CDA4 Lexus RC F GT3 Release Notes

Welcome to the Lexus RC F 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 Lexus RC F GT3 setups. Please carry on reading below to see what our team found:

Brands Hatch

• Stiffer wheel rates and arbs are used to prevent excessive pitch and bottoming out.
• Rotation is gained with ride heights, toe and bumpstop range.

Misano 

• Kyalami Setup was used for the start of the session. 
• More bumpstop range on the front to give the car better entry rotation as this is very useful on Misano
• Therefore less ride height on the rear to make the car stable again.
• Front ride height was used to prevent the car from bottoming out when braking on curbs.
• To make the car more stable on the entries feel free to raise the diff.

Nurburgring

• A really stable and comfortable set up with its high front anti roll bar setting allows corners to be attacked.
• The brake bias is recommended to be at 58% to help the car under braking and improve stability.

Paul Ricard

• Stiff arbs combo to provide stability on fast corner entry. The front bumpstop rate is also high to limit pitching at high speed.  
• Medium rear bumpstop range in the back to provide extra traction on long corner exits.
• For rotation in fast corners the rear arb and rear bumpstop rate are quite stiff.
• Race safe setup has a higher rear wing level and also higher front ride height. This allows a much easier and consistent handling over kerbs at high speed. 
• The preload is really low to allow rotation during the long coast phase through Double Droite. 
• You need to be cautious of scraping with this car. Most problematic are entries to Signes and Double Droite.  Try not to brake and turn in simultaneously while still on the kerbs.  

Silverstone

• High Wing, High Rake setup used as it plays to the strengths of the lexus.
• Reasonably stiff springs and roll bars due to the high load nature of the track.
• Preload tuned to limit the amount of entry oversteer  towards the end of the turn-in phase, if you still get entry oversteer try increasing this value.
• Dampers adjusted to give better control on direction change.
• Safe setup uses slightly higher rear wing and rear bumpstop changes to aid stability.
• Quali setup uses stiffer rear springs and shorter bumpstops to improve rotation and exit speeds.

Spa Francorchamps 

• Wing doesn’t make much of a difference here, so you can run a higher wing to increase general stability through S2.
• Eau rouge presents its usual issues where compromises need to be made. Running the front too soft will result in bottoming out and sometimes unpredictable car behaviour.
• The car needs more than one lap to wake up. Your second timed lap will give a better judge of car balance than the first.
• The general car characteristic is very understeer biassed, but the rear can slide too much if you are too aggressive on corner entry and/or on exit on throttle.

Suzuka 

• High ARBs to keep the car stable on throttle through S1.
• If you feel like you have less grip through S1 feel free to use TC 5.
• Ride height on front is used to get the car better through Degner 1 and the last chicane.
• If you have problems with rear locking raise the brake bias.
• Diff is used to get more grip on the throttle.
• The RS setup is not really slower than the RF setup but it is rotation limited. So you can’t really overdrive the car as it will be slower. So be gentle on the steering, cause then you will be faster.

Zandvoort

• High rake and high downforce for this twisty track.
• Reasonably high preload used to maximise entry stability on the undulating surface.
• Soft springs with reasonably stiff rollbars used, soft springs to improve grip, stiffer rollbars for cornering control.
• Shorter, stiffer bumpstops also used to control aero stability.
• Safe setup uses softer rear springs and a little more preload for better entry control and traction, this does mean a lift may be needed in the final corner, but overall laptime is not too affected.
• Qualifying setup uses less front roll bar and a few other minor changes for one lap pace.

Zolder

• High wing and high rake due to the technical and slow speed nature of the track.
• Dampers and bumpstops are tuned to help over kerbs with the rest of the mechanical options used to fine tune car balance.
• Safe set is designed to help more with kerb usage and overall stability to make it easier to drive but it will lose some pace by doing this.
• Have to get the lines right over the kerbs and bumps, particularly the first chicane. Make sure you are not braking and/or steering over the bigger kerbs.

Barcelona 

• Traction coming out of the corners can be a real challenge at Barcelona, in turn 4 in particular. To combat this a softer rear end was integrated into the set up to aid traction.
• The Lexus is very fast in a straight line meaning good braking performance and car rotation is required for lap time. 
• There is a bit of oversteer going through T4 but it’s necessary to keep the car agile throughout the rest of the lap. Make sure to be smooth with throttle application initially and control the rear with your steering wheel once you’re on full throttle.  

