Ferrari setups for GPL...HELP

Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars to my liking. Thanks, Mike

>Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide >for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but >none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars >to my liking. If you ask your questions regarding the setups here, we should be able to answer them. The most basic of rules regards the fuel and tires. The more fuel you have in the car, the heavier it will be and so the slower you will travel. So for hotlaping, leave a very little in the tank. However, having more fuel in your car can also help, as the extra weight can make taking corners easier, especially when you're new to it. And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. What else do you want to know? The Excelsior "ICQ #40620378"

Hi! Click to Alison Hine's Website: http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/ There you will find what you're looking for. Bye! Crash -- "...on our home, third stone from the sun." Metallica MC schrieb:

Hi, Joachim is right. For setup info Allison's site is THE place. When you get there go to table of contents and look for the section called "setups". Well explained with links to other information as well. Zubcut

>And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. >However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. Last time I looked, a choice of tire compounds was not an option in GPL.

www.theuspits.com is another EXCELLENT (perhaps the best of the lot) simulator site, with everything from N1 to GPL! The Excelsior "ICQ #40620378"

Tyre wear is not a factor in GPL temperatures are. In 1967, it was not uncommon for a set of tyres to last 2 or 3 meetings without being changed. Mark > >Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide > >for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but > >none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars

Quoted text (19 lines)

> >to my liking. > If you ask your questions regarding the setups here, we should be able > to answer them. > The most basic of rules regards the fuel and tires. The more fuel you > have in the car, the heavier it will be and so the slower you will > travel. So for hotlaping, leave a very little in the tank. However, > having more fuel in your car can also help, as the extra weight can > make taking corners easier, especially when you're new to it. > And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. > However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. > What else do you want to know? > The Excelsior > "ICQ #40620378"

I have been driving GPL since the demo was released early last year. Then I bought the sim when it was released and have been driving it since. I have been sticking to the default setups just to get used to the cars but it has been thousands of laps and countless hours. Don't get me wrong, I can drive the car well and I can drive it to its limits. My lap times at various tracks are consistent and I can drive without ending up in the trees at every corner. The problem I'm having is that I don't understand how to set up a car to make it run faster or make it handle better or brake a little deeper in the corners... I'm just not sure where to start on a setup. Yeah, I know everyone says to adjust only one thing at a time. That's just fine and dandy if you know where to start and what to do. I don't understand how far you should to go with certain settings. I guess for me to learn I need someone to say start here, do this, this, and that, then go to this part of the car adjust this until this or that happens...you get the picture. I hope someone out there understands where I'm coming from. Thanks, Mike BTW, I like to run full races. I'm not really into hot lapping.

> Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide > for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but > none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars > to my liking. H'mmm, try Alison Hines GPL site, she has some excellant Ferrari set-ups + for most other chassis..... If you can't drive Alisons set-ups, you really should examine your driving technique....before making your own set-ups (IMHO)http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/ferrari.htm Graeme Nash has some 'low rider' set-ups on his site, fast, but they are somewhat less forgiving and harder to drive (IMHO ;-) http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk/gpl/contents.htm Best of Luck Dave Hawnt UK-GPL

Hi MC, I'm no expert but these steps will help bring your laptimes drop in the short term. 1. Gearing. Set up your top gear so that you are just below the redline at the fastest part of the track. Other gears should be optimised for greatest efficiency in respect to cornering. People will debate whether you go through the lesmos in third or second gear for instance but you shouls be able to drive most corners holding a single gear. Ghanging up or down mid corner can have a destablising effect on the car. Try not to set ratios where there is too big a gap between gears. 2. Brakes. I set the brake bias as far back as I can handle. Typically, this is about 52 -55%. I have gone as low as 49% in F3 setups. The further back the bias goes, the quicker the car will stop but it becomes more tail happy. 3.Tyre temperatures/ pressures. You should have even tyre temperatures across the width of the tyre as far as practical (within a couple of degrees is easily achievable). It is often best to balance temps in such a way as to have the inner part slightly warmer on many tracks, particularly fast ones like Monza. Do this by adding more negative camber to heat up the inner part of the tyre, more positive camber for the outer tyre and increase / decrease tyre pressure to get more / less heat into the middle. 4. Steering ratio. Set this number to as high a value as possible. By doing this, you get less scrubbing of tyres in corners, hence less speed wastage and heat build up. I consider these changes to be the basic ones to go for first if you are looking at chopping off large lumps of time at this stage. Following on from here, Chassis/drivetrain setup becomes more subjective, opinions will vary and driving style will become a factor.You should find 1.5 secs playing with these basic ones first. Mark BTW. Don't forget to make your setups ride height compliant for 1.1. That is to say, make your setups Y2K compliant <subtle eh> hehe

