Gran Turismo - "the real driving simulator" FAQ Version 0.6 Written and maintained by Kaleiohu Lee 0.0 Contents ------------ 1.0 What is Gran Turismo? 1.1 What is this FAQ 1.2 How can I help? 2.0 The Cars 2.1 Aston Martin 2.2 Chevrolet (US) 2.3 Chrysler (US) 2.4 Honda - Mugen 2.5 Mazda - MazdaSpeed 2.6 Mitsubishi - RalliArt 2.7 Nissan - Nismo 2.8 Subaru - STi 2.9 Toyota - TRD 2.10 TVR (British) 3.0 The Tracks 4.0 License 4.1 The B License 4.2 The A License 4.3 The A International License 5.0 The Races 5.1 GT League 5.2 Special Event 6.0 Tricks 7.0 The Best of GT 1.0 What is Gran Turismo? ------------------------- Gran Turismo is more than just another racing game for the Sony Playstation. It is without question, the greatest driving simulator I have had the honor of playing. I could write a dozen pages on it's virtues, but until you see it, until you play it, you will not understand. 1.1 What is this FAQ? --------------------- This FAQ deals with all the aspects of successful racing and play. It will deal with car selection, the License process, race information, and successful tuning. Due to the advanced physics engine of Gran Turismo, Turismo cars have the same feel as their real world counterparts. This FAQ currently covers the Japanese version of GT, but with the American release on it's way it won't be long before version 1.0 adapts to note the changes in the US release. I'm personally asking for people to write in and help this faq take shape. While I could go through myself and attempt to cover all aspects of this game, it would take me a VERY long time. The car list alone took me a couple days, and it still doesn't list max power/weight yet. I want it all, comments, tricks, preferences, tuning info. If you have something to say, say it now! 1.2 How can I help? ------------------- Current most wanted items include the secret of the secondary cars. How to get them, their stats, etc. Also, missing cars and their stats. Fill in the blanks. Please note I'm only interested in information you have personally confirmed. I've read the magazines, I've seen the articles, I don't need them repeated to me unless you have something to add. From the next version on there will be information specific to the american release of Gran Turismo. If you have that version, let's here what you have to say. What are the differences? 2.0 The Cars ------------ One of the aspects of GT that makes it so great is the car selection. There are ten car companies with over 150 different makes and models to choose from. These are all real world cars, many of which you see on a daily basis, many of which are only available overseas. Most notably in cars such as the Nissan Skyline and the British TVR cars. This is a prelimanary list of the available cars. Note that used cars lots are constantly changing, some cars are harder to find then others. Be patient. Certain cars won in races come in special color schemes. Some even have different stats. Early in the game you may want to sell these off for extra cash, but later on you might as well start a collection. You can have a maximum of 100 cars in your garage, that shouls cover all special editions and then some. Note that 280ps is only a quoted power figure in new Japanese cars. This has to do with certain automotive laws in Japan. Rest assured that once you get the cars to your garage you will see the corrected power figures. I will try to quote the correct figures when I get a chance. Quick Key for section 2.x Cars are listed by Name-Price-Type-Power/Weight (!) - Quick Arcade Car - available in Quick Arcade Mode ($) - Prize Car - must be won in a race (*) - Special Model - 50,000,000 FF - Front Wheel Drive