- RC10 B4 - Charlie Perez' Setup Hints -
The following content is a pure and strict copy of some information found here.
If you want to read the original text follow those four links: Link
n°1, Link
n°2, Link
n°3, Link
n°4.
All credits to Bruno Heremans aka Elvo.
Charlie Perez is a Team Associated Driver.
RC10B4 SETUP STUFF
***
Moving the Steering Spindle Up and Down changes two things:
- It changes the Total down travel your front end has. More Down travel
in the front will give you more predictable landing off of jumps.
It will also give you less steering as you exit the corner on
power. Less Down Travel in the front will make your car less
predictable landing off of jumps, such as sticking into the dirt
like a lawn dart if you land extremely nose down. The advantage of
less down travel is increased corner exiting steering when you are
on power. I like to use this adjustment to quickly see if
increasing or decreasing the downtravel in my shocks will provide
the corner handling that I desire.
- Thespindle height will also change the amount of bump steer your car
has. Lowering the spindle will give the front end more Bump-In.
Raising the spindle will give the front end more Bump-Out. This is
if you do not add or take out any washers under the steering ball
end. Bump-In will give you more steering entering and through the
corner. It will also make your car feel more aggressive to initial
steering inputs. Bump-Out will give you less steering entering the
corner but more through and exiting the corner. So in high speed
sweepers Bump-Out will give you a more consistent steering “Feel”.
Bump-Out will also dull some of the initial steering inputs. I
personally like to use Zero bump in or out. So if I change the
height of the spindle I have to add or subtract shims from under
the ball end to keep the Bump at Zero.
***
If your car wants to nose dive off of jumps then stick on the landing
like a lawn dart give the following suggestions a try............
-
Raise the rear ride height to just above dog bones level. This will keep
the car from "Bucking" the rear end up over jumps. The
disadvantage to this is that the car will have less side bite as
you enter the corners..............
-
Increase the front down travel of the shocks. Stock down travel limiting is
.090 of shims. Take out one of the shims so your down travel
limiting is .060. With the increased front down travel this will
make your car more forgiving on the landings that are nose down.
The disadvantage of increasing the front down travel is a loss in
corner exiting steering
***
(1) What is the difference between 1-B with 3 washers and 1-C with no washers?
The difference is the "arc" of the camber change as the
suspension is compressed. When you fully compress the suspension these
two setups may be at the same total negative camber, so it may seem
that they are providing the same camber change result. The longer the
camber link is, the more "Linear" the arc of the camber
change is going to be. For example, if you put 1-C with no washers on
your car and then set the camber at 0 degrees at ride height, then
slowly push the rear end down, the negative camber will progressively
increase at a steady or linear rate. If you put 1-B with 3 washers on
your car and then set the camber at 0 degrees at ride height, then
slowly push he rear end down, there will be a "Dead" spot
where the camber will not change as you push it down, then
aggressively change at the end of the suspension compression. Now the
handling difference between these two setups can be felt in the form
of inconsistency. The speed at which you enter the corner will magnify
the differences. The 1-C no washer will have the same side bite no
matter how fast or slow you enter the corner. The 1-B three washer
setup will be speed sensitive and have not enough side bite if you go
too slow or too much side bite if you go too fast. Everything is a
give and a take you may like the way the 1-C feels because it is
consistent but it may not produce the maximum amount of corner speed
that a 1-B setup may give you, even if it may be harder to drive.
***
Zero degrees of antisquat "Frees Up" the rear end On Power and it
also gives you a little more side bite. I like to start with the
minimum amount of Antisquat because it gives the rear end the most
balanced amount of traction as you enter and exit the corner. It also
minimizes wheelies, which are cool to watch, but waste time. The only
time that I increase the Antisquat is if I am on a smooth surface
track that has limited traction. If I am on a ruff track I always run
0 as it makes it easier for the suspension to soak up the bumps and
ruts.
