maidiresetup ver.1.1.2 english

8/7/2019 MaiDireSetup Ver.1.1.2 English

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SETUP GUIDE

by Gianluca BoNI BonifacioEnglish translation by Corrado Conti and Leonardo RatafiFinal revision by Andrea Lojelo, Marius Carey, Mika Raymond and Paul O' Brien

MDC Editore


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SUMMARY

Introduction page 3Basic concepts page 4TIRES screen page 5SUSPENSION screen page 7

Springs page 7 Dampers page 8 Preload page 10 Rod page 10 Packers page 11 ARB page 11

CORNER screen page 13 Camber page 13

Toe page 14 Pressure page 14

SETUP screen page 16 Brakes page 16 Fuel page 17 Steer ratios page 17 Caster page 17 Wings page 17 Gear ratio page 19 Differential page 19

VIEW screen page 21 FOV page 21 Seat position page 22 Virtual mirror page 22 Force Feedback Settings page 22 Colored bars page 22


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INTRODUCTION

This guide has been designed and written with the intention to clarify and simplify certainconcepts regarding the setup of a racing car for the simulator netKar PRO.This is not meant to be a treated as the final word on race car setup. Its the fruit of my ownknowledge and personal experience as well as my interpretation of resources available inbooks and websites devoted to the topic.Special thanks to "Miles Glorious " and "Kunos" for the technical advice and thanks to theauthors of the source material from which I have drawn inspiration.

Happy reading.


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BASIC CONCEPTS

A setup is the set of adjustments of a vehicles mechanical components, that optimizes itsdriving performance and its ability to maintain the speed and trajectory set by the driver.The setup is closely related to suspension, steering system, tires, chassis and wings orspoilers. Each piece, when changed, influences the behavior of the other components,and it contributes to the overall "car balance."Everything must be kept in balance to avoid unpredictable behavior and sudden loss of control.

The road stability is the capacity of the vehicle to maintain the trajectory set by the driver.When cornering, the centrifugal force pushes the car towards the outside. If the centrifugalforce is greater than the force of friction holding the tires on the asphalt we have twodifferent types of grip loss.If the front tires lose grip it's called understeer (tendency of the car to go straight), whenthe rear tires lose traction, it's called oversteer (tendency of the car to turn around and gointo a spin).

During motion a car is subjected to weight transfer. During a corner much of the weight istransferred on the outside of the turn, loading the suspension. This is called rolling.Under acceleration and braking instead, the weight is transferred respectively to the rearand the front of the car by loading the respective suspensions. This is called pitching.

We close this introductory note explaining, in a rough outline, the 3 major forces that comeinto play: downforce, lift and drag. Downforce is the aerodynamic force that "pushes" thevehicle to the ground. In contrast, lift indicates the force that pulls the vehicle up. Alsoduring motion aerodynamic drag comes into play, which is the aerodynamic force that isopposed to forward progress.


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TIRES

The tires are the only element that connects the car to the ground and therefore theiroptimisation is crucial for peak performance. The tires are affected by many factors such asstiffness of the spring/dampers, anti-roll bars, camber angle, caster angle, toe, downforceand tire pressure. Generally the more rigid the structure is (springs / shocks / anti-rollbars) the harder the tires will work, and heat up, because will be forced to do "extra work".We can say that if you have a fairly uniform temperature between the outside, center andinside, the tire is working properly; usually the tires offer better grip with temperaturedifferences between the inside and outside of 5 / 10 . nKPro optimal temperatures are

around 80 for the slick and 60 for the grooved tires.MOUNT FRONT / REAR: Mount new tiresWEAR: Mileage of the tires currently mounted on the carIMO: An abbreviation for Inside, Middle and Outside, displays tire temperatures on theinside, middle and outer side. Imagine you're seated in the drivers seat then, the rectangle"IMO" top left shows the temperatures of the left front tire, the top right of the front right,rear left of the bottom left and bottom right of the right rear.The following are examples of temperature readings and analysis of results from a singletire:

