Lighter DEX 210 on High Grip astro

[Paul Piper]

As the title says it is better to run a lighter car on high grip astro? if so how would I do this?

[buhade]

It depends on track size, fast corners or slow corners. Dont forget one of most important things - air time. On large jumps you loose time in air. Heavier cars jumps shorter which is better. If you go from fast corners into slow corners, you have to brake in corner. Maybe the car can produce more breakdown torque, if its too lite.

[Paul Piper]

I have only been racing 7 months and I am not doing to bad, there just seems a lot to learn and take in.

[mrspeedy]

Interesting idea, in theory more weight = more grip, so running a lighter car would be an easy way to get rid of some .... a shorty lipo would prob be the easiest way to lighten the chassis up, would also give the opportunity to move the weight around more too for fine tuning ..

[Paul Piper]

I wondered if you have a lot of grip do you need weight as it will also slow you down, although I have no idea what I am talking about

[luniemiester]

I ran the dimec chassis last night for the first time at silverstone and I found it more forgiving and a lot easier to drive than the ally chassis. Not sure how much lighter it is than stock but I had to lower my shocks a lot to get my normal ride height

I would only really run weight if the track is wet or bumpy as it seems to calm the car down

Not sure if you were the black and gold car but if you are you have to much toe in and that can make a car twitchy :)

[Paul Piper]

I am that car you can not see, is that too much toe in on the front?

Will you be there next week? I could do with going through setup on my car, I am just playing around and not 100% sure what I am doing

[luniemiester]

Yes front toe in. I'm not there next week as its to far to go each week :(

[Kusal]

Make sure your front has ~1° of toe out or at least run them parallel. Will make it easier to drive and less snappy!

[Paul Piper]

Oh I got that wrong I have toe in! :blush:

[Paul Piper]

I must say I went through a stage of trying to push it but found my average times were slow, so I slowed down and just got quicker, but I don't seem to be able to push it without getting out of shape, is this setup or inexperience (only been racing 7 months for once a week) I am about midpack at the Silverstone club.

[MikePimlott]

Once a week for 7 months you should be getting round ok by now and thats why your playing with setups :)

The only thing with a lighter car is getting the suspension to work. On a bumpy track a lighter car will be unsettled.

[Paul Piper]

Bumps are not much of a problem, Silverstone Club is astro rolled on a Gym floor :D

[Origineelreclamebord]

I haven't seen durability mentioned here yet :) A lighter car will put parts through less stresses in a crash - and what I've experienced so far on indoor tracks the average driver could use that edge in durability.

[Chalkie]

A light car will generally change direction quicker and be more agile, whilst a heavy car will be more stable and easier to drive with smoother responses to inputs. Weight at the rear will aid traction.
At silverstone with it's high grip level a bit of extra weight up front will make the car easier to drive.

['caster master]

Make sure your front has ~1° of toe out or at least run them parallel. Will make it easier to drive and less snappy!
In my opinion toe out will make the car more twitchy and parallel even more so, I would say run at least 1 degree of toe in.

[Lee24h]

A light car will generally change direction quicker and be more agile, whilst a heavy car will be more stable and easier to drive with smoother responses to inputs. Weight at the rear will aid traction.
At silverstone with it's high grip level a bit of extra weight up front will make the car easier to drive.

A bit of weight?
I thought you ran 100g up front

[Chalkie]

A bit of weight?
I thought you ran 100g up front

Different car, but yes I have had upto 80 grams around the servo at silverstone.

[Lee24h]

A light car will generally change direction quicker and be more agile, whilst a heavy car will be more stable and easier to drive with smoother responses to inputs. Weight at the rear will aid traction.
At silverstone with it's high grip level a bit of extra weight up front will make the car easier to drive.

Different car, but yes I have had upto 80 grams around the servo at silverstone.

Um yes i wish i had put more weight in the front of my car
But just from putting the electrics in my durango last night
Some of the parts are over engineered (which isnt a bad thing)
Which i think is why a dex210 is a naturally a heavy car and designed around this factor ie the big bores 14mm hexs instead of 12mm
So paul i think although you could lighten it i think there is more to be found in a +??mm chassis than a lighter car

[av4625]

In my opinion toe out will make the car more twitchy and parallel even more so, I would say run at least 1 degree of toe in.

Never run toe in!!!!!!! parallel or toe out!

[Paul Piper]

Never run toe in!!!!!!! parallel or toe out!

Why do you say this?

['caster master]

Never run toe in!!!!!!! parallel or toe out!
Not being rude but I completely disagree with this. Toe is a tuning option - more toe in = more on power steering more toe out = more off power, personally I don't like to run parallel because I find it hard to keep the car in a straight line with no toe know of any kind. I'm pretty sure I have see the pros running toe in and what reasons are there not to run toe in?