Tuning
Tuning cheat sheet
What every slider does, and what to change when the car misbehaves. Start with the fixes if you have a specific problem; drop into the table to look up a single setting.
The one rule that covers half of this: stiffen an end and it loses grip. A stiffer front (spring or bar) adds understeer; a stiffer rear adds oversteer. Soften the end you want to calm down, or stiffen the end you want to free up.On a front-driver that rule reads inverted in practice: the front tyres steer, brakeand drive, so you stiffen the rear to make the nose turn.
Fix it fast
+ stiffen / lock / raise · − soften / open / lower · ~ technique
Understeers on entry
- −Soften the front springs or ARB
- +Stiffen the rear
- +A touch more front brake bias
- −A little front toe-out
Snappy / oversteers on entry
- +Stiffen the front, or soften the rear
- +More locked coast diff
- −Less rear toe-out
Won’t rotate mid-corner
- +Stiffer rear ARB or springs
- −Open the power diff a touch (grip)
- −Lower the preload
Spins under power on the loose
- +Lock the power diff more
- +More preload
- ~Ease the throttle — technique
Pushes wide on power (FWD)
- +Stiffen the rear ARB or springs to rotate earlier
- −A little rear toe-out
- −Open the power diff a touch
- ~Get it turned before you get on the throttle
Won’t turn in (FWD)
- −Open the coast diff — keep the lift-off rotation
- +Stiffen the rear
- ~Lift or trail-brake to bring the tail round
Locks the wheels braking on loose
- −Lower the brake pressure
- ~Check the balance isn’t too far rear
Skittish / bottoms out on rough
- +Raise the ride height
- −Soften the springs
Slow onto the straights
- +Shorten the final drive (toward Acceleration)
Hits the limiter on straights
- −Lengthen the final drive (toward Top speed)
Every setting
← lower / looser end · higher / grippier end →
Braking
| Setting | ← lower / looser | higher / grippier → |
|---|---|---|
| Brake Balance | Rear Rotates the car on the brakes; too far and the rear locks and spins. | Front Stabler stops — the front locks first, which is safe and easy to feel; too far and it washes wide. |
| Brake Pressure | Low Harder to lock up — the safety net for dirt and gravel. | High Shorter stops where there is grip. |
| Front Balancer | Off Test it off. | On Test it on. |
| An unlabelled front assist with no documented rule. Try both ways in one braking zone and keep whichever feels better. | ||
Drivetrain
The diff acts on the rear axle: more locked on the loose (traction), more open on grip (turn-in). Locking it adds oversteer. Gearing ends are outcomes, not numbers.The diff acts on the front axle: more locked on the loose (traction), more open on grip (turn-in). Locking it adds understeer — the opposite of RWD. Gearing ends are outcomes, not numbers.| Setting | ← lower / looser | higher / grippier → |
|---|---|---|
| Differential · Poweraccel lock · driven axle | Open Frees turn-in on grip; on the loose it just spins the unloaded wheel.Lets the front wheels turn at their own speeds, so it fights your steering less; on the loose it just spins the unloaded wheel. | Locked Both rear wheels drive together for traction out of corners; understeers on entry and can snap on exit on tarmac.Both front wheels pull together for traction, but it pushes the nose wide under power and tugs at the steering. |
| The game labels this "Differential — Rear" for every car; on a rear-driver that is literally the rear axle.The game still labels this "Differential — Rear", but on a front-driver it controls the front axle — so locking it pushes the nose rather than stepping the tail out. | ||
| Differential · Coastdecel lock · driven axle | Open Less understeer while slowing on tarmac; a livelier rear when you lift.Frees the rear to swing on a lift — the rotation you actually want on entry. | Locked Steadies the rear under braking and lift on the loose.Calms the car under braking, but blunts the lift-off rotation a front-driver leans on to turn in. |
| Differential · Preloaddriven axle | Open Less mid-corner understeer on grip.Less power-on push; lets the front wheels differentiate mid-corner. | Locked Mid-corner traction and stability on the loose.Mid-corner traction on the loose, at the cost of more nose-push. |
| Final Drive | Top speed Taller gearing — higher top end, lazier pull. Suits fast, open tarmac. | Acceleration Quicker off the line and out of corners, lower top speed. Suits tight, technical, loose tracks. |
| Forward Gearseach gear | Top speed A longer gear carrying more speed, with fewer shifts. | Acceleration A shorter gear with more pull that revs out sooner. |
Suspension
Stiffen an end and it loses grip — that is the lever for balance.| Setting | ← lower / looser | higher / grippier → |
|---|---|---|
| Springs · Front | Soft More front grip and compliance over rough or loose ground. | Stiff Sharper on smooth tarmac, but less front grip (understeer) and it skips over bumps. |
| Springs · Rear | Soft More rear traction and a calmer tail. | Stiff Rotates the car — less rear grip means oversteer. |
| Ride Heightfront / rear | Low Lower centre of gravity — tarmac stability and response; bottoms out on rough ground. | High Clears ruts and crests and pushes the tyre to the hard base; more roll, less tarmac stability. |
| Anti-roll Bar · Front | Soft More front mechanical grip over bumps. | Stiff Less roll and sharper on grip, but reduces front grip (understeer) and transmits bumps. |
