Top 5 Setup Changes to Start with in Sim Racing | Basics changes that have an impact

[@Ryan_Thompson]

I recently gave you a little flak for making videos that were getting a little too similar to other videos you'd made. I'm glad to say you're back! This video is one of the most concise and no-BS summaries of common setup changes that I've seen, and I've seen a fair few. Well done.

[@driver61simracing10]

Thanks. I try to keep up with the comments. The team and I are working on more fresh content. I can't guarentee it'll all be completely new, but we're getting there!

[@fridolfgranq]

@@driver61simracing10 Hey, I know you just made this video, however, for the future in making more in depth setup guides, I'd love the idea of bringing up a setup menu from a proper sim like iRacing or rFactor 2 and go over every single setting you see in the menu and explain each function as you go through them. Many of us know the basics of balancing the setup through the obvious like spring rate, ride height, aero etc. But the thing I think a lot of people are missing is knowledge of the other more complex settings such as; dampers, ackerman, packers etc. I'd be very grateful to have someone go into detail with everything that affects a racecar which I have had to learn through trial and error in my years of sim racing 😄

[@gomezthechimp1116]

@@fridolfgranq Raceroom does that as part of the setup menu. Mouseover a setting and there`s a full explanation of what it does, and what the result of changing it will be.

[@fridolfgranq]

@@gomezthechimp1116 ah that's cool, haven't tried raceroom despite all the hype around it. Maybe it's time I gave if a go

[@Jaytalise]

@@driver61simracing10 I think variety is the key sir, doesn't have to be new. But bouncing between different topics involving motorsports that are interesting or educational is what he's asking I think :)

[@lealowo]

Contrary to popular beliefs, setups serve to encourage good habits, not to compensate for bad ones. Depending on how you drive you can make the same setup oversteery or understeery, so a good setup doesn’t make you quick on its own. It’s the other way around. You can make terrible setups work reasonably well if you’re in the right mood. I usually drive the hell out of a default setup before I change things. When I stop improving I know I can begin to make changes. I personally prefer to spend time working on how to “feel” the car and how to trust my instincts because this is where I find speed. Then if I identify a precise handling characteristic that’s slowing me down and I know for sure it’s not caused by my own inputs, I go and try things here and there. I believe 10% of a fast lap comes from practised driving skills (that’s the conscious part of your brain that makes you frown from effort and says “i need a better setup to beat this guy” or “let’s try and trail brake here”), 5% comes from actual setup and the other 80% comes from things you do without really knowing (the instinctive part of your brain which brings ease and pleasure from driving and makes you smile, and that doesn’t give a dam if the setup is fast as long as the lap feels good)

[@AlexB_yolo]

Great video! Hope this turns into a series of videos where you start with the basics, then the more advanced aspects, and finally detailed deep individual videos for each adjustable part. Cheers!

[@opmike343]

God bless Kunos for having decent starting setups for ALL the cars on EVERY track. Absolute game changer for me.

[@kennielassen2839]

Litterally one of the best "short and precise" description of setup functions and changes. Great job!

[@reviewforthetube6485]

Thank you for this. Tbh this alone helped me so much im able to compete now. This is the best explanation video ive ever seen. Its not overly analytical. Its very easy to understand and helps everyone. I love how you didnt mslake it over complicated. This helped me so much now I understand every action. I also know what to search for when driving now. Thanks so so much!!

[@russellchapman5991]

i just discovered your videos..and ya already finding huge nuggets of wisdom..i am a total neub to sim racing 2 months now..and was thrilled to have found the se tutorials actually it was @race beyond matter who put a link to you, which i thought was well done, sharing anothers youtube like that..so ya thank you for putting these tutorials together in a very easy to digest way and look forward to gleaning as much as i can.

[@simonwadd4038]

Just what i needed as new to iRacing and want to start to learn to make tweaks myself, not depend on downloaded setups I don't understand!

[@jgbalves]

Great order. I believe that on the ride height, instead of being a matter of moving the center of mass, what you are mostly doing is by decreasing the height on an axle, generally you are decreasing the height of the roll center of that same axle, decreasing its load transfer (and increasing the load transfer in the opposite axle.). The axle who have more load transfer compared to the other, its gonna be more loose.

