rec.autos.simulators

IN REPLY to Andreas, here's some helpull hint on how to set your FORMULA
T1/T2 with GP2 and also some hints on SETTING-UP your car

4-ACCELERATION DEVICE: JOYSTICK B HORIZONTAL
        LOW SENSIVITY: 100% --> The higher the #, more it will be
                                progressive when you accelerate.
                                (same thing apply to BRAKE DEVICE)
                 MODE: ANALOG

5-       BRAKE DEVICE: JOYSTICK B HORIZONTAL
                 MODE: ANALOG
        LOW SENSIVITY: 100%

6-      CLUTCH DEVICE: USE GEAR CHANGE (default value)
          SENSITIVITY: 50% (default value)

7-        GEAR CHANGE: CHANGE UP:JOYSTICK A FIRE 1
                     CHANGE DOWN:JOYSTICK A FIRE 2

note: JOYSTICK B FIRE 1 & 2 are the 2 red BUTTON on your steering
      housing.
note 2: There's no JOYSTICK A & B VERTICAL (which could be use has a
        CLUTCH DEVICE. However it's possible to build one, although
        i'm not sure if there's any wire that are unused at the
        joystick/game PORT. We should check that with Thrusmasters.
note 3:Are you using a GAMECARD (like THRUSMASTERS ICM GAME CARD)?
       IF NO: all the SENSITIVITY will have to be adjusted to your
       need.

Now concerning the setups on your car: Every track has different setups.
1- However a good rule of thumb is having more WING ANGLE at the rear
than the front.
 note:too much rear WING will decrease dramatically your TOP SPEED,in  
    some case (like MONZA,HOCKENHEIM RING,SPA-FRANCORCHAMP) you'll
      have to put more FRONT WING than REAR,in this case, you'll have
      to "counter-act" the effect of this oversteer with the rest of    
   the setups.

2-The same applies to SPRING RATE (put more in front than rear).This way
your car will be understeering (which is desirable at some extent).

3-ANTIROLL BAR: try 2000-4000 lbs/in at front
                try 50-250 lbs/in at rear
  note: you will have to play with these numbers and see how
        it's reacting.
  note 2:these change are most effective at LOW and MEDIUM speed,but has
         effect at HIGH SPEED CORNERING

4- DAMPERS: try to use level 2 setup:
            LOW SPEED: always use a big # at front and low # at rear
                       ex: 15-22 at front , 7-12 at rear
           HIGH SPEED: Try to use front and rear very close to each
                       other.
 note: REBOUND DAMPER: % should be about 65-75% of the # of BUMP DAMPER
                      ex: REBOUND DAMPER (front):15 and BUMP DAMPERS:19
 please note: these are only example,every track has different needs.

5- RIDE HEIGHT(important):try to use always the lowest # as possible
                         because the lower the car the higher will be
                         the undercar downforce (more cornering speed)
 note: the front RIDE HEIGHT will be around 27-33 mm depending of      
       TRACKS the rear RIDE HEIGHT will be arond 45-55 mm depending of  
      TRACKS
 note 2: when modifying the height, always try to compare with the      
        GRAPH with two different setups.
 note 3:You can actually change how the car reacts (under/oversteer)    
        in high speed corners, independly of the rest of your setup.

6-PACKERS: this affect the TRAVELLING of your suspension (USEFUL in S
           type CORNERS) like rapid change of steering direction.  
           note: If TRACK is very bumpy you will have to                
           decrease the PACKERS HEIGHT in mm

note: this is the trickiest adjustment, always modify slowly            
      without modifying anything else and see the result-->TRACK        
      TIME and again the GRAPH (use SUSPENSION TRAVEL (each wheel)

note 3: when you increase the PACKERS again check SUSPENSION TRAVEL
        at the GRAPH and try to have some suspension travel both front  
        and rear (FRONT should be lower than REAR)

TRICKS: if you already do not know, when practicing use FETCH GRAPH and
then VIEW GRAPH --> this way you can see the change without
going out of the track ie:you don't have to SAVE HOT LAP to view the
GRAPH.

2- ALWAYS ZOOM IN the GRAPH in horizontal mode (X32) and CLICK MAP.
This way you can check all parameters very closely.

3- Don't forget to save SETUP as often as possible (with different
names).And when saving HOTLAPS use same names according to the same
SETUP --> thsi way you will eventually see the correlation.

4- I can say that i'm using alot of GRAPH/SETUP change to increase my
LAP time.

5- You'll find out, that the RACE AND QUALIFYING SETUP are different
because of the heavier fuel LOAD.

NB: if you download any SETUP file or HOTLAP from any WWW site,for a
specific track,you will find that most setups won't fit your
driving. I have found that every persons as different way to drive,and
most importantly every PC & STEERING device are different,so
from my personal experience it never really fits my driving.
Altough you can actually find some valuable information from these
files (how to take corners,gear,setups)

That's all Andreas, hope it will be useful, i just want to mention that
i'm far from beeing an expert, i'm learning like you and the rest of us
all. Eric

Nice post Eric! Did you ever consider rewriting the GP2 manual :-)

     ->->Mark Mann->->->->http://www.netrunner.net/~markmann
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