Quoted text (12 lines)

> > Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide > > for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but > > none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars > > to my liking. > H'mmm, try Alison Hines GPL site, she has some excellant Ferrari set-ups + for > most other chassis..... If you can't drive Alisons set-ups, you really should > examine your driving technique....before making your own set-ups > (IMHO)http://simracing.com/alison/gpl/ferrari.htm > Graeme Nash has some 'low rider' set-ups on his site, fast, but they are > somewhat less forgiving and harder to drive (IMHO ;-) > http://www.karisma1.demon.co.uk/gpl/contents.htm

I've been trying Alison's ferrari setups for the last few days now, and I'm finding that, although easy to drive if you're taking it easy, it's very difficult to get down to the sort of laptimes that are possible using an ultra-aggressive low-rider setup like Wolfgang Woeger's Lotus. When I first tried WW's Lotus setup at the Glen I was squirming all over the track, but once I got used to it I found that I could brake much later and (most importantly) turn in at higher speeds. I never matched his 1:03.61 world record, but was pretty consistently in the 1:06s and did manage a 1:05.4. With Alison's setups I'm finding it very hard to get the car to turn in - I have to use a lot of trail braking and it's very difficult to do this consistently - sometimes the car heads straight for the apex and I have to swerve back out again, and sometimes I carry straight onto the grass on the outside (this happens a lot at Silverstone). Is this just because WW's setup is a low-rider (ie. cheat) setup, and I need to learn how to drive properly?

Firstly, Alison's setups are designed to be used with trail braking in mind, which means that they are supposed to understeer. Secondly, its not the ride hight that makes Wolf Woeger so fast. At least not exclusively that. His use of the throttle and how his car is geared and where he shifts have a lot more to do with it. Take a look at one of his replays from Watkins Glen (or anywhere else for that matter), and pay special attention to these things. Thomas JS Brown

>Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide >for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but >none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars >to my liking. >Thanks, >Mike Mike, Go to the eaglewomens site. Alison Hine has it all. Joel Willstein

Quoted text (7 lines)

>I have been driving GPL since the demo was released early last year. Then I >bought the sim when it was released and have been driving it since. I have >been sticking to the default setups just to get used to the cars but it has >been thousands of laps and countless hours. Don't get me wrong, I can drive >the car well and I can drive it to its limits. My lap times at various >tracks are consistent and I can drive without ending up in the trees at >every corner.

You do better than most folks! Best thing to do is ask us! Choose one of the setup options, choose your question, and ask it... we'll be only too happy to help. :-) I'd be happy to do that. If you like, you and I could begin some 'GPL Tutorials'? I'm no quite an expert in GPL, but I do know how to drive the cars pretty darn well, and I'm also no expert at the setups either, but I'm certainly not bad at them. :-) E-mail me know if you'd like to do this... The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

On Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:57:01 +0100, "Mark Seery" >2. Brakes. I set the brake bias as far back as I can handle. Typically, this >is about 52 -55%. I have gone as low as 49% in F3 setups. The further back >the bias goes, the quicker the car will stop but it becomes more tail happy. Remember that as you brake, the car is forced to lean forward, and so more weight is on the front wheels. This effects breaking. The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

How hard do you break? Do you ever lock the wheels before a corner? Also, are you using any of the aids, such as traction control? If so, that could be your problem... The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

