F1 2011 Ride Height, another setup glitch?

[Ken Tarvin]

Just messing with setups, and noticed that you can set ride height to 1/1 without there seemingly being any disadvantage. But being lower does provide more downforce and also better braking.

Anyone else test this out and see if what I'm seeing seems correct?

 

[John Robertson]

yeah you can run 1/1 ride height at every track...that's what I've been doing haha.

Ride height is another no downside set up tweak. However the only reason to run anything above 1/1 ride height is to keep the car from bottoming out. the diffusers at the back of the car provide more downforce the lower the car is, with no performance drawbacks

It's like this in real life though, as long as the car can traverse the track without suffering major damage then you should put the ride height as low as possible.

In 2011 though I've yet to see any reason not to run 1/1 ride height, you can do it at China, Monte Carlo, Nurnburgring, all of the bumpy tracks with out it causing any mechanical or handling problems.

Although I did total my car when I accidently cut the first corner in germany, because of the height difference in the entrance of the corner compared to the exit, I think.

a lot of people have been reporting weird wrecks at that track tho, like hitting things that aren't there and randomly totaling the car on kerbs, so I don't know if this could be the reason for that wreck, but I saw what I did, and it looked like I SHOULD have wrecked there, so maybe that's one drawback???

EDIT: If people decide this is indeed a set up exploit then I'll stop using it. for me it makes sense to run 1/1 ride height as in real life running that height WOULD improve your performance as long as you can drive the track.

unlike setting your springs to 11/11, that as the game description says, should make the car more responsive and have less body roll (which it does), but should reduce the grip and traction and increase tire wear (which it doesn't)

 

[Mike Coleman]

Please please post this in the official bug report thread at Codemasters.

I see people starting all kinds of new threads here and there... but the devs are only looking at the official thread they set up in the CM forums.

Posting here is fine, but the devs will not see it if no one posts it in the correct forum.

They are currently working on patch 2 (game fixes) and if it's not reported, it won't get looked at

 

[sethisuwan]

i don't know but whatever settings of springs i set, my car always seems to have underbody sparks all the time. i guess with that amount of bottoming my car should go slower, but it doesn't, the lower the spring the faster it goes still, even at bumpier tracks.

 

[AgentMulder]

This isn't a glitch. Aerodynamically speaking, the lower you can get, the better you are. The best way to work this out is to practice running around a track with 1/1 settings, and raise it one tick if you notice sparks, sudden losses or handling, braking issues, or if (like me) you really attack the curbs hardcore.

Quick edit: You typically won't notice any sparking until you're at speed, unless it's a very bumpy track. Reason being the faster you go, the more downforce you have. This, in effect, "sucks the car" down onto the pavement, hence why you see the sparks going 170 but not at 70.

 

[taq]

In the real world, extremely low ride height does normally carry it's own set of drawbacks mostly in the form of instability especially when riding over bumps and kerbs or in turns with elevation and camber changes. Also normally on a wet track it could lead to a decent bit of aquaplaning. Now if these things also occur in f1 2011 is up to experimentation I guess.

 

[Ken Tarvin]

This isn't a glitch. Aerodynamically speaking, the lower you can get, the better you are. The best way to work this out is to practice running around a track with 1/1 settings, and raise it one tick if you notice sparks, sudden losses or handling, braking issues, or if (like me) you really attack the curbs hardcore.

Quick edit: You typically won't notice any sparking until you're at speed, unless it's a very bumpy track. Reason being the faster you go, the more downforce you have. This, in effect, "sucks the car" down onto the pavement, hence why you see the sparks going 170 but not at 70.

I'm going to say that yes, it is a glitch. Running the car at the lowest downforce has No Drawbacks. It's not as bad as the 11/11 springs, but after testing at 4 different tracks, I'm on average .5 to .75 secs quicker than using 3/3 for ride height.

While it's true that aero-wise running as low as possible makes sense, running 1/1 never has any consequences and is all payoff. It doesn't cause any slowdown due to friction over bumps, it doesn't cause any issues with acceleration or any issues with running at speed. Sure, at high speeds it does show you spitting sparks, but it's only visual and does not effect the speed or acceleration of you car.

In short, there is no reason at all not to run your car at 1/1 ride height, other than you feel it's cheap and unrealistic.

 

[Alex Bikazzan]

What about riding curbs? I mean like on Singapore turn 10 or in Yas Marina you can attack the curbs like crazy without flying or spinning, but I've only really tried with like 3/3, does ride height make a difference then?

 

[Misty McConachie]

This game is really starting to look like a big hot mess, unfortunately.

 

[John Robertson]

@ Alex Bikazzan yes you can still ride kerbs with no problems on 1/1 ride height.

