Tuning Guide
Information about upgrades and tuning for most cars.
This page is for game version 1.02 without DLCs. Cars, upgrades and tuning were rebalanced in 1.02, so some of the information does not apply for older versions.
In-game performance stats are not always accurate.
Drivetrain
All drivetrain upgrades are partially broken due to typos. Chassis files: BaulkTorque vs Drivetrain upgrades: BalkTorque
Drivetrain upgrades are required to avoid clutch slip when increasing the power output. 5 speed cars get a 6th gear at Stage 3 which adjusts the overall gearing, except the Corolla which receives longer gears instead. Works conversion (or Stage 3 for old muscle cars) makes gear changes faster.
Differential
Acceleration Lock - Stage 3: 2WD only! Disabled with AWD even if available due to a bug. Adjust this to determine the maximum wheel speed difference between each side while accelerating. Lower settings allow you to rotate the car with throttle at the cost of traction. High values might make the car understeer while accelerating. Recommended values are 30-50 for most cars and tracks. Going below 20 is not recommended.
Deceleration Lock - Stage 3: 2WD only! Disabled with AWD even if available due to a bug. Adjust this to determine the maximum wheel speed difference between each side while decelerating (no throttle or brakes applied). Lower settings allow more manouverability at the cost of stability. Most cars seem to like the same 30-50 range as Acceleration Lock.
Preload - Stage 3: Lower settings make it more difficult for the differential to lock, resulting in more oversteer. The default and minimum setting is medium preload (60 Nm) on most cars.
Viso Electronic Lock - Stage 3: AWD only! Disabled with 2WD even if available due to a bug. Very low values forcefully straighten the car out while accelerating, causing tons of understeer. High values allow the car to perform slides at the cost of acceleration out of corners.
Gearing
Try to keep the car in the optimal rev range. Either space all gears evenly, or set the higher gears slightly shorter for better acceleration. Tune gearing for each track if possible. Some long corners benefit from holding a specific gear on power.
Engine
There is a huge difference in engine upgrades between different cars. For example, all Tier 3 cars with the exception of the Exige only gain 5% power from the Stage 3 upgrade.
Best: T1_Works_Engine - +17.5% Stage 1, +35% Stage 2, +50% Stage 3, +75% Works
Strong: Engine_Generic - +17.5% Stage 1, +35% Stage 2, +40% Stage 3, +50% Works
Weak: T2_Engine - +0% Stage 1, +5% Stage 2, +17.5% Stage 3, +30% Works
T3: T3_Engine - +0% Stage 1 and 2, +5% Stage 3, +25% Works
| Car | Engine Upgrades |
|---|---|
| RS 4 | Weak |
| S3 | Strong |
| S4 | Strong |
| TT | Strong |
| 135i | Weak |
| M3 E36 | Weak |
| M3 E46 | Weak |
| M3 E92 | Weak |
| Z4 M | Weak |
| Camaro | Strong |
| Cobalt | Strong |
| 67 Corvette | Weak |
| Challenger | Strong |
| Challenger R/T | Weak |
| Charger R/T | Weak |
| Escort | Best |
| Focus | Strong |
| GT500 | Strong |
| Civic | Strong |
| S2000 | Strong |
| G35 | Weak |
| Elise | Best |
| Exige | Strong |
| MX-5 | Strong |
| RX-7 | Best |
| RX-8 | Best |
| Evo IX | Strong |
| Evo X | Strong |
| 200SX | Best |
| 240SX | Strong |
| 350Z | Weak |
| 370Z | Weak |
| Silvia | Best |
| 2000GT-R | Best |
| Skyline | Strong |
| Cayman | Weak |
| Mégane | Best |
| tC | Strong |
| Leon | Best |
| 67 GT-500 | Weak |
| Impreza | Strong |
| Corolla | Best |
| Supra | Best |
| Golf | Strong |
| Scirocco | Best |
Turbo
Naturally aspirated cars always benefit greatly from the first turbo upgrade, gaining 20-50% additional power.
Upgrading an existing turbo is always really weak as you only gain 1-5% power. The only exception is the Supra which has special highly effective turbo upgrades - Stage 2 is +25% and Stage 3 is +40% power.
