Trying to tune, take 2!

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1

So, I scrapped my last project of trying to learn how to tune using the Lotus Eleven. It turned out to be a pretty untamable beast for me. I decided to give it another try with the 1966 Ford Lotus Cortina. I chose this one because it is RWD and has a low PI which leaves a lot of room for upgrades within the D class. I’m going to post my first settings with the intention of tweaking them over time to get a good tune and better understanding of why the tune works. Any and all feedback is welcome and appreciated! I only ask that you tell me what and WHY you chose to change a setting. This is intended to help me (and hopefully others) start to understand the art of tuning.

I’m using the tuning guide found at the top of this forum and some things that I seem to find in a lot of tunes that I’ve used so far. So, here’s what I’ve come up with as a starter tune for this car:

The Build:

Engine:
Race Intake, Sport Ignition, Race Exhaust, Race Valves, Race Pistons

Platform & Handling:
All Race except Stock Cage

Drivetrain:
Sport Transmission, Race Differential

Tires and Rims:
Street Compound, 225/60R13 for both front and rear, Any rims that remove 26 lbs

The Tune: (this was a once through so I know that there is a ton of room to tweak it!)

Tires:
27.5
27.5

Gearing:
3.35 Final Drive

Alignment:
-2.4
-2.0
0.0
0.0
6.2

Anti-Roll Bars:
27.16
22.11

Springs:
312.1
307.6
5.5
5.5

Damping:
10.1
9.9
2.1
2.1

Aero:
66
156

Brake:
55%
80%

Differential:
60%
20%

I ran this a few times on Road America West (I’ve run this track a ton lately so I’m fairly familiar with most of the turns). I was able to get a time of 1:32 within a few tries with is only 4 seconds off of my PB for this track. Pretty easy car to drive overall. I did feel like the rear was a bit lose so I’ll have to probably address that first. I’m also not sure if the gearing is good. I didn’t take it out of 4th and it might have been bogging down a bit on the first long section. Topped out around 114 or so I think.

Anyhow, I hope you guys have some input for me on this. If you’d like to just download the tune search for Flavaham and the name of the tune is 2nd Attempt. I included to OS for anyone who wants to tweak and adjust things.

I look forward to talking about this with you guys!
Thanks!

2

IMO, this is a car that can’t compete on most tracks with the top cars in D class. However, its a monster in C class if you add the Rally motor. Its not easy to drive, but it sure is fast. Its very similar to the Treuno.

3

Not sure if you have seen these…

Tuning Reference Threads and Information

Tuning Reference Threads and Information

Check these threads out…

http://forums.forzamotor…st221_Tuning-Guide.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…rsal-Tuning-System.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…For-Beginner-Tuner.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…-Tuning-Techniques.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…Tune-Build-Testing.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…—Damping-Formula.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…e-Pressure-Formula.aspx

http://forums.forzamotor…-Tuning-Statements.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst14462_Three-Minute-Tune.aspx

4

The links aren’t working for me…

5

Sorry about that…trying again…

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst221_Tuning-Guide.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst6455_Universal-Tuning-System.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst7220_Drows--Guide--For-Beginner-Tuner.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst13959_Camber-Tuning-Techniques.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst13698_Test-Track-Air-Field---Is-Actually-Very-Good-For-Quick-Tune-Build-Testing.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst5760_ONR-RoadRunner---Damping-Formula.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst13277_True-or-False---Tuning-Statements.aspx

http://forums.forza.net/turn10_postst14462_Three-Minute-Tune.aspx

6

I’ll build it and give it a go, and let you know what turns up.

7

If your learning to tune, start with the Miata

8

I second this recommendation. Highly, highly recommended.

9

Can you elaborate on why? I’ve heard this a few times and I’m going to check it out. What class should I tune it to and what am I looking for as far as the tune goes?
Thanks!

10

When I am tuning, I build a car and test it without a tune, to see what it’s characteristics are. Then, I might add some camber (between -0.8 and -1.5 front and then half of what I have on the front I put on the rear), change the final drive ratio to around 4.05 and soften the rear end, as most cars are quite oversteery in this game. I also set the Acceleration on the diff to between 12% and 20% and put half that on the Deceleration setting, it makes the car wat to powerslide less for me, and in a way it makes sense because when I tune a drift car, to provoke oversteer, I go 100%, 100% (basically having the same effect as if the car had no differential at all).

Hope this helps.

11

I think you meant street ignition right?

12

No. Mine is sport. I think the confusion is where it says “Race Intake” which is actually under air filter. For the “Intake Manifold” it is stock.

I’ll go over the rest if the build to make sure I copied it correctly. Gonna check out your stuff as well.

13

So I built the car today and used the street ignition to get the car into D class and I noticed there was room for adding the sport driveline to save weight. I ran the car about four different times with around 10 +/- laps just to get a feel for the car and see how consistent the laps were. First I ran the car with the build on it and left the settings stock just to achieve a baseline time. Second run I used your settings and recorded my fastest lap. Third run I ran my own settings just for a comparison and fourth run I tweaked your setting and recorded the lap.

