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Alright, as I promised to do in another thread, here is a tune for a car I am working on. I make no promises about this being a leader board car. As I am not a great driver, I have no leader board position to brag about. What I can promise is an easy-to-drive Ferrari with good handling and decent speed. This is a light weight build with a full racing platform and aerodynamic mods. According to the benchmarks it can pull 1.13 lateral g's at 120 MPH. Its top speed is a modest 165.5 MPH (I was able to clock 163 on the speedway). In acceleration the car pulls very hard up to about 135 MPH. Downforce is set to the minimum I felt was necessary to maintain maximum speed in turns. This car is built for technical courses where the power cars in this class cannot reach their top speed. It would also be a good car for those who want to race Ferraris but can't get the hang of them. I have been able to run good times (for me) on Mugello, Maple Valley, and Tsukuba with it. I expect this car will also do well on Laguna Seca, Suzuka, and Motegi, although I have not tested it on these courses yet.

Thanks and credit go to Feuerdog for his tuning calculator, which was used to baseline this car. Thanks also to Fit4AKing for developing the template used below.

The Build
Vehicle Weight: 2287 lbs.
Engine Parts: none
Platform Parts: (all parts in this list are "race" grade) brakes, suspension, anti-roll bars, transmission, clutch, driveline, weight reduction, 2-way differential
Tires and Wheels:
     Tire Type/Brand: "sport" compound, BF Goodrich
     Rim Style: Vulk CE28N
     Rim Width: Front - 225/40R18, Rear - 265/40R18
Spoilers and Diffusers: Forza front and rear bumpers, wing

The Tune
Tire Pressure:
     Front: 29 Psi
     Rear: 29 Psi
Gearing:
     Final Drive: 4.35
     (1-6): 3.09, 2.20, 1.61, 1.27, 1.07, 0.94
Alignment:
     Camber Front: -0.7
     Camber Rear: -0.6
     Toe Front: 0.1
     Toe Rear: -0.1
     Caster: 5.5
Anti Sway Bars:
     Front: 11.62
     Rear: 15.95
Springs:
     Front: 290.2 lb/in
     Rear: 391.3 lb/in
Dampers:
     Rebound Front: 6.5
     Rebound Rear: 8.5
     Bound Front: 5.4
     Bound Rear: 6.5
Aero Adjustment:
     Splitter (Ft): 70 lb
     Spoiler (Rr): 80 lb
Brake Bias:
     Bias: 47% front
     Pressure: 110%
Differential:
     Acceleration: 65%
     Deceleration: 55%

Like all Ferraris this car is best when driven hard. Be merciless to it and don't be afraid to dive into those corners. Keep the engine spun up at all times. This car achieves the most grip at 6000 RPM and above. Don't be shy about downshifting into first in extremely sharp corners. Up-shifts should be right on the redline for maximum acceleration.

Let the discussion begin! I look forward to hearing peoples' reactions to this car and suggestions for improvement.

Edit: I changed the fifth and sixth gear ratios in this post to those suggested by Don Ente. I tested these and found them to be an improvement. The original ratios I posted were 1.03 and 0.84. These (along with those already listed for first through fourth) are the factory ratios from Ferrari.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

I have one of these untuned and undriven in my garage.  I'll have to give it a shot when I get a chance.  Thanks for chipping in, it means alot when it would be just as easy to keep it or try and sell it.  Now I hope to be at least as fast as you in it, maybe faster?

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"Team Mugen makes me vomit."

Muscle-Inc Member and sole proprietor of Spanky's Speedshop

Gave this one a shot last night but only ran about 3 laps on Mugello Short, ended up second fastest A class I have on that track so far, the fastest is AWD G35.  It seems to have more grip than I am using so I will try it more later.  Nice sound also.

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GT = EXOR Racer X
Seize the Beer!

Thanks, that is encouraging to hear. It's very hard to be fast with RWD on Mugello, so I'm not surprised your AWD G35 is ahead. BTW, I did my testing on the long version of Mugello, so I'll be interested to hear how it does on the short track. For me it stacked up very well on the long track. I currently have a better time in a different car, but this one has potential with some more practice and maybe some tweaks.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

Hey...

I tried out your setup: you didn't specify ride-height, so I set mine to 4.0" both front and rear.

I found the back-end to be rather loose (for my style), so I increased the Rear Downforce to 110 lbs - sacrifice a little speed for handling.

Not a bad car at all - I ran 10 laps on Mugello Short, and 6 laps on Mugello Long, just to get a feel and post a couple Hot Lap times (I haven't run much A-Class, so I didn't have fast times up to begin with).

If anyone wants to compare...

Mugello Short: 0:57.135
Mugello Long:  1:52.811

- Don

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GT: Don Ente



Video - Forza vs. Real World at Road Atlanta

Sorry. I left the ride height at the stock setting for the racing suspension. Mugello benefits from a lower height, but I also ran this car on Maple Valley. On that track being too low causes you to bottom out. For the sake of allowing the car to run well on most tracks I didn't get into the height adjustment. When I get some time I'll drop the car all the way down and see how well I can run Mugello.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

Fit4AKing:

I have one of these untuned and undriven in my garage.  I'll have to give it a shot when I get a chance.  Thanks for chipping in, it means alot when it would be just as easy to keep it or try and sell it.  Now I hope to be at least as fast as you in it, maybe faster?