95 80 75 = too much negative camber 75 80 95 = too much positive camber

95 80 95 = pressure too low 80 95 80 = pressure too high 90 90 70 = pressure too high and too much negative camber


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SUSPENSION

The task of the springs is to carry the weight of the car and absorb uneven road surfaces. A soft spring will offer more grip than a hard spring, but also it will accentuate roll and pitchand result in less precise car control.A soft spring also requires greater ground clearance to avoid bottoming out and scrapingthe undercarriage. The ultimate objective of adjusting the spring is to maximize traction,cornering grip and vertical movements of the car.Edit / effect:

Soften front = increases grip at the front at the expense of stability and steeringprecision, increases oversteer when cornering, decreases traction especially incorner exit, increases cornering grip on uneven surfaces, less front tire wear, need to increase front ride height, greater pitch forward when braking

Stiffen the front = increase stability and understeer, more understeer whencornering, better traction especially in corner exit, less cornering grip on unevensurfaces, front tire wear increases, quicker driving response, less pitch forward when braking

Soften rear = increase rear grip and increase understeer, better traction in corner exit, more grip and traction while cornering on uneven surfaces, less rear tirewear, slower driving response, need to increase the rear ride height.

Stiffen the rear = reduction of rear grip and the balance of the car moves towardsoversteer, loss of traction in corner exit, less grip and traction while cornering onuneven surfaces, more rear tire wear, quicker driving response

Soften front and rear = more grip and traction while cornering on unevensurfaces, less tire wear, slower driving response, need to increase the ride height


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FAST BUMP: Determines the behavior of the compressed shock on bumpy asphalt andcurbs. Too high (stiff) values do not allow the suspension to compress quickly enough tofollow the undulations of the road, on the contrary too low (soft) can make the car "float"or max out the spring / suspension.FAST REBOUND: Determines the behavior of the shock in the extension phase onbumpy asphalt and curbs to ensure good contact with the asphalt.SLOW BUMP: It determines the behavior of the compressed shock on the transitions(braking, acceleration, change of direction). Increasing this value, the compression isslowed down during the transition, decreasing it is speeded up.SLOW REBOUND: Determines the behavior of the extended shock during transitions(braking, acceleration and change of direction). Increasing this value slows down theextension during the transition, decreasing it speeds it up.Edit / effect:Front:

Softer Compression = increased grip at the front at the expense of stability Stiffer Compression = slows the weight transfer in the initial stage of braking Softer Extension = may considerably decrease understeer in the middle of the

corner at expenses of stability. Stiffer Extension = reduces understeer in mid-corner and can lead to oversteer on

exit Rear:

Softer Compression = better grip and traction at the rear, may increaseundersteer during all phases of the corner.

Stiffer compression = reduces understeer on corner entry and mid-corner, canlead to oversteer while accelerating at corner exit

Softer Extension = can significantly reduce understeer on corner entry at theexpense of stability

Stiffer Extension = may increase understeer on corner entry% CRITICAL: Displayed in the center bar at the bottom, shows the percentage of criticaldamping, which is the point where the amount of damping stops the oscillations of thespring. The amount of damping is characterized by a damping coefficient; the higher thisratio, the faster the spring is damped. A critical damping of 1.0 (100%) corresponds to thevalue in which all the force is dissipated without oscillations.We can roughly say that a coefficient greater than 0.5 is ideal for control of the cars body,therefore this value is used for 'slow' adjustments of the shock absorbers, while valuesbetween 0.3 and 0.4 are excellent at damping the imperfections of asphalt and curbs andare generally used for 'fast' adjustments of the shock absorbers . The damping coefficientsdepend on several factors; experience has shown that these values are recommended:

Fast Bump and Fast Rebound = 0.3 to 0.4, in every case should be lower than thecorresponding "slow" values

Slow Bump = 0.5 to 0.7; as a last resort, 1,2 if its necessary to make the tires work Slow Rebound = 0.5 to 0.7; if the weight transfer control is insufficient then try 0.3

The following chart shows the behavior of the different damping coefficients.


