This checklist and the related tuning guide are a great way to tune by hand. This checklist also serves as a companion to the free ForzaTune tuning calculator.
Tuning Tip: Tuning by hand takes some patience and a plan. You can save considerable time, especially with the spring, ARB and damper calculations using the ForzaTune tuning calculator apps.
Tuning Checklist if Using ForzaTune
The base version of ForzaTune calculates your starting tune in seconds, and will automatically make sure the springs, dampers and anti-roll bars match. ForzaTune Pro allows you to choose the specific car and driving surface and will need less fine-tuning. Follow this checklist to confirm tire pressures, alignment and use the tune customizer to dial in your preferred driving style.
Check Tires
- After a lap or two do pressures fall in the 32-34 PSI range? Adjust cold pressure as needed.
- Do tire temperatures match the compound?
Check Alignment
- Are camber values heating the outside tires evenly after the turns? Refer to the camber tuning guide if not.
- Does the car have trouble tracking straight or tend to be twitchy at speed? If so, increase caster.
Double Check Balance
- Does the car now oversteer or understeer through the turns? Tap the red button on the results page and adjust balance slider in the app and copy new damper, spring, ARB and differential values.
Check Ride Stiffness
- Does the car max out the suspension travel when viewing suspension telemetry? Increase ride stiffness by 5-10% using the app’s stiffness slider or increase ride height.
- Does the car need to handle bumpier roads? Decrease ride stiffness by 5-10% and increase ride height.
Check if Aero Will Apply
- Does the track have one or more high-speed corners? If so, increase aero to adjust desired oversteer or understeer at speed. (note: Pro version will automatically adjust aero recommendations.)
Recheck Tires and Alignment
- Are tire pressure and temperature still within acceptable ranges?
- Are camber values still heating the outside tires evenly in turns?
- Does the car exhibit slight oversteer on entry/exit (RWD) that can’t be fixed with any other tuning? Add a small amount of rear toe in.
- Does the vehicle need more turn-in grip? Add a small amount of front toe out.
Tuning Checklist if Tuning By Hand
After creating a base tune as described in the Forza tuning guide go through these steps to make final adjustments. It may take several iterations to get all of the new values to work together.
Check Tires
- After a lap or two do pressures fall in the 32-34 PSI range?
- Do tire temperatures match the compound?
Check Alignment
- Are camber values heating the outside tires evenly after the turns? Refer to the camber tuning guide if not.
- Does the car track straight? If not, increase caster.
Check Ride Height
- Is the suspension bottoming out because it is set too low?
- Can you lower it further for better handling?
Check if Aero Will Apply
- Does the track have one or more high-speed corners? If so, increase front aero to counteract understeer, and increase rear aero to counteract high-speed oversteer.
Check Spring Rates
- Are the spring rates soft enough to handle the bumps in the track? If not, reduce spring rates or decrease ride stiffness in ForzaTune free.
- Are spring rates too soft causing bottoming out, diving or squatting? Increase spring rates.
- Are the front and rear spring values adjusted to match the weight distribution?
Check Anti-Roll Bars
- Does the vehicle roll excessively in turns? Increase both ARBs.
- Does it oversteer or understeer through the middle of the turn? Adjust until both ends lose grip simultaneously. Consider using ForzaTune to quickly recalculate ARBs.
Check Damping
- Is bump setting about two-thirds the value of rebound?
- Is vehicle overly stiff and skipping over bumps? Decrease overall damping.
- Does the vehicle bounce around too much? Increase overall damping to better match springs.
- Does the car understeer or oversteer on turn entry or exit? Soften front or rear rebound damping, respectively.
- Check brakes. Are you able to dial in 50-80% braking force reliably? Do both ends lock up simultaneously when braking too hard?
Check Differentials
- Does the car still have trouble putting down power on exit? Decrease differential’s acceleration percentage.
- Does the car resist turning in? Decrease differential’s deceleration percentage.
- Does the car rotate too much at the beginning of a turn? Increase deceleration percentage.
Recheck Tires and Alignment
- Are tire pressure and temperature still within acceptable ranges?
- Are camber values still heating the outside tires evenly in turns?
- Does the car exhibit slight oversteer on entry/exit (RWD) that can’t be fixed with any other tuning? Add a small amount of rear toe in.
- Does the vehicle need more turn-in grip? Increase front toe out.
