CDA4 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 Release Notes

Welcome to the Aston Martin GT4 CDA4 release notes blog. In this page you will find the detailed notes compiled by the team after each session when creating the fast and safe variants of the new CDA4 Aston Martin GT4 setups. Please carry on reading below to see what our team found:

Brands Hatch

• The rear camber is lowered in order to prevent a big spread of OMI tire temperatures.
• Stiffer front roll bar provides easier and more direct handling through the fast corners in sector 3
• Differential preload and rear rebound damping are low to help with off-throttle rotation, especially in turn 1.
• To give the car better rotation through fast corners, the front damping is quite stiff. Also the car is using a low wing and high rake combo.
• The car handles bumps very well so it’s important to cut a lot in turn 6 to gain lap time.

Misano 

• Soft springs increase the mechanical grip of the car.
• To increase rotation on throttle, the dampers have been stiffened.
• The setup is saved with TC off, but if you struggle with handling you can put it to 1.
• Differential preload and rear rebound damping are low to help with off-throttle rotation.

Nurburgring

• Dampers adjusted to get good rotation on the brakes
• Low front spring to get max grip out of the car
• As Nurburgring has 2 longer full throttle phases max wing wasn’t used
• If you feel comfortable with the RS setup feel free also to try and use TC 0 to gain lap time.

Paul Ricard

• The car is working better with a low wing configuration, which gives a better top speed but doesn’t compromise the handling in the turns.
• Differential preload and rear rebound damping are low to help with off-throttle rotation.
• The setup is done with tc off, but if you struggle with the handling you can put it to 1.
• Stiff rear wheel-rate gives rotation on throttle.

Silverstone

• The Silverstone setup uses the Kyalami baseline as a starting point. The dampers in the Kyalami setup have been tuned to maximise exit rotation for the car given its understeering nature, so the aerodynamic performance at Silverstone is in a good window to begin with.
• A lower wing level was tested and used as the compromise in aerodynamic downforce was not very high and it made the car more agile in the medium speed corners along with a higher top speed. 
• A higher preload value is also used to provide more stability into Copse corner and to also provide better rotation post apex. The front spring is also softer in this setup, thereby giving the car a better bite on the front end. Stiffer springs are not as crucial here as the variations on the surface are not as bad as Kyalami, so roll control over track variations can be controlled by the ARBs without additional support.

Spa Francorchamps 

• A low downforce setup works well at Spa with a relatively low ride height being used to match an optimal aero balance around the high speed corners. 
• Relatively soft suspension has been used to improve the mechanical grip through low speed and mechanical corners. The front bumpstop rate and bump damping have been set to have an optimal compromise between turn agility and preventing the front end from bottoming out at Radillon. 
• You can soften the front bumpstop rate by another click if you want more bite on the front end but it has a potential to clip the ground at the top of the hill unless your line is perfect through the beginning of Eau Rouge.

Suzuka 

• Car has very good rotation at high speed in 130R which allows the setup to be focused on low speed traction without much compromise.
• Softer suspension provides better compliance over kerbs in the last chicane 
• Rear anti-roll bar is soft in order to limit twitchiness during direction changes in the first sector.
• As the car is very safe over kerbs, make sure to cut a lot of the Degnar 1’s inside kerbs

Zandvoort

• Zandvoort and COTA run similar setups despite having varying requirements of bump absorption. Fundamentally the flowing nature of corners, long medium speed sections and low speed off throttle sections are present on both tracks. 
• The Zandvoort setup however uses a softer suspension setup to improve compliance over kerbs.
• The damper logic used is similar to COTA with the soft front bump and rear rebound providing the necessary rotation. 
• Being a more technical and slightly slower track, Zandvoort uses a very low preload value to keep the car rotating through the low speed sections.

Zolder

• In order to get the lost rotation of the front ride height back a lower wing was used.
• Springs adjusted to give the car a good rotation on the brakes for the RF Setup.
• Toe adjusted to keep the car stable but still have very good rotation.
• ARBs adjusted to keep the car stable over chicanes.
• Driving wise it is important in the first chicane to cut as much as possible on the first curb and in best case don’t hit the second curb at all.

