Car Setups for TCL

I was thinking that it would be a good idea to write a guide on how to set up a car from the TCL mod - obviously every car is different and needs to be set up according to track and conditions, but this is mainly to help people who dont really know what to do when it comes to setup.

Now im not the best at setting up a car, so any added info from forum members is much appreciated

Front Anti-roll bar: This is critical when it comes to balancing your car, the softer it is the better turn in you will get and is more suited to slow tight tracks, but will understeer badly on higher speed corners so a stiffer setting is required.

Rear Anti-roll bar: Again critical when it comes to balance, Stiffer rear roll bars help the car turn in, but sacrifice your ability to power out of a corner, softer you go and the more rear end grip you will have

Spring rate: This figure will be directly related to the track condition ie if its really bumpy, has fast or slow corners, high ripple strips etc.
Basically you need to find a balance which is suited to your driving style on said track. A softer setup will grip better on rough circuits but feel un responsive. Stiff springs will give a better turn in and response but on rough circuits will do more harm as your wheels will not have as good contact to the road.
Spring rate can also help control understeer/oversteer. with the same sort of principal as Anti Roll bars.

Front Camber: Ive found this mainly affects turn in and corner grip, usually higher negative camber will give a better turn in and grip but destroys the front tyres and causes the inner edge to overheat doing more damage than good. Dont go to extremes when adjusting camber. In the sierra the front camber setting is usually within -2.5 - -3.3 any more or less it tends to understeer

Rear Camber - Im still just learning to adjust this, But so far ive been using it to balance oversteer, ive noticed it kinda acts like a roll bar, higher the setting is like stiffening the rear - Correct me if im wrong.

Tyre Pressure- I didnt realise how crucial this was till BillyBob showed me. as a general rule try to keep pressures even at around 200kpa when warm.

Tyre Temp - Possibly the most important thing to keep an eye on, 10Deg over heating could slow you down by over a second a lap on some tracks. i try to keep the tyres between 80-90 deg anything over 100 and you will start losing lots of time.

Ride Height- Dont usually play around with this, ill click it up a few cms if theres big ripple strips that gain time by hopping, or to increase turn in by raising the rear higher than the front

Caster - This setting changes the vertical angle of the suspension. The further positive the setting the more Camber you will gain when turning. Extremes of this setting will usually get a crummy result.

Front Toe in/out - Changing this setting is used for getting the car to turn in, but at a cost of the increase of tyre wear. Toe in will get the car turning in better, i never adjust it more than -0.2 or it gets a bit unstable.

Rear toe in/out - Changing this setting affects turn in, the more positive Toe you put on the more tail happy your car will be.

Ill add more as i learn more. Remember every car is different and so is your driving style so what works for some will feel terrible for others.

this is pretty handy read for understanding wat some settings are for... i find it pretty helpful hope it helps a few of you guys....

and good idea to start this menthanol........

http://www.mediafire.com/?7ke4ue89q1j9o9q

imo the most important thing is gear ratios, the second is tyre selection and pressures, and the third is driver practice.