Donington Park 

• An aggressive qualifying setup can be on the limit throughout the lap but produces fast lap times. Aggressive anti roll bars allow the car to rotate well through the corners which is much needed in sector three.
• The setup is very compliant with curbs, particularly the turn 9 & 10 chicane thanks to a refined bumpstop rate.

Laguna Seca

• Very soft front springs and arb are used in order to use lower rake and limit scraping on the downhill after corkscrew.
• Low preload is used to allow good traction out of tight corners like T2 and last corner. It also provides good rotation at the downhill section of S3. 
• Softer rear bumpstop important to gain traction out of slow corners but they have to be optimised to keep good rotation through T4. 
• As the car scrapes even with setup adjustments it’s important to take certain driving lines. Braking for corkscrew you should follow the white line and then turn in instead of attacking the apex aggressively and braking towards it. Then take a narrow line through the downhill left as sudden scraping can put you really wide off the line. 

Kyalami

• Bumpstop range is higher to allow the car to go good over the kerbs in T5, T8 and T9
• In order to get the maximum lap time out of the middle sector the Fast Setup uses negative toe so you can take T9 pretty much flat out with the right line.
• If the car is too unstable on the entry into fast corners feel free to raise the diff
• Car is bottoming out on some parts of the track, but you don’t need to care about that as ACC doesn’t simulate floor damage
• Rear brake locking is really difficult to handle on this car. The best option to prevent it is raising the brake balance to a higher value.

Hungaroring

• Stiffer front springs are necessary to keep the car stable on braking into the downhill T2 as well as through the fast left hander of T4. Also stiffer bumpstops are used for extra stability and rotation through the faster corners in the esses. 
• Low preload together with medium rear spring stiffness give the car sharp entries and good rotation through tight corners and hairpins. 
• Car has a problem with hitting the kerbs in the chicane. The safe setup has higher front ride height but it doesn’t eliminate the collision. Instead it aims to make the impact smaller and allow you to keep control of the car. 
• Lexus also seems more prone to locking the rear axle on this track more than others. Therefore the braking distance is a bit higher as the bias has to be put forward.
  

Monza

• Low, but not lowest wing used. Any lower does not increase top speed but does affect stability, especially at high speed.
• Low rake also used to maximise stability and straight line speed.
• Medium springs along with conservative looking roll bar settings help give the car a predictable feel, much needed at high speed.
• Dampers and bumpstops tuned to aid performance during direction change, too long a bumpstop range can cause plenty of issues here.
• Our CDA driver uses very low TC to aid exits off the slow turns, if you find this too low-grip on exits, use up to TC3, but recommended TC1 for exit of the first chicane at least.
• Brake ducts tuned to give brakes maximum performance on race fuel at standard CDA temperatures, these may need adjustment if your tyres run too cool in the weather you are driving in.
• Changing gear at around 7300rpm seems to give best performance according to the Motec G logs.
• Safe Setup uses slight ride height adjustment and a stiffer front roll bar to give more of a positive feel on entry along with stability.
• Quali setup uses stiffer front roll bar, higher rake and shorter rear bumpstops to optimise single lap performance.
  

Imola

• High downforce and high rake used here due to lack of straights and lots of corners.
• This car can run surprisingly low front ride heights despite the high kerbs, giving a much better front end aero performance.
• Soft fast dampers used to minimise the effect of the kerbs.
• Reasonably low preload used for agility in the chicanes and tighter bends, if you are suffering from oversteer towards the end of the entry phase, increase the preload value a little.
• Relatively soft roll bars used to help reduce the ‘shock’ of kerb impacts along with increasing cornering performance.
• Safe setup uses more preload and softer roll bars to aid entry stability and give a more forgiving nature over the kerbs.
• Qualifying setup uses slightly more rake, along with stiffer springs to increase responsiveness on change of direction.

