Just trying to tune a Ford Escort MK1 Touring Car for Laguna Seca, but I am having a bit of a hard time with the front right tire. I've tried to increase the tire pressure for that tire, but it continues to stay around 20-30 degrees hotter than the front left, and wears out much quicker. I understand this track has plenty of left-handed turns, but is there another way to cool off that tire?
Don't be affraid to run different tire pressures on all four corners off the car. Whatever pressure is necessary to get the ideal temp is what you want to go for.
On tracks like Leguna, or Hockenheim GP, I'll have sometimes have 20psi, maybe even more, difference between the left and right side tires. Eg, off the top of my head, my SLS GT3 Hockenheim tune has something like 2.20 on the front left, and 1.95 on the front right.
The game says you can use tire pressures to balance the car, which is true, but I find it much better to use the pressures to optimize temps, and then use all the suspension and damper settings to adjust balance.
If you're still struggling with temps, take a look at camber and toe. Toe closer to 0.0 will cause less heat to build in the tire, but this really only comes into play on tracks wkth long straights. While on track, do enough laps to heat the tires up, and then have a look at the data screen while driving. Look at the tire temps, specifically the inside and outside temps. They should be pretty close to the same, with the inside temp maybe being slightly higher than the outside temp. If the inside temp is way higher than the outside, you have too much camber. If the outside is way higher than the inside, you don't have enough camber.
Weight distribution can also help. If the fronts are overheating, moving the weight rearward can help take some of the load off them. Rear is a little different. If the rears are overheating because the rear end is sliding around off throttle (during trail braking, turn in, and apex), moving weight forward can help reduce this. If the rears are overheating because you are getting wheelspin on corner exit, moving the weight rearward can help reduce this.
Also, running lower values for the diff Accel Lock setting can help reduce wheelspin on corner exit.
