Tuning guide

I've been wanting to learn how to tune cars but I have no idea what the settings mean and how the values affect the car. Does anyone have a nice guide to tuning or a little post that tells you what each setting does? thank you

Follow up question:
what car would you suggest using to learn tuning?

 

same as on a real car, hit up google

 

any suggestions on a specific place to go? any that are noob friendly? thanks for the reply

 

What exactly do you need help with?

 

my secret is simple. if your tuning a circuit car, i have great luck adjusting the spring rates first, than once i get it close, i do all the fine tuning with adjustable sway bars. also try to get good at describing the cars behavior. if you give me something to go on i can suggest changes to be made based off what you tell me. the more specific you are the more we can help you.

 

the question was more of a general question rather than a question aimed at a certain car and a certain use case. but thanks for offering if you could suggest any manuals or something that explains how to tune a car i would be more than greatful

 

Just start fooling around. If your coming from a game like forza that does not simulate shock absorbers you'll be surprised at how big a difference a small change can make. I set my cars up to feel good with straight line braking than I make changes to get it to trail brake how I want it too, with just a slight tendency to oversteer. Once that's done the rest is just small changes to the sway bars to get the balance right. Watch as many YouTube videos about suspension as you can and just play with it.

 

As @amarks240 said, tinkering will bring the best rewards. Just some basic theory for fun however:

(Note things like camber and alignment can be found in real time at the bottom of the tuning menu)

Here are some simple generalizations.

Spoiler

• Negative camber: increases grip in corners, decreases forward grip on powered wheels and braking ability. Too little or too much and the wheels wont be using the optimal amount of rubber and wont grip enough; in the corner the camber angle is optimally zero at max grip. For road tires anywhere around -1 to-1.5 degrees is good, for race setups around -2 degrees is optimal for most suspension setups, although you will probably find it doesn't have to be exactly -2 degrees. The point of negative camber is so that the tire makes full contact of its surface on the road under cornering, since some positive camber is always induced under cornering load, though some suspension systems are better than others at reducing loss of camber here. more negative front camber generally helps turn in to corners, whereas in the rear negative camber helps but should not be overdone in degrees as too much rear grip can prevent a car from rotating in a corner properly.
• Toe: front toe best out on FWD cars, and in on RWD cars. Rear toe is almost always directed in on rwd cars as it makes them more stable putting power down. Toe is one of the easiest things to change to increase or decrease stability; play around with this if you want your car to handle well.
• Wheel spacing: makes the car's footprint on the ground wider, at the cost of requiring more precise suspension tuning as the wheels will act like levers on the suspension. Generally increases stability
• Suspension stiffness: for smooth surfaces stiffer is generally better, however roads are rarely, if ever, smooth. Too much under-steer firm up the rear or soften the front, too much over steer firm up the front or soften the rear. This is the most varied area of tuning as it really depends on what kinds of roads you plan on tackling; stiffer isn't always better, try and find a balance between stiff and enough suspension travel that the car nor hops (too stiff) or bounces (too soft) on the roads you plan to drive. On a bumpy road note a softer rear will help you put power down better (assuming a rwd car)
• Ride height: Obviously lower lowers the center of gravity which is good for handling, but lower cars have less suspension travel room, and require re-tuning of the suspension to work properly (often I find the suspension needs to be softened a tiny bit under heavy lowering). Usually the front is higher than the back so the car turns in well. For a drag car note you will have to stiffen the rear suspension as to counteract inertia
• Sway bars: Best used once everything else is perfected; if you have a car that handles well, has optimal grip and toe , doesn't bounce or hop and feels overall balanced, but still turns in a little sluggishly or over-steers a little much then its sway bar time. These are pretty simple, stiffen the opposite side to that which grips sluggishly to increase its responsiveness: If the car over steers soften the rear sway bar, if it under-steers stiffen the rear, and vice versa for the front sway bar. Both should be used however. Basically sway bars increase responsiveness to the side they are on.
• Brakes: One of the most important parts for cars that have tunable brakes (i wish all cars had these). Usually more force in the front and less in the rear is optimal to allow the rear to rotate into a corner without the car over-steering too much, though the actual amounts themselves will vary. Personally I like to have the settings set so i can use most of the brake petal without the brakes locking, with only the very last bit of the petal reserved for that feature (I also have linearity at 1.2 for brakes in the control menu, as i find the brakes too sensitive in this game at 1 linearity)

Again the thing I can recommend is taking the time to start tinkering around, you will learn the most this way. Every car is different so its up to you to discover their quirks

We need a page to discuss tuning setups for cars, not like configurations but more based around what works or is fun for a car. If anyone wants to make one please do, I will make one myself soon if no-one does but I don't know what the best place to post it is, so if anyone knows where to post it please tell me.

Lastly here are some pages I use to help myself at times: (google search is your friend)

Spoiler

http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArtic...and-Handling-Part-Seven--Tuning-your-Toe.aspx

http://www.rapid-racer.com/suspension-tuning.php

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks for the links and the explanition

and I totally agree