CDA4 McLaren 720s EVO Release Notes

Welcome to the McLaren 720s 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 McLaren 720s EVO setups. Please carry on reading below to see what our team found:

Brands Hatch

Very stiff rear arb to give the car rotation and responsiveness through fast corners.
To provide enough traction at low speed the rear suspension is soft. It’s also beneficial in the multiple downhill entries as it controls the rotation of the rear.
Even with soft rear suspension, RF setup requires a bit of throttle control in low speed exits as it aims to carry a lot of speed through the fast section. RS setup on the other hand provides really good traction but isn’t as agile at high speed.
The front rebound has been stiffened so that it’s easy to cut T6 and keep the front of the car stable.

Brands Hatch V2

Very stiff ARBs to increase the rotation.
Very high negative toe to increase the rotation.
Soft springs to increase the mechanical grip.
Very high rake to increase the rotation.
Dampers are tuned to increase the stability in the brake release.

Misano

High range bumpstops to maximise traction from slow turns.
Maximum wing and splitter for maximising the downforce.
For qualifying, the springs were softened, as the car bounced after hitting the bumps in turn 1/2.
Low preload to aid on power stability, (especially for Quali).
For Quali you can also try TC1, the car is faster on the hairpin exit but became more slippery.
We have used a lot of negative toe-in, so if you feel the car sliding lower them to a value close to 0 until you find the ideal one for your driving style.

Misano V2

Rake was increased compared to the old version to maximise the rotation of the car.
Softer springs to optimise the traction and also dampers are tuned to fix the instability of the car on the apex.
You can go to TC off in the penultimate corner to maximise the lap time.
You can use TC 1 or TC 2. Both are good, depending on your driving style.

Nurburgring

The car is very pitch sensitive which means its balance changes quite significantly with small changes to the bumpstops.
To maintain good stability throughout all the fast corners, the bumpstops have been set to very low values with a soft spring combination to help with overall grip. Stiff bumpstops help with additional roll stability and prevent the suspension from completely compressing, thereby controlling the spring compression.
The dampers have been set up to find the right compromise between kerb stability and maintaining aero balance.

Nurburgring V2

High Rake to get the car as fast as possible through the Schumacher S.
Higher Bumstop Range in order to improve curb handling.
Hard Front ARB in order to keep the car stable on throttle.

Paul Ricard

The Kyalami setup was used as a base.
We have stiffened the springs and anti-roll bars to limit the pitching and oscillations of the car.
Minimum heights to maximise downforce, but medium-low rear wing to limit drag in the long straights.
For qualifying very negative toe-in to maximise grip, and lower wing for maximise the top speed.
The car tends to oversteer on turn entry, if you struggle to handle the car balance, decrease the bumpstops at the front, this will result in more understeer but increase the stability of the car.

Paul Ricard V2

Decreased the rear wing to maximise top speed.
To improve the lap time go to TC 1 in the last turn, TC off for T8 (Signes).
Decreased the wheel-rate for maximum mechanical grip.
If you have issues under braking like losing the rear of the car, you can increase the brake bias and push it forwards to fix it.

Silverstone

Maximum front ARB seems the way to work to have a very reactive car in the change of directions.
We increased the rear height up to 76mm to have a good entry of the corner free of understeer. We could even increase even further for Qualy to have a more aggressive approach.
To improve traction we reduced the wheel rate and bump stop rate.
The safe setup was achieved 1 tenth slower and much better control of the rear with lower rear ARB and lower rake.

Silverstone V2

A combination of lower wing and low rear ride height is used to maximise straight line speed while still generating enough downforce for the highspeed corners.
Stiff front arb is used to help response, with soft rear arb and low diff used to help with traction.

Spa Francorchamps

Medium rake setup used as the McLaren seems very sensitive to roll-centre adjustments.
Lower front splitter used to minimise pitch sensitivity affecting aero balance through the different phases of the corner.
Reasonable amounts of preload used to give entry stability and prevent over-rotation of the car.
Soft springs and stiff roll bars used as this is what the car seems to prefer, alongside reasonably short bumpstops.
Safe setup uses slightly higher wing, softer springs and less preload to give a more stable car without sacrificing too much in the way of rotation. May also work well as a wet setup (with camber changes) in the interim.

