CDA4 Honda NSX GT3 EVO Release Notes

Welcome to the Honda NSX GT3 EVO 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 NSX EVO GT3 setups. Please carry on reading below to see what our team found:

Brands Hatch

• Stiff front springs to maintain stable aero through high speed corners.
• Low rear bump stop range and high preload to provide rotation on power through the second part of the lap.
• Soft front rebound is used to help stability in mid corner but causes slight bouncing when cutting T6.
• Very soft rear arb and stiff rear dampers are used to control the rotation at high fuel load.
• Bump Stops are stiff as the car was losing grip during high compression on the T1 exit kerb.

Brands Hatch – V2

• As the car has more grip at low speed, there are numerous changes in mechanical grip to extract it. The car now runs a much softer spring combo with even more bumpstop range in front. However it was now necessary to provide extra stability through high speed sections and during high compression on T1 exit. Therefore the bumpstop rate has been raised. 
• Front arb also has been softened to provide easier rotation through the slower corners. Focusing more on exits, the front rebound is stiffer and the TC has been lowered. 
• With a much softer front suspension the car runs less rake than before.

Misano 

• Medium anti-roll bars for more agility in direction changes and quicker load transfers
• Increased rear slow bump  to increase rotation on throttle
• Lower differential to increase rotation in the off throttle phases, as the car was less nervous at Misano than at other tracks.
• If you feel understeer on turn entry, lower the brake bias.
• If you have understeer in medium/high-speed turns raise the bumpstops at the front, do the opposite in case of stability issues.

Misano – V2

• The previous version of the setup was taken as a baseline and the ARBs were softened for mechanical grip.
• In order to maintain optimal rotation whilst maintaining good traction the rear the dampers were adjusted and the range was lowered a bit.
• As with other tracks the preload has also had to be increased to make the car more planted on entry into corners.
• A softer damper configuration helps with the softer roll combination used. This is because the Honda now works better mechanically if there is more roll compliance, which can be obtained with soft slow dampers and moderately stiff fast dampers.
• Another way to get this balance is to run very soft slow dampers and very stiff fast dampers which is also a combination that was tested. However the former method in the previous bullet point worked better over a longer stint as it helps in maintaining more consistency over time, and was thereby used for the setup.

Nurburgring

• The preload has been dropped to improve off throttle rotation in the narrow parts of sector 2. 
• The dampers have been adjusted to improve braking stability. This makes the car much more forgiving into heavy braking zones, but also makes it relatively stiff through the direction changes. This definitely makes the car responsive, but prone to understeer if overdriven.
• If you find the understeer kicking in too often in faster corners, consider dropping the preload a bit more. This is especially needed if you prefer to throw the car into the corners more aggressively (the rear won’t kick out as often due to the current damper configuration, contrary to the expectation with lower preload).

Nurburgring V2

• Changes from RF01:
• Less rear spring rate to increase mechanical grip on acceleration and stability on corner entry.
• Minor changes to dampers to change weight-shift characteristics.
• Front bumpstop rate decreased to lessen snap understeer on entry.
• Slightly less wing used to improve high speed balance.
• Electronics adjusted to suit the new setup.
• Safe setup uses slightly more wing and preload changes.
• Quali setup uses stiffer front bumpstop and slightly higher preload along with a more aggressive rollbar setup to get single lap performance.

Paul Ricard

• Stiff ARB’s for stability through high speed corners.
• In order to keep the car safe through Signes it is crucial to control the pitch by stiffening the front suspension. 
• Rear springs are soft to aid top speed. They can’t be at the softest setting as that unsettles the car on kerbs and causes roll.
• Bumpstops are set up to provide stability at high speed and during compression but also to allow rotation at mid and low speed corners. 
• Front camber can be kept high as the tire wear remains even due to high speed and off-camber corners.

Paul Ricard – V2

• Stiffer rear arb for both faster direction changes through S1 as well as better rotation through high speed corners in S3. 
• Aero is slightly more aggressive so the front bumpstop rate has been raised to maintain stability through Signes. 
• There are small changes in fast damping to improve handling over kerbs. The front rebound also has been stiffened for a bit more rotation in the middle of corners. 

