ACC v1.6 Setup Release Notes

The Coach Dave team continues to extensively test our setup packages for every car and track in ACC v1.6, which features a new tire and improved aero physics. Our testing has involved 3 professional test drivers and 4 sim racing engineers testing 6 hours per day. It’s an extensive effort.

Car Index

• Porsche 991.2 GT3 R
• Ferrari 488 GT3 2018
• Mercedes AMG GT3 2015
• Aston Martin Vantage V8 GT3
• Bentley Continental 2018 GT3
• Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo
• McLaren 720s GT3
• Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3
• Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO
• Lexus RC F GT3
• Honda NSX GT3 Evo
• BMW M6 GT3

The general consensus amongst my team is that the new update has improved the feel of the sim but not fundamentally affected setups. If a setup uses an exploit in the game then you’re in trouble, this has been something we have tried our best to avoid since day one of Coach Dave Academy. It’s the reason we employ real-life engineers to help us make setups.

The biggest change we have felt is getting the tires into their operating window, it definitely takes longer now and can influence your feeling during the first few laps out the pits. Work has primarily focused on this area, but it does depend on the car/track combination.

Our philosophy is fairly simple: If we feel changes are necessary, we will make them, if not we will leave the original Coach Dave setup untouched.

If a car setup has been changed we add a new setup to the track folder with a postfix ‘2020’. You can read more about our file naming conventions here.

Below is a report that will be constantly update, containing information on each car we have completed so far during our testing program:

Porsche 991.2 GT3 R

Overall the Porsche 991.2 GT3 R behaves with a lot of predictability. Some slight imbalances with higher speed corners were fixed through pitch control/ride height/wing level but fundamentally the setups were very much unchanged.

The 2020 BOP seems to have shifted its strengths at different circuits that we have tried so far. The big benefit it has post-patch over pre-patch is the increase in low-speed traction and consistency.

Track	Changes	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Aero	Aero
Bathurst	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Brands Hatch	Yes	Aero	Aero
Hungaroring	Yes	Aero	Suspension
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Dampers, Geometry, Mechanical
Kyalami	Yes	No changes necessary	Aero, Suspension
Misano	Yes	Aero	Aero
Monza	Yes	Suspension, Aero	Suspension, Aero
Nurburgring	Yes	Geometry, Suspension, Aero	Geometry, Suspension, Aero
Paul Ricard	Yes	Mechanical	Mechanical, Aero
Silverstone	Yes	No changes necessary	Aero
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Mechanical, Aero	Dampers, Mechanical, Aero, Geometry
Suzuka	Yes	Suspension, Dampers, Mechanical	Suspension, Dampers, Mechanical, Aero
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Zolder	Yes	No changes necessary	Suspension

Ferrari 488 GT3 2018 (non-Evo)

The Ferrari 488 GT3 2018 appears to be slower than pre-patch on the same circuits, this includes both 2019/2020 and IGTC circuits. Given our extensive testing pre-patch, we have enough data to understand why:

On all tracks, the car’s acceleration phase-out of all corners is slower than before however generally achieves the same top speed at the end of the straights as pre-patch.

In our testing, we have found that this lack of pace is not down to the setups given we are running the same wing/ride height levels, car handling and balance still feel very good, in some cases better on the new tire. We suspect the new aero calculations in v1.6, and BOP adjustments, have affected the acceleration and therefore lap time.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	No
Bathurst	No
Brands Hatch	Yes	Electronics	Electronics
Hungaroring	No
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	No
Kyalami	No
Misano	No
Monza	Yes	Geometry	No changes necessary
Nurburgring	Yes	Electronics	Electronics
Paul Ricard	No
Silverstone	Yes	Aero, Suspension, Dampers	No changes necessary
Spa Francorchamps	No
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Zandvoort	No
Zolder	Yes	Electronics	Electronics

Mercedes AMG GT3 2015

Overall the Mercedes AMG GT3’s setups didn’t change from the 2019 to 2020 tires. At certain tracks, we have tweaked tire pressures and made fixes damping.

