Is the online active? more than FICE at least?
Yes, you will end up with punters at times, but you can normally get around that, as they tend to stick to certain race types. So if you go in to a lobby with qualy and race on, you are less likely to find a punter. But you get that in all games. It's excellent on-line if you get other good racers.
Right, tuning guide for those who want it:
---------
Most important part in car set-ups are getting a balanced car for the relevant track and to match your driving style, any AIDs you use and which type of controller you are using. When doing one thing, you need to make sure the other sections comply. If you increase front end grip with aerodynamics and then go and try and decrease the grip through the alignment section, you can and probably will make it too unstable to drive.
I'll explain each section, it's effects and in some cases how it works.
Aerodynamics
Front - The larger the number the larger the angle on the front wing. This means the front of the car is being pushed down in the ground harder. This means you get good grip in corners, but traction at the rear of the car can be reduced if the rear isn't balanced. Any increase in downforce means a reduction in top speed and acceleration when exiting mid to high corners, with lower speed corners (1st and 2nd gear) being more determined by rear traction rather than downforce.
Rear - Higher the number a more stable rear of the car and a better ability to control the car in mid to high speed corners.
These should always be fairly similar in number, though you can have the front 1 or 2 stronger than the rear before the stability issue really kicks in if you are a smooth driver.
Brakes
Balance/Bias
This is very dependent on your driving style and on the track you are using. If the track you are using required braking whilst in a corner (for example, Bahrain, left hander before the back straight or the final right hander at Malaysia) then you should have a neutral balance. The more bias you push to the front of the car, the more work the front tyres have to do and you can lock up as well as understeer heavily, as all the weight of the car is on the far-side tyre. (See NB below)
Push it too far backwards and the rear of the car can "swap over", this being where the force on the rear of the car is too strong for the front of the car and the rear will move out. This is quite an unstable brake balance, but can create oversteer which some drivers might find useful at the expense of stability.
Personally, I tend to keep it in the middle (F1 cars will be 55-58% at the front), the game doesn't quite have strong enough FFB to tell exactly what the car is doing. Besides, my driving style loathes understeer. I also use no ABS, it's quicker if you can brake properly, knowing threshold braking (ie, adjusting pressure applied in relation to grip situation) and trail braking (gradual release of the brake, otherwise the sudden change of grip is too much and the car will spin out in low speed corners) are very important.
NB - How much fuel you have can affect your braking balance as well as weight distribution setting. If in Career mode do heavy fuel runs in practice and find a balance that works.
Pressure Higher the number the more responsive the brakes, if you are skilled enough at High level you will stop quicker, but you have a high risk of locking up brakes.
Disc Size Large brake discs mean you can abuse the brakes more, a larger surface area means the heat is better distributed. This can decrease how responsive the brakes are though as they are heavier and larger in size. Use on heavy braking circuits to reduce brake wear towards end of races/long runs.
Balance
Ballast - Move the weight distribution further forward to get better turning ability (more weight at the front = more weight on the contact area = more grip) The more forward you move it the less traction you have, which can be hard when accelerating out of slow corners. Move the weight backwards and the car will be very stable.
Remember the added weight in the car in race if you have Fuel Simulation on, so you can move it forward. Very circuit dependent, more so than some other settings.
Anti-Roll Bar
This is essentially a bit of metal across the car, you can sometimes very visibly see them, but they can also be a part of the chassis/within the confines of the body. The stronger the bar, the more stable a car can be, as the forces impacted upon the car are more supported against. If you can imagine going round a fast corner and all the weight on the opposite corner tyre this will cause lots of flexing, etc, this is what the ARB reduces.
Front - A higher setting means it's easier to turn into corners, but reduces the grip in the corner, the point being you need less grip with it well setup. The higher the setting the more tyre wear.
Rear - More grip all around with a higher setting, lots of force going on here due to engine, drivetrain, etc. Less understeer with a higher settings but can make the car less responsive in the handling department as you are making the car more rigid.
Suspension
Ride Height
Front Go higher if you need to ride the kerbs, the higher the ride height the less downforce and more understeer.
Rear This should never really be used unless you have to ride the kerbs, the higher the rear ride height the less stable the car in fast corners and it's also harder to get the power down.
Generally, I reduce ride height in most cases. The bumpier the circuit the more you need to move it, or you will bottom out and have an impossible to control car, but you should be on the limit of it. Bahrain needs a medium ride height due to the bumpy middle section, for example.
Springs
Front - The harder the springs the more understeer you get, but can be good traction.
Rear - The harder the springs the more oversteer you get, but that comes with a reduction in traction as the rear wheels cannot put power down if the springs are causing the car to bounce.
Springs and Ride Height must be adjusted together to get a good balance. Bumpy circuits need a higher ride height and softer springs. All about the contact patch on the tyre and how much work it is doing, won't be doing anything in the air and with no load on it.
Engine
Only one bit needs explaining here. Fuel and Engine allocation are self-explanatory.
Throttle Map
Cruise, Standard and Fast are your settings (not all available at start of career in small teams). This relates to how hard the engine is working. A fast map means maximum power, but increases engine wear and makes traction harder and so easier to spin when applying the power out of slow corners. I tend to use Fast if available, it's easier to control the throttle with a wheel and if you short shift the wear on the engine is reduced.
Gearbox
F1 cars accelerate like mad throughout the box, I try to keep an even set of gears throughout the mid gears, they should be in relation to your 7th gear, which should be set so on the fastest straight on the circuit you are just about running out of power when braking for the next corner.
Alignment
Looking at the car from above, the camber is whether the tyre is facing / or \, it's all negative in the settings (In) as that is more contact area in corners, etc.
Camber Front - Moving towards Out will make the car faster in a straight line and reduces tyre wear, but will make it harder to turn in to corners, which can create understeer. Moving towards In has reverse effect.
Camber Rear - Moving towards Out will make the car faster in a straight line, but reduced traction upon acceleration and less grip in fast corners.
Toe is in which direction the tyres point when looking at them from a level. I'll use the slash example again, \ or /. All settings are positive.
Toe Front - Higher setting (look at which way the numbers are) means you'll get a better front end of the car in the corners, but it will come at a cost of straight line speed. This will also affect braking.
Toe Rear - Higher settings means less traction out of corners.
I'm a bit knackered, so am I slightly unsure on my explanation of the Rear Toe, I made some notes, but I can't read them
I tend to keep them fairly neutral, generally, move them a notch or two at most.
Tuning the cars is quite a fine balance, you'll have to do trial and error until you are used to it and know your own driving style in and out. If you do one part of the car, you'll invariably need to adjust other settings, as almost every part has a reaction on another part.
Hopefully that's some help in learning what the effects are. You will have to adjust to different cars and different tracks.
) and so am really fighting it out. You can really sense the difference between the Lotus's and the Ferrari's and it's even possible to feel the difference against something like the Torro Rosso. 
