Tyre PRESSURE & TEMPS really matter on F1 22
Hi, everyone!
DISCLAIMER:
Anything in this topic is mainly about the CAREER MODES, especially the MyTeam mode, but I believe it applies to all other modes as well if you plan to have long races (25, 50 or 100% of real life race distances) - this might NOT apply to Time Trials and/or 5 laps races on open lobbies (or maybe it does - who knows?!)..
Also pay attention when I'm talking about the values for Tyre PRESSURES and Tyre TEMPS (they are directly linked, of course, but they're still two different things and it can get confusing sometimes, I know..)
- Some context:
I'm currently on Season 04 of MyTeam and my car is very close to being fully developed - and as such, I noticed it got better/easier to drive through time, but fighting the AIs on a high level (I currently play on 100 AI level) is still tricky and pretty hard (mainly because of their 'super powers', like super acceleration, perfect grip and tyre wear - which is related to how they 'manage' their tyre temps - and a few other things the AIs can do, but not the player), so the info & tips below are a way to help the players to have a better car overall, slightly easier to drive/control/manage and to be a bit more competitive against the super strong and 'cheatty' AIs on a long run - it will NOT solve all the problems, but it might help to mitigate the issues and make the competition a little less frustrating/unfair..
- Some more context:
Before patch 1.06, most of the players using custom car setups were running on MAXIMUM Tyre Pressures, to maximize the top speed and there were no negative effects in terms of grip, tyre wear and performance - that was when and why the devs decided to change the car handling and a lot of people complained about it, because those 'old' custom car setups wouldn't work anymore - let me say this: it was the right move to do (to change the handling), but it's a shame it came 1 month after the game was release and everybody was already used to those old custom car set and it's easy to understand why everybody got upset - the current car handling which came on that patch (1.06) should've been in the game from the start, but.. it is what it is, so let's just move on..
After patch 1.06, most people were saying we should all now drive on MINIMUM (or very close to the minimum) Tyre Pressures, because 'that was the best' and I was like.. 'hmm.. ok then..' and that's what I did too - but then...
I've been struggling against the AIs since day 1 in this game and we all already know that the AIs in this game are currently broken - end of discussion - period - shut up ya'll - LOL - I'm kidding... but I'm serious about how broken the AIs are - anyway.. - so, I'm still trying to find ways to beat them or to at least be more competitive against them without simply turning them to a lower level - that should NEVER be the 'solution' - the solution is for the devs to fix the AIs - period, shut up, etc.. - LOL - but anyway.. I'm still trying to find ways to be more competitive, etc, so that was when I noticed how the AIs 'manage' their tyre temps - which also explains why and how they always have perfect traction out of the corners (yes, it's also super acceleration that needs some adjustment in their coding/programming, but it's not just that) and also how their tyres always last longer than mine and how they can always get their fastest laps at the end of their stints when their tyres are supposed to be 'dead' in terms of grip and.. it ALL has to do with their tyres temps and how perfectly they can manage that..
- So, this is what the AIs do:
They are programmed to always keep their tyre temps at 92ºC, during the entire stint, no matter how fast or slow they go and also no matter what tyre compound they're on (Hards, Meds or Softs) - they start the race already at 92ºC (just like the player) and their temps remain there until they box for fresh tyres - you guys can see this by checking the race replays and putting the camera on their cockpits - you can see their tyre temps on their wheel dashboards.
When they box for fresh tyres, they leave the pitlane with tyres at 70ºC (just like the player), but they can easily warm their tyres up back to 92ºC and usually they need around 1 lap to do that (sometimes less than 1 lap, like on longer tracks like Belgium, for example), while the player needs about 2 and sometimes 3 (or more) laps to do the same, especially on the Hard compound, which is where the AI usually gets a bigger advantage over the players.
- So, this is what the players should do:
No matter if you're using one of the default car setups or a custom one, you should always try to make sure your TYRE CORE TEMPS are working on the ideal temperature range of 90ºC to 100ºC - anything below 90, or above 100 can cause the tyres to lose grip, which will make the car harder to drive and easier to spin/crash - and even if you're still able to keep the car on track, your performance will certainly decrease and you'll need to box for fresh tyres earlier than expected/planned..
- So, how exactly do I do that?
Well, first of all, you need to TEST all of that stuff and I suggest doing it at FP1 (or FP2 or FP3, but mainly FP1, if possible) - let's not forget you can test 'forever' and all you gotta do is to just restart the session and go for another round of tests and so on and on and on if you think 60 or 90 mins are not enough to do that and/or if you don't want to keep 'wasting' sets and sets of tyres for all of that..
We are gonna test and try different TYRE PRESSURE values.
I suggest to test with the MEDIUM compound, simply because if you find the ideal values with this compound, they should work just fine for both Hards and Softs as well.
The goal is to take about 5 to 10 laps in a row (yes, it's a 'long' test, because we need to simulate what we should see during a 'long' stint, but 5 to 10 laps already gives us a good idea of what should happen during your actual stint in the race, even if it's actually longer than 10 laps) and during these 5-10 laps, keep the TYRE/BRAKES TEMPS tab open on your MFD - you should keep an eye on the temperatures at the TOP of each tyre - those are the Tyre Core Temps (the ones that REALLY matter - trust me and don't worry much about the carcass/surface temps in the middle - the bottom temps are the brakes temps - no need to worry about these either) - and then, you must be sure the Tyre Core Temps on all 4 tyres are always somewhere between 90-100ºC - for the Medium tyres, they should be more precisely fluctuating from about 94/95ºC to 96/97ºC, tops, after at least 2 or 3 laps and sometimes more laps (that's why I suggest something between 5-10 laps, to be sure the tyre temps are on the ideal range and not going over the 'limit' after x laps) - and if so, congrats, you found the ideal tyre pressure values!
IMPORTANT: it's ok to find slightly lower values for the Hards and slightly higher values for the Softs, but as long as they are still inside that 90-100ºC temp range throughout the entire stint, you're good to go!
These values for tyre pressure on your car setup can VARIATE from track to track and sometimes you'll have to use different values for the front and for the rear tyres (although sometimes they can be the same - same bar size - and sometimes you can even get super fancy and try to be even more precise and use 4 different values, one for each tyre: front/rear, left/right, etc)..
So far, I found the ideal values for me on tracks like Melbourne, Imola and Miami, for example - completely different tracks and then different values for tyre pressures on each one of them.
Just to give you guys a general idea and some practical examples, right now, the values that are working for me are somewhat around the middle of the bar - not minimum and not maximum - so try to play with these mid-values and not with the extreme values.
- Last but not least:
The ideal values for each person will also depend on their car setup as a whole and on their driving style as well, of course, so don't expect to simply copy the same values from someone else, because they may/might work (or not) for you - I insist: be patient, go through your own tests and find your own values - it will be worth doing it, trust me - also a good way to just practice and improve your driving skills overall!
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Sorry for the super long and probably super boring topic/text, but if you got to here and actually read everything, I can only say: thank you very much and I hope this helps you a bit!
Please, feel free to share your own findings, ideas, thoughts, opinions, experiences, knowledge, etc, etc, etc - cheers, everyone!
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P.S. I'm a small streamer (currently Affiliated) on Twitch, trying to grow and playing a LOT of F1 22 (Mainly MyTeam and Open Lobbies), so any support (followers, subs, etc) is super welcome - thanks in advance!