FR - Rear Wheel Drive 4WD - Four Wheel Drive MR - Mid Engine, Rear Wheel Drive 2.1 Aston Martin (British) --------------------------- (!) DB7 Coupe - 15,000,000 - FR - 340ps/1725kg (!) DB7 Volante - 16,400,000 - FR - 340ps/1875kg 2.2 Chevrolet (US) ------------------- (!) Corvette '96 Coupe - 4,535,000 - 335ps/1460kg (!) Corvette '96 Grand Sport - 4,925,000 - 335ps/1460kg (!) Camaro Z28 - 2,477,000 - FR - 289ps/1570kg ($) Camaro Z28 30th Anniversary - n/a - FR - 287ps/1570kg 2.3 Chrysler (US) ------------------ Dodge Viper RT/10 - 6,880,000 - FR - 456ps/1446kg (!) Dodge Viper RT/10 - 6,880,000 - FR - 400ps/1446kg (!) Dodge Viper GTS - 8,004,000 - FR - 456ps/1470kg ($!) Concept Car (Sidewinder) - n/a - FR - 223ps/980kg ($) Dodge Viper GTS-R - ($) Concept Car (Race Version) - 2.4 Honda - Mugen ------------------ --NEW-- (*) NSX-R GT1 Turbo - 50,000,000 - MR - 635ps/1050kg ($) CR-X delSol LM Edition - n/a - MR - 580ps/890kg (!) NSX typeS - 10,357,000 - MR - 280ps/1320kg (!) Integra TypeR - 2,228,000 - FF - 200ps/1100kg (!) Civic SiR-II - 1,728,000 - FF - 170ps/1090kg CR-X delSol VGi - 1,553,000 - FF - 130ps/1040kg CR-X delSol SiR - 1,873,000 - FF - 170ps/1100kg Civic Ferio SiR-II - 1,828,000 - FF - 170ps/1120kg Civic TypeR - 1,998,000 - FF - 185ps/1050kg Prelude SiR - 1,883,000 - FF - 200ps/1260kg Prelude TypeS - 2,653,000 - FF - 220ps/13100kg Integra SiR-G - 1,958,000 - FF - 180ps/1120kg Accord SiR - 2,354,000 - FF - 190ps/1320kg Accord Wagon SiR - 2,698,000 - FF - 190ps/1430kg NSX - 9,107,000 - MR - 280ps/1350kg NSX typeS-Zero - 9,857,000 - MR - 280ps/1270kg --Used-- (!) Prelude Si Vtec '91 - FF - 200ps/1290kg Prelude Si '91 - FF - 160ps/1240kg CR-X EF-8 SiR - FF - 160ps/970kg CR-X delSol VXi '92 - FF - 130ps/1030kg CR-X delSol SiR '92 - FF - 170ps/1090kg Civic SiR-II '93 - FF - 170ps/1040kg Civic Ferio SiR '93 - FF - 170ps/1090kg NSX '90 - MR - 280ps/1350kg NSX-R '92 - MR - 280ps/1230kg 2.5 Mazda - MazdaSpeed ----------------------- --NEW-- (*) RX-7 LM Edition -50,000,000 - FR - 605ps/960kg ($) Demio Aspec - n/a - FF - 98ps/820kg (!) Lantis TypeR 2000 - 2,075,000 - FF - 170ps/1240kg (!) Eunos Roadster (Miata) - 1,740,000 - FR - 130ps/980kg (!) efini RX-7 Type RB - 3,240,000 - FR - 265ps/1260kg Demio LX - 1,053,000 - FF - 83ps/910kg Demio GL - 1,343,000 - FF - 100ps/960kg Demio GL-X - 1,456,000 - FF - 100ps/960kg Eunos Roadster S-Special - 2,225,000 - FR - 130ps/990kg Eunos Roadster V-Special - 2,440,000 - FR - 130ps/990kg efini RX-7 Touring X - 3,815,000 - FR - 265ps/1330kg efini RX-7 Type RZ - 4,015,000 - FR - 265ps/1250kg efini RX-7 A-spec - 4,515,000 - FR - 265ps/1220kg RX-7 A-Spec LM Edition - n/a - FR - 587ps/1050kg --Used-- (!) Savanna RX-7 InfinityIII - FR - 215ps/1200kg Savanna RX-7 GT-X - FR - 205ps/1250kg efini RX-7 TypeR '91 - FR - 265ps/1260kg Eunos Roadster '89 - FR - 120ps/980kg Eunos Roadster '90 - FR - 120ps/990kg Eunos Roadster V-special '90 - FR - 120ps/990kg Eunos Cosmo 20B Type-E CCS - FR - 280ps/1640kg Eunos Cosmo 13B Type-S CCS - FR - 230ps/1520kg 2.6 Mitsubishi - RalliArt -------------------------- --NEW-- (*) GTO LM Edition - 4WD - 622ps/1280kg ($) FTO LM Edition - n/a - 4WD - 557ps/930kg (!) Mirage Asti RX - 1,763,000 - FF - 175ps/1070kg (!) FTO GPX - 2,333,000 - FF - 200ps/1170kg (!) Lancer GSR Evolution IV - 2,394,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1350kg (!) GTO Twin Turbo - 4,323,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1710kg FTO GR - 1,887,000 - FF - 180ps/1150kg FTO GP Version R - 2,160,000 - FF - 200ps/1150kg Eclipse - 2,360,000 - FF - 230ps/1330kg Galant VR-G Touring - 2,090,000 - FF - 150ps/1240kg Galant VR4 - 2,980,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1480kg