GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE: TUNING GUIDE by Jamie Stafford/Wolf Feather FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM Initial Version Completed: April 27, 2003 Version 1.0 Completed: April 27, 2003 ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== JOIN THE FEATHERGUIDES E-MAIL LIST: To be the first to know when my new and updated guides are released, join the FeatherGuides E-mail List. Go to http://www.coollist.com/group.cgi?l=featherguides for information about the list and to subscribe for free. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTENTS Spacing and Length Permissions Introduction Tuning Options Suggested Tuning Set-ups Contact Information ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== SPACING AND LENGTH For optimum readability, this driving guide should be viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier. Check for font setting by making sure the numbers and letters below line up: 1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ============================================== PERMISSIONS Permission is hereby granted for a user to download and/or print out a copy of this driving guide for personal use. However, due to the extreme length, printing this driving guide may not be such a good idea. This driving guide may only be posted on: FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com, f1gamers.com, Games Domain, PSXCodez.com, Cheatcc.com, gamesover.com, Absolute-PlayStation.com, GameReactors.com, RedCoupe, InsidePS2Games.com, CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru, CheatHeaven, IGN, cheatingplanet.com, RobsGaming.com, Infogrames Australia, neoseeker.com, ComputerUnderground.com, ps2fantasy.com, and vgstrategies.com. Please contact me for permission to post elsewhere on the Internet. Should anyone wish to translate this game guide into other languages, please contact me for permission(s) and provide me with a copy when complete. Remember: Plagiarism in ANY form is NOT tolerated!!!!! ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== INTRODUCTION This guide is intended to help those unfamiliar with tuning in F1 games to properly adjust an F1 car for each race venue in Grand Prix Challenge. Since most F1 races happen to take place in dry racing conditions, the vehicle set-ups suggested here are also for dry conditions. (In wet conditions, the general rule is to raise downforce and switch to either Intermediate Tires or Wet Tires.) Please note that some of the information in this guide comes from my Grand Prix Challenge: Driving Guide. ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== TUNING OPTIONS In many gameplay modes, the player can tune the selected car to maximize its performance at each circuit. Unfortunately, there is no provision in Grand Prix Challenge to save tuning options for each vehicle/circuit combination, so tuning will need to be done every time the player changes circuits and/or cars. Tires There are four tire compounds available in Grand Prix Challenge: Hard: These tires have the longest life, which means that the player can remain on the circuit longer between pit stops. However, hard tires have rather little pavement grip, so the player can expect the car to slide around a bit when cornering. Hard tires also provide a minor increase in top-end speed. Hard tires should ONLY be used in dry racing conditions. Soft: Soft tires have superb pavement grip, which moderately lowers top-end speed. Unfortunately, soft tires also have relatively short a lifespan, thus requiring more trips to pit lane during a race. Soft tires should ONLY be used in dry racing conditions. If the player's race strategy includes two or more pit stops, it is definitely worthwhile to use Soft Tires for the race. Wet: If racing in the rain, these are the tires to use. The vehicle's overall speed and handling will still be poorer than if using hard tires or soft tires in dry racing conditions, but the car will be better able to stay on the circuit in wet conditions when using wet tires. Intermediate: These tires are best for the 'in-between' period, when rain first begins to fall or as the circuit is drying after the rain. The trick to using intermediate tires is correctly guessing just how long the 'in-between' period will last, and judging whether it is best to waste the time with two trips to pit lane (to change both to and from the intermediate tires) or to only come to pit lane once - the latter occurring hopefully within a scheduled pit window. Downforce Downforce is what keeps these lightweight speed machines on the ground, and the amount of downforce directly affects vehicle handling. Using high downforce will lower the vehicle's top-end speed, but cornering will be easier. Conversely, lowering downforce will increase top-end speed at the sacrifice of cornering ability. Gear Box Ratio Lower gear ratios are best for fast and strong acceleration, but will reduce a vehicle's top-end speed. On the other hand, higher gear ratios raise the top-end speed at the sacrifice of acceleration. Ideally, the gear ratios should be set so that the engine hits max revs just at the very end of the longest straightaway of a given circuit. Suspension A softer suspension setting provides more pavement grip, but will reduce the car's overall speed. A harder suspension setting provides faster top-end speed but less pavement grip. Soft suspension is best for bumpy circuits or for driving styles which make heavy usage of the many rumble strips, whereas hard suspension is best for relatively smooth circuits and those driving styles which generally avoid the rumble strips. Brake Balance The brake balance can be moved closer to the front or the rear of the vehicle. Strong rear bias can cause oversteer and strong front bias can cause understeer; however, all braking should be done in a straight line as much as possible to minimize the occurrence of oversteer and understeer and to maximize braking power. Traction Control System (TCS) Traction control was re-implemented in the 2002 F1 