Silverstone

• Although a fast circuit, cornering speeds are key, so a high downforce setup was used.
• Due to its peaky aero nature, lower rake along with relatively stiff springs were used to minimise any variation in aero balance from braking and accelerating.
• Short front bumpstops used to limit rotation on entry to gain stability.
• Relatively stiff roll bars used to also improve aero stability.
• Safe setup uses a softer rear roll bar and a few other minor adjustments to try to give a larger operating window.

Silverstone – V2

• Silverstone being a high speed track needs good aero stability through most corners, so the bumpstop ranges and the dampers have been set to have reduced range and optimal pitch control. 
• The track however also requires enough low speed grip out of low traction zones, which means the ARBs have been adjusted to be very soft as per the trend with the new patch for the Honda. Stability into Copse and enough rotation through high speed corners have also been optimised.

Spa Francorchamps 

• The car was slipping at every corner, so we softened the wheel rate in both front and rear.
• It worked well with wing 8, too uneatable with 7. 9 for safe setup, can move to 8 if confident.
• The ARB softened makes the car better in corner entry stability. However, we needed to reduce the bump stop range to avoid hitting the floor.
• Safe setup runs a more conservative wing and toe settings. We went more aggressive with wing 7 in qualifying.

Spa Francorchamps – V2 

• The first impressions of the Honda is that it seems a lot less roll sensitive than before. For the Spa setup the old setup is still viable as a safe option (both race variants) but the lap times were not significantly faster. 
• However after softening the roll stiffness and adding more bumpstop range on the front, the car regained a lot of compromised mechanical grip from the previously stiff configuration. 
• The setup uses version 1 as a baseline with a softer roll configuration and bumpstop adjustments. The dampers have been adjusted a bit too in order to improve the roll stability with the new ARB values. 
• The safe variant uses a higher wing value which helps in better corner entry speeds, however it also has a tendency to understeer quicker at the apex and loses some straight line speed. Both the fast and safe setups have potential for quick lap times though.
• The fast setup is slightly slower on the Motec file, but has the potential to be faster than the safe setup, and has thus been named the fast variant because it has a more aggressive behaviour into the corners. The difference will be a bit more prominent with lower fuel loads.

Suzuka 

• The car needs to run stiff ARBs around Suzuka to keep the aerodynamic forces acting evenly through the high speed corners. The bumpstop rates have also been stiffened to improve roll stability and provide agility under direction changes.
• However the car also needs enough traction since there are a few off camber corners present on the circuit. This has been achieved by increasing the rear bumpstop range and stiffening the dampers instead to control the roll of the car.
• The stiffer front dampers help in maximising entry response and stability over the Degner curves.

Suzuka – V2 

• Changes compared to 01:
• Stiffer front left bumpstop rate to eliminate ground contact in T1.
• Lower front ride height to improve mid-corner rotation.
• Dampers are adjusted to give more stability on kerbs and reduce oversteer the moment the brake is released.
• Shortened rear bumpstops to give less understeer on power.
• Caster increased for “free grip” along with slightly softer roll bars.
• Safe setup uses a stiffer front roll bar to prevent bottoming in T1 along with some minor damper changes.

Zandvoort

• The anti-roll bars need to be set quite stiff around here to keep the aero balance stable throughout the track. It also helps in preventing excessive roll through the narrow bumpy sections of the track. 
• A higher roll stiffness around Zandvoort keeps the tyres in a better working range without adding extra camber gain, thereby maintaining a better temperature balance across the tyres. This means you can run a low brake duct combination and gain a little better performance overall. Going too stiff however will make the tyres saturate quicker giving a much smaller working window before losing grip.
• The dampers have been adjusted along with the preload to improve stability over the hill at the start of sector 2.
• In hairpins it’s best to focus on maintaining higher minimum speed as it will reduce TC engagement on exit. Enter the corner bit wider and cut in on exit to get a straighter line out.