Spa Francorchamps – V2

Low wing in order to get the maximum time out of sector 1 and 3 without losing too much time in S2.
With the RF setup you need to be very gentle with turning through Blanchimont. To get the car a bit safer through there you can bring the front Toe closer to an positive value
Low Preload is used to get good mid corner rotation even with the low wing.

Suzuka

The car setup for Suzuka Circuit focuses on achieving good rotation and responsiveness through fast corners.
The rear anti-roll bar (ARB) has been stiffened to provide the car with rotation and responsiveness in fast corners.
The rear suspension has been set to a soft setting to ensure sufficient traction at low speeds. It also helps control the rotation of the rear during downhill entries.
The RF (right front) setup aims to carry a lot of speed through the fast sections, requiring some throttle control in low-speed exits.
The RS (right rear) setup provides excellent traction but may be less agile at high speeds.
The front rebound has been stiffened to facilitate cutting T6 and maintaining stability in the front of the car.

Suzuka V2

RF02 setup uses a different philosophy to the original RF01, a stiffer car with more aggressive mechanical grip paired with safer aero is used.
Longer bumpstops also used to minimise the instability caused by activating the bumpstops.
Safe setup revolves around making a much more stable aero platform for predictability. Changes made to springs, roll bars, and aero to suit.
Quali setup uses a mix of both the setups with extra changes to exploit one lap pace.

Zandvoort

The setup uses a very high front bumpstop rate and stiff front bump dampers to keep the car stable over the hill through the long right corner.
The approach with the ARBs and springs is similar to other tracks which have surface variations and high speed direction changes.
Mechanical grip is very important through the final sector. Running a low preload and quite a different fast damper approach help in improving off throttle behaviour whilst still keeping enough rear rotation/kerb stability through the narrow sections of the track.

Zandvoort V2

Changes from 01’s:
Softer Rear Spring for more traction.
Stiffer roll bars for more precision.
Increased Rake to compensate for loss of rotation from above changes.
Longer front bumpstops and shorter rear bumpstops to increase rotation on entry and exit of turns.
Re-work of dampers to give a better feeling and balance.
More aggressive wheel alignment to improve turn-in and mid corner grip.
Safe setup uses shorter front bumpstops and Damper changes to reduce nervousness on entry and when releasing the brake pedal.
Qualifying setup uses RF02 as base, More front and less rear bumpstop range used, along with more rake, increased toe and minor damper changes.

Zolder

The front suspension has been set slightly stiff to prevent sudden snaps of the rear in low-speed corners while maintaining a lot of steering input.
To achieve good rotation through high-speed corners, the car is running a very low rear bumpstop range, along with a high front splitter and rear ride height.
The rear anti-roll bar is softer compared to the front, aiming to limit snappy behavior in low-speed exits and provide smooth weight transfer in the last sector.
The car relies heavily on the bumpstops, making their rate a useful tool to adjust entry stability or mid-corner rotation.
Traction control (TC) settings are kept relatively low to avoid limiting power on exits. It’s crucial to control throttle inputs.

Zolder V2

Dampers are set up to prevent the car from bouncing through the chicanes.
In the first chicane it is important to not hit the exit curb, drive fully over the entry curb.
If the car bounces too much for you, raise the front ride height, this will also add more understeer to the car.
If the car snaps too much on throttle go down on the rear ARB.

Barcelona

Front suspension has to be kept a bit stiff to prevent sudden snap of the rear in low speed corners while having a lot of steering input.
Rear springs are soft to aid top speed on the main straight. To provide good rotation through high speed corners the car is running very low rear bumpstop range together with high front splitter and rear ride height.
Rear anti-roll bar is softer compared to front to limit snappy behaviour in low speed exits as well as providing smooth weight transfer in the last sector.
The car is using the bumpstops a lot so their rate can be a good tool to adjust entry stability or mid corner rotation.
TC is kept quite low not to limit the power on exits. With that it is important to control the throttle in corners 4 and 12 especially.

Barcelona – V2

Rake has been increased for overall rotation.
Bumpstops have been adjusted to provide enough rotation and traction in fast and slow corners. Front bumpstops were softened and the range was raised as there was a need for more front end grip. In the rear the bumpstop range was raised to give more grip in traction zones but the rate was raised in order to provide good rotation through turn 3.
Slight adjustment in dampers. Slow bump was raised in order to give a better response to the throttle in turn 3, keeping the rear up and providing better rotation.