[@jannejaakkola5836]

Great stuf once again! I'm actually on a break from sim racing, but still love to watch your videos because they truly are the best ones out there.

[@1000sofusernames]

Going to give this a go later and try and dial in the WTCR cars in Raceroom. I feel like I'm just doing one big wheelspin most laps.

[@alexcastaneda7761]

Wow, finally a video that makes this simple enough for me to understand what all of this means. I will start testing out some changes to see how they affect my driving and times. Thank you!!

[@BigMeanyVids]

Just always appreciate your videos. So well done and easy to understand. I look forward to taking one of you classes next chance I get.

[@keifer99bayou]

Best setup video makes understanding setups sensible.

[@KartingBishop]

Thanks a lot for this video! I've been doing sim racing for a bit now and I'm looking to make setups. This video explained each adjustment in a simple way!

[@SuperMassiveGrayCat]

A point about camber and temperatures. Besides the cases of excessive overheat when all you worry about is reducing peak temperatures you actually want the inner side be a bit hotter than the outer. Cause what does it mean if IMO temperatures are equal - it means that the tire rides more (and heats more) on the inner side on straights but more on the outer side in corners and one process compensates another. Instead you want the tire work "flat" in corners which would result in uncompensated additional heating of the inner side on straights. How much of that heat is ok for a particular car - some experimenting is needed but as a fast rule I aim for ~5 - 7 degrees for fresh warmed up front tires and 3 - 4 deg rear (on RWD car). Not strongly sure that it is perfect though.

[@TheOverlordOfProcrastination]

Best set-up help I’ve seen.

[@UncleShahram]

lol i was wondering about camber and that what it is... instead of searching google I got this recommended to me )) awesome as always, and now I know what that camber does !Thank you!

[@robertmcmahon4549]

I just wish games had an optimum setup ready for each car and track,because i really cant be bothered with all the messing around,i just want to race,but unfortunately if i dont do this i dont stand a chance online.makes me wish in real world racing and in games there was one setup everyone has to use,then its just down to skill on track

[@yuccafarmergaming1479]

an encyclopedia wealth of information

[@georgios.marinoudis]

Excellent. Thank you

[@macmagic21]

In iRacing on edoesn't need to check regarding camber and tire pressure... Full camber.. lowest possible pressure. I love reality.

[@davidmann1871]

I saw this on the way to a track day, where we're preparing for our next race. I'll try to use these tips!

[@Frank56524]

Fantastic information thank you very much for your time.

[@devNeverless]

i understood the anti roll bars completly wrong, thanks mate

[@ryaramaf1gobshite397]

Great vid thx I can loose 5/10secs with car setup.I’m struggling to learn by jst change & see approach you could really help with more vids like these

[@RDMracer]

Very informative, but you could have adressed the drifference in underbody and overbody downforce for the driver. As lowering the front can make it less consistent as it might stall in the more difficult corners. This is also why overbody downforce is so important on street circuits. As it is much more safe and doesn't become chaotic on bumps.

[@johnbujalski8602]

Very true! Not lowering the car too much and increasing the wing settings for bumpy tracks will help keep the car stable. Not to mention softening the spring rate, then making fine tune adjustments to compression and rebound to dial it in. Softer cars for bumpy tracks and stiffer cars for smooth flowing tracks.

[@anubhavbhattacharya6216]

This is fantastic for my touge runs, thanks a lot! I'll be making good use of this now

[@964tractorboy]

That was a great help, hitting all the key components of setup. Thanks.

[@Zabolik]

You don't move the weight at all with changing the ride height. Niels Heusinkveld made a great video about weight transfer a few months ago, even with extreme ride height changes the weight distribution stays exactly the same.

[@davidmann1871]

I think it's more like an ARB adjustment, higher ride height causes more weight transfer on that axle, lowering overall grip.

[@fernandoavila3676]

thank you, hello from Panamá.

[@KyleS.1987]

Thank you for this! I love driving (poorly), but I've never dared touch setups.

[@driver61simracing10]

It can seem daunting! I suggest make minor changes to see how they impact understeer, oversteer and maybe straight line speed (aero). Just play around with it and you will start to get there.

