I threw this together as an aid for making new/modifying setups, or (in a reverse engineering manner) figuring out what the car was doing to make the crew cheif of your favorite team make the change they did.
for those not wanting to open a 800x1000 pixel image...
Tire Pressure:
The optimum pressure is when the center tire temperature reading is the average of the inner + outer tire temperatures once the tires get to operating temperature. The higher the pressure, the stiffer the car will be as the tire also behaves like a spring. Increasing the split between the right side (normally a high pressure) and left side (normally a low pressure) tire pressures will help the car turn left.
Fast Bump (shock package):
The UPWARD movement of the suspension following bumps and curbs. So this adjustment controls how a tire conforms to the track as it's negotiating the leading edge-to-peak of a bump or track undulation. If the car is pushing to the outside of the track in a "skating" fashion over bumps, then soften/lower this setting.
Slow Bump (shock package):
The mild UPWARD movement of the suspension corner caused by driver input (steering/braking/throttle). Used to affect chassis balance while transitioning into, through, and out, of the corners. Decreasing (softening) this setting will speed up how quickly this corner accepts weight transfer while we are transitioning. Increasing (stiffening) will slow it down. Increasing rear slow bump will slow down how much squat the rear has under acceleration. Increasing the front slow bump will slow down how much squat the nose has under braking.
Fast Rebound (shock package):
Controls the rapid DOWNWARD movement of the suspension following bumps and curbs. This adjustment controls how a tire conforms to the road as it's negoiating the peak-to-trailing edge of a bump or track undulation.
Slow Rebound (shock package):
The mild DOWNWARD movement of the suspension caused by driver input (steering, braking, throttle). Used to affect chassis balance while transitioning into, through, and out of the corners. Decreasing this number will speed up how quickly this corner gives up- or "sheds"- weight transfer while transitioning. Increasing this setting will slow it down. Increasing rear slow rebound will slow down/decrease how much lift the rear has under braking. Decreasing front slow rebound will slow down/decrease the amount of lift the nose has under acceleration.
Camber:
The angle of the wheel in relation to the driving surface. Negative camber makes the top of the tires tilted inward towards the center of the chassis, and helps give better grip through the corners. Ideal camber can be tuned by the tire temperatures. You want the inner temps about 7-10°C hotter than the outer temps, slightly less for the rear. The amount of camber is dependant on the type of suspension the car has and the amount of roll resistance (springs + anti-roll bars) utilized in the setup. The stiffer the roll resistance the less camber you need. The less efficient the suspension the more camber you need.
Caster:
Adjust the degree the tire leans forward or back at the top of the wheel/spindle. Caster increases or decreases directional directional stability. Positive caster provides directional stability, but too much can make the steering heavier. Negative caster requires less steering effort but can cause the car to wander.
Anti-roll Bar:
Adjust the stiffness of the anti-roll bars in the front/rear of the car. Keeps the car from rolling excessively through the turns. This aids in camber control for the tires so excessively stiff springs or camber angles have to be used. The stiffer a specific roll bar is, the more weight transfer that end of the car will handle and cause that end to lose traction sooner. So stiffening the front will tend to understeer/tight condition (front will wash out) and stiffening the rear will tend to oversteer/loose condition (rear wants to come around).
Grille Tape:
The more tape (higher percentage), the hotter the engine will run, reducing life, but the faster and more forward downforce. If the car is tight/pushing the nose, increasing grille tape will add forward aero downforce and correct the condition. IF the car is loose, removing grille tape will tighten the car by removing aero downforce.
Spoiler:
The higher the spoiler is (more degrees), the more rear downforce and drag the car has. The lower it is, the more the back of the car will wander and want to come around, but the faster you will go. If the car is tight (front doesn't want to turn), decrease the spoiler to remove rear aero grip and give the front a higher downforce percentage. If the car is loose, increase the spoiler to add rear aero grip and make the rear tires stick better.
Spring Rubber:
A spring rubber is a semi-circle shaped rubber wedge that a tire changer and shove between coils of a spring to increase the stiffness of the spring. If the car is loose, a spring rubber can be put in the right rear to transfer more weight to the right rear and off the left rear. If the car is tight, a spring rubber can be put in the left rear to put more weight on the left rear and less on the right rear.
Wedge:
Wedge is the amount of preload applied to the right rear spring. The more wedge (higher percentage), the more the car will use the right rear as a turning pivot. Works essentially the same as a spring rubber.
Track bar:
(from NOL, oddly even I struggle to figure out what it does, since both ends are movable)
This bar locates the vehicle's rear end housing from left-to-right under it. In calibrating the vehicle's "suspension geometry," raising or lowering the track bar changes the rear roll center and determines how well it will travel through the corners. During races, this adjustment is done through the rear window using an extended ratchet. Typically, lowering the track bar will "tighten" the vehicle and raising the track bar will "loosen" it off the corner.
Coil Binding (Revised):
The practice of using soft front springs to lower the front end and close off the gap between the Valence and the ground, and using the soft springs as bumpstops when compacted to stop the valence within a quarter inch of the ground. This creates aero downforce, but tightens the car in traffic from the lack of air hitting the nose. (N2Racin88)
Aero Push/Aero Tight:
Occurs when a second car drives up behind another car, but not fully in the draft. The spoiler of the first car directs the air up and over the nose of the second car, taking the air off it's nose. Because the car is not fully in the draft, the rear spoiler still gets air, upsetting the balance (a rearward bias rather than neutral), making the front end light and unresponsive. Normally occurs if the frist car is tail high and the second car is nose down.
Aero loose:
Occurs when a second car drives up behind another car, but not fully in the draft, and the nose of the second car takes the air off the spoiler of the first car. Because the nose still has downforce, this upsets the balance ( a forward bias rather than neutral), making the rear light and start wo wander. Normally occurs if the first car is tail low and the second car is nose high.
for those not wanting to open a 800x1000 pixel image...