The amount of Antisquat you use depends on the track conditions. If
the track is very smooth, more antisquat will give you more forward
traction. If the track is bumpy or rutty more antisquat will give you
less forward traction
***
Changingthe steering link hole position in the steering rack (From front to
back), with out changing the spindles to the inline version, will
change the amount of Ackerman the front tires have when turned.
Ackerman is the front tire angle difference when the tires are fully
turned to the right or left. For example, if your car has no Ackerman,
when the steering is fully turned both front tires will be at the same
45 degree angle. If you add Ackerman, the inside tire (the one closest
to the apex of the turn) will be at an increased angle compared to the
opposite front tire. For example, if you turn the front wheels fully
to the right, the right tire will be at a 45 degree angle and the left
tire will be at a 30 degree angle. This difference in front tire angle
is called Ackerman.
Increasing Ackerman will tame the steering down and give you better
high speed sweeper steering. Decreasing Ackerman will make the
steering more aggressive high speed steering and give you better low
speed 180 degree corner steering. So using the "Back"
steering rack position will make your car a little easier to drive
because it will tame down the steering, but it may also tame it down
too much and make you too slow in the corners. I like a lot of
steering in my cars so I only use the front steering rack position.
***
The "Spindles" are what your front tires attach to. You can
change the height of the spindle and this mainly changes your corner
exiting steering. If you need more steering as you exit the corner,
you can raise the spindles (Two washers on the bottom). If you need
less steering as you exit the corner, you can lower the spindles (Two
washers on the top). Just make sure that you add or remove bump
steering spacers as you raise or lower the spindles. This will keep
your bump steer the same.
***
If you are running on the inside hole of the rear A-arm a # 1 piston does
not have enough "Pack". This causes the rear end to bottom
out easily and perform a nice Slap Bounce routine that Scott Hamilton
would envy. You need to run at least a #2 piston with 25wt AE oil. If
your track has large jumps and you are landing flat after a four or
five feet of air time you will need a lot of “Pack” to absorb the
landing. So a #3 piston with 20wt or 25wt oil will be ideal for that
situation. Pack can be your enemy though if the track is rutty. Too
much Pack on a rutty track will cause your car to be very
unpredictable in the rough stuff.
***
A softer front spring will give you less corner entering steering and
more corner exiting steering............ It is all about tire
pressure. As you enter the corner your chassis leans opposite of the
corner direction, which transfers more weight to the outside front
tire. Now based on the spring rate, the shock / spring has one of two
choices:
-
Resist the chassis lean and transfer the weight to the tire. This gives
you more tire pressure and thus more friction with the racing
surface = more entering steering.
-
Absorbe the chassis lean and lower the ride height. This gives you less
tire pressure and thus less friction with the racing surface. But
since the front ride height is lower you gain exiting steering
because there is more weight transfered to the front end = more
exiting steering
The front and rear tie rod lengths will effect your vehicle differently.
On the front, 1-B (longer tie rod) will give you more steering as you
exit the corner. 1-A will give you a less steering as you exit the
corner and a little more as you enter the corner. To me the
"A" camber link position makes the steering inconsistent
throughout the whole corner. It comes in good, pushes in the middle,
and then comes out hard. It is hard for me to get use to this handling
but maybe it will work for you. In the rear if you shorten the camber
link it will give you more side bite and less forward traction. If you
lengthen it it will give you more forward traction and less side. When
the camber link is the same length, and you move whole link in or out
compared to the center line of the chassis, you are changing the
camber link pivot point distance as it compares to the A-arm hinge pin
pivot points. This changes "Where" in the suspension travel
the camber starts to change. When the camber link pivot points are
close to the A-arm pivot points there is a very steady and linier
change of camber as the suspension is compressed. This gives the car a
very neutral and non-speed sensitive handling characteristics. When
the camber link pivot pints are further away from the A-arm pivot
points this makes the camber change more dramatically at the start of
the suspension compression or at the end. This makes the car more
finicky on corner entry and exit speed and can be harder to drive if
you don't enter and or exit the corners at the same speed lap after
lap. The best way to think about camber link adjustments is to break
it into two different aspects. (1) Camber change magnitude and (2)
Camber change path through out the suspension travel. When you add and
remove washers under the camber link ball studs you are changing #1
above. When you change the camber link length or camber link position
you are changing #2 above. I consider a #2 as a major change as it
will usually effect the handling greatly. I consider a #1 a minor
change as it usually only applies minute handling effects. 99% of the
time I usually run 2-B with one washer in the front and 1-B with 2
washers in the rear and add or take away a washer here or there to
fine tune.
