Welcome to the Chevrolet Camaro 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 Chevrolet GT4 setups. Please carry on reading below to see what our team found:
Brands Hatch
- High rake and wing for maximum rotation and downforce
- Relatively soft front mechanical setup with stiff rear to maximise rotation
- Diff is set to provide traction and off power rotation for the middle sector.
Misano
- Setups have TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Stiff rear wheel-rate to have a better rotation on throttle.
- On this track the rotation on throttle is very important so the rear bump damping is a tiny bit more stiff compared to other tracks.
- Negative toe to increase the rotation.
- Low preload for having more oversteer off throttle.
Nurburgring
- High rake used to aid rotation, alongside medium wing levels to add entry/braking stability.
- Dampers tuned to balance pitch on entry to prevent turn-in oversteer along with adjustments to improve on power rotation.
- Alignment adjusted to optimise low speed traction for sector 1.
- Safe setup uses adjusted dampers and ride heights along with other minor changes to try to add extra stability for a safer feeling drive.
Paul Ricard
- Stiff rear wheel-rate to have better rotation on throttle.
- Stiff ARB on the rear to fix the understeer.
- Low preload to have more oversteer off throttle.
- Dampers are tuned to increase the traction and rotation.
- Setup has TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Negative toe to increase the rotation.
Silverstone
- High rake, low wing to get maximum cornering speed on high speed corners.
- Low preload and aggressive suspension settings to aid the rotation.
- Dampers tuned alongside wheel alignments to maximise balance between traction on exits, and stability on entry to turns.
- Safe setup focuses on extra stability, at the slight cost of cornering speeds, a good option to try if you have trouble with entry over-rotation or wheelspin on the fast setup.
- Quali setup maximises rotation over stability.
Spa Francorchamps
- The front suspension is run very soft to maximise the overall grip on the front end as this is crucial for the balance around the high speed corners in Spa. In order to further minimise understeer ideally the rear suspension should be run quite stiff.
- However this causes too much roll instability causing the front engined car to be unpredictable, so a neutral rear suspension has been used.
- Stiff bumpstops and a higher preload ensure both stability into corners as well as more response when getting on throttle providing a good balance through the middle sector of the lap.
- Dampers have been adjusted to suit the suspension combinations used, a slightly lower than max rear ride height provides low speed grip to the rear axle.
Suzuka
- Safe and fast setup have the same potential lap time, the safe setup gains in traction but it has a bit less rotation, so it’s up to your driving style.
- Positive toe on the rear for give more traction to the car,
- Medium wing gives stability to the car, especially on sector 1 where there are a lot of changes in direction.
- Stiff ARBs have a more responsive car in the change direction.
- Setup has TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Low preload to give more rotation off-throttle.
Zandvoort
- The Camaro GT4 is a car that will want to understeer through the corners. This is a result of the engine configuration. To help reduce this, the rear of the car has been set up stiffer than the front.
- With a stiff rear end, the bumpstop rates have been increased to prevent the car pitching too much into the corner.
- A high rake set up has been used to allow the car to rotate through the corner and aid cornering performance.
- To make the car more predictable, the rear wing can be further increased, but increase the preload to suit this.
Zolder
- The Camaro GT4 is a big heavy car that traditionally doesn’t ride curbs all that well. With Zolder being a track focused on two chicanes, improving how the car rides the curbs is critical. This is achieved by softening the dampers on the car, whilst also having a medium spring set up.
- The preload is set to it’s minimum value to help reduce entry understeer and assist the car turning into the corner.
- To help the driver through the lap, the TC value can be increased by 1 to aid traction.
Barcelona
- Front of the car needs to be stiff to provide enough stability and limit roll in long fast corners. However, the car also needs enough front grip for the slow corners in sector 3. The compromise has been achieved by fine tuning the front dampers, while keeping the mechanical settings stiff.
- Rear grip is mainly gained from low preload and rake. Also the rear positive toe can be increased if needed. The rest of the setup focuses on getting enough rotation so the car is quite stiff at the back as well.
- Wing level is low as it helps shift the balance to the front, limiting the understeer in faster corners. Also it gives a straight line speed advantage on the long main straight.
Donington Park
- Very low preload is necessary to get a sharp turn-in into the chicane as well as to limit understeer in hairpins
- As the front springs are stiff to keep the car stable in the Old Hairpin, the front bump damping has to be softer in order to get enough rotation at low speed.
- High bumpstop rates help with compliance over the bumps in the chicane
- As there are a lot of long corner exits, the car is using medium wing level to get enough traction through them.
- It’s better to keep the rear toe slightly positive rather than neutral as it can cause sliding on the exit kerbs.
Laguna Seca
- At this track it is very important to maximise traction and thus the mechanical grip of the car, rather than looking for too much rotation, so we set less negative camber and toe values.
- Setup has tc 0 but if you struggle you can use tc 1.
- Soft ARBs to maximise the grip of the car.
- Rear wheel-rate is stiff to increase the rotation on throttle.
- Medium wing to maximise the general grip and stability of the car.
Kyalami
- High rake used to try to maximise rotation as the camaro is naturally very understeery.
