Would like to learn more about setting gears closer together!!

[DaddyGary_2002]

Hello,
I have read plenty of threads about setting the gear ratios. And I understand how to get the gears set to stay in the engine powerband. But, what I would like to know and understand better, is after getting the auto set correct, so that you just hit the redline of the rpm's at the longest straight of the track of your choice. And I also know how to achive the correct setting for the final setting to keep the car in the correct powerband. But, now my question is, after getting these settings close to correct as possible, and I still would like to tweak the 3rd, 4th and 5th individual settings to be closer, would I raise the numbers, or lower the numbers to get these gears closer together?
Example: If 3rd gear has the numbers of say, 1.434 and the numbers for 4th gear are, 1.098 and 5th gears numbers are, 0.888, which way would I go to get the 4th gear closer to 3rd, and 5th gear closer to 4th, so that the rpm's doesn't take so long to return back to the redline to change to the next highest gear? Really, I guess what I'm trying to ask, do you go higher with the 4 digit numbers to get the gears closer, or do you go lower with the 4 digit numbers to get the gears closer?
I hope that someone at least understands what I'm trying to learn, from this mumbo jumbo you have just read.

 

[Pupik]

In short, a numerically higher gear ratio (push slider to the right) means the car will accelerate faster, but of course, will sacrifice top end speed. You also run the risk of making the cars engine by-pass the peak torque value.

A lower gear ratio (push slider to the left) will provide more top speed, but will potentially decrease acceleration. You may also cause the engine to "bog out" if your car can't reach the horsepower peak, it may never get to top gear.

I usually just set the gearbox to "nearly" top-out at the end of the fastest/longest straight. I leave a little room for extra, that way, you can draft another car and get a bit more speed. Slight changes come later.

Run a kei car on the Test Course with a high Auto-Setup number, and you'll see what happens...it never gets out of 4th gear and won't accelerate any further; think of airplane that has too much cargo and won't fly any higher.

I usually leave 1st gear alone, unless it can sacrifice the acceleration for more top end. Or, if it's a heavy beast, I shorten the gear. I find that 2nd gear is almost always too short, and accelerates to 3rd gear too soon for me. This is a big problem when downshifting or accelerating out of a tight corner, because this sudden increase in power causes spin-outs.

As for 3rd-4th-5th gear, I usually leave them alone; sometimes I make minute adjustments if I feel the engine isn't getting into the next gear as swiftly as I'd hoped (cars <300hp sometimes have this flaw). Sometimes, 6th gear needs adjustment, but this is rare; only if every other gear is working sweetly, and I'm losing out a bit at the end of a straight.

Sometimes, it's to get more speed out of a car in a certain corner/certain track, because I know the car will be up against the redline in a corner; this way, I can get more speed out of a special corner.

Then, there's the Final gear ratio. This accelerates/decelerates all the gear ratios (lengthen or shorten the gears), but again, I only change this if necessary.

But honestly, I do 90% of my adjustments with the Auto Set sliders. Nothing really gets a "1" (the 7-speed Subaru Pleo is an exception!), and almost nothing gets a "30" (even on the Test Course). I've found lower-powered cars can get by with a numerically lower Auto Set value.

Usually, there's no hard-and-fast rules for gears: the Auto Set thing takes a lot of guesswork away, which is nice because you don't have those nice gear ratio graphs like you have in GT1 and GT3.