F1 2011 Ride Height

[dazzadp]

How can I tell if the car is bottoming out?

I'm at Melbourne and have set the ride height to (1-1), I ran a test lap but could not see any sparks out the back.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

When it comes to physics and setups this game just don't make any sense. The setup options reflect in no way how a real car works and what you describe I noticed also.

The setup parameters should reflect inches/centimeters/kPa/nM or whatever. Now its just fiddling with numbers that are totally unlogical.

 

[Ho3n3r]

I guess this stems from the limited EGO engine, which is built for arcade.

IMO they should drop EGO and build an F1 game engine from scratch - but it will never happen. Cash is king, and if it's too technical, the stupid people won't be able to play the game.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

And that is exactly the reason why this game is pretty good for the majority of the gamers. It offers a bit from both worlds and F12010/11 and the old Toca Race Driver series are a good introduction to other sim racing games.

Codemasters and other developers for that matter will never be able to make a full realistic Formula 1 simulation of an entire season. If the cars would have real physics nobody would buy the game and their investment (license and development) would not return.

No company would make that decision Can't blame them really

 

[Ho3n3r]

Facts that.

But me and you would love a full-on rFactor style licensed F1 sim, won't we? With working AI, of course. F1 2011's AI would even be better than rFactor's.

We can only dream

 

[dazzadp]

So is there no sound or visualization that would identify bottoming out?

Also Melbourne is described as a bumpy street circuit, so i'd expect at (1-1) to be scraping the floor in some places!

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

Facts that.

But me and you would love a full-on rFactor style licensed F1 sim, won't we? With working AI, of course. F1 2011's AI would even be better than rFactor's.

We can only dream

To be honest most of the rFactor F1 mods aren't that good either. Only a few classic ones.

However if I need my openwheeler kicks i play this game. Hands down the best physics for Formula 1 and Formula 3.

Even Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa race it online in leagues.

 

[Ho3n3r]

Wow. Looks awesome. Can it be played offline? Internet's too expensive here :/

OT: wouldn't actual heights made more sense anyway for most people anyway, wouldn't it?

And I would've loved it if you were punished for setting the ride height too low. Even GP4 implemented it better.

 

[Stefan Woudenberg]

@Ho3n3r

Yes, you can play offline in a championship for each class. It's really awesome!

 

[Ho3n3r]

@Ho3n3r

Yes, you can play offline in a championship for each class. It's really awesome!

Thank you! Guess which game I'm getting next then

How does it work, can you download free mods for it?

 

[Stefan Woudenberg]

Yes, there are free addon tracks and cars (besides the standard Stockcars, there are F1 classic, F1 and F3).

Download the 30 minute demo and you will surely make the purchase. The physics are stunning. For me the F3 is the car to drive.

 

[dazzadp]

OK, totally of course now! lol!

Can anyone answer the original post?

 

[Sandy Smith]

dont think there are any visual or audio clues to bottoming out, only time ive noticed sparks was at spa in the wet down the kemmel straight while looking behind to see who was catching me, and had my ride height set at 3-3 then .
what i tend to do is just use 1-1 in the dry and 3-3 in the wet as of yet not found this to hamper me in any way, though to be honest im not the quickest racer around lol

 

[Michael Brown]

So is there no sound or visualization that would identify bottoming out?

If you drive in cockpit view, it will be excessively shaking. It will look like you're going over lots of small bumps. The best way to check if the car is bottoming out is to look behind (turn on particles of course). I look back when I'm on the longest straight to see if any sparks come out. Run your ride height low enough so you bottom out when you max out 7th gear. Close DRS, as when you have it open, the rear is higher due to lack of downforce.

After you have your ride height low enough, you can raise both sides one click if you are aggressive with the kerbs. I can run 1-1 on Suzuka, but when I raised it to 2-2, I was 3 tenths faster because the car was more stable when I attacked the kerbs. If you attack the kerbs a lot, you'll want to raise the height past the minimum, but if you don't, then keeps it low. It depends on if your racing line uses kerbs excessively.