Right guys, I am still not in the position where I can say that this is definitively the best setup for either car but we have now put something like 30 hours running (our poor cars would be destroyed by now if any other brand) and 75 hours at the track tinkeing and have settled on the following as the starting base setups for each ... although this may evolve over the next few weeks as we get more and more feedback from other drivers. We have had 28 different pistons to work through and drained about 12 bottles of shock oil between up even being methodical about our testing order. All testing has been done against the clock and so isn't what feels fast it is what is fast (for us at least).
2wd (Scorpion & VEGA tested, sadly no MCS available but I can't imagine it to be far off ...)
4x1.40 front (35wt AE oil as a starting point and tune from there, remember 2.5wt is a big step on the big bores), X-gear Gold springs with staggered ribs / minispikes, Reds with minipins. That is shocks out on wishbone and mid on original tower
For those running Losi springs that is Orange
4x1.45 rear (30wt, 32.5 if you like a livelier rear end) and X-gear red or Yellow springs depending on how much rear roll you like form the car.
For those running Losi springs that is Pink.
That is shocks inside on wishbone and middle on Scorpion stinger tower, 1 in from outside on Vega.
Because the stock RB5 runs much more inclined rear shocks than the mid motor cars I would expect that you will be wanting to reduce pistons 4x1.4 and maybe even then still go up 2.5wt in the oil. Sadly we have not had the opportunity to do much testing with a rear motored car.
I tried 3,4,5 & 6 hole combinations but to get the front end geometry to really work and feel alive, responsive & stable at the same time you need to have a little bit more instantaneous roll than you can get with 5 or 6 hole pistons but not as much as 3 hole pistons give you.
I hate to think how many combinations we put across the cars to arrive here but each time we moved from the 4x1.40 fronts we found ourselves back there a few logical tuning steps later. The rear sort of followed the progression of the front end tuning with the key objective being balance, that said we worked all around the various combinations in that region and kept coming back to the 4x1.45.
With the FS2-sp it was just as mammoth task but at least we had the 5x1.3/5x1.4 setup to use as a base line from last season and the 4x1.2/6x1.2 setup we settled on for the big jump strewn indoor carpet tracks.
After much work it became apparent that the front and rear of the FS2 are so superbly balanced that you didn't have to push one far away from the sweet spot before it started to show up very apparent weaknesses in the setup. That is great because you can get almost instant validation to a change at one end of the car.
Up until yesterday evening I would have said that I was happy with the setup as we finished with it a couple of weeks ago but Nick sent me through some extra pistons to try based on the requests & feedback I'd given him earlier in the week. Cutting a long story short a change of front pistons highlighted that we were too soft at the rear, a couple of hours tuning time later and we had a car that was fast, confidence inspiring and a pure joy to drive ... even let you get away with the odd wheel on a track marker type error at full speed without getting unsettled.
Front 5x1.2/35-37.5wt AE oil with a Losi Green spring (mid hole on front wishbone), 3rd in on tower
Rear 5x1.35/30wt AE oil X-gear red or yellow rear spring (or Losi Pink which is similar to X-gear yellow) inside on LAW43 and middle on tower.
Now I am convinced by the above setup but there were only two of us at the track last night testing and light was failing so I have nobody else to get an opinion from other than what they saw. The comments I got back where that the car looked to be stable and stayed relatively flat throughout the lap and it was certainly quick on the clock too.
It is great over the bumps (with ride height set 18 to 19 ... use 19-20 if track is REALLY rough) and just holds it's line no matter what the surface throws at it.
Be warned, this setup generates a LOT of steering and as such you might find its a bit of a handful until you get used to it then you will love the fact that it will turn inside any other 4wd car out there, nothing will be sneaking up the inside of you in a final for sure
If it is too much all that should be required to calm the nose a little is to stand the front shocks up one hole and/or go up 2.5wt in front oil (try all combinations to find what suits your driving style).
I know I have said this repeatedly but it still holds true, IMHO the Lazer FS platform is as close to perfection as a 4wd car can be.
As I say work is still continuing but I believe that both of the above setups will give very good starting points for your own individual tuning.
I hope to be writing a full breakdown of the trials very soon and hopefully there will be a full on article covering damper tuning on oOple soon
