Time Trial #55
- Thread starter ripping_silk
- 469 comments
- 54,190 views
- 11,660
- GTP_Orido
Finding balance of ballast, aero and HP is a trivial matter to me ... what's the best in terms of lap times ? I ran with stock 824HP, low aero ( no flat out at Eau Rouge ), no ballast - 185mph top speed, just transmission tuning, 2:19xxx.
It seems 800+HP with more ballast and aero is faster by miles ... but how do we determine the best balance of top speed, cornering speed and stability ? Is there any certain method to find it for these kind of TT ? or it's just trial and error or following others tune ?
It seems 800+HP with more ballast and aero is faster by miles ... but how do we determine the best balance of top speed, cornering speed and stability ? Is there any certain method to find it for these kind of TT ? or it's just trial and error or following others tune ?
- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
Perhaps that's why you're on a 2'19
Don't you post settings in the tuning forum (or at least in the FITT challenge)?
How do you come up with you settings?
Of course it's trial and error... you need to spend a few hours testing multiple combinations of power/ballast/ballast positioning/aero to find the best balance of speed and cornering.
This assumes of course, that you have enough driving skill to be able to run within a tenth or 2 of your limit lap after lap and therefore be able to tell if a 2bhp increase with a 5kg ballast increase and 1 click of of extra wing gives more speed than what you were using before... and at the same time, make tiny adjustments to the ballast positioning to maintain a nice handling balance.
At the moment, for me, this involves taking a new car to Daytona and running practice laps to try and find the right level of break in that gives just enough power without increasing torque so I can fine tune the ratios.
There's no formula to get it right.. it's about understanding the effect and investing the time... when you're chasing tenths, even a small change can be beneficial.
The easy way is to wait for someone to post a fast set up
All i've got it The chassis weight reduction stage 3, Window weight reduction, Carbon bonnet and the option to adjust the ballast :|
- 11,660
- GTP_Orido
Looks like, it's all down to how much someone willing to spend time and effort to get that fast lap time, trial and error, small adjustments, tweaking and maximizing grip vs power/weight ratio within PP limit. A lot of work 
I seldom spent more than an hour for TTs, that's why my time is just passable for gold.
I seldom spent more than an hour for TTs, that's why my time is just passable for gold.
- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
Looks like, it's all down to how much someone willing to spend time and effort to get that fast lap time, trial and error, small adjustments, tweaking and maximizing grip vs power/weight ratio within PP limit. A lot of work
Exactly... tunes don't just bulid themselves
However, there's usually a decent tune posted in the thread which is capable of a time much better than the gold target... I posted a tune for the NASCAR yesterday that will run 11 seconds inside the target.
- 1,510
- United Kingdom
- StirlingMoose
Well, hopefully I will be setting an even better time this evening, I was too tired last night having been up since early in the morning and my concentration was very poor
I've been following your ghost and if you can do that when tired and lacking concentration what's it going to like when you're on top form? I'm near my limit and can't get anywhere near.
I've just scraped into the 1.07s for 253th place, which I think is my first ever appearance on the front page of the leaderboard so I'm happy. Not that I expect to be there very long.
Brilliant tune, Stotty. It's hard to believe it's on CMs.
Thanks to this tune I just broke top 1000 for first time ever. Not to mention I'm driving auto with a crappy wheel. Woohoo. Thanks Stotty. Your great tune overcomes my otherwise mediocre driving 👍
Do you mean Eau Rouge; the left-right-left at the bottom of the hill?
If you do, take a big cut on the inside of the 1st part, then immediately turn right for the 2nd apex, then let the car straighten... I'm guessing you're running wide on the final part... best idea is to watch a replay from the top 10 and see how they do it... and then try and follow their ghost at a couple of car lengths distance and see if you can match their line.
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Just had an hour... what an absolutely fabulous track/car combination... challenging, but not silly difficult.
I'm pretty surprised how quickly I got to grips with this one - I was running 2'14's and wondering how a 2'12 was even doable, then as I got the feel for the car and grip levels the time dropped quite quickly in 0.5 chunks over just 15 laps (2'14.3 - 2'13.8 - 2'13.3 - 2'12.8).
Here's my 1st cut tune (currently 8th on 2'12.888)...
2010 Jimmie Johnson #48 Impala (1st unused one I found in my garage)
Parts
Oil change
Chassis reinforcement - I know I always say don't use this, but I tested the 2011 Impala without it 1st, then jumped in the 2010 with exactly the same set up everywhere else and it felt better with chassis reinforcement. I will go and test again without later... might be there's a super sweet spot of ballast/positioning/rear aero/chassis stengthening/no chassis strengthening to create the best grip/balance combo... as it is, the car feels to have a lovely balance to me... very neutral.
200kg ballast at pos 25
Aero 50 62
Power limiter 94.2%
Makes 815bhp at 1,765kg for 570ppts
Settings
Ride -25 -15
Springs 15.8 14.3
Rebound 7 6
Bound 6 5
ARB 2 6
Camber 2.2 1.0
Toe +0.10 +0.15
LSD 7 10 5
Brakes 5 5
A higher rear bias does make trail braking in to turn 1 a bit easier, but can result in 'brake release oversteer' in to some of the faster entries... see what you feel comfortable with.
Gears (reset to default, set max speed to minimum, then set individual gears & final)
1st 3.047
2nd 2.318
3rd 1.869
4th 1.571
Final 2.491
Suspension was my standard starting adjustments (for a FR car with aero) before I'd even driven the car and I haven't been back to them at all yet... so I'll be looking at spring/damper/camber/toe/ARB rates when I have my next run.