The pace of the car still seems competitive, but on some tracks, it loses out a lot. We think this comes down to the BoP changes. The car has definitely become easier to drive with the new 2020 tires as it allows you to be more aggressive with the rear on corner entry. The TC also seems to have improved as it would no longer let the revs jump or leave tire marks on the track.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	No
Bathurst	Yes	Aero, Geometry	Aero, Geometry
Brands Hatch	Yes	Dampers	Brake Ducts
Hungaroring	Yes	Electronics	Electronics
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	No
Kyalami	Yes	Aero, Geometry	Aero, Geometry
Misano	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Monza	No
Nurburgring	No
Paul Ricard	Yes	Brake ducts
Silverstone	Yes	Dampers
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Aero
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Zolder	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics

Aston Martin Vantage V8 GT3

The Aston Martin Vantage V8 GT3 didn’t need big adjustments overall. Balance and driving wise the car didn’t suffer much from the V1.6 update. The biggest improvement which we have done on the pre-patch setups was improving the damper histograms in Motec.

The car suffered a little bit with traction on every track which we solved mainly by adjusting the rear ride height and increasing the traction control.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Brake ducts, Dampers, Mechanical	Dampers
Bathurst	Yes	Electronics, Dampers	Electronics
Brands Hatch	Yes	Aero, Dampers	Aero, Electronics, Brake ducts
Hungaroring	Yes	Dampers	Brake Ducts, Electronics
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Dampers, Geometry	Brake ducts
Kyalami	Yes	Electronics, Dampers	Brake ducts
Misano	Yes	Electronics	Electronics, Brake ducts
Monza	Yes	Electronics, Brake ducts, Dampers	Electronics, Brake ducts
Nurburgring	Yes	Suspension, Electronics	Electronics
Paul Ricard	Yes	None	Brake ducts
Silverstone	No
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Electronics	Electronics
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Brake ducts
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	None
Zolder	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Electronics, Brake ducts

Bentley Continental GT3 2018

Overall the Bentley Continental GT3 2018 hasn’t changed much. The car still has the exact same pace on most tracks and t’s handling characteristics remained similar. Small tweaks to the suspension and improving the damper histograms were almost universal across most circuits to keep the car in a more consistent window. 

The biggest difference we have noticed is in the Traction Control. The TC is less prone to bogging the car down or letting it jump on higher revs. With this, you can exit corners faster than before which can definitely make the car more competitive on short & twisty tracks.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics
Bathurst	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics, Aero	Dampers, Electronics
Brands Hatch	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Suspension, Electronics
Hungaroring	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics
Kyalami	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Dampers, Suspension, Aero, Geometry
Misano	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics
Monza	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Geometry
Nurburgring	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Dampers
Paul Ricard	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Dampers, Geometry
Silverstone	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Dampers, Suspension, Geometry
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Suspension, Geometry, Electronics	Electronics
Suzuka	Yes	Aero, Dampers, Suspension	Dampers, Suspension
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Suspension	Dampers, Suspension
Zolder	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics

Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO

Overall the Audi R8 GT3 EVO didn’t change it´s car characteristics/feeling on track. Most of the setups only needed slight adjustments like tyre pressures, dampers and brake ducts. Nevertheless, some of the pre-patch setups, especially on tracks with fast corners where you need to apply quick braking/steering lock, were not driveable.

The issue in the setups was aero related. By changing the front/rear ride height to create a more conservative rake the issue was solved.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	No
Bathurst	Yes	Aero, Dampers	Aero
Brands Hatch	Yes	Aero, Dampers	Aero
Hungaroring	Yes	Aero, Suspension	Aero, Suspension
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Dampers
Kyalami	Yes	Brake Ducts
Misano	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Monza	Yes	Brake Bias, Dampers	Brake Bias
Nurburgring	Yes		Brake Ducts
Paul Ricard	Yes	Aero	Aero
Silverstone	Yes	Aero	Aero
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Aero, Suspension	Suspension
Suzuka	Yes	Aero, Dampers	Aero, Dampers
Zandvoort	Yes	Brake Ducts
Zolder	Yes	Brake Bias	Brake Bias

McLaren 720s GT3

Overall the characteristics of the McLaren 720s GT3 are still the same as it was pre V1.6. The biggest difference was that due to the reworked aero-physics the car couldn’t run as aggressive aero balance as before.

