Tech Draft: Start with factory settings

Invariably they have little knowledge or experience of engineering race cars to extract a performance level in a direction towards its design limits.

These days I try to give the whole track day thing a wide berth so that I can save myself the frustration of trying to rationalise the confusing and often dangerous set-ups spannered into what are often some quite expensive, historically relevant, artisan and potentially lethal machines, and the implication that I should be providing my expertise gratis because of course, the expectation usually is that it is a labour of love for me, as it is for them.

The most important piece of advice that I can give someone who wants to setup their thoroughbred race car properly but doesn’t know how to do it is to find someone experienced to do it for you because a badly setup race car can cost you lap time, chew your tyres and brakes, damage your car and indeed kill you.

In my experience, what is required to set up a proper race car such as a Formula Ford, an F3, an old F3000, or even a historic F1 are some simple but essential pieces of equipment; a flat patch of concrete, a set of trestles, string, a ruler, a spirit level, a set of corner weight scales, a tyre pressure gauge and of course a properly kitted out toolbox.

Usually, any of the above-mentioned types of race car should really come with a factory baseline set-up sheet when purchased, and if not, at least a copy of the setup sheet from the last time it was done by someone who knew what they were doing, and in their absence, it is even more critical to engage someone who has hands-on experience in operating and setting up your type of car.

The other really important piece of advice that I can give is to make sure that the springs, dampers and sway bars are sized and set as the factory intended with no exotic valving and bump and rebound settings and making sure the spring pre-loads are also as per the factory setting, otherwise you might end up chasing your tail like a brainless dog forever trying to make sense where your balance on the track is.

In fact, if I could offer another piece of advice it would be to not play with the dampers at all, leave them to the expert.

The key to a baseline setup for any of the above is complete neutrality, however within reason, and factory settings will detail the front and rear ride heights, front negative cambers, rear negative cambers (they might even be stood up straight at zero), rear toe, if any, front to rear and diagonal corner weights, static tyre pressures and gear ratios.

If the car has wings, set them as per the factory setup sheet as well, or in its absence at a conservative mid-level, preferably the same from and rear.

The key to acknowledging the validity of the baseline factory setup is the understanding that it was developed as a result of testing with professional drivers and engineers over hundreds of hours and thousands of kilometres.

The only way that engineering a racecar can become intuitive is through experience, lots of it.

Nevertheless, there are always very good reading references available and I must confess to having been introduced to the field of race car engineering, particularly dynamics, long ago through reading some of Carroll Smith’s publications such as ‘Engineer to Win’ and ‘Engineer in Your Pocket’, which are recognized by many as the ‘Bibles’ of racecar engineering and whilst quite detailed in manner they are not overly onerous to understand.

From a pure technology and development perspective, one would always be well served by subscribing to the glorious Racecar Engineering Magazine.

If you have any questions that you would like me to answer directly please feel free to email me via the GP247 contact form and I will endeavour to respond as soon as I can.