| Basic
Mechanics
What
are the Basic Mechanics?
I will try to explain, as best I can, the ideas behind car handling.
Basically you have to understand that setting up your car is nothing but
managing how you transfer the physical weight of your car to maximize
traction. You must also have a good balance for your vehicle to be ready
for different course conditions.
Your vehicle's chassis is subjected to many forces while on the track.
Many different elements can affect handling, and handling affects how
the vehicle reacts to different situations. The optimum suspension
should be compliant enough to absorb road imperfections in low
traction/bumpy conditions, and still be stiff enough to give you maximum
'G' forces in the corners. Many other forces can affect your handling.
Such things as shimmying (which is generally caused by loose steering or
suspension components), surging (which can be caused by badly glued
tires, cracked wheels, etc), and lurching (side-to-side motion caused by
similar forces to surging) can all affect car handling.
ROLL
Roll is one of the most common forces countered by suspension tuning. As
in the illustration, the vehicle chassis will try to lean excessively in
either direction. The primary component that combats chassis lean is the
anti-roll bar, or swaybar.
PITCH
This occurs on the transverse rotational axis. The forces of pitch cause
diving under braking, or rear 'squat' under acceleration. Both shocks
and springs play an important role in reducing the amount of pitch, but
only good, progressive suspension design prevents harsh oscillations
when combating this force.
YAW
Yaw is a force directly associated with the vertical axis. This
condition draws all of the suspension components into play. The ideal
suspension on any vehicle should be tuned to provide completely neutral
handling during hard cornering. Most vehicles are factory-designed with
understeer (push) to make the front end of the vehicle start sliding
first under hard cornering. This approach is to help prevent the average
driver from spinning out when decelerating in a corner. Stiffening your
suspension one end at a time can induce severe 'yaw' conditions.
Over-tuning the rear suspension can create excessive oversteer
(tail-out). The opposite occurs when the front is over-stiffened,
creating understeer.
DRIVING STYLE
Believe it or not, there really is a proper driving style. You don't
know how may people have come up to me and asked me to try their cars,
and let them know what I think. They tell me their cars just aren't
working. So, I drive it and, in a few cases, their cars feel better than
mine!!!!
The proper driving style is probably one of the most important aspects
of racing. There are 3 points to a turn: The Entrance, The Middle, and
The Exit. Ideally, you want your car to enter the corner well, travel
through the middle with just a hair less speed, and be able to rip it
out of the corner. With the proper driving style (and car setup), you'll
be able to do just that! You have to learn when to brake (or lift if you
don't use brakes), when to use mid-throttle (believe it or not, ALL
ESC's have a mid throttle), and when to use full throttle. For modified
or nitro, learn to ease on the throttle. Learn how far you can push the
car before it spins out or pushes. You can actually use the throttle to
steer, also! As you go into a corner, lift the throttle a little and
start turning the wheel. As the car goes through the corner, lift a
little bit more on the throttle to get the car to turn more. This will
scrub less speed, and be much smoother than cranking the wheel left and
right.
And remember...MAKE ONLY ONE CHANGE TO YOUR CAR AT A TIME!!! If you make
a change and it makes the car worse, you know what you did. If you make
multiple changes and the car gets worse (or better), you won't know
which change actually did what |