***
The top of the rear shock affects the progressiveness of the spring and
damping. The more the shock is laid down the more progressive the
suspension will be. If the top of the shocks are moved in, this will
give you more side bite and make the rear end feel softer. If you move
the top of the shock out that will give you less side bite and make
the rear end feel stiffer. I have found that one shock tower hole
position "Feels Like" going to one step softer/harder spring.
I almost always run on the inside hole of the rear shock tower. If I
need a lot less side bite then I will move to the middle shock tower
hole.
The bottom shock mounting position is a huge change. This changes how
much leverage the shock and spring have against the A-arm. mounting to
the inside hole gives the shock less leverage against the a-arm.
Moving it out gives the shock more leverage against the A-arm. This is
considered a HUGE change as you will have to change Oil, Piston,
Spring and internal limiters to properly compensate for the leverage
difference. The inside hole on the A-arm loosens up the rear end
traction. The Outside hole on the A-arm tightens up the rear end
traction and makes the car feel more predictable. 99% of the time I
use the inside hole on the rear A-arm because it generates the best
corner speed. It may be a little looser and harder to drive than the
outside hole, but fast corner speed is what wins races, not an easy to
drive car. I have only used the outside hole on the A-arm in extremely
low traction conditions, such as the recent ROAR Mod Nats. I would
recommend that you stick to using the inside hole on the rear A-arm as
this will work 99% of the time. If you do want to move to the outside
hole on the A-arm you will have to use a bigger hole piston, lighter
oil, and a softer spring because the shock will have more leverage
against the A-arm. For example lets say that you were running on the
inside hole with #2 piston, 30wt oil, and a silver spring. You would
have to change to a #1 piston, 25wt oil, and a Green spring to keep
the relatively same static damping feel on the bench. Even though it
may feel the same on the bench, it will handle completely different on
the track.
***
There are adjustments that effect the "Middle of the corner"
steering or traction. 90% of the time you are going into and out of a
corner so quickly that you are only in the "Middle" for
about 1 - 2 tenths of a second. Now when you are in a sweeping corner
where you are cornering for 1 - 2 seconds that is when you have to
worry about "Middle of the corner" adjustments. The
adjustments that affect the "Middle of the corner" steering
and rear traction the most are Ackerman, Caster, Antisquat and Sway
Bars. The adjustments that you will feel the most are Ackerman and
Caster.
***
Taking out the shock travel limiters front and back will do a couple of
things. When you take out the limiters in the front shocks your car
will lose a LOT of steering when you exit the corners. It will land
off of jumps better and have a little better bump and rut
predictability but this little gain in predictability is not worth the
loss in corner exiting steering....... If you take out the limiters in
the rear shocks your car will lose rear side bite traction as you
enter the corner. So it will want to spin out as you enter a corner.
It will also make your car very easy to traction roll at high speeds.
Just like the front, it will land off of jumps better and also have a
little better bump and rut predictability. The little gain in
predictability is not worth the loss in side bite
traction.............. I have tried many piston and oil setups on my
B4 and Number 1 pistons in the rear just don't work. With the Number 1
pistons your rear end will want to bottom out over small bumps and
jumps causing the car to perform a nice little "Slap, Bounce"
routine, then get kicked sideways. I would suggest that you leave the
down travel alone and try the Number 2 pistons in the rear with 25wt
oil. This will give the rear end more "Pack" which will make
it less susceptible to the "Slap, Bounce" routine.
***
If you want increased steering exiting the corner with this setup you
have a couple of adjustment options.
