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- The most elusive quality
in race car setup is drivability. The grippiest car in the world
will not be a good race car if it is unpredictable, or if its
limits are razor-sharp. As we discussed earlier, its behavior
must be predictable and consistent, and when it starts to slide,
we want it to begin to let go gently, with some warning, and
get fairly deep into a slide before it becomes uncontrollable.
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- A car like this will
be easier to drive, and it therefore will be faster over the
course of many laps, since the driver will be able to drive it
near its maximum a greater percentage of the time. If the driver
is not occupied with reacting to nasty moves from the car, and
using a lot of mental effort just to keep it on the track, he/she
will also have more attention to devote to other things, like
dealing with traffic, monitoring fuel load and tire wear, and
so forth.
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- A critical factor in
drivability is the tire's slip angle curve, which we discussed
above. If we have a choice, we want to choose a tire with the
gentlest slip angle curve, particularly on the downside. Once
we've chosen a tire, we want to maximize the chassis to also
have these characteristics.
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- Unfortunately, this
is the area which is most difficult to pin down. It becomes almost
a black art. For example, Shane Pitkin feels that his use of
stiff rear shocks/springs lends his [ICR2]
setups their distinctive "tossability" - a combination
of mild oversteer, and stability in a slide.
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- I've found that sometimes
it's better to run a bit more wing, particularly rear wing, than
will produce the fastest lap times. Fast and loose works - for
qualifying. But for a race setup, where you're dealing with all
kinds of distractions and trying to stay on the track for lap
after lap, a little more downforce, and a little more understeer,
can have you looking good.
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