Donington Park

Utilising stiffer than usual rear bumpstops to give the car enough rotation out of fast corners.
The rake and rear arb stiffness have been kept moderate to provide traction and smooth handling in long mid-speed exits.
Front dampers are stiff to make sure you can cut the chicane safely. Stiffer front rebound also helps to rotate the car through the middle of a corner.
Fast setup is tuned to be agile at high speed while safe setup will give up a lot more traction at lower speed.
This car has a really accurate and sharp handling so make sure to turn in late and maximise exits.

Donington Park – V2

Caster was increased in order to provide a bit more front grip in the slow hairpins.
Front bumpstop range and rate were adjusted to give more rotation in the old hairpin.
Increasing rear bumpstop range helped to improve traction.
Lower brake bias allows for better handling under braking, helping in entering the old hairpin and the chicane.

Laguna Seca

Stiff anti-roll bars are used to give a fast turn-in for corners like T4 and T6 especially.
Fast damping is stiff to keep the car stable while cutting the inside right of the corkscrew.
Very low rear bumpstop range helps eliminate roll which gives a more predictable handling.
Car struggles with traction in low speed corners so front rebound has been softened to aid mid corner grip.
For more traction at low speed make sure to rev out the engine instead of short-shifting. The mid range torque will cause even more wheelspin.

Laguna Seca V2

To help with traction, the rear arb has been softened.
The car is set up softer, but not too soft as it affects the performance at corkscrew.
More aggressive aero is used to aid high speed rotation.
Increased bumpstops help with traction and entry rotation.

Kyalami

The roll stiffness has been set very high and this is crucial for Kyalami due to the varying elevation changes that are present in the high speed sections.
In addition to this the dampers have been stiffened to maintain the response on entry. The rear rebound is run exceptionally stiff to increase stability into the downhill right hander.
This is important because the ride height and front springs need to be run for increased rotation through the narrow parts of the circuit, and this will cause general instability while going into corners.

Kyalami – V2

The ARBs are run very stiff to maximise overall response and roll stability through the tight and twisty corners around Kyalami.
The ride height and spring adjustments have been made to increase overall rotation through the high speed corners. To counter the effect of braking instability from these changes, the damper stiffness has been increased, mainly the front bump and rear rebound.
The stiff fast dampers in the setup help in providing compression support while going over kerbs and also in providing mechanical grip through slow speed corners. Lower wing configuration may also be viable around the track with the current meta, but can cause potential problems over a stint due to instability under direction changes and braking zones.

Hungaroring

The downhill off cambered corners through the first sector and the high speed direction changes in the middle sector require roll stability for the McLaren since its aero platform is very sensitive to roll and pitch. The rear dampers have been adjusted as opposed to the bumpstop changes, since the initial bumstop values from the Imola baseline were sufficient to maintain grip through the low speed sections.
The car also requires slightly higher preload even though off throttle rotation requirement is prevalent, because the exits of these corners are very narrow, which means enough rotation is needed late after the apex.

Hungaroring V2

Changes from the 01:
Stiffer front spring.
Softer rear spring.
Softer rear roll bar.
Changes to bumpstops to aid stability along with less preload for rotation.
Increased toe front and rear to balance car behaviour.
Damper re-work to improve kerb behaviour along with increasing car predictability on weight transfer.
Safe setup uses softer rear springs and bumpstop changes to give maximum entry and exit stability.
Quali setup uses RF02 with low fuel.

Monza

The McLaren works better with stiff ARB and spring combinations with the ARBs providing aero stability more than the springs.
In order to keep the car stable through Ascarii, the wheel rates have been softened with the ARBs still kept at a reasonably high value to maintain the roll angle.
The dampers are also run very stiff to maintain pitch control into the Lesmo’s and under braking conditions. The fast dampers have also been stiffened to keep the tyre grip optimal over bumps.

Monza V2

Low wing to maximise the top speed, raised a little bit the front ride height of the car for better handling and to take the bumps better in Ascari.
In Ascari you can cut the inside bump on the exit.
Dampers are tuned to absorb the bumps.
Maximum diff to have a smooth car in the throttle release.
Low caster to have a more responsive car in the change direction and absorb the bumps better.

Imola

The ARBs similar to other tracks are set quite high similar to other tracks, and it’s even more important around Imola since direction changes and aero stability are key to maintaining good speed through the first sector.
The car gets quite unstable on kerbs with lighter fuel, since the car has fundamentally been set up to be on the stiffer side.
In order to deal with this excessive stiffness without compromising on the direction changes, an extreme damper combination has been used.

