Indianapolis 500: The Simulation - Car Setup

Car Setup

A wide and realistic variety of car settings can be altered during Practice in order to change car performance. In Practice mode, changes take immediate effect, making comparisons between even the slightest changes straightforward, and any number of "testing" laps can be driven (all of which are timed, again helping comparisons to be made). During Qualifying and Race sessions, however, no settings except Turboboost and the anti-roll bars can be altered except while stopped in the pits, and some settings are unchangeable even then.

The settings are assigned to Function keys F3-F10, and changes are made using the Space Bar and "<" and ">" keys:

• F3 - FUEL
  • Between 5 and 40 gallons can be selected, in increments of 5. At 5 gallons, a yellow fuel light flashes on the instrument panel. An approximate miles-per-gallon ratio is constantly updated.
• F4 - WINGS
  • Front and rear wing height can be adjusted on a sliding scale.
• F5 - RUBBER
  • Soft, Medium or Hard tires can be selected for each wheel. The real-time tire temperature is shown alongside this.
• F6 - STAGGER
  • A measurement of the bias on the left- or right-hand side. Adjustable on a 0.1-inch (2.5 mm) scale from -1 inch (left-hand side lower) to +1 inch.
• F7 - PRESSURES
  • Adjustable for each tire, from 16 PSI to 33 PSI.
• F8 - SHOCKS
  • Shock absorbency on each wheel, adjustable on a sliding scale from "Soft" to "Firm".
• F9 - CAMBERS
  • Vertical alignment for each wheel. Adjustable on a 0.25 degree scale from -3 degrees to +3 degrees.
• F10 - GEARS
  • Gear ratios for 1st to 4th gears, calibrated in tenths on the basis of 4th gear (adjustable from 2.80 to 4.90).

Real-time data for the Inner, Middle and Outer temperatures of each tire can be seen on F7 and F9.

The Turboboost setting can be changed at any time, using number keys 1-9. This determines the ratio of fuel to air that is sent to the engine, with 9 being the most fuel and 1 being the least. Increasing this setting increases speed, but lowers fuel efficiency, and in some cases can overheat the engine.

The anti-roll bars are found in the lower left area of the control panel and are controlled by the "+" (plus) and "-" (minus) keys. They work much in the same way as the shocks do. Unlike the shocks, however, they can be changed at any time during a race, and changing them does not affect other settings.