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The preload is the pre-compression of the spring in its initial condition.A spring is always preloaded. The preload acts on the spring by varying the shocks traveland ride height of the car. In vehicles without suspension arm for the height adjustment ,adjusting the preload is the only way to change the height from the ground. For vehiclesequipped with arm instead, it may be useful to change the travel of the shock while

maintaining the desired height. Please note that preload does not change the stiffness of the spring, for example a 100N/mm spring preloaded with 10mm is as stiff as the samespring preloaded with 30mm. What changes is "when" the spring will begin to work. Infact, a spring preloaded to 10N will start working only after this threshold, and not before.

The ROD value is the length of the arm that connects the wheel to the suspension,changing the height from the ground but leaving unchanged the position of the pistoninside the shock, and therefore not altering the stroke.Ride height also affects the downforce of the vehicle (a component of the aerodynamicforces pressing the vehicle to the ground). The closer the bottom of the vehicle is to theground, the more downforce it will create, as well as lowering the center of gravity. On carswith wings it's normal to have the rear higher than the front, as the downforce pushing thecar down, is greater at the rear.On cars without wings, the height is used to adjust understeer and oversteer. It's preferableto have ride height as low as possible to increase downforce and grip.A lower car will require stiffer springs, shock absorbers and anti-roll bars.RIDE : The actual height from the ground is displayed on the bar at the bottom left andrefers to car while its standing still. F displays the height of the front, R dispays the heightof the rear.Edit / effect:

Increase front = weight shifts towards the rear, more understeer due to less load on the front, you may soften the front spring


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Stiffen the front and rear = less cornering grip and loss of traction on unevensurfaces, increased tire wear, quicker driving response, limited roll

% ROLL FRONT: The distribution of rolling momentum on the front. This value is afunction of three variables (2 in the case of the F2000 and Ftarget that mount the monoshock at the front)

1) Stiffness of the springs (if not a mono-shock)2) Anti-roll bar stiffness3) Axle Track (distance between wheels on the same axle)

The ROLL COUPLE% expresses how the load moves from one side to the other of the carand how it is distributed between the front and rear:

ROLL% equal to the weight distribution of the car = car balanced ROLL% higher than the weight distribution of the car = understeer

Cars in nKPro have the following weight distributions: 500 Abarth AC= 64% front F1600 = 44% front

F1800 = 43% front F2000 = 45% front FTarget = 41% front KS2 = 46% front Osella PA-21S = 44% front Vintage GT = 47% front

As a starting point you can use a percentage equal to the static rolling weight distribution+5% , although it is normal to have a front roll percentage of 51-53%.


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CORNER

Camber is the angle between the vertical axis of the wheels and the vertical axis of thevehicle when viewed from the front or rear.If the top of the wheel is further out than the bottom (thats, away from the axle), it iscalled positive camber; if the bottom of the wheel is further out than the top, it is callednegative camber. If the axis of the ground and tires are the same, the camber angle is zero.This adjustment is made to allow the tire to have the largest footprint possible whilenegotiating a corner, since the centrifugal force tends to "push" the car out by compressingthe suspension and reducing the camber angle (that tends to go positive), andconsequently reducing the footprint of the tire tread.Also, due to the lateral acceleration, the sidewall of the tire, which is not rigid, tends todeform and camber adjustment also serves to compensate for this deformation.If the camber in a static position is zero, during cornering this will change to positivecamber and move the tire patch toward the outer wall, decreasing the grip.Increasing the camber (negative) facilitates cornering grip, but will reduce grip duringacceleration and braking in a straight line, as this will decrease the tire's footprint duringforward motion.In this setting we must also take into account the stiffness of the suspension and tirepressure, as a car with soft suspension will require more negative camber than a car with arigid suspension.

