Hi everyone,
This is my first post on this forum so if it is the wrong spot please let me know. Anyway I have noticed a lot of people online who are struggling to tame the Lotus 98T so I thought I would drop a setup and a few tips here if anyone was lost.
This setup uses qualifying tires and 100% boost but can be switched harder tires and lower boost and still works well.
I did a 1:18.924 around Adelaide 1988 so gearing and aero will have to be changed for other tracks.
Gears:
1st - 12/37 129 KM/H
2nd - 14/32 174 KM/H
3rd - 15/30 199 KM/H
4th - 18/30 239 KM/H
5th - 18/26 275 KM/H
6th - 19/24 315 KM/H
Final Drive - 8/31
If you are using manual shifter be sure your changes are slick as the ratios are very close together
Tires:
Qualifying GP 86 (only for qualifying though use harder for races)
Set all tire pressures to 18 psi
Fuel:
8L which is enough to do 2 warmup and 1 fast lap (qualifying only, races will need a lot more fuel)
Electronics:
Turbo 100% (only for qualifying as in a race engine will burn up quickly)
Aero:
Front wing - 15
Rear wing - 17 degrees (probably lower these a bit for the race)
Alignment:
Camber LF - -1.8 deg Camber RF - -1.8 deg
Toe LF - 14 Toe RF - 14
Toe - LR - 9 Toe RR - 9
Camber LR - -1.4 deg Camber RR - -1.4 deg
Dampers:
Mirror these numbers on the right
Bump - 14
Fast Bump - 34
Rebound - 3
Fast rebound - 70
Bump - 11
Fast Bump - 45
Rebound - 8
Fast rebound - 115
For a bumpy and tight track like Adelaide I run stiff bump so the car is responsive in slow turns and lower the rebound rate so kerbs and bumps do not unsettle the car to much. I would recommend lower bump for a track like spa or catalunya as long sweep bends are easier with slower steering response. I would also raise rebound for smooth tracks as this gives better precision and feel wheras lower it for a bumpy track so car is more consistent along kerbs and bumps.
Drivetrain:
Diff power - 45%
Diff coast - 25%
Dff preload - 15nm
If you find the car is understeering to much lower the diff preload. If the car is oversteering on turn in increase the diff preload.
Generic:
Engine limiter - 108 (set to 100 for a race)
Brake Bias - 50% (this is driver preference but I would not recommend going over 52 - 53% as you will lock up pretty easily)
Brake power - 100%
Suspension:
ARB front - 15
Wheel rate - 150nm (same for both sides)
Height - 4 (same for both sides)
Wheel rate - 160nm (same for both sides)
Height - 10 (same for both sides)
ARB rear - 1
Suspension settings are probably the most important bit for tuning handling. Also if you find the car is scraping or bottoming out on kerbs or bumps raise the ride height until it stops bottoming out. Generally try and run the car as low as possible.
Suspension ADV:
Packer rate - 230 (same for both sides)
Travel range - 35 mm (same for both sides)
Travel range - 59 mm (same for both sides)
Packer rate - 200 (same for both sides)
Now some tips for driving the beast.
For high speeds corners turn in quite gently and focus on smooth steering inputs.
I have found for low speed corners brake hard and use a bit of trail braking to help turn the car in (sometimes even over revving the engine using the gears to help rotate the car)
Now for example the staircase section at Adelaide I find if you turn in fairly aggressively the car will slide into the corner and it may not feel nice but the car will rotate and you will be able to get the throttle down a lot earlier. You get the best feel for what the car is doing by turning on enhanced understeer effect in controls menu for your wheel.
Another trick I have found is to hold a bit of throttle on mid corner for high speed corners giving the car better stability and more predictable power.
For low speed corners such as the final hairpin and hairpin at the end of the long straight at Adelaide is the use the Senna throttle blip technique. Do not go full throttle though only very small blips. This helps to rotate the car and also gives you a feel for the grip.
I might post a video later of the lap so you can see what I'm on about.
Anyway I thought I would help some people out who are struggling and hope they can improve their times and overall driving of this car.
Oh and a side note, setup may feel a bit understeery unless you use the rotation driving technique.
And remember to put the throttle on smoothly and progressively otherwise you will spin or crash.
