Principles and Practices of setup.

[Stikshift87]

Hi All
I’m Stikshift87, real name Dale and father/backseat driver of Buzz87H
All of this has probably been discussed numerous times before but after reading the recent thread on gearing I felt compelled to put together the story on how we developed Buzz’s setups and what we have learned from it so far.
After several failed attempts of our own Uturn kindly gave us his setups which, I feel, are some of the best available as everyone using them is fairly quick. More importantly however is that Uturn has attached a reference time to each set so that when you can achieve these times you know that your driving style is getting close to that required for optimum performance. I can’t recall where to reference them at present but I’m sure Uturn will be most helpful if you ask him nicely. Next we printed off the Setup Guide from the setups thread and then we created a table of best times for each track which we update and print out regularly so that we have a reference when testing changes.
We found that it’s best to do testing when you are fresh. If you don’t achieve a time close to your current record after less than 10 laps then you should give up and try again some other time. Testing can be a waste of time if you are not on good form. Create at least two setups for each track, one being your current racing setup and the other your test setup. Try to change one thing at a time but go up or down at least two or three clicks or the change may not be noticeable. If it’s worse, try going the other way. If a change does not seem to have any effect don’t give up on it as after you have changed several other settings it may have altered the dynamic of the car so that now your previous change will have some effect. So keep trying. When we thought we had made an improvement we saved it but did not immediately overwrite the racing setup. To confirm that it is better you should test both setups back to back. Use the new setup for a few sessions before making more changes as we found that often, driving style changes and improves as well. Pay attention to your corner entry and mid corner grip!!! A large proportion of setups that I have observed appear to be too loose in these areas. This leaves you open to be easily passed or attacked. Gearing: This is more technical and has greater effect than you would think. Don’t just settle on a combination that gives you the desired RPM at the end of the straight. Start with low final drive and then go up a few clicks at a time, altering your racing gear accordingly. We use a one or two gear setup but only race in one gear. Brakes: some tracks may require you to brake before one or both corners so alter you brake bias to get the best performance. If you alter front weight you may need to reset your brake bias as well. Controller: We feel that it’s easier to achieve optimum results with an analogue controller or wheel as you can control your throttle, brakes and steering with more sensitivity. Soften your throttle application to control wheelspin as this is a major key to fast times. You may want to add some overshoot to your brakes and we don’t find non-linear steering to be of any benefit. A wheel lock of more than 30 percent can cause front end push. Most changes that improve setup on one track are transferrable to others. Once we feel we have achieved an improvement Buzz will then test for overall car control by throwing the car from side to side down the straights then deliberately going wide into a corner and holding a power slide through the corner. He does this as some setups give an occasional fast time but lose overall car control and therefore consistency. Remember it’s consistency that wins races. Finally, follow the fast guys to learn their lines. If you can’t stay with them in the corners work on your set. If you can’t hold your own on the straights soften your throttle application. Sometimes when I’m watching Buzz I will say “slower is faster” meaning don’t be so aggressive into the corners and with the throttle and his times will come down. Some changes may only have a small effect but when added together it may mean the difference between a 17.8 and a 17.3 on Palmy and then you’re up there with the quick boys.
So in Summary
1: Start with a good base set.
2: Copy/print the setup Guide from Chris56’s post in http://www.kiwisimracing.net.nz/forum/v ... =28&t=8498
3: Make a table of your best times for each track
4: Have a separate test setup
5: Only test when you are fresh and driving well
6: Make one change at a time
7: Test and change all parameters from Tyre Pressures to Grille Tape to Wedge to suit your driving style.
8: Don’t overwrite your old setup until you’re absolutely sure that the new one is better.
9: Resist that urge to smash your foot/thumb to the floor.
10: Most important of all - THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TOO MUCH PRACTICE

We hope this will help some of the slower guys to pick up speed which in turn will lessen the urge to stop and block that maybe comes from the frustration of not being able to keep up. It would be great to see some 6-way battles for the lead and plenty of new faces on the podium.

Stikshift & Buzz

[Chris56]

Novel to read first thing i spotted " Chris56" hahaha good stuff

[pink64c]

good post!will help people out for sure.

