handling.meta file in GTA V, like in previous versions of the game, controls the physics and animations of vehicles in-game.  This file is found found in ..\common\data and can be edited with any text editor. 

Parameters

Physical Attributes

These seven values represent the vehicle's physical proportions within the game:

handlingName

This is used by the vehicles.meta file to identify the handling line of the vehicle. 

Value: Any text string no more than 14 characters.  By default, the handlingName consists of uppercase letters and numbers (TURISMO, E109, etc.) 

fMass

This is the weight of the vehicle in kilograms.  Only used when the vehicle collides with another vehicle or non-static object. 

Value: 0.0 - 10000.0 and above. 

fInitialDragCoeff

Sets the drag coefficient on the rage physics archetype of the vehicle (proportional to velocity squared).  Increase to simulate aerodynamic drag. 

Value: 10 to 120

fPercentSubmerged

A percentage of vehicle height in the water before vehicle "floats".  So as the vehicle falls into the water, at 85% vehicle height (seemingly the default for road vehicles) it will stop sinking to float for a moment before it sinks (boats excluded). 

Value: any percentage expressed as a decimal (eg.,  85% = 0.85).  An invalid number will cause the vehicle to sink without the driver drowning, eventually teleporting the vehicle to the surface. 

vecCentreOfMassOffset

This value shifts the center of gravity in meters from side to side (when in vehicle looking forward). 

Value x:< -10.0 to > 10.0.  0.0 means that the center of gravity will be in the center of the vehicle.  Positive values move the centre of gravity right. 

Value y:< -10.0 to > 10.0.  0.0 means that the center of gravity will be in the center of the vehicle.  Positive values move the centre of gravity forwards. 

Value z:< -10.0 to > 10.0.  0.0 means that the center of gravity will be in the center of the vehicle.  Positive values move the centre of gravity up.  Changing this value to great negative quantities (E.G. -10 or greater) will cause the vehicle to behave erratically, moving many feet per frame. 

vecInertiaMultiplier

Value x:< -10.0 to > 10.0. 

Value y:< -10.0 to > 10.0. 

Value z:< -10.0 to > 10.0. 

Transmission Attributes

These values describe the vehicle's straight line performance.  Rate of acceleration is determined by fDriveBiasFront, nInitialDriveGears, fInitialDriveForce, fDriveInertia, and fInitialDriveMaxFlatVel.  Rate of deceleration is determined by fBrakeForce and fBrakeBiasFront.  fSteeringLock can be thought of as a measure of sideways acceleration. 

fDriveBiasFront

This value is used to determine whether a vehicle is front, rear, or four wheel drive. 

Value: 0.0 is rear wheel drive, 1.0 is front wheel drive, and any value between 0.01 and 0.99 is four wheel drive (0.5 give both front and rear axles equal force, being perfect 4WD.) 

nInitialDriveGears

How many forward speeds a transmission contains. 

Value: 1-16 or more. 

fInitialDriveForce

This multiplier modifies the game's calculation of drive force (from the output of the transmission). 

Drive force formula TBD

Value: 0.01 - 2.0 and above.  1.0 uses drive force calculation unmodified.  Values less than 1.0 will in effect give the vehicle less drive force and values greater than 1.0 will produce more drive force.  Most cars have between 0.10 and 0.25. 

fDriveInertia

Describes how fast an engine will rev.  For example an engine with a long stroke crank and heavy flywheel will take longer to redline than
an engine with a short stroke and light flywheel. 

fClutchChangeRateScaleUpShift

Clutch speed multiplier on up shifts, bigger number = faster shifts

fClutchChangeRateScaleDownShift

Clutch speed multiplier on down shifts, bigger number = faster shifts

fInitialDriveMaxFlatVel

Determines the speed at redline in top gear.  Setting this value does not guarantee the vehicle will reach this speed.  Multiply the number in the file by 0-82 to get the speed in mph or multiply by 1.32 to get kph

fBrakeForce

fBrakeBiasFront

This controls the distribution of braking force between the front and rear axles. 

Value: 0.0 means the rear axle only receives brake force, 1.0 means the front axle only receives brake force.  0.5 gives both axles equal brake force.  A value between 0.01 and 0.49 means the rear axle will receive more brake force than the front and a value between .051 and 0.99 means the front axles will receive more brake force than the rear.  In real life, normal vehicles usually have more front braking force than the rear (eg.,  0.65). 

fHandBrakeForce

Braking power for handbrake.  Bigger number = harder braking

fSteeringLock

This value is a multiplier of the game's calculation of the angle a steer wheel will turn while at full turn.  Steering lock is directly related to over or understeer / turning radius. 

