How I Upgrade

The very, very short version that will omit things but:

1. I always buy the race gearbox

2. First I tune the final drive ratio to a round about area based on what I already know for similar cars to what I'm currently tuning.

3. Next I test drive the car on the big oval (the current oval sucks as it's not really long enough. I miss the gigantic oval from FM4).

4. I start by doing several "starts" with the car in order to adjust the gear ratio for 1st. The goal is to set it so that there is just a little tire spin off the line but not much and I can keep my RPM's where I want them. With an AWD vehicle obviously
1st will be pretty short but by contrast, with a high HP front engine, rear drive car 1st will be much taller.

5.Next I like to run through the gears just to see where they are and also reach top speed. While at top speed and in the highest gear (6th) I begin to adjust it. My goal is to set 6th so that when I'm hitting top speed I'm maximizing the powerband of the
engine i.e. hitting top speed while in optimal RPM range for maximum HP for that engine. This allows my top speed to be determined by drag only. This also is contingent upon the type of tune I'm doing i.e is the car meant for short tracks or long tracks?

6. I then begin to adjust all the gears in between, starting then with 2nd. I like to remember that torque = acceleration and HP = top speed when doing this. I also keep in mind the type of tracks I'll be racing on, generally speaking, with said car but,
the tendency is simple. I like to rev my car in 1st all the way to redline then shift to 2nd and, when I do, I want my RPM's to be in a specific range optimal for that engine. As I adjust each subsequent gear I gradually and progressively increase the RPM's
with each shift. What I mean is this. Say I have a car the redlines at 6500 RPM's. When I shift from 1st to 2nd, with 1st having been redlined, I may want 2nd to "grab" around 5000 RPM's (this really depends on the car and what I'm tuning it for though). Then,
after redlining 2nd and shifting to 3rd I may want it to "grab" at around 5,200 RPM's. Then 4th at 5400 or 5500, etc. As I progress through the gears I like to have progressively higher RPM's which takes more advantage of the engines powerband.

This is really a condensed version of what I do and omits detail. Maybe we can get into party chat and I can share all of the nuanced details surrounding my thoughts on gear ratios?

p.s. Super short version. 1st is set for max accel with min tire spin off the line. 6th is set for a drag limited top speed. All in between gears are set progressively shorter.

 

I usually install the Race Transmission from the start of my builds just so I always have the ability to tune specific gears in the future (without having to change around other parts of the build to free up PI for installing the Race Transmission at a later
date).

However, in some cases I will forgo the Race Transmission if it doesn't provide a good performance improvement and I'm not expecting to tune for specific gears. I'll often do this if I'm starting a build for a specific track and the regular gear box has
good ratios for that particular track.

Harry seems to indicate that he's always messing with the gear ratios from the start - but I don't see much reason to mess with the gear ratios unless you are tuning a car for a specific track. Often times, on a particular track there will be a turn or two
where you find yourself having to make a hard decision on whether to upshift or ride out the current gear. These are the places where I'll tune the gear box specifically for that track (usually by just shortening or lengthening one of the gears to get better
performance in one or two corners).

 

Yes, my personal preference is to always buy the race gearbox and tune the ratios. It's only with a rare exception that I do not. On FM5 in most every case upgrading to the race gearbox does very little to bump the performance index up so it doesn't make
sense not to. Also, in pretty much every single case with virtually no exceptions as a result of my tuning I get 3 things. 1) better launch off the line 2) better acceleration because I'm not hitting off peak powerband zones 3) better top speed.

If I am really tuning the ratios for a specific track I will tune the gears specifically for various turns in the track so I'm optimal as I accelerate out of a turn. In addition, I like to tune it so that I'm hitting peak performance (usually right before
the HP starts to drop off just under redline) at the end of the longest straight on said track. This means I determine what the highest gear I'll use on that track will be and set it so that at the end of that longest straight I am just winding out that gear.

Tuning a car in FM is not too unlike real life in this regard and I'd also use Golf to illustrate the point. In golf there is a recommended optimal swing. It's optimal because more times than not it sets the stage for consistent best performance. This however,
does not mean there is necessarily a right or wrong way. In a golf swing you are instructed to hit certain positions during the swing because it promotes a good outcome but there are other ways to achieve that good outcome. Just look at Jim Furyk! While tuning
cars in FM there is no right or wrong. Only fast.

 

Thanks for the info, Harry! Crunch, that sounds a lot like what I tend to do. I usually leave the ratios where they're at by default, unless I find I'm really having a problem in a certain area of the track. I never really got in the habit of having a
different tune for different tracks...I usually just use a different car altogether, with a tune that's better-suited to what I'll need.

For instance, it's pretty unlikely that I'd make a "top speed" tune for a Lotus Elise...if I want a mid-engine, rear-drive car with a high top speed, I'd probably just switch up to a Ferrari 458 or something similar (provided whatever restrictions that are
in place for the race in question would allow me to do so, of course).