Brake
Brake upgrades are very simple - they increase brake torque. Stage 1 is +2%, Stage 2 is +8%, Stage 3 is +14% or +10% for Tier 3, Works is +20%.
Brakes cannot be tuned. Brake Balance adjustment is broken and does nothing.
Suspension
Suspension upgrades unlock tuning options, apply a spring and damper multiplier and adjust the default ride height.
In case of Tier 1 and 2 cars each Stage increases spring stiffness and damper rate by 12.5% and 6.25% respectively and lowers default ride height by one step.
Stage 1 is +12.5% springs and +6.25% dampers, Stage 2 is +25% springs and +12.5% dampers, Stage 3 is +37.5% springs and +18.75% dampers, Works is +50% springs and +25% dampers.
Tier 3: Stage 3 is +15% springs and +8% dampers, Works is +30% springs and +15% dampers. Cars are lowered by 4 steps on Stage 3 and 6 steps after Works conversion.
Exception: GT3 RS has its own suspension upgrade, which only increases springs and dampers by 5% and does not affect anything else.
Note: The Honda S2000 has no rear right springs due to a typo. This is easily visible when the car is driven by an AI since the rear right is always slightly collapsed, giving the car a constant tilt.
Alignment
Steering Lock - Always available: Depends on car, track and preference. Smaller cars with short wheelbase (eg. Elise) require slightly lower values. Lower settings allow higher accuracy on high speed tracks (Brands Hatch, Tri-Oval, Road America), higher settings allow a tighter turning radius for sharp, low speed corners (Autopolis Lakeside, Ebisu).
Caster Angle - Stage 3: Affects how quickly the car responds to steering inputs. Reduce it if the reaction is slow or increase it if the car feels twitchy.
Toe Angle - Stage 1: The labels of Rear Toe are swapped! The in-game description is accurate. If you are struggling with oversteer or instability during corner exit, especially with RWD cars, increase Rear Toe In (labeled Out). If you are willing to sacrifice response, you can increase both Front and Rear Toe In for a more stable and planted car. Adjust Front Toe to finetune steering response - slight Toe Out is recommended in most cases. Adjusting the driven wheels has the biggest effect.
Camber - Stage 3: to do (can't tell the difference)
Ride Height - Stage 2: You want to use the lowest settings that avoid bottoming out frequently. Smoother tracks with smaller curbs and low downforce setups allow lower ride height to be used. High downforce setups on high speed tracks might require increased ride height, especially if increasing spring stiffness is not an option. High power cars squat significantly while accelerating, requiring 15mm higher rear ride height to keep the car mostly level. Positive rake (high rear, low front) usually doesn't work well if the car generates significant downforce - it's better to focus on keeping the car level. Negative rake (high front, low rear) is not recommended.
Springs and Dampers
Sway Bars - Always available: The main way to adjust balance between oversteer and understeer. Stiffer front is more understeer, stiffer rear is more oversteer and vice versa. If set too soft, the car might become unstable during cornering, especially at medium and high speed. At least 3 steps stiffer front and rear are recommended for most cars. Soften by at most one step or harden by 1-3 steps to balance the car. Bumpy tracks like the Nordschleife can benefit from softer sway bars to reduce mid corner bouncing.
Spring Rates - Stage 2: Softest settings recommended by default to increase grip and stability. Increasing overall stiffness is not recommended outside of special cases like ovals or very high downforce cars - when you want to avoid hitting the bump stops. Each step increases stiffness by a large amount, making these nearly unusable to adjust car balance.
Bump Stops - Stage 3: Avoid these and keep them at 0. Bump stops are one of the main reasons for the excessive boucing in this game.
Dampers are an alternative method for minor or moderate balance adjustments. Rebounds are the safest to tweak. Some cars don't react to bump adjustments well, but these are all track dependant. Default values are all slightly stiff in this game.
Slow Bump - Stage 3: Great for moderate balance adjustments. Stiffer front is more understeer and vice versa. Higher overall stiffness can give faster response at the cost of stability.
Fast Bump - Stage 3: Stiffer settings make the car less responsive and more predictable - affects how much the car turns with a set amount of steering input. Useful if the car feels unstable due to overreacting to inputs.
