Core Modules

If you have completed the quickstart tutorial you already have a driveable vehicle. All of the settings
of that vehicle are default values so in this tutorial we will walk through all these settings and explain
them briefly.

Vehicle Settings(General)

• Update Rate(Hz) : Vehicles require more precise calculations(*) so regular frame update
rates may not be suitable for the task. This parameter sets the update frequency of the
vehicles so even if the frame rate is 30 or 60hz and the update rate is 250hz then the system
makes a couple of internal sub steps to make sure you will get a 250hz update rate. Keep in
mind that higher rates result worse performance. Starting with v1.2 substepping is supported
and it is the recommended approach. Additionally you can get a substep tick event from the
skeletal mesh component to use in blueprints.

• Mass : This is the mass of the vehicle body in kilograms and this value overrides the mass of
the physics body. Keep it close to realistic values.

• Inertia Scale : This value is a direct multiplier to the inertia tensor scale of the physics body.
Higher values result slower accelerations and more conservation of momentum. Experiment
with it as you like.

*https://www.lfs.net/forum/thread/48927-Racing-sim-physics-engine-rates
• Center of Mass Offset : The inertia and center of mass calculation is based on the physics
asset of the vehicle. If you use the custom collision component then you can use multiple
colliders with various sizes to achieve the desired effect which gives you the freedom to
position center of mass as you like and usually you do not need to alter this setting. Center of
mass has a dramatic effect on the handling of the vehicle so you can further tweak it with
this parameter.

• Use Custom Gravity : If checked you can manually provide a gravity value for this vehicle.

• Gravity : Gravitational acceleration vector to be used for this vehicle. You can also modify
this dynamically. Check CustomGravity map for an example.

• Handbrake Power : Normally brake powers are set per axle but if you want the rear wheels
to lock quicker with handbrake you can increase this value. This has little to no effect on
actual braking power but wheels lock more easily.

• Rolling Resistance Coefficient : This is the inherent friction factor of wheels. The applied
friction force increases linearly as the wheels rotate faster. You may adjust it to limit the
maximum speed but be aware that it also decreases the acceleration of the vehicle.

• Sticky Tire Max Speed : Pacejka tire model does not work well at low speeds. When the
velocity gets too small the calculations get problematic so tires can slide slowly on a slope
even if the vehicle is fully stopped. This is an experimental hacky solution to solve this issue.
When the vehicles velocity is below this speed(kmh) the tires will switch to sticky state. If you
keep this value at 0 then it is disabled. The effect of this parameter depends on substepping
and you may need to use a larger value if substepping is off.

 Wheel Reaction Force Scale : Tires generate friction forces to move the vehicle and
suspensions generate forces to keep the vehicle away from ground. If you want the
generated forces applied back to dynamic objects in your scene set this variable to 1.
Sometimes generated forces are too large for objects with low mass so you can use a smaller
value instead.

• Allow Wheel Rotation Against Engine : Suppose you are climbing a ramp in 1st gear and you
release the throttle and wait for the car to slow down and stop. Since there is no engine
stalling the car will start going backwards as if you have pressed the clutch if this value is set.
If not set, the wheels will resist going backwards.

• Detect Ground Velocity : Check this if you want your vehicle to stay on moving platforms.
Normally the ground velocity of the wheels are calculated just from the rigidbody but if you
enable this, the velocity of the rigidbody that the wheels have contact with, will be taken into
account while calculating the ground velocity. If the ground has no rigidbody then this will
have no effect.

 Suspension Hard Contact Scale : If used the suspensions will generate an extra impulse after
being fully compressed. This extra impulse will try to prevent the suspension from
compressing more then its limit. Using a reasonable number like 0.2 is recommended for
most cases, larger values can be jumpy.
• Suspension Relaxation Downforce : If this is checked the relaxation damper can generate
forces that pulls the vehicle towards the ground. This is mostly unnoticable at low values but
if you provide a large value to relexation damper then you can observe that the vehicle will
tend to stick to the ground even on bumpy surfaces. This is unrealistic but can be useful in
certain cases where you need stable vehicles on rough terrain.

