Good car to tune for a beginner?
- Thread starter Dagger311
- 58 comments
- 2,047 views
- 968
- Maine
- VooDooChilde333
If your looking for an American muscle car to tune, but are inexperienced and dont want to get in over your head, I have the perfect car for you to play with.
The Chevy Camaro Z-28 race car '69.
I'll tell you why.
its powerful, but not a nuclear weapon. And due to the fact its a race car, certain things to stabilize the framework come stock. If you drive this car stock, its already not that bad. Add some power parts, nice exhaust, sports computer, ect. Follow Motor City's guide as mentioned above, and go 1 change at a time, testing and retesting as you go.
the major benefit to this car, is that its capable of winning anything it qualifys for. It looks awesome, and you feel like a bad ass driving it. Why is that important? Because when your learning, when you see AND feel the rewards as you go, it keeps you at it, and keeps your attitude positive.
Keep your head up, master that car, and then you will feel better when you dive into other American beasts later.
good luck man.
The Chevy Camaro Z-28 race car '69.
I'll tell you why.
its powerful, but not a nuclear weapon. And due to the fact its a race car, certain things to stabilize the framework come stock. If you drive this car stock, its already not that bad. Add some power parts, nice exhaust, sports computer, ect. Follow Motor City's guide as mentioned above, and go 1 change at a time, testing and retesting as you go.
the major benefit to this car, is that its capable of winning anything it qualifys for. It looks awesome, and you feel like a bad ass driving it. Why is that important? Because when your learning, when you see AND feel the rewards as you go, it keeps you at it, and keeps your attitude positive.
Keep your head up, master that car, and then you will feel better when you dive into other American beasts later.
good luck man.
- 6,658
- Marietta, GA
- Dagger31198
Thanks man, this will be my first one after I come off of jdm.
- 757
- Paris
- BlueShift
@Dagger311 : I agree with him. The "problems" these cars got are easier to see. I'd say 450PP, but you get the idea.
4WD (uneasy seing problems) or RR cars (uneasy solving problem) are not adviced to start with
FF will be next stage, then MR.
You should try 1-2 Fr, then 1 FF (to spot differences), then 1-2 MR then start 1 4WD, do all this again then start 4WD/RR more serioulsy. And redo first tunes aswell.
Anyway, in 5-6 cars or so, you will get your habits so it'be easier for you aswell !
Best "classic" read to start is scaff tuning guides in the GT5 section imho. It's very well written, you learn a lot of very very usefull things there. Was written for GT4 but 98% of it still work in GT6.
I agree with this aswell.
I'm about to drop the R8 Gordini because I don't find "the second" magical setting that will make the car a star. I keep loosing with the car. Waiting for the camber bug to be fixed first (advice for now, there's a bug still present in 1.4 : tune camber for now at 0/0 until it's solved) because the car got an unsettable 0.0/2.0.
My advice is not to tune this because the car have no major problems - worked on it yesterday, I will surely post one tonigth - so you'll get reward and "tuning pride" mainly with her LSD settings...
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- 3,867
- Saltash
- Dolhaus
You will love the miata, nothing turns quite like it. It may lack straight line guts but through the twisty bits this car is virtually unmatched, it will make super cars look like river barges.
You can loosen up any 4wd by using the variable centre differential and pushing some more of the power to the rear wheels, whether this is a way to make a car faster is debatable, you may just make it more likely to spin. Have a go once you've got your head around RWD though, 4wd's can be tricky to tune.
As mentioned above, leave the camber alone at the moment. All you can do with it currently is reduce grip due to something being wrong with the physics engine.
- 6,658
- Marietta, GA
- Dagger31198
Bought a Miata, bought lsd, here's what I've learned about it:
Higher Initial Torque = understeer when cornering from a straight line.
Higher Acceleration Sensitivity = Sliding, drifting.
Higher braking sensitivity = more stability, more understeer when braking.
Going to mess with suspension next.
Higher Initial Torque = understeer when cornering from a straight line.
Higher Acceleration Sensitivity = Sliding, drifting.
Higher braking sensitivity = more stability, more understeer when braking.
Going to mess with suspension next.
- 6,658
- Marietta, GA
- Dagger31198
Decided to save suspension for another time.
The only problem with the miata is there are no problems to fix. I do better when I have something that needs done. For example, I took a bit of the understeer out of the F-150. No understeer in the Miata. Nothing is wrong with it.
The only problem with the miata is there are no problems to fix. I do better when I have something that needs done. For example, I took a bit of the understeer out of the F-150. No understeer in the Miata. Nothing is wrong with it.
- 1,460
- England
But can you improve its lap times?
That's the real reason for tuning, A, to make the car more stable /driveable and B, to make it faster.
Just because it handles perfectly doesn't mean it's got the most grip it could have.
If you want a challenge try a Nissan Silvia S13, turn in understeer and power oversteer a plenty when you give it some power upgrades.
- 1,460
- England
That's why the Silvia is hard, because your not fighting only one issue, you have two opposing issues that need addressing in different ways. You are trying to find the balance that the mx5 has, not too much front end grip that you can't control the exits, and not too much rear end grip that you ruin the turn in.
It's all fun and games.
It's all fun and games.
- 3,867
- Saltash
- Dolhaus
Yes I can understand that, but to fix these problems/characteristics on cars, you first need to understand how all of the suspension bits affect the car, then you will be much more likely to get a good result. When you start adjusting things on the miata you willl almost immediately feel the effects and be able to make sense of the tuning. You might stiffen up the rear springs and find the car suddenly oversteers, then you would know that stiff rear = oversteer. But if you try that with a truck the effect might be lost due to some other factor and you wouldn't learn anything and be left scratching your head.
- 6,658
- Marietta, GA
- Dagger31198
With the F-150, stiffening the rear springs really only worked in conjunction with raising the rear hieght, dropping the front hieght, and softening the front springs a bit. This made it too prone to understeer though, so I chose for equal ride hieght, stiffer rear, and lsd settjngs to fix understeer.
- 42
- Vancouver, BC
- AstraeaMaric
I think the best car to buy for beginners is the one that you really love to own in real life. Learn the basics in tuning first then try to go one step further. For example if you have a supercar, try not to tune to much on the engine side. Master the movement of the car on its stock suspension first. Get a hold of the car on how it reacts in just one blip (or press if you're using a DS3) of the throttle. If you know that you mastered something go one step further, upgrade suspension, drivetrain, then power. This is just from my perspective. It depends on your tolerance and patience to get the feel of the car. I know you can do it. Once you got the hang of it I'm sure you're eager to try on the others. Enjoy.
- 6,658
- Marietta, GA
- Dagger31198
That would be an old Corvette, a modern Camaro, something European (Ferrari or Lambo maybe), an old Lincoln, I could go on and on...
But anyway, already tuned an Art Morrison Corvette with @Dolhaus,check it out in our joint garage.