GTO SR - 2,998,000 - 4WD - 225ps/1610kg --Used-- FTO GR '94 - FF - 170ps/1150kg FTO GPX '94 - FF - 2000ps/1170kg Mirage Cyborg R '92 - FF - 175ps/1040kg Lancer GSR Evolution III - 4WD - 270ps/1260kg GTO '92 - 4WD - 225ps/1650kg GTO Twin Turbo '92 - 4WD - 280ps/1710kg GTO SR '95 - 4WD - 225ps/1650kg GTO MR '95 - 4WD - 280ps/1680kg GTO Twin Turbo '95 - 4WD - 280ps/1710kg 2.7 Nissan - Nismo ------------------- --NEW-- (*) Nismo GT-R LM - 50,000,000 - FR - 670ps/1140kg ($) Silvia LM Edition - n/a - FR - 552ps/960kg ($) Sil Eighty - n/a - 204ps/1170kg (!) Primera 2.0Te 95' 2,402,000 - FF - 150ps/1180kg (!) 180 SX TypeX - 2,498,000 - FR - 205ps/1220kg (!) Skyline GTR Vspec - 5,390,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1540kg 180 SX TypeS - 1,940,000 - FR - 140ps/1200kg Silvia Q's Aero - 1,795,000 - FR - 160ps/1190kg Silvia K's Aero - 2,395,000 - FR - 220ps/1250kg Fairlady Z Version S - 3,050,000 - FR - 230ps/1430kg Fairlady Z Version S 2by2 - 3,250,000 - FR - 230ps/1470kg Fairlady Z Version S Twin Turbo - 3,930,000 - FR - 280ps/1530kg Fairlady Z Version S Twin Turbo 2by2 - 4,230,000 - FR - 280ps/1570kg Skyline GTS25t TypeM - 2,818,000 - FR - 250ps/1360kg Skyline GTR - 4,885,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1530kg --Used-- (!) Silvia K's '91 - FR - 205ps/1170kg Silvia K's '88 - FR - 175ps/1120kg Silvia K's '95 - FR - 220ps/1240kg Silvia Q's '88 - FR - 135ps/1090kg Silvia Q's '91 - FR - 140ps/1110kg Silvia Q's '95 - FR - 160ps/1180kg 180 SX Type X '94 - FR - 205ps/1210kg Primera 2.0Te '90 - FF - 150ps/1210kg Pulsar GTi-R '91 - 4WD - 230ps/1220kg Skyline GTS25 TypeS - FR - 190ps/1260kg Skyline GTS-t TypeM - FR - 215ps/1260kg Skyline GTS-4 - 4WD - 215ps/1420kg Skyline GT-R '89 - 4WD - 280ps/1430kg Skyline GT-R '91 - 4WD - 280ps/1480kg Skyline GT-R '95 - 4WD - 280ps/1530kg Skyline GT-R Vspec - 4WD - 280ps/1500kg Skyline GT-R Vspec II - 4WD - 280ps/1500kg 2.8 Subaru - STi ----------------- --NEW-- (*) Impreza Rally Edition - 50,000,000 - 4WD - 593ps/980kg (!) Legacy RS - 2,733,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1380kg (!) Legacy GT-B - 2,933,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1430kg Impreza WRX Wagon '96 - 2,522,000 - 4WD - 240ps/1290kg Impreza WRX '96 - 2,555,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1250kg Impreza WRX-ST Wagon Version II '96 - 2,885,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1300kg Impreza WRX-ST Version II '96 - 2,885,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1250kg Impreza WRX typeR STi Version - 3,000,000 - 4WD - 280ps/1240kg --Used-- Legacy RS '93 - 4WD - 250ps/1370kg Legacy GT '93 - 4WD - 250ps/1390kg Impreza WRX-ST Wagon Version II '95 - 4WD - 260ps/1280kg Impreza WRX '94 - 4WD - 260ps/1280kg Impreza WRX-ST Version II '95 - 4WD - 275ps/1240kg SVX Version L - 4WD - 240ps/1620kg SVX Version S4 - 4WD - 240ps/1590kg 2.9 Toyota - TRD ----------------- --NEW-- (*) Castrol Supra GT - 50,000,000 - FR - 665ps/1150kg ($) Castrol Supra GT - n/a - FR - 666ps/1150kg ($) Chaser LM Edition - n/a - FR - 675ps/1260kg (!) MR2 GT-S - 2,713,000 - MR - 245ps/1280kg (!) Celica GT-Four - 3,266,000 - 4WD - 255ps/1380kg (!) Supra RZ - 4,390,000 - FR - 280ps/1510kg Glanza V - 1,430,000 - FF - 135ps/920kg Levin BZ-G (Corolla) - 1,690,000 - FF - 165ps/1030kg Trueno BZ-G - 1,690,000 - FF - 165ps/1030kg Celica SS-II - 2,136,000 - FF - 180ps/1200kg EXIV (Corona) - 2,229,000 - FF - 180ps/1200kg MR2 G-Limited - 2,360,000 - MR - 180ps/1240kg Chaser Tourer S - 2,750,000 - FR - 200ps/1400kg Chaser Tourer V - 3,222,000 - FR - 280ps/1470kg Supra SZ-R - 3,400,000 - FR - 225ps/1450kg Soarer 2.5GT-T VVT-i - 3,480,000 - FR - 280ps/1560kg --Used-- (!) Leven GT-Apex - FR - 130ps/925kg Soarer 2.5GT-T '95 - FR - 280ps/1570kg Mark II Tourer S '92 - FR - 180ps/1370kg Mark II Tourer V '92 - FR - 280ps/1450kg Supra 3.0 GT Limited - FR - 240ps/1550kg Supra TwinTurbo-R - FR - 280ps/1520kg Supra SZ-R '95 - FR - 225ps/1430kg Supra RZ '95 - FR - 280ps/1490kg 2.10 TVR (British) ------------------ --NEW-- (!) Cerebera - 8,480,000 - FR - 355ps/1100kg (!) Griffith 500 - 8,320,000 - FR - 345ps/1060kg (!) Griffith Blackpool B340 - 7,980,000 - FR - 340ps/1060kg 3.0 The Tracks -------------- * High Speed Ring - 3.100km * Trial Mountain - 3.979km * Grand Valley -East Section- - 3.025km * Clubman Stage Route 5 - (HiFi) - 2.466km ** Autumn Ring - 2.950km ** Deep Forest - 3.580km ** Special Stage R5 - (Hi-Fi) - 3.776km ** Grand Valley - 4.960km * Special Stage R11 - (Hi-Fi) - 4.894km Autumn Mini High Speed Ring II Autumn Mini II Grand Valley - East Section II Clubman Stage Route 5 II Trial Mountain II Autumn Ring II Deep Forest II Special Stage R5 II Grand Valley II Special Stage R11 II Test Course 4.0 License ----------- The License process is required to engage in any of major races. The better your license, the more money you can make, the better cars you can buy, the more fun you can have. Without at least the B License you're stuck in the spot races earning only 30,000 per. It's like a training mode the designers built into the game. Hopefully it will teach you driving fundamentals. If that doesn't interest you, keep in mind that first place in all tests will win you cars, and good ones at that. Earn your Licenses as early as possible, don't worry if you don't place first in a test. You can always retake tests to improve your time. Every license is a series of eight tests, the eighth becoming available when you complete the first seven, those seven can be taken in any order. Also note that you must earn the Licenses in order: B to A to A International. The biggest problems you will face will be keeping the car on the track and finishing in the alloted time. Hitting walls in a certain way will also result in failure. 4.1 The B License ----------------- All Gold in this class wins the Chrysler Concept Car. B-1. Demio - 36sec - Get to the finish AND stop in the blue line. B-2. GTO - 27sec - Get to the finish AND stop in the blue line. B-3. DelSol - 29sec - One turn. B-4. 240 SX - 26sec - One turn. B-5. GTO - 25sec - One turn. B-6. FTO GPX - 28sec - Two turns. B-7. 240 SX - 27sec - Two turns B-8. Eunos - 1min 22sec - High Speed Ring 4.2 The A License ----------------- 4.3 The A International License ------------------------------- 5.0 The Races ------------- Time Trial The 21 major tracks to choose from. No competition, 2 lap sets, time trials. Spot Race Basicly for people just starting out. Five basic tracks with fairly easy competition. 30,000 prize, 2 lap single races. Memory Card Battle Choose cars from two memory cards and go at it with a friend. More to offer than the Quick Arcade mode. 5.1 GT League ------------- A series of four races against moderate competition. The real draw here is the GT World Cup where you can unlock the Hi-Fi mode. Sunday Cup - B - 300,000/1,500,000/Mazda Demio A-spec 1. Autumn Ring Mini - 2 laps 2. High Speed Ring - 2 laps 3. Grand Valley East - 2 laps Clubman Cup - A - 700,000/2,000,000/Camaro Z28 30th Anniversary Edition 1. Autumn Ring - 2 laps 2. Clubman Stage Route 5 - 2 laps 3. Trial Mountain - 2 laps GT Cup - A - 1,000,000/2,500,000/Toyota Chaser LM Edition 1. Grand Valley Speedway - 4 laps 2. Deep Forest Racing Way - 4 laps 3. Special Stage Route 5 - 4 laps 4. Trial Mountain 4 laps GT World Cup - Int - 2,000,000/5,000,000/Unlock the GT Hi-Fi Mode 1. High Speed Ring 2. Trial Mountain 3. Grand Valley SpeedWay 4. Special Stage Route 5 5. Deep Forest Racing Way 6. Special Stage Route 11 5.2 Special Event ----------------- FF Challenge - B - 500,000/1,000,000/Celica SS-II or ??? Only front wheel cars allowed. A Honda favorite. 