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Contents
Setup Development
Beginners Guide
The main goal when making or modifying a setup is to extract the maximum possible performance from a vehicle whilst retaining a high level of drivability.
Definitions of oversteer and understeer:
Understeer - If the car is not very responsive to steering input and tends to run very wide in corners, that is understeer. It is caused by a lack of grip at the front tyres. The driver can compensate by turning less in order to not exceed the traction limit of the front tyres.
Oversteer - Oversteer is where the rear of the car is out of control or "loose". It is caused by a lack of grip at the rear wheels. The driver can compensate by counter steering in the opposite direction to the turn, or (if the car is driven entirely or more by the rear wheels) reduce throttle input.
These handling problems can occur throughout an entire lap or just in certain situations. There are several parameters which can be adjusted in the setup of a car which can help to eradicate such handling problems, allowing the driver to get more of the cars potential speed on the track.
Creating a setup from scratch
The order of this guide reflects the setup layout in Live for Speed. It is not a good idea to work through each setting in order, as each one can impact on the next. Once you are comfortable setting up a car you will come to learn which settings have an effect on others.
Brakes
Maximum per wheel - This adjusts the power of the brakes. To find the optimum value, the brakes should be tested coming from a high speed straight in to a low speed corner, such as a hairpin. Adjust this setting so that you find a point where the wheels do not lock up and stop turning under heavy braking.
Brake balance - The relative share of braking power between the front and rear wheels. Aim for a balance which makes braking even more effective, without locking the wheels or making the car unstable.
Suspension
Ride height - The distance between the chassis and the road. Try to keep the car as close to the road surface as possible without actually making contact or "bottoming out". If a car collides with the road surface, the driver can momentarily lose his ability to steer.
Stiffness - In general softer suspension will provide more grip, but at the cost of responsiveness. Like with any element of a setup, try to find a balance. To give more oversteer use softer front settings with stiffer rear settings and vice versa.
Bump damping - The higher the setting, the more reluctant the suspension is to compress quickly. Damping in general provides an opposing force to any suspension movement.
Rebound damping - The higher the setting, the more reluctant the suspension is to rebound quickly.
Anti roll - Higher anti roll reduces the cars tendency to roll or lean in corners, at the cost of responsiveness. The keyword, again, is balance. In general it is best to have higher anti roll on long, high speed corners and lower anti roll on shorter, low speed corners.
Steering
Maximum lock - The maximum angle the front wheels are allowed to turn, in degrees.
Parallel steer - A value of 100% means the front wheels remain perfectly relative to each other with steering input. A value of 0% means the inside front wheel will turn more than the outer wheel, which normally results in better and more responsive turn in.
Caster - This affects the amount of camber which is added with steering input to the front wheels. More caster also gives more stable feedback through the steering wheel.
Toe in - Positive toe in increases stability, but reduces the cars willingness to turn into corners. Negative toe in has the opposite effect.
Final Drive
Differential - There are several different types of differential. Locked, open, clutch pack LSD and viscous LSD
Locked differential - The driving wheels rotate at the same speed at all times. In general this gives 100% power to the road, with the drawbacks of corner entry (lift off) understeer, and corner exit (power on) oversteer. This makes the locked diff ideal for drag racing, delivering maximum power in a straight line.
Open differential - Each wheel is free to rotate independently. In general this gives corner entry oversteer, and corner exit understeer.
Clutch pack LSD - The power setting controls how much locking percentage is applied when power is being transmitted from the engine. The coast setting controls how much locking percentage is applied when the engine is decelerating. The preload specifies the minimum torque difference between the two wheels required for them to rotate independently. A high setting such as 800 Nm therefore makes the car behave as if it were on a locked differential in most situations.
Viscous LSD - The higher the setting, the stronger the relationship is between the driven wheels.
Gear ratios - Gearing will always be a compromise, so aim for an overall ratio which gives the best blend of acceleration, top speed and revs over the entire distance of a circuit.
Final drive ratio - This setting adjusts the overall ratio of all the gears together. Reducing this setting will make all gears "taller" or longer.