True, but it does mean smoother braking, unless you know how to brake well using normal brakes. Don't! Try a few laps in one of the more stable cars, and brake each time at your usual points at one of the more difficult corners. Now, once you're ready, trying braking either slightly later, or lighter, than before. Take it easy however, and increase this every lap, until you're at your limit, or close. You're doing the right thing here. Again, the right thing. Unless of course you're already at a smooth enough speed to continue through the corner either without the aid of either pedal, or the accelerator. Don't jump onto the accelerator too hard. Wheel spin can lose you time, especially when you have to realise the accelerator to gain grip again afterwards. Especially noticable in the Ferarri. This is natural, and the only way to solve it is to setup your car a little better, and of course, to practise. I wasn't so keen on Silverstone before, but I have recently started to enjoy it, a lot! Especially when racing the AI. The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

To Post An Addendum To Ex's Reply I would like to start in; Don't you think in his question:{"I want to learn how to set up the cars to my liking"} is extremely personal and subjective? As usual your info is "spot-on" but every driver will race each track in the way they want to race it... So as Tim Wheatly did for me is to look at a lap replay of mine to see how I drove & etc... Then he could visually see what was changeable or not. Tim's suggestions{for me}were more concise! Of course there is still a wide range of changes but the direct pin'pointing will be a "tad" better.. Don't you think?? Cheers Thom_j. > >Does anyone know where I can find a good and easy to understand setup guide > >for GPL? For the Ferrari in particular. I've downloaded setups already but > >none of them have worked well for me. I want to learn how to set up the cars

Quoted text (19 lines)

> >to my liking. > If you ask your questions regarding the setups here, we should be able > to answer them. > The most basic of rules regards the fuel and tires. The more fuel you > have in the car, the heavier it will be and so the slower you will > travel. So for hotlaping, leave a very little in the tank. However, > having more fuel in your car can also help, as the extra weight can > make taking corners easier, especially when you're new to it. > And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. > However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. > What else do you want to know? > The Excelsior > "ICQ #40620378"

Zub; I "kinda" disagree. Yes Alison's setups are usually close to the best and {to me}she has done more for Gpl then even maybe Papy. {Remember I did say "maybe"} I have used many of her setups with great success on several type racers. I am having serious problems with the Ferrari setups but I consider this to my driving technique. This is my problem & is not Alison's problem! Bottom line; Again good starting point but if you don't drive or try to drive via her instructions I feel your times won't lower or enjoy the setup! Point being; There are no best setups for any race car! Any & all constructive commnets are welcome! Cheers Thom_j.

On Thu, 17 Jun 1999 08:57:01 +0100, "Mark Seery" >4. Steering ratio. Set this number to as high a value as possible. By doing >this, you get less scrubbing of tyres in corners, hence less speed wastage >and heat build up. >[snipped] I do the complete opposite here. I set it as low as possible without the car getting too twitchy. -- Greger Huttu

That and just don't use trail-braking. Go back to basics and master braking in a straight line before turning. Once you can do that and get good consistant times then you can start braking a bit later and carrying through with trail-braking.

Mike, I totally understand what you are saying. I race NROS a lot and have been to the extremes. I was a GREEN rookie in November 1997 with only really one decent setup for C***te and now I am running with the big dogs. I build all my own setups, but when I first started "tweeking" it was almost impossible for me to really figure out what I was doing. It has taken me since November 1997 to even have a decent idea how to set up a NROS car let alone a GPL car. NOTE: I have had REALLY good success with converting my same "philosophies" from N2 to GPL so don't believe the naysayers on how unrealistic the N2 physics engine is... I am proof it is not. However, ONE big thing I would recommend would be to actually download some of the hotlap setups and actually study them. Drive them and compare. Look at the differences and start to focus ONLY on the car's reaction to certain situations. Don't worry bout lap times etc... For GPL setups the BEST setup guide is at [link lost in import] The person that wrote the guide and myself don't really get along too well, BUT it is a very well written piece of work. For ME, I will focus FIRST on the exit of the turns before entry. Note: I am not saying the car is totally crappy on entry of the turns, but my first priority is setting up a car to be quick on exit of the turns. The REALLY good online drivers do NOT dive pass... They will normally pass on exit of the turns... Therefore you want to have a car that is hooked up on exit of the turns. I would recommend also start by making your cars slightly "tighter" vs "looser" and work the car til it is hovering at that fine line between tight and loose.... This is what many would call a "balanced" car. Hope that helps..... Bill / Amish on TEN Founder: Team Brickyard

