ACTI, Motec and the Suspension

felan · Jun 28, 2016

Hi all,
I've been playing around with the ACTI plug-in, Motec and the Lotus25 @ Monza66 and looked at the Suspension -> Travel tab when opening the Motec workbook that was provided with ACTI.

I am really unsure what the values mean. I guess 'suspension travel' means the used range of possible supension travel.
And the 'Max Sus Travel' means the max. range of travel that could be used .
If my guess it correct, is it useful to limit the 'Max Sus Travel'? And if yes, how can this be archived.
Many thx for your help in advance!

ouvert · Jun 28, 2016

Google "motec suspension histogram" ... That and ride height is pretty much what you need for suspension setup in games.. And it is easy and fast to use

felan · Jun 29, 2016

I found this guide:
I was able to follow this guide until it says:

Then Add Damper Position-FL

somewhere in the middle of the guide.
But I can't find the Damper Position-FL in the mentioned drop-down-list. Any suggestions? Or am I following the wrong guide?

Storm Rider · Jun 30, 2016

There is no damper position in AC. The game calculates it directly via Wheel Travel instead, saving one calculation. If you still want to calculate it, just multiply the Wheel Travel range by the Damper´s Motion Ratio

felan · Jun 30, 2016

thx for the explanation Storm Rider. I guess I'm out here, this goes far beyond my abilities

m_mirk · Jun 30, 2016

I find this also very interesting. I have read your link felan. I was impressed that it’s more or less a relative thing with the shape of the Histogram. I also tried to build the Motec template for AC. But there was also the damper position missing.

Storm Rider where can I get the Damper Motion Ratio from?

I really want to get better with using Motec. It would be great if Setup Files would be linked with Motec Data to see better where to improve and why the setup is how it is.

Borbor · Jun 30, 2016

there is a setup sheet function in the i2pro iirc (and i'm sure i rc'd because i've used it before in a real world application)

as for where to improve and why the setup is how it is, the rudimentary data will only tell you the very basics; the beauty of i2pro is the math functions that it lets you write on your own. If you know what to look for or have an idea of manipulating the data to get you the info, that's easily done provided the data is logged.

Storm Rider · Jun 30, 2016

m_mirk said:
I find this also very interesting. I have read your link felan. I was impressed that it’s more or less a relative thing with the shape of the Histogram. I also tried to build the Motec template for AC. But there was also the damper position missing.

Storm Rider where can I get the Damper Motion Ratio from?

I really want to get better with using Motec. It would be great if Setup Files would be linked with Motec Data to see better where to improve and why the setup is how it is.

I don´t know if you will be able to use it directly into the Telemetry software, but to get the motion ratios, either the spring or the damper´s, you will need to figure it from a suspension blueprint, then, for example, the wheel travelled 10mm, you will multiply this number by the motion ratio.

David Dominguez · Jun 30, 2016

The very first thing with telemetry is to know what do you exactly need/want to do with it.

felan · Jul 1, 2016

My concern was having an 'easy' to read motec-project like described here for setting up the dampers, suspension and the ride height.

PhilS13 · Jul 1, 2016

@felan I don't know why many people are sending you in all crazy directions. The original question was fairly simple.

Your guesses were correct and limiting the suspension travel range is only really useful on cars that generate big downforce. The Lotus 25 doesn't. You would do that in AC with the advanced suspension setup tab which the Lotus doesn't even have. It would not change the Max sus travel FL number shown in motec but would effectively prevent the suspension travel from reaching high travel.

Ride height channels in AC are a front and rear centerline points. When the car rolls the outside will be lower than motec ride height so use carefully. This shouldn't be a problem with the Lotus.

No need for motion ratio stuff at all. DamperPositionFL for AC is Suspension Travel FL. Simple as that.

felan · Jul 1, 2016

PhilS..you are my hero..thx a lot for clarifying my guesses and answering my qustion so clearly

Now I start again with modifying the workbook

Zzyzx · Dec 2, 2016

I have a question too. In the ACTI workbook, on the Travel tab there is 'Max Sus Travel FL', which seems to be set to 0mm, and 'Max Sus Travel FR', which seems to be set to 80mm. Do I need to change these to reflect the values shown in the SUSPENSION ADV. page of the setup screen?

If so, how do I do that?
If not, what is that value for?

Thanks.

PhilS13 · Dec 3, 2016

Zzyzx said:
I have a question too. In the ACTI workbook, on the Travel tab there is 'Max Sus Travel FL', which seems to be set to 0mm, and 'Max Sus Travel FR', which seems to be set to 80mm. Do I need to change these to reflect the values shown in the SUSPENSION ADV. page of the setup screen?

If so, how do I do that?
If not, what is that value for?

Thanks.

most likely a bug. FL and FR should be equal at all times. Nothing in car setup will affect this channel, it is part of the suspension data that is not adjustable.

You can still adjust travel range in SUSPENSIONS ADV to limit the travel, it just won't be shown in ACTI.

fortyfivekev · Dec 3, 2016

I was just looking at some ACTI output in MoTeC for the Porsche RSR and both Max Sus Travel FL and Max Sus Travel FR are zero so I think there is definitely a bug there somewhere.

PhilS13 · Dec 3, 2016

fortyfivekev said:
I was just looking at some ACTI output in MoTeC for the Porsche RSR and both Max Sus Travel FL and Max Sus Travel FR are zero so I think there is definitely a bug there somewhere.

Yes. Most likely it's when suspension type is STRUT the 0 mm shows up. DWB works fine.
@Zzyzx has probably mixed up seeing front 0 and rear 80 for front left 0 and front right 80.

fortyfivekev · Dec 4, 2016

Makes sense as I was driving the 962 before and everything seemed okay for that.

Zzyzx · Dec 4, 2016

PhilS13 said:
Yes. Most likely it's when suspension type is STRUT the 0 mm shows up. DWB works fine.
@Zzyzx has probably mixed up seeing front 0 and rear 80 for front left 0 and front right 80.

To make it clearer, what I mean is that on the graph itself there is a yellow tick mark at the 0 and 80 points and a line stretches across the graph at that point. What does it mean? It looks like it is possibly moveable by adjusting a value in Motec.