Packers on an LMU Hypercar are small spacers that limit how far the suspension compresses. As soon as the damper reaches the packer, that corner suddenly gets much stiffer. In practice, packers let you run softer springs and a low ride height for grip, while they stop the floor from hitting the track when downforce peaks on the straights.
So think of a packer as a safety net under your ride height. This guide explains how packers work in Le Mans Ultimate, when you add or remove them, and how you spot a packer that costs you lap time.
How packers work on a Hypercar
To use packers well, you first need a clear picture of what happens inside the suspension.
What a packer physically does
Every corner of the car has a spring and a damper. Normally the spring does all the work as the car moves up and down. A packer sits on the damper shaft and only comes into play near the end of the travel. In the LMU garage you find it with the suspension settings, where you choose how thick it is.
Here is the simple version. The car sinks on its springs until the damper touches the packer. From that point the packer acts like a very stiff extra spring. The car stops sinking, the floor stays off the asphalt and the aero platform holds steady.
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Why Hypercars lean on packers so much
A Hypercar gets a big part of its grip from the floor. That floor works best close to the ground, so you want a low ride height. The catch is speed. Downforce grows fast as speed rises, so at the end of the Mulsanne Straight the car is pressed down much harder than in a slow chicane.
When the car lacks support, the floor touches the track at top speed. That costs grip, adds drag and upsets the car over bumps. Our LMU hypercar setup guide lists three ways to hear and see this bottoming. Packers are one of the cleanest tools to stop it.
When should you add packers?
Packers solve one specific problem, so it helps to know exactly when that problem shows up.
Clear signs the floor is hitting the track
Listen for a scraping sound near top speed. Watch your delta on the long straights, because a car that bottoms often loses time there first. In telemetry, the ride height trace drops to zero over the same bumps every lap. If you see any of these, the car needs more support at the bottom of its travel.
You now have two choices. You either stiffen the springs, or you add packer thickness. Both stop the bottoming, but they change the car in very different ways.
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Packers versus stiffer springs
Stiffer springs make the car harder everywhere. That includes kerbs, slow corners and bumpy braking zones, where you actually want some give for mechanical grip. Packers only work at the very bottom of the travel. The car stays soft and compliant in normal driving and only gets stiff when the aero load becomes extreme.
That is why most fast LMU setups combine fairly soft springs with carefully chosen packers. You keep the grip of a soft car and the stable floor of a stiff one.
When packers hurt your lap
Packers are powerful, but a bad packer setting gives the car a sudden and nasty character.
Touching packers in fast corners
The problem starts when the car reaches its packers in the middle of a fast corner, for example in the Porsche Curves. The spring rate jumps from soft to very stiff in one moment. If the front hits its packers first, the car snaps into understeer. If the rear hits first, it steps out into oversteer.
So when the balance changes suddenly at high speed, packers are a likely cause. Our guide on understeer and oversteer fixes helps you rule out the other usual suspects first.
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How to read packer contact in telemetry
Open the suspension travel or ride height channel and look at the fast corners. A trace that suddenly goes flat, like a line that hits a ceiling, shows the damper sitting on its packer. Compare that point with your steering and speed traces. If the flat line matches the moment the balance changes, you found your culprit. New to data? Start with our telemetry guide for beginners.
A simple packer routine for LMU
You do not need a race engineer to set packers, just a calm and repeatable method.
Start, step and check
Start from the default setup and lower the ride height to where you want the aero to work. Then run the longest straight of the track with a full fuel tank, because a heavy car sits lowest. Add packer thickness in small steps until the bottoming disappears. Next, check the fast corners again to make sure the car does not reach its packers there. Change one end of the car at a time and write down every step.
Why your rig matters for this work
A packer contact is a short, sharp event. You feel it as a small jolt through the wheel and the seat. On a cockpit that flexes, that signal gets lost in the movement of the frame. Every SIMGASM product is tested as part of a complete simulator, and our founder Johan Akkerman, Endurance Series champion in 2023 and 2024, judges a rig on how consistent it stays over long sessions. The Pro uses a 40 by 160 mm main profile with steel reinforcement at critical mounting points, so the frame stays quiet and you feel the car instead. Browse every aluminium sim racing cockpit to find the size that suits your room.
Questions about LMU packers
These are the questions sim racers ask most often about packers on a Hypercar.
Do packers change my static ride height?
No. Packers do not lift the car when it stands still. They only limit how far the suspension compresses once the car moves and downforce builds up.
Should front and rear packers be the same?
Not always. The front and rear see different loads and travel, so the right thickness often differs. Adjust one end at a time and check the balance in fast corners after each change.
Can I change packers in a fixed setup lobby?
No. Fixed setup servers lock the suspension, including the packers. You only adjust them in open setup races and in private testing.
Do packers matter outside Le Mans?
Yes. Any track with long straights and high top speeds, such as Monza or Spa, puts a lot of aero load on the car. Bumpy circuits like Sebring also test your packers hard.
Want to learn more? The SIMGASM experts are happy to help.