In a race car we always use negative camber (except rare cases, for example on ovalcircuits).The camber is very important to utilise the tires in an optimum way and is precisely adjusted according to temperature detected.


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Edit/effect: Negative camber = more grip in corners and higher top speed Zero camber = more grip during acceleration and braking in a straight line

CAMBER: The real camber is displayed in the center bar at the bottom (camber).LF (left front) refers to the left front wheel, RF (right front) to the right front, LR (left rear)to the left rear and (RR right rear) to the right rear.

Toe is the angle between the longitudinal axis of the vehicle and the central axis of thewheel.We have negative toe (toe-out) when the convergence is open (the front part of the tire ispointing towards the outside of the car) and positive toe (toe-in) when it is closed (thefront of the tire is pointing towards the inside of the car).Toe adjustments are generally made to facilitate the turn-in and load transfer, but alsohave an impact at a constant speed through the corners and straights.During the weight transfer, toe-out tends to speed up the reaction and reduces the stability in that axis, especially when there is more vertical load on that axle; on the contrary toe-intends to slow them down.Under conditions of constant speed in the middle of the corner, decreasing the weight onthe opposite axis, toe-out causes understeer since the outer wheel is "directed" towards theoutside of the corner.Opposite behavior is achieved using toe-in, with the outer wheel pointing towards theinside of the corner.In a straight line with zero toe (neutral), we will have less friction generated by the tirethan if we use positive or negative toe, because the direction the tire is rolling coincides

with the direction of the car.High toe angles (both positive and negative) lead to a lower speed and higher tiretemperatures, as well as uneven tire wear.A positive toe will heat and consume too much of the outside of the tire, and negative toewill have the same effect on the inside of the tire.On production cars or cars with little modifications, acceleration and braking can changethe toe angles; weight movement under braking tends to open up the toe on both axes,while accelerating traction tends to close it.Edit/Effect:

Open toe (Toe Out) = quicker steering response, make the car turning into acorner quicker, less stability

Close toe (Toe In) = slower steering response, make the car turn slower into acorner, car more stable

The correct tire pressure is essential for the performance and durability of the tires.Insufficient pressure cause overheating and irregular tire wear (on the outside and insideof the tire) that limit the duration and performance.Too high pressure cause a reduction in performance as the contact with the asphaltdecreases and increases tire wear in the center of the tire.Pressure has a direct impact (but it's not the only factor) in the tire contact patch with theroad. Also it affects pitch and roll.The "right" pressure is when the difference between the central and internal temperature is


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equal to the one between the central and external.In other words, the central temperature should be the average between the internal andexternal.Edit/Effect:

Low pressure = more contact area, more rolling friction, tire overheating High pressure = less contact area, lower rolling friction, lower temperatures


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SETUP

The brake is the device used to slow or stop the movement of the car.The type of brake most often used is a disc brake which employs friction between the discsand pads; the latter are "pushed" hydraulically against the disc after the brake pedal ispressed.BRAKE BIAS: Defines how the total braking force is distributed between the front andrear tires; the closer the percentage is to 100%, the more the braking will be distributedbetween the front wheels, and the more the car will tend to understeer when braking. Incontrast, away from 100% the braking is transferred to the rear wheels and the car will

tend to oversteer when braking.During braking, the weight shifts to the front of the car, the brakes must be balanced tocorrect for the displacement of the weight and to avoid locking the front wheels (if thedistribution is balanced towards the front) or rear (if the distribution is balanced towardsthe rear).Its recommended to have a higher percentage of the braking towards the front to ensuregreater stability.The ultimate goal of this adjustment is to maximize the overall brakes efficiency and to findthe right balance when entering the corner.Edit/Effect:

Bias towards the front = understeer under braking, possibility of locking the front

wheels Bias towards the rear = oversteer under braking, possibility of locking the rear

wheels


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BRAKE MULT: Is the brake multiplier. Moving backwards from 100% (maximumbraking force), applying the same pressure on the pedal, will result in less braking force,although it will be easier to modulate.

