Tyre temps

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Whitestar

Whitestar

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Whitestar127
Hi guys. I've been doing some GT3 races at Spa with a Huracan GT3 (also tried the 488 GT3). Fast track at 20° and 16:00 in the afternoon. Medium slicks. AI at 95% (very evenly matched with myself). Stock car: tyre pressure 23 psi.

With this setup the rear tyres heat up to about high 60s on the first half of the track and about 75-80 (green-ish) on the last half of the track. But the front tyres stay firmly in the high 60s (blue) all the way. Is this to be expected? The only way I could heat my front tyres further was to create an exaggerated slip angle and "scrub" the tyres against the asphalt. But that's hardly an ideal way to drive.

So, is this the ideal way the tyre temps should behave, or should I make adjustments to the setup? I guess it's just natural for the tyre temps to vary based on the track (straight or turns). They can't stay green all the time, right? Or wrong? :)

On Silverstone I notice a much bigger difference in grip between the first 1-2 laps and the rest than on Spa, but maybe that's just the nature of the track?

Sorry if these are silly questions. I know very little about tyres and tyre temperatures IRL, so I just thought I would ask. :) If needed I want to make changes to the setup based on my driving style.
 
Welcome to the world of having to deal with how tyres actually work.

Yes you will have to play around with them, and on a track by track basis, and with GT3 cars the rears are simply going to be doing more work than the front (and with FWD cars you are going to find the opposite).

You can either increase the front pressures or change your driving style to work the fronts more and get more heat in them.

It's also likely that you should be getting more heat into all of them as well, as you are at the lower edge of optimum temperature for most slicks and they can certainly do more work for you.

I don't know what Sims you have come to AC from, but with GT and FM you don't have to really deal with this and both can lead you into a false sense of what you have to actually do.
 
I've been in AC since about March 2014, coming from GT. I didn't really feel it was a big struggle to transition because I immediately felt it was much easier to drive in AC than in GT.

Anyway, as I have gotten better at driving in AC it's become more fun as well, and after tyre temps became a feature I started to care how I drive. So I would like to get better at utilizing as much grip as I can. I'm probably just an average driver at best so I like to think I have a lot of room for improvement. :)

I'll see if I can make a video. I have a feeling I'm driving too gently.

Oh and thanks for the tyre pressure tip. I tried increasing it but I did so on all 4 tyres, not just the front tyres, so I'll do that.

Btw, in the tyres.ini file (Huracan GT3) under the 1.5 folder it says the ideal pressure for grip is 33 psi.
 
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I have this problem in most cars, I rarely see temps go above 70º and a lot of times it feels like driving on ice. Been like this for quite some time and it's rather frustrating.
 
BrandonW77
I have this problem in most cars, I rarely see temps go above 70º and a lot of times it feels like driving on ice. Been like this for quite some time and it's rather frustrating.
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Oh ok, not just me then. Do you know if it's considered a bug or issue and something Kunos is aware of and will improve? How long has it been like this? I seem to recall having a more "grippy" feeling a while back.
 
Whitestar
Oh ok, not just me then. Do you know if it's considered a bug or issue and something Kunos is aware of and will improve? How long has it been like this? I seem to recall having a more "grippy" feeling a while back.
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I'm not sure. For me it's been like this for six months or more but I don't see people talking about it very often so that makes me think it's not a common problem? But I know the people I race with have similar issues with most tires not getting up to working temps and as a result cars don't feel very grippy after the first lap or two.
 
What I am finding on some courses, the entire right or left side is green or blue. Some tracks allow for all four tires to be green. And some they all stay blue. I will have to break down which track does what. The car is simple.
I've driven nothing but the Ferrari 488GT3 since I got my new wheel.

I do have a question. Why is my car no matter what I drive always slower in a straight line than the AI?
What am I doing wrong in the car setup to keep my speed down? And what is the top speed of the Ferrari 488GT3 car?