• Suspension Tire Penetration : It is not always possible to keep the suspension compression
within limits. If the suspension is compressed beyond its limits then there are two
possibilities. If this is checked the tires will penetrate the ground else the tires will stay on
ground but can penetrate the fenders.

• Brake Engagement : Brake input takes values between 0 and 1. If brake is fully pressed it is 1
and if it is not pressed at all then it is 0. This value changes linearly as you press the pedal.
The brake input represents the X-Axis of this curve and the resulting value represents the
real brake power ratio. Brake pedal behaviour changes from vehicle to vehicle so you can
customise it with this curve. The default curve is a linear pedal.

Vehicle Settings(Telemetry)

• Text Color : Text color of telemetry ui.

• Show : Shows/Hides all telemetry windows available. Use other checkboxes for each
individual window to show or hide. A sample of all telemetry shown below.
 Vehicle Settings(Tracing)

• Query Type : This is the type of raycasting that is used to find the tire contact position. By
default raycasting is used. Sphere casting gives a nice 3d wheel effect but the downside is
that your wheels will behave like a sphere instead of a cylinder. Convex casting lets you
choose a convex collider to be casted. You can specify a custom mesh for each wheel in
wheel settings. If you do not specify a mesh collider the default cylinder model in
“FGearPlugin/Content/Mesh/Cylinder” is used. Cylinder casting is smooth like sphere casting
but not as precise since convex colliders have limited triangle counts. If you want to provide a
custom mesh for casting, make sure to set its transform params properly. Warning : Convex
casting is more sensitive to floating point precision issues so for ex. if you put a very large
plane below the vehicle, casts can return unexpected results and vehicles can shake wildly
for no reason.

• Ray Count : This represents the number of rays that are casted for each wheel. If you need a
3d wheel effect you can increase this value. Keep in mind that the higher number of raycasts,
the worse performance you get. For a racing game its better to keep its value at 1.

• Lateral Ray Count : If you need a wheel with real width than setting this value to 2 or 3 will
multiply the Ray Count value and the origins of raycasts are offset to left and right according
to the wheel width. For a racing game its better to keep its value at 1.

• Query Mobility Type : Select to query against static or dynamic or both.

 • Raycast Trace Channel : This is the collision channel parameter of LineTraceSingleByChannel
function*.

• Raycast Ignore Mask : Extra filtering parameter of type FMaskFilter. Quoting unreal engine
source comment : “This filter allows us to refine queries (channel, object) with an additional
level of ignore by tagging entire classes of objects...”

• Trace Complex : Whether we should trace against complex(mesh) collision.

• Convex Cast Shape : This is only enabled if you choose convex casting. If you do not specify a
mesh collider the default cylinder model in “FGearPlugin/Content/Mesh/Cylinder” is used. If
you want to provide a custom mesh for casting, make sure it's size and orientation matches
the sample asset or you need to play with the transform parameters below.

• Convex Shape Up : By default(Y-Up) the convex casting mesh is scaled with the radius on X
and Z axis and with the width on Y axis. If you provide a custom convex mesh, this parameter
lets you to change how the mesh is scaled.

• Convex Shape Rotation : Sets the local rotation of the convex casting mesh.

• Convex Shape Visible : If set, the convex casting mesh is displayed on its default position, this
is useful for debugging while tuning the casting mesh.

*https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-
US/Engine/Physics/Tracing/HowTo/SingleLineTraceByChannel/index.html

Vehicle Settings(DriveAssists)

• ABS : The antilock braking system helps to prevent wheels from locking up when braking.

• ASR : Traction control assist helps to prevent loss of traction of driven wheels when
accelerating.

• Under Steer Assist : Helps to prevent understeering by using brakes like an esp system. This
only works for 4 wheel vehicles.
• Min UnderSteer Angle : If the angle between the steering direction and the vehicles velocity
direction is above this value, under steer assist is activated.

• Over Steer Assist : Helps to prevent oversteering by using brakes like an esp system. This
only works for 4 wheel vehicles.