-
you can move the rear hubs towards the rear of the car. The further
you move your rear hubs back will give you more overall steering
and less overall rear traction.
-
you can add more .030 washers under the front camber tie rod. This
will decrease the camber change as the suspension compresses which
gives you more steering when you exit the corner.
-
you can move the front spindles to the "Up" position. This
lowers the front ride height which also gives you more exiting
steering.............
These are three easy adjustments that you can make that will only take a
couple of minutes to change and will make a big difference in your
exiting steering.
***
Changing from 1 B to 2 C changes where the camber starts to change as the
suspension compresses. 1 B gives you camber change early in the
suspension compression............ 2 C gives you camber change later
in the suspension compression. 2 C will give you a little less initial
side bite than 1 B as well as a little more forward traction
***
If you need more side bite as you enter the corner then try a softer rear
spring or less washers under the rear ball stud.............. if you
need more traction as you exit the corner add more antisquat or add
more washers under the rear ball stud............... If you need more
over all rear traction move the rear hubs forward.
***
About the #1 Piston V.S. #3 Piston in the front............ here you go. The
main difference you will feel will be in the bump and jump handling.
The #1 pistons will absorb ruts and bumps better but will tend to make
the front end bottom out easily off of jumps. The #3 pistons will make
your front end bounce and skip on the ruts and bumps but will not
bottom out as easily off of jumps. For a general rule of thumb you
want to use large hole pistons (#1's) for rough tracks with small
jumps. You will want to use small hole pistons (#3's) for smooth
tracks with very large jumps. I usually run #2 pistons all the way
around on my car, this gives me a happy medium between both worlds. I
recently raced at the ROAR Stock Nats and that track was really rutty
and rough. I had to use #1 pistons at that track in order to hook up
properly.
***
For a low-traction, dusty, tight track I would recommend running a softer
foam insert in your rear tires. Running stiffer rear foams will give
you more side bite but you will lose a lot of forward traction. You
can also run more "Toe In" in the rear but there is the
potential of losing a lot of corner exiting steering when you do that.
I have tried running the Racers Edge 1 degree hubs before. It gives
you monster On Power traction but you lose a lot of corner speed
because your vehicle will not want to turn. As we all know corner
speed = low lap times. Start with the softer foam and moving your rear
A-arms forward, then if that isn't enough try the 1 degree hubs.
***
A lot of times you are tuning your vehicle to remove traction from the
front or rear end, not gain it. Limiting the down travel in the rear
minimizes traction rolling and also increases corner speed. Limiting
the front down travel improved corner exit steering but also makes the
turck more sensitive to harsh landings. So you have to down side the
back of the landing jumps or the front end may bottom out and bounce
up or lawn dart. If I want more forgiving jump handling and more rear
end rotation as I enter the corners I will remove .030 from the front
and rear shocks.
***
The best way to set your diff is to tighten it all the way down then back
it off 1/16th of a turn. When you build a new diff and use this method
of tightening it will seem too tight initially but when you run your
car a couple of times the Diff and thrust balls will seat into their
rings and it will loosen up. The diff should not slip or "Bark"
when you land off of jumps on power. If it does start by loosening
your slipper and if the diff still continues to slip, tighten it up
1/32nd of a turn. If you have properly set the diff tension and run it
a couple of times you should be able to spin one rear tire and the
other should spin in the opposite direction for two or three
revolutions. It should feel like there is only a slight resistance to
the differential action. For your slipper a good place to start the
adjustment is to tighten it all the way down, then back the slipper
nut off two full turns. This is a good medium point to start the
slipper, you may have to tighten it or loosen it for the given track
conditions, but usually no more than a half a turn in either
direction.
The tightness of your diff will directly affect your rear traction
when on the throttle. This in turn affects the amount of steering you
have when exiting the corners. If you have a diff that is too tight,
on a smooth track, you will have too much forward traction and your
car will push excessively when you try to exit the corner. If the
track is ruff and rutty and you have a tight diff it will make your
car loose when you are on the throttle because your tires can’t
"absorb" the variations in the quickly changing track
surface causing the tires to break loose. Over all you want to run
your diff as loose as you can with out it slipping for the most
consistent results. If you happen to run on a super smooth track that
has a crazy amount of traction, and you have too much steering when
exiting the corners, this is the only condition where you might want
to tighten it up. But this is a very rare track condition.
