| Setting up a remote control car is as much a science | | | | radio controlled car, the easiest is to adjust the front |
| as it is an art, the physics behind rc cars is exactly the | | | | and rear shocks. While there are a lot of options with |
| same as the physics that governs real cars, if you | | | | springs, different oils and all sorts we are just going to |
| know how setup changes in a race car work, you | | | | concentrate on the basics, most decent shocks have |
| already know how to setup a remote control car. | | | | adjustments, either with spacers or bolts that let you |
| The problem that most people have with setting up | | | | adjust how hard or soft the shocks are. |
| RC cars is that when you make a change in one area | | | | As far as maximum and minimum stiffness goes, |
| it always has a knock-on effect on the rest of your | | | | make sure that the bottom of your car doesn't scrape |
| settings, setups are very much a balancing act | | | | the ground, and on the other end make sure it doesn't |
| To start with I'll concentrate on the basics of handling, | | | | bounce and leave the asphalt, apart from that you |
| over steer and under steer. The physics behind this is | | | | need to find the setup that matches your driving style, |
| pretty simple, if you turn into a corner the center of | | | | most people get winning setups off the internet and try |
| gravity will move in what ever direction you were | | | | to learn to drive them, mind you this is a great starting |
| initially travelling. Your tires via friction push back with | | | | point, and most championship winners post their setup |
| (hopefully) an equal amount of force. When your | | | | sheets |
| wheels lose traction and start to slide the energy that | | | | Shock Stiffness guide |
| was being turned into heat in your tires gets released | | | | Stiffen in front = increasing under steer or reducing |
| as inertial energy in the original direction of travel. With | | | | over steer |
| cars, both back and front don't break traction equally, | | | | Stiffen in rear = increasing over steer or reducing |
| this creates either under steer or over steer, which is | | | | under steer |
| how we describe the experience the driver has under | | | | You may be wondering why one setting makes two |
| these conditions. | | | | changes, this is because it's all about balance, you |
| Under steer | | | | could for example setup your rc car by only every |
| Under steer is when the front of the car loses traction | | | | changing the rear stiffness, but you would find that |
| while the rear of the car still has grip on the tar, the | | | | when you got the perfect amount of over steer under |
| effect is that the nose of the car drifts away from the | | | | braking the car would then be uncontrollable during the |
| direction you are turning, turning harder makes it worse, | | | | exit of the corner. It's all about balance, |
| the only thing you can really do is back off the throttle | | | | Another thing to keep in mind is that when you change |
| and bleed off speed. | | | | the shocks you also change the roll of the car, this the |
| Over Steer | | | | the chassis of the car moving with the inertia, in effect |
| Over steer is the opposite of under steer, and in most | | | | pushing the front tires into the road during breaking and |
| cases it's best to have a little of this. The front of the | | | | the rear during acceleration. If your shocks are too soft |
| car keeps traction while the rear lets go. One of the | | | | then the transfer might dig your front wheels in and lift |
| key benefits is that you can typically corner much | | | | the rear enough to make you car spin out, or lose |
| faster in a car that has some over steer | | | | steering under throttle, you have to find the right |
| Over steer / Under steer Tuning tips | | | | balance |
| There are a lot of ways to tune the handling or your | | | | More to come... |