Indicates the level of fuel to be deployed in the tank. The greater the amount of fuel onboard, the greater the weight of the car. This value also affects the dynamic behavior of thevehicle.FILL: Fill the tank with the amount of fuel selected.

The steering-ratio is the ratio of rotation between the steering wheel and the front wheelsof the car. In practice with a steer-ratio of 10:1 the wheel will rotate by 1 every 10 of steering wheel.With low ratios the steering will be more direct, in contrast with high ratios the steeringwill be more progressive and controllable.The real cars simulated in nKPro use these steering ratio values:

500 Abarth = 15:1 F1600 = Unknown (recommended 13:1) F1800 = Unknown (recommended 13:1) F2000 = 12:1 FTarget = 13:1 KS2 = 12:1

Osella PA-21S = Unknown (estimated 13:1) Vintage GT = 16:1

For proper steering configuration it is also necessary to set steering linearity to 100% andyour controller to 900 in the control panel; nKPro will then adjust automaticaly thecorrect steering wheel degrees for each car category.

Caster is the angle to which the steering pivot axis is tilted forward or rearward from

vertical, as viewed from the side. To clarify the concept we imagine that the caster is theangle between a vertical line perpendicular to the ground and the front fork of amotorcycle, which takes the place of the fork upright. When the caster angle is morepronounced, the difference in camber of the wheels when cornering is greater. The casterchanges the wheelbase of the car (distance between front and rear wheels), therefore a highcaster angle increases the wheelbase, making the car more stable but less agile. In contrast,a reduced caster angle shortens the wheelbase improving agility when entering a corner,but decreasing stability.Edit/effect:

High caster= increased wheelbase, straight-line stability, higher camber withsteered wheels, therefore static camber can be reduced.

Low caster = decreased wheelbase, increased agility in the turn in, moreundersteer in the middle of the corner.


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The task of the wings (or Spoilers) is to create downforce (an aerodynamic force thatpresses the car to the ground). The greater the downforce, the greater the force that keepsthe car stuck to the ground, and thus the greater the grip. On cars without wings, whenmoving through the air the shape of the car body generates lift (as well as resistance), andpulls up the car instead of pushing it down; this phenomenon is also harmful to the grip of the vehicle, and the more it is minimized, the better. Inclined wings produce moredownforce but also produce more drag; a lower wing angle instead generates lessdownforce, but also less drag and more top speed. The effect of downforce variesapproximately with the square of speed; with increasing speed the aerodynamics has moreeffect. In principle, the wings are more important in faster than slower parts of the track,where mechanical grip prevails over that generated by aerodynamics. It's important to findthe right compromise between grip and maximum speed. So in high speed circuits we willuse lower values than for the slower circuits; in twisty circuits with shorter straights, wewill use high values to increase stability and grip. In general, the rear wing is adjusted tofind a good compromise between grip and top speed, while the front is adjusted to find thedesired balance in high speed corners.Edit/effect:

Increase front = increases the level of front grip, especially in high speed cornering and braking zones, increases drag and decreases understeer

Decrease front = decreases downforce on the front wheels, increasing understeer in fast corners

Increase rear = increases grip and greater stability in fast corners, lower topspeed, increased understeer, reduces the height of the rear

