Indy Car Racing - Car Setup

Car Setup

When a track is selected for a race weekend or for preseason testing, selecting the GARAGE menu allows various modifications to be made to the player's car. Some of these can also be made in the pit lane, or even while driving.

• FUEL

Between 1 and 40 gallons of methanol can be selected, in intervals of 1 gallon. Fuel load has a significant effect on lap times and the car's handling.

• TYRES

For each tyre, both the compound and the pressure can be changed. Soft, medium, hard or rain (deeply-grooved) tyres are available. Tyre pressure can vary between 26 and 51 PSI, in increments of 1 PSI. Additionally, the stagger (a measurement of the bias on the left- or right-hand side of the car) is adjustable from -1 inch (left side higher) to +1 inch in increments of one-thousandth of an inch.

• WINGS

The car's aerodynamics can be adjusted significantly. Both the front and the rear wings can be set at angles of between 3 and 18 degrees, in intervals of 1/100 of a degree. Steeper angles create greater drag and inhibit speed on straights, but provide better cornering ability.

• GEARBOX

The gear ratios for each of the six gears can be calibrated in tenths.

• SUSPENSION
  • Cambers: each wheel can be aligned at up to 3 degrees from the vertical in either direction, variable in increments of 0.08 degrees.
  • Shocks: on each wheel, the shock absorber can be set at between 0% firm (completely soft) and 100% firm (completely stiff) at intervals of 5%.
  • Steering lock: variable between 5 and 30 degrees in 1-degree intervals.

Fuel load, tyre compounds and pressures, stagger and wing angles can also be changed during pit stops in preseason testing, practice, qualifying or race sessions. The following settings can be changed at any point when on track (whether in the pits or driving):

• Anti-roll bars, which affect the handling through corners and which can be adjusted to compensate for understeer, oversteer or the changes in grip and handling associated with the constant wearing down of tyres and reduction in fuel load.
• Brake bias, which determines the extent to which the rear brakes begin to function before the front brakes, or vice versa. Brakes biased towards the rear tend to improve control and precision when braking into corners, but increase the braking distance.
• Turbocharger: this determines the amount and potency of the fuel/air mixture that is sent into the cylinders of the engine. A higher turbocharger setting improves the car's acceleration performance but reduces fuel efficiency.

Each track has three default sets of settings which are appropriate for the track layout and different levels of driver skill: "Easy", "Fast" and "Ace". Any of these can be loaded from the Garage menu. An unlimited number of user-defined sets of settings can be saved for each track as well.