• Min OverSteer Angle : If the angle between the steering direction and the vehicles velocity
direction is above this value, over steer assist is activated.

• Front AntiRoll : Anti roll bars help to reduce body roll during fast cornering. Front antirollbars
help to reduce oversteering. This only works for 4 wheel vehicles. Current implementation of
antiroll bars transfer spring force between wheels which is kinda realistic but as the values
get close to %100 instabilities may occur so try to keep it around %50. There is also an
alternative(unrealistic but effective) implementation in ArcadeAssists.cs script.

• Rear AntiRoll : Rear anti rollbars help to reduce understeering. This only works for 4 wheel
vehicles.

Engine Settings

• Torque Curve : The engine torque is the result of this curve scaled with the scale parameter.
The X axis of the curve represents engine rpm and Y axis is the torque value in Nm. There are
real world vehicles engine curves available on the internet, copying those curves is a good
way to start.

• Torque Scale : This is the direct multiplier of engine torque curve. Final engine torque is :
Curve Result x Scale. Normally you would keep this as is but you can alter it for temporary
engine boosts.

• Friction Torque : This is a constant friction factor(multiplied with rpm) that slows down the
engine. Higher values result more engine brake and faster rpm rev downs. Lower values has
opposite effect so to determine a good value you can rev up in neutral gear and see how it
revs down.

• Idle Rpm : Minumum rpm value of the engine, currently there is no stalling so the engine
always keeps revving.

• Limit Rpm : This is the maximum rpm that the engine can rev up to, after this point engine
input is blocked for a little time, see limiter time.
• Limiter Time : When the rpm value reaches the limit value the throttle input is blocked for
this long. It is measured in miliseconds. Experiment with it but keep in mind that if the engine
inertia is too low, engine rpm will fluctuate a lot so you better keep it as low as possible.

• Engine Inertia : This effects the acceleration/deceleration of the engine. Inertia has direct
effect on the acceleration of the vehicle so avoid too low or high values. To determine a good
value you can rev up/down in neutral gear and see how it behaves.

Transmission Settings

• Auto Change : When set to true gears are changed automatically according to the gear
up/down values.

• Auto Reverse : When set to true the transmission automatically goes to rear gear when you
brake and stop. Also the same thing happens when you are going backwards and push the
throttle, this time the transmission automatically goes to first gear. This only happens when
Auto Change is set.

• Auto Clutch : When set to true the transmission automatically manages the clutch input for
you. Set this to false if you want to manually operate the clutch.

• Change Time : When a gear change happens first the transmission goes to neutral and then
switches to the next gear, this value determines how long this process takes in miliseconds.

• Gear Up Ratio : Suppose you drive in 1st gear, the maximum speed that you can achieve with
this gear is calculated(mxs) and if you go over (gearup ratio * mxs) then the gear is changed.
 • Gear Down Ratio : Suppose you drive in 2nd gear, the maximum speed that you can achieve
with the previous gear(1st) is calculated(mxs) and if you go below (geardown ratio * mxs)
then the gear is changed.

• Clutch Engage Time : Before changing gears, the clutch is fully disengaged. After gear change
is completed, it takes this amount of time to reengage the clutch. Usually this value should
be equal or lower than the change time.

• Clutch Power Scale (%) : This is a coefficient to the power transfer of the clutch(between the
engine and the wheels). Do not change it if you really need to. Lower values will result high
differences between engine and wheel rpms. Higher values will force both rpm values to be
in sync but the engine rpm can behave erratic.

• Clutch Engagement : There is an internal variable called ClutchState which takes values
between 0 and 1. If clutch is full pressed it is 1 and if it is not pressed at all then it is 0. This
value changes linearly as you press the pedal. The ClutchState represents the X-Axis of this
curve and the resulting value represent the real clutch power ratio. Clutch pedal behaviour
changes from vehicle to vehicle but generally try to leave a dead zone before engaging and
then quickly raise the power ratio. If you do not provide a curve a default curve is created
which is a simple example to this.

