Basic Car setup hints
The following tips & hints were supplied by Pieter Bakker.
Always remember, when setting up the car, to start from the front. It is the front that determines your "turn in" characteristics. Never forget that the only thing a car really wants to do, is to travel in a straight line. Racers however, want to be able to change their racing lines under possibly all circumstances.
Step-by-step
- Check the front track and go for the max. permissible width (FISC - 122cm). This strongly influences the roll characteristics of the car and thus traction of the rear tyres.
- Determine what spring rates you want to use on the front. My advice would be to go for an intermediate (500lbs) option. This will keep you happy in the wet as well. And it rains more often than you'd think!
- Remove all rubber bushes from front & rear suspension, they only allow unwanted movement in your suspension and upset the cornering behaviour of the car. This will "harden" the ride, but you are certainly not looking for a limo-ride.
- Use 0° toe settting to keep the steering characteristic as neutral as possible.
- Remove all bump steer. In this way you get rid of unwanted toe setting changes while cornering.
- Adapt the rear spring rate to the front and make them as soft as you possibly can. This usually is a "trial & error" development, because it heavily depends on the weight distribution of the car and the "feel" that a driver likes in a car.
- Use standard shock absorbers with the rebound set slightly (+30-50%) stiffer than the bump.
- Use a 9/16 anti-roll bar on the front. The best way to correct under- or over-steer is by changing the rear trackwidth (FISC - max. 121 cm) and fine-tune by changing the tyre pressure.
- Be sure to use a panhard rod on the back axle. This helps to prevent the backlash once the tyres have set themselves turning into a curve.
- Use an LSD (Limited Slip Differential). This will allow you to floor the throttle much earlier than before. Depending on the circuit you could gain one or two seconds a lap!
- If you are preparing to race with FISC be sure to have a 3.9 and a 4.22 differential for the different tracks there are.
- Once you are set, do not forget to corner-weight the car with the driver sitting in it. You probably get to a 47-53 (F-R) or less weight distribution. Make sure that left to right is neutral. If not, change your weight distribution by corner jacking the car e.g. by putting spacers between your springs.
- Again, if you are preparing for FISC, the tyre choice is easy. We have done that for you. Your only option is to use the Series Bridgestone 155/70R13 75T control tyre.
