| CASTER TUNING FOR FORZA MOTORSPORT 3 |
| This will be a notoriously brief section. The main reason being that in my Forza Motorsport 2 experience the caster setting, in my opinion, didn't result in any noticable changes to car performance, or improved lap times. To bolster my view on the relative insignificance of the caster setting in the game, I have yet another quote on the subject: |
| "Most cars are not particularly sensitive to caster settings. Nevertheless, it is important to ensure that the caster is the same on both sides of the car to avoid the tendency to pull to one side. While greater caster angles serve to improve straight-line stability, they also cause an increase in steering effort. Three to five degrees of positive caster is the typical range of settings, with lower angles being used on heavier vehicles to keep the steering effort reasonable." |
| http://www.ozebiz.com.au/racetech/theory/align.html |
| Two comments in regard to the above quote: |
| 1- There's only one caster setting in the game, so left-right variances in caster angle are an impossibility. |
| 2- Because we're using a controller and not a real steering wheel, the increase in steering effort isn't an issue either. Increased effort is a by-product of cars that lack power steering in the real world, and considering that we have the ability to adjust steering sensitivity in the 'options menu' in-game, there really shouldn't be any significant negative effect to maximizing the caster angle in tuning mode. |
| HOW MUCH CASTER SHOULD I RUN? |
| It's a good question that probably doesn't make that much of a difference. if we're looking at the quote above, they suggest 3 to 5 degrees. On my real world car, I maxed out the caster (6 degrees) on my Honda S2000CR, for whatever that's worth. |
| Maybe in the future I'll re-visit the caster 'benefits versus detriments' issue once Forza Motorsport 3 is in hand I've I've got some significant seat time under my belt. But for now, i really don't have much else to add on the subject. |