By applying damper tweaks on almost every circuit we also made a massive improvement to the mechanical grip of the car and kerb behaviour. We saw no major differences in lap time to the pre-patch lap times completed. 

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Damper, Electronics
Bathurst	Yes	Dampers, Brake Ducts, Electronics	Damper, Electronics
Brands Hatch	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Hungaroring	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Suspension	Dampers, Aero, Suspension
Kyalami	Yes	Dampers	Aero
Misano	Yes	Dampers, Aero	Dampers, Aero
Monza	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Suspension, Brake Ducts	Dampers, Aero, Brake Ducts
Nurburgring	Yes	Dampers, Aero	Dampers, Aero
Paul Ricard	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Suspension, Brake Ducts	Dampers, Aero, Suspension, Brake Ducts
Silverstone	Yes	Brake Bias, Brake Ducts
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Suspension, Mechanical	Suspension
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers, Aero	Dampers
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Aero	Dampers
Zolder	Yes	Dampers	Dampers

Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3

Overall the Nissan GT-R GT3 hasn’t changed much since the V1.6 update. The setups were unchanged on some tracks. The only big difference we have noticed was the different behaviour at some tracks regarding the bumpstop range.

This might be due to a bumpstop calculation rework from late 2020. The same goes for the dampers as we had to reconfigure the dampers on every track, especially the rear.

Laptime wise we have seen a reduction in pace for the car, predominantly at some of the european circuits on the 2020 BOP.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Aero, Suspension, Mechanical, Electronics, Dampers	Dampers
Bathurst	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Brands Hatch	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Mechanical	Dampers, Suspension, Mechanical
Hungaroring	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Dampers, Electronics, Aero	Dampers, Electronics
Kyalami	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Misano	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Monza	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Nurburgring	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Electronics
Paul Ricard	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Aero	Dampers, Suspension, Aero
Silverstone	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Aero	Dampers, Suspension, Aero, Mechanical
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Zolder	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Mechanical	Dampers, Suspension, Aero

Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO

Overall the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo didn’t lose its main characteristics with the V1.6 update. It’s still really strong under braking and really competitive at the tracks where it was also really good before the V1.6 patch.

However, most of the setups needed aero adjustments because the aero configuration was too aggressive for the new aero physics adjustments.Car appears to be a little slower overall than pre patch at some circuits.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Aero, Geometry	Geometry
Bathurst	Yes	Aero, Geometry, Mechanical, Dampers	Mechanical
Brands Hatch	Yes	Aero, Geometry	Aero
Hungaroring	Yes	Aero, Dampers	Aero, Dampers
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Mechanical	Mechanical
Kyalami	No
Misano	Yes	Aero, Geometry, Mechanical, Dampers	Aero, Geometry
Monza	Yes	Aero, Electronics
Nurburgring	Yes	Aero, Mechanical, Electronics	Brake Ducts
Paul Ricard	Yes	Geometry	Geometry, Electronics
Silverstone	Yes	Aero, Geometry	Aero, Geometry
Spa Francorchamps	No
Suzuka	Yes	Mechanical, Geometry, Dampers	Aero, Dampers, Mechanical
Zandvoort	Yes	Aero	Aero
Zolder	Yes	Aero, Mechanical, Geometry	Aero

Lexus RC F GT3

Overall the Lexus RC F GT3 has not seen much change going from the 2019 BoP to the 2020 BoP. The car still has the same strong pace on most of the tracks. In the handling we can also see that the new DHE tyres have not made much change to the car’s characteristics, resulting in us not having to make big changes to the car’s existing setups.

