CarSim: Ideal for Motorsports
CarSim includes everything needed to develop open wheel or closed wheel cars for racing on road circuits and oval tracks and, to a limited extent, wheeled off road vehicles. CarSim even includes example race tracks, vehicles, chassis components and development tests.
Simulations run so fast that CarSim can even be used as a track side tuning tool. Make damper adjustments, spring height changes, gear changes, etc. and test them before installing them on the vehicle. This saves time and money while testing. CarSim does not require highly trained engineers in order to use: new users can be up and running with the CarSim Quick Start Guide within hours, and be making useful simulations almost immediately. Results are easy to understand for both the drivers and engineers.
Users can select from independent or solid axle suspensions, and may add any required amount of detail, including full aerodynamic maps, symmetric or asymmetric suspensions and any drivetrain. Race teams can easily create road courses or test surfaces and evaluate limitless combinations of chassis settings. Testing in CarSim eliminates the driver and weather variables, and the cost of travel, tires, engines, crew and all other track testing expenses. CarSim results have correlated with OEM proving ground tests for over 10 years.
Ideal at Any Level
Whether you need a high-end, sophisticated tool to support your unique methods and real-time testing, or a low cost, self-contained analysis package to learn and understand the fundamentals, CarSim is the best tool to help win races.
Develop Your Insight
Hundreds of outputs are calculated at each time step, so you can study trade-offs and develop deep insight into a vehicle's performance. Easily identify the contributions of suspension settings to aerodynamic gains, optimize gear ratio and brake settings, select springs, dampers and sway bar settings. Other uses include studying wedge and stagger, locking differentials and weight distribution effects. Make the improvements you need to get to the front and stay there.
Professional Level Applications
CarSim is in use today by sophisticated top-tier teams to reduce the workload of producing simulations. The VS API makes it possible to run third-party tire models, advanced damper models, detailed aero maps, and alternative engines and transmissions, to name just a few. Complex detailed arrangements can be accomodated, like highly asymmstric suspensions, preloaded components, third springs, and inerters.
By extending CarSim, race engineers get the fastest available simulation together with all the advanced systems and components unique to their level of competition. CarSim is in use right now to simulate 7 post rigs, conduct optimization studies, study tire wear effects on lap time, examine trade-offs in set ups for mechanical versus aerodynamic grip, and to optimize setup of differentials and control systems.
CarSim engineers have worked with race engineers from NASCAR, Formula 1, ALMS, and IndyCar series who want to add their theories and knowledge to a fast, stable, and proven simulation tool.
Jump Back in Time for Advanced Optimization
Some of the most advanced simulation features are available with VS commands and the VS API. You can save snapshots of the simulation state at critical points and restore those states (jump back in time!) for efficient optimization or control strategies. Mash it 'til you crash it, then modify the settings, go back in time, and try again.
The SAVE_STATE and RESTORE_STATE VS commands work with CarSim alone. Comparable API functions can be used with MATLAB and other external softare for highly advanced analysis and optimization.