Experimental AutoTune by JD v3.6.2 alpha

AutoTune - automatic, physics-based car setup
Pick what the car is for. AutoTune measures the car, tunes every setting it can reach and explains why.

Who is this for?
For players who love digging through parts, but want the car set up properly without spending most of their time in the tuning menu, getting annoyed that something still doesn't feel right, while they could already be enjoying the drive.

Swap the engine, the diff, the suspension, whatever you like. Then let AutoTune sort out springs, dampers, alignment, brakes, gearing and everything else for the goal you picked. Or, if you like to tinker, use it as a solid starting point and fine-tune from there.

Tip: the more adjustable parts, the better the result. AutoTune can only work with the settings your parts expose. With stock or fixed parts there is little to change. Fit adjustable parts wherever the car offers them - coilovers, adjustable anti-roll bars, a race / adjustable differential, adjustable brakes, a race gearbox - and it has many more settings to tune.

How it works

1. Pick a goal - Comfort, Street, Sport, Track, Drift, Rally, Off-road or Drag.
2. Preferences (optional) - a few plain sliders (stable - agile, soft - stiff, ride height, gearing, brake balance, diff lock). Don't know what you want? Turn on Auto mode and it picks them from your car.
3. Set up the car - AutoTune measures the car and calibrates how each tuning setting really changes it (the car respawns a few times, about 30-60 s). Then it computes the setup and applies it.
4. Refine by driving (optional) - press Start, drive your way, press Stop. AutoTune analyses the corners, slides, braking and handbrake pulls and suggests corrections. In Auto mode they are applied by themselves.
5. Save the result as a normal game config, with a thumbnail.

Features

Spoiler: Measured, not guessed

• Mass, weight distribution, centre-of-gravity height, wheelbase, track and wheel geometry are measured in the game on your actual car.
• Every tuning setting is calibrated on the car: how much the ride height, camber, toe and caster really move when a slider moves. This works with modded parts too, not only stock ones.
• The drive layout (RWD / FWD / AWD) is read from the powertrain, not from part names.
• While it measures, your controls are held and force feedback is muted. You get both back automatically.

Spoiler: What gets tuned

• Springs (ride frequency with the measured motion ratio), dampers (bump / rebound, slow / fast), anti-roll bars (roll balance)
• Ride height (compensates for new springs settling), camber, toe, caster, steering centre
• Brake bias from weight transfer, brake strength, handbrake strength, ABS and traction control thresholds
• Differentials: lock, coast, preload. AWD centre split with six AWD characters (rally boxer, active centre, classic, rear-biased track, gymkhana / sideways, locked off-road)
• Gear ratios and final drive (progressive gearing), automatic gearbox shift points
• Tyre pressures, ballast (optional), aero, brake cooling, anti-dive / anti-squat where available
• Every value comes with the reason it was chosen - click "show what changed and why".

Spoiler: Each discipline judged by its own rules

• Drift: angle, stability, transitions, self-steer, front grip, steering lock. Wheelspin is the point here, not a problem. A gentle live steering test finds a safe steering lock and Ackermann and backs off if the steering gets damaged.
• Drift brakes: the pedal is biased forward, the handbrake works on the rear only and is set to lock the rear wheels at once (about 1.8x the torque that locks a loaded rear wheel). Suggests removing ABS and fitting rear brakes with a stronger handbrake when your parts offer them.
• Track / Sport: balance mid-corner, on entry and on exit, braking stability, traction.
• Rally / Off-road: ride height and bump absorption first, suspension hits are counted.
• Comfort / Street: soft, predictable, stable.
• Drag: launch traction and gearing.
• Driver errors (sudden throttle, steering jerks, crashes) are recognised and count for only 15%. A bad lap doesn't wreck your setup.

Spoiler: Part suggestions - only from what you have

When no setting can fix a problem (for example the ride height can't go any higher, or the diff can't lock), AutoTune suggests a part that can.
It only looks at the parts the game has loaded for that car: stock parts plus the mods you currently have enabled. On a clean game it suggests stock parts only.

Spoiler: Tools

• Alignment to 0 / 0, like on an alignment rig - only what you tick (toe, camber, steering centre).
• Automatic power steering - fits power steering on every car that has it among its parts, adaptive version first.
• Restore original settings with one click (a backup is kept per car).
• Lock what you set yourself: ride height, wheel offset and camber stay as you set them (e.g. for looks), and everything else is tuned around them.
• Installing a new part is detected: the app goes back to step 1 and keeps your goal, preferences and corrections.

Spoiler: Save config

• Uses the game's own Save Config module: same folder, thumbnail, paints and licence plate options, and the config shows up in the vehicle selector.
• Suggests a name from the config you started with + goal + next free version (e.g. "Sport Drift v2"), or a spec-style name: "501hp RWD MT Drift v1".
• Checks the game's 50-character name limit. When overwriting, you choose whether to retake the thumbnail.

Spoiler: The window

Resize it from either bottom corner, move it by dragging the header (both are remembered by the game's layout), collapse it to a small button and set its opacity. English and Polish, following the game language.

Installation

1. Subscribe here, or put autotune_jd.zip into your mods folder.
2. In game, open the UI apps editor and add AutoTune (category: Vehicle) to your layout.
3. Spawn a car and start with step 1 in the app.

No other mods are needed. It works with stock cars and with modded cars that have tuning settings. The more adjustable parts the car has, the more it can tune.

FAQ
Does it change my parts?
Only the tuning settings. Parts are only suggested, never swapped. The one exception is power steering, and only when you turn that switch on yourself.

A setting wasn't changed - why?
Some settings aren't meant to be tuned (engine, fuel, lights), and some mods add settings whose meaning can't be read reliably. Those are kept and listed in the Info tab with the reason.

Career / multiplayer?
Made and tested in Freeroam. Career and multiplayer are untested.

Status: alpha
This is an early version. Expect rough edges. If something goes wrong, open the console (~), copy the lines that mention autotune and post them in the discussion together with the car and its parts. Suggestions are very welcome.

Compatible with BeamNG.drive 0.39.


AI disclosure
Some players prefer not to use mods made with AI, so to be upfront: AI was used to create this mod (code, and help with the research). The idea, the direction and the in-game testing are mine.