I cant figure out why every car is slower than the AI in a straight line.
 
Blood*Specter
What I am finding on some courses, the entire right or left side is green or blue. Some tracks allow for all four tires to be green. And some they all stay blue. I will have to break down which track does what. The car is simple.
I've driven nothing but the Ferrari 488GT3 since I got my new wheel.

I do have a question. Why is my car no matter what I drive always slower in a straight line than the AI?
What am I doing wrong in the car setup to keep my speed down? And what is the top speed of the Ferrari 488GT3 car?

I cant figure out why every car is slower than the AI in a straight line.
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Yes, after testing a bit on Silverstone as well (Huracan GT3 only) I'm starting to think it's just in the nature of the tracks really, and of course also driving style and setup. Silverstone allowed for better front tyre temps. The left tyre gets heated more on both Silverstone and Spa. I suppose that has something to do with it being driven clockwise, therefore more pressure on that tyre? Anyway, on Silverstone there is definitely a bigger grip difference between first 2 rounds and the rest than on Spa. I'm still testing with different tracks, tyre temps and aero.

About the 488 GT3: I had the same problem with straight speed as you. I got a tip from someone that I needed to shift up a lot earlier because the car reaches max power at much lower RPMs than most of the other cars. So if you shift near the limiter you are essentially losing a lot of speed. The perfect tool for me turned out to be Race Essentials: http://www.racedepartment.com/downloads/raceessentials.10016/.
Here is a part of the FAQ:
"The app pulls data from the file used to draw the power/torque graph in the launcher and uses it to automatically figure out the optimal shift point for each car. On many cars, you won't notice any difference since the engines' maximum power output is very high in the rpm range. But, some cars like SF15-T, Ferrari 458 GT2 and Ferrari 488 GT3 (and many more) reach maximum power on rpms way before the engine hits the limiter. Before, the only way to know when to shift correctly on these cars was to look at their dash or steering wheel rpm lights, which can be very inconvenient due to camera choice, FOV, PP filter, steering wheel visibility settings and so on... Now, the app will automatically detect optimal shift points and trigger the rpm lights optimally and automatically, per car, without the need to adjust anything. Also, the app detects if the optimal shift point is beyond the limiter and reverts to old behaviour in that case. If for some crazy reason you don't want any of this awesomeness, you can turn it off in the config.ini, and also adjust the trigger tolerances (although I don't recommend this either)."

Great app that makes optimal shifting a lot easier. :) Goes without saying that you still need good exit speed, which for me is the most challenging aspect of driving. Well, apart from braking of course.

Edit: You can of course also use the RPM lights in the car itself (shift when the first red light appears), but I have the camera in such a position that those are not visible.
 
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Whitestar
About the 488 GT3: I had the same problem with straight speed as you. I got a tip from someone that I needed to shift up a lot earlier because the car reaches max power at much lower RPMs than most of the other cars.
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Whitestar, that was golden. I have installed the Race Essentials app. But I have always depended on the rev meters either in the cockpit or (when I had it) my G27 rev meter on the wheel. Another reason for my not using the app was the MPH is stated in Kilometers. A lot of times your revs can be determined by seeing how fast you're going.

Still knowing the car needs to be upshifted sooner is good. I had been tinkering with the gear ratios hoping that making the gears and final drive setting shorter would increase my acceleration and hopefully get to top end a lot sooner.

The other car(s) I really like in GT3 are the McLaren 650 and MP12/4C. And those cars also seem slower than the AI in my hands. I think I might have read somewhere that you can toggle between km/h and MPH with Race Essentials.

I also have some cornering issues at SPA. I plan to experiment setting all alignment, ride height and spoiler setting to zero and reducing springs and bound rebound. Then drive and try to feel what works. Thanks again for the tip.
 
Blood*Specter
But I have always depended on the rev meters either in the cockpit or (when I had it) my G27 rev meter on the wheel. Another reason for my not using the app was the MPH is stated in Kilometers. A lot of times your revs can be determined by seeing how fast you're going.