Quoted text (8 lines)

> Firstly, Alison's setups are designed to be used with trail braking in > mind, which means that they are supposed to understeer. > Secondly, its not the ride hight that makes Wolf Woeger so fast. At > least not exclusively that. His use of the throttle and how his car is > geared and where he shifts have a lot more to do with it. Take a look at > one of his replays from Watkins Glen (or anywhere else for that matter), > and pay special attention to these things.

As it happens that's exactly what I did - at Watkin's Glen in particular, and got within 2 seconds of his time. This is of course a world away from beating it, but it was pretty good for me. My problem is really with Alison Hine's setups - I can't see how to go anywhere near as quickly with them as I could with WW's setups. Is there some fundamental technique I'm missing here, like how the brake and accelerator are supposed to be combined when cornering? I have split axis throttle and brake, so presumably this allows me to do certain things that aren't possible with a combined axis. I try to reduce the amount of brake as I start to turn in, then accelerate as soon as the car comes round, but it seems very difficult to predict how quickly the car will turn in. Perhaps it just takes yet more practice... <sigh>

Quoted text (9 lines)

> >Is there some fundamental technique I'm missing here, like how the brake > >and accelerator are supposed to be combined when cornering? I have > >split axis throttle and brake, so presumably this allows me to do > >certain things that aren't possible with a combined axis. > How hard do you break? Do you ever lock the wheels before a corner? > Also, are you using any of the aids, such as traction control? If so, > that could be your problem...

Driving aids??!! What do you take me for... ;-) It took about 5 minutes to see that the braking "aid" meant that I had to brake even earlier for the corners, so that went straight away! When braking I concentrate on: 1. Starting to brake at the same place each time 2. Use just enough pressure to avoid tyre squeal 3. Relax the brakes a bit if the car starts to swerve off-line 4. At turn-in, go to about half-pressure on the brakes 5. Release brakes and apply throttle when I think I'm going to make it! I just find it very hard to use the right amount of brake pressure so that I can control the car when it starts to turn in: too much, and I crash into the apex of the turn; too little, and I end up on the grass at the outside as I exit. I got much better at Zandvoort when I started using more gentle brake pressure to 'rally' round the turns, as the turn-in was less *** and more controllable, but Silverstone seems to require much more aggressive turn-in to get decent laptimes.

You probably use a wheel though Gregor. I'm one of those one handed joystick jockeys at the moment so this would explain my approach. Mark

Quite right. The effect is that the rear wheels will have a tendancy to lock first as the weight transfers forwards. Mark

Gregor....he called you Gregor!....LOL! ;) Now don't get upset Keeko...

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999 21:50:44 GMT, "Stephen Warrior" >>And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. >>However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. >Last time I looked, a choice of tire compounds was not an option in GPL. He means inflating the tyres with more or less air. The less air is pumped in, the softer the tyres get. The 'burn out more quickly' refers not to tyre wear (as stated in another post), but temperature rise (which eventually makes for less grip, if they become too high). Ruud van Gaal MarketGraph / MachTech: http://www.marketgraph.nl Art: http://www.marketgraph.nl/gallery

Quoted text (16 lines)

> On Wed, 16 Jun 1999 21:50:44 GMT, "Stephen Warrior" > >>And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. > >>However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. > >Last time I looked, a choice of tire compounds was not an option in GPL. > He means inflating the tyres with more or less air. The less air is > pumped in, the softer the tyres get. > The 'burn out more quickly' refers not to tyre wear (as stated in > another post), but temperature rise (which eventually makes for less > grip, if they become too high).

