What is your tuning process?

[ALB123]

As the title says, I'm interested in hearing from people who hardly ever run the stock setup with cars that allow more than just alignment (Toe & Camber) changes.

Do you have an algorithm that you usually stick to? Let's use the Porsche 911 GT3 R 2016 from Kunos on Zandvoort as our example. You go out and run some laps in the stock configuration. We know Zandvoort is a bumpy, twisty track that requires precise lines to get the most of out of those high speed turns which lead into hard braking zones. You pull into the pits and what do you adjust first?

Do you fiddle with your alignment before anything else to try and get the most heat you can through the tires surface? How do you decide whether to adjust the springs, dampers or both? How about the ARB? For example, wouldn't increasing the front wheel rate technically eliminate some of the front roll as well?

Dampers are probably my biggest annoyance. If I move them up or down a couple of ticks, there's pretty much zero chance that I'm going to be able to feel a difference...and cars that also have Fast Bump/Fast Rebound settings just increase the size of my headache.

Even Aero adjustments can leave me banging my head against a wall. On Zandvoort I'd either leave the Rear Aero at default or increase it whereas on a track like Monza or even Spa I would probably lower the rear aero a couple of ticks. It's the Front Splitter that really gives me fits, especially with cars that only offer 0 or 1.

If anyone happens to have a tune for the Porsche 911 GT3 R 2016 on Zandvoort, please share it and tell us how and WHY you made the changes that you did. If you only have a tune for a different track, that's still cool. :-)

Believe it or not...Even though I posted these sad, n00bie type questions I've actually gotten a little bit better at tuning my cars. I'm sure they would probably suck for an experienced racer & tuner, but a few of my tunes have either shaven time off my laps or at least made the car more predictable & stable.

 

[BrandonW77]

Get in the car, drive onto the track, figure out its tendencies and quirks, adapt, get faster. My crew has prohibited me from doing any tuning after "the incident". They do allow me to adjust tire pressures but only if I use the advice of Sidekick.

 

[VBR]

I've never tuned anything in AC. When I look at the tuning settings they're in a constant state of flux, with the various values moving all over the place. I assumed it was a bug on the console version & left it well alone.

 

[BrandonW77]

I've never tuned anything in AC. When I look at the tuning settings they're in a constant state of flux, with the various values moving all over the place. I assumed it was a bug on the console version & left it well alone.

I believe those are the wrong values to look at (from what I've heard), they are fluctuating based on the surface the car is sitting on. There are other values that you're actually supposed to look at if you're trying to tune. This is one of the reasons I don't tune, there's little commonality between games and it seems like there's often hoops to jump through or caveats or values are backwards or some kind of nonsense that makes it very difficult to figure out what the hell I'm supposed to do. The community isn't much help either, someone will give a vague statement like "you need to stiffen the suspension" so I go to the suspension page and it's all gibberish with no clear indication of what would stiffen or soften the suspension. So, I've given up on even trying to figure it out and I just adapt my driving style to whatever car I'm in.

 

[lancia delta hf]

I've never tuned anything in AC. When I look at the tuning settings they're in a constant state of flux, with the various values moving all over the place. I assumed it was a bug on the console version & left it well alone.

As Brandon said, those are just live readings as you're in the pits taking into account the the weight of the driver, fuel, and the surface level etc. If you look closely at that display you see readings of blistering and grain etc. Which you don't see in the section you set yourself.

As the title says, I'm interested in hearing from people who hardly ever run the stock setup with cars that allow more than just alignment (Toe & Camber) changes.

Do you have an algorithm that you usually stick to? Let's use the Porsche 911 GT3 R 2016 from Kunos on Zandvoort as our example. You go out and run some laps in the stock configuration. We know Zandvoort is a bumpy, twisty track that requires precise lines to get the most of out of those high speed turns which lead into hard braking zones. You pull into the pits and what do you adjust first?