Still knowing the car needs to be upshifted sooner is good. I had been tinkering with the gear ratios hoping that making the gears and final drive setting shorter would increase my acceleration and hopefully get to top end a lot sooner.

The other car(s) I really like in GT3 are the McLaren 650 and MP12/4C. And those cars also seem slower than the AI in my hands. I think I might have read somewhere that you can toggle between km/h and MPH with Race Essentials.

I also have some cornering issues at SPA. I plan to experiment setting all alignment, ride height and spoiler setting to zero and reducing springs and bound rebound. Then drive and try to feel what works. Thanks again for the tip.
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Same as me then, I also relied on the rev meters in the cockpit and also the built-in Essentials app. :)

And I agree, those McLarens are really nicely balanced. The 488, while easy to "turn in" or "point" is perhaps slightly understeery, but awesome car none the less.
 
We are a bit off subject. However, I do think that the suspension as a whole has a lot to do with tyre temperatures.

I wonder if you encounter left side green, right side blue is it OK to lower inflation on the blue side until temps even up?
 
I just did a clean Win10 install this week and got AC running last night. Took the BMW 235i and Audi R8 LMS (default setup) around the Nords and both of them had blue tires around the whole lap, never got above 70º that I saw. Strange?
 
BrandonW77
I just did a clean Win10 install this week and got AC running last night. Took the BMW 235i and Audi R8 LMS (default setup) around the Nords and both of them had blue tires around the whole lap, never got above 70º that I saw. Strange?
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If you lower all of the tire pressure to lowest and still the temp don't rise, then it's strange :D Suspension setup do influence how the tire temp changes, but driving style may be more ( depend on the driver :P ) Does AC have skidpad or oval ? You can test temp rise easily by driving in circle and play with the loaded side ( tire pressure, camber/toe ), maybe also test spring/ARB and damper ( they should influence the temp changes too )
 
Ridox2JZGTE
If you lower all of the tire pressure to lowest and still the temp don't rise, then it's strange :D Suspension setup do influence how the tire temp changes, but driving style may be more ( depend on the driver :p ) Does AC have skidpad or oval ? You can test temp rise easily by driving in circle and play with the loaded side ( tire pressure, camber/toe ), maybe also test spring/ARB and damper ( they should influence the temp changes too )
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Shouldn't I be able to get some heat in them without having to tweak the setup though? I mean, if I were to drive any real car around the Nords at full chat the tires would be hot after a lap, yes? I drove both cars pretty hard, I'm not the fastest driver but I was pretty much at my limit.
 
BrandonW77
Shouldn't I be able to get some heat in them without having to tweak the setup though? I mean, if I were to drive any real car around the Nords at full chat the tires would be hot after a lap, yes? I drove both cars pretty hard, I'm not the fastest driver but I was pretty much at my limit.
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Mmm, not sure what happen, but AC should not have such issue from what I have read from other AC players here :( Have you checked the track condition ( surface condition, temp ) ? Maybe you were driving on cold track ? but even so, driving hard should heat up the tires, especially the rear driven wheels. Do you use app to read the tire temp ? That may be the issue.

I don't have AC, but I play LFS, and in that game, the tire temp changed all the time as you drive hard ( Inner, middle and outside )
 
BrandonW77
I just did a clean Win10 install this week and got AC running last night. Took the BMW 235i and Audi R8 LMS (default setup) around the Nords and both of them had blue tires around the whole lap, never got above 70º that I saw. Strange?
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That does indeed sound strange. Give me some moments and I'll have a go myself. What track/temp/weather settings did you use?
 
Blood*Specter
We are a bit off subject. However, I do think that the suspension as a whole has a lot to do with tyre temperatures.