Tyres
Tyre type - Currently in LFS the manufacturer does not affect the performance of the tyre. However with regards to slick tyres, R1’s are the softest compound and R4’s are the hardest compound. A softer compound gives more grip at the cost of durability from wear and overheating. A harder compound does the opposite. In general, harder tyres are used for endurance races and softer tyres for hotlapping or qualifying.
Pressure - Increasing tyre pressure will reduce overall grip slightly but also reduce the tendency for the tyres to overheat.
Camber - The angle of the wheels in relation to the vehichle. Negative camber rotates the wheel in towards the chassis at the top. Positive camber rotates the wheel out away from the chassis at the top. If your tyres are overheating on the inside, increase camber in a positive direction. If they are overheating on the outside, reduce camber in a negative direction.
Downforce
Wing angle - Downforce manipulates the air that is flowing over the car in order to produce more grip. Therefore, the faster you are going the more downforce will change the handling of the car, as air will be flowing over the car quickly and producing more downforce. The higher the wing angle, the more downforce is produced. Downforce has a negative effect on top speed however, so aim for the optimum trade off between grip and top speed.
General Tips
Experiment, try extreme settings and see how they change the handling of the car. Two important words in car setup are 'compromise' and 'balance'. Perfection is impossible to achieve since everything is a compromise, but the best balance will win the day.
Good Luck!
By David Williams (DaveWS), updated by Jack Basford (Clownpaint).
Setup Reference
| Suspension stiffness | ||
|---|---|---|
| Adjustment | Effect on vehicle | |
| Increase overall stiffness | Vehicle becomes more responsive | |
| Grip is reduce over bumps | ||
| Resistance to body roll increases | ||
| Increase front stiffness only | Front ride height increases | |
| Front resistance to body roll increases | ||
| Induces understeer or reduces oversteer | ||
| Increase rear stiffness only | Rear ride height increases | |
| Rear resistance to body roll increases | ||
| Induces oversteer or less understeer | ||
| Decrease overall stiffness | Vehicle becomes less responsive | |
| Grip is increased over bumps | ||
| Resistance to body roll decreases | ||
| Decrease front stiffness only | Front ride height decreases | |
| Front resistance to body roll decreases | ||
| Induces oversteer or reduces understeer | ||
| Decrease rear stiffness only | Rear ride height decreases | |
| Rear resistance to body roll decreases | ||
| Induces understeer or less oversteer | ||
| Suspension damping | ||
| Adjustment | Effect on vehicle | |
| Increase rebound and bump setting | Tyres don't follow bumps as effectively | |
| Increase rebound setting only | Tyres may leave track surface on bumps | |
| Increase bump setting only | Body roll is resisted | |
| Outside tires loaded quicker, best response | ||
| Car takes longer to stabilize | ||
| Decrease rebound and bump setting | Car becomes less controllable and floats over bumps | |
| Decrease rebound setting only | Car may continue to oscillate after bumps | |
| Tyres follow track surface better | ||
| Decrease bump setting only | Resistance to body roll decreases | |
| Responsiveness of turn in is reduced | ||
| Anti-roll bar | ||
| Adjustment | Effect on vehicle | |
| Increase front setting | Front resistance to body roll increases | |
| Induces understeer or reduces oversteer | ||
| Reduces camber change in corners | ||
| Increase rear setting | Rear resistance to body roll increases | |
| Induces oversteer or reduces understeer | ||
| Reduces camber change in corners | ||
| Decrease front setting | Front resistance to body roll decreases | |
| Induces oversteer or reduces understeer | ||
| Increases camber change in corners | ||
| Decrease rear setting | Rear resistance to body roll decreases | |
| Induces understeer or reduces oversteer | ||
| Increases camber change in corners | ||
| Tyre temperature issues | ||
| Issue | ||
| All tyres overheating | Compound too soft for track situations | |
| Tyre pressures too low | ||
| Front tyres overheating | Front tyre pressure too low | |
| Rear tyres overheating | Rear tyre pressure too low | |
| Inside edges overheating | Too much negative camber | |
| Too much caster | ||
| Too much toe-out | ||
| Outside edges overheating | Not enough negative camber | |
| Not enough toe-out or too much toe-in | ||
| Centre of tread overheating | Tyre pressure too high | |
| All edges overheating | Tyre pressure too low | |
| All tyres too cold | Compound too hard for track conditions | |
| Front tyres too cold | Not enough load / work on front tyres | |
| Rear tyres too cold | Not enough load / work on rear tyres | |
| Solving handling issues | ||
|---|---|---|
| Issue | Occurrence | Solution(s) |
| General understeer | All turns, especially low speed | Stiffen rear anti-roll bar if rear tyres are below optimum temperature |
| Soften front suspension / anti-roll if front tyres are overheating | ||
| Decrease rear tyre pressure only if front tyres are at optimum | ||
| Front camber is sub-optimum in turns | ||
| High speed turns only | Increase front downforce if front tyre temperatures are OK | |
| Reduce rear downforce if front tyres are overheating | ||
| General oversteer | All turns, especially low speed | Stiffen front anti-roll bar if rear tyres are optimum temperature |
| Soften rear suspension / anti-roll if rear tyre are overheating | ||
| Decrease front tyre pressure only if rear tyres are at optimum | ||
| Rear camber is sub-optimum in turns | ||
| High speed turns only | Increase rear downforce if rear tyre temperatures are OK | |
| Reduce front downforce if rear tyres are overheating | ||
| Corner entry (lift off) understeer | Increase front bump damping | |
| Add front toe-out | ||
| Adjust brake balance towards rear bias | ||
| Use open differential, or reduce preload and coast locking on LSD | ||
| Corner exit (power on) understeer | Increase rear bump damping | |
| Reduce front rebound damping | ||
| Use locked differential, or increase power locking on LSD | ||
| Corner entry (lift off) oversteer | Increase rear rebound damping | |
| Reduce rear ride height if too high | ||
| Move brake bias more towards the front | ||
| Use locked differential, or increase preload and coast locking on LSD | ||
| Corner exit (power on) oversteer | Increase rear rebound damping | |
| Reduce rear toe-in | ||
| Use open differential, or reduce power locking on LSD | ||
| Instability in a straight line | Increase caster | |
| Reduce front toe-in or reduce rear toe-out | ||
| Straight line speed too low | Reduce overall downforce | |
| Reduce toe-in or toe-out | ||
| Increase tyre pressure | ||
| Adjust gear ratios | ||
| Vehicle bottoms out | Increase suspension stiffness | |
| Increase ride height | ||
| Increase bump damping | ||
LFS Patches with Physics Updates
To help you understand which patch your setups are probably built for, we have listed here every patch ever to contain physics updates, along with the date it was released and the setup naming scheme used. This list will be updated as each patch is released.
It is worth noting that there were actually no physics updates in the S1 patches. Live for Speed's physics system remained unchanged from the pre-S1 era right up until S2 was released. Thus, there are no setups listed as S1 on this site.
Setup Naming Scheme Key:
1 - Represents long setup names, eg. "FZ50 GTR_" preceding the setup name.
2 - Represents short setup names, eg. "FZR_" preceding the setup name.
| Patch Name | LFS Stage | Setup Naming Scheme | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1W | NA | 1 | 04.03.2003 |
| 0.2E | NA | 1 | 01.06.2003 |
| 0.5F | S2 | 1 | 11.02.2005 |
| 0.5K | S2 | 1 | 05.04.2005 |
| 0.5L | S2 | 1 | 30.04.2005 |
| 0.5P | S2 | 1 | 25.06.2005 |
| 0.5S | S2 | 1 | 18.04.2006 |
| 0.5X | S2 | 1 | 08.06.2007 |
| 0.5Y | S2 | 2 | 21.12.2007 |
| 0.5Z | S2 | 2 | 02.07.2008 |
Useful Tools
Vehicle handling and performance analyser - VHPA simulates the performance and handling of a vehicle and analyses the results.
LFS Patch Y Setup Renamer - Renames older setups to be compatible with LFS Patch Y or later.