I used to do bump at around 2 ish but for me, the cars handle much more predictably when the bump is a bit higher. Taking a look at open tunes is actually a great idea, and somehow I never thought of it, go figure.
I still have yet to try tardii’s tip (I dont have much time to play) but I want to makee sure to try that whenever i get on rivals for sure.
I think what you (satnite) said about extremes will come back in this post. Already you are talking about bump at 2 and tardii is talking about crazy low tire pressure.
There is a forza tuning app which i have dowloaded, and it gives me base tunes REALLY different than what i usually start with. I am waiting to see if anybody says anything to corroborate what the app gives me.
Down the line, as I’ve said, i have only been tuning for this single game and there is much to learn. I am open to trying different things so long as there is a reasoning behind it right?
What I mean to ask satnite, is why do you use bump at 2? Why do you cut hundreds of pounds off of base springs settings, why do you set your rebound above 9? I’m really looking for the reasons things don’t work the way it is written. If that makes any sense.
Because in this game it results in me running quicker times.
Some people tune for the real world. But this is a game. Some stuff works that would not in the real world. Some of it makes sense, some doesn’t.
The following is for circuit racing.
Bump at 2 because the car handles the bumps better and it helps keep the back end planted. But front and read may not both be 2. Depends if the back end is too planted or too loose and depending on entry/exit etc. Check Worms tuning guide in FM5 forums for a rebound/bump table.
Rebound is higher because it aids turn in and it also helps support the car when springs are so low.
Springs low because it works - I don’t have any other explanation lol.
Re the tyre pressures I have tested and for some reason I am slower the lower my pressures go. So I usually use 31psi in FH2.
For cross country
Sometimes I use both rebound and bump at around 3. I don’t know if this is scientifically accurate but it seems the lower rebound helps the car remain settled after landing etc. High bump helps support it. And once again with low springs.
No one yet has mentioned camber, caster, diff.
Diff - 13/1 on RWD. 85/5 on FWD. Mixed bag on AWD lol
I did mention caster and it’s something I want to ask you about Eduardo.
I find that a higher caster helps the car turn for sure but I also think it’s one of those settings that really depends on the track. For example: if I want a multipurpose lobby car then I would leave the caster set higher because it helps it turn and respond better in an all-around sort of way, however; if I am tuning for a specific track or set of tracks I can play with the caster and lower it to get very good results because it fits well with a tune that is specific for that track.
How do you feel about this? How do you set up your caster when building a car and why?
@SatNiteEduardo: Default springs sometimes depending on the class and the track. I guess that would also be less for circuit and more for point to point - at least the times I’ve used it.
If I do use the race springs I do tend to cut hundreds of pounds off of the stock setting.
I use pretty low bump settings honestly. This is something that someone found in FM5 and it seems to work for me. I adjust them as needed but I tend to start super low.
When it comes to rebound I’m not as sure so I kind of leave them where they are and then adjust from there based on feel.
As for the Forza Tune app it has a pretty great gearing calculator. It’s not the end all be all but it’s a great place to start if you are using a race transmission. You can get pretty solid base tunes off of the app but I still prefer to tune the car myself.
@Joetben15: Why does the damping not always work as written - well, here’s a short explanation that I hope works.
The damping settings on the car work with the suspension at both high and low speeds. In the game, there is only one slider and this is meant to work for both low speed and high speed. This makes it a bit tougher to tune and so it sometimes feels that what the description reads isn’t necessarily accurate - this can be seen comparing the rebound snippet in the game and the tuning suggestions on the Lotus Talk suspension link - which directly contradict each other and yet both seem to work. You need to use the damping settings to find a good spot between low and high speed settings and then use the rest of the tuning menus to finish the car.
It’s also one thing to tune a car that is a good all-around lobby car as opposed to a car that you will use to set top leaderboard times. All around lobby cars need to have settings that allow them to be generally quick everywhere. If you are tuning the car specifically for a specific track (or set of tracks) you can get a bit more into it. I think a good example of this would be the front caster setting.
