Power Limiter vs Ballast in downgrading PP

[Normalaatsra]

I have a hard time deciding whether I should limit the power output or add weight to my car in order to downgrade it into a preferable PP level. Any idea how each affects the car with different characteristics, which is better to use, and tips on deciding?

 

[gaije]

When adding ballast the car will
1.be slower
2.it wont handle the same in corners

 

[DaBomm4]

First, it depends on the car, some don't mind hauling around a little extra weight in my opinion. Weight can change how a car reacts too, if drastic changes are made. Using the power limiter will reduce the max power and in extreme amounts, it can shift where the power curve is. If you are an automatic user, and you have parts that can be removed, it may be better to remove parts before using a lot of the limiter. It is mostly trial and error with figuring out what is better for which car, but I would start with adjusting power performance on most cars. I hope this is helpful.

 

[twitcher]

It depends on the car, and what your tuning goal is.

If you're tuning for a tight, twisty track, where corner speed and acceleration are most important, going the lightweight route is usually beneficial.

If you're tuning for a high-speed, flowing track, where maintaining top speed is more important, than a heavier car with more power might be the better option.


It also depends on your driving style. Lighter cars are more nimble, heavier cars are more planted. Both have ups and downs, so it comes down to what you prefer.

 

[shmogt]

Depends on the track I find. For me doing seasonal events etc 99% of the time you want your car as light as possible even if that means less hp. However really big tracks more power can be better. I always make it as light as possible, add suspension ,transmission, things that don't add pp and then start adding power parts. Usually lowering the power by limiting it screws up power band so I try to only do it if the pp is just a bit over my goal pp.

 

[F1Racer68]

As mentioned by all the previous posts, it really depends on the track and the driver. I tend to use a combination of both most of the time, as I prefer not to use extremes of either.

Excessive use of power limiter makes the power band of the engine too narrow which means you not only affect top speed (horsepower) but also acceleration because the peak torque and peak horsepower are too close together. On tracks with tight corners or hills this can severely hinder the car.

Excessive use of weight can also slow the cars overall as the Power to Weight ratio goes up. Excessive weight will also impact the overall handling and therefore cornering speeds of the car.

My approach is as follows:

1.) Remove power tuning parts to get as close as possible to the desired PP.
2.) reduce power limiter to no more than 90%
3.) if further PP reduction is needed, add no more than 50KG
4.) tweak small amounts of ballast and power limiter as needed if additional PP reduction is required.

If you find that you still need to reduce the PP by significant amounts after step 3, then you should be looking at a different car.

The added benefit of my approach is that in many cases the changes in weight and power are so small that only minimal tuning adjustments are needed.

 

[twitcher]

Depends on the track I find. For me doing seasonal events etc 99% of the time you want your car as light as possible even if that means less hp. However really big tracks more power can be better. I always make it as light as possible, add suspension ,transmission, things that don't add pp and then start adding power parts. Usually lowering the power by limiting it screws up power band so I try to only do it if the pp is just a bit over my goal pp.

I think you touched on another important factor to consider in the Power Limiter vs Weight battle. Is the car for TT/hot-lapping, or is the car for wheel-to-wheel racing?

For my style of driving, I like my wheel-to-wheel tunes to have as much grunt coming out of the corners as possible, combined with a good top speed. For this, I'm willing to sacrifice adding weight in the name of more power. I don't mind a slightly longer stopping distance, braking technique can be used to overcome that. I'm also ok with a slightly lower corner speed, as long as I can go full throttle quickly and accelerate hard. Another side benefit of a slightly heavier car is that your are harder to push around, especially for lightweight cars.

I don't like using low powered cars that require a high cornering speed for wheel-to-wheel racing. I find that my line gets blocked too often, and when it does, I'm basically screwed I probably just need more practice with these kinds of cars.


For Time Trials, on the other hand, I don't mind the lighter cars with less power. I find there's much less margin for error with these kinds of tunes, and I enjoy that challenge when driving solo.