Being faster than me wouldn't be much of an achievement. On my best days, I can get into the top 10% of a score board. I'm frightfully busy this week and won't have time to test or post times. Hopefully Friday or Saturday I can run some hotlaps and post times so that we can compare. I'll be running the long version of Mugello if you want to get head start on me.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

I like Ferrari's a lot, So i'll try it out as soon as I re-calculated the tuning setup into the metric system.

I'll let u know what my findings are.

i will take it for a spin on Mugello long and short

 

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I don't drive fast, I just fly low


My Car Gallery

has anyone run this car in auto?  I'm driving it in auto and was wondering if anyone had a gearing scheme that would be better than the one provided for this.  I'm assuming this one was for manual.  They all seem to be.

 

Chess

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RETIRED PLOP SELLER

Yes, the ratios given are for a manual transmission. Why not build the car and try out the manual transmission? The game is much more fun this way and you'll be faster. Post back here if you need some tips. Also read the last paragraph of my original post. I described the strategy for shifting this car.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

With maximum downforce and the lowest ride height, I was able to manage only 2:02.255 on Mugello long. As I said, I'm not the hottest driver. I will continue to practice and test to see if I can improve this time.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

I took the car out again... changed 5th and 6th gears to 1.07, 0.94 (mainly to get just a little more from 5th), set downforce to 90 f / 130 r ... and managed to get down to 1:52.606 on Mugello Long

Obviously, still room for some improvment.

- Don

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GT: Don Ente



Video - Forza vs. Real World at Road Atlanta

Took this beast out for a spin in stock form to set a solid baseline.  I used Mugello Long as the test track since, well its Ferrari's test track.  I was able to pull off a 2:03.4xx in 4 laps.  I love the way this car sounds, I think race exhaust should be mandatory!!  It tends to oversteeroff throttle a bit too much for me, and I like off throttle oversteer.  Its manageable but keeping in the throttle around turns isn't for everyone.  All around a very solid car, I may toy with some stock online races in it.

I then applied your build and tune to it and set off for another 4 laps.  Baseline set in 4 laps, comparo set in 4 laps.  I still like the car.  Only a couple issues, camber was too low for me.  I upped it a bit.  Car still pushed a tad and was tailhappy.  Lowered front aero and increased rear also adding another -0.1 to the rear toe.  I wasn't pleased with the straightaway speed because I was limited to 151mph in either 5th or 6th.  I modified the two gears to keep me accelerating till the braking zone.  Much better.  Left most of the tune alone and ran another 4 lap session form cold tires and I'm quite happy with it.  Final time clocked in right at 1:55.186.  About 4 seconds behind my Lotus Exige 240 Cup but not a bad run at all, and very consistant.  Definately a keeper. 

40 minutes into the car and I think its pretty close for me.  I did run Maple Valley as another reference and was ever so close to the 1:30 mark.  My fastest was a 1:31.013.  Very good for me, I like it.

Thanks D!

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"Team Mugen makes me vomit."

Muscle-Inc Member and sole proprietor of Spanky's Speedshop

This car is a blast to drive, it feels so different from my other A-classes, but in a good way.  Thanks for the tuning!

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TGM Racing
GT: CNU PhYsIcS

I already had built and tuned an F355 that I liked, but I thought I would try yours to see if it was better. I'm quicker and more consistent in mine so if anyone is interested in trying DecCyclonus' tune out you could save yourself some money and time by getting mine. I have it up on the AH for what I have in it, 160,000. The car normally costs 131,000 from the dealer but I found it on the AH for 80,000 and the parts cost me right at 80,000 after all of my discounts. So i'm not making any profit from this tune, just trying to get my money back.

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GT - r8erfan

Is there much of a difference between the 355 Berlinetta and the 355 Challenge?

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" 2nd. means you're 1st. to lose".

No Assists.
Wheel User.

"Live-Space": www.dtaiw.spaces.live.com

Not really. The F355 Challenge is to the F355 Berlinetta as the F430 Scuderia is to the F430. (If you're not familiar, the Challenge / Scuderia are track-tuned-from-the-factory versions of Ferrari's regular production sports car.)

In Forza the F355 Challenge has fewer upgrade parts available and is more expensive to upgrade. I chose the F355 Berlinetta as a project car for several reasons. First, it is an "inexpensive" Ferrari. Second, even though it is a very nice car in its stock form, you rarely see anyone using it. Third, it has full range of upgrades available. For these reasons I thought people would be interested. The car also has a lot of potential for tinkering after the initial project build.

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

Donald Ente:

I took the car out again... changed 5th and 6th gears to 1.07, 0.94 (mainly to get just a little more from 5th), set downforce to 90 f / 130 r ... and managed to get down to 1:52.606 on Mugello Long

Obviously, still room for some improvment.

- Don

I lengthened 5th and 6th and was able to cut about one second off my time on Mugello. Not surprising since I'm a "power car" driver. Good suggestion. Thanks!

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Proud Ford owner and Ferrari fan.

Took the car out last night on Silverstone.  I figured it may do well but was run down and passed by a TVR Tuscan S and an STi.  It was close for 3 laps but after 5 I was 200 meters behind them.  Lap times were less than a second off pace but it added up.  It didn't seem to like the flat track as much as Mugello. 

I still like it and found that I was running some fun laps just listening to the motor.  Awesome.

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"Team Mugen makes me vomit."

Muscle-Inc Member and sole proprietor of Spanky's Speedshop

To be fair, that Tuscan is a bit of a beast.  It's not quite a missile build, but it's definitely a power car, and it's rare that many traditional cars (read: non-missiles) will keep up with it if it has room to hit 6th gear.  Don't know about the STi, though.

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