Tire Pressure:
The optimum pressure is when the center tire temperature reading is the average of the inner + outer tire temperatures once the tires get to operating temperature. The higher the pressure, the stiffer the car will be as the tire also behaves like a spring. Increasing the split between the right side (normally a high pressure) and left side (normally a low pressure) tire pressures will help the car turn left.
Fast Bump (shock package):
The UPWARD movement of the suspension following bumps and curbs. So this adjustment controls how a tire conforms to the track as it's negotiating the leading edge-to-peak of a bump or track undulation. If the car is pushing to the outside of the track in a "skating" fashion over bumps, then soften/lower this setting.
Slow Bump (shock package):
The mild UPWARD movement of the suspension corner caused by driver input (steering/braking/throttle). Used to affect chassis balance while transitioning into, through, and out, of the corners. Decreasing (softening) this setting will speed up how quickly this corner accepts weight transfer while we are transitioning. Increasing (stiffening) will slow it down. Increasing rear slow bump will slow down how much squat the rear has under acceleration. Increasing the front slow bump will slow down how much squat the nose has under braking.
Fast Rebound (shock package):
Controls the rapid DOWNWARD movement of the suspension following bumps and curbs. This adjustment controls how a tire conforms to the road as it's negoiating the peak-to-trailing edge of a bump or track undulation.
Slow Rebound (shock package):
The mild DOWNWARD movement of the suspension caused by driver input (steering, braking, throttle). Used to affect chassis balance while transitioning into, through, and out of the corners. Decreasing this number will speed up how quickly this corner gives up- or "sheds"- weight transfer while transitioning. Increasing this setting will slow it down. Increasing rear slow rebound will slow down/decrease how much lift the rear has under braking. Decreasing front slow rebound will slow down/decrease the amount of lift the nose has under acceleration.
Camber:
The angle of the wheel in relation to the driving surface. Negative camber makes the top of the tires tilted inward towards the center of the chassis, and helps give better grip through the corners. Ideal camber can be tuned by the tire temperatures. You want the inner temps about 7-10°C hotter than the outer temps, slightly less for the rear. The amount of camber is dependant on the type of suspension the car has and the amount of roll resistance (springs + anti-roll bars) utilized in the setup. The stiffer the roll resistance the less camber you need. The less efficient the suspension the more camber you need.
Caster:
Adjust the degree the tire leans forward or back at the top of the wheel/spindle. Caster increases or decreases directional directional stability. Positive caster provides directional stability, but too much can make the steering heavier. Negative caster requires less steering effort but can cause the car to wander.
Anti-roll Bar:
Adjust the stiffness of the anti-roll bars in the front/rear of the car. Keeps the car from rolling excessively through the turns. This aids in camber control for the tires so excessively stiff springs or camber angles have to be used. The stiffer a specific roll bar is, the more weight transfer that end of the car will handle and cause that end to lose traction sooner. So stiffening the front will tend to understeer/tight condition (front will wash out) and stiffening the rear will tend to oversteer/loose condition (rear wants to come around).
Grille Tape:
The more tape (higher percentage), the hotter the engine will run, reducing life, but the faster and more forward downforce. If the car is tight/pushing the nose, increasing grille tape will add forward aero downforce and correct the condition. IF the car is loose, removing grille tape will tighten the car by removing aero downforce.
Spoiler:
The higher the spoiler is (more degrees), the more rear downforce and drag the car has. The lower it is, the more the back of the car will wander and want to come around, but the faster you will go. If the car is tight (front doesn't want to turn), decrease the spoiler to remove rear aero grip and give the front a higher downforce percentage. If the car is loose, increase the spoiler to add rear aero grip and make the rear tires stick better.
Spring Rubber:
A spring rubber is a semi-circle shaped rubber wedge that a tire changer and shove between coils of a spring to increase the stiffness of the spring. If the car is loose, a spring rubber can be put in the right rear to transfer more weight to the right rear and off the left rear. If the car is tight, a spring rubber can be put in the left rear to put more weight on the left rear and less on the right rear.
Wedge:
Wedge is the amount of preload applied to the right rear spring. The more wedge (higher percentage), the more the car will use the right rear as a turning pivot. Works essentially the same as a spring rubber.
Track bar:
(from NOL, oddly even I struggle to figure out what it does, since both ends are movable)
This bar locates the vehicle's rear end housing from left-to-right under it. In calibrating the vehicle's "suspension geometry," raising or lowering the track bar changes the rear roll center and determines how well it will travel through the corners. During races, this adjustment is done through the rear window using an extended ratchet. Typically, lowering the track bar will "tighten" the vehicle and raising the track bar will "loosen" it off the corner.
Coil Binding (Revised):
The practice of using soft front springs to lower the front end and close off the gap between the Valence and the ground, and using the soft springs as bumpstops when compacted to stop the valence within a quarter inch of the ground. This creates aero downforce, but tightens the car in traffic from the lack of air hitting the nose. (N2Racin88)
Aero Push/Aero Tight:
Occurs when a second car drives up behind another car, but not fully in the draft. The spoiler of the first car directs the air up and over the nose of the second car, taking the air off it's nose. Because the car is not fully in the draft, the rear spoiler still gets air, upsetting the balance (a rearward bias rather than neutral), making the front end light and unresponsive. Normally occurs if the frist car is tail high and the second car is nose down.
Aero loose:
Occurs when a second car drives up behind another car, but not fully in the draft, and the nose of the second car takes the air off the spoiler of the first car. Because the nose still has downforce, this upsets the balance ( a forward bias rather than neutral), making the rear light and start wo wander. Normally occurs if the first car is tail low and the second car is nose high.