Zandvoort – V2

• Changes compared to 01:
• Stiffer rear roll bar and slightly more rake used to aid rotation since the update has made the car more understeer bias.
• Preload reduced slightly to aid rotation, but kept reasonably high to keep stability on entry.
• Stiffer springs to try to improve predictability and aero stability.
• Softer front rebound used to reduce off-brake rotation instability entry-mid corner, along with some other minor damper changes.
• Safe setup uses a stiffer front roll bar, a little less rake, and a few damper changes to keep predictability and stability at a premium without losing laptime.

Zolder

• The setup used the Nurburgring race fast variant as a reference point with the damper and spring configurations being very similar to start with.
• The rear dampers are run stiff for the setup to improve kerb stability. Additionally the ARBs are quite soft to ensure maximum compliance over small bumps on the track surface through the middle of high speed corners.
• The preload is quite high as usual for the Honda, but still not as high as some of the other tracks. This has been done to improve turn-in into high speed corners, with the higher front ride height providing mid corner and kerb stability.
• The dampers are very sensitive to changes and any click in either direction will have a strong effect on aero balance for the car. It is advised not to change the values too much with respect to the currently developed fast race setup.
• The bumpstop ranges need to be high enough to prevent excessive actuation but still low enough to provide roll stability through the corners. In order to soften the impact itself, the bumpstop rates have also been adjusted.
• Being a very complex track demanding many contradicting balances from the car, the setup has a very small working window. Hence the safe setup has a very small ride height adjustment and preload change, which would simply make the car more stable on entry everywhere, however be sure not to throw the car too aggressively into the corners as the rear will inevitably kick out. 

Zolder – V2

• Imola used as base for RF02 setup.
• Rear spring stiffened to limit rear travel on braking/accelerating giving better balance on entry and exit of corners.
• Preload increased for entry stability on the first sector.
• Ducts adjusted to suit the Zolder circuit.
• Shorter front bumpstops along with higher rake used to increase aero balance forward, but reducing pitch sensitivity on entry/braking to limit any snap entry oversteer.
• Safe setup uses less rake, more preload, and softer rear spring to aim more towards rear stability over ultimate rotational ability.
• Quali setup uses a little toe out on the rear to help remove understeer on acceleration.

Barcelona 

• Front arb is quite stiff to provide stability in the long braking zones
• Pace at this track heavily depends on the TC. High TC values will heavily restrict available power on long corner exits. 
• High preload on race setups provides good on-power rotation through the fast corners like T3 and T9. It also stabilises rotation on entry. Q setup uses lower value to allow more rotation on entry. 
• Stiff dampers give more control while clipping kerbs in T7 and last chicane. 
• Q and RF setups require control of slight tire slip on exits in order to maximise the lap time. 

Barcelona – V2 

• The roll of the car has been softened to give it more compliance and grip mid corner and the wheel rates have been stiffened instead to regain the response. 
• To compliment these changes the preload has also been dropped (since the stiffer rear wheel rate will provide enough on throttle rotation and the front wheel rate will affect entry rotation)
• The changes to the car seem very track specific but the setups definitely are not as linear as before. The car can roll more without losing grip in high speed sections.

Donington Park 

• The car seems to prefer a slightly lower wing setup at this circuit with 11.
• To compensate for this, we are adjusting the Rear RH (Rear Ride Height) to 73mm. This adjustment aims to reduce drag and improve rear stability simultaneously.
• For a safer setup, we are running the wing at its maximum to minimise the possibility of oversteer.
• In order to improve rear corner exit, we are softening the springs as much as possible.
• During qualifying, we are planning to raise the ride height at the rear for easier attacking.
• Negative toe adjustments were made to ensure quicker tire readiness.

Donington Park – V2 

• Decrease the anti-roll bars to increase mechanical grip, but not as much as on other circuits, otherwise the car will be too unstable.
• Bumstop ranges have been increased at the front to increase grip in turns, and decreased at the rear to increase stability in medium-speed turns.
• Slightly decreased rake compared to the old version to increase traction.

