============================================================================== Gran Turismo 5 Car Tuning FAQ(December 1st'10) Written by:Aj the One ============================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A. Introduction B. Changes/Updates C. Body/Chassis C1.Aerodynamics Tuning D. Engine E. Intake System F. Exhaust G. Turbo Kits H. Transmission H1.Gear Adjustments I. Drivetrain I1.TSD Tuning I2.LSD Tuning J. Suspension J1.Suspension Tuning K. Brakes L. Tires M. Drivetrain Characteristics M1.FF M2.FR M3.RR M4.MR M5.4WD N. Favorite Car Settings O. Legal Stuff P. Credits !!IMPORTANT!!Most of the descriptions for the parts are taken from the menu of the game. I've added something to some of the descriptions but it's mostly game material ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A.Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hello to my fellow GT fans!!! After a long wait GT5 is finally upon us and I am exceptionally happy at the overall package that they put out. It has some problems which need to be addressed(the Individual Gear Ratio thing pisses me off) but it's still a great game. With that being said I decided to write a tuning FAQ for those who needed some help on how to tune their cars to perfection. Now experimentation is the key here so try out various settings to see which one works best for you, as there is no right or wrong setup. Well dive in!!! My PSN ID is IntelligentAj for those who care/If you send a friend request please put something in the body so I know where you're from. I'm on most nights after about 11pm EST and mostly every morning since I work from 3-10pm ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B.Changes/Updates ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12/4/10-Capitalized the names of the Parts so they are easier to see, Changed the downforce section as I had the Front/Rear descriptions backward(thanks DraghonCiege), Changed the FAQ name to better reflect the contents 1/11/11-Fixed the typing errors, added new section on the Drivetrains and my personal faovrite car settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C.Body/Chassis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ In this section you can reduce the weight of your car significantly which will help increase your car's acceleration and cornering ability by a large margin. You can also increase your car's rigidity which will stabilize your car as you corner. WEIGHT REDUCTION-Removes non-essential parts of the car to reduce overall weight and improve acceleration and cornering ability Stage 1-5000/Reduces weight by a little under 10% Stage 2-10,000/Reduces weight by a little under 10% again Stage 3-20,000/Reduces weight by about 8% CHASSIS REINFORCEMENT-20,000/Makes car more rigid which stabilizes the car on corners WINDOW WEIGHT REDUCTION-3,000/Replaces window glass with lighter material to reduce weight and improve cornering performance/Drops weight by 10kg CARBON HOOD/BODY COLOR-5,000/Replaces standard hood with Lightweight Carbon hood to reduce weight and make you car look better/Drops weight by 5kg C1.AERODYNAMICS By going to GT Auto and adding a Wing to your car or other car modifications you can adjust the downforce in the tuning menu. Now depending on the type of car you have and how you want it to handle there are a couple of ways you can adjust the downforce. !!!IMPORTANT!!!As the game notes it's very easy to radically change the way your car handles by changing the Downforce. The effect is more evident in race cars though as you can adjust the Front and Rear setting. FRONT LOW/REAR HIGH-This setup is designed to make your understeer much more than normal. It gives a small degree of control to powerful FR cars like the Corvette ZR1 so they handle much easier. Great for FR cars or if you want your car to have more understeer FRONT MIDDLE/REAR MIDDLE-This is a balanced approach that will give your car better top speed and a slight boost in cornering without much downside. Good for all Drivetrains though i'd recommend either an oversteer setting or an understeer setting. FRONT HIGH/REAR LOW-This setup will make your car tend to oversteer thus helping you corner easier. Be careful though as this can also make it easier to spin out. Great for: FF,MR,4WD. I've noticed that in powerful MR cars(the Minolta Race Car comes to mind) this setting will make the car much easier to spin out until about 150mph. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D.Engine ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This is the area where you can make your engine much more efficient and give it more Horsepower and Torque which will increase Max Speed and Acceleration respectively as well as improve the overall feel of the car. I recommend buying the ECU before anything else as it has an enormous benefit for a cheap cost. **IMPORTANT**Make sure that you go to GT Auto and change your oil. This will give a your car a nice bump in HP and Torque and make your engine perform better. ENGINE TUNING-Improves balance of the parts in the engine and makes the engine operate smoother, which increase power and acceleration Stage 1-2,500/Gives a small/medium increase in BHP/Torque Stage 2-15,000/Gives a medium increase in BHP/Torque Stage 3-30,000/Gives a medium/high increase in