You're not kidding! Brands Hatch really seems to heat up the tyres - in one race (against knobbled AI ;-)) I was leading by a huge margin when I suddenly had an unexplained spin, and after that I just could not keep the car in a straight line - as soon as I shifted into second gear, no matter how careful I was with the throttle, it would just spin again immediately. I eventually realised it was the tyre temps - after a quick shift-R and a few corners on cold tyres it was back to normal. The trouble is that whenever you have a spin the tyres heat up even more, so you get to a point where you just can't go anywhere! Do tyres really get that bad when they heat up too much?

That's one of the things I HATE! I wish that GPL would NOT reset things like fuel and tires when you pressed SHIFT+R. Put the car back on the track, yes, but don't reset anything else... Yes, they do. I have never experienced this trouble in GPL however. I'll try to do a few hotlaps today, plus TONS of skids and spins, to see how it goes... The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

On Wed, 16 Jun 1999 21:50:44 GMT, "Stephen Warrior" >>And as for tyres. The softer they are, the more grip they will have. >>However, softer tyres will also burn out more quickly. >Last time I looked, a choice of tire compounds was not an option in GPL. And? If you decrease the air pressure in your tires, you are making them softer. This is _not_ the same as a soft _compound_ of tire. The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

Quoted text (9 lines)

>To Post An Addendum To Ex's Reply I would like to start in; >Don't you think in his question:{"I want to learn how to set up the cars >to my liking"} is extremely personal and subjective? As usual your info >is "spot-on" but every driver will race each track in the way they want >to race it... So as Tim Wheatly did for me is to look at a lap replay of >mine to see how I drove & etc... Then he could visually see what was >changeable or not. Tim's suggestions{for me}were more concise! Of >course there is still a wide range of changes but the direct pin'pointing >will be a "tad" better.. Don't you think??

I'm not sure I follow what you mean... The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

Exactly! The Excelsior "Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning..." Captain James Kirk [William Shatner], The Undiscovered Country

On Fri, 18 Jun 1999 06:37:44 +0300, "Marko Viitanen" >>> I do the complete opposite here. I set it as low as possible without >>> the car getting too twitchy. >>You probably use a wheel though Gregor. I'm one of those one handed >>joystick >>jockeys at the moment so this would explain my approach. >Gregor....he called you Gregor!....LOL! ;) Everybody seems to make that same mistake. What's up with that? :) Oh.. :) -- Greger Huttu

<snip> % When braking I concentrate on: % 1. Starting to brake at the same place each time % 2. Use just enough pressure to avoid tyre squeal % 3. Relax the brakes a bit if the car starts to swerve off-line % 4. At turn-in, go to about half-pressure on the brakes % 5. Release brakes and apply throttle when I think I'm going to make it! % I just find it very hard to use the right amount of brake pressure so % that I can control the car when it starts to turn in: too much, and I % crash into the apex of the turn; too little, and I end up on the grass % at the outside as I exit. % I got much better at Zandvoort when I started using more gentle brake % pressure to 'rally' round the turns, as the turn-in was less *** and % more controllable, but Silverstone seems to require much more aggressive % turn-in to get decent laptimes. With setups designed for trailbraking, I find it useful to use both the brake and accelerator at the same time. While applying brake to help the car point into the turn roll off the throttle. While attempting to start to accelerate out of the turn, continue to use the brake lightly to keep some weight tranferred over the front wheels. It's a delicate ballet. . . Of course this requires pedals setup on seperate axes. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Another thing to try..... Play with the ramp angle settings. For a track with alot of slow corners, you may want to try 80/45. This helps to turn the car while slowing. Also play with the number of clutches. -- **************************** Michael E. Carver ************************* Upside out, or inside down...False alarm the only game in town. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=<[ /./. [- < ]>=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

>When braking I concentrate on: > 1. Starting to brake at the same place each time This may or at least could lead to trouble: The problem is that no two laps are exactly alike, if you have had a particularly good exit on a previous turn and you've carried your speed down the straight you may approach your next corner at considerably higher speed than the brake point you've picked out is right for. The key is adjusting your entry speed. In other words don't worry about *where* you brake just make sure you enter the corner at the correct speed each time. Once you get *that* right, then you can be really fast. Easy to say hard to do.