1. Deep Forest Racing Way II - 2 laps 2. Grand Valley East - 2 laps 3. Special Stage Route 11 - 2 laps FR Challenge - B - 500,000/1,000,000/Sil Eighty or ??? Only rear wheel cars with front engines allowed. Mid engine cars are out. NSXs and MR2s do NOT count. - 2 laps 1. Grand Valley East II - 2 laps 2. Deep Forest Racing Way - 2 laps 3. Grand Valley Speedway II - 2 laps 4WD Challenge - B - 500,000/1,000,000/SVX S4 or ??? Only 4WD allowed. Look for Skylines and GTOs to dominate this field. 1. Trial Mountain II - 2 laps 2. Grand Valley Speedway - 2 laps 3. Special Stage Route 5 II - 2 laps Light Weight Challenge - B - 500,000/1,000,000/Eunos Roadster or ??? Only lightweight cars allowed. note: you cannot use weight reduction tuning to enter this race. the car must be light to begin with. In other words, no Heavy Hitters. Ever. 1. Autumn Ring Mini II - 2 laps 2. Clubman Stage Route 5 - 2 laps 3. Deep Forest Racing Way II - 2 laps Japanese vs. American - A - 1,000,000/2,000,000/FTO LM or ??? Japanese vs. British - A - 1,000,000/2,000,000/DelSol LM or ??? American vs. British - A - 1,000,000/2,000,000/RX-7 LM or ??? Tuned cars are a must from here on out. All three races use the same tracks, the requirements are pretty self explanatory. Expect to see alot of race tuned light body cars in this league. Racing stickers galore. 1. Trial Mountain II - 3 laps 2. Special Stage Route 5 - 3 laps 3. High Speed Ring - 3 laps 4. Grand Valley East II - 3 laps 5. Special Stage Route 5 II - 3 laps Mega Speed - A - 1,500,000/3,000,000/Soarer VVTi or ??? One of the harder races, everyone in this league is grossly overpowered. 900ps is not uncommon here. A complete set of mods is almost mandatory. 1. High Speed Ring - 2 laps 2. Test Course - 2 laps 3. High Speed Ring II - 2 laps Normal Car - A - 5,000,000/10,000,000/Supra RZ or ??? A race that might actually require some skill. All cars must be completely stock, no GT or LM editions allowed. No mods, not even weight reduction. Best prize in an A license race. I strongly suggest a Viper for this race. 1. Autumn Ring Mini II - 5 laps 2. Grand Valley East II - 5 laps 3. Clubman Stage Route 5 II - 5 laps 4. Deep Forest Racing Way II - 5 laps 5. Special Stage Route 11 - 5 laps 300km Grand Valley Endurance - Int - 15,000,000/Castrol Supra GT (special) 30 laps around Grand Valley. Should take a little less than 2 hours. Tire wear is on so take pit stops when needed. Don't forget you have a pause button. Tuned Car - Int - 5,000,000/10,000,000/ No race stickers allowed, no GT LM or Race kits. Beyond that all other mods are fair game, lots of backward tracks so be careful. 1. High Speed Ring II 2. Grand Valley Speedway II 3. Clubman Stage Route 5 II 4. Autumn Ring II 5. Special Stage Route 11 II S.S. R11 Endurance - Int - 30,000,000/Silvia LM 60 laps on R11, good way to kill a couple hours. Tire wear is on so take pit stops when the tires get bad. S.S. R11 Endurance II - Int - 30 laps on arguably the hardest track in the game. No picnic. 6.0 Tricks ---------- Currently there are no known tricks for GT. However as an overlooked feature, there is the memory card car trading. Using this you can duplicate your special cars relatively easy. Why? Race bodies are irreversable. Duplicate your Nismo 400R, use one for Race circuts and one for Tuning circuts, perhaps even keep a third for the stock race. The information is read off any card in the second slot. It can even be the card you are loaded from. Much easier than winning a series three times. 