rec.autos.simulators

I've been trying to figure out the setups used by the fastest hotlappers in
Live For Speed. It seems to me that their setups are "unnatural" in that
they wouldn't work in real life... it reminds me of the 48% front brake
balances in GPL setups - they're exploiting the extremes of the physics
engine. But I need help in understanding what's happening! Here's the
low-down:

The LFS GTi is a FWD hatch, 920 kg, 110 bhp, with a 59% front static weight
distribution.

The hotlapper setups use typical values close to these:

front spring: 60 kN/m
rear spring: 47 kN/m

front ARB: 70 kN/m
rear ARB: zero

limited slip diff is set to "10"... ie max locking, minimum slip.

Now, with this setup this front wheel drive car will *oversteer* when power
is applied exiting a corner. The front ARB is so stiff that the inside front
wheel is lifted off the ground when cornering and when exiting the corner.
The diff is fully locked, so the outside front can put down the power and
the lifted inside front doesn't spin the power away.

So my question is... is this natural behaviour? Or is this an exploit where
hotlappers are gaining an advantage by brutalising the car or tyres? Would
this technique work on a real life race car?

Only time I've ever seen a stiff front rollbar cause a car to oversteer. :0)

Cheers all
Jim

"At the current moment in time (9/10/02) the grip-load characteristic is not
modelled correctly. At the moment, doubling the load does result in double
the available grip (the peak of the friction curve)."

My best guess is that the whack hotlap setups are taking advantage of this
by super-loading the offside front, which currently maximises traction. Once
load sensitivity is modelled I guess this technique will cause the offside
front to "wash out" and we'll get understeer.

Or something. :0)

SB