I wonder if you encounter left side green, right side blue is it OK to lower inflation on the blue side until temps even up?
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I tried that (somewhat) and didn't really notice much difference. Will have to test more dramatic values apparently. :)
 
Whitestar
I tried that (somewhat) and didn't really notice much difference. Will have to test more dramatic values apparently. :)
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No need to use dramatic values, try increase rear roll bar for example, you should see higher temp rise, but that depends on the car.
 
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Ridox2JZGTE
Mmm, not sure what happen, but AC should not have such issue from what I have read from other AC players here :( Have you checked the track condition ( surface condition, temp ) ? Maybe you were driving on cold track ? but even so, driving hard should heat up the tires, especially the rear driven wheels. Do you use app to read the tire temp ? That may be the issue.

I don't have AC, but I play LFS, and in that game, the tire temp changed all the time as you drive hard ( Inner, middle and outside )
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I don't necessarily think it's an AC problem, my system is notoriously troublesome.

Whitestar
That does indeed sound strange. Give me some moments and I'll have a go myself. What track/temp/weather settings did you use?
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Fast/24c/mid-clear. I was just driving the 488 around Spa and it was similar, the fronts would hover around 68-72c and stay mostly blue. The rears were staying green but I didn't take note of the temps. Stock setup, tires, and air pressure.
 
Lower those pressures. Some cars need to lose 10psi to get the tires up 2 temp. The MX5 though needs some help, I cant get those tires hot for nothing.
 
Ridox2JZGTE
No need to use dramatic values, try increase rear roll bar for example, you should see higher temp rise, but that depends on the car.
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fatkrakr
Lower those pressures. Some cars need to lose 10psi to get the tires up 2 temp. The MX5 though needs some help, I cant get those tires hot for nothing.
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Will also try those tips, thanks. Hopefully it doesn't alter the handling character and/or speed too much.

@BrandonW77: I tried the 235i on the Nords with those options (and M slicks). Turned ABS and TC off (although the results were pretty similar with aids on) and tried to push as hard as I could without wheel lock or sliding too much.

The tyres didn't really start to heat up until Adenauer-Forst. After that they sort of alternated between pure green (75°) and light blue. They never cooled down to deep blue (60-ish) until the long straight. Sorry I didn't have time to produce images. I'll see if I can get some up (or a video) for comparison on Sunday.

My time was 8:13:xxx. With some practice I should be able to shave off a lot though as I'm just not used to that car or having ABS off, and my lap was pretty far from ideal. Also, I had problems deciding which gear to be in in many of the corners.
 
Whitestar
Will also try those tips, thanks. Hopefully it doesn't alter the handling character and/or speed too much.

@BrandonW77: I tried the 235i on the Nords with those options (and M slicks). Turned ABS and TC off (although the results were pretty similar with aids on) and tried to push as hard as I could without wheel lock or sliding too much.

The tyres didn't really start to heat up until Adenauer-Forst. After that they sort of alternated between pure green (75°) and light blue. They never cooled down to deep blue (60-ish) until the long straight. Sorry I didn't have time to produce images. I'll see if I can get some up (or a video) for comparison on Sunday.

My time was 8:13:xxx. With some practice I should be able to shave off a lot though as I'm just not used to that car or having ABS off, and my lap was pretty far from ideal. Also, I had problems deciding which gear to be in in many of the corners.
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Interesting. I'll give it another go and pay more attention to the tires but I think they stayed mostly some shade of blue throughout the lap. If you get a chance, try the 488 GT3 at Spa and see how the front tires behave.
 
BrandonW77
If you get a chance, try the 488 GT3 at Spa and see how the front tires behave.
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Will do. Tried it briefly but can't remember the tyre temps. I suspect they will be similar to the Huracan's but we'll see.
 
BrandonW77
I have this problem in most cars, I rarely see temps go above 70º and a lot of times it feels like driving on ice. Been like this for quite some time and it's rather frustrating.
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Can you help me, I don't see any tire icons on my hud in the game , what am I doing wrong?
 

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