Nurburgring online racing.. Power vs downforce?

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leexr2i

leexr2i

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leexr2i
What do you think is best for the nurburging online when running 600pp? I normaly go for mid bhp and high downforce.. Like a detuned amuse gt1 or R390 roadcar! But last few days i have been beaten by high powered cars that cant keep up in the corners, then blast past on the strates! What do you use??
 
you have to find the best of both worlds I like running more down force because there are a lot of tight corners but there are also lots of places where you can get your car close to top speed you just have to run and tune and find out what works best for the car your driving
 
Because of connection issues I don't race online so I'm probably the wrong person to respond to this but here's my 2 cents anyways. :sly:

I would suggest you try slowly reducing downforce until you find the minimum point for you to still be able to carve the corners with maximum speed for your driving style. You might have to fine tune your other settings as well. Doing this should help you find the ideal balance for your driving style and the cars performance envelope thus enabling the fastest lap times for you.
 
With online racing, the draft plays a key role in the outcome of a race. You can be slower through the turns and easily catch up with the combination of draft and additional power. A car with high downforce can run a perfect lap hitting every apex but will still get passed if the straight is long enough. Without the power, you'll never make a pass stick, even if you can hold an outside line.

Your best approach is to find the middle ground as Desperado described. If you can't stay within drafting distance with no downforce, find the minimum amount of downforce required to stay close and plan to make your passes on the straights. If you are having grip problems, seek alternate methods of balancing the car like ballast, camber, and other suspension settings.
 
Yeh, im going to fine tune my R390 this week.. 80 downforce at the back is a bit much, so try get that down to the 55-60ish mark and get a bit more topend out of her!
 
Suspension settings can improve handling there quite a bit and with no pp cost. The track surface is really demanding.

The power vs. downforce is hard to answer. Some kind of balanced solution would propably be the best. NSX for example dominates there in 500pp range but isn't really that powerfull compared to many other cars of that pp range.
 
I prefer a setup with good mechanical grip and no, or low downforce.

More HP for the corner exits, straightaways and passing.
 
Sohvakettu
Suspension settings can improve handling there quite a bit and with no pp cost. The track surface is really demanding.
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This. You should probably err on the side of downforce, but you need to be careful with the ride height because the Nordschleife is very bumpy, especially in the C and D sections.

You should also work on your exit from the final turn - the following straight is so long that you can lose a lot of time with a bad turn.
 
Despite the vast amount of corners at the 'Ring, their's not that many that actualy require high downforce, most are dealt with by means of well tuned mechanical grip. Higher BHP is always favourable for this circuit as running downforce too high just wastes the available pp for 90% of the circuit and as has already been mentioned, it's vital to have enough grunt on that long home straight.
 
Not just the last straight, but all those little straights as well. I'd say Fuji, and possibly Tokyo R246 are the only tracks where downforce can help you pull away from the pack. If it doesn't help you pull away, they'll just draft you and catch back up again.
 
Downforce is more important, no doubt. Yes the power will help on the straights, but you can not hold the speed through the corner, and then you will need to catchup after each corner. If you look at PP races, racecars with loads of downforce is faster then streetcars with more power. However it comes down to the driver to use the advantages of his car.

Another note is the downforce balance. On streetcars you can only ajust the rear downforce, making the car kind of understeering at a high level. So you will need a balance anyhow.
 
Phantom3D
Downforce is more important, no doubt. Yes the power will help on the straights, but you can not hold the speed through the corner, and then you will need to catchup after each corner. If you look at PP races, racecars with loads of downforce is faster then streetcars with more power. However it comes down to the driver to use the advantages of his car.

Another note is the downforce balance. On streetcars you can only ajust the rear downforce, making the car kind of understeering at a high level. So you will need a balance anyhow.
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I couldn't agree . . . . . less.