7.0 Best of GT -------------- This section is for the best cars in GT, picked for outstanding performance in one or more areas. If there's a car you feel should be in this section, prove it to me since I'm not about to drive every car in the game to find out. Here are my votes for the Best of. * Dodge Viper - In stock form it is rivaled only by the Nismo 400R. A pure muscle sports car, it is designed to handle power and speed. Although a basic Viper can only be tuned to 596ps, its naturally aspired V-10 produces power at all points of the rev band. It has some of the best grip not found in a 4WD, and it looks good too. Contributors List ----------------- Jeffery Lee David Smith ====================================================================== Gran Turismo Tuning FAQ By: Bob Chmilnitzky a.k.a. "Jet Jaguar" Introduction The reason I'm writing this FAQ is to help others make intelligent, informed decisions concerning car setup. I've found this area of the otherwise excellent Gran Turismo manual is sorely deficient. This FAQ is based on real-life car physics. This may or may not apply to the game, depending on how accurately the game depicts car physics. Any areas that I feel I have found to be different are noted in brackets, though the real-world effect is still listed for the sake of completeness, since I haven't sat down and tried everything out to see if it works (or in case I'm wrong :-) ). It should also be noted that my real-world experience is limited to rear-wheel drive cars, so any special considerations that need to be made for front- and four-wheel drive vehicles is not mentioned, but, from what I understand, the basic principles of setup are the same. Feel free to use this FAQ on a web page, as long as you let me know first. Also, I don't feel it is quite finished yet. I would have liked to have talked about dynamic camber changes caused by suspension movements (a.k.a. double wishbone suspensions: why you need them, and why everything else is junk :-) ), expanded the section on gearing, and added a troubleshooting section (i.e. if your car understeers while exiting corners then do this... type of thing), but that's not gonna happen any time soon, as I'm just too busy at the moment. In fact, I've been sitting on what I've got here for the better part of a week already. *sigh* :-( [Tip: Make one adjustment at a time and test it. If you make several adjustments at once, it can be difficult to isolate the effects of each adjustment, as one adjustment can cancel out another.] Springs: The purpose of the springs is to control wheel movement and keep the tyre in contact with the road over bumps and undulations. Stiffening the springs front and rear will reduce body roll and make handling more responsive, but cause a loss of traction over bumpy surfaces. Likewise, softening all of the springs will give more grip on bumpy tracks, but increase roll and reduce responsiveness. You can also use the springs to affect the car balance. You can reduce oversteer by stiffening the front springs or softening the rear. Likewise, you can reduce understeer by softening the front springs or stiffening the rear. However, be advised that changing just one end also affects fore/aft weight transfer. By softening the front springs, you'll also get more dive under braking. Softening the rear will give you more rear weight transfer under acceleration, which can give you more traction on the rear wheels in straight-line acceleration. [Tip: I generally do not use the springs to adjust balance, because of its effects on fore/aft weight