Laguna Seca

• Positive toe at the rear to increase stability and traction.
• Soft springs and bump stops at the rear for good traction, and stiffer at the front to fix excessive oversteer on turn entry.
• Very high differential preload, the car was very nervous when releasing the throttle, this fixed the problem.
• For qualifying, the springs have been softened to maximise grip, and the differential preload has also been lowered, resulting in a car that is a little more difficult to handle when releasing the accelerator, so if you have problems, raise the differential, maximum recommended value 200.

Laguna Seca – V2

• The car feels decent with the old setup similar to the Spa test. There is still however a lack of outright pace due the slight change in the mechanical behaviour of the car. 
• The rear ARB has been softened and the rear wheel rates have been adjusted instead. 
• The preload has also been increased to complement more aggressive entry behaviour that the new changes would bring to the car on high speed corners.
• The stiff fast dampers in the setup help with improving mechanical grip through the corners. The slow dampers have also been increased a bit, but still stays on the softer side to maintain mechanical stability and aid in entry rotation. This along with the softer rear ARB makes for a setup that is quite forgiving on throttle for a slippery track surface such as that at Laguna.

Kyalami

• The Kyalami setup uses COTA as a baseline since the rapid direction changes and low surface grip are comparable between the two tracks. 
• The bumpstop ranges have been set quite high to provide enough compliance over the bumpy track surface without affecting the tyre grip over the kerbs.
• Damper adjustments have also been made to provide as much stability as possible without venturing into understeer whilst going through the esses in the second sector and the long downhill right hander.
• ARB stiffness has not been entirely compromised since response and direction changes are crucial around Kyalami. If the ARBs were too soft, either the aero would destabilise or the car would roll too much, engaging the bump stops too early and pushing the car to understeer.

Kyalami – V2

• Softened anti-roll bars and springs to increase mechanical grip.
• Raised rake to increase car rotation.
• Changed the configuration of the dampers to be able to use the car better in such a soft configuration.
• For qualifying, the front toe was increased a lot to increase lateral grip in the turn.

Hungaroring

• More neutral toe in front to provide more predictable behaviour on kerbs in the esses.
• Staying in second gear through the chicane helps carry more speed through. Honda is very good over kerbs so make sure to cut them a lot to save time. 
• In T2 it’s best to go for a V line. This way you can maximise exit grip and get a good line into T3.
• Bumpstops provide stability while braking  but for mid corner a combination of preload and front rebound was optimised to make it easy. 

Hungaroring – V2

• Main difference is the new arb combo. Softer front allows more rotation through all the hairpins while stiffer rear provides quicker direction changes and rotation through faster corners. 
• For the RF setup the preload has been lowered. This allows to tighten the lines more aggressively but also results in a less stable rear end on entry.

Monza

• The car felt very unstable throughout all the chicanes and had snap oversteer in the rear at low speeds. We found the best wing is 6, working well with low rake to have a good speed in the straights but also be drivable in the other corners.
• We tried different combinations of wheel rates and ARB. We found a good balance over the kerbs with a bit lower in the rear than in the front. 
• The key to avoid understeer in the mid corner was to significantly reduce the bumpstop range. This way, when the car pitches, it reaches the limit soon and it doesn’t lose consistency.
• For the safe setup you’ll feel less top speed since we increased the wing angle one click. Also reduced the differential and soften the springs to make it easier on the chicanes and traction.

Monza – V2

• Compared to 01 setups: softer rear spring, stiffer front.
• More aggressive roll bars used to aid mid-corner rotation, fast damper changes for kerbs, slow damper changes to limit entry oversteer and exit understeer.
• Less wing and more rake used with updated downforce production.
• Increased brake ducts to minimise brake fade at T1/2 and T4/5.
• Safe setup uses more wing for entry stability.
• TC settings are very much based around driver preference. A low TC1 and higher TC2 is recommended, but values are all down to what works for you. Current values set for the driver who performed the laps.
• Quali setup uses more aggressive roll bar and rake settings, along with fast dampers tuned to give more rotation when using kerbs, to improve 1 lap pace at the cost of stability.

