Your Preferred Race Car Configuration

[ESCUDO 1800hp]

Just curious what people's opinions are on upgrading and tuning Race Cars (in particular Group C / LMP and other speedy ones). For these cars, things can be broken down into 3 categories- Tires, Turbos, and Tuning.

For clarification-
Buying new Turbo Kits and Tires are "Upgrades"
Changing Suspension values, aerodynamics, etc. is the process of "Tuning"

 

[huskeR32]

My favorite cars in GT games have always been DTM/JGTC/Super GT/ALMS type cars. I think the power of these cars is more than enough, and I like to leave the suspension/drivetrains alone to see how the cars were different from each other in real life. I just change tires around for different tracks and race lengths.

 

[ESCUDO 1800hp]

The reason I ask is I was under the impression a lot of people leave the parts stock and then tune every last detail which I thought was weird.

I understand the whole "leaving the whole thing stock" or "changing everything to make the car the fastest possible" but in between people seems odd to me. Although I suppose tires are just tires.

 

[boredgunner]

High RPM turbo, racing soft tires, maximize downforce, customize transmission, even spring rates and lower rear toe angle.

 

[GeneralJesh]

Leaving EVERYTHING STOCK except tyres and suspensions.

 

[TeddyBear-420]

i like to use mainly sports parts, semi racing exhaust(sounds best) with height adjustable suspention. i never use racing tyres unless its a race car or comes stock with them

 

[freedomweasel]

Race cars stay stock in my game. Occasionally, I'll fiddle with the suspension or braking bias, downforce, etc but usually the cars feel about right as they are. I never add parts/tires to them, kind of defeats the whole point of the car to me. I don't want a GT500 spec car with 800 hp.

 

[Exorcet]

All of the above. Race cars don't have permanent tunes. I'll change the car to suit the race I'm entering.

By far most online rooms dedicated to certain race classes restrict the car to being stock. But there are a decent number of tuned race car rooms. I don't consider tires upgrades, but I use Hard more than Soft when I make the rules. It's opposite in most rooms not run by me. Mediums are fine, but they're in limbo since no one but me buys them it seems. Fortunately, there is a tire trick for online races so that you don't actually need to waste money to get the right tire.

Oh and custom tuning is a must. Especially suspension and gearing. Sadly aerodynamics are dumbed down to the point where all you do is set it to max 95% of the time.

 

[McClarenDesign]

I can't seem to leave anything alone.

This thread, for example.

 

[ESCUDO 1800hp]

I agree that switching among Racing Class tires shouldn't be considered "upgrades," since in theory you should pick the tire to suit your needs.

However, considering that the differences are like a ton extra grip and only 1 extra pit stop per 4 hours on the Racing Soft compared to Racing Hard, it seems as though the Racing Softs are basically always going to outperform the hards.

But then again, Switching turbo kits shouldn't be "upgrades" either

 

[GTveteran]

I don't like to add turbo kits to my racing cars. They are as they were intended to be and if they can't win a championship against similar cars then its the driver IMO.

I do change the tyres though. Mediums on JGTC/Super GT/DTM/GTS cars, Softs on '90s GT1/Group C/LMP cars. I do also change the settings on the cars. Believe it or not I actually lower the downforce on the Group C cars. Not by much admittedly. Usually so that its 50/80 (Front/Rear) and drop the ride height of the nose by a couple of millimetres. But that is my preference.

 

[ryanerb]

Personally it depends on my liking of the car or not. I tend to fully modify the cars I really like and the ones that are just ok or dont like I keep stock.

You can always take the modifications off and run stock again (for most upgrades).

The configuration though as the question of the title asks leads me to think more about suspension and gearing:

I typically lower the car about 10-15mm, lower my spring rate by about 1 or 2 (depending on the car) set bound up a bit (about 6 or 7) and rebound down (5 or 6). Sway bars I rarely mess with and toe and camber settings are discretionary dependent on the track.

Transmission Config varies per track but I dont use (now that I dont have to) the top speed setting much. I may set that for a rough area but I usually set off of my final gear and tweak the gear lines as needed.

Yes I am a GT1 player to now (though many are better than I).

I also have some cars in my garage that have every turbo, every muffler and every item....

I do usually hesitate on the lightening and engine tunes....