| Anti-roll Bar · Rear | Soft More rear grip and stability. | Stiff Rotates the car — reduces rear grip for oversteer. |
Alignment
| Setting | ← lower / looser | higher / grippier → |
|---|---|---|
| Camberfront / rear | Neg More negative — grip in sustained high-load cornering, which tarmac rewards. | Pos Less negative — a flatter contact patch for braking and acceleration, which the loose wants. |
| Toefront / rear | Out Toe-out — sharper, more eager turn-in, but twitchier and it scrubs speed. | In Toe-in — straight-line stability; a little on the rear settles the car on the loose. |
| Ackermann | None Biased toward faster, more open corners. | Full Biased toward tight, low-speed corners. |
| How much more the inside front wheel steers than the outside. Not covered by the surface reference — the ideal depends on the track, not the surface. | ||
Steering & balance
Mostly preference, not lap-time-critical.| Setting | ← lower / looser | higher / grippier → |
|---|---|---|
| Steering · Lock to Lock | Low Less steering lock. | High More lock — bigger counter-steer angles for holding slides on the loose. |
| On a gamepad, Lock to Lock behaves as the readout shows. | ||
| Steering · Ratio | Low Slower steering response. | High Quicker steering response. |
| On a gamepad, set this one notch slower than shown. | ||
| Wedgeoversteer bias | Left Left cross-weight bias. | Right Right cross-weight bias. |
| Cross-weight shifts static load diagonally. Undocumented in this game — named "Oversteer Bias" in-game, but its exact effect here is untested. | ||
How settings work together
Balance is the difference between two ends — read it as a comparison.
Spring stiffnessRear>Front=rotates the carFront>Rear=pushes the nose
Understeer/oversteer is set by the ratio of front-to-rear stiffness, not how stiff the car is overall — and springs and bars pool into one number per axle. Same result two ways: stiffen the rear or soften the front both add oversteer.
Anti-roll barRear>Front=rotates the carFront>Rear=pushes the nose
A bar adds roll stiffness to its axle exactly like a spring does, so the same front-vs-rear rule applies. The difference is when it acts: only in roll, never on a bump that hits both wheels together.
Camber (negative)Front>Rear=frees the noseRear>Front=plants the tail
More negative front camber than rear frees the nose; more rear than front plants the tail. Set balance with the camber split first, then fine-tune with toe — toe scrubs speed, so keep it small.
Rear toeIn>Out=calms the rear, stable exitOut>In=frees the rear, rotates
Rear toe-in stabilises the tail and adds corner-exit understeer — useful to calm a loose rear; rear toe-out frees it toward oversteer. Any toe is drag, so keep the numbers small.
Brake balanceFront>Rear=stable stops, fronts lock firstRear>Front=rotates on the brakes, risks a spin
Braking throws weight forward, so a front-biased split is normal (50/50 locks the rears first). A softer rear or a higher car dives more and effectively wants a touch more front brake. Rear steps out on entry → move balance forward; nose ploughs → move it back.
Ride heightLow>High=less weight transfer — needs stiffer springsHigh>Low=clears ruts, more roll
Lower drops the centre of gravity and shrinks all weight transfer — a bigger grip win than limiting roll — but it costs travel, so it needs stiffer springs to avoid bottoming. On rough tracks don’t slam it: keep travel for the ruts and match springs to the height.
Ride height (rake)barely appliesRear>Front=almost nothing — there is no aero here
Rear-higher-than-front is an aero tool in the games it’s famous for, and Wreckfest has no aero. Strip that away and only a subtle forward weight nudge remains, which an arcade engine may not model. Don’t chase rake for balance — use springs and bars instead.
Wedge (cross-weight)barely appliesLF+RR>50%=hooks one-way turnsLF+RR=50%=neutral — what you want on normal tracks
Cross-weight is a diagonal adjustment (raising one corner loads it and its diagonal opposite), so off-centre wedge just makes the car handle differently left vs right. Only worth moving on a dedicated one-way oval; on tracks that turn both ways, leave it neutral.
Order and scope — not comparisons
Preload → power / coastpreload is the floor both ramps build on — set it first
Preload is the always-on baseline lock; the power and coast ramps build beyond it. More preload means the diff is calmer, more locked and slower to react everywhere; less frees rotation but is twitchier. Set preload first, then the two ramps.
Final drive → gearsfinal drive moves every gear; the ratios set the gaps
Final drive scales every gear at once — set it so you just hit redline in top at the end of the longest straight — then space the individual gears so the ones you use most sit in the engine’s strong rev band. It’s the product (final × gear) that counts.
Bars ↔ springssame roll stiffness, different job — bars act only in roll
Both add roll stiffness, but a spring reacts to every bump while a bar reacts only in roll. On loose ground, carry cornering balance on the anti-roll bars and keep springs softer for compliance — but a very stiff bar ties the two wheels, so a one-wheel rut upsets the whole axle.
Grounded in the site's tuning reference. Percentages elsewhere describe position along a slider's travel, since Wreckfest's readouts can exceed 100%.