BHP/Torque **I was going to try and figure out the percentages but based on what i've tested it wildly varies according to how strong the engine is at first ECU TUNING-1,000/Installs a high performance Electronic Control Unit to improve engine performance and maximize power output. Small HP boost but improved engine performance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E.Intake System ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here you can improve the flow of air into the engine which will make the engine stronger and more efficient. These uprgades should follow the engine upgrades. SPORTS INTAKE MANIFOLD-2,500/Minor increase to HP/Improves air intake efficiency to increase throttle response and engine power SPORTS AIR FILTER-250/Minor increase to HP/Reduces Air Intake resistance to improve engine power RACING AIR FILTER-450/Small increase to HP/Installs a high performance Air Filter which reduces air intake resistance further and gives a greater increase to power ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F.Exhaust ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your exhaust system is vitally important to maximizing your engine's performance. Here you can improve the exhaust and change out the manifold and Catalytic Converter also increasing power and making your car sound much more powerful. EXHAUST-Replaces the standard exhaust with a higher quality Steel or Titanium exhaust thus improving power and making your car louder. SPORTS EXHAUST-1,500/Minor increase to HP/Stainless Steel Sports Exhaust for High RPM's and gives your car a heavier engine sound TITANIUM SEMI-RACING EXHAUST-7,500/Small/Medium increase in HP/Titanium Alloy Exhaust for High RPM's TITANIUM RACING EXHAUST-10,000/Medium/Large increase in HP/Efficient, High Performance Titanium Exhaust for High RPM's SPORTS EXHAUST MANIFOLD-3,500/Minor increase to HP/Engine Headers which improve combustion efficiency and peak enging output CATALYTIC CONVERTER:SPORTS-500/Minor increase to HP/Reduces resistance from the Cat converter, removing pollutants and increasing engine output. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G.Turbo Kits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is where you can add a turbo charger to your car if your car is turbo charged or a supercharger if your car can take one. These guys increase HP and Torque a significant amount and make your car much faster. Care should be taken with the Turbo kits however as the highest HP may not be the best answer for your car. TURBOCHARGERS-Forced induction devices which increases engine power by using engine exhaust to power a compressor/comes with a racing intercooler also. !!!IMPORTANT!!!Unlike Enginge upgrades each turbo kit has a specific application therefore you can choose which one you want without having to buy the other 2 LOW RPM RANGE TURBO KIT-4,500/Small increase in HP/Provides excellent engine response and very little to no turbo lag at low RPMs but does terrible at higher RPM ranges. Ideal for courses with little straightaways and alot of corners as the low end acceleration this provides will help you much more. MID RPM RANGE TURBO KIT-10,000/Medium increase in HP/Improves engine response at the Mid RPMs and gives a good jump to power. Due to these facts this is the most balanced Turbo Kit and will most likely be the best fit for your car if it doesn't have an insane amount of HP. HIGH RPM RANGE TURBO KIT-20,000/Large increase in HP/Improves engine output at the High RPM range and as such does very poorly at lower RPMs. You will experience a nice amount of turbo lag if you find yourself spending alot of time in the lower RPM ranges. Use this turbo kit if that doesn't bother you or on High Speed courses with a small amount of corners and alot of max speed straightaways. SUPERCHARGER-17,500/Forced induction device that uses the crankshaft instead of the exhaust to power the compressor. Improves engine power in the Low to Mid RPM range making this a good fit, if your car can support one. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ H.Transmission ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ You can make your engine as strong as you want but if you don't have a Transmission to send that power to the wheels you basically have nothing. Here you can upgrade your transmission to improve your acceleration or max speed. 5 SPEED CLOSE-RATIO TRANSMISSION-6,000/As it's name implies this is a tranny which has the gears closer together to increase acceleration but decrease top speed. 