Note: I did not use your brake setting listed above. I believe it’s a personal preference and I prefer running my own. I left the bias at 50% and the pressure at 140%. Also I do not use the clutch just standard manual.

1st Run: The build was nicely done and well thought out witch produced a car with good speed and grip. The rear of the car was a touch on edge but I was able to produce a clean lap of 1:30.418.

2nd Run: This run I was a bit confused because of how the car handled from stock settings to your tune. The car lost about 4mph on the straights and your first report of the cars backend being loose was spot on. The car was very on edge and was not able to produce consistent laps one after the other. I made a clean lap of 1:29.472 witch could have been a tenth or two quicker but every time I was up the car would skip or slide and loose time. The car was lapping from 1:29.6 to 1:30’s witch is a wide range and not conducive for racing.

3rd Run: I reset the car and plugged in my own setting. On this run I found the lost speed in the car with adjusting the gearing and I left my aero settings stock. The car was much more stable and less on edge the rear was still a bit loose until I adjusted for it and the laps were very consistent with a lap time of 1:29.089. Split times were within two tenths from lap to lap.

4th Run: On this run I loaded you settings back onto the car and began making adjustment until the car was lapping consistently and quickly. I was able to improve upon the time from the 3rd run and ended up with a very stable car. The lap time for this run was 1:28.927 witch I thought could be a quick lap. However I had nothing to compare it too because I didn’t have a lap posted on the leaderboard for the Road America West. So I grabbed your car and picked a rival and started running a few laps. I stopped on the fourth lap after I posted a very impressive lap for myself. I managed to run a 1:28.565 witch is ranked #140 in the world!

So I will conclude with a list of adjustments I made to your settings. Overall I was very impressed and your right on target for most of what your doing. Keep up the good work and have faith in what your doing. I was tempted to lower the diff acceleration setting to 55% it may improve throttle on performance but I did not do it with the final tune.

Build: Sport Driveline was added for weight savings at no cost of PI.

Gearing: 3.62 If you look at the telemetry of 0-60, 0-100 and top speed you can see the improvements when adjusting the gearing.

Anti-roll bars: F: 22.5 R: 17.8 I softened up the ARB to increase the grip of the car and softened the rear bar a touch to gain stability.

Rebound: F: 9.3 R: 8.9 I softened the rebound to gain a little more grip witch would increase the drive ability and stability of the car. This was the adjustment the car really need and lead to the consistent laps and predictability to the car.

14

I tried your adjustments and had pretty good results but I’m still a few seconds behind your times. I guess I need to get my driving skills together one of these days!! Haha. Thanks for the input! I’m going to spend some time looking at all of this!

15

Hey just ignore my lap times and just look at the time loss and gain between your own builds and adjustments, just try and be consistent and smooth while running your laps. It will always help keeping a notebook or scrap paper around for keeping track of laps and setting while building and comparing. Also make a note of your personal best lap on that track in that class so you can see if you running in the ball park.
Keep up the hard work and it will get easier with more practice and experience.

16

I just tried my luck with the Miata. I’m pretty sure I put a fairly solid tune on it. I think I used a little too much tire and could stand to go to race brakes so that I can adjust them, but this is what I’ve got for now. I used befuddler’s “Three Minute Tune” recipe to get a base and went from there. I have been using Road America West for tuning because I’ve run that track a ton lately and know pretty much where to be on the turns. Stock I ran about a 1:34. After the tune I was at 1:30. Here’s what I did. Let me know what you would do from here:

Build:
Engine:
Race Exhaust, Street Pistons

Platform & Handling:
Sport Brakes, The rest is all race w/ stock cage

Drivetrain:
Sports Transmission, Race Driveline, Race Differential

Tires & Rims
Stock Compound, Front 215/50R14, Rear 265/40R14, Rim = any that take 6 lbs off

Aero & Appearance:
Forza front and wing, Street Hood (takes a few lbs off)

Conversion:
Stock

The Tune:

Tires:
28/28

Gearing:
Final Drive - 3.48

Alignment:
-3.0
-2.5
0.0
0.0
6.2

ARBs:
14.24
11.46

Springs:
483.2
464.0
5.0
5.0

Damping:
9.1
9.0
2.0
1.9

Aero:
75
137
(I think this is pretty close to stock settings. The tune setup I used had both all the way up. I found that unnecessary for this tune so I brought them way back down. Might go down more because this car is super easy to drive.)

Brake:
Can’t adjust (will be trying a different build with race brakes next)

Differential:
9%
27%

So there it is. My plan is to go with all stock tires, upgrade the brakes and try to find a little more HP somewhere. This car is pretty easy to drive so I figure I can push it a lot more than this tune/build does.

17

New build has the following changes:

Rims = any that reduce weight by -10lbs (from stock)
Race Brakes
Stock tire width (front and rear)
Sport Air Filter

I think this one might be a bit faster. It’s definitely a lot looser and fun to drive! It can start to get away from you if you’re not careful but still pretty simple overall. It could still be a little quicker. Where can I make that up??