I like it when somebody revises something in a constant effort to improve it, so kudos to that. Having played with the recent versions of Automation a fair bit now, here’s what I picked up. I’m not sure exactly what you were aiming to achieve, so I’ve gone with the angle “how to make it faster around a track”:
[ul][li]I’m guessing that most of the quality sliders are set to 15, I say this because I like doing that with my one-off super limited run models with specialist parts, and the number of production units blows out to about that.
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[li]This doesn’t have to be a problem, but, with that, I would actually expect to get a fair bit more out of the car, in terms of how quick it is around the track. Specifically, for a mid engined 2.1L V8 turbo AWD, it’s quickish. With some tweaking and perhaps a few fundamental changes, I’m betting you could probably squeeze out at least another 6, 8, 10, maybe even 12 seconds off the lap time (I threw together a similar build with similar power and started with a 2:08, so there’s a benchmark for you).
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[li]First thing to note is that the super car body seems to generally prefer RWD to AWD. Not only is it lighter (and cheaper) but it seems to improve the handling. Also, the engine bay space in the mid engined bodies are heavily affected by drivetrain type, in that you can use a much much larger engine if you use RWD only. This doesn’t necessarily make the car faster around the track, though… it’s all about finding the right balance between power, weight, and so forth.
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[li]Naturally aspirated engines are easier to control and have the advantage on tighter, more technical tracks like the Automation Track and the Airfield. For something that is overall faster, like the Green Hell, you’ll find that the turbo power comes to the fore. The bigger the turbo and the more aggressive the boost (and therefore the greater the difference between the lag and the boost), the bigger a penalty to tameness your car suffers, which impairs control. Turbo cars are potentially also heavier not just because of the turbo, but also because the transmission and drivetrain weights are calculated by maximum torque, as they have to cope with the additional load.
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[li]Increasing the quality of the interior and the safety adds hugely to the weight, if this is a problem for you it may be worth lowering these first, unless you wish to prioritise those things. Also, Super Light is the same weight as Standard.
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[li]Your tyre widths matter, both directions. Too wide and you’ll actually impair cornering. Too narrow and there won’t be enough traction. Be sure to widen the bodywork if you want superior cornering, and maximise offset in the event your wheel widths leave you with some spare room.
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[li]Downforce plays a large role in how your car handles at high speeds. Currently this game allows a maximum of 2 lips and 2 wings. The wings are about 2.5 times as effective as the lips (at least, guessing by the effective area listed). Downforce at the rear is more important than downforce at the front, particularly as downforce from the front steals from downforce at the rear, but obviously having negative values will impair your cornering at higher speeds (see the Cornering stats). I would strongly suggest using both lips and both wings and then playing with the Aero sliders to see what suits for you, as it impacts on your top speed and fuel consumption too!
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[li]I find that the “Easy suspension” presets are very handy for giving you an approximate balance, but there’s plenty of room to eke out more time around the track as well as generally improve tameness, sportiness and comfort (surprisingly). Also, while downforce improves the lower your car is, your car goes fastest around the track if the undertray isn’t constantly scraping the ground, so watch the “Bottom Out” stat, listed under the “Tameness” tab on the detailed stats page.
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[li]I also see that your front and rear brake discs are the same size. Generally, you don’t need as large discs on the rear as you do the front. For maximal stopping power that is still balanced, the front one should be as large as possible and the rear one usually somewhat smaller… how much varies. Similar thing applies to how many pistons your calipers have, though it looks like you might be using 2 pistons on the front and one on the rear and somehow, in this simulation, that should be just fine.[/li][/ul]
There’s plenty more, but I think that will do to start! Hope that was some help.
