iRacing Season 4 2017 GT3 BOP Changes

[Skid_Marc_]

Season 4 patch 1:

Audi R8 LMS GT3
- 2017 Season 4 BoP Adjustment: -0.5% engine torque, aerodynamic characteristics have been reverted to 2017 Season 1.
- - These aero changes move the center-of-pressure rearward and make the car less sensitive to rear wing adjustments.
- Baseline setup has been updated.

BMW Z4 GT3
- 2017 Season 4 BoP Adjustment: +0.3% engine torque. <---Whoa, what the fuck? Is that a boost to the BMW?!

Ferrari 488 GT3
- Baseline setup has been adjusted with less understeer, and full fuel.
- 2017 Season 4 BoP Adjustment: +2% fuel consumption, +10 kg minimum weight, -14% aero downforce, and minor aero drag adjustment.
- Fixed a mis-alignment with pitboard textures.
- Fixed a typo in the ABS tooltip.

Ford GT GT3
- 2017 Season 4 BoP Adjustment: +10 kg minimum weight.

McLaren MP4-12C GT3
- 2017 Season 4 BoP Adjustment: -2% engine torque, -1% fuel consumption.

Mercedes-AMG GT3
- 2017 Season 4 BoP Adjustment: No changes.

 

[Kenadian]

Wow thanks for posting this Marc, interesting indeed.

I wonder if "someone from iRacing is watching" lol?

While I like the BOP's on a whole I don't understand what I'm reading in regards to the Audi, BMW or fraud?

Audi: You were strong in it at Sonoma but I feel the Torque adjustments are going to hurt it more in, through and out of corners where the Audi should be strong. I feel the Audi and BMW should be close however the Audi should have less drag than the BMW.

BMW: More Torque is nice but it would have been nice to see a drop in weight. I feel as if the Torque adjustment is only going to help make the BMW a bit faster in corners and nowhere else. In saying that though I don't know if more Torque also adds to to straight line speed when lower in the power band so some insight on this would be helpful. I thought Torque is strictly beneficial at low RPM's.

Ford: More weight, isn't it already heavy as fuck?

I do like the McLaren BOP as that thing gets through corners too damn good for my comfort lol.

 

[Noodleguitar]

Horsepower and torque are linked to each other via RPM, because Horsepower is how much torque an engine can apply every second. Torque and HP get larger the higher your RPM is (as a rule). At 5252 RPM, HP and torque intersect, and above that, HP will always be higher than the torque figure.

Essentially, both HP and torque quantify power output, so on straights torque is still factor. There is no constant torque for a car, it varies with RPM. So, iRacing stating +0.3% torque probably means the torque values at every RPM value is increased (incidentally 0.3% would only increase torque from 200.0 to 200.6 ft*lbs). Because HP can be derived from torque, increasing the torque also means an increase in horsepower. So if the car had 200 ft*lbs torque @ 5000 RPM, then increasing this to 200.6 ft*lbs torque @ 5000 RPM increases horsepower from 190.4 to 191.0 HP using: HP = (torque * RPM) / 5252

Finally, engine torque is converted to torque applied at the drive wheels using gear ratios. Higher gear ratios (lower gears) equal more torque at the wheel. That's also why short 1st gears spin wheels more easily than longer first gears. And why lorries have such short and many gears.

Helpful video:

 

[Kenadian]

Jeebus Noel, you could have conveyed the same confusing message using hieroglyphs.

This is not something that is helpful for someone as math stupid as I am lol

So in all your very well educated rambling does this boost in Torque equate to more straight line speed for the BMW?

 

[Noodleguitar]

Hehe, unless I'm missing something then I think that yes, it does.

 

[Brainling]

Haven't driven the Ferrari since the BoP changes. Did it change how it feels to drive? I was kind of pissed when they announced the changes because I felt like we finally had a GT3 car that was lively and fun to drive, but also not a death machine. Have those characteristics changed, or is it just the McLaren now because of the front down force it lost?

 

[Deb]

Yes, it did change, it seems not quite as fluid now and slower.

 

[Brainling]

*sighs* And back to not giving a crap about GT3 I go. Leave it to iRacing to release an awesome car, then two weeks later make it drive like crap just to have "balance"...instead of, you know, bringing all the other GT3 cars up to that level and making them all fun and interesting to drive. I guess making them all drive like sloppy track cars instead of race cars is one way to balance them.

 

[Kenadian]

Matt I really don't think it's that bad to be honest. The Ferrari still drives exceptionally well and if you ask me needed a nerf given how well it stuck in corners.

I understand the frustration of nerfing a new car but it's probably done to this car as it's easier to nerf one than it is to buf 4 to make them near equal.

This is actually a good thing, it's a sign that iRacing is listening to the Community and trying to make all the cars competitive. The fraud aside, I've seen some of the most diverse fields in GT3 than I have in quite some time.

 

[Skid_Marc_]

I've come to the conclusion @Brainling that these cars aren't supposed to be "fun and interesting". These cars, with their ABS and TC just aren't designed for that. Remember that these cars are geared towards Pro AND Am drivers, and, in person, I haven't seen them do too much sliding unless they're contacted or over-driven. Maybe as the tyres wear, but the PWC races aren't long enough to worry about tyre wear, even for the Bentley, which they thought would be the hardest on them at Road America.

I was really frustrated by the changes to the Audi, and kept pushing and pushing to find the limit, but when I backed off and let the car work, I picked up 0.7 seconds instantly.

If you want an exciting, and twitchy, GT experience, than stick with the Pro-driven GT1/GTE cars.

 

[Brainling]

Yeah, maybe that's it. I'm trying to push to the edge like I do in a GTE car, but the car doesn't want to be at the edge. In fact, most of it's electronics are meant to keep you from getting there, or at least from going over.

 

[SavreticD]

I've come to the conclusion @Brainling that these cars aren't supposed to be "fun and interesting". These cars, with their ABS and TC just aren't designed for that. Remember that these cars are geared towards Pro AND Am drivers, and, in person, I haven't seen them do too much sliding unless they're contacted or over-driven. Maybe as the tyres wear, but the PWC races aren't long enough to worry about tyre wear, even for the Bentley, which they thought would be the hardest on them at Road America.

I was really frustrated by the changes to the Audi, and kept pushing and pushing to find the limit, but when I backed off and let the car work, I picked up 0.7 seconds instantly.

If you want an exciting, and twitchy, GT experience, than stick with the Pro-driven GT1/GTE cars.

As I always say dont overdrive,this is very important and like you said you will gain time and save tires.
Im trying to be smooth,sometimes its just not my day but most of the time Im trying to do that