[@AndreaP76]

Even if you don't want to touch anything else, always set the tyres pressures right, you can gain a lot and feel the car more stable just by doing that in sims with a great tyre model like ACC.

[@1000sofusernames]

It doesn't help that some sims like AMS2 have weird default setups that make certain cars really hard to drive.

[@AndreaP76]

@@1000sofusernames I don't have AMS2 so I don't know if things have changed, but the main problem that made some cars hard to drive in in Project Cars 1&2 (and made me not buy AMS2) was that with the madness engine you could barely understand what they were doing. I couldn't understand when I was starting to lose grip at all and so I couldn't even react. But that's usually a game engine problem more than a setup problem.

[@ttapestry]

Could you make a video on damper tuning? I can’t seem get a good understanding of rebound, bump, fast bump and fast rebound, and what effect they have on the car throughout the corner.

[@Mac-hc8jy]

Fantastic video. Very informational and simple to understand. Hopefully more too come of these videos.

[@thomasgoodwin2648]

😁 Thank you! Gold is good ... for the electronics n trophies. Advice like this is priceless. Just what the Dr.s (and the mechanics, bakers, architects, telephone sanitizers, etc) ordered. Getting quick should be considerably less slow now. 👍 Class is in session ... and I LIKE IT!

[@LuGian37420]

First thing to say, you Can REACH over 4k on Iracing, driving on Iracing setup. Only thing to adjust is wing(on touring cars) ,to be enough fast on straight as the others, and brakes: friction, pressure and balance. When you feel confortable, dont touch anything else, give you best. Setup on time attack between you and top racers, is maximum 0.5s. Theres another 0.2/3 to BOP on multi cars class. If you take over 1/1.5s, you take 0.5 to 1/1.5s a lap because you are not good enough. Oh and get you a loadcell brake if you dont have. Wheel base is 20% of your results, brake loadcell is 80%

[@bluedragon4339]

Great Video!!! Thanks!!!

[@ashiagefa646]

I personally discovered, before doing any adjustments, I need to know which part is causing the oversteer/understeer, which is the hardest part of my tuning process. I'm a somewhat paranoid person, and every time my car does not work properly, I usually over tuning some part while ignoring the others, it's been taken into notice, but it's still difficult to feel whether an oversteer is caused by a unbalanced anti-roll bar setting or a unbalanced camber angle setting, I also know too big a front downforce has similar effect. Can we have some way we can tell these difference in game?

[@gasixteenb11]

Start by using both presets for comparison and it's generally easy to know if it's driver input at fault or setup tweaks required. By the you'll know if the oversteer is happening consistently at what point.

[@SheetFiber]

This is the common problem I have experienced so far and still no answer. Mostly I ended up adjusting several things to make the unbalance go away without knowing which one is causing it. Like if understeer, I stiffen the front spring, negative front toe, low front bump and low front rebound, then if it still present, more angle on front splitter. Usually it goes away but I dont know which one is causing it.

[@void9452]

​@@SheetFiberyou need to soften front axle if u have understeer. stiffening it makes it worse

[@SiegfriedFarnonMRCVS]

Excellent explanations

[@jzyyz]

Oh hell yes, I was wondering when this day would come.

[@danielloman7217]

Wow, this is very usefull.. Thank you

[@JMast]

So what do you recommend for ride height? ?????

[@jbunker90]

exceptional video! thank you so much.

[@johankent69]

Hey! Can't you make a few videos with an example (in a popular sim racing program) over the process of setting up a car from the beginning until you are satisfied. Suggested one car with oversteer problems and another with understeer problems. Have seen many videos about how to do but when it's time it's hard to know what to start with. I would be very glad if you did that. Regards Johan Sweden

[@phillipbeharall6271]

Thank you great help simply explained 👏👏👏👏

[@andrewpacker5812]

Thank you for all the video`s. Why does the majority of the GT3 setups max out the camber in iRacing? The tire temps are always hotter on the inside. Will i gain better traction if i adjust the camber to level out the temps?

[@tubzvermeulen]

Thanks for the video

[@JMast]

So what’s the ideal ride height? I have it at 3 front and 7 rear. I think that’s the standard getting.for F1 2021

[@nvstewart]

watch some TRL Limitless vids, he shows his setups.