• Gear Ratios : This is an array of values which are used for calculating the final transmission
ratio along with final drive. If you need a 5 speed car then the size should be 6 with the
addition of rear gear. So the first 5 values are forward ratios and the last one is the rear gear
ratio. All values should be positive and you can find real cars values on the internet. The
default vehicle has only 1 forward and 1 backward gear so you can try the values in the
image above.

• Final Gear Ratio : The transmission value is calculated from the current gear ratio and this
final gear ratio(also called final drive). In real cars this is the gear ratio between the
driveshaft and the axle which can determine the acceleration and the top speed of the
vehicle. Higher values result faster accelerations and lower top speeds.

Axle Settings

This project is currently focused on 2 axled cars but you may add additional axles if you want*. Axles
are indexed/named with numbers starting with 0.
 • Differential Type : If you do not know what a differential is check some videos**. Currently
open, locked and lsd differentials are supported.

• Differential Strength : This parameter is only available if lsd type is selected and determines
the magnitude of the extra force that is applied to the gripping wheel.

• Torque Share : The ratio of the torque received from engine. In reality the sum of the shares
should be 1 but it is not constraint.

• Max Steer Angle : Maximum angle(degree) of steering for this axles wheels. For non steering
wheels just leave it at 0.

• Ackerman Coefficient : Ackerman steering values are automatically calculated from this axle
and the reference axle. This value determines the rate this calculation is applied. Providing
negative values for anti ackerman is also possible.

• Ackerman Reference Axle : Ackerman calculation is based on the current axle and the axle
that is referenced by this index value. Normally this value is the index of the rear axle.

• Has Handbrake : If set this axles wheels are effected by handbrake.

• Camber Angle : Camber angle value in degrees. This value visually changes the wheels roll
angle and is fed to the tire model. To get a better idea of camber and toe check some
videos***.

• Toe Angle : Toe angle value in degrees. This value visually change the wheels yaw angle and
modifies the direction of the force output of the wheel.

* Add new FGearAxle component then add the following three child components :
FGearWheelOptions and 2 x FGearWheel(left/right).

**https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYAw79386WI

***https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D_vg8gnMms

Wheel Settings

• Enabled : You can check/uncheck this to enable/disable a wheel. The effect is only physical
so if you want to hide the disabled wheel you need to do it yourself.

• Side : Each axle must have two wheels and this parameter tells if this is the left or the right
wheel. You should only set this parameter when you first create the wheels.
• Bone Name : Name of the bone that correspons to this wheel. This is used to find the initial
position of the wheel. It will be positioned and rotated according to the simulation.

Wheel Options Settings(Tire)

• Tire Model : This is a reference to the TireModel class that is used for calculating wheel
forces. This list will only include the tiremodel classes of default tires and additional tire
model classes that you derive from. If you want to create a new tire model, create a new
blueprint class and derive from a tire model class (ex. FGearTire96) and then you can alter its
variables.

• Lateral Friction : The output of the tire models lateral force is multiplied with this value. Even
if you use large values the final tire force will be limited. If you want to directly adjust
resulting forces then you should use the scaler parameters above.

• Longitudinal Friction : The output of the tire models longitudinal force is multiplied with this
value. Even if you use large values the final tire force will be limited. If you want to directly
adjust resulting forces then you should use the scaler parameters above.

• Tire Force/Moment Scalers : These scale parameters are direct multipliers to the resulting
forces so using values other than “1” is out of realism. All tire models generate Fx, Fy and My.
Mx and Mz are only generated by MF6.1 tire model.

• (Fx)Longitudinal Force Scale: The final longitudinal tire force is multiplied with this.

• (Fy)Lateral Force Scale: The final lateral tire force is multiplied with this.

• (Mx)Over-Turn Moment Scale: The final X-Axis moment is multiplied with this.

• (My)Wheel-Roll Moment Scale: The final Y-Axis moment is multiplied with this.

• (Mz)Self-Align Moment Scale: The final Z-Axis moment is multiplied with this.

• Tire Pressure : Inflation pressure of tire in bars. The default value 2 bars is about 29 psi. This
is only used by MF6.1 tire model.
 Wheel Options Settings(Wheel)

• Radius : Radius of the wheel in meters. You can see the resulting circle in play mode if you
enable telemetry gizmos.

