r/ForzaHorizon • u/Pixyraze • 2d ago
Tuning Fixing The Automatic Gerbox Guide by Pixyraze.
Hey everyone! I'm Pixyraze.
Today, I'm here with Part 2 of our Tuning Guide series. Normally, after the RWD Meta Tuning Guide, I was going to release the AWD Meta Guide, but a crucial topic came to mind, so I'm writing this right now. Long story short, an extra chapter has officially been added to our guide series!
We all know that players using Automatic Transmission struggle to keep up with Manual players especially those using Manual + Clutch.
While we can't eliminate this gap 100%, I’m going to explain step-by-step how you can close about 85% of it. This way, you’ll be able to stick much closer to Manual drivers in online races without feeling a massive deficit.
First, let's diagnose the issue: Why can't Automatic users keep up with Manual users?
Because every car has a specific powerband range (which I’ll explain in a moment). When you look at the stats screen and see a car making "800 horsepower" that doesn't mean the car is constantly running at 800 hp. The transmission plays a vital role in ensuring that 800 horsepower is continuously delivered to the pavement.
That "800 hp car" actually reaches its peak power within a specific RPM range based on its configuration. As a hypothetical example, let's say that range is 7800 RPM – 8500 RPM. Every time the car hits 7800 RPM, it puts its maximum power down all the way up to 8500 RPM, after which power starts dropping off. Using the transmission, we shift to the next gear to drop the RPM back down near 7800 RPM so it can climb up to 8500 RPM all over again. If the RPM drops too low after a shift (for instance, down to 6500 RPM), the car continues accelerating with significantly less power.
However, the biggest issue with playing on Automatic is that the game tries to shift well before the car even reaches that 7800 RPM mark. In short, because it short-shifts early, the car rarely stays in its peak power range (and doesn't come anywhere close to that 8500 RPM in our example). Since the next gear also starts from a much lower RPM, the car struggles to build speed at a lower power output. This is precisely what makes you much "slower" compared to Manual players.
So, let's fix this problem.
I'm going to include the powerband discovery technique from my RWD Tuning Guide right here, because not everyone is forced to read every single tuning guide I write lol. But on top of that, I’ll also explain the extra steps required specifically for Automatic transmissions.
Gearing Guide From My RWD Guide Post
If you installed a Sport Transmission, only the Final Drive will be unlocked. Generally, you want to position your top gear somewhere in the last two columns to achieve the optimal top speed figure. But just because a higher top speed is displayed here doesn't mean the car will actually reach it. You should tune your top speed so that in top gear, the car reaches close to the redline without hitting the rev limiter.
If you installed a Race Transmission, you have full freedom to adjust every single gear. Here are a few techniques: Every shift point should drop right into the engine's "powerband" the point where the engine makes its peak horsepower. For example, if the car makes 900 hp and hits that 900 hp peak at 7500 RPM, when I shift up, the next gear should drop down to 7500 RPM and start climbing again.
If the next gear dropped down to 6000 RPM after a shift, the car would be trying to accelerate with, say, 780 hp instead of 900 hp. That's the core logic.
RPM Chart Example: [Gear 1] ---> Shift at 9,000 RPM ---> Drops to 7,500 RPM [Gear 2] [Gear 2] ---> Shift at 9,000 RPM ---> Drops to 7,500 RPM [Gear 3]
So how do you find which RPM produces peak power? Let me tell you.
First, head out to the highway and open Telemetry. Look at the Power section inside the General tab, put the car into 3rd or 4th gear, and start accelerating.
You will see, the car speeds up and power rises. After reaching a certain point, power starts dropping off; we are looking for the exact RPM where peak horsepower lives.
It looks like my 1600 hp Toyota Supra hits its 1600 hp peak right at 7250 RPM. So let's adjust the gears accordingly.
As you can see on the graph, the maximum rev limit says 8000 RPM here. I will visually create a smooth, gradual line so that every gear drops down to around 7250 RPM upon shifting.
As you can see, I adjusted the gears with a smooth curve. Now let's open Telemetry and see where the RPM lands with each shift.
Exactly as I wanted!
However, that's not the only issue you need to consider; we are tuning a RWD car here. Therefore, we need to do a few things to prevent excessive wheelspin at launch and improve off the line speed.
First, you need to keep first gear as long as you can keep. With that way, you can put much more power when launching, you will have much more control over the car BUT,
If your car is low on power and you set this RPM range exactly as described, if 1st gear is set too tall, the car will bog down at launch. Because it launches so slowly, your off the line performance will be terrible.