[@LukeVesty]

Excellent vid 👍

[@Baekel]

usefull video, thanks alot !

[@marksutherlandjr.2121]

TLDR- I dont know enough about car set up to even know what im looking for. Scott and Community, I'm in REAL trouble with Car Setup. For instance. I make these incremental changes to see how my car responds. Maybe just tweak a little of the roll bar stiffness and drop the car down some. The problem I'm finding is that I feel no real measurable difference. So I continue to make small incremental changes with the hopes of getting lucky snd unlocking sme magical car tune, and nothing. Until I feel Something. But by then it's too late. And somehow I've ruined the feel of my car. I've changed a tiny bit here and there until the car feels like crap. And I have no idea how to get it back or what I need to play with one way or the other. I fear my issue is that I have no sense of direction. I feel like I need some kind of plan. But the truth is the cars right out of the box feel good enough to me, cause I hvnt driven a car set up to my needs as a benchmark to compare. That way I could see fhe difference snd then start practicing

[@babyfknblu]

i feel like i knew all this, but one major setup thing i struggle with is knowing what to change first! if i'm dealing with too much corner entry oversteer, for example, there's still like 4 or 5 different things i can change, brake bias, front ARB, splitter, even spring rates i suppose. which one do i look at first??? is there an order? is it case by case? what are the cases?

[@cyberdansken]

Depends on what SIM. But I would say Brake Bias first, then ride height and then further

[@vsm1456]

There are two opposite opinions on how tire pressure affects tire temperatures, and it's not just nobodies on some forums, but people with extensive real life experience in driving and setting up cars. Whom to trust? Are there are reliable sources that can settle this argument?

[@michiakon4913]

Can you show a video for the best possible setup on the Cayman MR for RF2 (it's a free mod on steam)? Thanks

[@yuccafarmergaming1479]

So basically you want him to do your job? There are setups that you can find, but will cost you.

[@jochemr.a.bakker8048]

I would add one suggestion: only modify 1 setting at a time, otherwise it is almost impossible to gauge the effect of each setting.

[@SeQFreQ369]

So you didn't watch the whole video then, he does say that in summary.👍

[@wellperegrine0214]

I swear that street circuit example was turn 4-5 of Adelaide

[@umi3017]

While I can tweak a car feels like what I like to drive, in many cases, it actually makes the car slower compare to the default setting...

[@elgroxo]

Story of my life

[@theoldhenk7531]

Yeah, when I set up a car to handle better, it's often slower over a lap. That usually involves taming an unpredictable, or overly loose car, and I think there's definitely some truth to the idea that "loose is fast(er)". That said, if I'm significantly more consistent, and able to avoid spins, I'm probably much quicker over a race distance (vs. trying to drive a looser setup than is comfortable). Building fast setups is more difficult for me, and a much longer process, as even the obvious setup options (e.g. lowering rear downforce) function as part of a larger whole, and require a lot of trial error to set correctly. You also need to learn the setup trends associated with each sim, as fast iRacing setups, for example, often feature minimum allowable tyre pressures, max negative camber (especially in the rare), and more DF than you might expect (to name a few setup tendencies). Not every car follows those guidelines, and they sometimes change from build to build, but there's a reason the top teams use dedicated setup builders (who then can spend 100s of hours over a season tweaking a single car).

[@mahmoud-khaled-abo-elmagd]

this is awesome

[@Wizzler2112]

I don't if I've ever ran an iracing setup where the tire pressures weren't at the very min and the cambers maxed out

[@m.r.8903]

why in the setup menu of Codemaster F1 20xx is always written that a higher tyre pressure means higher tire temperature? Shouldn't be the opposite?

[@theoldhenk7531]

As tyres spin, friction with the road surface increases both tyre temperature and pressure, so the two are correlated (Boyle's Law). That said, I've never really heard of that association being used to set cold pressures, but it may be what the setup menu is suggesting. I'm not very knowledgeable about the setup/handling implications associated with higher tyre temps, as I usually set mine so that hot pressures are as close as possible (or I eventually learn what the fastest drivers run, and use those), but I wouldn't be surprised if higher tyre temps lead to quicker tire fall-off/wear/degradation.

