Lets Fix The STRATOS (Thread title changed.)

With all this talk on the Stratos being so tough to drive I had to chime in.

The Stratos is one of the BEST non-AWD Rally cars in the game. While it takes some skill, its quite manageable. driving it takes you back to a time before Quatro changed the Rally world.

Step 1 is to jump in her Bone Stock, no tuning at all, just to get a good feel for the cars balance.

Tip (Don't Max out the rear Downforce) Too much Downforce on the rear of this car makes the back wheels dig too much while the front are not digging enough. On transitions this causes the front end of the car to get either too loose or grip unexpectedly. A key to a great Rally car is Driftability, and High Rear Downforce kills it. You want some sliding action in the corners.

After driving it there is room for improvement from some suspension tweaking, so I did some tuning. However its catered to me and my driving style, Ill share it in hopes it can help.

Stratos Rally Car

Active Steering / Off
ASM / Off
TCS / 0 - 4
Physics / Standard + Pro

Aerodynamics
F= 12 / R= 27
Ride height
F= -6 / +2
Spring Rate
F= 3 / R= 4
Damper
F= 7 / R= 8
Toe
F= +0,05 / R= +0.24
Camber
F= 3.2 / R= 1.7

This is a Mid Engine RWD Rally car. It cannot be driven like a Front Engine AWD Rally car.
 
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GTCr@zyPSP
With all this talk on the Stratos being so tough to drive I had to chime in.

The Stratos is one of the BEST non-AWD Rally cars in the game. While it takes some skill, its quite manageable. driving it takes you back to a time before Quatro changed the Rally world.

Step 1 is to jump in her Bone Stock, no tuning at all, just to get a good feel for the cars balance.

Tip (Don't Max out the rear Downforce) Too much Downforce on the rear of this car makes the back wheels dig too much while the front are not digging enough. On transitions this causes the front end of the car to get either too loose or grip unexpectedly. A key to a great Rally car is Driftability, and High Rear Downforce kills it. You want some sliding action in the corners.

After driving it there is room for improvement from some suspension tweaking, so I did some tuning. However its catered to me and my driving style, Ill share it in hopes it can help.

Stratos Rally Car

Aerodynamics
F= 12 / R= 27
Ride height
F= -6 / +2
Spring Rate
F= 3 / R= 4
Damper
F= 7 / R= 8
Toe
F= +0,05 / R= +0.24
Camber
F= 3.2 / R= 1.7
Click to expand...

THANK YOU!!! I was just about to give up and leave the forums for good had it not been for your help!
 
Lancia stratos
THANK YOU!!! I was just about to give up and leave the forums for good had it not been for your help!
Click to expand...

Hope it helps

Also The Set up was done with Active Steering off & 0 TCS, 0 ASM

You can add TCS but I wouldn't go above 3 or 4. High TCS on Dirt tracks kills it.
 
GTCr@zyPSP
Hope it helps

Also The Set up was done with Active Steering off & 0 TCS, 0 ASM

You can add TCS but I wouldn't go above 3 or 4. High TCS on Dirt tracks kills it.
Click to expand...

Alright will do. Now i can stop bugging the living crap out of people with my threads heh heh.
 
Lancia stratos
So heres is my question: what is it about a cool rally car being so impossible to drive on dirt? Why is it feel difficult to drive on dirt but easy on the road?
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The kicker is Unstable cars can be faster IF in the hands of a skilled enough driver.

Think of it like a Jet Fighter. The Best use a Tech called "Fly by Wire" This basically means the plane itself is NOT stable / will not glide or self level. The thing keeping it in the air is computers programmed to manipulate the controls in order to 1 keep the plane flying, & 2 translate the Pilot inputs & manipulate the controls to accomplish them.

The reason for this is a unstable frame will be more maneuverable and have the ability to change directions faster.

In the Stratos we don't have the Military Tech to keep her in check, we have to rely on the Skills of the Driver.
 
Lancia stratos
Yeah people werent happy about the whole TCS and active steering, so i developed a tamed stratos without them ( set back to 5 and turned off active steering) i apologize i was just trying to make the rally car stable on dirt.

Aerodynamics: 13 and 32

Ride height -5 and 5

Spring rate 3 and 2

Damper 8 and 6

The rest is default.

Alright despite not too much practice, i still got the hang of it. I can handle it fine. The TCS is 5 and Active steering is off. Again i am sorry for such noobish settings it won't happen again. (I hope)
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setting the front ride to -5 and rear to +5 creates even more oversteer. didn't you want less? switch them and you won't have as much oversteer
 
WesWelker83
setting the front ride to -5 and rear to +5 creates even more oversteer. didn't you want less? switch them and you won't have as much oversteer
Click to expand...

The ride height wasn't his issue. I believe his car handles nicely now.

Higher front then rear to reduce oversteer? Oversteer isn't something I would look to cure with adjusting the ride height, when its most likely not the cause of the issue, as it wasn't in this case.
 
GTCr@zyPSP
Higher front then rear to reduce oversteer? Oversteer isn't something I would look to cure with adjusting the ride height, when its most likely not the cause of the issue, as it wasn't in this case.
Click to expand...
Lowering the center of gravity will reduce weight shifting. As such it can have great impact on handling. As you already noticed, how much is dependent on the car (and track, on some tracks you just can't drop it down very far!). Also, raising front might be a little too much, as this will increase understeer; just lowering the rear might be enough. Then again, this car has plenty of downforce to keep the back in check. :)

Also keep in mind there is no hard relation between front and rear ride height: front ride height will modify understeer and rear ride height will modify oversteer. So even with front height higher than rear, you still might get oversteer (depending on the car and rest of the settings).
 
