Recently I've been driving a lot with the XF GTI car, especially the Blackwood track.

I always begin with the default setup and drive some minutes to see how the car behaves.

The first two things with the XF GTI that are changed independently of the rest of the setup are:
- reat tyres to hybrid
- diff to closed diff

With the normal tyres the car is drifting way too much and the normal diff leads to rapidly increasing rpms in corners.

Then i adjust the braking force to avoid locking tyres at some corner or specific braking points.

Afterwards I drive and try to improve my PB.
Currently I drive around 1:35:50 but somehow can't drive faster.
My first split is around 0:30:50.

Btw, I drive with mouse (x axis steering and y axis braking accelerating), but nevertheless i have nearly constant lap times.

What is your approach on changing the setup of the XF GTI?

I like this car very much as it demands a lot of driving skill for good lap times and close racing with other players is very exciting.

Hello mate, while I can't give setup advice I can point you to some articles that might be useful (if you haven't read them already!)

http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=11154

Good luck!

Thank you very much.

I read this thread some time ago and also try to apply these hints on my driving.

My question is rather of the type, "when do you adjust which part of the setup" or "which are the things to change first" and so on.

I practice with AI drivers offline, but they are currently in the latest version too slow and drive like "Artificial Idiots", as if you weren't present at the track or in the corners.

Quote from Paulovic :

I practice with AI drivers offline, but they are currently in the latest version too slow and drive like "Artificial Idiots", as if you weren't present at the track or in the corners.

To become a good driver in this sim, I really prefer not to make all the setups yourself and DO NOT practise with AI's. They are just sheet :P
First of all, go to some public servers on S2, get to know people, get their setups, watch "pros" driving and learn from them, look at their driving lines etc.. Doing it all by yourself will take you far, but much, much slower..

Quote from Hahmo :

To become a good driver in this sim, I really prefer not to make all the setups yourself and DO NOT practise with AI's. They are just sheet :P
First of all, go to some public servers on S2, get to know people, get their setups, watch "pros" driving and learn from them, look at their driving lines etc.. Doing it all by yourself will take you far, but much, much slower..

It is indeed a very slow approach to do the setup oneself, but this way I try to understand the effects of the several adjustments. And surely, those "pro" drivers themselves had to do this process on their own.

Another useful thread;
http://www.lfsforum.net/showthread.php?t=69540

I too have opted to download (setupgrid and setupfield)/use sets from others other than making my own. Hang in there, a couple of people who do their own sets are bound to reply.

And do hop into few of the Demo GTi servers. The AirAttack, Redline Racing, Cargame.nl amongst others have fast drivers and great admins - they're bound to help you out with setup/drive-faster tips...

Quote from Paulovic :

What is your approach on changing the setup of the XF GTI?

I select the front springs' natural frequency (2.25-2.5 Hz typically but it varies) and rear +0.5 Hz. Adjust dampers until there is no bump or rebound overshoot and add a bit extra (usually around 45-50% bump damping). Select a suitable front ride height (around 45-55 mm bump travel) and at least 10mm more in the rear. Adjust ARBs so that total front/rear balance is around 35%, and roll gradient is around 1.3-1.5 deg/g. Hybrids in the rear, 70% diff lock, 150 preload. Around 200-207 kPa pressures, camber not too bothered with. Then I start doing laps, camber and gear ratios first, then observing what I need to tweak for corner entrance/mid/exit. I tend to avoid locked diffs on FWDs purely out of spite, and suspecting that IRL, they wouldn'turn so well while coasting.

Basically applies to all non-wing cars, but initial values change.