6 Speed CLOSE-RATIO TRANSMISSION-8,000/This is a tranny in which the gears are spaced close together again sacrificing speed for acceleration. This has a higher top speed than the 5 Speed Transmission though. FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE TRANSMISSION-20,000/Special Service Device which is supposed to let you customize all the gear ratios individually, thus meeting the need for any race. For some reason you can only adjust the Max Speed slider to the left for more acceleration or to the right for a higher top speed. In almost all cases I would have to recommend this as it's got the versatility for anything. H1.GEAR ADJUSTMENTS !!!IMPORTANT!!!Hopefully Polyphony realizes that they screwed up big time and make the gears individually adjustable as this not being able to adjust the gears individually is anathema to most real racing fans. With the Fully Customizable Transmission you can alter the top speed slider in the tuning menu of your car. The further to the right you move the slider the faster your car will be but the slower it will accelerate. Inversely the more to the left the slider is the faster your car will accelerate but it will have a slower top speed. The Ideal level changes for each car so I can only tell you to get on a practice track and test to see at which level your car flies through it's powerband but still gets a high enough top speed that doesn't take forever to get to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I.Drivetrain ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Your drivetrain is almost as important as your transmission when it comes to acceleration and max speed. Here you can change your clutch and flywheel to improve shifting and engine performance. You can also add a Limited slip Differential and a Torque Sensing Center Differential. SINGLE PLATE CLUTCH-1,500/Engages and Disengages the transfer of torque between the engine and gears. TWIN PLATE CLUTCH-2,500/Reduces the size of the clutch by using two plates. This reduces momentum when the clutch spins and increase engine response and grear changes. CARBON DRIVE SHAFT-4,500/Reduces drivetrain momentum which improves engine response TORQUE SENSING CENTER DIFFERENTIAL-15,000/A differential that can alter the torque distribution in a 4WD car from 10/90% or 50/50%. If you have a 4WD car I highly recommend getting this as it can basically change the handling properties of your car !!!IMPORTANT!!!This can only be used for 4WD cars, which is a shame because it is one of the best upgrades in the game. I1.TORQUE SENSING DIFFERENTIAL TUNING This is an invaluable tool to 4WD cars as it can totally change the way the car handles by shifting the amount of torque the front and back wheels. You make the car handle like a 4WD drive car, balanced without too much over/under steer, or you can shift the torque to the back and turn it into a MR or FR like monster. **My car for these tests if the Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro as it's a high powered beast and also handles like a dream making it perfect for these tests!! FRONT TORQUE 50%/REAR TORQUE 50%-This is the most balanced configuration and will please most people because it doesn't go to far with either extreme. With this you can expect a balanced car which will take corners at a medium speed and very small likelyhood of spinning out, unless the rear tires are on grass or dirt, then nothing can help you. FRONT TORQUE 40%/REAR TORQUE 60%-With this setup your car will still be stable but you'll feel that the car is a little looser which will let you take corners easier. Still not much likelyhood of spinning out with this config as long as you have beginner level throttle control. FRONT TORQUE 30%/REAR TORQUE 70%-At this level you'll start noticing that your car starts to get quite loose. It's still able to stick to the road and if you know how to handle your car this is in most cases the best of both worlds as it takes corners much easier than at lower levels and still keeps you from spinning out in a lot of circumstances. Just a warning though: Don't go to this level until you have spent a good amount of time with your car and know it's handling properties FRONT TORQUE 20%/REAR TORQUE 80%-At this point differences from the other levels are greatly evident. You'll notice that it's quite easy for your car to spin out now if your not careful. The car handles a little better on faster corners but slower corners are more of problem since the car essentially acts like a FR car with a little more control. I personally think this level is too much but i'm sure some will like it. FRONT TORQUE 10%/REAR TORQUE 90%-Now on this level the difference between the lower configurations are extreme. On this setting your car acts like a full fledged High power FR car meaning plenty of fishtailing at low to medium speeds. If you like to drift however then this setting is for you as a tap of the E-Brake will send you on your way to an extreme drift. Like the setting before this I can't recommend this unless you have a supreme command of your car... or if you like to drift. I didn't cover the 5% increments cause the differences between them aren't that great. If one setting seems like too little or too much just adjust it in 5% increments until you find the setting which works for you. Final Thoughts-I can't begin to describe how important this feature is to 4WD cars. It can take the most out of control car and turn it into a smooth beast capable of taking cornering at nice speeds and ripping through races. If you have a 4WD car you need to make adjusting this one of your priorities. ADJUSTABLE LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL-7,500/Fully adjustable LSD that controls the rotation difference between the left and right wheels. You can change the limit for both acceleration and braking. I2.LIMITED SLIP DIFFERENTIAL TUNING The Limited Slip Differential can be just as important to car performance as any of the other tuning options. It can act during Acceleration, Deceleration or both. The more the LSD can limit