CDA4 Mercedes AMG GT4 Release Notes

Welcome to the Mercedes AMG 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 Mercedes setups. Please carry on reading below to see what our team found:

Brands Hatch

• Go up with the front spring if the car rotates too much off throttle.
• If the car rotates too much mid corner go down on the rear ARB.
• If the car is too snappy on throttle go up on the front ARB.
• If you feel comfortable on throttle try TC on 0 for the RS setup if the RF setup is too much.

Misano 

• Misano being a flat track requires a unique combination of high speed rotation but also very good traction through the hairpins and relatively technical corner exits.
• A very soft mechanical configuration with sufficient roll stiffness provides enough mechanical grip in the slow speed sections and also provides roll stability through the high speed corners of the track.
• The rear dampers are more bump biased to give enough rotation through the faster corners of the car. The mechanical settings provide enough traction to the car so the bump does not negatively affect low speed grip.

Nurburgring

• As high rake isn’t enough in the Mercedes to get good rotation the setups use a medium downforce approach to get rotation in high speed corners.
• Dampers were adjusted to have good rotation on the brakes and and good exit rotation without losing too much traction.
• If the car rotates too much mid corner go down on the rear ARB.
• If the car is too slippery in throttle either go down with the rear Slow Bump or up on the front ARB.

Paul Ricard

• Medium wing and high rake to maximize the stability and the rotation.
• Car had big understeer so to fix it we put max toe and camber.
• Using TC off is faster but if you struggle the setup can work  well also with TC1.

Silverstone

• Low wing and high rake to fix the understeer of the car, this makes the car a little harder to drive under braking, so if you struggle raise the rear wing/lower the rear height.
• Use TC 0 is faster but you can also use TC 1 if you struggle too much.
• Maximum camber and toe to maximise the rotation.

Spa Francorchamps 

• The Mercedes is a quite stable car therefore Spa is using a high rake low wing combination.
• If the car is oversteers too much go either down with the rear ride height or up on the wing. Going up on the preload can also work.
• Dampers were set up to give the car good rotation on turn in, and on the brakes without getting too much oversteer.
• If the RF setup is too hard for you to drive and you feel very comfortable with the RS setup try using TC 0 through the middle sector. This can also help gaining time there.

Suzuka 

• The race fast and safe setups differ mainly in roll compliance since the rest of the setup has been mainly optimised to improve kerb absorption and direction changes. 
• The extra compliance in the fast setup may appear to have better mechanical grip in the setup screen but actually has more roll and entry compliance giving rise to slightly more aggressive rotation into corners. This helps in maximising the overall pace of the car into corners such as T1, Spoon and 130R.

Zandvoort

• The Zandvoort setup needs enough rotation available on high speed corners in order to improve cornering speed through the final few turns, but also enough stability to enter downhill braking zones without snapping the rear end of the car. 
• In order to achieve this the front springs have been stiffened along with a stiff front damper configuration. Traction is improved by adjusting the rear dampers and the preload values. This also provides enough mid corner rotation through the off throttle sections in the second sector. 
• Wing levels don’t necessarily need to be maxed out at the track to provide enough grip on the high speed zones, however very low wing angles will cause too much instability with the current mechanical requirements of the track.

Zolder

• Stiffer Bump Damping to get better through the first chicane.
• High wing approach as Zolder doesn’t have long straights.
• Stiff ARBs to keep the car stable through the chicanes.
• Lower front Bump Stop rate to get good rotation on the entry.

Barcelona 

• High Rake and aggressive roll bars used to get the most rotation possible for the long corners here at barcelona.
• Bumpstops tuned to prevent over-rotation on entry given the other mechanical settings.
• Soft springs used to maximise grip.
• Wing for race setup is balanced to not reduce top speed too much given the long front straight.
• Safe setup uses changes to springs, alignment and dampers to aid more predictable traction along with a little more entry stability.
• Qualifying setup has adjustments to roll bars and alignment along with a slightly softer rear bumpstop to help give back some traction that is lost due to the lighter rear end caused by less fuel.

Donington Park 

• The rear bump dampers have been made quite stiff to maximise high speed rotation into the downhill corners of sector 1. The preload however has not been kept too low as a higher value helps with direction change stability through the chicane as well as providing good high speed rotation out of the first and second sectors.
• The stiff roll configuration helps with better aero balance control through the lap and provides more consistency and leeway during direction changes.