• Width : Wheels do not have real width in this system but the width(in meters) parameter is
integrated to effect one thing. If you set lateral ray count to 2 or 3 then the distance between
the rays are calculated using the width value. The best practice is to use realistic values and
you can preview the tire width with the gizmos drawn.

• RimOffset : This is a lateral offset to the wheel rim. If your wheel position does not match
with the physical wheel position you can adjust by using this value. You can activate gizmos
from telemetry settings to see if your physical wheels match your wheel models.

• CastOffset : This is an offset along the suspension normal. Use a positive value to offset the
origin of ray/shape casts. If your wheels get stuck under the ground when it falls from height
then you can try using this. Do not use a large value, try to keep the cast origins inside the
vehicle hull. You can view the ray origins with the telemetry gizmo.

• Mass : Represents the mass of the wheel and used for calculating the rotational acceleration
of the wheels. Lower mass wheels tend to spin more and higher mass wheels spin less. Too
small values usually result jittery behaviour and too high values limit accelerations so try to
experiment and find logical values.

• Brake Torque : Brake torque applied when the braking input is %100. If you need more
torque for handbrakes, there is a parameter for that in General Settings.

Warning : If you modify a variable(from code or blueprint) that is found in the FGearWheelOptions
class, the change will not be in effect until you call FGearAxle::applyWheelOptions method. Check the
Modification maps blueprint for an example.
 Wheel Options Settings(Suspension)

• Up Travel : Total suspension spring length is divided into up&down travel values. This is the
maximum distance in meters that your suspension will compress after the default pose. This
will not effect the visible ride height.

• Down Travel : This is the maximum distance in meters that your suspension will extend after
the default pose. This value is the one that will effect the visible ride height.

• Spring Rate : Suspension spring force per mm, total force is SpringRate x TotalLength. If your
spring rate is not sufficient then you can not get the desired ride height so you are
recommended to open telemetry gui and tweak accordingly.

 Compression Damper: Suspension compression damper force per 1 ms velocity. This value is
used when suspension is compressing and it absorbs some of the spring force and reduces
suspension oscillations.

• Relaxation Damper : Suspension relaxation damper force per 1 ms velocity. This value is
used when suspension is compressing and it absorbs some of the spring force and reduces
suspension oscillations. Also see Suspension Relaxation Downforce.

• Preload : This is the percentage of suspension length that is already compressed while it is
fully extended.

Suspensions have a great effect of your vehicles driving behaviour. To get a better idea of
suspensions check some videos : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_EAWKGvSp0
 AeroDynamics Settings

• Drag Coefficient : Aero drag is calculated using a unit area factor, vehicle speed and air
density constant. This value is multiplied with the result of this calculation. The direction of
the force is always the opposite of vehicles velocity.

• DownForce Coefficient : Just like drag force, the calculated down force is multiplied with this
value. The direction of the down force is against the gravity.

• DownForce X-Offset : If you want the down force to be applied more to the front of the
vehicle give a positive value in meters and negative for the rear side.
 Input Settings

To use the standard input component first you need to define axis mappings in your project settings.
Below image shows a sample setup for some of the inputs. Steering wheel input is tested with a
logitech G29 wheel and if you want to use a steering wheel you need to activate the raw input
plugin* of unreal. After setting up the axis mappings the rest is pretty easy.

*https://docs.unrealengine.com/en-US/Gameplay/Input/RawInput/index.html

• Enabled : If unchecked user inputs will not have any effect. For example if you want your
vehicle to be controlled by AI then you should uncheck this.

• Use Combined Axis : This applies only to throttle, brake and steering controls. If you want to
use a combined axis like Vertical Axis for throttle/brake controls and Horizontal Axis for
 steering then enable this. If you want to use seperate axis for those then uncheck this option
and setup proper axis values.

• Controller : Type of the controller : Keyboard, joystick or wheel. Most of the controls can
work at the same time, for ex. even if you select keyboard you can play with joystick too.