transfer. I reserve the stabilizers for this purpose.] Ride Height: A lower ride height lowers the center of gravity, which reduces weight transfer during cornering, acceleration, and braking. The reduced weight transfer improves cornering. A lower ride height also lowers drag at high speed because you are presenting a smaller frontal profile to the airstream. Also, by lowering the front end and raising the rear, you can improve high speed stability and increase downforce by preventing high-pressure air from building up underneath the nose of the car. [Note: I have not noticed ride height affecting aerodynamics at all in the game] If the car is too low, it can bottom out, though this can be eliminated by stiffening the springs. For rear-wheel drive cars, you can improve rear traction under acceleration by increasing ride height, since maximum traction can be obtained with the maximum amount of weight on the rear tyres. Generally, you'll only want to do this in the acceleration tests, since it will hurt cornering performance, and never with front-wheel drive cars, since the driving wheels will be losing grip. Dampers: The purpose of the dampers (also called shock absorbers) is to dampen the oscillation of the springs. The shocks not only dampen spring oscillations, but they also affect handling during transient conditions (such as the entry and exit of turns), but not steady-state conditions. Softening the dampers reduces responsiveness, and likewise stiffening the dampers will increase responsiveness. However, if they are too stiff, they can lead to a loss of suspension sensitivity and increase the harshness and bumpiness of the ride. If they are too soft, it will cause the handling to feel mushy. You can reduce understeer during corner entry and exit by softening the front dampers or stiffening the rear. Conversely, you can reduce oversteer in the entries and exits by stiffening the fronts and softening the rear dampers. Camber: Camber is the angle the tyres make with the road and is measured in degrees. Tyre grip varies with the camber angle, and ideally is maximum when the angle is zero. However, the maximum grip is found with a small amount of negative camber because of tyre sidewall deflection (when the top of the tyre is tilted inward it is called negative camber. The game does not allow positive camber, and in real life it is never used). Also, as the body rolls in a turn, the suspension movements themselves causes some adverse camber change. These combined effects mean that for maximum cornering power you need to have some amount of negative camber. [Note: Unfortunately, I have not found a reliable way in the game to determine the optimum camber settings. In real life, camber is generally determined by measuring tyre temperatures at different points across the tread surface, or by monitoring tyre wear. Generally, I just play around with the settings until I come across a setting I think feels best.] Stabilizer: The purpose of the stabilizer (also known as the anti-roll bar, or anti-sway bar, although I prefer anti-roll bar because it can very well destabilize a car and has nothing to do with sway) is to resist body roll in a turn, much like a spring. However, unlike the springs, they do not come into play on two-wheel bumps or on fore/aft weight transfer. Stiffening the stabilizers front and back gives more responsive handling and less body roll, but can upset stability on a bumpy track by transmitting loads from one-wheel bumps to the opposite wheel. Likewise, softening the bars all around can increase body roll and reduce responsiveness, but make the car more stable on bumpy tracks. Because the anti-roll bars are fairly