Do you fiddle with your alignment before anything else to try and get the most heat you can through the tires surface? How do you decide whether to adjust the springs, dampers or both? How about the ARB? For example, wouldn't increasing the front wheel rate technically eliminate some of the front roll as well?

Dampers are probably my biggest annoyance. If I move them up or down a couple of ticks, there's pretty much zero chance that I'm going to be able to feel a difference...and cars that also have Fast Bump/Fast Rebound settings just increase the size of my headache.

Even Aero adjustments can leave me banging my head against a wall. On Zandvoort I'd either leave the Rear Aero at default or increase it whereas on a track like Monza or even Spa I would probably lower the rear aero a couple of ticks. It's the Front Splitter that really gives me fits, especially with cars that only offer 0 or 1.

If anyone happens to have a tune for the Porsche 911 GT3 R 2016 on Zandvoort, please share it and tell us how and WHY you made the changes that you did. If you only have a tune for a different track, that's still cool. :-)

Believe it or not...Even though I posted these sad, n00bie type questions I've actually gotten a little bit better at tuning my cars. I'm sure they would probably suck for an experienced racer & tuner, but a few of my tunes have either shaven time off my laps or at least made the car more predictable & stable.

I generally just do PSI and fuel. I don't do enough practice laps to get Into set up.

 

[OooAhh Cantona]

@ALB123 - I'm probably just like you, an average tuner. I've learned along the way from GTP, pCARS, and RD forums... which have provided links to useful articles. (I'm sure you can find useful YouTube tutorials as well.) My only algorithm: start with brakes and finish with dampers. Brakes because it is noticeable when tires lock and cause under/oversteer. Dampers are last because it is fine tuning (based on a tip I read on forum). No surprise that dampers are giving you headache, but you should make those changes at the end. Everything in between is art and science. I don't follow the same steps after I set up the brakes. It comes from what I'm getting from the car.

So I took the Porsche GT3R out to Zandvoort, where I have very little track time. After getting comfortable with the track, I was able to start assessing the car handling on the track.

• Stock brake setup works for me. No locking under heavy braking.
• Then I notice some understeer. Or more like the front tires didn't have enough gradual roll as I turned. Decreased front ARB by 2 values, and that was much better. (Eventually decreased by 1 more value to balance other changes.)
• But still not getting the right balance entering and exiting corners, so I changed the alignment.
• Zandvoort is twisty and requires faster reactions. Increased the spring (wheel) rates front and back.
• Tweaked some other settings...
• Immediately shaved 4 seconds off lap time.
• Still have not touched dampers. (And I wouldn't say I'm finished with the other settings. This was a quickie challenge based on your post.)

 

[Sturdy]

After watching the driver61 university series on YouTube, he suggested not to get in to setup changes until you can run consistent laptimes across multiple sessions, so that you know your changes are making a positive difference.

I simply don't practice enough to be that consistent, so I don't bother with setup tweaks.

 

[20832]

The things I usually do:

• lower the tyre pressure on most road cars (25psi usually) or increase the tyre pressure on most race cars (20 - 22psi)
• Take out all of the stabilizers
• Make the car as soft as possible, maybe stiffen it up a little, if necessary
• Take out all of the toe
• On race cars, I also lower the downforce as low as possible
• lower the camber on most cars, front and rear.
• Switch to the stickier tyres
• Adjust brake bias more towards the front and set brake pressure to about 89%

That's a quick and dirty setup process, that I usually do, when I just want to hotlap, but also because I don't understand half of the stuff I'm able to adjust. With that being said, the setup fits my overall driving style and I'm perfectly capable to do proper (and in some cases fast(est)) laps with it on a regular and continued basis.

For anything more complicated, I have a plugin called "The Setup Market", where I'm able to download a few setups for cars that require more in-depth adjustments to the setup. Especially the setup I use for the Z4 GT3 is beautiful and eliminates all of the issues related to the oversteer under braking.