season, beginning with the Spanish Grand Prix (held at Catalunya). This system reduces the chances of the vehicle sliding during acceleration, and is of particular importance for the standing start of a race and for recovering when the vehicle has left the pavement. For the purposes of Grand Prix Challenge, however, traction control is available for ALL events in the season. In Beginner handling, TCS is always set to high. In Intermediate handling, TCS can be toggled between low and high. In Expert handling, TCS can be set to off, low, or high. In Intermediate handling and Expert handling, TCS settings can be changed during any session or race, meaning that a player can experiment with various traction control settings for each corner or area of a circuit and make a mental note to always have the TCS at a particular setting in various parts of a lap for every lap of a race. Generally speaking, traction control works quite well for accelerating out of tight, slow corners, especially when running through consecutive tight, slow corners. Monaco is perhaps the best example in current F1 racing of a circuit where a high TCS setting is highly favorable. High-speed circuits, such as Monza or Catalunya, are generally best served by using either a low traction control setting or NO traction control at all, as this will provide a little more speed on the many lengthy straightaways. Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) ABS theoretically prevents wheel-lock during severe braking. In Expert handling, ABS can be set to on or off. Unlike traction control, ABS cannot be toggled on and off during a race. Transmission In Expert handling, the transmission can be set to Automatic or Manual. ============================================== SUGGESTED TUNING SET-UPS Here is a suggested tuning set-up for each of the seventeen circuits in Grand Prix Challenge. Please note that this information is based largely upon my own driving style, which tends to be rather aggressive, so these set-ups may not necessarily work (well) for all players. These suggestions are for dry racing conditions. Also, each team's vehicles perform a little differently in terms of the amount of engine power available, so using an identical set- up across all eleven teams is not truly possible without adjusting driving style, braking zones, etc. Albert Park (Australia) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Medium-long Suspension: Hard Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Sepang (Malaysia) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Long Suspension: Medium-hard Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Interlagos (Brazil) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-high Gear Box Ratio: Medium-long Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Imola (San Marino) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Medium-long Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Barcelona/Catalunya (Spain) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Low Gear Box Ratio: Long Suspension: Medium-hard Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion A1-Ring (Austria) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: High Gear Box Ratio: Medium Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Monaco (Monaco) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: High Gear Box Ratio: Short Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Montreal/Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve (Canada) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Long Suspension: Medium-soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Nurburgring (Germany/Europe) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Medium-long Suspension: Medium-soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Silverstone (Great Britain) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Medium-long Suspension: Medium-hard Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Magny-Cours (France) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-low Gear Box Ratio: Long Suspension: Medium Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Hockenheim (Germany) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: High Gear Box Ratio: Medium Suspension: Medium-soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Hungaroring (Hungary) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-high Gear Box Ratio: Medium-short Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Spa-Francorchamps (Belgium) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: Low Gear Box Ratio: Long Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Monza (Italy) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Low Gear Box Ratio: Medium-long Suspension: Medium-hard Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: Low Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Indianapolis (United States of America) Tire Type: Soft Downforce: Medium-high Gear Box Ratio: Medium-short Suspension: Soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion Suzuka (Japan) Tire Type: Hard Downforce: Medium-high Gear Box Ratio: Medium Suspension: Medium-soft Brake Balance: Medium-rear Traction Control: High Anti-lock Braking System: Player's discretion ============================================== ============================================== ============================================== CONTACT INFORMATION For questions, rants, raves, comments of appreciation, etc., or to be added to my e-mail list for updates to this driving guide, please contact me at: FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM; also, if you have enjoyed this guide and feel that it has been helpful to you, I would certainly appreciate a small donation via PayPal (http://www.paypal.com/) using the above e-mail address. To find the latest version of this and all my other PSX/PS2/DC/Mac game guides, visit FeatherGuides at http://feathersites.angelcities.com/ ============================================== ============================================== ==============================================