Suspension Tweaks

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sundog

sundog

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I'm new here, but not new to GT (1,2 and 3). I love the game, and love the ghost mode (especially the data logger in 3). Nothing beats it for self improvement.

However I'm getting seriously curious about doing suspension tweaking. I've browsed around the archives a bit but haven't found a discussion on suspension tweaking that contains what I'm after.

I want to talk about what each of the different mods in suspension tweaking car do for a car's handling, and how to actually make those changes on the game menu. (Not always obvious to me).

I've found this great resource which I've used as a starting point

Jet Jaguar's GT Tuning Guide http://home.att.net/~chmilnir/gt/main.html The trouble shooting section is particularly good.

My first question to all you veterans out there is this:

Does increasing levels on stablisers, and dampers soften or harden then?

I assume the higher the number the "harder" the setting but my testing seems to show the opposite.


Futher down the track I'd like to talk in detail about how to cure some of the more common handling problems in certain makes of cars.


Looking forward to some replies to my first post. :)

Jason.
 
Great link dude.

I was under the impression that increasing them made them harder, and my experience with set-ups would suggest this is the case.

Certainly with springs the higher the weight the stiffer the spring.
 
Sweet a reply with the info I'm after. Good value. I did some testing with a MX-5 (Mazda) making around 300 HP, (my original car) which is still one of my fastest cars. Thank god for turbos.

Anyway the damn thing constantly suffers from power oversteer exiting corners, and I'd love to be able to tweak it to use all of its power, which isn't heaps yet. Jet's guide says to soften the rear stablisers and springs to reduce power oversteer out of corners. However I find that the car seems less prone to power oversteer when I stiffen them??? Go figure?

I need to put in more time. Next thing to play with is my final drive ratio to reduce torque to the back wheels without sacrificing too much grunt.

Then lower the ride height, then rear toe, and then camber.....I need to quit my job to do this properly. :smilewink

I love to tweak.


Jase.
 

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You might be softening them too much - if they're too soft, the weight transfer might be too much and would overload the rear tyres, as they have to cope with cornering and putting the power to the ground.

First thing I do when I get customised suspension is stiffen the springs right up (to within 1.5-2 kg off max) and drop the car right down (within 10-15 mm from bottom) and start working from there.

The comments about using the stabilisers and toe-in/out to modify behaviour are good - I've only just started mucking about with toe in/out and it's much better.

Sadly with the turbo's rather violent torque delivery characteristics it's never going to be particularly pleasant.
 
Gotcha there. Owned a '97 Nissan Silvia (200 sx in Australia), and it was a great car, but the combo of the turbo and LSD could make it brutal in the wet. Nearly killed myself/others a few times on rainy days.

Art imitating life imitating art...gotta love it.

Thanks for the tips. I'll put them into practice tonight and see what happens. My view is if I can't get the maximum out of this car now, then why should I bother to try and give the car more power (or other cars for that matter). It can't use it when it really counts. Surely all those tweaking options are in there for a reason. They must make a difference.

Its all to easy to just bolt on go fast goodies on a car, which takes no skill and leave it at that. My car has 1000HP! Blah blah. :rolleyes: I see that so often. I want to get more out of this fantastic game, and its so satifying to take a "normal street" car and turn it into a beast.
 
Cool - seem to be a lot of fellow Australians around on the boards now.

I've just gone AWD with a Liberty RX and I love driving it in the wet - just casually sailing around people in the wet, fantastic, after a couple of years of front-drivers.
 
Ahhh very nice car. Whats the engine in it? 2.0 litre NA boxer, or 2.5??
 
Originally posted by sundog
Ahhh very nice car. Whats the engine in it? 2.0 litre NA boxer, or 2.5??
Click to expand...

2.5 - 2.0 in GX (base model only).

Funny thing is, the girlfriend LOVES driving it, and she's getting a lot more confident cornering - good wheel and tyre package, Bridgestone Potenza's on 16 inch rims. I don't do mods, like to keep 'em stock.

97 200SX is alright - have you played with it?
 
It "was" a lot of fun. Sold it due to presure from the wife! Got it before I was married. Just a cash burning fun loving bachelor. Ahhh those were the days.

Wife used to like driving it too. Just was a bit dodgy in the wet, and last set of tires I got on it had to much flex in the tire wall. Ruined the handling. Apart from that completely stock. If I still had it then I would probably consider going a bit of a exhaust pipe and air box. Friend with a RX 7 (last model in the series) went the pipe and air box, and I was amazed at the difference it made. Makes a real difference with the turbo, but the thing becomes even more "brutal" to drive. :D

I like the idea of buying a nice car and leaving it stock. (At least until its out of warranty) Manufacturers do a good job at setting these things up.
 
What did you replace it with?

We had a Vectra before - 2.0l CD manual sedan - still rate it as one of the best handling front drive cars I've ever driven, bit firm around Sydney roads though.

That's where the Suby rules - about double the suspension travel helps - whoever did the suspension set-up on the Liberty is a genius...
 
Ahem I'd rather not talk about it. I no longer have a car, my wife however has a hatchbatch. :(

I suppose its our car, but she's the one who drives to and from work everyday. I get the bus (its actually as quick as driving for me).

Soooooo saaaaad. I'm planning on buying a motorbike one of these days, (mid 90's Kawasaki Z7-XR or Yamaha TRX) but this may not be the place for that discussion. :)
 
Bummer - I like the way you use the phrase 'hatchback' in the way one might use the phrase 'fridge' or 'dishwasher'. Nice ...
 
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