 

[Traks1]

I go to each corner of the car, kick each and every tyre really quite hard indeed and if it doesn't fall off I get in and drive as fast as I can. I think it's mostly me that needs a tune to be faster rather than tinkering with the car.

 

[Knukel]

I always adjust front Toe values first, mostly closer to zero for better FFB outputs. It's something i expected to change after equipment upgrade from T150 to CSL Elite, but still i find most cars unpleasant to drive with stock front Toe values...

 

[nick1402]

Hello,

Put the guide linked below on your phone/tablet/print/whatever and spend an afternoon tuning a car while following this guide. It will teach you alot about setting up a car. It goes into alot of detail about every adjustment so if the AC garage tips aren't clear enough just read this. It say what to change first and what to change last if i remember correctly. It's written for RF2 but can be used for Assetto or most other sims aswell.

http://www.zaphod.fr/GSC/media/2AdvancedSetupGuideV1.pdf

 

[graveltrap]

First an foremost is to get the tyre pressure into the right zone, which for the 911 GT3R is around 26psi hot. It is a good place to start with all GT3 cars to be fair. Don’t worry about tyre temperature in AC.



There a few videos worth checking out on the Game and Track Channel, especially as they are straight from the source!

GT3 cars a complex beasts, maybe not the best starting point for a case study

 

[BrandonW77]

After watching the driver61 university series on YouTube, he suggested not to get in to setup changes until you can run consistent laptimes across multiple sessions, so that you know your changes are making a positive difference.

I totally agree with that. I see people claim that a setup can make them 2-3 seconds faster, I don't buy it. If they'd spent the same amount of time in the car without tuning anything they would have found most of that time just from learning how the car gets around the track and what it likes/doesn't like. That's what I do, just drive and drive until I really know the car, then when I throw a setup on there it might find me a couple tenths but not whole seconds. But I easily improve by 2-3 seconds or more just from getting out there and pounding the tarmac. I once heard a driving instructor say "The best way you can improve your performance is by improving the meat in the seat (the driver)" and that's generally the philosophy I go by.

 

[cdubbbs]

^ Agreed. Pick your car and the track. Then from there, drive and drive and drive until you just cannot go any faster around the track. Its a time consuming process to find the limit, reach it and then finally realize that you can shave some time with very slight adjustments. Adjust one setting at a time and then go test....a lot, before the next change. If not, you won't be able to fully realize the effects of the change(s) made.
This is when datalogging becomes invaluable.

 

[Cote Dazur]

1. Establish Optimum tire pressure over 2 or 3 Laos using an app like tire ingeneer
2. Determine best gearing by making last gear go slightly under red zone at the end of the longest straight
3. Set fuel according to race length
4. Done

 

[ALB123]

After watching the driver61 university series on YouTube, he suggested not to get in to setup changes until you can run consistent laptimes across multiple sessions, so that you know your changes are making a positive difference.

I simply don't practice enough to be that consistent, so I don't bother with setup tweaks.

Thanks. I will check out Driver61 University. 👍 Consistency is one of my biggest problems.

For anything more complicated, I have a plugin called "The Sim Market", where I'm able to download a few setups for cars that require more in-depth adjustments to the setup. Especially the setup I use for the Z4 GT3 is beautiful and eliminates all of the issues related to the oversteer under braking.

I think you might have meant "The Setup Market"? I've tried many tunes from that site too - especially once they released a plugin.

Hello,

Put the guide linked below on your phone/tablet/print/whatever and spend an afternoon tuning a car while following this guide. It will teach you alot about setting up a car. It goes into alot of detail about every adjustment so if the AC garage tips aren't clear enough just read this. It say what to change first and what to change last if i remember correctly. It's written for RF2 but can be used for Assetto or most other sims aswell.

http://www.zaphod.fr/GSC/media/2AdvancedSetupGuideV1.pdf

Thank you for the link. 👍

Thanks to everyone who's chimed in on this thread. I appreciate all opinions and all advice in regards to tuning.