Imola

• The Imola setup uses Zolder as a baseline which makes the car have decent performance over the chicane to begin with, giving more room to focus on the technicalities of the circuit.
• The ARBs are run quite stiff to provide enough response and stability through the very narrow esses present on the track. 
• Similar to other tracks the dampers are also run on the stiffer side. The bump stops however have been set up differently because of the difference in stiffness between the front and rear wheel rates. The stiffer rear wheel rate has been combined with enough rear range making the car rotate quite well without running into too many traction issues. The disadvantage is that this gives overall less compliance while accelerating off of kerbs, making the car a little more difficult to control if not driving smoothly (despite the traction itself being good).

Imola – V2

• Changes from the 01:
• Softer rear spring, adjustments to suit updated aero map.
• Higher rake used to aid rotation.
• Roll bar on rear softened slightly for safer weight transfer in aqua minerale.
• Damper changes to aid entry stability and kerb behaviour.
• Preload lowered for more mid-corner rotation.
• TC and Brake bias changes.
• Shorter and softer bumpstops used as this seems to suit the car now.
• Safe setup uses slightly higher ride height, small bumpstop changes and higher preload for more stability and better kerb behaviour.

Mount Panorama

• High preload and stiff wheel-rate for increased stability.
• Very low bumpstop on the front helps a lot to increase the stability of the car in the mountain section.
• You can decrease the wing by 1 click in quali and race fast to increase the top speed, but the car became more unstable and very difficult to drive.
• For race safe we increase the wing to the max to have more downforce on the high speed corners and in the dowhill, we also have also used stiffer wheel rates to have a more stable car.
• Short shift in 5th gear before turn 10 to increase the stability of the car, same thing for turn 17, short shift in 4th.

Mount Panorama – V2

• Changes from the 01:
• Softer wheel-rate and arbs to increase the mechanical grip of the car.
• Lower wing to increase the top speed.
• Small adjustments to the toe.
• Lowered the differential to increase entry into turns.
• For the RF setup you can decrease the rear wing by 1, recommended for races of 45min or less.
• For Quali, lowered the wing a lot to have a good top speed. If you have difficulties increasing the wing value by 1, the car will lose 1/2 tenths on the lap time but it will become easier to control it. 
• Increase the differential if you have too much oversteer when releasing the throttle.

Snetterton 

• Bumpstop ranges are higher so that they don’t limit grip in hairpins and instead control the stability at higher speed. 
• Fast damping is stiff to keep the car compliant going over kerbs on exits
• Rear gets a lot of centrifugal force at high fuel loads. Multiple changes were done to keep the rotation of the car manageable. Mainly soft rear arb, high preload and rear damping are responsible for easy turn in and mid-corner. 
• Safe setup focuses on making mid-corner even easier with the help of softer front rebound. Front of the car has also been raised to limit ground collisions and be more forgiving.

Snetterton – V2

• As the rear is more stable, there are multiple changes aimed at improving the rotation of the car.
• The brake bias is now run lower to shorten braking distance into hairpins as well as improve initial turn in. Also there is less differential preload to allow better rotation in the short coasting phase. 
• Next the front arb has been softened to allow more front grip and improved general rotation.
• To improve high speed cornering, the front bumpstop has been softened. However, to retain stability during braking after the back straight, the front wheel rate has been slightly stiffened. 
• The quali setup also runs a more aggressive traction control setting to provide stronger exits out of tight corners.

Oulton Park

• The narrowness of Oulton Park makes it quite a tricky track for the Honda. The car generally has a small operating window before the tyres get pushed over the limit.
• To help in rotation into high speed corners while getting off the throttle the preload has been reduced a bit compared to the Kyalami setup which was used as the baseline. 
• This combined with damper changes on the rear have helped in maintaining decent rotation without snapping the rear end into the corners.
• The kerbs are not the best for the NSX around the track and the fast damping changes that have been done provide a decent level of grip. However optimising the entire setup to attack the kerbs would induce severe understeer and cause unresponsiveness, so this compromise has been kept in mind while setting up the suspension. 

Oulton Park – V2

• Oulton Park has similar setup changes like the other high downforce bumpy tracks, but uses a slightly higher ARB stiffness combination to maintain response and direction changes in the twist section of sector 2. 
• Kerb stability and traction are also important factors that affect the car around Oulton, so bumpstop and damper changes have been made to prioritise these effects.