On the tracks we had some changes, it was mostly down to the new aero calculations. This caused the car to develop some understeer going into high speed corners. The damper rework from late 2020 has also seen us adjust and fix the damper histograms on every track.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Dampers, Mechanical, Aero, Electronics	Dampers
Bathurst	Yes	Geometry, Brake Ducts, Electronics	Geometry, Brake Ducts, Electronics
Brands Hatch	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Electronics	Dampers, Aero, Electronics
Hungaroring	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Brake Ducts, Electronics	Brake Ducts, Electronics
Kyalami	Yes	Dampers, Electronics, Brake Ducts	Dampers, Electronics, Brake Ducts, Aero
Misano	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Monza	Yes	Dampers	Dampers, Aero
Nurburgring	Yes	Dampers, Aero	Dampers
Paul Ricard	Yes	Dampers	Dampers, Aero
Silverstone	Yes	Dampers, Electronics	Dampers, Electronics
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Dampers	Dampers
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers, Brake Ducts	Dampers, Brake Ducts
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Aero, Suspension	Dampers, Electronics
Zolder	Yes	Aero, Dampers, Geometry, Mechanical, Suspension, Electronics	Dampers, Geometry, Mechanical, Electronics, Suspension, Aero

Honda NSX GT3 Evo

Overall the Honda NSX GT3 EVO still has the same driving characteristics as it had pre patch. However with the 2020 BOP the car has more rear grip which allows it to put the power better down without the tc intervening too much. We also found out that the braking performance improved slightly at the tracks where the 2020 BOP is applied. On the IGTC tracks however the car still feels mostly the same as pre patch (braking performance).

With the new introduced aero physics we had to change the rake at every track as the previous values caused instability. In addition to that we found that every setup had an understeer tendency midcorner onwards which was solved by stiffening the rear end of the car, whereas response was improved by stiffening the front of the car and front suspension at certain circuits.

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Dampers, Mechanical, Aero, Electronics	Dampers, Mechanical, Aero, Electronics
Bathurst	Yes	Aero, Electronics, Dampers	Geometry, Electronics, Mechanical, Suspension, Dampers, Aero
Brands Hatch	Yes	Mechanical	Mechanical, Geometry, Electronics
Hungaroring	Yes	Suspension, Aero, Mechanical	Electronics
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Aero, Suspension, Mechanical	Electronics
Kyalami	Yes	Mechanical	Electronics
Misano	Yes	Aero, Mechanical	Aero, Mechanical
Monza	Yes	Mechanical	Aero, Mechanical, Suspension
Nurburgring	Yes	Aero, Mechanical	Aero, Electronics
Paul Ricard	Yes	Suspension, Mechanical, Geometry, Aero	Mechanical
Silverstone	Yes	Aero, Mechanical	Mechanical
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Aero, Mechanical, Dampers, Suspension	Aero, Mechanical, Dampers, Suspension, Electronics
Suzuka	Yes	Aero, Dampers, Mechanical	Dampers
Zandvoort	Yes	Aero, Mechanical	Electronics
Zolder	Yes	Aero, Electronics	Aero, Electronics

BMW M6 GT3

Overall the BMW M6 GT3 didn’t lose its main characteristics with the V1.6 update. It is still very strong at Monza, Suzuka and Laguna Seca. However with the 2020 BOP the car suffers even more on tracks where it wasn’t already competitive with the 2019 BOP.

The general trend of issues we found while updating the setups was mainly understeer from the mid-corner phase onwards, which we fixed with suspension/mechanical alterations. Stability was achieved by adjusting the aero. 

Track	Changed	Race Setup	Quali Setup
Barcelona	Yes	Aero, Dampers, Mechanical, Geometry
Bathurst	Yes	Dampers
Brands Hatch	Yes	Aero, Mechanical, Dampers
Hungaroring	Yes	Aero, Dampers	Aero
Imola	No
Laguna Seca	Yes	Aero, Mechanical	Mechanical
Kyalami	Yes	Dampers	Aero
Misano	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Mechanical	Aero
Monza	Yes	Aero, Suspension	Aero, Suspension
Nurburgring	Yes	Aero, Dampers
Paul Ricard	Yes	Aero, Suspension	Suspension
Silverstone	Yes	Dampers, Suspension, Mechanical	Mechanical
Spa Francorchamps	Yes	Aero
Suzuka	Yes	Dampers
Zandvoort	Yes	Dampers, Mechanical
Zolder	Yes	Aero, Suspension, Mechanical, Dampers	Aero, Suspension, Mechanical, Dampers