Ferrari 488 GTLM (2017) 0.5.20201231.01

Release Notes

After running in two championships, with SimRacingSystem and Pro Sim Racing, this update is designed to tune out some of the "I want to kill you" behavior over bumpy tracks by using data from those races and further offline testing.

• Aerodynamics
  • Adjusted rear wing downforce.
• Drivetrain
  • Adjusted base values of differential settings.
• Electronics
  • Corrected (hopefully) an issue which caused direct-drive steering wheels to "wobble" under certain conditions. Special thanks to @Ofitus21 for the suggestion!
• Suspension
  • Adjusted suspension geometry (yes, again) and alignment.
  • Adjusted base values for anti-roll bar stiffness and dampers to dial in a more sensible "default" setup. Special thanks to James Leeder for test-driving the pre-release builds!
• Setups
  • Adjusted granularity and range of certain suspension and alignment settings.
  • Corrected an issue where the right-front rod length was specified twice in the setup range definitions.
• User Interface
  • Updated car description. Over the course of development and testing, this version of the car has converged on the 2017 IMSA and WEC technical specifications, in order to maintain better balance of performance with the other cars in its class that were provided by Kunos (C7.R and 911 RSR).
• Liveries
  • Two new "thank you" liveries have been added.
    
    

Installation Notes

Unchanged.
Please continue to follow these steps:

1. Open the .zip file and drag the content folder into the root of your AC installation.
2. Go to the content/cars/zbw_ferrari_488_gte/ folder under your AC installation.
3. Double-click the copy_and_install_files.bat script to run it. This will assemble the complete mod from Kunos and custom data.

I finally figured out how to slow it down just a tiny bit and correct the aero without completely ruining the handling.

Release Notes

• Aerodynamics
  • Rear wing downforce uses the same profile as the GT3 car, but was raised by 5%.
• Engine
  • Rev limiter was restored to the default value (8500 RPM).
  • Turbo boost control was recalculated based on IMSA 2017 technical bulletin #17-19.
    • This reduces power to a level which is more balanced with the other Kunos and URD cars.
  • Engine damage threshold was raised to 9500 RPM (beyond the new rev limiter setting).
• Suspension
  • Suspension rod length has been adjusted.
  • Base camber angle has been adjusted.
• Setup
  • Suspension rod length range has been adjusted.

Installation Notes

Unchanged.
Please continue to follow these steps:

1. Open the .zip file and drag the content folder into the root of your AC installation.
2. Go to the content/cars/zbw_ferrari_488_gte/ folder under your AC installation.
3. Double-click the copy_and_install_files.bat script to run it. This will assemble the complete mod from Kunos and custom data.

Author's Notes

Continued thanks to everyone who has contributed thus far. Special thanks to @efehan doagen who seems to have volunteered as another full-time test driver since the last update.

I spent a lot of time getting nowhere with this update — and indeed, was making the car feel worse with each change — but finally had a breakthrough today and I think the car is much improved in many respects, both in terms of driving "feel", and balance with other cars. I need to do further testing (including re-running several tracks in the other cars) to confirm my impressions, but so far this seems to be a big step toward giving the mod a v1.0 label with any confidence.

See you on the track!

Work continues.

Release Notes

• Aerodynamics
  • Calculated a completely custom front spoiler profile.
  • Slightly reduced rear wing downforce gain.
• Drivetrain
  • Adjusted auto-shift-up RPM below rev limiter.
• Engine
  • Base torque curve matches the GT3 car again.
  • Completely recalculated the turbo boost curves, based on data discovered in an IMSA January 2019 BoP technical bulletin.
• Suspension
  • Lowered the median ride height by shortening the rod length.
  • Adjusted base camber values to compensate for shorter rods.
• Liveries
  • A new "thank you" livery has been added.
    
• Infrastructure
  • Kunos .kn5 files for LODs are no longer copied; the tuning data now references the GT3 car's model in lods.ini. (Thanks @smurth)

NOTE: With such major changes to both aero and suspension, the handling of the car has changed significantly. Handle with care. Your previously-saved setups will probably be broken.

Installation Notes

Unchanged.
Please continue to follow these steps:

1. Open the .zip file and drag the content folder into the root of your AC installation.
2. Go to the content/cars/zbw_ferrari_488_gte/ folder under your AC installation.
3. Double-click the copy_and_install_files.bat script to run it. This will assemble the complete mod from Kunos and custom data.

Author's Notes

Continued thanks to all who have contributed constructive feedback so far. As always, if you've been called out with a "thank you" in any of these update notes, and would like a custom livery to be added to the pack, please send your details in a DM and I will include it.

What's Next?

Might as well preemptively mention my own concerns for the car to show what I already plan to look at next.

• The car is still too fast...? I'm faster in this than in any other GTLM car by over a second a lap at VIR.
• By contrast, absolute top speed is too low; about the same as the GT3, if not even lower.
• Car is now very nervous over bumps, probably from shortening the suspension to bring the ride height down. Suspension geometry is probably slightly off now. Fix this or restore it to the riding-high GT3 config.

Based on community feedback and a lot of testing, here is the first round of updates!

Release Notes

• Engine
  • Boost factors on both turbochargers have been adjusted.
• Tires
  • GT3-spec tires have been replaced with GTE-spec tires. (Thanks: Mike TTC, @Maxstrong01, @Frank25)
  • As part of this update, the Super-Soft and Super-Hard tires are now available.
  • Tire physics are an approximate average of the two Kunos GTE cars (Chevrolet C7.R and Porsche 911 RSR).
• Liveries
  • A new "thank you" livery has been added.
    
• Infrastructure
  • Resolved Issue: The name of the car now appears properly on the in-session UI. (Thanks: @Frank25, @Jens Roos)
  • In order to reduce confusion during manual installation, the directory containing the tune-specific data has been renamed from zbw_ferrari_488_gte_source to tune_files_no_touchy_touchy. (Thanks: @rjwylie, @Matías Corvino)

Installation Notes

As we discovered with the initial release, DO NOT attempt to install the mod by dragging it onto Content Manager. (Thanks: @CPU2005, @rjwylie, @Johnek23)

Please continue to follow these steps:

1. Open the .zip file and drag the content folder into the root of your AC installation.
2. Go to the content/cars/zbw_ferrari_488_gte/ folder under your AC installation.
3. Double-click the copy_and_install_files.bat script to run it. This will assemble the complete mod from Kunos and custom data.

Also, if you installed version 0.1, you may now delete the folder that originally contained the tune files (zbw_ferrari_488_gte_source), as it has been replaced as described above.

Author's Notes

Thanks to everyone who has tried the car, left a review, or helped with the development process. If I've called you out by name above, please feel free to DM me with a custom livery request, and I will add it to a future update of the mod. Just provide me with the following:

• Driver Name
• Nationality
• Car Number
• Team
• Color scheme, motif, existing livery, or similar notes of inspiration
• Sponsors (real or imaginary)

Please enjoy this mod and let us continue to improve it together!