Gear Ratios & Final Drive
Picks the speeds at which each gear lives. Final drive scales everything together.
What it does
Each gear maps an engine RPM range to a road speed range. The goal is to keep the engine in its power band — usually the upper third of the rev range, near peak torque, when you're accelerating.
Final Drive Ratio (FDR) is a multiplier on all gears. A higher FDR (e.g. 4.0) makes every gear shorter — more acceleration, lower top speed. A lower FDR (e.g. 3.0) does the opposite.
For drag racing, raise FDR until the car redlines just past the strip length. For circuit, set FDR so you redline in top gear at the longest straight. For free-roam highway, lower FDR opens up top-end cruising.
Individual gears can be tweaked to close gaps where the engine drops out of power. ForzaTune's rule: only mess with individual gears if a *specific* shift point feels wrong.
In-game controls
Watch these telemetry signals
- GeargearWhere: Center panelDuring a straight, count seconds the car spends in top gear. Less than 1–2 s = FDR too short (you're redlining mid-straight)
- SpeedspeedWhere: Center panel + replaySpeed plateauing well before the next corner = top gear too tall — drop FDR slightly to use the headroom
- Boost (turbo)boostWhere: Center panel (when turbo equipped)Boost dropping after each shift = gears too far apart, engine falls out of boost
Symptom → fix
| What you feel | Likely cause | Try this |
|---|---|---|
| Redline before the end of the longest straight | FDR too high (gears too short) | Lower FDR 5–10% |
| Top gear never reached / car runs out of revs | FDR too low (gears too tall) | Raise FDR 5–10% |
| Engine drops out of boost after each upshift | Gears spaced too widely | Shorten the upper gears so each shift drops only ~1000 rpm |
| 1st gear spins tires off the line | 1st too short — driveshaft torque too high | Lengthen 1st or raise tire pressure / drop accel diff % |