What an interesting way to see it. To tell you the truth i’ve never tried your tunes, but i know exactly what you mean. In reality the cars you build are probably not unstable, but they are definetly not tuned for everyone. I am sure for someone with sensibly the same driving style as yours they are golden though.
I have had people tell me my tunes are too rear biased (awd handle too much like rear wheel drives). Really not many people will be able to drive your tunes faster than yourself and thats why I wanted to start doing my own.
Whenever you download somebody elses tune (closed) theres always something you want to be different.
I have but have found exactly the opposite of what Eduardo is saying. When I use low caster settings I find the car does not want to turn as well and there is mid corner reluctance. Of course this could be because of other parts of the tune as well, but I always found that the higher caster settings helped result in a better car.
For the times I did use lower caster, I did a lot of other things differently because of this but it was never for circuit tuning. It was always for the heavy off-road courses.
For tuning the gear ratios (if that’s an option), I have an approach that seems to work on almost every car.
The first thing I do is make sure reverse and 1st gear are the same (first gear needs to be 3.00 if it’s the default race gears you get from a drivetrain swap and final drive will determine the top speed of both gears). This is mainly for online play because if final drive is set too low, reverse is going to cost you time when some jerk uses your car as his brakes on the first turn and you end up against a wall. It’s not really necessary in rivals but it has no negative impact on the car.
Once that’s done I just scale it to the default rally gears (3.00, 1.86, 1.36, 1.06, 0.88, and 0.75). Those settings will produce the exact same lines on the graph as the default rally transmission (3.30, 2.05, 1.50, 1.17, 0.97, and 0.82).
Then I adjust the final drive only to get the best top speed. Obviously, you will get better results if you tune the gears to get the most out of the car (for the way you drive) for one particular event, but this method produces very predictable gear shifts and a lot of acceleration.
Some cars will stall in first gear because they have a turbo and produce practically no power at very low RPMs. For these you have to adjust first gear higher. But if you do that, reverse will still act the way first gear did. But if you raise the final drive setting to what the car needs to stop stalling in reverse and 1st gear, your top speed will be affected. There are ways around this but they all require compromise - sometimes it’s well worth it and other times it’s a deal breaker. I try to avoid this whole problem by not installing a turbo or converting it if the car has a stock turbo.
I adjust springs based on the weight and weight distribution of the car. Once I set them, I very rarely adjust them to create understeer or oversteer. I only adjust them if they feel too rigid or too soft. Usually it would be because they felt too rigid.
For instance, if a car weighed 3000 pounds and 55% of the weight was in front, I’d probably set my springs to something like 350 in the front and 300 in the rear.
I also always maximize ride height. Sometimes in hypercars I’ll set front height a click higher than rear because it might handle cross country better. Setting rear higher than front can create too much downforce which can make a car go wonky on cross country.
I find setting springs softer works particularly well on bumpy tracks and well enough everywhere else.
Tyres around 28psi
High Camber -2.5 or even more to left
Slightly softer than stock springs
Softer Arbs
High Rebound Low Bump
Or low rebound high bump
As high accel as you can but usually from 20-50 depending on power and your throttle control
Low decel usually 0-30
I also set springs pretty soft but i dont set them based on weight distribution as much as i used to, although i do consider over all weight when tuning. Usually make sure the total of both springs match about half the weight then reduce some. I.e. car weighs 3000 pounds I would have springs at 650 front 850 back then reduce a bit to 550 and 750. So a bit softer. Then i drive and adjust in small increments.
Also i dont go calculating too much, just give an overall look at it set up a base build and tune and give it a spin.
I highly doubt anyone is cutting 5+ seconds with a tune. Maybe with a build but not with a tune unless it is over a 10 minute layout. I think what you are actually doing is improving at the layout. To test if u are truly cutting 5+ seconds off at a track u need to first be very consistent at that track. Run the track (with only a build and no tune) until u are consistently within .1 of ur pb with no tune. Then apply a tune (don’t adjust the build) and realistically u should only see a decrease of about 1-2 second at most depending on how adaptable u are as a driver to the tune.
