Finding community setups and translating across sims
The faster and more complex the car, the more setup-dependent it is. A downloaded setup is worth chasing in GT3 and up, where a stiffer rear anti-roll bar or a half-degree of wing changes your laptime. In a Porsche 911 Cup or any slower spec car, the built-in baseline is fine and the difference between sets is minimal — your job there is to generate rotation with inputs, not adjustments.
Do you even need a downloaded setup?
Section titled “Do you even need a downloaded setup?”iRacing ships three kinds of setup, and people confuse them constantly.
- Baseline (built-in) — ships with every car. Conservative, deliberately understeery, stable. Slower cars run fine on it.
- Fixed — series-locked. Everyone runs the identical set, no tuning allowed. There is even a separate fixed qualifying setup in some series, which catches people out. (Why fixed setups exist and whether you need a downloaded set covers the choice in full.)
- Open — you tune freely or download a set. This is where setup shops live.
In open GT3 series almost nobody runs the baseline; most fast drivers carry a subscription. A sub-4k iRating driver swapping to a shop set reports a second-plus per lap at Spa and Le Mans. The counter-view is real too: at mid-pack iRating, simply softening the front ARB and trimming the wing on the baseline gets you to 2.6k, and some shops barely change the iRacing baseline before reselling it.
Where to find setups (free first)
Section titled “Where to find setups (free first)”iRacing
Section titled “iRacing”Start with the free stack before you pay for anything. Garage 61, Trading Paints, Crew Chief, and Race Labs are the core free companion tools. Garage 61 shares setups and compares telemetry against other drivers, and it pairs with MoTeC for deeper analysis. VRS (Virtual Racing School) is the oldest service, the only one covering oval, dirt, and rallycross, and it has a free tier.
When the baseline stops cutting it, the paid shops are Coach Dave Academy, Hymo (via Track Titan), Majors Garage, GO Setups, Grid & Go (endurance and special-event packs, with Garage 61 integration), p1doks, Craig’s, and PDS. Subscriptions are roughly comparable in price, and the major shops build their sets with top-split drivers. Paying is worth it once you are racing GT3 or prototypes seriously and want a neutral, rotation-friendly set instead of the understeery baseline.
Coach Dave Academy is the standard, delivered through its Delta app per car and track. Active community Discords share free sets for most GT3 grids — vet them the same way you would any download.
Assetto Corsa and AMS2
Section titled “Assetto Corsa and AMS2”RaceDepartment / OverTake hosts the largest free AC and AMS2 setup library. In Assetto Corsa you install sets through Content Manager. For AMS2 the free community sources cover most of what you need without a subscription.
How to vet a setup before you trust it
Section titled “How to vet a setup before you trust it”A listed laptime tells you nothing on its own. Before chasing an “alien” lap on Garage 61, check the poster’s iRating and the conditions — a lot of headline times are 2.5k drivers hotlapping on a clean track at the lowest track temp. A setup built for one fast qualifying lap is not a setup for a 40-minute race. Check the build or patch the set was made for, because a set from before a tire update can be slower than the current baseline. iRacing’s GT3 tire model was overhauled in 2025 Season 3 — the 2025 GT3 tire model update reworked grip recovery, temperature sensitivity, and aero, and the developers said outright you would need new setups across the board — and GT4 got the same treatment with new tires plus weight and power changes in the GT4 August 2025 update. Any GT3 or GT4 set or balance advice made before those builds may no longer apply. Skip ChatGPT-generated setups entirely; they are a known trap and people resell them.
Translating a setup to your own driving
Section titled “Translating a setup to your own driving”Load the downloaded set, then change one thing at a time. A shop set is built for the maker’s preference, not yours, so treat it as a starting point. If it understeers into slow corners, soften the front ARB or add front wing; if the rear steps out on throttle, soften the rear or add coast lock. Learn what each adjustment does — Chris Haye’s setup guide on YouTube is the standard cheat-sheet for the mechanism behind every slider. That conceptual knowledge is what makes you fast, and it is the part that transfers between sims.
How setup concepts carry between sims
Section titled “How setup concepts carry between sims”File formats do not transfer. iRacing uses .sto files in Documents\iRacing\setups\<carname>\; Assetto Corsa stores sets under Documents\Assetto Corsa\setups\<car>\<track>\; ACC uses .json files in Documents\Assetto Corsa Competizione\Setups\<car>\<track>\. You cannot drop an iRacing .sto into AC. Translation is conceptual, never file-level.
What does carry is the direction of every change, even when units and ranges differ:
| Adjustment | Stiffer / more = |
|---|---|
| Rear ARB | More rotation, more oversteer |
| Front ARB | More front grip, more understeer |
| Spring rates | Sharper response, less mechanical grip |
| Ride height (rear) | More rear aero load, more stability |
| Diff coast | More stability off-throttle, less entry rotation |
| Wing / aero | More high-speed grip, more drag |
| Brake bias forward | More stable braking, more front lockup |
| Bump / rebound | Controls how fast the car takes load |
Stiffer rear ARB equals more rotation holds in iRacing, ACC, AC, and AMS2 alike. Learn the table once and you can tune in any of them.
Where setups won’t save you
Section titled “Where setups won’t save you”A setup cannot fix inconsistent braking or a missed apex. In low-sensitivity cars — Porsche Cup, most road cars, spec series — the gains live entirely in your inputs. See pedals and racecraft fundamentals before you blame the garage.
Frequently asked questions
Do I even need to download a setup, or is the baseline fine?
The faster and more complex the car, the more setup-dependent it is. A downloaded set is worth chasing in GT3 and up, where a sub-4k iRating driver can find a second-plus per lap at Spa or Le Mans. In a Porsche 911 Cup or any slower spec car the built-in baseline is fine — your gains live in your inputs, not the garage. At mid-pack iRating, softening the front ARB and trimming the wing on the baseline is usually enough to get you to ~2.6k.
Why are 'alien' lap times on Garage 61 sometimes misleading?
A listed lap time tells you nothing on its own. A lot of headline times are 2.5k drivers hotlapping on a clean track at the lowest track temp. Check the poster's iRating and the conditions, and confirm the build or patch the set was made for — a set from before a tire update can be slower than the current baseline.
Where do I find iRacing and ACC setups for free?
iRacing's free stack is Garage 61 (telemetry comparison and shared setups, with MoTeC integration), Trading Paints, Crew Chief, Race Labs, and VRS's free tier — the only service covering oval, dirt, and rallycross. Paid shops include Coach Dave Academy, Hymo (via Track Titan), Majors Garage, GO Setups, Grid & Go, p1doks, and PDS. ACC uses Coach Dave's Delta app plus community Discords. AC and AMS2 are covered by the RaceDepartment / OverTake free library. Skip ChatGPT-generated setups — they are a known trap.
Can I copy a setup from one sim to another?
Not file-level. iRacing uses .sto files, Assetto Corsa stores per-car/track folders, and ACC uses .json — you cannot drop an iRacing .sto into AC. What does transfer is conceptual: the direction of every change. A stiffer rear ARB means more rotation in iRacing, ACC, AC, and AMS2 alike, so learn the direction table once and you can tune in any of them.