Proper way to hold/turn the wheel on your radio?
 

Hey All,

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but since it's in regards to driving my TLR buggy I figured it is suitable. I did search as well :P

So last night for the first time hearing this and I didn't know this was a thing. I was told on the driver stand by a good buddy, that he can hear my wheel "clicking".

He said "you are letting go of your wheel to let it get back to neutral and it is clicking. Not that it bothers me, you're just becoming a better driver and that is a hard habit to break! If you watch the pro drivers they never let go of their wheel. If you need to make small corrections you are holding your wheel to do so."

His analogy made sense when he explained it after our 2nd qual race. he said think of it as driving a real car, if you want to go straight you don't just let go of the wheel, you bring it back to center.

During that race I tried to not let go of the wheel and I sucked bad in the first half or so of that race. I was thinking about not letting go and that had a huge effect on my driving. I did get mildly better towards the end of that race.

By the B-Main the first half of the race it was much better and I felt more in control of my car, in and out of the corners, and approaching the jumps. However, as soon as I noticed I started to let go of the wheel again, BAM back to crap, I went from 4th to last! I did get my fastest lap time on this layout though using the "don't let go of the wheel" approach.

I have been in a serious search of a new radio and this is definitely going to speed that process up. I think with a dropdown, smaller wheel, and possibly being able to adjust the wheel tension to my liking it will help with this new approach.

SO... Is there a right and wrong way to hold/turn the wheel on the radio?

Thanks

Don't be a knobber bobber. Never let your hand off the wheel.

Every time you let go of the wheel, you lose the chance to make an adjustment. You need to be able to correct the car to dodge that flipped buggy or pipe. That split second you had to grab the wheel again could mean the difference between buying a new front arm or the pass for the lead.

While letting go of the steering wheel may not be optimal when it comes to controlling your machine. There is no right or wrong. Do whatever you want. Its YOUR car and YOUR controller, hold it with your feet if you want.

If you're fast.... you're fast. Do what gets you the best results.

I'm unfamiliar with this term?

Well yea I guess it is my stuff. But generally speaking there is a correct way to do things.

What do the pro's do, what is the general consensus?

Well usually you turn the wheel on the radio going into the corner and slowly off out of the turn .

LOL, it's a name someone called me when I first started and was letting the wheel go. You always want to be able to accurately modulate your steering inputs. Any time you let go you lose control, and with some remotes the wheel bounces off center when you let go, if you have a good remote and servo you car will actually do the same.

In most cases, I would say do whatever feels the best to you. That said, when you let go of the wheel, you lose the chance to make additional corrections. Also, if you're racing off-road, very rarely is the track flat and you might not actually want the wheels exactly centered even when going straight. Even if you are racing on-road, you very rarely will want to go exactly straight on the track and will many times need to make small corrections to get on the line you actually would want to be on. Hope that all made sense.

Yeah don't let go of the wheel. I have noticed that some controllers have way too much wheel movement, The wheel will turn past where I feel comfortable. Like those orange GT3C radios. My Futaba has a short throw and its easier to hit the end points. But when you bring it back to center for the straight, you will feel it hit center. Another thing is to not do the crazy throttle finger thing. I hate when I hear a car blipping full throttle around the whole track... WEE WEE WEE WEEWEEWEE WEE WEEWEE. I was having a discussion with a race buddy today and we were talking about how practice makes perfect. Well not if you practice the wrong way. It will just reinforce a bad behavior. If you take the time to practice the new way, it will be second nature before you know it. And your lap times will start to drop.

Most radios now days have the "Dual Rate" adjustment so you can dial out some of the aggressive steering and make it more comfortable/easier to drive. As for steering...easy on, easy off.

As you become a better driver, you will begin to follow a 'racing line' (google it). The car will go fastest following that line around the track. In short, don't drop the wheel. The extra twitch upsets the handling, and takes away time you can smoothly accelerate out of a corner.

RC's are like full size cars >> steer into, thru and out of a turn.

I have the $100 Spektrum radio. This is one of the reasons I am getting the Futaba 4PV is that is allows for more adjustments that I believe will help me, other than just pure track time. Even being able to adjust the wheel tension to my comfort I think will help?

I'm familiar with the racing line. Our track is clay and really high bite. After it's been down for a month it's damn near slicks in the line, if you get out, it's like being on ice.

Makes sense that letting the wheel go could and more than likely will take you out of the line and into the dust. When I was holding onto the wheel I felt like I gained a lot more control out of the corner more than anything. Which really helped me set up for the jump approach.


And I used to race full size cars (road course). With a limited slip diff on a fwd car you absolutely had to bring the steering wheel back and point the car where you wanted it to go.


All of this is very helpful. I had seriously never heard of not letting go before, and it messed with me BAD once I tried it!

Why do some people say do what you feel is best then, it's your car, if you're fast you're fast etc...

Is there not really some standard?

Because we are all individuals. While basic principles work for all. Each has their own way of driving. Do all F1, Indy, NASCAR,or touring car driver all driver identical.