How come i monstered a Calibra DTM in a BMW M5 with no silly wings and downforce? As my fellow racers in the 2 driving leagues i take part in will tell you, i'm by no means some kind of driving god. And the Calibra driver was on the money with his driving, no problems there. Like i said, there's only a handfull of corners at the 'Ring that require true downforce (drive it in real life, you may get a better understanding of the 'feel' of the 'Ring) so adding high downforce wastes valuable pp. If the car is set up properly with well tuned mechanical grip then you will understand why downforce plays a small role overall on this circuit.
 
XPOWER180 well, it all depends really.
Lower PP races, power will be more important. RWD cars with sports tires at higher PP, a rear wing will be more important. There are so many factors, but I generally find df to be more important, however I usualy drive rwd cars.

How often do you drive on the ring? To get the "feel" of the ring I mean..
 
At 600PP I'd go for the downforce.
I've been testing with several cars and there seems to be a breaking point.

Example: Car has 400PP, 150BHP and 40 downforce (lets say 40 represents the total amount of df)
Car runs ring in 8:00:000
Same car, 400PP, 250BHP, 20 downforce: car runs 7:30:000
Just because the difference in BHP is so huge (percentage wise)

Now we take a 600PP car.
600BHP, 120 downforce. Car runs 6:00:000
Same car, 700BHP, 80 downforce, car runs 6:10:000


So it's a matter of: how much BHP do you already have, whats the weight of the car and how much downforce can you generate in total?
I'd rather loose some BHP if I have like 700, than loose downforce.
Only when a car has really low BHP I'd go for the extra power instead of the downforce.

On this track, with 600PP cars, I'd definately go for the downforce.
You have to realise though where you have to gain the time.
If you have a high downforce car and get stuck behind some low downforce opponent, you HAVE to pass him in the corners because he will totally annihilate you on the straights.


IF you wanna have fun online do this:
Make server, allow only cars from the online garage.
The only 2 cars allowed: Ferrari F40 and Nismo 380RS Super Leggera.
The F40 has speed, the Nismo has grip.

It's really fun to drive with 5 F40's and 5 Nismo's on the Ring.
Try it.
 
XPOWER180
I couldn't agree . . . . . less.

How come i monstered a Calibra DTM in a BMW M5 with no silly wings and downforce? As my fellow racers in the 2 driving leagues i take part in will tell you, i'm by no means some kind of driving god. And the Calibra driver was on the money with his driving, no problems there. Like i said, there's only a handfull of corners at the 'Ring that require true downforce (drive it in real life, you may get a better understanding of the 'feel' of the 'Ring) so adding high downforce wastes valuable pp. If the car is set up properly with well tuned mechanical grip then you will understand why downforce plays a small role overall on this circuit.
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Same with M3 CSL no wings.

Reducing downforce doesn't give THAT much difference to how much more power you can add anyway!

Mid DF Mid Power would be best I would think, and lengthen your topspeed a bit too!
 
Merquise
If you have a high downforce car and get stuck behind some low downforce opponent, you HAVE to pass him in the corners because he will totally annihilate you on the straights.
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This is basically what it boils down to. If you run neck and neck with a car all the way to the final straight the one with more power will likely be in front at the finish line. The only way for a high df grip car to win would be if it creates a big enough gap to prevent drafting before the final straight.

Learn to keep up without downforce and you'll have easy opportunities to pass on straights. Once you get in front, run a clean line and keep those grip cars behind you.
 
Phantom3D
XPOWER180 How often do you drive on the ring? To get the "feel" of the ring I mean..
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I manage to get there about twice a year on average, done a lot of laps in various cars and it always feels different. Been a total of 11 times now and hoping to return in August. :)
 
Cool, what do you drive there?
I've been invited by friends, but I do not have time this year :-(
 
Been took around in an Elise 111R, an E46 M3 and a 993 911 Carrera. Driven my self in an MG ZR160, an MG ZS180 and a Golf MK4 R32.
 
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