Set-up

[pitwizard]

I've been racing on and off for a few years, but just got back into it recently. I never really bothered with setup in the past, but am trying to learn what changes do what now, but i'm really not sure if it can really make a difference on a toy plastic car!

Do you change your setup because:
a) Somebody tells you to so it must be better
b) You think it will be better but you can't really tell a difference
c) You think it will be better and can tell a difference
d) You don't bother because it makes no difference

[sosidge]

Personally I rate myself as a c) although in truth a lot of the time it is a b).

You will rarely find anyone admitting to a setup change that made the car worse. It's also true that as track conditions develop during a race meeting, the car will feel different anyway, so it's very hard to make true back-to-back comparisons unless you have the track to yourself.

I think there are a lot of a)'s around, although they wouldn't admit it, and more than a few d)'s too!

You need a competent setup to be able to drive the car properly in the first place - the good news is that most recent kits have a solid setup out of the box, or at least an easy to find basic setup for different conditions.

But a good setup is completely wasted on a car that isn't built properly. Any binding parts will far outweigh the setup. And the fine detail of setups (0.5mm shims, half-weight damper oils etc) doesn't make as much of a difference as people like to think. I can rarely feel any setup changes that are less than about 10% of a spring grade.

[pitwizard]

Thanks, thought we might get more replies though