***
Foams affect the handling of your car differently front and rear. In the
front the stiffer your foam, the more steering you will have while
entering the corner. It will also feel "Twitchy" with stiff
front foams. If you use soft front foams you will gain corner exit
steering but it will also make your high speed corner entry steering
inconsistent. Usually you want to run a relatively stiff foam in the
front on high bite tracks to ensure that the tire will not deform too
much during high speed cornering. On tracks that have low traction and
your car wants to push easily, a soft front foam will increase your
steering. In the rear a stiffer foam will give you more side bite as
you enter the corner but less forward traction as you exit the corner.
This is due to the foam being able to support the side wall of the
tire, keeping it from deforming too much under side load. But on the
other hand it can not compress easily to conform to the varying track
surface changes which gives you a smaller overall contact patch with
the racing surface thus less forward traction. Stiff foams will also
increase tire ware. If you run a soft rear foam in the rear you will
have less side bite as you enter the corners, maybe a better
representation is less consistent side bite, and you will have more
forward traction. In the rear I like to run Proline 2-stage foams
because you get as close as you can get to the "Best of both
worlds" in terms of side bite and forward traction. Another good
foam to use in the Trinity Bomb 1 Gray foam. This is a little stiffer
than the stock foam but will last a long time and many racers are able
to reuse them a couple of times. If you are on a budget and want to
try a stiffer foam you have a couple of choices.
-
Use
a stock foam that is larger than it should be and cram it into the
tire, such as cramming a full or 3/4th rear car foam into a front
tire. Or cramming a full stock Truck foam into a Car rear tire.
This "Cramming" will make the tire feel stiffer, just
watch out because it may deform the contour of the tire if you go
too far and that will completely change the contact patch of the
tire which will affect how it handles (Side bite and forward
traction).
-
Use
the Trinity Bomb 1 Gray foam. For the money and how long it lasts
before "Breaking Down" and getting soft, you can't beat
it.
***
When you have the front shock bottom mounted on the outside hole of the
A-arm, the shock has a lot of leverage over the A-arm so a soft spring
is needed. If you ran a Green or Silver spring on the outside hole, it
would be too stiff. If you use the inside hole on the front A-arm the
shock has less leverage over the A-arm so a stiffer spring is needed.
When you run on the inside front A-arm hole you will have to use Green
or Silver springs to match the same "A-arm Leverage" as the
Brown or Black springs on the outside hole. Most racers are using the
outside hole on the front A-arm instead of the inside hole because it
makes the car feel more consistent. The inside hole will make the car
more "Reactive" and feel more aggressive. Is one better than
the other, no. It all comes down to your own driving style and what
works for you.
***
The #1 pistons are 54's, #2 pistons are 56's, and the #3 pistons are 58's.
Even with knowing these "Hole Sizes" it is going to be very
difficult for you to match the same damping/pack ratio between an AE
sock and a Losi shock. There are main differences between the two
pistons them selves that make it nearly impossible to match them. For
example the AE piston only has 2 holes and the Losi piston has 3.
Another difference is the actual shape of the piston, AE pistons have
90 degree edges on the pistons and Losi's are rounded. So on Losi
pistons it is easier for the oil to go "Around" the piston
versus getting forced through the piston holes. Then you have the
inherent chassis weight distribution and shock mounting position
differences between the two cars that can throw everything off from
one car to another. There is no easy answer to this and the only way
that you will be able to get them to "Feel" exactly the same
is to start with a small holed piston in the Losi and a medium weight
oil and one at a time drill the piston holes out until it feels the
same. This will be a long and tedious process.
***
MISCELLANEOUS TIPS
If you are looking for bearings to put into the steering bellcranks
you can use the TC3 Rack bearing kit (P/N 3971). It includes 4
bearings that are the same size as the bushings on the B4 Bellcranks.