independent of other chassis settings, they are ideal for fine-tuning car balance. You can reduce understeer by softening the front bar, or stiffening the rear. You can reduce oversteer by stiffening the front bar or by softening the rear. Brakes: The brake balance allows you to adjust the proportion of braking power distributed between the front and rear brakes, which affects the balance under the car under braking. Oversteer under braking (i.e. the back wants to jump out while braking) can be reduced by increasing front brake balance, or reducing rear balance. Understeer under braking (the car doesn't turn in) can be reduced by decreasing front brakes, or increasing rear. [Tip: generally, you always want higher front brakes than rear. This is because of forward weight transfer under braking. As the weight is transferred forward off of the rear tyres, they are unloaded and lose grip, which causes them to lock up before the front tyres.] Gear Ratio: The purpose of the gearbox is to keep the engine within it's optimum rpm range over a range of road speeds. Shorter gear ratios (bigger ratio numbers) give you more acceleration and rpms. Taller ratios (smaller ratio numbers) give you higher speed before the engine redlines, but less acceleration. The final drive ratio can be thought of a sort of "multiplier" that affects all of the gear ratios simultaneously, which makes it convenient to fine tune your transmission to different tracks. [Tip: The way I generally set up the gears is to first set 1st gear so the engine rpm is in the meaty part of the torque curve for the exits of the slowest turns on the track. I then set top gear for top speed and space out the rest of the gears evenly between the two, except for the top couple gears, which I space a little closer together than the lower gears since acceleration is slower at high speed due to increased air resistance. I don't normally change gear ratios from one track to the next, I just set a good compromise and stick with it. The only exception is I'll sometimes adjust the final drive ratio at certain tracks. For example, at the Autumn Ring I'll bump the final drive to a shorter ratio to get more acceleration since you won't be hitting top speed anywhere on the track anyway, and on the oval track I'll change to a taller ratio to get more top end speed.] Downforce: Downforce is the aerodynamic force pressing the car down on the track and improves cornering grip. This downforce is dependent on forward speed, and increases as you go faster. Increasing the downforce all around increases cornering speed, but also increases drag, which gives you slower straightaway speed, and you may also need to increase ride height and/or spring stiffness to prevent bottoming. Likewise, decreasing downforce gives you lower cornering speeds but higher straigtaway speeds, and allows you to run softer springs and/or a lower ride height. [Note: I find downforce has only a small effect on drag. For example, in the Viper GTS on the top speed test, the difference between maximum and minimum downforce top speeds is only about 5 mph (8 km/h).] Also, you can also use downforce to fine-tune balance at high speeds. To reduce understeer, increase front downforce or reduce rear. To reduce oversteer, decrease front downforce or increase rear. Keep in mind that these adjustments are dependent on forward speeds and has less effect as speeds drop, so you can use this to give the car different handling characteristics for different speed ranges. --- Bob Chmilnitzky, a.k.a. Jet Jaguar To reply, do dental work on my address and pull all of the teeth. MSTie #54297 The Face on Mars issue is dead. Deal with it, and move on.