Project CARS 2 Nighttigers's Step-by-Step Setup Guide (2 Viewers)

Nighttiger

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Hi fellow racers of RSR,

Today I proudly release my Project Cars 2 step-by-step setup guide made for all drivers. It is a guide that is both in-depth and accessible for drivers of all experiences. The reason I created this guide was because I felt that although there was a load of information on the internet on setting cars up, the information was scattered, difficult to understand, not natural to use and categorised illogical. The goal was to combine easy to understand information with clear instructions, a sensible order in setup changes and make it applicable to Project Cars 2, in which I hope I succeeded.

This is the first version of this guide and I believe the first one of his kind for Project Cars 2. There will be an added section about Wet Weather setups and LiveTrack 3.0 in the future since these are a very integral part of Project Cars 2. I hope you, as reader, can use this guide to make a racecar behave like you want it to. I remember my first time when I managed to do that and I was ecstatic. Finally I had the knowledge to fix annoying, crippling car balance and I couldn’t stop trying out new cars and taming them! It gave me so much enjoyment. Also thanks to @Puffpirat and @miagi for adding in bits and reviewing the document!

Please, enjoy! If you have any questions, remarks or suggestions, please let me know in the thread!
 

m4nu

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This thread is now open for discussions, questions and general feedback :)

@Members
 

miagi

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The Hunter

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Read up to step one and can already tell I am going to learn a lot from this guide. Amazing work!
 

UnstopaPaul

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amazing....one of the main reasons I started the self-help thread. I think this guide is probably the most comprehensive all in one I've seen, and it rephrases a couple of the settings in a way that really helps. Thank you so much!
 
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UnstopaPaul

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A few thoughts now that I've read through again. @Nighttiger I really like that you are trying to put the activities in an efficient order for getting to "perfect" as fast as possible. Based on that:
  • Would you recommend setting up for race or for qualifying first (and why)?
  • I'm surprised to see Aero so far down the list. It's (possibly incorrectly) among the first things I change (partly because I actually understand what its going to do the car I guess). What is the rational for it being so late, given that it can be one of the most significant changes to the car balance?
 

Diluvian

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Nice one!

One open question: Talking about tyre pressures during race and brake temperatures, how much do they affect my pressures in the tyre and how much influence can I take with brake cooling changes? :) That's something I never tried (I always went for max brake performance). Is higher brake cooling an option if I want to reduce my tyre pressures during a race?
 

UnstopaPaul

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Nice one!

One open question: Talking about tyre pressures during race and brake temperatures, how much do they affect my pressures in the tyre and how much influence can I take with brake cooling changes? :) That's something I never tried (I always went for max brake performance). Is higher brake cooling an option if I want to reduce my tyre pressures during a race?
the amount of brake duct can be very important if you find your tires are going way past the pressure you expect. closed ducts = high pressures. You can easily see the effect by doing a few laps, then coming to a halt and watch the hot brakes push up the pressures.
 

Nighttiger

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Thanks for the compliments guys, really appreciated!

A few thoughts now that I've read through again. @Nighttiger I really like that you are trying to put the activities in an efficient order for getting to "perfect" as fast as possible. Based on that:
  • Would you recommend setting up for race or for qualifying first (and why)?
  • I'm surprised to see Aero so far down the list. It's (possibly incorrectly) among the first things I change (partly because I actually understand what its going to do the car I guess). What is the rational for it being so late, given that it can be one of the most significant changes to the car balance?

Good questions Paul! To start off with your first question, I would always go for setting the race setup first. This is because you will spend 90% of the time in race trim and the race is the most important part of a race weekend. You need to find yourself a car that suits you well and you can push comfortable through the race. Unexpected car behavior resulting in crashes or spins will set you back so much more in the race than losing a second in qualification. Furthermore, in RSR most races have a decent laptime delta between the drivers. If you might qualify 10 places lower than your actual pace it is not the end of the world since races in RSR are long enough to eventually settle in the proximity of your race pace. Then when finishing your race setup you can easily convert it to a qualifying setup and perhaps only have to make some minor balance changes.

Your second question is very interesting and I understand where it's coming from. Aerodynamics indeed have a major part in the balance of a car on higher speeds. This guide assumes that the baseline setup as is present in the game is good baseline and will not unbalance the car in such a way that it "overrules" the previous steps and will require only some fine tuning. But as mentioned in the introduction, sometimes by experience you just know that the aerodynamics part is the culprit and by all means, adjust the aerodynamics next instead of waiting for the correct step in the guide.

Nice one!

One open question: Talking about tyre pressures during race and brake temperatures, how much do they affect my pressures in the tyre and how much influence can I take with brake cooling changes? :) That's something I never tried (I always went for max brake performance). Is higher brake cooling an option if I want to reduce my tyre pressures during a race?

Intersting, I have never tried this before. In theory it should have an effect indeed, but I would not sacrifice brake power for minor changes in tyre pressures. EDIT: And if you follow the guide you will set up your brakes first that they have stable temps (~390 when entering a big braking zone) and after brakes you set up your tyre pressures. So the pressures will not be effected too much in the future since your brakes won't change that much anymore. If you pressures are too much off (>0.05) you have an error in your cold pressures. However sometimes you can not cater for the changing situation (for example the upcoming 2.4h Le Mans features way different tarmac temperatures whilst still driving on same tyres) and then you just need to drive around it. Also, driving style also has a major effect on pressures so by stressing tyres more (or less) you also can influence the pressures a bit. But the cold pressures are the primary tool to set your pressures up.
 
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Nighttiger

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  • I'm surprised to see Aero so far down the list. It's (possibly incorrectly) among the first things I change (partly because I actually understand what its going to do the car I guess). What is the rational for it being so late, given that it can be one of the most significant changes to the car balance?

Also Paul, making a setup is a dynamic process and many settings have (pretty significant) effect on other setup settings. To list them in such a step by step schedule requires some simplification of effects they have on each other.
 

drukqs

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great guide @Nighttiger already saved it on my gdrive for future reference :).

Just a quick note: on page 12 you mention Algarve has 0 fast right hand corners and a lot fast left handers. Isn't it the opposite?
 

Nighttiger

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great guide @Nighttiger already saved it on my gdrive for future reference :).

Just a quick note: on page 12 you mention Algarve has 0 fast right hand corners and a lot fast left handers. Isn't it the opposite?
Yes it is the opposite ;), well spotted. Will note it for change :D
 

falcon2081

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Nice setup guide.
 

miagi

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  • I'm surprised to see Aero so far down the list. It's (possibly incorrectly) among the first things I change (partly because I actually understand what its going to do the car I guess). What is the rational for it being so late, given that it can be one of the most significant changes to the car balance?
Question two. You are starting at least with the default setup and they usually aren't that bad, so you are pretty much skipping the first setup cycle. However which role Aero plays and where it should be in the order also depends if it's a high Df car or not.
One open question: Talking about tyre pressures during race and brake temperatures, how much do they affect my pressures in the tyre and how much influence can I take with brake cooling changes? :) That's something I never tried (I always went for max brake performance).
On a GTE car 5-10°C tire temp change could be done by running wide open or aero efficent brake ducts.
Is higher brake cooling an option if I want to reduce my tyre pressures during a race?
that doesn't make much sense, if you want lower tyre pressures, set lower cold tire pressures. If you hit lowest cold pressure and peak too high hot pressure, the tires probably overheat and that is the main problem. Tire temps will be effected by ducts and brake temps and you can reduce tire temps with brake temps a little but with the expense of top speed (increased aero drag).
 
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