I read somewhere that you are supposed to keep the rear of the car ride height 25mm or so above the front ride height.
For example, if front ride height is set to 27mm, rear should be about 52mm or so.
Does everyone follow this rule, or do go lower if possible in the rear? I seem to always be able to lower the rear much more until I get into situations where I am rubbing away the rear plank.
Can anyone teach more about this?
front to rear ride height difference
Re: front to rear ride height difference
Hello,
I don't have much help to give here. I usually avoid to set the ride height as low as possible as I focus on long distances (50% Race Distance) and low ride heights are better for qualifying laps. Therefore I seldom get the rear much lower than that.
For my next races, I'll be doing 10% Race Distances, so maybe I'll try to lower it more than usual.
I don't have much help to give here. I usually avoid to set the ride height as low as possible as I focus on long distances (50% Race Distance) and low ride heights are better for qualifying laps. Therefore I seldom get the rear much lower than that.
For my next races, I'll be doing 10% Race Distances, so maybe I'll try to lower it more than usual.
Re: front to rear ride height difference
If braking strongly often is required I will get the rear as low as I can regardless of the gap between front and rear (like in Monaco and Adelaide). If corner speed is more important I will get the rear-front difference to around 25mm and work from there. I don't know what the correct approach is but usually, I need more or less oversteer and I will try to get there by changing the springs, if it doesn't work I will try changing the rear ride height, then other settings...depending on the carset I will lower the front wing for the race in order to not increase the height as much for the race compared to qualy, as I would do using the same wings as the qualy. This usually requires a change in the springs as well and every now and then it won't work and make the car undrivable.
To be honest, I always used those 25mm as a guideline but never looked into checking/testing how much truth there was to that approach in GP2.
Fun fact: in the beginning of FGP2 we were simulating 50s cars (which were terrible slow for GP2), so changing wings and some other settings were forbidden, so basically all we did was changing springs and ride height. For Indianapolis, using maximum (yes, maximum) front height gave the top speed, so we started using that. As cars became faster, it gave corner stability problems, so we started using also high (sometimes maximum) rear height lol.
In the beginning, I also used very high (above 60mm) rear height for Monaco to great success, as it gave me more corner speed. With time, it became required to use it as low as we could cause with faster cars, braking distance became much more important. And that's how I learned everything (almost nothing lol) I know about setting the ride height.
To be honest, I always used those 25mm as a guideline but never looked into checking/testing how much truth there was to that approach in GP2.
Fun fact: in the beginning of FGP2 we were simulating 50s cars (which were terrible slow for GP2), so changing wings and some other settings were forbidden, so basically all we did was changing springs and ride height. For Indianapolis, using maximum (yes, maximum) front height gave the top speed, so we started using that. As cars became faster, it gave corner stability problems, so we started using also high (sometimes maximum) rear height lol.
In the beginning, I also used very high (above 60mm) rear height for Monaco to great success, as it gave me more corner speed. With time, it became required to use it as low as we could cause with faster cars, braking distance became much more important. And that's how I learned everything (almost nothing lol) I know about setting the ride height.
"The Fox provides for himself. but God provides for the Lion"
Early 90s F1 forever!
Early 90s F1 forever!
Re: front to rear ride height difference
interesting
I seem to have the car much more stable with the rear about 15mm higher than the front. If i soften the rear spring I will have to raise the ride height and I can meet the 25mm suggestion, but it seems to be unstable in quick transitions.
Most of the time my goal is not just to have a fast setup but one that when it goes out of control- this happens slowly and predictably.
I seem to be at my fastest when I am smooth and flowey... If I have to drive aggressively, I am almost always making mistakes. Maybe it is just my driving style that the lower rear ride height fits better? I don't know.
I use packers a lot (since I now feel that I understand them significantly), and I like to get the rear ride height about 15mm higher than the front, but I have to make sure that the rear is NEVER fully compressed on the bump rubbers without the front also compressed. When this happens the car goes wicked loose. It's OK in long gentle corners that do not need any sort of handling consideration, but not in any corner where you are on some sort of limit.
Normally I make sure that the front suspension hits the bump rubbers before the rear as I accelerate. This is almost always the case for me unless I am under hard acceleration and turning exiting a fast corner- in that case sometimes the rear will start to touch the bump rubbers first.
I seem to have the car much more stable with the rear about 15mm higher than the front. If i soften the rear spring I will have to raise the ride height and I can meet the 25mm suggestion, but it seems to be unstable in quick transitions.
Most of the time my goal is not just to have a fast setup but one that when it goes out of control- this happens slowly and predictably.
I seem to be at my fastest when I am smooth and flowey... If I have to drive aggressively, I am almost always making mistakes. Maybe it is just my driving style that the lower rear ride height fits better? I don't know.
I use packers a lot (since I now feel that I understand them significantly), and I like to get the rear ride height about 15mm higher than the front, but I have to make sure that the rear is NEVER fully compressed on the bump rubbers without the front also compressed. When this happens the car goes wicked loose. It's OK in long gentle corners that do not need any sort of handling consideration, but not in any corner where you are on some sort of limit.
Normally I make sure that the front suspension hits the bump rubbers before the rear as I accelerate. This is almost always the case for me unless I am under hard acceleration and turning exiting a fast corner- in that case sometimes the rear will start to touch the bump rubbers first.