Decrease rear = less stability in fast corners, reduces aerodynamic drag for thebenefit of top speed, reduced rear gripFRONT WING: Change the angle of the front wing.REAR WING: Change the angle of the rear wing. It is usually larger than the front, andtherefore has a greater effect on the behavior of the car.PROJECTED MAX SPEED: Speed estimated by the combination of wings and the gearratios in use.PROJ. AERO CP: It's the position of the aerodynamic center of pressure with respect tocenter of gravity of the machine. In practice if it's the same as the center of gravity, the carhas the same balance regardless of the speed, if it is behind the car acquires stability withincreasing speed, if it's ahead it's the contrary, the machine loses stability and has moreoversteer with increasing speed. This value must be somewhere between 50% and 60% of the wheelbase in order to properly balance the car; however, in nKPro the center of pressure is relative to the center of gravity and not the wheelbase.So, for example, if you want to use a center of pressure of 53% relative to the wheelbase onthe F2000, which has a weight distribution of 45% front (ie 55% rear), you will have tomove from 0% to 2% front.(number): The number in brackets next to "proj.aero cp" is the ratio between lift anddrag. The higher the number, the more efficient the ratio between lift and drag.


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POWER: Indicates the percentage of differential locking during acceleration. Highervalues will increase traction but decrease stability, lower values provide less efficientacceleration but applies it more progressively.PRELOAD: Indicates the percentage of differential locking in the neutral phase, i.e.neither during strong acceleration nor during the braking phase, so in most cases it acts atthe middle of the corner. Higher values lead to understeer, and lower values oversteer.


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VIEW

The FOV is the field of view, that is what we see from the cockpit. There is a rule tocalculate FOV that is "mathematically correct" and is equal to:

FOV = arctan( AM*0.5 / DDM) *2AM = height of the monitor screen, DDM = distance between our eyes to the screen, bothexpressed in meters.But the mathematically correct FOV is not what the driver would see in real life, so youhave to adjust to a compromise.Low FOV (30)

More "track" view Easier to evaluate with precision the racing line Easier to evaluate how tight the corner is Lack of side vision (cannot see the apex in tight corners) Less sensation of speed

FOV high (60 +) Good side vision Increased sensation of speed Difficulty in assessing racing lines from cockpit view, the road in front of the car is

obscured, 1m to the right or left becomes just a few pixels at the center of the screen All corners seem to be 300km/h highway rated turns

It's easy to see that the pros and cons of the two solutions are each the inverse of the other,so basically there is no rule about which is the better value, it's all very subjective.


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SEAT HEIGHT: Raises and lowers the position of the seat inside the car.SEAT POS: Moves back and forth the position of the seat inside the car.NOTE: Changing the seat position does not alter or affect the FOV.

The V-Mirror (Virtual Mirror) "simulates" the central rear view mirror and allows a betterview of the rear in addition to the side mirrors

FF GAIN: Its basically the strength of FFB. The higher the value is, the harder the FFBwill be but it will communicate less information to the wheel. On the contrary, a low valuewill communicate more information, but the driving force will be reduced.FF DAMPING: Increases the "brake" or resistance of the steering wheel to the speed of rotation.FF FRICTION: Increases the "brake" or resistance of the steering wheel regardless of thespeed of rotation.NOTE: Damping and Friction can be helpful with the use of some wheels as BRD and G25which have virtually zero friction in the gears. The DFP instead has enough "brake" anddoes not require these precautions.

The colored bars in the lower left are made visible by pressing the F8 key. The first threebars to the left indicate that the pedals are being pressed down. Conversely, if the bars arenot visible the pedals are not being pressed.BLUE: Clutch pedal. If AutoClutch is activated, the clutch is operated by the software.RED: Brake pedal. When decreasing BrakeMult with equal pressure on the pedal, the bardrops.GREEN: Accelerator pedal.GREY: The gray bar refers to the Force Feedback, and depends on the values of Gain,Damping and Friction. If the bar reaches the maximum and the red rectangle appears, itmeans that the signal of the FFB is saturated and there is missing information at thesteering wheel.

There is no correct value for the gray bar. A good compromise is to make sure that the barremains at about in the turns and that its saturated when hitting the curbs and bumps.


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maidiresetup ver.1.1.2 english

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