the rotational difference between the left and right wheels, the more traction will be retained and the more stable braking will be, this however will reduce your car's turning ability, leading to understeer. **Like the other tests I used my Audi R8 5.2 for these tests to get a handle on how it affects 4WD cars and my Corvette ZR1 '09 RM for the FR car feel. Also NO MATTER WHAT CHANGES YOU MAKE HERE THROTTLE CONTROL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!!!! If you have great throttle control you can keep your tires on the ground and get as much power as you can from your engine to the road. INITIAL TORQUE-This is the amount torque necessary for the LSD to kick in. As the in-game description says it makes your car more stable by preventing sudden changes in performance when the LSD is actived during Acceleration and Deceleration. FR/MR-At low levels you won't really notice a difference in how the car handles. I didn't notice a difference until I put the torque up to about 35 at level the understeer becomes more pronounced and the car a little easier to handle. This does absolutely nothing for the rear wheels spinning problem so this won't provide much relief from spinning out. I recommend keeping this high if you want a lot of understeer and low if you want the car to handle a little loosely. 4WD-Since you can adjust both the front and rear IT you have a chance to make a little more of a dent in the handling of the car. By increasing the value on the front wheels you will make the car understeer more and by increasing the value of the rear wheels you will make the car oversteer more. It should be noted that is nowhere near as huge a difference as is seen with TSD. Since most 4WD cars handle pretty well i'd recommend keeping the front value low around 10-15 and the rear value high about 40-50 if you want the car to corner a little better. ACCELERATION SENSITIVITY-Adjust how the LSD will act when the accelerator is pressed. FR-I maxed this setting out at 60(by default it was 40)with the intial torque at the same level and the car understeered significantly more than with the previous settings. Throttle control is still vitally important with the ZR1 but this makes the car a little easier to drive, though do to the pronounced understeer you'll have to brake earlier when cornering. Same recommendation as above: High if you want more understeer and for the car to behave with a little more sanity and low if you want to try and slide around corners. 4WD-Like the Initial Torque increasing the value to the Front wheels while keeping the rear value low result in more understeer, making the car more stable but at the cost of some cornering ability. Icnreasing the rear value while lowering the front vaule will have the opposite effect of giving the car more oversteer and cornering capabilities. Since 4WD cars are relatively easy to handle I 'd recommend a Low Front/High Rear setting as you get the benefits of increased cornering without the drawback of spinning out. DECELERATION SENSITIVITY-Adjust how the LSD will behave during deceleration FR-I started by maxing this out(as well as the IT, and AS) and the understeer in the car is extreme. On a brighter note this seems to do something to reduce the amount that rear wheels spin at lower speeds making the car slightly harder to spin out. Also the car will be much more stable when braking the higher this is. I'd recommend IT=30,AS=50,DS=40 with the ZR1. It has a good balance of understeer to control the car's worst excesses but not enough to hamper the original powerful feel of the car. 4WD-Like everything else in this section(noticing a pattern?)increase the Front Value/Decreasing the Rear value will make your car understeer even further. This will also make you car more stable while braking also. Likewise Decreasing the Front Value/Increasing the Rear Value will make the oversteer slightly. With this I have noticed the smallest change from other configs. Honestly you can just leave this as is, at least in a 4WD car. Final Thoughts- LSD is very important for FR cars as the handling properties will change significantly according to what you set. 4WD cars not so much. You will get a much larger effect on 4WD cars by adjusting the Brake Balance controller and Torque Sensing Differential. Most importantly don't forget to try out your configuration before you race, this way you have a handle on your car. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ J.Suspension ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Here is where you can buy and adjust the Suspension system of your car which can widly affect how your car handles and sticks to the road. When modifying these settings attention should be paid as you can completely screw up your car with the wrong setup. FIXED SPORTS KIT-3,000/Suspension kit which lowers the ride height and has stronger springs than the deafult suspension. HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE SPORTS KIT-4,500/Suspension Kit in which you can change both the ride height and shock absorbers. FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE KIT-15,000/Racing Suspension which allows you to adjust all aspects of your car's suspension including the Roll Bars, Camber and Toe Angle I Highly recommend that you get this. J1.SUSPENSION