Imola V2

(Optional) TC off in T9 (Piratella) to maximise the lap time.
Soft springs to maximise the mechanical grip and absorb the bumps better.
Positive rear toe to have a good traction, high negative front toe to maximise the rotation.
Dampers are tuned to take the bumps better.
Very stiff ARBs to have a responsive car in changes of direction.

Mount Panorama

Very stiff ARBs like usual work well with the McLaren.
Raising the front splitter to get rotation in the second sector, we noticed that the rake has more impact on top speed than the splitter, so we lowered the rear height as much as possible and raised the front splitter.
To maximise the lap time decrease by 1 click the TC in turn 4.
If in Quali, you feel the car unstable you can run with 1 click more of rear wing, (same value of RF setup).
We went quite conservative with the toe-in, because we noticed that on this track they did not increase grip in the turn, but negatively impacted traction.

Mount Panorama V2

Traction became an issue when re-evaluating the original set up, to overcome this the rear springs have been softened, while increasing the rear anti roll bar.
The car has a high downforce configuration which really helps the stability of the car through sector 2, but does come at the cost of the top speed in sector 3. The compromise was justified when evaluating lap times.

Snetterton

Setup with stiffer front suspension and softer rear is necessary to provide enough grip for the low speed corner exits.
Thanks to very low rear bumpstop range there is enough rotation at high speed even with moderate rake which helps with traction.
With stiff anti-roll bars the car is very stable through turn 1.
In the first hairpin be careful not to use too much steering input as it can make the rear of the car snap both on entry and exit.
With a softer rear anti-roll bar, safe setup makes the sharp entries safer and gives a bit of additional grip on exits.

Snetterton – V2

02 setups improve high speed rotation as well as low speed traction and cornering.
Car is now running extra rake and stiffer front rebound in order to provide enough front grip in faster corners
Low speed traction was improved by raising the rear bumpstop range.
Softening the rear anti roll bar helped with controlling the rotation in sharp corners, making sure the car doesn’t want to slide in mid corner
The alignment was adjusted to reduce scrubbing in front and to reduce oversteer out of tight corners.

Oulton Park

The stiff front ARB and stiff front rebound make the front end very responsive and keep the weight on the front axle out of the narrow high speed corners of the track.
The approach is very similar to the other tracks for this car with the ARBs being run quite stiff and the bumpstop ranges kept low, thereby maximising the aero grip and stability around the track.
The fast dampers have been tuned to improve kerb impacts which can potentially destabilise the car due to the stiff suspension configuration being used.

Oulton Park – V2

The car had general understeer and rear traction issues after the initial tests post update. The rear ARB has been stiffened in order to maximise the ability for the car to rotate through high speed corners.
The rear wheel rates have also been softened to maximise the traction out of bumpy slow speed corners in the second sector.
Similar to the Lamborghini we found that minimising bumpstop engagement improves the grip that the tyres have around this track for the McLaren. The dampers have been adjusted to prevent bumpstop actuation since the rear wheel rate has also been softened. The pace of the car has also significantly improved since the first version of the car.

Watkins Glen

Very soft rear spring to aid top speed before bus stop chicane.
Low preload is needed to keep the car agile through the bus stop. Higher values cause too much understeer and push the car wide as you decelerate.
Aero is pretty aggressive to provide enough rotation through fast corners. To help stabilise the rear on downhill entries like in T1, the rear rebound has been stiffened.
Dampers are stiff to provide stability over the kerbs in bus stop as well as during heavy compressions and entries and mid-corner.
RS setup puts extra focus on traction in the second part of the lap as well as braking stability.

Watkins Glen V2

RF Setup uses a low downforce approach while RS uses a high downforce approach.
If the rear is a bit too twitchy for you go up with the diff or down with the rear Anti Roll Bar.
Dampers adjusted to improve the handling over the curbs in the bus stop chicane.
If the car is over rotating on the entry go down with the Bumpstop Range on the front.

COTA

Softened rear wheel rates, slow bump, positive rear toe and and less preload to aid on power stability
Aero is very impressive in the 720s Evo – maintained a stiff front for aero stability with relatively short bumpstop range
Wheelspin is not uncommon out of the hairpin in sector 2 and T13/T14 – TC and TC2 have been raised to allow reasonable slip and to cut in to save dramatic snaps, but throttle control does need to be especially sensible in these corners.
If you’re struggling with on power oversteer, increase TC2, soften rear ARBs, reduce preload and if all else fails, drop a click of rear ride height – bear in mind reducing rear ride height has a dramatic effect on rotation through sectors 1 and 2.