[@mattw404]

Because codemasters doesn't know what they're doing

[@ironman-py5vn]

I hve a serious request !!!!!! Pls make a dedicated video on steering input....how professional race car drivers like you turn car with so much little input and so ... 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏 Pls 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

[@gamingandtechnology6913]

Yeah we need that video, sometimes I overturn car and guess what slower exit, but I don't think he will upload that video, it will give too much information, it must be taught in racing school. If u want to learn try skipbarber racing guide book 📖.

[@sestenwhen]

Why in Forza 5, if you raise the front height and lower the rear it gives you a higher top speed?

[@deanlawrence871]

Have you got a setup guide for f1 2021?

[@driver61simracing10]

We really should make one. We'll get right on it! Thank you for the idea.

[@deanlawrence871]

@@driver61simracing10 that would be awesome, love your vids and analysis

[@simdidracing]

Great video, very good SIMDID recently released a new formula steering wheel, it's great, the price is super discount, come and see

[@deluca2922]

Thank u

[@4879daniel]

Setups are the biggest downside of sims for me. I don't want to spend hours reading about them and testing. I just want to play for fun and test my skill on a level playing field. Default setups should be close to optimal.

[@BruceWayne-fc9kv]

FORZA motorsport may suit you well.

[@Ryan_Thompson]

There are lots of talented sim racers who don't do their own setups, or take a setup and make minimal changes to it. Depending on your sim of choice, there are websites and Discord servers, free or paid, to download setups for car/track combinations, such as Craig's Setup Shop for iRacing. I personally enjoy the challenge and control of doing my own setups, but, yeah, some people like to just hop in and let 'er rip, and that's fine too. Setups aren't going to magically slash seconds off your lap times either, but they can certainly make a tricky car more fun and stable, or a boring car more lively.

[@4879daniel]

​@@BruceWayne-fc9kv A predictable reply that misses the point. I want to do sim driving, not be a sim race engineer. Setups should be there for individual tweaking - not a requirement just to do a few laps because the default setup leaves you with one or two tyres that will stay permanently cold.

[@4879daniel]

@@Ryan_Thompson I'm not against setups - just games that give you shitty ones by default. Assetto Corsa is really bad for this.

[@AndreaP76]

@@4879daniel Are you sure the shitty part is in the setups and not in your feet and hands? In serious sims they usually always give you the default and more aggressive setups recommended by who made that particular car or the teams. ACC gives you a great safe setup if you're not too skilled, and the aggressive one that's already a great setup to go fast (in fact, many world records were done using that and simply adjusting tyre pressures to suit this or that driving style or little else). Your previous comment about two tyres remaining permanently cold makes me think you don't give a shit about tyre pressures, while setting them right for example in ACC you can easily gain a second (and feeling a perfect balance and having normal temps). That said, there are plenty of websites or discord servers etc that offer you fuckloads of setups to choose and try for free, just do that instead of criticizing sims for doing what they are meant to do.

[@therealjayce]

What is the software you are using ?

[@johnmifsud6007]

So how low is too low for cars with a rear diffuser.

[@CSTBFO_jad]

Has anyone ever mistaken you for Lucifer? To clarify, the actor in the TV series who plays Lucifer?

[@shimassi9961]

Tom Ellis

[@BobbyMoran606]

What s the name of his grey chair he uses?

[@GM_Sanjit_Ramesh]

Ikea

[@racekraft]

Short and sweet setup videos are sorely lacking on YT. When changing the ride height, I think the weight distribution change is minuscule though. I think what’s happening is lowering one axle drops the roll center, and thus reduces the roll resistance of that axle, thereby improve grip relative to the other axle. On the topic of ride height and aero, it’s worth mentioning how higher aero will lower ride height at speed. When testing, it’s important to increase the static ride height when increasing aero so that the ride height remains the same at a given speed.

[@notdreadyet33]

Iracing.. change ride height, invalid/won't pass tech. 🤯🤢🤮

[@CoryG1981]

why does this playlist have over half the vids THE EXACT SAME .... super annoying to watch the same vid over after it just ended 1-8

[@majortom4543]

Aseto corsa is one of the fakest "sims" i have ever tested. I would go with Iracing and rfactor but if you are on console your best bet is Dirt 2.0 and F1 2020/21 although 21 is full of bugs and gimicks. I rather use 2020