My (very) general approach to tuning has always been to figure out what the car is naturally good at, and to accentuate those traits. To use the Elise example again, it's pretty light and grippy to begin with, so it tends to be good on shorter, twisty tracks
without a lot of long straightaways. That being the case, I'll usually start off by giving it the grippiest tires I can, while buying all the adjustable parts I can (springs, roll bars, diff, etc) so that they can be dialed in. I'll try to save some PI for
a weight reduction to make it even more nimble, and any left-over PI I'll tend to go for some lighter rims to reduce the car's unsprung weight. Then...if I STILL have room to play with, I'll consider going in and upgrading some of the engine parts.

An old '60s Stingray on the other hand...is never going to be a ballet dancer. Pretty much all cars can benefit from better tires, so that's usually where I start regardless. I might be tempted to put racing slicks on to give better grip at launch to help
alleviate wheelspin, but it seems like that can be better handled by adjusting gear ratios instead. I'll then go through and put on all the race suspension components (except maybe just “Street” brakes or whatever I feel I can skimp on, if I'm trying to get
the car to fit in a certain class and PI is tight), but I generally won't worry about weight reduction of any kind...I'll go straight to the engine and see how much bang for the buck I can get from that. I like to avoid adding turbos and superchargers if
I can...I feel like normal aspiration gives you the most linear, predictable power curves. And predictability, as far as power delivery is concerned, is a good thing. Few things are worse than upshifting and feeling like the engine has bogged down...so you
floor it, then all of a sudden the turbo spools up, ALL of the power hits you at once, and now you've likely soiled yourself while trying to keep the car and the barriers from getting intimately acquainted.

 

Upgrading tires is great for improving the handling of any car but it comes at a significant cost in terms of power you could be adding to the build. You need to be careful and selective when upgrading the tires. Some will tell you to never upgrade tires
in B class or lower. For me, even A-class in FM5 is often only street compound (sometimes stock compound) and usually some width upgrades.

 

Excellent point, Crunch. I guess I've just always felt more comfortable in a car that can pull high lateral g's, but may not be overly impressive in terms of straight-line pace. But as you say, in a car that's relatively low-powered, you may not be able
to adequately utilize all of that mechanical grip that the tires have on offer anyway...better off putting it into some engine upgrades or weight reduction instead.

 

Trip, using a car while stock and determining what a car is good at before you tune it then emphasizing it's strengths is a given. This is imperative and something I've always done since the beginning. It's good that you pointed it out because I'm sure there
are plenty who don't know to do this. I tend to do 3 different types of tunes, generally speaking. Short tracks (good grip, accel and braking and naturally light cars work best for this), long tracks (good top speed and accel which high HP cars, which are
usually heavier, are good for) and general "all around" (just what it sounds like) tunes. And, it's a great idea not to try and take a car too far above it's original class as they tend to become uncompetitive. Also, another thing the race gearbox does is
decrease your shift time. This obviously increases acceleration.

p.s. I do gravitate to good grip but not exclusively. my reason is simple. In the straights I'll draft and it gives me that extra speed. In the turns, however is where the vast majority of passing takes place. I want to be able to slow down more quickly
which means I can apply my brakes a little later (often this alone will facilitate a pass) and I also want to be able to negotiate a turn with more fervor which will also frequently allow me to pass. This is generally speaking and there are clearly exceptions
to this.

 

Ran out of time to edit. Another thing I've noticed is, a tune that will allow you to set a best lap time record isn't necessarily an optimal tune for racing against competitors and a tune great for racing against competitors isn't always optimal for hot
lapping.

 

Good that you pointed that out, Harry...that's absolutely true. You may have say a 370Z that has a tendency to oversteer and is tough to handle...but boy, when you get that one clean lap, you can place it high up on the leaderboards. A tune like that is
probably not the best to take into a race lobby against other competitors, as you'll likely be all over the track and will not have the control to be able to run clean laps for an entire race distance. A tune that makes the car easier to control (but perhaps
slower in outright lap time) would probably be better suited in this case, as you'll be able to keep the car out of trouble (and out of other cars!), and will likely finish higher up in the order.

 

In a discussion on the FM.net forums someone posted this link to a gear tuning guide:
www.gscarter.co.uk/.../gears.php

I usually never tuned gears for each car I build but I'm changing that now.

I used the method in the linked article last night to update my tunes on a couple cars I had previously run good LB times with. After using that method I instantly shaved anywhere from .5-1.5 seconds off my previous best lap times.

I never really spent time tuning gears in the past but, until I find a better method, the steps in the linked article will now be a part of my standard tuning process.

 

In reference to tuning gears, that's essentially what I've been doing for years now and is what I posted here in this thread already. I just use a slightly different methodology which I've developed on my own through trial and error but in the end, the same
thing is accomplished. Welcome to gear tuning, dude.