ACC setup guide?

I recently started racing with the ESR league and because I was a little late, found myself not being able to use my first choice of car. I'm pretty much stuck with the Ferrari for now, and am Brands Hatch last weekend, I found it a real handful on the aggressive setup and too slow on the safe.

I need to learn basic setup in ACC but I suck at it. I have an old guide from the GTR2 days which is OK, but not ideal. I wondered if anyone had produced a beginner-friendly setup guide specifically for ACC? Or if there is one that's close enough? It'd be most helpful - thanks ..

 

You don't need anything new, but any guide or tutorial on internet will tell you the same things. What works in GTR2 works in rFactor, iRacing, AC, or basically any other sim ever because the way to adjust the cars is the same as in the real life. So keep doing what has worked for you before ACC.

 

Check the tyre pressures before anything else. Default pressures are adapted to the circuit, but not to all track conditions.

 

Try caster angle : I pull it down from 12.5 to 10.4 on aggressive setup

 

Keep going!! How about a little rant on dampers?

A few months ago in one of the setup blogs you mentioned that 30 psi is what we should be looking for with hot tires and someone else mentioned that teams go for 29 which you seemed to agreed with to some extent. Now you say 28. Are you finding 28 to be the goal for hot tires now?

 

Thank you, this is hugely helpful. I'll try this.

p.s. I'm still in the Ferrari but this week we're switching tracks from Brands to Silverstone. The Ferrari feels great at silverstone even with the aggressive. Interesting to see the relative strengths and weaknesses of different cars at different tracks. Although I'm not sure if it's down to the inherent nature of the cars themselves at those tracks or the way that they've been setup...

 

Before reading the following - read Aris blog posts on each vehicle and car system that is of interest to you. He drops there some very insightful details both related to the actual vehicles and systems as well as their implementation into ACC physics. A lot of gold nuggets helping your with good car setup decisions can be found there.


1)
Start with either safe setup and make it more loose to your taste or aggressive setup and make it more safe to your taste for starters.
Do this and ONLY this until you truly understand each setup option and how changes impact car behavior in ACC.

Generally the aggressive default setup is good for world record lap times but do have much smaller windows of safe operation for the cars and the safe setups make for much more accessible driving with the different cars but generally are a little bit slower for advanced drivers trying to squeeze out the car for fastest lap times. Choose accordingly.


2)
Make sure your tire pressures are spot on.
Use the tire app in session and gauge how tire pressure and temp are evolving from leaving the pits to optimally warmed up happy tires (do testing sessions in stable track conditions alone on the track for that).
The tire app does give some very clever combined feedback relating to over/under pressure, temperature, overheating, tire section temps, brake temps, … Learn how to read it, it is in ACC your most valuable too to adjust all tire related setup changes (in combination with tire wear and tire section temp and pressure readouts in the pits).
(keep an eye on the brake temps and adjust your brake ducts accordingly as well)

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looong pause
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Pay attention to the following only after exhausting the above basics but not limited to the following listed brainstorming list (in no particular order):

More complex and more constantly changing aero made the biggest change coming from a more static aero system as in Assetto Corsa so naturally this demanded the largest attention when setting up cars in ACC.
- watch how the aero balance changes when changing ride heights (there is a window of operation both for the front splitter and the rear diffusor - observe in which ride height windows aero efficiency changes have impact on aero balance)
- in short: you want both front and rear within the optimal window of efficiency as low as possible still running enough ride height for sufficient suspension travel for curbs, strong compressions without bottoming out, etc...

- adjust aero in this order:
1) amount of total aero (low drag, low downforce track vs. slow, twisty max downforce track vs balanced medium downforce track)
2) assure rear ride height, spring rates, front bump stop rates and bump stop travel and front and rear slow dampers prevent rear diffusor stall (due to heavy pitching off throttle or under brakes)
3) adjust downforce balance front to rear to taste (make sure the car is stable at all times but does allow for turns in fast high downforce corners)

- don't be afraid to use high bump stop rates and short bump stop travel ranges
- your #1 goal in ACC setups is to make the aero stable under braking and turning - if your car drives great but every time you enter a braking zone or turn in point and the car tries to kill you it is no good!
- minimize excessive pitch with your suspension setup (spring rates, slow dampers, bump stops

- watch your camber angles not only with inner, center, outer tire section temperatures but also do longer test runs that produce sufficient tire wear and WATCH TIRE WEAR in IMO sections to adjust and fine tune your camber and toe !!!

- if you see on certain vehicles a constantly too high tire temperature on a particular tire (with the Porsche the rear tires like to be on the hit side) you can utilize (misuse ;-) ) your brake ducts a little bit to counteract tire temperature (ie. at Spa you can run a one click more open rear brake duct than you normally would for brake temps in order to keep excessive rear tire temps in check - but be aware on the tradeoff and be prepared for changes in brake balance with optimal front brake temps and cold rear brake temps after long straights)

- pay attention to your shift points (especially important with the Blancpain regs demanding a single, locked set of gear ratios for all tracks) - test by variating your shift points ever couple of consistent laps and observe lap time gains (or use telemetry analysis)

- don't slide ! (your set up goal is to set up the car for minimal lateral slip and maximum traction on brakes and throttle) ACC punishes ruthlessly a loose, sideways driving style (by loosing time and tire life) focus on this aspect in your setup

- make only TINY, single changes gradually and run several consistent laps in between changes (this is ESPECIALLY true now with ACC, much more so than ever before with GTR1/2, rF, AC, … especially suspension changes that influence the aero balance have VERY BIG impacts on stability, much more so than in any racing sim before it).

