Project CARS

Project Cars – Build 714

R11 – 14 tyre testing

Circuit: Laguna Seca



Before I moved into the new R14 tyre testing I did a recap on the previous models for comparison, and also had a run on the tyre (R11N) that AJ very kindly laid on for me..

GOALS

1. More front bite
2. More front feedback and tyre absorption
3. Easier car to drive and feel
4. Smooth transition from u/steer to o/steer as you pick up throttle
5. Easier traction, feel and feedback

R11 N – this tyre was a request by yours truly to pack some punch into the front end of the car by increasing front grip.

I hoped to achieve a very positive initial turn in and I remain focused on that goal. The R11 N was an unadulterated spinfest – the extra front grip really disturbed the balance of the car and made it almost impossible to turn into a corner without suffering terminal o/steer on: turn in, mid corner, and as soon as you touched the throttle.

In many ways it represents some of the extreme set up changes I’ve been running (zero rear wing / max front) in order to raise turn in, but without the stability to see it through. That said if the rear was somehow able to cope with such a pointy nose then we might be able to create a super dynamic. Please skip to the R14 N to hear more.

INTRO

The remainder of the tyres follow a fairly similar pattern in terms of general handling qualities (with the exception of R14 N) in that there’s an underlying understeer to varying degrees, and a tricky rear traction issue to varying degrees.

R12 – at the higher end of the scale in terms of general u/steer, especially high & medium speed corners. It really ploughs.

The odd additional feature with this tyre is that the rear loses stability at the end of the braking zone on initial turn in, and as a general rule with the sim as it stands – once you lose the tail it’s hard to catch it.

The TRANSITION from u/steer to o/steer was tricky and traction generally twitchy and hard to control.

R13 – better front grip, still some apex u/steer. The transition from u/steer to o/steer on this tyre felt better, at first, and then you run into a wall of o/steer that is hard to control.

I found this sensation very interesting because the initial take up at the rear end was good and I could almost feel engine torque playing a part in the way the car went from being settled into a more serious slide. Potentially a feature that could aid stability?

Braking grip felt good and v controllable

R13A – transition from u/s to o/s definitely better on this tyre. Traction was more controllable on corner exit and the car responds well to throttle inputs. I really liked driving on this and found the car more forgiving – as a result I starting getting picky and wanting more feedback from the steering wheel but that’s another issue for Logitech perhaps.

R13B – felt similar to A – the transition is a little more sophisticated at first, then you do feel the surge of power flooding the rear end and traction requires your full attention. It was a little trickier on low speed corner exit.

R14O – pretty good – there’s the same underlying u/steer as the earlier models but the initial turn-in is quite potent and I feel I have more control over that. In some places I felt the transition was really good but in medium speed corners or slower, the rear really attacks you when it breaks free and very hard to control it.

R14A – initially this felt very good, a little easier to drive but largely similar to R14O – I need to revisit because I had a glitch of some kind and the front tyre was overheating (390 degrees) which shot the handling to hell and I couldn’t get rid of the problem yesterday.

R14B – at high speed I found this tyre had more underlying u/steer and it was less predictable.

It did do something quite interest at Turn 1 (a downhill 2nd gear slow corner) – after turn in, which was crisp, the car was inclined to rotate a little on the throttle and I really liked that. I wondered if this is linked to some of the improved ‘transition’ on initial power that I noticed since R13. Does it have something to do with the diff? The exit at Turn 1 was incredibly graceful

I think this is an important feature because it balances some of the u/steer without making the rear a nightmare.

That said I found traction elsewhere around the track difficult on this tyre on harder acceleration as I tried to approach the limit, especially the final corner which was fairly slow and flatter, the car really snapped from a neutral u/steer to an ice like o/steer.

R14C – felt very similar to B, but slightly harder to control on traction.

R14D – again it felt very similar to B & C, with a little more stability under braking.

R14E – there’s something very likeable about the way the car turns into the corner, it feels natural and I felt that it might be linked to the grip and control under braking. It feels very precise and as with R14B it noticeably turns when you initially accelerate, but it does retain the tricky traction issue if you press on towards the limit.

There’s a looser feeling with this tyre, you can almost feel the car rolling on the tyre block. The o/steer, whilst still hard to control, did feel more predictable at least by virtue of this rolling feeling. Body roll in the chassis is something I’ve mentioned before and believe it could help the driver recognize duress building in the tyres.

R14G – this had more u/steer and was a little easier to control in terms of traction – I’m afraid I need to revisit because my other front tyre (left) overheated with this tyre and re-appeared whenever I re-loaded / rebooted.

R14N – well hello. This tyre is different gravy altogether to all the other tyres and you guys can’t hide it in here by thinking we won’t notice it in the middle of the alphabet. It really is nothing like the other compounds at all.

This tyre makes me feel like I’m in a real car. It is practically un-spinnable and I had to double check that the traction control hadn’t been activated by mistake.

There’s a high level of overall grip overall, an excellent balance front to rear and the traction issue is non-existent - you can just attack everywhere. This tyre is SO stable, and SO well supported that I wonder if my Frankenstein experiment on the R11N, with the super high grip front end, might actually work with this one.

As much as I love this compound, it doesn’t really let you drift the tail on corner exit at all. I personally prefer that to spinning all the time, but I wonder if there’s a way to tweak in some more movement at the rear. GREAT JOB!

R14T – back to the previous balance of R14B. Traction issues at low speed and perhaps a little easier transition in medium speed.

R14W – similar to T but with a better initial turn in.

Being honest – I found it hard to go back to T & W after experiencing R14N and my brain was racing for answers. Why is N so different? Does this mean we can play with a more aggressive front end like 11N, with the sophistication of R14E’s entry and some of its rear float on corner exit?

Conclusion

R14N is a sea change and a major step forward from my perspective and I hope that some of the minor adjustments and features in the other compounds can be used to tune in some more exotic handling for this tyre. It is the only tyre that addresses the traction problem and still retains a lot of the fun side of this Sim.