 

[nosoks]

I totally agree with that. I see people claim that a setup can make them 2-3 seconds faster, I don't buy it. If they'd spent the same amount of time in the car without tuning anything they would have found most of that time just from learning how the car gets around the track and what it likes/doesn't like. That's what I do, just drive and drive until I really know the car, then when I throw a setup on there it might find me a couple tenths but not whole seconds. But I easily improve by 2-3 seconds or more just from getting out there and pounding the tarmac. I once heard a driving instructor say "The best way you can improve your performance is by improving the meat in the seat (the driver)" and that's generally the philosophy I go by.

^^^^^this^^^^^
in the 60s the engineers could only give Jim Clark 2 or 3 practice laps in the car otherwise he would just figure out the cars quirks and drive around them.

 

[Dopplegagger]

I totally agree with that. I see people claim that a setup can make them 2-3 seconds faster, I don't buy it. If they'd spent the same amount of time in the car without tuning anything they would have found most of that time just from learning how the car gets around the track and what it likes/doesn't like. That's what I do, just drive and drive until I really know the car, then when I throw a setup on there it might find me a couple tenths but not whole seconds. But I easily improve by 2-3 seconds or more just from getting out there and pounding the tarmac. I once heard a driving instructor say "The best way you can improve your performance is by improving the meat in the seat (the driver)" and that's generally the philosophy I go by.

I'm trying to do this in every sim/game I run. Coming from Forza and seeing all those magical tunes, I found that the biggest factor in shaving those advertised seconds off my time was me. If I didn't know the track and the car, a tune would never help me get faster. So I started working on becoming consistent. And as of this moment, I'm still working on that. One track and car at a time.

Also I've seen that simply adjusting tire pressure can make a world of difference once I get the consistency down. But first, I got to get out there and learn me some good habits. LOL

 

[Grippy]

For anything more complicated, I have a plugin called "The Sim Market", where I'm able to download a few setups for cars that require more in-depth adjustments to the setup. Especially the setup I use for the Z4 GT3 is beautiful and eliminates all of the issues related to the oversteer under braking.

Good stuff. I beleive its The Setup Market? Also, very handy some cars come with base setups and qualy and race. All 3!

I know there are some physics exploits in the sim where you can get grip tuning unlike you would IRL, anyone remember those?

 

[ALB123]

Good stuff. I beleive its The Setup Market? Also, very handy some cars come with base setups and qualy and race. All 3!

I know there are some physics exploits in the sim where you can get grip tuning unlike you would IRL, anyone remember those?

I can't say that I've ever heard of outright physics exploits, but maybe I just wasn't looking in the right places. There are a couple of very fast drivers, like William L. over on the official forums, who've mentioned maxing out the negative camber. Now, I don't know if they're talking about with road cars, race cars or both. But, I would assume maximum negative camber shouldn't always be the best camber setup, so maybe that would be considered an "exploit"?

I saw your other post asking about tuning, but the questions are fairly similar so I am putting my response here. Aristotelis has spoken multiple times about getting the best balance of air pressure & tire temperature that you can to start off. Next, watch a replay of your driving using the rear camera, but elevate it upward so it's almost like a helicopter following & looking down on the car - but only about 10-12 feet off the ground. Make a note if you're seeing the car dive a lot under braking and a note if you see the car squatting a lot on full acceleration. If you feel there is too much squatting, for example, you may want to see if you can adjust the rear springs of the car slightly...make them a little stiffer if you can. Go drive some laps again and see if that's helped to remove that squat from the rear.

Some cars allow for fantastic tuning adjustments so players can really dial in what they feel are the best settings for their driving style. Obviously, other cars give you minimal settings to adjust, or the settings that can be adjusted have large effect on the car versus small effect. Street cars, for example, usually don't allow any suspension setup, so you just have to stick with alignment (and sometimes aero) changes. With these cars it's all about tire temp & tire pressure as I said in the beginning.

