Originally Posted by
British Menace
Hi All,
Going somewhat 'Off topic'..........
I had a chance to spend some time testing different set-ups along the lines of an idea I've had for some time.
I've always thought we run our cars far too stiff (spring wise I mean)
I've also thought that we run our shock oils far too light.
Anyway. At the recent Byrons race at Joliet Illinois I had the chance to test my idea out.
The track is very smooth and flat. I ran 1.3mm (15LB) springs. and began using heavy oils in the shocks. I ended up with 80WT Losi oil. Thats about 1070 cps. In both front and rear of the car.
The car was very stable and very "flat" on the race track. Had very little roll as would be expected.
The camber of both front and rear had to be altered because of this too.
Camber ending up at -0.5 to -1 Degree at the front and -2 to -2.5 degrees at the rear !
Also the rear toe ended up at only -1.5 degrees which is not unheard of, with a front toe of +0.5 degrees.
The tire wear was very low and the car felt good. What was another side benefit was when the traction came up......and became very high. The car still handled very well. Even though others were suffering from traction rolling!
My roll bars were at a soft setting. Front: Flat and Rear: about 30 to 45 Degrees.
I ran softer tires (38 S Front and 40 S Rear) and still had wear comparible to others there.
After all this. I just wish now my ability to drive these cars was better...... lol.
Don't we all wish that?
I'm looking at going even softer on the springing and higher on the oils with probably the need for stronger roll bars required.
We'll see how it goes.
Regards and I hope others have a chance to try this stuff out and let me know what you think.
British Menace
sounds interesting Menace.
as you know that the many suspension adjustments effect the cars greatly in how they respond. on a flat good traction track you could go hard dampening, and springs. as you stiffen the car, it gets more responsive to initial directional changes, but there is a trade off as to how direct the car feels, and to how much grip is available at a given time. what i can see happening here is the lack of spring rate, and the heavy oils, is slowing the shock movement considerably. if it doing this then the car as you stated is rolling less in corners or directional changes, or under acceleration and braking. so this really means that all the other adjustments like roll centers, and anti roll bars are actually having less effect on the way the car handles. i cant see this setup working on a bumpy track as good as it would on a nice flat surface, but what you are doing is tuning the car by taking out the so many other adjustments that effect the cars roll and grip. so you have basically simplified your tuning of the chassis
what i have tried in the past is similar but then using heavier springs, so you retain the same shock response with the thicker oils. this made the car very responsive, but yet didnt take any grip away, as the roll centers and swaybars still had a fair bit of effect. by using the harder springs with heavier oils, you can run the car low, and then the lack of suspension travel also eliminates the effect of the other inputs, as the car has less suspension travel. the best thing i suggest to any one before trying out any shock mods or roll center changes is to get the car balanced first. that means a lot of time is spent on getting the car balanced left to right, at the front and the rear of the car. then most others overlook the value of setting up the radio gear as far as the steering servo's throw left to right. sometimes one notch on the servo lever to gear to make it off center, can make the throw of the steering angles even from left to right also. makes for a very consistent car to start tuning with.
keep up the testing Tony, i know you will try anything and everything.