Barcelona 

• Low wing setting is used, although the straight line speed difference is small. More importantly the rotation through corners 3 and 8 is much better.
• Suspension is set really stiff to stop the car from rolling and hopping mid corner while there’s a lot of load on one tire.
• Positive toe is used to provide predictable and easy to handle rotation at slow exits
• Race safe setup focuses on providing very manageable traction even with the TC being off.

Donington Park 

• High rake gives the car a good amount of rotation with the wing level being used.
• High front bumpstop rate helps to keep the car stable on entries even with the low brake bias.
• TC off is used in Q and RF set in order to maximise laptime but consider using TC1 if it is unmanageable.
• ARBs are adjusted to get the car stable on throttle with a good amount of mid corner rotation.

Laguna Seca

• High rake and negative toe have been used to give more rotation to the car.
• Differential preload and rear rebound damping are low to help with off-throttle rotation.
• Stiff rear wheel-rate increases the rotation on throttle.
• Soft ARBs help to increase the mechanical grip.
• The setup is saved with tc off, but if you struggle with the handling you can put it to 1.

Kyalami

• The Aston GT4 runs better with a stiff antiroll bar configuration which makes the car more responsive through direction changes in the first sector.
• A stiff front spring helps support the engine weight on the front axle. A softer front bump damping configuration helps with entry rotation and stability. 
• This makes the car a bit more responsive into technical corners in the second sector. 
• Aero tests were done with different wing levels but it was determined that a higher downforce configuration works better around the track.
• Bumpstop range adjustments are limited to pitch control is determined by a combination of the spring, bumpstop rates and dampers. These have all been fine tuned to get the best compromise between entry grip and stability through the high speed corner entries throughout the lap. 
• The unconventional stiff rear bump and stiff front rebound damping configuration is used to maximise rotation on aero corners since the inherent understeer in the car is quite difficult to overcome with purely mechanical changes. Additionally a stiffer rear spring helps in the rotation. The preload however is set quite low to improve traction closer to the apex of the corner and to help with low speed rotation. 
• If you are having traction issues, consider softening the rear spring and softening the rear bump damping. Also go up on the preload so that the high speed understeer does not kick in, with the previous changes countering any traction issues brought by the preload.

Hungaroring

• The setup is done with TC off, but if you struggle in the handling you can put it to 1.
• Stiff ARBs help with providing more response while changing directions.
• High wing helps with stability and dowforce.
• Dampers have been tuned to give more traction for the car.
• Stiff rear wheel rate provides more rotation on throttle.

Monza

• The Aston Martin struggles with corner exit understeer around Monza. To help reduce this, the preload of the car has been increased, whilst also softening the rear of the car.
• With top speeds being the main objective of Monza, the rake of the car can be reduced, with a rear ride height of 112mm. The rear wing is also set to its minimum value to aid the top speed of the car. Consider the increased braking distances given the improved top speed.
• For qualifying toe has been applied to the front and rear wheels to aid the car turning into the corner.

Imola

• The setup is done with TC off, but if you struggle in the handling you can put it to 1.
• Stiff ARBs give more response for the car under direction changes.
• Dampers are tuned for better bump absorption through the track.
• Low brake bias fixes the understeer on entry.
• Take the chicane in the last sector with 15/20% of throttle, as it gives more travel to the springs, which help to absorb the impact of the bumps.

Mount Panorama

• The priority for Bathurst is to get enough low speed grip to launch the car out of hairpins with maximum grip but still have enough stability to prevent the car from pitching too much downhill.
• The springs are run quite soft to improve overall grip through the track. The ARBs are also on the softer side to ensure roll compliance downhill in the bumpier sections of the track. 
• The rear dampers have been set quite stiff to provide stability both on entry downhill and exit since this helps with roll control aerodynamically. 
• The wing levels have been adjusted to help with overall rotation and to provide enough straight line speed down the back straight. An alternative to the current fast setup would be to drop the rear wing down one more click and then either softening the rear wheel rate or stiffening the front bump dampers. 
• Running a soft ARB might give you more mechanical grip but will also cause extra roll through the high speed corners giving even more rotation and instability, so it’s a compromise to consider.

