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GTR User Guide - Page 4 - Strategy Gearing and Brakes. |
Open this screen by clicking on
the gear icon bottom left of the advanced setup screen. 
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Lets look at the tires first.
You have five choices with Medium being the default compound.
The harder the compound the longer the tire will hold up
but with the loss of a bit of grip. |
| Next we come to the
"Strategy" part, the fuel load and pit stops. |
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Here is where you plan for long
races. You can choose the amount of pit stops (0 to 3) and the fuel load
at each one.
A full load of fuel is shown.
Tires will be automatically changed in a pit stop and you can choose
the hardness using your LCD selection screens. (More on this to come at a
later date.) |
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This setting cannot be changed. |
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Here we have on often overlooked setting that
can "magically" help with your spin outs and lap times. The
default is 20 and the range is from 5 to 23 degrees. |
| Setting this lower means you
have a "finer" input when you turn your wheel and you can be
more precise. I've tried the lowest setting and can make the turns on most
tracks without a problem. At 5º getting out of the pit stall can be a
problem, requiring a couple of forward/reverse attempts. My current
setting is around 9 degrees and I have not had a problem getting around
tight turns on any track. |
| The next setting is the rev limiter
which has a range from 6500 to 6800 rpm. Setting this higher will increase
the speed in each gear as shown in the graph readout below. |
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| Increasing to the maximum rpm
adds about 10 MPH to the top speed. Also notice that the rpm drop falls in
a higher part of the power band. Increasing the upper limit also puts a
bit more strain on the cooling system. |
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You will also see a setting for radiator
opening which will control the engine temperatures. Too small an opening
will result in engine overheating. You will receive an in game warning if
you are overheating. Try to keep your engine temperature just above 200º
F
Radiator openings also have an effect on top
speed.
Many "hot lappers" reduce this setting to gain a bit of extra
speed. |
The next set of settings are for
the individual gears. The first set of numbers show the gear sets (1st
gear below shows 16/40 - 16 teeth on the one gear and 40 on the other)
giving a ratio of 7.708 to 1. (7.708 revolutions of the crankshaft to 1
revolution of the drive shaft).
For all intents and purposes you can ignore these figures as the graph
shows you the important information. |
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Look what happens when I
decrease the ratio on the 2nd gear (decrease the ratio = make the gear
longer or less engine RPMs per each revolution of the drive shaft).
1) When shifting into the adjusted 2nd gear the low end is in a lower part
of the power band. (About 200 rpm lower)
2) The gear is now usable to about 115 MPH instead of the previous 80 MPH. |
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To quote from GearBox
Basics by Conrado Navarro
One of the most challenging setups the
driver helps to create is the Gear Box one. The secret is to figure out
the right gear ratios for the track extension and type. Many drivers just
leave the same curve spaces between 1st and 6th gears without
understanding it well.
The gear ratios depends much on the rear wing setting. That's why we need
to set the wing first and after that start messing around with gear stuff.
Changing one of them means you must change a little bit the other one. The
main point is: Less rear wing, longer gears. More rear wing, shorter
gears.
So, the big picture show that longer gears gives you more speed but less
acceleration. And shorter gears gives you less speed but more
acceleration. The higher the rear wing is, shorter the gear must be. And
so on. When you set up your wings, get out for some laps. Then come back
and give the 6th gear a special attention. Change it so you can see the
red RPM lights flash at the end of the fastest straight.
The first two gears, 1st and 2nd, get high RPMs very fast, different from
the 5th and 6th, as we can notice. So, using a big interval (space)
between the 1st and 2nd and a small one between 5th e 6th gives you more
reliable power, what I call "Ideal Torque Line". This way you
should have more time to shift between the slower gears and more power
would be given to the wheels, during more time, if that's what you want.
Every time we shift a gear, our speed goes down on 1 or 2 miles because
the lack of traction on the wheels. That's why it's so important to have
the next gear inside the Ideal Torque Line, so you can get as more power
as possible, not loosing precious time.
We also need to be aware that the Gear ratios to a Race day should be
different from the one to a Qualify or Practice. That happens because on a
Race the car is usually heavier and he is not pushed to the limit. When
we're on the first two rows of the starting grid, we can have longer gear
ratios so we can have higher speeds at the end of the straight ahead,
avoiding other drivers to pass.
That's all for the basics. So, always remember that:
- Shorter gears gives you better acceleration (specially on race start),
higher chances of loosing traction and higher chances of spinning out the
car.