***
(1) The front shock tower holes for the top of the shock are drilled at an
angle for the Outer hole on the A-arm. So if you are using the inside
hole on the A-arm, changing the angle of the top of the shock will
DRAMATICALLY change the front down travel. This is not cool. This is
not fun but you can compensate for the change in down travel by adding
or taking away .030 washers inside of the shock. Here is an example.............
If you are in the middle hole on the shock tower and you have three
.030 washers inside the shock, you will have to add one .030 washer
(Four Total) if you move the top of the shock to the inside hole. If
you move the top of the shock to the outside hole on the shock tower
you will have to take out one .030 washer (Two Total) just to keep the
same amount of down travel. This is a lot of work for minimal amount
of handling change that takes place when you move the top of the shock
around. The good news is that the Rear shock tower holes are at the
correct angle for the inside hole on the rear a-arm. If you are using
the outside hole on the rear a-arm you will have to go through the
same process of adding or subtracting washers if you move the top of
the shock around.
***
Your shock rebuilds should be to clean everything up and replace the
O-Rings. The O-Rings will swell up after only a couple of weeks and
will hinder the smooth and free movement of the shock shaft. You can
also prematurely ruin your O-rings if you get ANY motor spray on them.
DO NOT use motor spray to clean the dirt off the shocks when they are
still assembled. The motor spray soaks into the O-rings and will make
them swell up to twice their size and when they get that big they get
torn up easily. When my shocks start collecting dirt around the seals
or on the spring clamp, I just use a tooth brush and knock off the
dirt. Don't use the blue MIP O-rings as they will swell up twice as
big as the stock Red ones. The stock Red O-rings are the best. If you
replace them every 2 - 3 weeks and you will be rewarded with
consistent shock performance with very minimal leakage.
***
The positioning of the front Caster block. Normally you put the big black
washer behind the caster block to bias it forward. I replaced the big
black washer with five aluminum .030 washers. I had to slightly file
down the a-arm to get all five to fit but it is worth the extra
effort. You don’t want anything bound up. Well moving the Caster
block towards the rear of the car gives you less Ackerman. Less
Ackerman gives you more aggressive steering in the 180 degree turns
but also makes your high speed sweeper steering less consistent. I
moved the front caster block back .060 (Two Washers in front) and the
car had too much low speed steering. I would suggest that you take
some time and play around with this adjustment. It is easy to change
and you can feel the steering difference big time.
***
I am not a big fan of cutting springs down to achieve a spring rate
between what is currently available. You have to be careful with
cutting springs down because front and rear springs of the same color
are not the same rate. Here is an example of some Silver spring rates
for the Front of the Car, Truck, and the Rear....... Car Silver Front
= 3.85 Lbs........ Truck Silver Front = 3.225 Lbs........ Silver Rear
= 2.10 Lbs.............. All three of these springs are different
lengths and also different rates. If you are looking for a front
spring rate that is between a Blue and Silver the easiest way is to
move the top of the shock in or out. Roughly, moving the top of the
shock one hole will "Feel" like softening or stiffening the
spring half a spring rate. If you move the top of the shock IN, it
will soften the spring. If you move the top of the shock OUT, it will
stiffen the spring. So I would suggest that you use a Blue front
spring and move the top of your shock to the Inside hole on the shock
tower (Doing this will increase the down travel so you will have to
add an additional .030 washer on the inside of the shock to keep your
down travel the same). This will give you the "Feeling" of a
spring that is between a Blue and a Silver.
***
- I find the tires that are working the best overall.
- I change my Spring / Damping to conform to the majority of the track.
- Then I move the rear hubs forward or back to gain or loose the majority of the rear traction that I will need.
- I change my Camber links, Camber, Antisquat, Ackerman, and Caster to fine tune the Corner Entering and Exiting Steering and Rear Traction
***
The 3 hole pistons generate more "Pack" than a two hole piston.
