In the net there are lots of guides to explain how to set up the suspensions of GT cars, and some of them are also very good. Few of them, however, can be understood by who has just approached GTPSP, because they are quite more complex. None of them, also, is based on GTPSP, as this is (they all are for GT3-GT4 and include features that GTPSP doesn't).
So, who is this guide for? For the new GTPSP (and GT1-2-3-4) players who have just discovered their car can be faster than it is and want to learn how.
Understeer, Oversteer
Every guide must start from this. Let's say there are mainly two ways your car may behave in a corner: Understeer and Oversteer. Understeer is typical of some FF cars, Oversteer happens with MR and FR cars, most of the times. Here are two example of this 2 behaviours, with the same car in the same corner:
Understeer
This is Understeer: because of excessive speed or for the absence of braking, the front wheels lose grip and the car fails to mantain his line: most of the time, it will force the driver to immediately reduce speed or, in cases like this, it will simply drive the car off the track. You notice understeer when:
- Entering a tight corner, the car goes straight
- During a long corner, you have to tap the gas in order not to go outside the track
- Everytime you feel the car isn't "turning enough"
Oversteer
This is Oversteer: a too strong acceleration makes the rear tyres to lose grip; the car nose goes turns "too much" and the driver has to turn immediately in the opposite direction (countersteer): not doing so or braking, the car will completely turn, or go off track. You notice Oversteer when:
- Entering tight corners, the car's back loses grip
- During long corners, you have to tap the gas and countersteer not to lose control
- Everytime you feel the car is "turning too much"
So, what should we do is tuning up a car's suspensions in order to avoid oversteer and understeer.
Let's take, for example, a Toyota Supra from the eighties: a pretty powerful car (270HP) with some suspension problems:
Just take it for a test at Motorland (a good, short track) to see it: too much oversteer, in every corner, especially in the second and in the third one. Just make a few laps with this configuration: let's say 2 or 3: when you'll get a mistake-free lap (not perfect, it's enough you didn't make any big mistake) take note of the time: I made something around 0'50.2: not too much considering that a '76 Golf GTI can make 0'49.6.
So, we've seen this car is affected by a too oversteering behaviour: how can we fix it?
Spring rates
Spring rates play a crucial role in the setup of a car in GTPSP. The higher you set the value, the harder the spring will be: for example, if you double the value, to compress an inch of the spring will take 2 times the original amount of weight. This is generically useful for all the cars which, when performing a turn, "roll" too much.
During a generic corner, physical forces thrust the car out of the corner: the force is proportional to the car's mass. Soft springs mean that the car axis can be given more weight, more force, stiff springs mean that less force can be taken by it. Basically the weight will "fall" easier where the springs are softer.
Having said this, when we see our Toyota oversteering, it means its rear axis has been given too much weight, and that, to correct it, we should stiffen rear springs, or however keep them stiffer than front ones.
Dampers
Dampers values are all about the speed the dampers, after a shock, will "reset" the suspension. Here again, the higher the number, the lower the weight tolerated by that given axis, and the more that axis will lose grip in a long corner. In our Toyota, we'll just set rear dampers stiffer than front ones.
Ride height
This doesn't influence much a car balance, but settings must be coherent with dampers' and springs' ones: for example, if springs aren't stiff, the height should be kept quite high: if low, in fact, the car's body could touch the road, losing speed. Another disadvantage with the high height, and so a misadvantage of soft springs, will be a loss in reactivity in the car: with a high car and soft springs, movements are slowly transmitted from an axis to another: it means that in a sequence of two tight corners, one left one right, it will be difficult change direction rapidly without falling into oversteer or understeer.
So, a good setting for our Toyota could be:
This should improve lap time of about 2 seconds: in my case, I did 0'48.3 after a few laps: probably, if a little tuned up, the car could go much faster.
So, we have a tuning setup for our Toyota: now, using it, we'll be able to beat some more powerful opponents, and to set better times on this track. However, there are some things we'd better know before entering the wonderful world of car settings.