- Longer gears gives you worst acceleration, slower curve speeds (specially
on it's exits) but lower chances of loosing traction. Just remember that
the traction loose can be minimized changing the rear absorbers, making it
a little bit more soft.
- Choose the best gear setting aiming better acceleration, bigger
intervals between the first gears tightening up as you get to the final
gears.
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| Now lets look at the final gear
settings. this is for the differential gears and affects all the above
gear settings. In my example below using the lowest gearing (10/36) gives
a top speed of about 165 MPH while going to highest setting (13/36) shows
a (theoretical) top speed of over 215 MPH. |
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In the The Art
of Shifting by Conrado Navarro he says:
Setting the 6th gear (Editors note: The final ratio will also
affect the following settings)
Let's check something. Get out with your car and see how's the RPMs at the
end of the longest straight. Did it reach the top red light? No? So let's
make the 6th shorter. But pay attention to the moment the lights get red.
If it's to early on the straight then it's too short. The 6th gear must
reach it's max RPMs 1 second or 100 meters before your braking point on
the fastest portion of the track and your 1st gear should be a mix of good
acceleration on the slowest curve and nice starting power.
As drivers, we need to think outside the car when
setting up the 6th gear:
- The wind strength and direction can change from one day to another.
(ED: Higher head winds can affect top speed)
- The slipstreaming factor, that is higher during races then on practice
or qualify
- If you're running with more fuel, remember you get a weight
problem
- The aerodynamic setup affects max speed
This way we can notice why there's a need to have
different gear settings between race and qualify sessions. So, to define
the right gear ratios you need to, first, choose and set the 6th gear.
After the right settings on this one, then start changing the middle and
lower gears, setting it up for the kind of curves and track you are. But
remember that longer gears must have a larger RPM drop when shifting up.
So, be quick.
Setting the 1st gear
This particular gear is very important. If the track you are on doesn't
have slow 1st gear corners, the ratios and setup must aim only the start
green light moment. Once you've found the right ratios for your style, use
it on every track with the same type. Just be careful with the values you
use because a very short one can cause a lot of wheel spin and a very long
one can make the car slow on acceleration. Remember that on slow curves
and find your own personal best ratios. (Editors Note: A fast start with a
low first gear ratio can be done by applying full brakes and throttle, dropping
the car in first and gradually reducing both pedals to control wheel spin
and stability.)
Setting the intermediate gears
We should never shift these gears before exiting a corner. The best way is
use the same gear while cornering and only shift it up when the car
completes the corner and gets itself stable, avoiding wheel spin or
traction problems. That's why we should care about all gears and all
corners. Get on the road and test it out and make sure the gear you
selected for this or that corner is the right one and gives you smooth
cornering and enough power to get out and speed up.
Shifting during a corner is a complete waste of time,
risking a lose of control and a spin. Also shift up seconds before braking
is not a good thing. Get the gear longer so you don't do that. Some tracks
have really difficult corners and shift issues, and if you get yourself on
a corner with, let's say, 3rd gear and it tells you to shift up before
exiting it, try getting the 3rd a little bit longer and use it until the
exit. This way you're not loosing traction while cornering, and getting
the car stronger when exiting since you're on higher RPM and stable. Think
on this: Getting out with 4th gear would give you more speed? Could be,
but the acceleration and time it would get to increase the RPMs are more
important. |
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Here we have the final setting in the drive
train and a very important one.
Differential lock refers to how much power both wheels receive. |
At 100% both wheels are driving
equally and at 0% only one is.
As you can imagine this really has an effect on cornering, both from an
understeer/oversteer aspect and from a "quality of handling"
viewpoint.
If you give too much gas with 0% lock only one wheel will break loose.
Both wheels will spin resulting in the start of a slide.
Increasing lock will increase the appearance of understeer in corners. I
say appearance as it is more complex than that simple statement. It gives
the appearance of understeer ad the rear wheels are pushing harder and
have more effect making the front wheels follow the line of travel and not
their intended path.
A full lock will also help with braking when
downshifting. |
The last settings the brake bias
and brake duct opening.
If you use the default brake bias of 65/35 you will most likely find
yourself sliding off the corner entries as your front wheels lock up.
Front/rear bias depends on the car but a good starting
point is 55/45.
Check your brake temperatures to see if this is effective. the higher
temperature will show where the most braking force is being applied.
Peak brake torque occurs at 932
Opening the brake duct will also slow your top
speed.
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| That ends this series. |