Snetterton 

• Rear suspension is very soft as the car needs a lot of traction especially on the tight exit of turn 2.
• To further improve handling the rear toe is set slightly positive which prevents over-rotation on throttle.
• Front springs are also soft to better balance the car, giving more front bite on corner entries as well as letting the front rebound upwards on exits.
• To get enough rotation through fast corners with a soft setup, the anti-roll bars are set quite stiff and the car is running a low wing with a lot of rake.
• Low brake bias helps shorten the braking distance but can cause a slight lock-up of rear wheels if you start turning the wheel too much while still braking.  Both ABS or brake bias can be raised should you have any issues.

Oulton Park

• The race set up is set up soft on the dampers, with a medium stiffness on the spring rates. The aim of this is to maximise the cars stability and initial responsiveness, with reduced understeer from the dampers. 
• The car responds well to set up changes, by increasing the rear wing angle and rear ride height, the car was able to eliminate high speed understeer.
• It is recommended that the race set ups are used with the TC set to 1, this improves the cars consistency without a huge time loss.
• For qualifying, the front and rear toe angles were adjusted, along with increasing the front rebound. This resulted in a responsive car that produced consistent qualifying lap times.

Watkins Glen

• Car needs stiff front springs to control the pitch in downhill corners like T1 and T6 (Chute). They also prevent bottoming out on the kerb at entry into the chicane.
• Entry stability also has been improved with dampers. The rear rebound is stiff in order to limit pitch and roll of the car. 
• To obtain enough traction for the slow exits, the rear bump damping has been softened. Also slightly softer rear springs and lower preload give the car more grip.
• With low preload the car doesn’t have a lot of rotation on power. Because of this you have to be a bit patient with going back on throttle in the second last corner. Otherwise you might go wide on the exit.

COTA

• Different ARB and suspension tests were done at COTA to find the best combination to use through the high speed corners on the track. The ARBs are run quite stiff in order to maximise turn in response through the flowing sections of the first sector. 
• A soft front bump and soft rear rebound damping combination helps in getting the car to pitch into the corners, especially since many corners are low to medium speed and require very precise and narrow entry lines to get the optimal exits. 
• Maximum downforce is not very efficient on the straights but the car still needs sufficient aerodynamic load to provide enough grip through the first sector of the track. 
• The high preload value helps with high speed post apex rotation but can tend to affect the traction on slow speed apexes, so if this effect is too intense, consider dropping the preload by a few clicks.

Indianapolis

• Differential preload and rear rebound damping are low to help with off-throttle rotation.
• The setup is done with tc off, but if you struggle in the handling you can put it to 1.
• Stiff rear wheel-rate to increase the rotation on throttle.
• Soft rear ARB for increasing the grip in the slow corners.
• Low wing to increase the top speed and the rotation on the high speed corners.

Valencia 

• The rear camber is lowered as the tire wear is very high at Valencia. However, it also improves rotation through the first corner.
• Positive rear toe is a bit higher as there are many long exits that require a lot of traction.
• Softer front springs improve rotation durings coasting, giving the car slightly more pitch.
• Low preload also aims at improving the off-throttle rotation in tight corners but it also provides better traction on exits.

Team List 

Track	Driver/Engineer Combination
	Driver	Engineer
Barcelona	Hubert Szymanski
Hungaroring	Amedeo Castorino
Imola	Amedeo Castorino
Kyalami	David Pertile	Saiduth Ramesh
Laguna Seca	Amedeo Castorino
Misano	Amedeo Castorino
Monza	David Pertile	David Skidmore
Mount Panorama	David Pertile	Saiduth Ramesh
Nurburgring	Jakob Ostermann
Paul Ricard	Amedeo Castorino
Spa Francorchamps	David Pertile	Saiduth Ramesh
Suzuka	Hubert Szymanski
Zandvoort	David Pertile	Saiduth Ramesh
Zolder	Jakob Ostermann
Brands Hatch	Hubert Szymanski
Donington	Jakob Ostermann
Oulton Park	Chris Hack	David Skidmore
Snetterton	Hubert Szymanski
Silverstone	Luka Berk	Saiduth Ramesh
Watkins Glen	Hubert Szymanski
Indianapolis	Amedeo Castorino
COTA	Luka Berk	Saiduth Ramesh
Valencia	Hubert Szymanski