Steering lock formula TBD

Value: 0.01 - 2.0 and above.  Values around 0.1 - 0.2 will simulate a long wheelbase.  Whereas a value of around 0.75 and above will turn extremely fast.  To high of a value here will cause the vehicle to spin out too easily. 

Wheel Traction Attributes

The following attributes describe how the vehicle will behave dynamically, from negotiating corners to acceleration and deceleration.  This section has been updated from previous game versions. 

fTractionCurveMax

(formerly fTractionMult)

Cornering grip of the vehicle as a multiplier of the tire surface friction. 

fTractionCurveMin

(formerly fTractionLoss)

Accelerating/braking grip of the vehicle as a multiplier of the tire surface friction. 

fTractionCurveLateral

Shape of lateral traction curve (peak traction position in degrees). 

fTractionSpringDeltaMax

This value denotes at what distance above the ground the car will lose traction. 

fLowSpeedTractionLossMult

How much traction is reduced at low speed, 0.0 means normal traction.  It affects mainly car burnout (spinning wheels when car doesn't move) when pressing gas.  Decreasing value will cause less burnout, less sliding at start.  However, the higher value, the more burnout car gets.  Optimal is 1.0. 

fCamberStiffnesss

This value modify the grip of the car when you're drifting and you release the gas.  In general, it makes your car slide more on sideways movement. 
More than 0 make the car sliding on the same angle you're drifting and less than 0 make your car oversteer (not recommend to use more than 0.1 / -0.1 if you don't know what you're doing). 
This value depend of the others, and is better to modify when your handling is finished (or quasi finished).  Not recommended to modify it for grip. 

fTractionBiasFront

Determines the distribution of traction from front to rear. 

Value: 0.01 - 0.99.  0.01 = only rear axle has traction.  0.99 = only front axle has traction.  0.5 = both axles have equal traction.  Entering a value of 0.0 or 1.0 causes the vehicle to have no traction (the tires actually fail to spawn), while entering a value outside of specified range causes the car to move irrationally whenever the wheels are touching the ground. 

fTractionLossMult

How much is traction affected by material grip differences from 1.0.  Basically it affects how much grip is changed when driving on asphalt and mud (the higher, the more grip you loose, making car less responsive and prone to sliding). 

Suspension Attributes

fSuspensionForce

1 / (Force * NumWheels) = Lower limit for zero force at full extension.  Affects how strong suspension is.  Can help if car is easily flipped over when turning. 

fSuspensionCompDamp

Damping during strut compression.  Bigger = stiffer. 

fSuspensionReboundDamp

Damping during strut rebound.  Bigger = stiffer

fSuspensionUpperLimit

Visual limit... how far can wheels move up / down from original position

fSuspensionLowerLimit

Visual limit... how far can wheels move up / down from original position

fSuspensionRaise

The amount that the suspension raises the body off the wheels.  Recommend adjusting at second decimal unless vehicle has room to move.  ie -0.02 is plenty of drop on an already low car.  Too much will show the wheels clipping through or if positive, no suspension joining the body to wheels

fSuspensionBiasFront

Force damping scale front/back.  If more wheels at back (e.g. trucks) need front suspension to be stronger.  This value determines which suspension is stronger, front or rear.  If value is above 0.50 then front is stiffer, when below, rear. 

fAntiRollBarForce

The spring constant that is transmitted to the opposite wheel when under compression larger numbers are a larger force.  Larger Numbers = less body roll

fAntiRollBarBiasFront

The bias between front and rear for the antiroll bar(0 front, 1 rear)

fRollCentreHeightFront

This value modify the weight transmission during an acceleration between the left and right.  I REALLY recommend to be very careful while modifying it, because it's very sensitive and can ruin your driving control.  Larger Numbers = less rollover opportunity (drive like on rails)

A negative value will make the weight more important at the opposite direction when you accelerate, and a positive will make your weight more important on the same direction you're going. 

A positive value is visually unrealistic, so i don't recommend to do it. 

Best to do is to only go between 0.15/-0.15. 

fRollCentreHeightRear

This value modify the weight transmission during an acceleration between the front and rear (and can affect the acceleration speed).  I REALLY recommend to be very careful while modifying it, because it's very sensitive and can ruin your driving control (a high positive value can make your car able to do wheelies, but you won't be able to control it if you turn your wheel).  Larger Numbers = less rollover opportunity (drive like on rails)

A negative value will make the weight more important at the rear when you accelerate, and a positive will make your weight more important on the front. 

A positive value is visually unrealistic, so i don't recommend to do it. 

Best to do is to only go between 0.15/-0.15. 

Damage Attributes

The following attributes dictate how the vehicle will react to damaging effects. 

fCollisionDamageMult

Multiplies the game's calculation of damage to the vehicle through collision.