• Shifter Type : Type of the shifter : Auto, sequential or manual. If the AutoChange option of
the transmission is checked this selection has no effect but if you want to manually change
gears then you can choose a sequential mode or full manual mode.

• Vertical Axis : This is a combined axis for throttle and brakes. Range : [-1, 1].

• Horizontal Axis : This is the combined steering axis name. Range : [-1, 1].

• Throttle Axis : If you uncheck Use Combined Axis option you can assign an axis for throttle
with this. Range : [0, 1].

• Brake Axis : If you uncheck Use Combined Axis option you can assign an axis for braking with
this. Range : [0, 1].

• Left Axis : If you uncheck Use Combined Axis option you can assign an axis for left steering
with this. Range : [0, 1].

• Right Axis : If you uncheck Use Combined Axis option you can assign an axis for right steering
with this. Range : [0, 1].

• Clutch Axis : Clutch axis for manual transmission. Range : [-1, 1] but internally normalized to
[0,1].

• Handbrake Axis : Handbrake input axis. Range : [0, 1].

• Shift Axis : This is a combined axis for gear up and gear down. Range : [-1, 1]. This is only
activated in sequential gear mode.

• Shift 1/2/../R Axis : Axis names for each gear. Range : [0, 1]. These are only activated in
manual gear mode.

• Steer Speed Curve : If you want the steering speed to decrease as the vehicle goes faster you
can use this curve. The x-axis represents speed in kmh and the y-axis is the steering speed.

• Steer Limit Curve : If you want the maximum steering angle to be limited as the vehicle goes
faster you can use this curve. The x-axis represents speed in kmh and the y-axis should be a
value between 0 and 100. 100 means steering is not limited and 0 means no steering possible
at all. The limit angle is calculated as (value/100) * MaxSteerAngle.

• Steer Input Gravity : If the current steering angle and the desired steering angle have
different signs than current steering speed is multiplied with this value. This lets user to
counter steer more easily with the keyboard or joystick.
 • Steer Sensivity : This value is only used when the controller is a wheel. This determines how
fast the steering value catches up with the input axis value. Higher values result sharper
steering.

• Steer Range : The percentage of steering range. For ex. if you set this to %10 then a %10
input will result %100 steering. Another example is that a steering wheel with 900 degress of
working range needs 450 degrees of rotation to make a full turn but if this value is %10 then
a 45 degrees of rotation will make a full turn.

• Steer Deadzone : Input values below this value are discarded. A small dead zone is mostly
usefull.

• Steering Assist : Steering assist tries to steer towards the direction that the vehicle body
travels.

• Steering Assist Threshold : If the angle between the steering direction and the vehicles
velocity direction is above this value, steering assist is activated.

• Throttle Sensivity : This determines how fast the throttle value catches up with the input axis
value. Higher values result sharper throttle.

• Throttle Range : The percentage of throttle range. Works similar to steering range.

• Throttle Deadzone : Input values below this value are discarded. A small dead zone is mostly
usefull.

• Braking Sensivity : This determines how fast the braking value catches up with the input axis
value. Higher values result sharper braking.

• Braking Range : The percentage of braking range. Works similar to steering range.

• Braking Deadzone : Input values below this value are discarded. A small dead zone is mostly
usefull.

• Clutch Sensivity : This determines how fast the clutch value catches up with the input axis
value. Higher values result sharper clutch engagement.

• Clutch Range : The percentage of clutch range. Works similar to steering range.

• Clutch Deadzone : Input values below this value are discarded. A small dead zone is mostly
usefull.

Note : If you want to override standard input results without disabling you can override
“overrideInputTick” function of the vehicle and make any changes you need. Check Modification.map
for an example.
 Replication Settings

FGear replication has three main tasks:

1. Input replication : Local players send inputs to the server, server replicates back.
2. State replication : Server sends kinematic states to the clients, clients use a dead reckoning
algorithm to make things smooth.
3. Client prediction : Predict clients movement, make corrections according to servers state
updates.

Warning : Client prediction is not available yet.

