The following notes come directly from the setup and engineering team. These will help you better understand how the cars behave at Mount Panorama. They should help you make a better decision on which car to choose. In addition, we hope they provide insight into setup changes you can adjust to help the feeling of the car during your practice.
Audi R8 LMS Evo 2 & Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Both of these cars struggle a little bit in stability. If you want to find a little more rear stability in them you can focus first on the rear axle. Softening the rear anti roll bar and spring rates will help but you are then sacrificing overall lap time. If you need more front stability you can increase the front anti roll bar, front spring rates or by lowering the front toe. These two cars will be a challenge to tame for the 12 hours.
BMW M4 GT3
The car is planted and feels nice to drive on a long stint. It’s a front engine car so we will focus first on the front axle if we want to do some changes. If you want to find a little more rear rotation you can put a softer anti roll bar and spring rates on, higher negative front toe and push with brake bias to the rear if you need rotation on the entry face with brakes. If you need more stability you can increase the front anti roll bar, front spring rate, decrease rear anti roll bar or lower the front toe. A nice choice for the 12 hours.
Ferrari 296 GT3
The car is extremely stable, easy to drive and has really good pace. Fewer degrees on the front anti roll bar will give you more rotation, also a softer front spring rate. If you need a little more rear rotation on fast corners, focus increasing the diff preload. If you need more grip on corner exit focus on the front axle first by increasing the front stiffness and if you need more continue to soften the rear axle. This would be our first choice to get us through the mountain for the 12 hours for all skill levels.
McLaren MP4 GT3
The car struggles a little bit in stability and it’s tricky to be consistent, but has really good pace. If you want to find a little more rear stability you can focus first on the rear axle. Softening the rear anti roll bar and spring rates, you can also increase rear diff preload (but be careful on the fast corners). If you need more stability overall you can increase the front anti roll bar, front spring rate or lowering the front toe. But you can feel understeer in the car like this. Play with brake bias to the rear if you need rotation on the entry phase with brakes. A car always competitive with custom BOP.
Mercedes AMG GT3 Evo
The car struggles to negotiate the mountain properly and can be a handful over skyline and through the dipper. It’s a front engine car so we will focus first on the front axle if we want to make some changes. If you want to find a little more rear stability you can increase the front anti roll bar and spring rates, lowering the rear ride height or lowering the front toe will also help, but you are always sacrificing lap time. This will be a tricky car to handle for the 12 hours.
Porsche 992 GT3R
The front fuel tank of the Porsche gives you different behaviour during the stint making it a little more unpredictable. If you want to find a little more rear stability you can focus first on the rear axle. Softening the rear anti roll bar and spring rates and also increasing rear diff preload (but be careful on the fast corners) can help. If you need more stability overall you can increase front anti roll bar, front spring rate or lowering the front toe but you can feel understeer in the car. If you need more rotation on low speed you can decrease the diff preload, if you need rotation on high speed increase the diff preload. Play with brake bias to the rear if you need rotation on the entry phase with brakes. Can be fast in the right hands but not the user friendly choice.
Engineer Notes
Naming convention
E01 – Endurance setup (Full tank)
S01 – Sprint or Race Setup (Half tank or necessary fuel for race)
Q01 – Qualy setup
SAFE – Safest version for the race setup (more wing setting, stiffest front ARB, stiffest front Spring rate, Softer rear ARB)
Mechanical Balance
Options that affect the chassis roll stiffness (anti-roll bars, springs, and dampers in transient motions) and differential settings play into what is felt as mechanical balance.
Stiffer front ARB = more understeer
Stiffer rear ARB = more oversteer
Increase ride height = clicks left on the spring perch offset
Decrease ride height = clicks right on the spring perch offset
Aerodynamic Balance
There are two parts to setting the correct aerodynamic balance for your car: the options that affect aerodynamic balance directly in the garage (wing angles and garage ride heights) as well as options that affect the car’s dynamic ride heights at speed (springs, torsion bars) and transient motions (dampers).
Third and heave springs only affect pitch motion of the car.
Low diff preload = more entry turn in, understeer on exit
High diff preload = more understeer on entry, more oversteer on exit