Few tips as I'm sure my lap will be out of the top 10 soon enough...
There's a lot of coasting to do on this one... brake early, bit of trail braking, COAST, make sure the car isn't understeering, then pick up the throttle VERY GENTLY/SMOOTHLY
Eau Rouge is flat - though not necessarily every lap
1st gear on entry to Les Combes, hold this to the 2nd apex, then change up to 2nd (stops the car running wide on the left part).
1st gear for Bruxelles entry, quick change to 2nd, then down to 1st again for turn in to the left hander... then up to 2nd before the apex.
2nd for Pouhon entry, 3rd once the car has turned and is settled.
1st for Fagnes entry, hold this to 2nd part of the complex... take 2nd on the exit.
1st for entry to Stavelot, 2nd on the kerbing... you need to feather the throttle through the 2nd part of Stavelot and run slightly wide on the exit.
Obviously a lot of this is part throttle or the car spins - Like the Vette at Deep Forest, I really don't envy the DS3 boys on this one
I expect mid/low 11's form the Aliens with a good tune... top time is running more aero than my set up as I can catch him on the run to Les Combes, and have been ahead of him on the exit.
Good luck and enjoy 👍
- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
- 136
- Isle Of Wight
- WightSparky
Well, hopefully I will be setting an even better time this evening, I was too tired last night having been up since early in the morning and my concentration was very poor
I've fallen asleep at the wheel before and never managed to do that well.
Maybe i should do it more often.
- 1,510
- United Kingdom
- StirlingMoose
My Eunos was a bit down on HP so did another run with the ballast a bit forward and less aero to get the full 246HP and did a 1.07.7 for 155th place. It's still a great drive and the extra speed on the straights helps compensate for my inability to get the power on cleanly.
- 136
- Isle Of Wight
- WightSparky
Warming up to the eunos. Getting a better line now, breaking points need some refining.
1:07.463
1:07.463
- 1,551
- Lancashire
- GTP_BanditKarter, BanditKarter22
Honestly my vision was going blurry haha!I've fallen asleep at the wheel before and never managed to do that well.
Maybe i should do it more often.
- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
Check the kg/bhp ratio of no ballast versus ballast.
Checked and testing 👍
Edit...
Well that was interesting... with no ballast the car makes 58bhp less, but is faster in a straight line
Unfortunately it's nowhere near as joyous to drive it understeers a lot more without the ballast. However, I did knock almost 0.6 off my previous best lap after 20 mins of adjusting the aero to try and get some balance back in the handling (now 9th on a 1'12.313), and I think it will be possible to improve it further now the speed is there.
Huge thanks for pointing it out 👍
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- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
I'll post a new set up for the Vette tomorrow - surprising how little rear wing you can get away with running and still have a drivable car
I'm sticking it on share for now if anyone on my freinds list wants a go in it (though the tune really is a WIP now there's no ballast!)... an Indian take away and a bottle of Rioja take priority over posting tunes
I'm sticking it on share for now if anyone on my freinds list wants a go in it (though the tune really is a WIP now there's no ballast!)... an Indian take away and a bottle of Rioja take priority over posting tunes
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- 3,359
- California
- PumpinNumbies
- 1,510
- United Kingdom
- StirlingMoose
- 8,642
- London
- GTP_Stotty
Got to the 7.3's and plateaued
Think there's 2 tenths I can gain on a perfect lap, assuming I could run a perfect lap.
I got so used to it over the past couple of weeks... I mean the NASCAR That's a solid lap in the Eunos 👍 Will be harder using auto transmission.
- 1,590
- IL
- shoenboggie
Got a 1:07 using Stotty's tune... Sitting at 183 or so now, just need to gain more speed in the final sweeper. Thanks for sharing your tune...
- 136
- Isle Of Wight
- WightSparky
Nodding off is not helping me, so b-spec guys are at work now.
- 318
- Chicago, Il
- GTP_Crozzlow
I'll post a new set up for the Vette tomorrow - surprising how little rear wing you can get away with running and still have a drivable car
I'm sticking it on share for now if anyone on my freinds list wants a go in it (though the tune really is a WIP now there's no ballast!)... an Indian take away and a bottle of Rioja take priority over posting tunes
Hey Stotty! Thanks much for the Eunos Roadster tune and the share. I am sub 1:09. That is great for me, in the top 800! What a blast driving yours, btw, nice color scheme. I dig the red wheels.
- 1,551
- Lancashire
- GTP_BanditKarter, BanditKarter22
Didn't have time to set a fast time today as I was sidetracked by some friends haha! Oh well, that's the good thing about having 2 weeks for these time trials 
- 3,094
- USA
- ItsAllAboutWins
Didn't have time to set a fast time today as I was sidetracked by some friends haha! Oh well, that's the good thing about having 2 weeks for these time trials
I watched your replay this morning. Pretty nifty driving. No idea how you got the uphill turns flat out or the throttle lift on the lefty before the chicanes. Truly magnificent. Every time my car gets near a rumble strip, off the track it goes or it does donuts. Could be the ds3. To much throttle or to much steering.
- 3,359
- California
- PumpinNumbies
I'm slowly making the transition to Manual. With the TT it's not as bad, because it's the same car, same track and once you get it down it's not bad, although a few shifts ruined a few good laps, but w/e.
Online though where I constantly swap cars, PP levels, final drives and tracks, it's a different story, but... in due time I suppose.