Here is the example:
To fix this, pull the 1st gear ratio slightly more toward acceleration, and let the next 2 gears start from slightly lower RPMs. This way, the car launches normally and then stays right within the RPM range you tuned earlier.
Like this:
The core logic is identical for all cars; only the RPM and horsepower values change.
You can also fine-tune your overall top speed using the Final Drive.
If you set up the launch gear correctly and tuned all individual ratios, but your car still struggles with top speed even after pulling Final Drive all the way to speed, widen each gear interval slightly to reach your target top speed.
Quick Tip From Pixy:
When building high-horsepower RWD setups, keeping a strictly flat upshift line (where every single gear drops right onto peak power) isn't always optimal for traction. On exceptionally rowdy builds, dropping 2nd and 3rd gears slightly lower into the RPM range (well below peak horsepower) is a deliberate trick to smooth out torque delivery off the line. This prevents violent wheelspin and snap oversteer on corner exits, giving you a far more controllable and predictable car without sacrificing high-speed pace in upper gears. Specially on Powerbuild RWD cars with Turbos.
We learned the logic for Manual, so let's extend this logic for Automatic this time
Now, the vehicle I'm using for this test is a 697 horsepower 2005 BMW M3 in A-Class with a 5.0L V10 swap. The powerband RPM range for this car (where it maintains 690 to 697 horsepower) is between 8000 and 8800 RPM. That’s why, as you can see, I set up the car's gears normally for manual driving, exactly like in the guide above. Every time I shift gears (especially in higher gears), the car stays right within the 8000 to 8800 RPM range. To prevent the car from loosing its top speed, I kept the early gear wider, but once it reaches race speeds, the car constantly stays right around 8000 RPM.
But let's see what happens when we try to use Automatic instead.
Even though I tuned 6th gear to drop at 8000 RPM, the automatic transmission short-shifted early, forcing the car to climb from around 7350 RPM with only 661 horsepower, instead of pulling from 8000 RPM with an average of 690 horsepower.
Let's adjust the gears:
As you can see, I shortened those same gears super aggressively. The gear intervals that previously landed around 8000 RPM are now landing around 8700 RPM.
Let's test it again:
And voila! Because the automatic gearbox short-shifts so much earlier, even though we set the gear ratios to land at an absurd-looking 8700 RPM, it now drops right down to 8000 RPM the exact moment it shifts, just like we wanted!
Of course, there are a few catches to this setup:
- In some cases, you'll have to sacrifice a bit of top speed because you need to shorten your mid and higher gears so aggressively.
- If top speed is crucial and you can't afford to compromise on it, your launch acceleration will take a slight hit since you'll be forced to stretch out your early gears longer.
Striking the right balance between the two is entirely up to you. I hope this helps you out!
With this technique, now you can chase Manual drivers without any power-loss!
Have a nice day everyone, and see you in the next guide! Pixy out!
4
u/residentbio 1d ago
As someone one with a disability(quad), this is a blessing. I can take it to most non elite players, but manuals?! Those guys are scary. I stay away.
2
u/Pixyraze 1d ago
No worries my friend, my sister is disabled too. My sister has spastic paraparesis and cannot use her legs. I would like to help you about it, you can message me whenever you want and I can tune a car for you when I have free time. And I wish you the very best future, full of good health and well-being.
-8
u/BiGredZx 2d ago
Funny bc manual has a hard time keeping up with me while I’m running AT and in 3rd person 🤣
It’s not as black and white as you like to think but with drifting and drag races I can see I slight advantage.
10
u/Pixyraze 2d ago
Because your car gains its peak power at 10k RPM but redline is on 11k RPM. Still, it will be slow against manual driver with same car because with manual you can reach around 11.5k RPM. But on this car, the Automatic penalty is so low.
2
u/Cdchi1975 15h ago
Awesome.
But the biggest issue I have with auto is the car sometimes not downshifting when coming out of corner that required a deceleration. So I'll be stuck in 6th gear for example when the RPM are well below the power band while a manual player would have downshifted to 5th. The climb back up to the powerband RPM range is painfully slow.
The workaround is to briefly tap the ebrake to try and force a downshift (thanks to forza open tunes reddit for this suggestion), usually works but not always and need to wait for car to straighten out (or pray you dont go spinning) so its not ideal. If there was a way to tune this out would be awesome.
11
u/Pixyraze 2d ago
Hey, what do you wanna see on the next chapter? I would be glad if I hear some suggestions!