Laguna Seca

• Car is set up with a lot of attention to handling during high compression. Corners like the dipper and the corkscrew require a stiffer front in order to keep the car controllable. 
• Front negative toe is kept low to allow easier steering over kerbs during high compression.
• The front rebound is very stiff to stop the car from bottoming out and bouncing in the right hander of the corkscrew. 
• Braking in a straight line into T1 is very important. Trying to steer into the apex too early will cause the ABS to activate and extend the braking distance. 

Kyalami

• Nürburgring was used as a baseline.
• Stiffer front spring to make the car more stable mid corner.
• Lower rear rebound to give the car more rotation under braking, therefore also more brake balance to balance it out again.
• If the car is too twitchy on throttle go up with the front ARB.

Hungaroring

• The setup focuses on providing good traction out of all the slow corners with correct front-rear balance. 
• To rotate well in hairpins the preload is set low.
• Through the second sector it’s really important to utilise the kerbs to rotate the car. If the car is too difficult to handle over kerbs for you, make the front toe more neutral. 
• If there isn’t enough traction when you first get on throttle, you can lower the front rebound. 
• This car is very easy to go over the kerb in the chicane with. Take advantage of that for better lap time. 

Monza

• The Mercedes AMG GT4 has plenty of understeer built into the car naturally, to reduce this the front of the car has been softened overall while stiffening the rear.
• Raising the ride height allowed the car to become more predictable through the corners, aiding the ability to attack the curbs.

Imola

• Medium wing, high rake used as the track has a fast flowing nature but needs lots of dynamic rotation through the high speed chicanes.
• No TC used as the AMG has plenty of traction without, just be cautious of accelerating off kerbs as this has the possibility of causing sudden grip loss.
• Rear biased roll bar settings used to aid rotation along with minimum rate front springs.
• High rebound damper settings used to sharpen up entry and exit on turns.
• Safe Setup uses increased wing and more conservative damper and alignment settings to maximise longitudinal grip.
• Quali setup uses many changes to maximise rotation and 1 lap performance.

Mount Panorama

• The car has a big understeer issue on this track, especially in the fast corners, to fix that we put maximum caster camber and toe, maximum rake and low wing.
• Dampers are tuned to maximise the traction of the car, since at this track it is very important to have a good exit in the important corners before the long straights.
• Use TC 0 is faster but you can also use TC 1 if you struggle too much.

Snetterton 

• High preload works very well for obtaining rotation in high speed corners without sacrificing traction in low speed exits. To keep good rotation in the hairpins, the rear rebound is set soft. 
• Using less rear camber is also a good tool to obtain better rotation.
• Rear toe has not been set to minimum in race setups in order to keep easy handling on throttle out of slow corners. 
• Safe setup has a less aggressive front alignment. With the fast set up you should watch out for the inside kerb in turn 7 as it can unsettle the car and compromise your exit.
• Avoid going over the inside kerb in hairpins. They take away a lot of grip and cause the traction control to cut a lot of power.

Oulton Park

• The setup at Oulton Park runs a very stiff front configuration to ensure maximum stability into high speed corners throughout the circuit. 
• The wing levels have been lowered significantly as a low ride height and downforce configuration is a viable option for some GT4 cars, with the Mercedes being one of them. 
• The increased roll stiffness value on the rear helps with better roll stability and counters the understeer generated with the stiffer front configuration. 

Watkins Glen

• Mid wing approach to get rotation in high speed corners.
• If you feel like the car doesn’t rotate enough on brakes go down with the brake bias.
• If the car is too snappy on throttle, raise the front ARB.
• If the car rotates too much mid corner go down with the rear ARB.
• Dampers slightly adjusted from the Kyalami setup to get the car better through the chicane.

COTA

• The race set up is very stable, with a medium downforce set up. With a small adjustment to the preload, the car rotates well in sector one when coming off throttle.
• Lack of rear grip was a problem when creating the qualifying set up, this has been overcome by reducing the rear anti roll bar and generally reducing the stiffness of the dampers. 
• For Qualifying, you are able to get on the throttle much sooner and aggressively compared to the race set ups, from the reduction in car mass.

Indianapolis

• The setup is running low wing to have strong top speed, we also tuned the dampers to compensate for the lack of grip on traction.
• Use TC 0 is faster but you can also use TC 1 if you struggle too much.
• Maximum camber and toe to maximise the rotation.
• Stiff ARB on the rear to have a more agile car in the change direction.

Valencia 

• Maximum wing to maximise the stability of the car and have better handling.
• Use TC 0 is faster but you can also use TC 1 if you struggle too much.
• Soft springs and front ARB for maximising the mechanical grip of the car, the rear ARB is stiff to fix the understeer of the car.

Team List 

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