TUNING Once you get the Fully Customizable Kit you can adjust various aspects of your suspension and all of these will significantly affect how your car handles. You can really screw your car up big time if your tweak a section here the wrong way so be very careful and clear on what you want your car to do before making any adjustments. RIDE HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT(mm)-Here you can adjust the height of the front and back of the car seperately. A lower Ride Height will give your car a lower center of gravity and will increase will make your car more responsive. A mistake alot of people make is setting their car too low to the ground then when they go up a hill or go over a bumper their car gets tempermental and out of control. If your car takes corners well then a lower front and a higher rear make sense as it will make the car corner better. **IMPORTANT**You should make sure that for courses with a high amount of elevation(Nurburgring and Trial Mountain come to mind)you should make your Ride Height lower and your springs slightly higher.This will help counteract all the jumping your car will be doing as a result of elevation change. SPRING RATE(kgf/mm)-You can adjust the hardness of your suspension here. The harder you make the spring rate, the less your car will pitch and roll and the sharper it will move. Also a rule of thumb is the lower the your car is the stronger the springs should be to compensate for the shortened length. If you springs are set high(just testing I set mine to 16.0 for the front and back)the car will be much more responsive on the track. DAMPERS(Extension)-These are designed to reduce the amount that the springs expand by limiting the amount that they can move. These should be set to be stronger than when they are compressed. The deafult seems to be fine as the car handles hill well and gets a little boost to it's cornering. DAMPERS(Compression)-These are designed to reduce the amount that the springs compress. This determines the resistance is when the springs are compressed and as a result shouldn't be too strong as it would make the suspension tight and reduce the car's cornering. I'd recommend making them also slightly lower than the default(My R8 is set at 4) ANTI-ROLL BARS-You can adjust the stiffness of the Anti-Roll Bars here which activate when the car rolls. As the game says you'll have a similiar effect on your car's handling. You can adjust these to make your car understeer by having the front Bars High and the rear Low. You can increase the oversteer by doing the opposite. Since this is according to your driving style i'll let you decide which to use. CAMBER ANGLE-You can adjust the Negative Camber here which is when the top of the tires lean inward more than the bottom when looking at the front of the car. This is quite effective as the higher the Negative Camber is, more of the tire stays on the road when cornering. You don't want to set this too high though as your car won't drive in a straight line. I've found that a angle of 3.0 front/3.0 rear will improve cornering without negative side effects. **IMPORTANT**The higher you make the Camber Angle the faster your tires will wear down as more of the tire will be in contact with the road. This should factor in to how high you set the camber angle. You should also be prepared to drive with a little more tire wear in the longer races. TOE ANGLE-Here you can adjust the Toe Angle which is the angle of the tires when looked at from above. You can have a "Toe-in" which is when the front of the tire are further in than the back of tire. Inversely "Toe-out" is when the front of the tire is out further than the back. If you want the car to understeer generally you should have a Toe-in for the front and rear tires, this will also make your car more stable on corners. UNDERSTEER- You should have a Toe-in for the front and rear tires this will also make your car more stable on corners. A level of .20 for the front and rear will cause sufficient oversteer. Recommended for FR/MR cars as they benefit from the understeer and cornering stability. OVERSTEER- You should have a Toe-out for the front and rear tires as this will make your car oversteer. I use a level of -.20 for my 4WD cars as this gives the cars more oversteer with no negative effects. Recommended for FF/4WD/MR cars as they generally are much more stable on corners and handling and will benefit from the added manuverability. Final Thoughts-Your suspension is very important and you can find significant gains in this section if you take the time out to tune your car and constantly adjust settings to find what works. You should spend time here getting your car to handle the way you want it to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K.Brakes ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Naturally,since these are things that stop your car, these are a vitally important part of any car especially a race car. Having enough stopping power can shave vital seconds off of your lap times or just make your races easier. I'm not sure why they got rid of the purchaseable Brake Kit but you can control the Brake Balance Controller which is just as important as anything for controlling your car. BRAKE BALANCE CONTROLLER-This adjusts the sensitivity of your front and rear brakes. As a result you can control whether your car will understeer or oversteer by your decision in this area. If you put the Front and Rear brakes to the front then your car will understeer but your brakes will have a significant amount of stopping power. If you put the balance to rear for both brakes then your car will oversteer somewhat but your brakes will be weak. It's a good idea to have the Front Brakes at 3 or below and the Rear at 7 or above if you want your car to oversteer. The inverse will also be true if you want to understeer. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ L.Tires ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ All the power in the world doesn't mean anything if you don't have a good set tires to transfer that power to the road. Here you can buy various sets of tires for your car. There are many types and the situation for each will be somewhat different. COMFORT TIRES-Hard Tires which handle poorly. In previous GT games these would have been a nicer version of simulation tires. Hard-1,200/Worst grip of all tires Medium-1,400/Still poor grip but not as bad as hard Soft-1,600/Like being the smartest of the dumb kids these tires are the best of the worst SPORTS TIRES-These are tires which are normally used for circuit racing and as they handle decently but don't degrade as fast as racing tires. Hard-6000/A little better than the comfort tires, these guys will last a while Medium-7,000/A good balance of grip and durability at a cheap price Soft-8,000/Hugs the road nicely but degrades faster than the other types, nice if you don't want to spend 36,000 for the racing softs though there's really no match to those. RACING TIRES-These guys are designed for racing and you shouldn't hesitate to throw these on your car. Hard-15,000/These tires handle fairly well and take a while to degrade. These will be your best friend during endurance races as nothing sucks more than having to pit every 5 laps. Medium-25,000/These guys are a nice balance between grip and durability and you can risk an endurance race with these though you'll have to pit more often Soft-36,000/The big daddy of the racing tires. Don't let the price tag fool you, these tires are worth all the money and then some.The grip they offer is amazing and will make your car take corners like nothing. They have a really crappy degradation rate though as they won't last more than a couple of laps. But for every race that's 5 laps I strongly recommend using these tires. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ M.Drivetrain Characteristics ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I've been thinking of ways to improve the FAQ and an explanation of the different types of drivetrains and how they affect the handling of the car seemed like a good idea. With that being said I'll try to explain the acronym and also give some insight into how it affects the performance of the car. !!!IMPORTANT!!!I'll only cover the Drivetrains which are in the game as there a couple that are missing but these are variations of the ones listed. These are also commonly called layouts also. When I say a high value I mean at least 65% or above the middle value M1.FF(Front-Engine, Front-Wheel Drive) Description-As it's name implies with this drivetrain the engine is housed in the front of the car and that's also where the torque is transferred. This is popular for most mass produced consumer cars as they are very easy to drive. Examples: Honda Civic and almost all commonly driven street cars Cars Tested-Hona Civic Integra Type R '04, Honda Civic Type R(EK)'97, Honda Civic Mugen Motul Race Car SI '89, Honda CR-Z@ '10 Advantages-Exceptional control, Virtually no chance of spinning out, excellent for beginners Disadvantages-Exceptionally strong understeer, most cars are underpowered making them less useful later in the game Handling Characteristics-With no modification you will find that these cars have a very wide cornering arc and will even feel a bit unresponsive as the understeer is very strong in these cars. Slow-in, fast-out will be a little harder in these cars but they are excellent for beginners offering a smooth ride Summary/Opinion-In short these cars are excellent for beginners as they will help you get acclimated to the physics of the game without punishing you harshly for mistakes. The understeer can be a curse for some people and a blessing for others which speaks for itself. Most of the cars will become obsolete later in the game with the exception of the Honda Civic Integra Type R '04 and the Civic Type R(EK)'97 as when these cars are race modded they can easily outperform mid level cars and on some courses can even hang with the supercars! Oversteer Settings-The front Downforce should be maxed out and the rear should be as low as possible as this will make the biggest difference in giving the car more oversteer. Also having all the front suspension settings low and the rear settings high will add oversteer as will having a camber in the range of 2.5-4.0 for the front and rear. A Negative Toe Angle of 0 front/-.40 rear will make the car loose but give it much needed oversteer as well. The brake balance should also have a low front setting and a high rear setting. !!!IMPORTANT!!!Due to the High Camber Angle this