Note : To use the same settings for all vehicles go to ProjectSettings->Game->FGearCommon and
check OverrideSettings option.

 Enabled : If unchecked fgear replication has no effect at all.

 Input Sendrate : Send inputs at this rate, for ex. 50 per second means an rpc is called every
20 miliseconds.
 Input Buffer Size : To compansate for bad network conditions we need to send a buffer of
inputs to the server(inputs are delta encoded). This will only effect the buffer size that the
clients local player sends to the server, the server will replicate a single input struct to the
other clients. If you keep this too low the server will starve for inputs and if you set it too
high you will waste bandwidth. To find a good value define a maximum acceptable ping value
and then divide it by the send time.
For ex. 160ms ping and 50 send rate -> 160/(1000/50) = 8
 State Replication : If this is unchecked the server will not send any state data to the clients.
For ex. if you want to use the input replication along with regular pawn replication or an
alternate system you can uncheck this.
 Client Prediction : TODO
 State Sendrate : Server sends states at this rate, for ex. 20 per second means an rpc is called
every 50 miliseconds. The dead reckoning algorithm works fine with lower values so you can
keep this lower than input sendrate.
 Save/Load Vehicles

Warning : This is only intended to be used as an editor tool not to be used in realtime. Additionally
due to a problem with the unreal editor, it can be problematic to save/load from the blueprint editor
window. When blueprint window is open and the viewport tab is not selected, extra axle
components(axles other then front/rear) can not be retrieved so it is safer to save/load from regular
details panel or make sure the viewport panel is active in blueprint window. Also when you load a
configuration the changes will not effect the instances in a scene so you need to click the “Reset
Instance Changes to Blueprint Default” button.

 Save : Asks for a save location and creates a json file that contains all serialized fields of the
vehicle.
 Load : Loads the selected json file, retrieves the saved settings and applies to the current
vehicle.
 Tire Models

FGear uses pacejka’s magic formula tire modelling approach. This is a curve fitting algorithm and it
has no releation to physical properties of a tire but it has great precision and widely used in lots of
fields. Pacejka’s formula has multiple versions but the fundamentals are the same. FGear uses
pacejka96 and MF6.1 version but a simplified version is also available. The default tire model classes
(FGearTireSimple, FGearTire96, FGearTireMF61) can be used right away. If you want to make a new
tire model you can simply create a new blueprint class and derive from one of the tire mode classes.
All available tire models will be listed in wheel options.

TireSimple : This version has only 4 parameters(B,C,D,E) and is independent from load or camber.

B : Stiffness - C : Shape - D : Peak - E : Curvature

Tire96 : This is the pacejka96 tire model and it has many parameters. There are lots resources
available on the internet about tire models so if you want to learn its details you can easily find them
but the real deal is about finding good parameter sets. Real pacejka sets are not free and not easy to
come by. The default parameters provided in this package are a good starting point for you to tweak
and also check the link below for a couple of lateral parameter sets :
http://www.avonmotorsport.com/resource-centre/downloads

List of longitudinal friction pure slip paremeters:

PCX1 : Shape factor Cfx for longitudinal force

PDX1 : Longitudinal friction Mux at Fznom
PDX2 : Variation of friction Mux with load
PEX1 : Longitudinal curvature Efx at Fznom
PEX2 : Variation of curvature Efx with load
PEX3 : Variation of curvature Efx with load squared
PEX4 : Factor in curvature Efx while driving
PKX1 : Longitudinal slip stiffness Kfx/Fz at Fznom
PKX2 : Variation of slip stiffness Kfx/Fz with load
PKX3 : Exponent in slip stiffness Kfx/Fz with load
PHX1 : Horizontal shift Shx at Fznom
PHX2 : Variation of shift Shx with load
PVX1 : Vertical shift Svx/Fz at Fznom
PVX2 : Variation of shift Svx/Fz with load
List of lateral friction pure slip paremeters:

