Stomp Tokyo

By Danny Chihdo

Microsoft Game Studios' Forza Motorsport™ doesn't just put you in the driver's seat—it puts you in full control of the garage, too. By tweaking, adjusting, and testing every aspect of your car, you can prepare saved car setups for each track so you're always ready for any career mode challenge or Xbox Live® race. This time out, we're looking at a few adjustments and slight modifications that make your laps around the tricky Tokyo Circuit course a bit more manageable. Just remember, no amount of tuning can compensate for an unprepared or lazy driver, so while you're testing your tune-ups use the opportunity to train on the track, too.

Don’t let neon Tokyo distract you.

Tires
The Tokyo Circuit has two devastating near-180-degree turns split up by straight stretches and hard right angle corners. You want to decrease grip on the front tires to make sure you don't over-steer on the corners, which can send you into a nasty spin that ends your race hopes almost instantly. At the same time, you want a teeny little bit more tire pressure than usual to improve your response time, as those corners can come up really quickly. For the rear tires, do almost exactly the same, but consider letting a little bit of tire pressure out to help prevent spinouts.

Get a grip.

Gearing
You're going to spend a lot of time on the Tokyo Circuit furiously accelerating over the short straight runs and just as quickly decelerating as yet another hard turn comes up. Adjust your gear ratios to be a bit higher than normal. This lets you shift more quickly, and therefore accelerate more quickly. In exchange, you're cutting down on your top speed, but on this circuit that's not as big a problem as you might think.

Now this, this is a problem.

Anti-Roll
The Anti-Roll bar has adjustable stiffness that has an impact on over- and under-steering as well. Keep it a little less than the default stiffness for Tokyo, or you run the risk of a possible rollover on the sharp corners.

Aero
"Aero" is, naturally, short for "Aerodynamics," and refers to adjustments you can make to the front and rear ends that literally makes the air itself help your control. Increased downforce on the front end is just the thing for Tokyo's surprises, while a little bit less on the rear end lets you swing the tail around on those one-eighties. Note that increased downforce hits your gas mileage if you let it.

Alignment
Camber: Camber, which is the angle of your wheels, can affect your cornering ability tremendously. Negative camber—i.e., the tires are farther apart at the bottom than they are the top—helps you maintain control on those maddeningly tricky Tokyo turns. Make camber a little bit more negative in front than in the rear.

Toe: Similar to camber, toe deals with the angle of the wheels, but front-to-back instead of top-to-bottom. To maintain a quick turning response time, increase your front toe-in slightly (think of it as making the car pigeon-toed) and your rear toe-out just as slightly.

Caster: This describes the forward angle of the suspension, which directly relates to your camber. Increase your caster to lower the amount of negative camber you need to use—when you're on the long stretches (and "long" is a severe understatement here), it gives you a more efficient tire position and cuts down on wear, which can be hit hard by adjusting either the camber or toe.

Maximize efficiency on straight-aways.

Your Mileage May Vary
Once you adjust these components, you should take your tuned car out for a test drive to see how it handles (remember, this is how I tuned my own car—you no doubt drive differently than I do). Then return to the menu and continue to fine-tune as needed. You're almost certain to require a little brake adjustment, and may want to tweak your springs and damping as well. Remember to save the car setup when you're happy with it, and you'll always be ready for the challenge of the Tokyo Circuit.

Even if you decide to attack the course with your Drivatar.

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