Suggested

Car setups

So I am dealing with my first season in elite & the 200 cap, for me a major disappointment. I was hoping for a choice in the direction I was going to take my car. Instead it's a race to 200 & then Fuel economy or Tires :/
My idea or suggestion is remove the cap. Let people choose what direction they want to go in. Make Acceleration & Braking go together, so you just can't run off loading Acceleration. Same with Handling, tie that to Downforce as well. You have to keep one within a certain percentage of the other. This way it's not just about "200" it's about design. It adds to the race strategy we already do. Teams that are weaker, have a chance to compete if they have a good design. More Constructors as well to add to the build diversity.
Please, if I'm missing something here, tell me. I really don't want the final phase of the game coming down to race to 200 on the big4, then Tires or Fuel. I'd like build diversity in the game. That's a big part of any game we all play.
Thanks All

I am in complete agreement with this, I think it would be a great addition to be able to take your car in a specific direction
I think a cap should exist otherwise it could get silly but calculating a cap which would allow a lot of flexibility should be easy enough to do 
It may require a balancing of values also on some of the big 4 as it does appear that acceleration is too powerful against the others in its current format. 

I agree, but could we add it to rookie and pro also or is it to high for lower levels?

Personally I think this should be included in all tiers. 

200 cap was introduced for that purpose actually as most players would have a maxed out car by 1/2 or 3/4 of the season. You can go to another direction not acceleration only and still be competitive. A car that has max acceleration does not mean it is the fastest so knowing how to develop the car is key especially now.

Fuel economy does play a role in quali as in race as well so no it should not be left for the last few races. Recently it has been updated to give it more importance although still behind the usual top 4 stats.

So you're saying that you wouldn't have to have the "Big4" then make a choice between Fuel or Tires?

At least with the old system the Constructors would have pushed you in a direction. You could have + 10 +5 +5. Now if those numbers only make such a small difference that it wouldn't affect the outcome of a race, then there would be a direction to go in. I fear if everything is even & the cars are raced even, then the highest fuel number would win. I know this is impossible, but it's just to outline.
Thanks for replying

The current development scale, while still not being near to perfection, actually does accomplish one aspect which I think you have suggested here. As the cap has been expanded to 200 points, the gulf between the more experienced and the newer managers has reduced quite significantly, as lower level managers can also achieve a balanced car, and often use it to defeat much more experienced managers.  Additionally it's almost impossible to have the top 4 maxed out by the end of the season, so that's a positive I guess.

Racing away to upgrade acceleration to 200 before doing anything else is actually a big big blunder with this new development scale. Race pace is increasingly dependent on having a well-balanced car now, which is something that is being very closely observed and analysed by managers (there was a thread a few days ago, when some more experienced managers gave their accounts of this analysis).

The non-linear nature of the development scale is a issue still, but I think it does a good job to reduce the gap, because earlier on you would have the more experienced managers using multiple CDs and their car would be so far ahead at the start of the season that they would be unmatchable.

I haven't had the opportunity to run as a level 20, yet. So I was concerned the car setup aspect wasn't as involved as I additionally hoped it was. I'm starting to see this may not be the case, but won't know for sure until I get to level 17\18.
I still think the idea is a good one. It would allow for true direction. The idea that 200 acceleration, then everything else, I'm glad is wrong. As it should be.
Thanks for your reply. Even if the idea isn't agreeable to all or some, the responses are helping me get an idea that this maybe what I hoped it was.
Thanks again.

Nice idea

Thanks. I'd just like the cars to have a direction. The Williams FW14B, best chassis in F1 history, imo. McLaren MP04 won 15 or 16 races, just because the Honda power plant was so fast. Nothing could keep up with it on the straights.
I think a direction option for something like that would allow you to compete on more levels.