[stoodlee15b]

cheers guys

[the duck]

far out thats extremly helpful uy your holding out on me and i thort wez was chumbs

na welcome stikshift nice to have an older chap racing with us itl make boppa happy now he isnt the only koro in the pack
buzz is very fast extremly consistant if your anywere near him youll go along way

Duck

[mopar]

AWESOME STICKSHIFT.
ive seen buzz out there a few times and god damn hes pretty quick alrite.
hope these changes are gonna help

[Tyrone]

awesome.

[stoodlee15b]

.3 off my time

[Fireball45]

Thanks stickshift (dale) good to see you come on board.will be watchin you just like when we used to race with wantobe(eyes in the back of my head )lol welcome good post.

[mopar]

great s#@t man.
used a good base on the rotorua track and tried heaps of things and I used to get around the track in low 18's, now Im getting down to mid 17's. . just a bit more tweaking then I should be up there ( hopefully )...

Once agian stickshift AWESOME

[Fever14]

Cheers guys. Im sure this will help alot of people

[Stikshift87]

Cheers Guys: Glad to see some of you making impressive gains already. Thanks for the comments Terry and Duck but I'm struggling to find time to practice at the moment so following our own advice I won't be joining you on line till i'm good enough. Hopefully not too long. Is 50 old??? Lol

Here are some reference times. If you can get to these you are on the pace: If you can better them by 0.3 you are probably in the top 10 on that track. If you can beat them by 0.4 or more you are probably cheating or if you say you can then you're most likely Bulls Hitting If you're using a Keyboard or Digital controller then add roughly 0.4 as a realistic target:

BAYPARK 17.2
BIRMINGHAM 14.0
COVENTRY 15.6
KINGS LYNN 15.4
MEANNE 17.1
PALMERSTON 17.4
ROTORUA 17.1
SHEFFIELD 15.3
SWAFFHAM 16.0
TE MARUA 16.4
WAIKARAKA 16.7
WANGANUI 16.6

Regards

The 87's

[stoodlee15b]

Stikshift87

U should be racing with them times, u would hold ur own on wkends,
playing Heat online is the best!
Again cheers for ur Post been a big help!

[Racing_Hart]

Yeah Come for a jam online Stikshift87, You don't have to be fast. just race .,
Took me like 3 years to get my speed. but that's because i was running keys for so long then changed to Controller. Tho's times still are possible on keys tho.

[Stikshift87]

I hear you Harty, but although we've got two PC's setup for Heat, due to almost no practice at all my current driving skill level is "Dropkick" so I'd better keep off for now. I've spent most of my spare time on Buzz and his ministock racing but the seasons nearing its end so here's hoping

Thanks anyway

Stikshift.

[The_Terminator]

hi i am 54 yrs young i am not fast but i do enjoy it good right up

[stoodlee15b]

hi i am 54 yrs young i am not fast but i do enjoy it good right up

well Im 38, a old school gamer.. come on line hav some fun... on the wkend
with them times u will win a few, thats if ur son's slows down 4 u LOL....
Get in ther Stikshift87 hope 2 c u on the wkend

[ministock6n]

Cheers Guys: Glad to see some of you making impressive gains already. Thanks for the comments Terry and Duck but I'm struggling to find time to practice at the moment so following our own advice I won't be joining you on line till i'm good enough. Hopefully not too long. Is 50 old??? Lol

Here are some reference times. If you can get to these you are on the pace: If you can better them by 0.3 you are probably in the top 10 on that track. If you can beat them by 0.4 or more you are probably cheating or if you say you can then you're most likely Bulls Hitting If you're using a Keyboard or Digital controller then add roughly 0.4 as a realistic target:

BAYPARK 17.2
BIRMINGHAM 14.0
COVENTRY 15.6
KINGS LYNN 15.4
MEANNE 17.1
PALMERSTON 17.4
ROTORUA 17.1
SHEFFIELD 15.3
SWAFFHAM 16.0
TE MARUA 16.4
WAIKARAKA 16.7
WANGANUI 16.6

Regards

The 87's

lol put your real times up most of them iv seen buzz beat by 0.4+ lol

welcome dale and nice to meet you at mip (see you next year)