setting will kill your front tires much faster than normal so expect your tires to heat up quicker than normal and wear much faster Understeer Settings-The inverse of everything above will increase the car's natural tendency to understeer. The deafult settings for any FF car will give you sufficient understeer but if you want to increase it then having a low front downforce and high rear downforce will go a long way towards that. Also having low front suspension settings and high rear settings will do the trick also. Finally the Camber should be left at 0 for the front and rear and the Toe angle should be positive with anything above .30 increasing the understeer M2.FR(Front-Engine, Rear-Wheel Drive) Description-In this layout the engine is mounted in the front of the car whereas the torque is transferred to the rear wheels. Most sports/luxury cars have this layout as they can accomodate a bigger and more powerful engine and the weight distribution is nearly ideal, staying around 45/55. Examples: Chevy Corvette ZR1, Mercedes Benz SLS AMG'10 Cars Tested-Mazda Miata MX-5, Corvette ZR1 RM, Mercedes Benz SLS AMG'10, Mazda RX-7, Nissan 350RZ Gran Turismo 4 Ltd.(Z33) '05 Advantages-A high amount of oversteer, smaller cornering arc, great weight distribution, excellent drifting ability Disadvantages-Very hard to control, A high amount of oversteer, Heavier average weight Handling Characteristics-These cars generally have very strong oversteer. Corners are easier take than in FF cars but throttle control is paramount in these cars as flooring the gas while the wheel is turned will result in the rear wheels losing traction and your car spinning out unless you can control it. This drivetrain is hard to learn but once you master it these cars are a a force to be reckoned with. Oversteer Settings-A low ride height combined with other suspension settings tilted towards the rear will give more oversteer as will having the rear downforce as low as possible and the front as high as possible. The camber should be above 3 for the front and rear and the Toe angle should be somewhere above -.20 for the front and rear. The brake balance should be tilted towards the rear also at 2/8 or something similiar. WARNING: This will make your more unstable than normal and subsequently harder to control. Understeer Settings-A high Ride Height and other suspension settings tilted towards the front should increase the car's understeer as will having the front downforce low and the rear high. A 0 Camber Angle and positive Toe Angle around about .30-.40 should make the car understeer sufficiently. The brake balance can be set at 1/1 as this will make the car understeer more but will make the brakes stronger. M3.RR(Rear-Engine, Rear-Wheel Drive) Description-In this layout both the engine and drive wheels are at the rear of the car, thus placing the Center of Mass at the rear of the vehicle. This drivetrain is rarely used for sports cars anymore with the exceptions being Porsche and RUF. Advantages- Disadvantages- Handling Characteristics- Oversteer Settings- Understeer Settings- M4.MR(Mid-Engine, Rear-Wheel Drive) Description-In this layout the engine is placed right in front of the rear drive wheels, behind the cockpit. This is by far the most popular layout for Race Cars as most of the race cars in the game have a MR drivetrain. Examples: F1 Racing Cars, Toyota Minolta Race Car '88, Ferrari Enzo Ferrari '02 Cars Tested-Toyota Minolta Race Car '89, Formula Gran Turismo, Audi R10 TDI Race Car '06, Ferrari Enzo Ferrari '02, Ford GT '06 Advantages-Cornering ability, Excellent Acceleration, Excellent Responsiveness Excellent weight distribution Disadvantages-Relatively hard to control, Can feel a bit floaty Handling Characteristics-These cars handle similiar to FR cars with a little more oversteer and a slighty lower chance of spinning out. The responsiveness on most of the cars I tested was great, both acceleration and braking were quick. In most cases the cars corner with little difficulty but spinning out can be a problem if turning hard while flooring on the gas at low to medium speeds. Oversteer Settings-Once again a high front Downforce and low rear Downforce will give the car extreme oversteer. Low front settings and high rear settings for the suspension will also increase the oversteer. You should have a camber of at least 3 in the front and rear and a Toe of about -.20 for the Front/Rear for maximum oversteer. Brake balance should be set at 1/1 since this will help give the car some much needed control and make your brakes a little stronger. Understeer Settings-For the race cars all you need to adjust is the downforce. By having a low front/high rear setup you will not only make the car more stable and less prone to spin out, you'll also give the car more understeer. If you want to add to this, standard rules apply so high front/low rear suspension settings, no Camber and positive Toe for the front/rear will work wonders for understeer. If you find your race car is unstable or hard to control this setup will work great though it'll probably result in slower lap times. M5.4WD(Four-Wheel Drive) Description-In this layout the engine is plaved in the front of the car but the torque is distributed to all 4 drive wheels commonly through a center differential. Since