I wish I could tell you that when I am running a modified GT3 race car setup, I can feel the difference between dampers at 5 versus dampers at 6. I'm not good enough to feel those differences...but if you're willing to put in the time, even if you can't feel it you can run laps and compare lap times to see what's working better for you.

 

[AI_Driver]

This is question requires a long reply to do it justice.

I always adjust setups.
I First try to run a decent lap with no glaring errors.
I asses the circuit to gauge whether it's a high medium or low down-force circuit and adjust the rear wing and gears to suit.
I then adjust the front wing to balance the car in high speed corners.
I normally add front wing until I loose the rear on a high speed bend and then remove a little to bring it into ballance.
I then look at turn in and make rough changes to springs and dampers to dial out understeer , I like a pointy car.
I then look at corner exit and adjust anti-roll bar to achieve a nice clean neutral car.
keeping an eye on tyre temps and adjusting pressure for the temp generally and camber to control temp distribution.
Brakes balance tend to be governed by car balance on turn in, one corner in particular tends to determine this ( no doubt wht race drivers are constantly adjusting the balance around a lap),too much rear causing oversteer.
Diff settings can help stabilize turn in and car attitude on throttle on corner exit.

Once I have rough settings I lap and save the car naming it with the best laptime.
Thisis my base setup and I then tweak it changing one thing at a time , if I beat my previous best time I save again naming the car the new best laptime, this is now my new base setup.
This is a repeating process that never really stops.
It I hit a wall laptime wise I will often make a huge change on one setting to see what the effect is, this is great for learning and you often find a characteristic you like and laptime

 

[Grippy]

@ALB123 That's solid, if I can get my race pace to a consistent level, hopefully soon, I'll be sure to try that method out. Still figuring out my FFB settings and trail braking technique. Something that needs to be understood more before I start cracking into the top times.

I recall I think most if not all of the exploits have been regulated and rendered useless by now. With each tyre model update there've been other changes too.

@AI_Driver That makes sense now that you mention it. It's usually that one corner that ends up making me change my setup for the better. As with anything the more time you sink into it, the more experienced you become and likely much better than weeks or even days before. Some people prefer setups, some don't but you sink enough time into it, you'll usually find a way to get better at it, subconsciously too.

 

[Masscot]

I've never tuned in any racing games. I see the guts of a race car as a big mechanical jenga, and one false move will make it all crash down.
The only things I change are tyre pressures using the sidekick app, final ratio gearing, and fuel. And that's only if they are WILDLY out to begin with.

 

[Grippy]

There's really nothing to be afraid of, but I get that some aren't into tuning, it can take up too much time.

 

[Georgeagea]

There's really nothing to be afraid of, but I get that some aren't into tuning, it can take up too much time.

I've never tuned in any racing games. I see the guts of a race car as a big mechanical jenga, and one false move will make it all crash down.
The only things I change are tyre pressures using the sidekick app, final ratio gearing, and fuel. And that's only if they are WILDLY out to begin with.

Exactly my position too. Yes a good proper setup process takes so much time for little benefit (maybe 1 to 2 sec a lap?!). I know some would say that's not a small benefit, it's actually huge! Yes that's ONLY right when you're driving the car on the limit, using the full track and car potential, and driving consistently.
For an inconsistent driver like me, all of that is useless when I get a single corner wrong and lose 2 sec on that long straight. It's just not worth it for me. I need to improve my driving skills first, and THEN I can start thinking about setups.

 

[ALB123]

I've never tuned in any racing games. I see the guts of a race car as a big mechanical jenga, and one false move will make it all crash down.
The only things I change are tyre pressures using the sidekick app, final ratio gearing, and fuel. And that's only if they are WILDLY out to begin with.

I have a feeling, ACC is going to be all about tuning. Just some of the things I've picked up on here and there. I could be wrong though.