I thought it appropriate to put my observations here. Namely, after
developing setups for different tracks in GPL for quite some time now,
what I've found out is that the final results are really not very much
different from track to track (well, at least considering the 'normal'
tracks - Monaco and the Ring excluded). I would say that once you decide
on the overall stiffness the rest somewhat fits in automatically,
depending on your driving style. These are not hotlap setups, mind you,
as I do not like hotlapping all that much, but setups for consistent
race driving.
So once you have a setup that has the turn-in, drift and power out
characteristics that match your driving style, you can take the same
setup to any other ('normal') track and have competitive lap times
there. Of course the times might be slightly better if you adjust the
setups a bit, but one setup can be good enough on most tracks.
In modern F1 the extesive setup tinkering is necessary due to the strong
interaction between the downforce, that has to be adjusted from race to
race, and the spring stiffness with bump stops to secure the minimal
ride height, which in turn strongly affects the low speed handling.
Anyone who played GP2, F1RS or MGPRS will know what I mean. But in the
pre-aero era all setup changes, although interconnected, were still
fairly independent in their effect, and more importantly, not as much
speed sensitive. That's why setup changes are not strictly necessary
from track to track.
> :> :-)
> :> I don't consider changing a set of pads as "tweaking", Ron!!
> :>
> :> It was said, when he (Clark) raced here in his last Tasman series, that
> : his
> :> car was not "tweaked" from the time it arrived to the time it left. (I
> :> think they mean that it carried the same basic settings throughout the
> :> series).
> :> If true then that is certainly an indication of the brilliance of the
> : bloke.
> : You think so? I dunno, perhaps it also indicates his total lack of
> : understanding of what a setup can do for the car?
> Yes... there was a long thread about this on
> rec.autos.sports.f1.moderated. Some people took it as a sign of his
> brilliance I took it as a significant weakness in his abilities. After
> all, you're nowhere in modern F1 if you can't do set-up.
> --
> Richard G. Clegg Only the mind is waving
> Networks and Non-Linear Dynamics Group
> Dept. of Mathematics, Uni. of York
> www: http://manor.york.ac.uk/top.html