- Lower wing used to help rotation at high speed, along with aggressive roll bar and spring settings to help rotation at all speeds.
- Safe setup is focused around traction, using more rear toe, less rake and suspension settings aiming to improve traction.
Hungaroring
- Setups have TC 0 but if you struggle you can use tc 1.
- Stiff rear wheel-rate to have better rotation on throttle.
- Soft bump damping to increase the mechanical grip.
- Negative toe to increase the rotation.
Monza
- Very soft springs and a low rear wing ensure that the car has the best potential for straight line speed down the long straights on the track. This also provides enough grip on the slow and medium speed corners for the given wing level being used.
- Different ARB combinations were tested for varied levels of response given the car is not very sensitive to kerbs impacts. Very stiff ARBs appear to cause more grip loss in general due to the car’s inherent stiffness. So a softer ARB combination was also decided.
- The preload and dampers have been optimised to provide maximum rotation possible through the slow speed corners as well as entry into the high speed corners.
- The safer variant runs with slightly higher wing and more neutral rear toe. The wing has a very small effect on the balance but provides more stability without having to change any mechanical values, thereby preventing a change in mechanical handling in the slower sections of the track.
Imola
- Stiff ARBs have a more responsive car in direction changes.
- Stiff rear wheel-rate to have a better rotation on throttle.
- Dampers are tuned to be more stable over bumps.
- Setup has TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Low preload to increase the rotation off throttle.
Mount Panorama
- Soft ARBs increase the grip on the mountain section.
- Setup has TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Stiff rear wheel-rate to have better rotation on throttle.
- Low preload to increase the rotation off throttle.
- Dampers are tuned to have more stability on the downhill and to maximise the traction.
- Low wing to maximise the top speed.
Snetterton
- Higher preload increases understeer in hairpins but it’s necessary for the on-throttle rotation through mid speed corners.
- Car is set up stiff to limit roll which improves handling in faster corners. It also provides good traction in the low speed exits.
- Generally the car struggles to rotate at high speed so a low wing with high rake combo is used to help with that. In addition, the rear rear camber is set close to neutral.
- The car has a tendency to lock up rear wheels on corner entry. To prevent that the brake bias needs to be kept quite high and the rear rebound damping stiff.
Oulton Park
- For Oulton Park the Camaro uses a very stiff ARB combination to help with agility and direction changes and to also prevent excessive roll through the long corners in first and second sectors.
- The springs instead have been softened to ensure that the mechanical grip is maintained.
- Stiffer bumpstop rates help in controlling pitch, as do the damper adjustments with the rear rebound being used to control entry pitch so as to keep the front bump soft for compliance.
- As a reference, you can also use the Valencia setup around here with a lower wing and ride height and interestingly it works well, so the currently used suspension configuration is quite versatile.
Watkins Glen
- Low wing to maximise the top speed.
- Dampers are tuned to take the bumps better at the bus stop chicane.
- Setup has TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Stiff rear ARB and wheel-rate to increase the rotation of the car.
- Safe setup has less rake to have a more forgiving nature.
COTA
- Setup has TC 0 but if you struggle you can use TC 1.
- Stiff ARBs make it a responsive car, especially in sector 1 where there are a lot of changes in direction.
- Soft wheel-rates to maximise the mechanical grip.
- Dampers tuned alongside wheel alignments to maximise balance between traction on exits, and stability on entry to turns.
- Low wing and high rake enables a good top speed and rotation on medium/high speed corners.
Indianapolis
- Similar setup direction as brands hatch with tuned dampers for the bumpy track.
- Toe set for rotation.
Valencia
- Valencia being a relatively flat track with long flowing corners, uses a stiff ARB combination to maintain overall roll balance as well as agility. The soft springs help with mechanical grip given some of the corners on the track are off cambered.
- This has made the car slightly more compliant despite having a stiff ARB combination.
- A very similar approach to this has been seen at Oulton Park, with many of the bump and damper values being similar, making this suspension combination quite versatile and easy to use across multiple tracks.
- The main difference between the Oulton and Valencia setups is the wing level being used, with Oulton able to get away with a slightly lower wing and stiffer dampers.
Team List
| Track | Driver/Engineer Combination | |
| Driver | Engineer | |
| Barcelona | Hubert Szymanski | |
| Hungaroring | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Imola | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Kyalami | David Pertile | Rob Taplin |
| Laguna Seca | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Misano | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Monza | David Pertile | Saiduth Ramesh |
| Mount Panorama | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Nurburgring | David Pertile | Rob Taplin |
| Paul Ricard | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Spa Francorchamps | David Pertile | Saiduth Ramesh |
| Suzuka | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Zandvoort | David Pertile | David Skidmore |
| Zolder | David Pertile | David Skidmore |
| Brands Hatch | Taariq Adam | |
| Donington | Hubert Szymanski | |
| Oulton Park | Chris Hack | Saiduth Ramesh |
| Snetterton | Hubert Szymanski | |
| Silverstone | Amedeo Castorino | Rob Taplin |
| Watkins Glen | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Indianapolis | Taariq Adam | |
| COTA | Amedeo Castorino | |
| Valencia | David Pertile | Saiduth Ramesh |