NLxAROSA
Lowering the center of gravity will reduce weight shifting. As such it can have great impact on handling. As you already noticed, how much is dependent on the car (and track, on some tracks you just can't drop it down very far!). Also, raising front might be a little too much, as this will increase understeer; just lowering the rear might be enough. Then again, this car has plenty of downforce to keep the back in check. :)

Also keep in mind there is no hard relation between front and rear ride height: front ride height will modify understeer and rear ride height will modify oversteer. So even with front height higher than rear, you still might get oversteer (depending on the car and rest of the settings).
Click to expand...

Yes dropping the RH will lower the center of gravity that is true, that will reduce weight transfer however that doesn't matter. If its not the Ride Height causing it the issue, adjusting it does little to help.

First step always is to locate WHAT is causing the issue. In our case it wasn't Ride height, but Downforce (amongst other suspension tuning that resolved the issue) The downforce was the primary cause of his issue.

Now ride height DOES have an impact, however its far less then other adjustable suspension settings, when tuning out over/under steer your Downforce, Damper, spring rate, toe, camber will have a much more pronounced effect then the ride height (assuming your ride height is not messed up, like Front higher then the rear ;) ) . I wouldn't look to fix a uncontrollable car with a little RH adjustment, the impact is just not substantial enough.

When adjusting the ride height, I never go for a revered rake. Even if raised I keep the front a touch lower to the rear or equal to it, I don't raise the front higher then the rear.

Now this car was having issues because of too high a rear downforce setting (Primarily). Reducing it allows the rear end to get around corners with more glide then dig. Then tuning the Spring rate, camber, & Damper was key to keeping the front in check, and prevent it from grabbing too hard during transitions those hard grabs during transitions cause the front to get wild. Notice the RH from His posted set up that he was having problems with is Very close to what I posted in my suggested set up however by properly tuning the cars suspension & Downforce the car now handles fine.
 
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Guys no need to debate his settings. I tried it and it really settled it down while not ruining his traits so much. The car would steer even for the tiniest turn you make and turns after you stopped and accelerated. This was my main issue, to keep it still while in a straight line. The oversteer wasn't too much of an issue for me.
 
Geez.....I was really hoping this thread would not see the light of day ever again, but then the rally car started to "unraveled itself". Although i'm still using the same settings recommended by a fellow GTPlanet user, i made some tiny adjustments making it a little easier. I don't really know what happened but it did start to easily lose control again.

Changed rear aerodynamic increased by 1

increased spring rates by 2


As a sidenote, i will probably change (or try to) change my username, now i feel pretty lame having it.
 
Increased spring rates can decrease traction. Try soft springs, especially in the rear.
 
Well, its been several months since I have updated the settings I have. Mainly because I have been stuck with these settings all this time. I changed the title as you can see and I would like to say thanks to all who helped gave me tips and helped me stuck to the roots of my car. Well, heres what I got.

TCS: 1
Aerodynamics: 6 18
Ride Height: 0 -5
Spring Rate: 3 3
Damper: 2 2
Toe: 0.00 +0.20
Camber Angle: 0.0 0.30

You might think I'm a tad bit crazy after all this time I bumped up a annoying thread, but I just have to. What do you think guys? I had been driving with these settings for a long long time. This doesn't take away the traits as bad as putting the TCS and ASM on max.
 
Personally i don't think there is much wrong with the Lancia Stratos. It was the first car I bought, and instantly put a smile on my face. I knew it was going to be a challenge to drive, but with this in mind I persevered.
Practice makes perfect, and if it aint broke don't fix it - as I said, I don't think it is the car that needs fixing (sure tweaks here and there can often yield valuable seconds per lap, but they are only tweaks).
If you are having difficulty with a particular car consider first how you are driving it. The title to this thread could as easily be 'Modify your car or modify your driving?'.
If you are looking for a new challenge, try one of the Ford GT40s.
 
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For me, its okay to drive without any tweaks during Time Attack. In a race however, I can't spend a lot of time adjusting this car's posture every time. Every second is crucial.
 
the trick is to keep everything normal too how you usualy drive but in corners dont play with the throttle
 
Quick Tune Setup, Lancia Stratos Stradale '73

Ride height -8 front and rear
Springs 4 front and rear
Dampers 4 front and rear
Toe in -0.05 front, -0.15 rear
Camber 0.9 front and rear
All other variables as per default

Auto, 1 TCS, 0 ASM, Active Steering Off, Professional.

proven with consistent +30k per lap drift points @ Tahiti Maze (both directions).

lancia-stratos-stradale-1974-5.jpg
 
Can the same be applied to the rally car?

On the side note: During my absence from this site I actually discovered a Rally car WORSE handled than the stratos. Ever driven the renault maxi rally car before?
 
yes the same can be applied to the rally car, 'tis a quite conservative setup, I like to think it optomises the existing characteristics of the car. You may still find it is a little heavy at the rear in low revs particularly when drifting.

I really don't understand your inference that the Stratos does not handle well.. just think of it as 'responsive' and 'agile', your driving must be the same.
 

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