This is my first post on this forum so if it is the wrong spot please let me know. Anyway I have noticed a lot of people online who are struggling to tame the Lotus 98T so I thought I would drop a setup and a few tips here if anyone was lost.
This setup uses qualifying tires and 100% boost but can be switched harder tires and lower boost and still works well.
I did a 1:18.924 around Adelaide 1988 so gearing and aero will have to be changed for other tracks.
Gears:
1st - 12/37 129 KM/H
2nd - 14/32 174 KM/H
3rd - 15/30 199 KM/H
4th - 18/30 239 KM/H
5th - 18/26 275 KM/H
6th - 19/24 315 KM/H
Final Drive - 8/31
If you are using manual shifter be sure your changes are slick as the ratios are very close together
Tires:
Qualifying GP 86 (only for qualifying though use harder for races)
Set all tire pressures to 18 psi
Fuel:
8L which is enough to do 2 warmup and 1 fast lap (qualifying only, races will need a lot more fuel)
Electronics:
Turbo 100% (only for qualifying as in a race engine will burn up quickly)
Aero:
Front wing - 15
Rear wing - 17 degrees (probably lower these a bit for the race)
Alignment:
Camber LF - -1.8 deg Camber RF - -1.8 deg
Toe LF - 14 Toe RF - 14
Toe - LR - 9 Toe RR - 9
Camber LR - -1.4 deg Camber RR - -1.4 deg
Dampers:
Mirror these numbers on the right
Bump - 14
Fast Bump - 34
Rebound - 3
Fast rebound - 70
Bump - 11
Fast Bump - 45
Rebound - 8
Fast rebound - 115
For a bumpy and tight track like Adelaide I run stiff bump so the car is responsive in slow turns and lower the rebound rate so kerbs and bumps do not unsettle the car to much. I would recommend lower bump for a track like spa or catalunya as long sweep bends are easier with slower steering response. I would also raise rebound for smooth tracks as this gives better precision and feel wheras lower it for a bumpy track so car is more consistent along kerbs and bumps.
Drivetrain:
Diff power - 45%
Diff coast - 25%
Dff preload - 15nm
If you find the car is understeering to much lower the diff preload. If the car is oversteering on turn in increase the diff preload.
Generic:
Engine limiter - 108 (set to 100 for a race)
Brake Bias - 50% (this is driver preference but I would not recommend going over 52 - 53% as you will lock up pretty easily)
Brake power - 100%
Suspension:
ARB front - 15
Wheel rate - 150nm (same for both sides)
Height - 4 (same for both sides)
Wheel rate - 160nm (same for both sides)
Height - 10 (same for both sides)
ARB rear - 1
Suspension settings are probably the most important bit for tuning handling. Also if you find the car is scraping or bottoming out on kerbs or bumps raise the ride height until it stops bottoming out. Generally try and run the car as low as possible.
Suspension ADV:
Packer rate - 230 (same for both sides)
Travel range - 35 mm (same for both sides)
Travel range - 59 mm (same for both sides)
Packer rate - 200 (same for both sides)
Now some tips for driving the beast.
For high speeds corners turn in quite gently and focus on smooth steering inputs.
I have found for low speed corners brake hard and use a bit of trail braking to help turn the car in (sometimes even over revving the engine using the gears to help rotate the car)
Now for example the staircase section at Adelaide I find if you turn in fairly aggressively the car will slide into the corner and it may not feel nice but the car will rotate and you will be able to get the throttle down a lot earlier. You get the best feel for what the car is doing by turning on enhanced understeer effect in controls menu for your wheel.
Another trick I have found is to hold a bit of throttle on mid corner for high speed corners giving the car better stability and more predictable power.
For low speed corners such as the final hairpin and hairpin at the end of the long straight at Adelaide is the use the Senna throttle blip technique. Do not go full throttle though only very small blips. This helps to rotate the car and also gives you a feel for the grip.
I might post a video later of the lap so you can see what I'm on about.
Anyway I thought I would help some people out who are struggling and hope they can improve their times and overall driving of this car.
Oh and a side note, setup may feel a bit understeery unless you use the rotation driving technique.
And remember to put the throttle on smoothly and progressively otherwise you will spin or crash.
