F1 2011 Gear Ratios for dummies

[rbayly]

I understand most things about setting up the car in this game but I am still foxed by gear ratios. Is short gearing moving everything to the left and long gearing moving everything to the right?

What are the actual benefits of short and long gearing?

If anyone can post an example of both that would be a great starting point.

Any other advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Nick Karshev]

short = faster acceleration more revs but slower top speeds
long = opposite of short

in simple way - short for torque and long for speed

torque means power to accelerate
horses = top speed

Everything is compromise.

sry for the short post but i can't type at the moment

 

[Rich Maskell]

In general, tracks with few straights are better for short gearing then yes?

 

[Chris Rees]

Correcto!

Monaco/Hungary = Shorter ratios ie.. to the left

Monza/Spa = Longer ratios ie.. to the right

I only ever adjust my ratios very slightly as the default stock ratios for each circuit is different anway.

The normal aim is get set the ratios so that you have a even acceleration through all gears with out the car feeling slugish in any gear, and trying to get the 7th gear to be almost on the rev limiter at the end of the longest straight on the circuit.

DRS can alter this and cause problems but we dont want to get into this now hehe.

 

[TGApples]

Yes. This is actually what it says in the help text in-game.

My process when gearing is as follows:
1) Do some race-sim laps with low fuel. Set 7th gear so I'm just short of the rev limiter at the fastest point. This is usually in the red or slightly into the purple. This will be without DRS, but with KERS in mix 3.
2) While doing this I'll look at which gears I exit corners in. These gears I'll shift to the right, decreasing torque. You're often torque limited on exits as you usually want to get the power down before you're completely straightened up. By decreasing the torque in this gear you increase it in the next gear up, making that gear better for accelerating in, at the cost of a gear you're often torque limited in.
3) I'll also look at how often I get into the high gears. If I'm very rarely in 7th I'll gear 6th short. This means 6th will give me more acceleration at the cost of 7th. On tracks like Monaco and Hungary, where you're rarely getting into 7th, this is probably a good idea.
4) I'll try to move 1st gear such that I just get into it on the slowest part of the circuit. Depends a bit on the circuit and I rarely have it much further left than the default. This means I have more power in 2nd, which I can then in turn dump to 3rd by moving 2nd to the right if I find I'm often torque limited in 2nd.

One thing to remember is moving a gear also changes the following gear. If you move a gear to the right the following gear is better for acceleration and this gear is worse, move to the left and the following gear is worse for acceleration and this gear is better.

Hope this helps!

 

[Craig Whitmore]

On wet setups, making the gears longer apparently works well. I read this today and it makes sense.

Longer gears = higher top speeds, but slower acceleration & less torque.
In wet conditions, torque = bad.
So, I would hazard a guess that in wet conditions, stagger the gears to minimize torque while still maximizing top speed.

Also, engine braking can effect the choice of gear ratio's that you have. Some corners following a fast section, require that I gear all the way down to 1st, shanghai for example has quite a few. I tend to try and expel extra speed by going all the way to 1st, however if 1st is too low (leftwards) then when I hit 1st, the wheels will not be able to rotate fast enough and, I either blow the gear box or my back end loses traction and I spin out, so I put 1st several clicks to the right to aid engine braking. Conversely, making a gear higher (rightwards) can also decreases it's effectiveness at engine braking. Think about bump starting a car, you push it and put it in 3rd, because this turns the engine over easier than when it's in 1st.

Some gears, not necessarily 1st are sometimes tweaked because it enables a greater advantage to engine braking, rather than provide a smooth acceleration curve.