to trust.
I can't quite put my finger on why the car feels odd and the numbers don't show any obvious causes. Best guess would be a little less front toe out to help the car track mid corner and a little less front extension perhaps. Another minor issue was that the car squirms a little under heavy braking, a few clicks higher on the LSD decel and maybe initial should take car of this and help consistency.
Odd feeling car but I can't really fault it
Tuner 9:
DC =
Initial Impressions:
Final Impressions:
Tuner 10: M4 Coupe
2:08.134
DC = 7
Initial Impressions:
- Car feels solid and composed
- Touch of understeer
- Engine feels laboured
Final Impressions:
I found that this car was extremely functional and consistent but lacked any kind of personality or character, it neither did anything particularly badly or particularly well.
Very easy to drive and never did anything that surprised me but at the same time I never felt exited or involved while driving.
I liked the 6-Speed concept (7 gears is just showing off) but the execution was slightly less successful unfortunately, the engine felt strained the entire time and didn't have the greatest drive, particularly at the top of the rev range.
It might have been a more enjoyable drive on slightly stiffer springs, just something to sharpen it up and make it feel more involving. Dropping the rear extension a click or two will also help liven the car up and give you a little more rotation where necessary.
Tuner 11: M3 CSL
2:06.583
DC = 8
Initial Impressions:
- Excellent brakes
- Feels light and sharp
- A little hard to predict rotation wise
Final Impressions:
The car was very capable but was also a little twitchy and hard to predict. It felt as if the front had a little more grip than the rear which was causing slight over-rotation in response to steering input. This was particularly evident when changing direction quickly where the front end would respond well but the rear just couldn't stick with it causing sudden instability.
Once you got to know the car a little better and put the extra delicate gloves on the car was quite a good drive, plenty of rotation, the brakes were exquisite and very few issues when getting the power down. I still never felt entirely confident with the car as I was always expecting an overreaction and just couldn't push as hard but an exiting drive none the less.
I would maybe equalise the ride height to balance the car a little and/or increase the initial a little to make the car a little more consistent and less snappy. If that didn't work then maybe look at softening the overall spring rates a little.
Tuner 12: M4 Performance
2:08.263
DC = 5.5
Initial Impressions:
- Feels heavy
- Quite a lot of understeer
- Oversteer on slow corner exit
- Long gears
Final Impressions:
This car really resisted being pushed, it just wouldn't allow me to carry the speed through entry and mid corner without encountering substantial understeer. With the car being so difficult to rotate I hoped that the car would be solid and grippy when putting the power down on exit but unfotunately the car liked to squirm and twist out of the slower corners, this rendered the slow-in-fast-out approach ineffective.
The gearing felt long but I never really noticed the engine bogging down or struggling so it wasn't any more than an auditory issue. The brakes were average, they got the car stopped well enough but didn't really inspire confidence or blow me away.
Another car with a lot of contadictary tuning choices, things like the ballast and toe being set up to improve rotation/induce oversteer were being directly counteracted by the ride height, LSD initial and damper settings. Try to adjust each individual setting individually when beginning the tuning process and note the effects, this will allow you to know which settings to adjust in order to have the effect on the car you want. Copying a setup into the other tabs before making adjustments will allow you to compare the effects easily and build up a picture more quickly and decide whether this is a positive or negative step in the process.
Tuner 13: M3 Chromeline
2:08.301
DC = 7
Initial Impressions:
- Very Stable and predictable
- Slight understeer
- Doesn't like fast corners
Final Impressions:
This car required a very specific driving style, if you weren't super careful with your entry speeds the car would develop catastrophic understeer and plough straight on. Not exactly to my tastes as I prefer a car that is more responsive on entry but if you behaved yourself then the car was quite smooth and compliant.
The rotation was decent enough and the brakes got the job done, gearing felt natural and the engine pulled well as a result. Nothing particularly astonishing but nothing that offended the senses either.
My tuning advice would be to lower it and stiffen it to make it more responsive and and some front extension and rear compression to reduce the late corner understeer by keeping weight over the front wheels and maintaining grip. The spring balance was good but it just suffered in the fast corners.
Tuner 14: M3 CSL
2:06.534
DC = 8
Initial Impressions:
- Good rotation and grip
- Squirms under heavy braking
Final Impressions:
This car was very consistent time wise but equally difficult to squeeze any more speed out of no matter what I tried. All of my laps were within .5 of each other but no two of them were the same, I was always gaining and dropping time in different places every lap.
The brakes were my least favourite element of the car as they felt a bit weak and the car would squirm and then push as you came off the brakes which I suspect is a result of having the initial higher than the decel in the LSD.
Everything else felt good and I really can't work out why the car wasn't quicker, my best guess would be that the ballast was costing some speed in the corners and a less powerful setup might have been more productive.
Tuner 15:
DC =
Initial Impressions:
Final Impressions:
Tuner 16: M4 Coupe
2:07.765
DC = 8
Initial Impressions:
- Very Composed
- Good Brakes
- Understeers on longer corners
Final Impressions:
Slow in, fast out was the name of the game with this car, not exactly my preferred style of driving but I can't say it was difficult to adjust to and the car responded pleasingly.
The brakes were good, as long as you kept the car straight it would get stopped well, however if you tried to trail brake the front end would plough wide and understeer. There was also an element of understeer on exit once you tried to get the power down but it was supremely stable with no hint of slip or wheel spin.
I suspect the soft dampers were the source of the grip particularly in the low speed corners but they also gave the car slight difficulty when recovering from a slip or running deep on the brakes, the car would turn to jelly and struggle to regain composure.
I feel if you set all of the dampers a click higher and matched the rear compression to the front extension then the car would be a little more verstaile and faster mid corner.
Tuner 17: M3 GTR
2:08.810
DC = 5.5
Initial Impressions:
- Lots of punch in the mid range
- Feels kind of heavy
- 5 speed?
Final Impressions:
Really couldn't make heads nor tails of this one, it felt inconsistent at the most inopportune of moments and I just couldn't trust it. Sometimes the rotation was decent, sometimes it understeered on the way in, sometimes it let go on the way out, never in the same place and never for the same reason.
The brakes were good but again inconsistency would creep in and cause either squirming or understeer depending on its mood and the direction of the wind.
There aren't any obvious clues present in the setup that point to a cause for the problems so I would have to hazard a guess that the extra weight and low ride height were causing the car to bottom out under load. This is the only reason I can think would cause such unpredictability and mixed reactions.
Tuner 18: M3 GTR
2:06.722
DC = 7.5
Initial Impressions:
- Predictable but stiff
- Doesn't like curbs
Final Impressions:
This car felt like it only wanted to run one specific line and would resist quite heavily if you tried to make it do otherwise. When running its preferred line it ran well, the rotation was decent but once you'd turned in you were committed to that line as corrections were difficult and costly.
For the most part it was easy to get the power down but occasionally the car would squirm and overwhelm the tyres, when this happened it was easy to control but proved costly to lap time.
I would perhaps lower the spring rates and increase the ride height in order to make the car more compliant. Dropping the rear toe a little would help to free up some more rotation and lowering the amount of camber would help to increase mid/late corner grip and really increase the speed without ruining the balance.