PCY1 : Shape factor Cfy for lateral forces

PDY1 : Lateral friction Muy
PDY2 : Variation of friction Muy with load
PDY3 : Variation of friction Muy with squared inclination
PEY1 : Lateral curvature Efy at Fznom
PEY2 : Variation of curvature Efy with load
PEY3 : Inclination dependency of curvature Efy
PEY4 : Variation of curvature Efy with inclination
PKY1 : Maximum value of stiffness Kfy/Fznom
PKY2 : Load at which Kfy reaches maximum value
PKY3 : Variation of Kfy/Fznom with inclination
PHY1 : Horizontal shift Shy at Fznom
PHY2 : Variation of shift Shy with load
PHY3 : Variation of shift Shy with inclination
PVY1 : Vertical shift in Svy/Fz at Fznom
PVY2 : Variation of shift Svy/Fz with load
PVY3 : Variation of shift Svy/Fz with inclination
PVY4 : Variation of shift Svy/Fz with inclination and load

List of longitudinal friction combined slip paremeters:

RBX1 : Slope factor for combined slip Fx reduction

RBX2 : Variation of slope Fx reduction with kappa
RCX1 : Shape factor for combined slip Fx reduction
REX1 : Curvature factor of combined Fx
REX2 : Curvature factor of combined Fx with load
RHX1 : Shift factor for combined slip Fx reduction

List of lateral friction combined slip paremeters:

RBY1 : Slope factor for combined Fy reduction

RBY2 : Variation of slope Fy reduction with alpha
RBY3 : Shift term for alpha in slope Fy reduction
RCY1 : Shape factor for combined Fy reduction
REY1 : Curvature factor of combined Fy
REY2 : Curvature factor of combined Fy with load
RHY1 : Shift factor for combined Fy reduction
RVY1 : Kappa induced side force Svyk/Muy*Fz at Fznom
RVY2 : Variation of Svyk/Muy*Fz with load
RVY3 : Variation of Svyk/Muy*Fz with inclination
RVY4 : Variation of Svyk/Muy*Fz with alpha
RVY5 : Variation of Svyk/Muy*Fz with kappa
RVY6 : Variation of Svyk/Muy*Fz with atan (kappa)
TireMF61 :This is the magic formula 6.1 tire model and it has many more parameters(over 100).
Tire96 is limited to Fx and Fy outputs but this one also generates momentum effects namely Mx, My
and Mz. The details of this model is covered in Pacejkas Tire and Vehicle Dynamics book. The default
parameter set is taken from the book but the parameters of pacejka 96 could also be adapted. The
reference parameters like Reference Load, Reference Camber and Reference Tire Pressure are for
previewing so they do not effect the tire model and they are not saved.
Nominal Load : This value is also used in pacejka formula and here is a good explanation :
https://www.tut.fi/ms/muo/vert/11_tyre_as_car_component/handling_braking_pure.htm

Quoting from that source:

The nominal tyre load is related to the maximum admissible static load for the specific temperature and speed
index, usually referred to as the ETRTO value(European Tyre and Rim Technical Organisation). The speed
index indicates the maximum speed for which the tyre is allowed to be used, before it destroys itself due to
overheating, as a result of high-frequency standing waves responsible for a strong increase of internal
deformation power being converted into heat
Choosing the nominal value Fz0 being equal to 80% of this ETRTO value, a reasonable choice for Fz0 is listed in
table below:

Class Fz0 [N] Example

Compactclass 3000 VW-Polo

Middleclass 5000 VW-Passat, BMW-5,..

Topclass 6000 Audi A8

Hence, a specific nominal tyre load is related to a class of tyres, with the same maximum allowable operating
speed. Different nominal tyre loads refer therefore to different classes of tyres, in contrast to the variation in
tyre load for one specific tyre (due to static load variations, load transfer during cornering, etc.).

Nominal Tire Pressure : This value is required by the MF6.1 tire model for the pressure dependent
effects. Normally this can be set to the default tire pressure(P) of the tire. Keep it between P - 0.5
and P + 0.5 bars.

Force Symmetry : If checked the negative side of the tire model curves will be symmetrical to the
positive sides. Some tire model parameters can shift the origin of tire model curves and it might be
desirable to avoid that but in most cases leave this disabled.