Watkins Glen

• Stiff front arb is necessary to keep the car stable while turning in for Bus Stop at high speed.
• Stiff dampers to provide a stable car over the kerbs in bus stop
• Soft springs and stiff front rebound are used to gain rotation instead of rake which gives the car more traction in slow sections of sector 3. 
• Rear springs are soft to aid top speed but going too soft can cause understeer during high compressions. 
• Low camber is used as there are a couple of off-camber corners which heat up the tire unevenly. 

Watkins Glen – V2

• Changes from the 01:
• More aggressive roll bars used to aid rotation.
• front and rear bumpstops shortened and softened to aid power-on behaviour on corner exit and instability on corner entry. Left front bumpstop stiffened to lower chances of entry oversteer into T11 (right hand uphill hairpin).
• Minor changes to dampers for kerb performance.
• Alignment changes to work alongside the above adjustments.
• Increased wing and rake to give more dynamic rotation without losing rear grip.
• Slight spring adjustments to aid agility and stability.
• Safe setup uses more wing and some minor bumpstop and damper adjustments to add stability to the car and make it easier to find the limit without pushing too far.

COTA

• The car is fundamentally quite stiff so it is quite sensitive to direction changes if made too quickly. In order to help in general compliance while changing directions in the first sector the ARBs have been softened quite a bit. The car also runs a softer wheel rate combination to ensure maximum mechanical grip through the slow sections of the middle and final sector.
• Pitch control and braking stability on the other hand are controlled by a stiff damper configuration which ensures that the stiff chassis doesn’t destabilise the car too much whilst running on a soft suspension setup. Contrary to the expectation, stiffer dampers don’t overdamp the car with this particular soft spring setup.

COTA – V2

• Reworked setup due to what seems large changes in car behaviour at this track.
• Stiffer dampers used to restrict movement to keep the aero platform as stable as possible.
• High rake and neutral roll bars used to give high speed rotation without instability.
• Softer rear springs to aid traction and low speed grip.
• Bumpstops reworked for optimal balance and performance.
• Safe setup uses lower front bumpstop and stiffer front roll bar to give entry stability and a slightly more flexible mid-corner balance.

Indianapolis

• The ARBs have to be run very low on this car around Indianapolis to optimise the grip on all the bumpy low grip sections of the track, despite being a flat track surface in general. This is because the surface itself  is quite slippery which makes any undulations all the more aggressive on the tyres.
• The wheel rates have also been softened for the same reason. The dampers instead have been stiffened to maintain optimal response through the faster corners.
• Aero changes have a very small effect through the main straight, so the focus has primarily been on  maximising grip through sector 2 in the direction changes and on the kerbs.

Indianapolis – V2

• Changes compared to the 01:
• Stiffer rear roll bar to increase rotation alongside more rake due to the changes in aero.
• alignment tweaks to aid in turn-in
• dampers tuned for more predictable entry/exit
• Softer rear spring gives a larger grip “window” without losing rotation due to the stiffer rear bar.
• TC adjustments to suit driver/track.
• Safe setup has some slight damper and bumpstop changes along with less aggressive roll bars.

Valencia

• Lower than usual camber as the inside of the tire was getting really hot and was causing snappy traction loss.
• Lower preload to provide easy rotation through the tight corners. A slightly positive toe also helps keep the car at a reasonable yaw angle.
• Front springs are kept stiff to provide stable aero in T1 but the front arb was softened to get enough front grip for the rest of the track.
• Low preload and high rear bumpstop range provide good grip on tight exits
• Quali setup uses an aggressive TC setting to make all the power available at the cost of traction. It can be reverted to the TC from race setups if needed.  

Valencia – V2

• Changes compared to 01:
• Rear roll bar increased and rear bumpstop reduced to try to add rotation mid to exit.
• Alignment adjusted slightly to improve car behaviour.
• Safe setup uses less aggressive roll bars and some minor damper changes.
• Quali setup uses stiffer rebound dampers and softer front roll bar to aid mid corner rotation and improve balance on the exit of corners.

Team List

Please note, sessions with no engineer shown were solo sessions: