How to tune properly? [WIP]

One thing is for sure, there will be a moment where you will have to upgrade any of your rides. But like with any proper sim racer, upgrades do mean that your car has to be tuned in order to adapt to its new stats properly. If you don't have too much knowledge on how the game works regarding tuning, you can grasp an idea on how to by either reading the information the game gives to you, or if you want a more concise way to know how to tune your cars, follow along this guide.

Introduction

When getting a new ride for a car

Suspension

Spring rate

Front: its value will depend on the tyres equipped (softer tyres --> stiffer springs), the amount of downforce the car has, the car's drivetrain, and how powerful it is (powerful engine --> stiffer springs).
Rear: its value will be relative to the front (stiffer/softer rear --> oversteer/understeer).

If the front springs are too soft and the rear springs are too stiff, the car will lose stability when entering corners. Meanwhile, if the front is too stiff and the rear is too soft, the car will have trouble to turn around corners.

Ride
height [WIP]

Adjusting

the

ride height allows you to move around the car’s centre of gravity; a lower ride height reduces the effects of weight transfer and increases stability on flat surfaces.

There are no major performance drawbacks to a low ride height, as Gran Turismo 3 does not simulate ‘bottoming out’. However, increasing the ride height can also help the car’s ability to absorb bumps while reducing unpredictability during sudden elevation changes. This is useful for bumpy tracks or rally. Some cars get disturbed easily by curbs and bumps, and need a higher height.

Some powerful cars will constantly produce sparks with a low ride height. This is purely cosmetic and doesn’t slow the car down, though it makes it more difficult to see properly when driving in chase cam.

The front-rear bias will affect the car’s horizontal centre of gravity. A low front and a high rear moves the centre forward, increasing stability while also making the car much more difficult to turn. A high front and a low rear moves it back, making the car easier to turn but also more likely to drift or spin out.

However, a ride height bias can affect traction, resulting in a change of acceleration. For example, setting a high front height on a powerful RWD will move the centre of gravity closer to the rear wheels, putting more weight onto them and reducing wheelspin. Doing the same on an FF will put less weight on the front wheels, increasing wheelspin.

Dampers/Shocks

Issue	Place	Solution
Understeer	Corner entry	Soft front bound and stiff rear rebound
Oversteer	Corner entry	Stiff front bound and soft rear rebound
Understeer	Corner exit	Soft rear bound and stiff front rebound
Oversteer	Corner exit	Stiff rear bound and soft front rebound

Camber angle [WIP]

Front: its value will depend on the tyres equipped (softer tyres --> stiffer springs), the amount of downforce the car has, the car's drivetrain, and how powerful it is (powerful engine --> stiffer springs).

Rear: its value will

Setting the camber angle will slant the wheels horizontally to help the car grip in corners, at the potential cost of straight-line traction and uneven tyre wear.

In general, you always want at least 0.5 of camber (unless you want the wheels to intentionally lose grip in corners), but if too much is applied, the car will feel gummy and unresponsive. You can safely apply camber up until 4.5 or so; after this point, the car’s braking distances will noticeably deteriorate.

I suggest setting the camber for front and back to around 1.8 and adjusting them further once you’ve settled on your spring settings. A high rear camber can mitigate the loss of rear-wheel grip caused by stiff rear springs, for example. Try to find the right degree of camber where the car is controllable but not unresponsive.

Extreme camber values can increase tyre wear while cornering, but for most normal values, it’s not a noticeable difference.

Toe angle [WIP]

Front: its value will depend on the tyres equipped (softer tyres --> stiffer springs), the amount of downforce the car has, the car's drivetrain, and how powerful it is (powerful engine --> stiffer springs).

Rear: its value will

The toe angle determines whether the wheels point inwards (toe-in) or outwards (toe-out). Positive is toe-in, negative is toe-out.

Toe-in will increase the car’s stability in a straight line and when exiting corners, but will impact the car’s turning ability. Toe-out makes the car easier to turn into corners, but reduces stability when braking and exiting corners. Rear toe has more of an effect on the car than front toe.

Both toe-in and toe-out will effect tyre wear. From my experience, 1.0 of toe will make the tyres wear out 10% faster. In some cars, the benefits of toe are not worth the need to pit sooner.

A slight rear toe-in of 0.5 or 1.0 can be useful for many high-powered race cars that struggle with power oversteer when exiting corners. A high front and rear toe-out (usually -1.0 front, -2.0 rear) is useful for FF’s and 4WD’s that are already very stable and instead need extra turning ability, even if tyre wear is affected.

Most of the time though, you can avoid having to add toe by adjusting other settings. For example, a front ride height bias can make the car easier to turn, eliminating the need for toe-out. It can also improve traction in RWD’s and reduce corner exit oversteer, meaning that the car doesn’t need toe-in either.

Stabilisers

Highest value	Impact
Front	Stability
Rear	Turning response

Brakes

Brakes balance [WIP]

Front: its value will depend on the tyres equipped (softer tyres --> stiffer springs), the amount of downforce the car has, the car's drivetrain, and how powerful it is (powerful engine --> stiffer springs).

Rear: its value will be relative to the front (stiffer/softer rear --> oversteer/understeer).

In rear-wheeled cars, you almost always want to set a front bias. This will usually be something like 12 / 6, or 14 / 4. As the front is braking harder than the rear, the car will be less likely to oversteer if you brake while turning, or turn while braking. This will ensure consistent cornering behaviour without any sudden jolts.

In FF’s and 4WD’s, however, a rear bias can help the car turn into corners. You shouldn’t need to be too extreme; usually a bias of 8 / 10 works well.