Learning how to set up my Buggy.

[Chris Elworthy]

Phil,

If you are ever down at Bury Metro there's plenty of people who can help you out, were running indoor and outdoor through the winter.

As for the setup guides that have been suggested none of them are without glaring inaccuracies, compare the Arno setup page to the Hudy/Xray guide and you will see exact opposite theories on certain aspects.

The Arno (Btinternet.com...) website is the most accurate amongst the opinions of the racers I speak to and has a nice summary page showing what happens to the handling if you raise this/lower this that can be useful.

I would however avoid the Xray guide like the plague,
It's nicely presented but in my opinion is littered with blatantly incorrect information which isn't going to help.

No theory however can make up for the feeling the change makes to you on track so when you do make small adjustments at a time as the previous poster suggested. For now though, as said earlier just run the car in stock guide with the correct tyres to let you build up a feel for the car. When you have a feel you can start to make small changes.
If the car feels better after the change then great but if not you can go back to your neutral car and start again. What Isn't recommended however is to make a change then change something else to try to achieve what you set out to do. This rarely works unless you really know what you are doing so it's always better to undo what you did, go back to your default setup, think what you want the car to do?, Check the guide to see what change may offer this then give it a go.

If you are still running the standard front springs I suggest you get some harder ones they will make a huge difference to handling on the front making it more stable, less likely to oversteer and generally easier to drive consistently. Harder front springs are nearly always used on high grip astro tracks also.

Hope this helps a little,


Chris

[whites75]

that's great Chris thanks a lot. Funny, I was reading about springs yesterday and will buy a selection in once I get my car running straight.

I was going to try some softer ones on the front for cullingworth as I think I read that for a smooth, slippy surface then softer are better. As cully is a village hall and a tight, twisty track I thought I would give em a whirl and see how the car handled and felt.

Originally Posted by Chris Elworthy

Phil,

If you are ever down at Bury Metro there's plenty of people who can help you out, were running indoor and outdoor through the winter.

As for the setup guides that have been suggested none of them are without glaring inaccuracies, compare the Arno setup page to the Hudy/Xray guide and you will see exact opposite theories on certain aspects.

The Arno (Btinternet.com...) website is the most accurate amongst the opinions of the racers I speak to and has a nice summary page showing what happens to the handling if you raise this/lower this that can be useful.

I would however avoid the Xray guide like the plague,
It's nicely presented but in my opinion is littered with blatantly incorrect information which isn't going to help.

No theory however can make up for the feeling the change makes to you on track so when you do make small adjustments at a time as the previous poster suggested. For now though, as said earlier just run the car in stock guide with the correct tyres to let you build up a feel for the car. When you have a feel you can start to make small changes.
If the car feels better after the change then great but if not you can go back to your neutral car and start again. What Isn't recommended however is to make a change then change something else to try to achieve what you set out to do. This rarely works unless you really know what you are doing so it's always better to undo what you did, go back to your default setup, think what you want the car to do?, Check the guide to see what change may offer this then give it a go.

If you are still running the standard front springs I suggest you get some harder ones they will make a huge difference to handling on the front making it more stable, less likely to oversteer and generally easier to drive consistently. Harder front springs are nearly always used on high grip astro tracks also.

Hope this helps a little,


Chris

[Chris Elworthy]

Slippy floors can make a car want to understeer with a 2wd as the front tyres do not hook up as well as they would on grippy surfaces like astro and carpet. Due to this you are correct that softening the front spring will help the car through tight and slippy sections.
However all setup is a trade off, if you gain a lot more of A you will lose performance somewhere else. For example if you tune your steering for more initial grip (start of the corner) you will generally lose grip towards the exit and vice versa. People talk of the perfect setup but in reality this doesn't exist it's just finding a compromise on how the car behaves on track to suit your style .

A spring set is a good idea but on your first visit run the car as it is now to get a feel for the car then when you do try a harder/softer spring you should be able to feel whether it's better or worse for you.
Softening the front spring as you say may be a good idea to get the car to turn in but if the track has carpet sections it will bt twitchy with a soft front end.

It's all about prioritising what setting would be most suited to the majority of the layout in my opinion.


Chris

[whites75]

hey Chris - I've already been to cully a couple of weeks back which was my first time indoors with the car, blummin loved it too. Going again this Friday and will still have same kit springs on so will be good to see how I and the car do 2nd time round

Also been over to Batley outdoors too in the astro 3/4 times on a non club day again to get a feel of the car and see how we went, I know totally different surfaces but all in all it went ok

once I sort out my brca membership after their agm and find out what days and times Batley and Bury run over winter I can see about joining the fun and learning a thing or two

Originally Posted by Chris Elworthy

Slippy floors can make a car want to understeer with a 2wd as the front tyres do not hook up as well as they would on grippy surfaces like astro and carpet. Due to this you are correct that softening the front spring will help the car through tight and slippy sections.
However all setup is a trade off, if you gain a lot more of A you will lose performance somewhere else. For example if you tune your steering for more initial grip (start of the corner) you will generally lose grip towards the exit and vice versa. People talk of the perfect setup but in reality this doesn't exist it's just finding a compromise on how the car behaves on track to suit your style .

A spring set is a good idea but on your first visit run the car as it is now to get a feel for the car then when you do try a harder/softer spring you should be able to feel whether it's better or worse for you.
Softening the front spring as you say may be a good idea to get the car to turn in but if the track has carpet sections it will bt twitchy with a soft front end.

It's all about prioritising what setting would be most suited to the majority of the layout in my opinion.


Chris

[J77MYF]

I'm more than happy to help you out where I can and I'm sure Neal will do the same. It's amazing how a little adjustment can make the car so much better.

[whites75]

Originally Posted by J77MYF

I'm more than happy to help you out where I can and I'm sure Neal will do the same. It's amazing how a little adjustment can make the car so much better.

awesome pal thanks very much�� will take you up on that for sure ��