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looong pause
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- use telemetry data, Motec i2 and build extensive math channel analysis to gain insight on the data ACC is lacking in direct data channels.

When I was new to ACC on EA my first thought was - great, now with a simplified setup system and much more strict rules of what can be changed on the car telemetry data is less important and ACC will be much more accessible to people who do not enjoy the engineering aspect.

I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG !!!

It turns out that the tiny setup changes it can take to completely make or brake a stable aero platform absolutely DEMAND utmost, detailed knowledge of data analysis in order to setup a car safely (especially so when getting to cars like the Porsche 911 GT3 R).
I would argue that ACC has made it even a little harder to setup cars with no or only basic engineering knowledge especially considering that we now have much, much more reduced direct data of what is happening with the car on the track.
You really need to know your Motec math module and your chassis dynamics 101 to make the best of ACC setups.

This is why I now almost always suggest newcomers to STICK with the save or aggressive default setups (which are usually very well sorted out of the box). Those are the best default setups in any racing sim I have ever used thus far and running them until you exhaust your lap time gains is a MUCH BETTER option than tinkering with setups to start with.

I really enjoy ACC engineering a lot (as it is more challenging than in any other racing sim before it) but then I am a setup geek.

 

This is a great post!

Can you elaborate more on aero balance? What are the key indicators when driving the car that will suggest the aero balance needs correction, and what adjustments would you recommend in each case?

 

Oh, man! I need personal race engineer like you.
I read and watched quite a bit info about setups. How soft/stiffer suspention affects car, what each setting do. But when I try set up my car I just don't know what to do.
Thanks for a step guide, next time gonna try step by step.

 

I need an engineer

 

The easiest way to go about this is:

1) start out with a known aero balance you feel comfortable with your car (if you know your car after a while you will have experience what aero balance read out in the aero tab feels good for your general setup strategy for that car)
If you do not know that information or you drive a car you have never driven before - start out by looking at the safe and aggressive default setups for a hint what best to start with (usually the safe setups run more aero and especially more aero balance towards the rear for a very safe handling while the aggressive setups are more optimized for the best possible laptime, having the least aero you can safely get a way with at teh cost of a slimmer window of operation)

Once you have a numerical readout value to start with - note that value and go to the track, doing a longer test session with consistent laps with warmed up tires.
Pay especially attention to sections around the track where aero plays an important roll (fast sections such as fast corners above 200 km/h, technical, bumpy sections that unsettle the car but are driven at high speeds well above 100 km/h, that sort of thing).

If you feel in those fast corners that teh car distinctly understeers (where it does not understeer in medium or slow speed corners otherwise) or worse if the car simply snaps awayt and dangerously oversteers in those fast corners or when driving fast technical sections you feel the rear end is easily unsettled and feels uncontrollable but you are at the limit of your damper and spring magic and feel adding a bit more downforce with a steeper AOA of your rear wing - THOSE ARE THE MOMENTS when you need to reconsider your aero balance.

Easy examples to test for this and gradually adjust your aero balance are: Pouhon or Stavelot 2 or Blanchimont at Spa or for example Copse Corner at Silverstone - these are all fast corners you want to lift as little as possible or not at all ideally to carry all speed you can but if you run those with an aero balance too much towards the rear.

On the opposite side if you have a aero balance too much to the front those fast corners will feel VERY sketchy and unsafe and you can not carry as much speed through them.

When you have a feeling for this your next step is:

2) move the aero balance towards the front (if the car understeers in those fast corners) or the rear (if the car feels unsafe, oversteers).
Move the balance GRADUALLY - often enough it is sufficient to just raise or lower the front or rear of the car by a single millimeter to achive a substantial difference in balance.

3) repeat the testing cycle

 

Best way to keep the iteration cycle down is by using Data.......just sayin! Great post btw good to see others spreading information like this.

 

I went through a stage were I was playing with roll bars to make the car comfortable for me, and wasn't getting happy.

Then I noticed the aero balance importance mentioned by Aristotelis. that gentlemen, is what can make BIG changes in understeer, much to my surprise.

I guess because I never raced with anything that any form of aero to play with.

I still play with role bars a bit, but for different conditions.

Always willing to learn, even though being stubborn.

 

I'd be careful moving off the default aero settings, like Aris and Memo mentioned this data is VERY ride height sensitive. and without data your really shooting in the dark. Little adjustments are probably fine, but without ride height data you cant see when your obstructing the boundary layer on the splitter (too low), starving the flow (too low), bleeding the flow (to high) or stalling it (rake to high).

 

Thanks for this reply mate, very insightful, much appreciated

 

I VERY much appreciate people taking the time to post such thoughtful replies to help us relative beginners out (big shout out to @menos | M6 !). I'll try and follow along, but damn it's overwhelming.

Thank heavens that the default setups are as good as they are. I still don't get on with the Lambo or Merc or sometimes the Ferrari, depending on track, but for the most part the default setups allow those of us who aren't race engineers to get along pretty well.

As a parting thought -the race engineer functionality in PCars 2 was very helpful and one of that game's biggest innovations I thought. Might be something for the long list, when all the bug squashing is behind us?

 

I'm actually building something like that into my tool as we speak lol, but unlike Pcars 2. It considers both driver answers to questions and data collected

 

Awesome posts here, very useful.
Thnx!

 

You’re building a tool for ACC? Sounds interesting, do go on....