As oil passes through the piston holes the resistance that you feel is
actually the oil shearing across the edges of the hole. With more hole
surface area (three hole piston) there is more "Shearing" as
the oil passes through the holes. This gives the shock more pack.
Don't confuse Pack with Damping though. Damping is the consistent
resistance the shock provides when it is slowly compresses and
decompressed. Pack is the instant resistance a shock provides when it
is quickly compressed or decompressed. Here is a good example of the
two. Damping is how fast the Chassis leans in a corner or when you
change directions. Pack is how much the shock compresses when you hit
the face of a jump or land after the jump. It all comes down to how
much pack you need for the track you are racing on. If you are running
on a track that has a bunch on big air time jumps, you will need to
use a setup with a lot of pack. If you are running on a track that is
rough, rutty and has small jumps you will need a setup with little
pack. From what I have tested so far on the B4 the standard pistons
(1,2 and 3) have the right "Pack" range to support just
about any level of pack setup you could or would need.
***
Most Mod motors have a lot less "Timing Breaks" than stock motors,
which allow your car or truck to coast a lot longer and easier when
you are off the throttle. Most sock motors have a tremendous amount of
timing breaks so as soon as you lift off the throttle the rear tires
want to lock up. There are also some Mod motors that exhibit this
trait such as the Reedy KR and Trinity P94 series motors. The
additional timing breaks gives you a lot more steering and makes your
rear end feel like it is loose when you lift off the throttle. The
trick that I use to minimize this effect is to turn my throttle trim
up, out of the "Neutral" point, until my car is slowly
creeping forward when the trigger is in the physical neutral point.
The amount of traction available and how much corner speed I want
determines the initial "Creep" setting. For example, if I am
racing on a very low traction track, I will give it a lot of creep so
my car will not spin out as soon as I lift off the throttle to enter a
corner. If I am racing on a high traction track, I will minimize the
creep to increase the timing break effect so I can take advantage of
the additional steering and reduced side bite as I enter the corner.
If the timing break effect can't be overcome by additional creep, I
will then start changing my setup for additional side bite and or
reduced steering, but this is rare. The creep adjustment resolves the
handling issues 90% of the time. Play around with this the next time
you are at the track, it can make a HUGE difference in how your car or
truck handles.
***
Narrow front Wheels give you less entering steering and more exiting steering. It makes the steering feel more even entering and exiting the corners. The Wide front wheels tend to have too much entering steering for my like.
***
When racing on loose or loamy dirt all of the little adjustments on any car get numbed. You can make little changes but you really can't "Feel" the effects of the change because there isn't enough traction to show the difference. When I race on Really low traction tracks that have loose or loamy dirt I have to make huge changes to even feel them a little bit. The first thing that I would change to gain more forward and side bite would be the Rear Hubs. I would move them forward. I have even had to shave off .060 from the front of the rear a-arm so I could move the whole A-arm forward even more in some cases, but that is a drastic change. When racing on low traction tracks it usually comes down to the Tire and foam insert combination which generates the most traction.
***
Most misguided racers tune their suspension for the minoritys of the track
and not the majority. Such as a rutty track that has one or two large
jumps. If 85% of the track has small jumps and is rutty, then you have
to tune your suspension for the ruts and small jumps and just deal
with the poor large jump handling. The same goes for a smooth track
that has a lot of large jumps but one corner is rutted out. You will
have to tune your suspension for the big jumps and smooth portions of
the track and just deal with the poor rut handling in that one corner.
Every thing is a give and a take. If a track has varying conditions
throughout the track you will have to tune for the majority and deal
with the minority.
***
Plasticchassis make your vehicle a little more forgiving to drive than the
Graphite version. Graphite chassis are also more prone to glitching
and shorting out your batteries. If you are running on a high traction
Clay track, I would advise running a plastic chassis. The Graphite
chassis may make your car too twitchy and always seem like it is on
edge. I always run the plastic chassis on my B4 and T4, this is mainly
due to me not liking the glitch prone Graphite and not due to the
performance differences.
***
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