Slow Rebound - Stage 3: Adjusts responsiveness and balance upon corner entry and exit. Overall higher stiffness results in faster response and increased oversteer.
Fast Rebound - Stage 3: Changes how quickly the wheels return to their position after hitting a bump or curb. Adjust the balance of the car over bumps and curbs - stiffer front is more understeer. Very high stiffness can sometimes increase bouncing on certain cars.
Tires
Tire upgrades are also simple - they increase tire grip. The upgrades are car dependant. They can range from +1% to +4% per Stage. Front and rear tires are not always upgraded equally.
Tire Pressures are a great way to finetune car balance. Lower pressure in the rear can decrease oversteer and vice versa. Pressures also affect responsiveness - lower is slower, higher is faster. Not recommended to change by more than 10% from the middle.
Aerodynamics
All Body Kits have the same effect on Tier 1 and 2 cars.
Cars in Shift usually have either terrible or amazing scaling from increasing downforce. In most cases the best tuning is either minimum or maximum and it's often only worth changing for specific tracks.
Higher front downforce results in more oversteer and higher rear downforce results in more understeer in medium and high speed corners. Overall high downforce also aids in braking, but reduces acceleration at higher speeds.
The majority of cars prefer maximum downforce, so I'll only list the exceptions:
| Car | Downforce |
|---|---|
| M3 E36 | Depends |
| Veyron | Min/Depends (Front) |
| CCX | Minimum |
| Viper | Max/Depends |
| Exige | Max/Depends (Front) |
| F1 | Minimum |
| SLR | Depends |
| GT-R | Max/Depends |
| GT-R SpecV | Max/Depends |
| Zonda F | Minimum |
| Zonda R | Minimum |
| Carrera GT | Minimum |
| GT3 RS | Depends |
| Supra | Max/Depends |
The highest settings I found useful on the Zonda R are: 6 front, 5 rear - can be useful for low-medium speed tracks with heavy braking zones. Use 1 or 2 when you need a little extra.
The lowest viable downforce value on the Works LP640 is about 16 in my experience.
Cooler Radiator and Brake Duct openings don't do anything useful, these can always be reduced to minimum. I haven't tested the Pro Handling Model yet, but brake, tire and oil temperatures have no effect in this game even though they are all tracked.
Race Parts
These upgrades work the same way on all cars.
Weight Reduction: -2% mass, -5% mass, -10% mass - Does not affect car specific intertia.
Race Exhaust: +10% Engine power
Shorter Final Drive: 1 step shorter minimum and maximum Final Drive setting. Worthless on most cars, only use it for Works conversion.
Increase Boost: +5% total turbo power - 1-3% overall power.
Seam-welded Chassis: Increases the default Sway Bar stiffness by one step. The most useless upgrade in the entire game.
Brake Master Cylinder: +8% Brake torque
Wider Tires/Wheels: +1% grip - Minimal, but more effective than you think.
How to tune your car
When you change cars or install upgrades, you need to enter the tuning menu, leave, then enter again for the correct values to show. If you have entered the tuning menu before installing upgrades, you lose the default values for freshly unlocked settings. I recommend restoring defaults after you've installed all upgrades.
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Test your car with the default setup. Some cars have basic issues like super short gearing, which I recommend you try to solve before proceeding. Also set your preferred steering lock.
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Set the recommended downforce level for the car from aerodynamics. Some cars like the Works GT-R have issues with high downforce that can't be solved.
- The recommendation is just a baseline, doesn't mean it is the best setting. For example, the Zonda R scales really well with more downforce, but the efficiency drops drastically, so it is only worth increasing slightly for specific tracks.
-
Start balancing the car by adjusting sway bars. Either start from default or 3 steps right for both. Switch to adjuting slow bump by one or two steps if you need finer control.
- You can attempt adjusting balance with spring rate too, but I found the results unsatisfactory. Keep in mind you can also adjust balance in mid-high speed corners by changing downforce. Change the ride height if needed.
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Tweak the response by adjusting caster angle, fast bump and tire pressures.
- You can also change toe angle, but its effects are more complex.
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Only finetuning left: changing rebounds and differential allows you to specify how the car should behave in specific scenarios.
- Revisit older settings to ensure they are still correct after other changes.
You can find setup examples in my NFS Shift playlist.