Mount Panorama

• Sadly the BOP heavily unfavours the Lexus at Bathurst.
• The entry to skyline seems to be a big problem with this car, a few mm offline and you hit a bump that will send the car off-track, so be very careful with entry lines there.
• Medium wing setup used as a compromise over corner speed and top speed.
• Soft springs to cope with the bumpy nature of going over the mountain in this car, combined with reasonably stiff roll bars for cornering stability.
• Dampers tuned to try and make the car as driveable as possible.
• Safe setup uses softer rear springs and less rear ride height to try and help with traction and predictability on the rear of the car.
• Quali setup uses the softer rear spring but with aggressive suspension settings to gain lap time over stability.

Snetterton 

• Very high rake to get enough rotation out of the car through T1 and the second last corner. High bumpstop rate with low range also has been utilised. 
• To keep the car stable under braking after the back straight, the front springs have been stiffened. 
• High preload provides extra stability on entry to fast corners and also provides more rotation once you get on power. 
• Very soft arb in front is used to rotate the car well through the tight hairpins. It’s important to prioritise exits in tight corners as the traction control is very restrictive. 
• The fast damping has been raised to help with handling over the aggressive kerbs. However, if you find them too unsettling then raising the front ride height would be helpful. 

Oulton Park

• Following a similar setup philosophy to the one from Laguna Seca. The rake is kept low to minimise scraping and instead rotation is obtained from the mechanical grip.
• As so, the front springs and bumpstops are softer compared to the rear ones. To keep this combo stable through high speed corners like T4 and T15, the arbs are quite stiff. This also provides sharp direction changes for the chicanes. 
• The setup provides good traction but it’s still important to prioritise a good exit as otherwise the traction control will cut the power heavily. 
• Still not all of the scraping was possible to be eliminated. In the first chicane it’s important to watch out for the inside kerb which the car can bounce off of. Also it’s not optimal to cut the entry kerb into the second chicane. 

Watkins Glen

• The Lexus requires enough entry grip on the front tyres to prevent understeer and still have enough exit traction while getting on throttle. With Watkins being a traction with off cambered entry and exits the front and rear slow bump dampers have been softened up. 
• ARBs are run slightly stiff compared to some of the other tracks to prevent the front end from bottoming out on the chicane. In addition to this the wheel rates have also been stiffened to provide enough travel range on the chicanes thereby preventing the suspension from bottoming out. 
• A slightly aggressive toe combination helps the car with response in and out of corners, given how narrow some of the exits are on Watkins.

COTA

• Stiffened springs and dampers, because the car was very unstable when entering and negotiating turns.
• Stiffened anti-roll bars to increase stability and reactivity in the snake.
• Raised the camber slightly to limit the sliding of the car.
  
  

Indianapolis

• Softer suspension is used to handle the bumps in the track. 
• This also provides good low speed grip.
• Fairly stiff arbs are used for medium to high speed response and to control roll.

Valencia

• Medium stiffness springs to increase the aerodynamic stability of the car in medium/fast turns.
• Minimum heights to increase downforce and high rear wing to increase stability and traction.
• Use a lot of trail braking, the car tends to understeer, so always enter the turn with at least 10/20% brake, so as to give load to the front of the car.
• If you feel understeer when entering turns, decrease the brake bias, for traction you can also try tc 1, the car will tend to lose some traction but will close the exits of turns better.

Team List

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

Track	Driver	Engineer
Barcelona	Hubert Szymanski	David Skidmore
Hungaroring	Hubert Szymanski
Imola	Luka Berk	Rob Taplin
Kyalami	Jakob Ostermann
Laguna Seca	Hubert Szymanski
Misano	Jakob Ostermann
Monza	Davide Pertile	Rob Taplin
Mount Panorama	Amedeo Dekeyser	Rob Taplin
Nurburgring	David Pertile	David Skidmore
Paul Ricard	Hubert Szymanski
Spa Francorchamps	Davide Pertile	Nick Deeley
Suzuka	Jakob Ostermann
Zandvoort	David Pertile	Rob Taplin
Zolder	David Pertile	Nick Deeley
Brands Hatch	Taariq Adam
Donington	Hubert Szymanski	David Skidmore
Oulton Park	Hubert Szymanski
Snetterton	Hubert Szymanski
Silverstone	Luka Berk	Rob Taplin
Watkins Glen	Luka Berk	Saiduth Ramesh
Indianapolis	Taariq Adam
COTA	Amedeo Castorino
Valencia	Amedeo Castorino