Tyre life differences in GT4.

[shotamagee]

Does anyone have/know the rough tyre life %'s for each of the tyres, when compared to one another in GT4?

ie. If I can do 10 laps on R3's at track x, that should mean I'll be able to do 15ish? laps on R2's and 22ish? laps on R1's (those numbers are just a guess, I'm hoping someone has slightly more factual actual numbers). Links, rough lap numbers or %'s either would be useful.

 

[BobK]

Does anyone have/know the rough tyre life %'s for each of the tyres, when compared to one another in GT4?

ie. If I can do 10 laps on R3's at track x, that should mean I'll be able to do 15ish? laps on R2's and 22ish? laps on R1's (those numbers are just a guess, I'm hoping someone has slightly more factual actual numbers). Links, rough lap numbers or %'s either would be useful.

Wow, sounds like a fun research project there!

Outside of useless generalities such as "harder tires last longer" I'm afraid I can't help you much when it comes to specific numbers. I'm rather surprised, in fact, that nobody has done any work along these lines already; at least I don't recall ever seeing any results posted.

 

[shotamagee]

Wow, sounds like a fun research project there!

Outside of useless generalities such as "harder tires last longer" I'm afraid I can't help you much when it comes to specific numbers. I'm rather surprised, in fact, that nobody has done any work along these lines already; at least I don't recall ever seeing any results posted.

Thanks for quick response; I'm just testing for a 200pt assault on the Tokyo R246 300km Enduro.
I just didn't want to have to do what will amount to probably half the race just testing tyre life if someone has already done it, oh well if the info ain't out there I may just have to just bite the bullet and DIY it.

 

[oldmodelt]

Thanks for quick response; I'm just testing for a 200pt assault on the Tokyo R246 300km Enduro.
I just didn't want to have to do what will amount to probably half the race just testing tyre life if someone has already done it, oh well if the info ain't out there I may just have to just bite the bullet and DIY it.

I think you should just do it. Kinda of brave of me to throw you to the wolves.

Worst case scenario would be for me to do it. But with my skills I have a bad time just keeping up let alone even thinking about beating the AI on a 200pt race,.

 

[shotamagee]

Ok here's my data; using a Honda S2000 LM with NA3 tuning, Full DF, custom setup & some ballast at Tokyo R246 I got the following results;
R1 tyres lasted just over 15 laps before pretty much useless, R2 tyres 10 laps, R3 tyres just over 7 laps & R4 tyres 5 laps.

Therefore;
R2's last for 66% as long as R1's
R3's last for 47% as long as R1's &
R4's last for 33% as long as R1's.

Also meaning R3-R2=72% R4-R2=50% R4-R3=69%

All working approximate, feel free to discuss / correct if you do your own testing.

 

[BobK]

I'd have to dig out my DFP and hook it up again to do anything along these lines, but I'm tempted to do so.

If I were to do this I'd use a methodology along the lines of tracking when the color changes. Seems to me that in enduros I get the best performance out of a tire just before it becomes blood red. But in a "normal" race it seems that the tires are shot well before the red-red stage.

It would also be instructive to try it with different cars on different tracks, although I realize that increases the work by an order of magnitude.

 

[Matej]

Maybe this can help:

Tire Life in laps
N1: 17-20
N2: 12-15
N3: 7-10

S1: 13-15
S2: 8-10
S3: 3-5

R1: 25-30
R2: 17-20
R3: 10-12
R4: 5-8
R5: 2-4

Source: Gran Turismo 4 Official Guide, page 72 (preview available at Google Books here )

Comparing to the data provided by Shotamagee, the expected life is a bit overstated but it doesn't say what car and track was used, so it could be possible.

Even though these are rough numbers, it seems that every subsequent harder compound slightly increases expected tire life margin.

 

[shotamagee]

@Matej based on above post.

Just comparing the R spec tyres; the %'s above look like this.

R2's last for 67% as long as R1's
R3's last for 40% as long as R1's &
R4's last for 24% as long as R1's.

Seems they managed to get a bit more life out of the harder tyres (or less from the softer tyres) than I did.
I've got that book and never even though to check it, haha.

Additionally, I've moved on to the SS150 miles endurance event and am getting these rough figures R1's 32 laps, R2's 24 laps & R3's 16 laps, which are 75% & 50% of R1 distance's respectively. (using the Black Mazda 787B with some ballast & lower (rear) down-force settings)

 

[RetroDriver]

May also depend on the track used, certainly Hong Kong has a very high tyre wear rate, I would hazard a guess that the big Nascar-style ring (sorry, its name is currently escaping me!) has a much lower wear rate due to the lack of tight bends and the smoother track surface

 

[shotamagee]

May also depend on the track used, certainly Hong Kong has a very high tyre wear rate, I would hazard a guess that the big Nascar-style ring (sorry, its name is currently escaping me!) has a much lower wear rate due to the lack of tight bends and the smoother track surface

How far you can go on any tyre has lots of variables (car track driving style etc), that is pretty obvious to me.
However when only the variable changed is the tyre grade, it should result in consistent % differences over all cars / circuits. (I think that works in theory)
This is why i'm giving my figures as %'s, not number of laps or distance.

 

[Matej]

@shotamagee Ha, the book is interesting to read but it can't surpass the experience of actual gameplay. That is why I never found the knowledge that the book offers overly useful.

The percentages above may be useful in GT World Championship as you can prepare strategy and calculate optimal tire compound before you enter pit lane.

 

[RetroDriver]

How far you can go on any tyre has lots of variables (car track driving style etc), that is pretty obvious to me.
However when only the variable changed is the tyre grade, it should result in consistent % differences over all cars / circuits. (I think that works in theory)
This is why i'm giving my figures as %'s, not number of laps or distance.

Makes sense and from where I stand it seems to work, as Matej says it could be very useful in the GTWC

 

[BobK]

Makes sense and from where I stand it seems to work, as Matej says it could be very useful in the GTWC

In fact, could be useful in any enduro or any race where tire wear is a factor.
I might have to dig out my DFP and do a bit of fiddling around here.

 

[shotamagee]

Another thing I've found, is that the tyres don't necessarily wear evenly, even on the same setup.

As I've said I'm doing the SS150 at Motegi.
Anyway with my current settings when I'm on R1 tyres the front right tyre wears fastest, when I switch to R2's it's pretty even front to back (Huzzah), but when I jump to R3's, the right rear wears pretty quickly so I can't quite get the %'s I need / have been getting. So with my current settings I've been getting the following.
2nd hand Mazda 787B, Chassis refresh, old oil, custom setup; R1 tyres 43 laps, R2 tyres 29 laps, R3 tyres 18 laps; which is as follows.

R2's last for 67% as long as R1's
R3's last for 42% as long as R1's.

I could try to tune the R3's for a bit more life (ie more understeer), but it's going to decrease the the distance I can do on R1's by (in theory) a lot & R2's (in theory) a little.

So I suspect that the softer the tyre grade, the quicker the rear tyres will wear in proportion to the front.

 

[Matej]

So I suspect that the softer the tyre grade, the quicker the rear tyres will wear in proportion to the front.

Interesting observation. I noticed the same thing with S compound tires but never paid much attention to it.