this differential can send more torque to the rear wheels or keep the torque equally balanced, these cars are very versatile. Examples: Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro '09, Lamborghini Murcielago '09 Cars Tested-Audi R8 5.2 FSI Quattro '09, Lamborghini Murcielago LP-640 Super- veloce '09, Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 '08, Nissan GT-R '07, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSX-R '07 Advantages-Exceptional Flexibility, Excellent Grip/Traction, Cornering Ability Ease of driving Disadvantages-Light to moderate understeer Handling Characteristics-Generally these cars are quite stiff when first taken on the road. Cornering is a little harder due to the understeer but it's very hard to make these cars spin out. One of the best traits of 4WD cars is the Torque Sensing Differential which lets you alter the handling of the car. More Torque to the rear gives the car more oversteer and it handles like a FR/MR car. More balance gives the car understeer and makes it handle looser than a FF but tighter than FR/MR. Oversteer Settings-Like everything else having the suspension settings titled towards the rear will aid oversteer. The camber can be left alone or set no higher than 1(More than this seems to make 4WD cars more stiff) and a front Toe Angle of 0 and rear of -.40. Brake balance can be set to 9/9 as this will help the car oversteer a little more. Understeer Settings-Having a low front/high rear downforce setup will, like always, make your car understeer more. Have the suspension settings titled to front, A positive Toe Angle and no Camber should increase the understeer. The Brake Balance can be set at 1/1 also. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N.Favorite Car Settings ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Since i've gotten alot of questions on what setting I use for my favorite cars i've decided to add the base settings that I use for my cars. I'll make slight adjustments depending on the track but for most races these work great for me. ***I always keep the Traction Control and ABS on 1. If you want to make your handle a little better you can put it up to 10 but I prefer to have stronger brakes. Of course the difference that I noted between the 2 setting wasn't that large. My Tires are also Racing Soft whenever possible AUDI R8 5.2 FSI Quattro'09/4WD CHEVY CORVETTE ZR1'09 RM/FR Aerodynamics=10 Front/25 Rear Aerodynamics=35 Front/35 Rear Gear Ratio= Top Speed 230mph Gear Ratio=236mph Initial Torque=10 Front/30 Rear Initial Torque=30 Rear Accel. Sensitivity=40 Front/50 Rear Accel. Sensitivity=50 Rear Brake Sensitivity=20 Front/35 Rear Brake Sensitivity=40 Rear Torque Split=30/70 Ride Height=0 Front/Rear Ride Height=-10 Front/Rear Spring Rate=13 Front/Rear Spring Rate=10.5 Front/Rear Dampers(Extension)=5 Front/Rear Dampers(Extension)=5 Front/Rear Dampers(Compression)=4 Front/Rear Dampers(Compression)=4 Front/Rear Anti-Roll Bars=3 Front/5 Rear Anti-Roll Bars=3 Front/Rear Camber Angle=3.5 Front/Rear Camber Angle=3.5 Front/3.5 Rear Toe Angle=-.40 Front/Rear Toe Angle=-.40 Front/Rear Brake Balance=1 Front/Rear Brake Balance=2 Front/8 Rear SLS AMG'10/FR LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO LP 560-4'08/4WD Aerodynamics=0 Front/25 Rear Aerodynamics=0 Front/10 Rear Gear Ratio=230mph Gear Ratio=217mph Initial Torque=10 Initial Torque=10 Front/5 Rear Accel. Sensitivity=40 Accel.Sensitivity=40 Front/20 Rear Brake Sensitivity=20 Brake Sensitivity=20 Front/10 Rear Ride Height=-10 Front/Rear Torque Split=40 Front/60 Rear Spring Rate=13.2 Front/Rear Ride Height=-10 Front/Rear Dampers(Extension)=6 Front/Rear Spring Rate=12 Front/Rear Dampers(Compression)=4 Front/Rear Dampers(Extension)=6 Front/Rear Anti-Roll Bars=4 Front/5 Rear Dampers(Compression)=4 Front/Rear Camber Angle=1.5 Front/Rear Anti-Roll Bars=4 Front/Rear Toe Angle=-40 Front/-.20Rear Camber Angle=1.5 Front/Rear Brake Balance=2 Front/8 Rear Toe Angle=-.40 Front/-.20 Rear Brake Balance=2 Front/8 Rear AMUSE S2000 GT1 TURBO/FR Aerodynamics=20 Front/30 Rear Gear Ratio=199mph Initial Torque=7 Accel. Sensitivity=30 Braking Sensitivity=15 Ride Height=-10 Front/Rear Spring Rate=14 Front/16 Rear Dampers(Extension)=7 Front/Rear Dampers(Compression)=6 Front/Rear Anti-Roll Bars=4 Front/Rear Camber Angle=3.5 Front/Rear Toe Angle=-.30 Front/Rear Brake Balance=1 Front/Rear ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ N.Legal Stuff ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ My FAQ may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal or private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web site except for www.gamefaqs.com and www.ign.com or as part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation of copyright. Allowed Sites: www.cheatcc.com www.gamershell.com http://gameguideworld.net www.supercheats.com Copyright 2010 Armand Sellers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ O.Credits ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - The people at Polyphony Digital who created this excellent game - Gamefaqs for posting my FAQ - My wife for not giving me hell for writing this - You the readers for using this and finding it useful(hopefully) Any questions or comments regarding this FAQ please E-mail me at: Koolkid11434@yahoo.com