COTA V2

The front and rear spring rates have been reduced to help improve understeer in the car, while maintaining good cornering abilities through sector 1.
The race set up needs progressive throttle application to prevent wheel spin on the corner exit. A solution to this is increasing the TC but this will reduce lap time.

Indianapolis

The fast setup is made to give a lot of response on the front end but also tends to quickly saturate the front grip if the car is thrown into the corner too aggressively. It’s important to ease the car into the corners as the initial turn-in is quite sudden, and then to control the exit by getting on the throttle quickly and counter steering when necessary. This is ensure you get maximum potential out of the car to get very fast laptimes.
The car is still very driveable and works in a good window with the fast race setup and is a viable option for longer races too as it is easy to keep consistent laptimes on the board. This has been done by keeping the front ARB very stiff and the front wheel rate reasonably stiff. The rear dampers have been adjusted as well to load the front tyres appropriately into the corners initially.
The safe setup makes the entry more safe due to better pitch control into the corner but it also makes the mid corner performance a bit less responsive due to a softer rear bumpstop rate. The car is more easy to drive but makes it a few tenths slower. It will work quite well for a longer race to maintain better consistency.

Indianapolis – V2

The previous setup was used as a starting point for Indianapolis since the flat nature of the track needs a slightly different approach compared to the high speed bumpier tracks found in the calendar.
A stiff ARB approach is still used as it provides a lot of stability and response in high speed corners, but due to the slippery nature of the track in the slow speed sections the damper and spring values used are slightly different.
Lower wing configurations were tested but the compromise made to mechanical parts of the setup affected the slow speed performance too much. Given most of the corners around the track are technical slow speed off throttle corners, priority was given to keep the mechanical balance as stable as possible with maximum grip possible.
If you prefer running a lower wing to the value used in the setup it is recommended to go down in singular clicks of the rear wing and dropping the rear spring along after which the rear ARB would need to be reduced. To counter any excessive understeer from these mechanical changes you can push the rear toe slightly more negative, but the implications beyond a few clicks outweigh the advantages of running a slightly lower wing down the straights.

Valencia

Maximum splitter front/rear wing for maximising the downforce.
Low rake solution to have very good traction and fix the instability of the car in corner entry.
Medium stiff wheel-rate helps the stability of the car in the medium/fast corner (same as Paul Ricard).
The McLaren in slow turns has a tendency to lose grip and slide, if you struggle to manage it, lower the rake at the rear and bumpstops at the front.
If you want a more oversteer biased car, raise the rear height and go more negative on toe-in.

Valencia V2

Increased the rear ride height to increase the rotation.
Decreased the rear ARB to increase the mechanical grip.
Decreased the wheel-rate to increase the mechanical grip.
Increased the toe to have more rotation.
You can use TC off for T1 to maximise the lap time.

Team List

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

Track	Driver	Engineer
Barcelona	Hubert Szymanski
Hungaroring	Hubert Szymanski	Saiduth Ramesh
Imola	Amedeo Castorino	Saiduth Ramesh
Kyalami	Amedeo Castorino	Saiduth Ramesh
Laguna Seca	David Pertile
Misano	Hubert Szymanski
Monza	Amedeo Castorino	Saiduth Ramesh
Mount Panorama	David Pertile
Nurburgring	Amedeo Castorino	Saiduth Ramesh
Paul Ricard	David Pertile
Spa Francorchamps	Amedeo Castorino	Rob Taplin
Suzuka	David Pertile	Miguel Jimenez
Zandvoort	Amedeo Dekeyser	Saiduth Ramesh
Zolder	David Pertile	Miguel Jimenez
Brands Hatch	Amedeo Dekeyser
Donington	Hubert Szymanski
Oulton Park	Hubert Symanski	Saiduth Ramesh
Snetterton	Chris Hack	Miguel Jimenez
Silverstone	Hubert Symanski	Miguel Jimenez
Watkins Glen	Amedeo Castorino
Indianapolis	Hubert Szymanski	Saiduth Ramesh
COTA	Amedeo Castorino
Valencia	Aidan Walsingham