I'm not sure that there's anyway to replicate what Kobayashi did in Q2 at singapore, the kerbs in game aren't harsh enough and the ride height either isn't low enough or just doesn't matter.

Singapore is a joke anyway in 2011, you can cut like ALL of the corners.

 

[Alex Bikazzan]

I guess it's an improvment whereas in 2010 riding kerbs=spinning out. But really, I was doing some practice runs on Singapore, I'm blasting through that turn like the kerbs arent there I'm def going to try it with 1/1 ride height

 

[EIF]

1/1 ride height and I can easily ride the kerbs at T10 Singapore . . . I doubt half the setup paramaters actually have any real effect in this game.

 

[James Myers]

Singapore is a joke anyway in 2011, you can cut like ALL of the corners.

I've seen the videos of this and tried to replicate it, I've got rules and flags set to realistic and I am playing in career mode. I get a warning on almost every corner so I don't really see what all the fuss is about. Maybe it only happens in multi-player?

 

[John Robertson]

I've seen the videos of this and tried to replicate it, I've got rules and flags set to realistic and I am playing in career mode. I get a warning on almost every corner so I don't really see what all the fuss is about. Maybe it only happens in multi-player?

That's possible, I haven't gotten there in career yet, most of my experience at singapore has been in TT. corner cutting is rampant there as fast times are in the mid 1:20's

 

[Peter]

I've seen the videos of this and tried to replicate it, I've got rules and flags set to realistic and I am playing in career mode. I get a warning on almost every corner so I don't really see what all the fuss is about. Maybe it only happens in multi-player?

I also tried this and I also get a warning every cornercut.

 

[Leon Blake]

Here is some basic information that should clear up any questions regarding "ride heights"
Ride Height
Airflow underneath the car is another source of downforce, particularly at the rear of the car. Theairflow close to the ground is meticulously channeled under and around the plank. This airflow, due to the small gap between the car and road is highly pressurized from its “venturi” effect. From here, the air is accelerated by means of the rear diffuser. The diffuser design calculates the amount of space underneath the car, then sculpts an exit of increasing spatial volume. Much like an aircraft wing creates lift from lowpressure by accelerating airflow over its tapered surface, the diffuser creates this low-pressure accelerationat the rear of the car, and in the opposite direction, as the undercar airflow is literally pulled out from underneath. This suction causes downforce​

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without any drag penalty. Therefore it’s very, very efficient. This low-pressure downforce increases as the ride height decreases. This is why we want to run the car as low to the ground as possible without drastically affecting plank wear. Ride height is initially dictated by spring rates, which themselves are selected for handling characteristics.
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Springs

The spring’s main function is to suspend the cars mass (thus being called “sprung mass”) while establishing a basic ride height, absorbing bumps and undulations, and controlling the motion of the vehicle under weight transfer during acceleration, braking, and cornering. These are critical functions, as due to the increasing influence of modern aerodynamics, any drastic changes to the car’s pitch and attitude will disrupt the aerodynamic downforce and overall efficiency.
Hope this imformation helps​

 

[taq]

, as due to the increasing influence of modern aerodynamics, any drastic changes to the car’s pitch and attitude will disrupt the aerodynamic downforce and overall efficiency.

Which brings up the other issue that's very apparent in F1 2011's aero modelling - you have downforce generated by the wings regardless of the direction of airflow. You could be sliding sideways and the game still seems to apply downforce based on your velocity which just isn't what happens in the real world.

 

[morsify]

[QUOTE James Myers - I've seen the videos of this and tried to replicate it, I've got rules and flags set to realistic and I am playing in career mode. I get a warning on almost every corner so I don't really see what all the fuss is about. Maybe it only happens in multi-player? ]

I also tried this and I also get a warning every cornercut.

Thanks that's good to know, I have been getting these warnings too in fofline carrer but had not yet reached Singapore; I also got a penalty for 'Repeated cutting of corners', which although I was annoyed, was probably justified and showed some evidence of forgiveness before assigning a penalty

 

[M@gik]

Aero 1/1 or 11/11
balance 1/11 or 11/11
+ 11/11 springs (every races)
= time trial bug

 

[Ryan Vickery]

11/11 or 1/1 are not bugs, its just how the setups work, harder and lower suspension gives you a big advantage (and it can do in the real world), which is made to look bigger by the fact that the base setups are terrible. These are not bugs, just the way setup works in the game. They give what 2-3 seconds per lap? about the same as a good setup is worth on iRacing.

It might not be right, but its not a bug. There is a big difference between a bug and something being innaccurate. The time gained from a proper setup in career mode is right in line with what it should be, only that the proper setup always ends up being near enough the same, in the dry.


Time Trial is a joke anyway.