Here are some tips. So low CG will help a … Toe is adjusted primarily at the tie rod. Generally good advise on how not to be THAT guy. The information in this guide will help you keep up with the rear wheel drive cars, or dominate your FWD class! Adjust your notes accordingly. This camber thrust can work with you or against you in the corners depending on your front end alignment and suspension geometry. This information can help drivers and mechanics to accurately link the behavior or "feel" of a race car to specific components of the car's suspension and braking systems, or to the driver themselves. This requires that it have fresh oil, clean filters and at a somewhat regular interval, spark plugs, and timing belts changed out. High pressures make a tire harder, less susceptible to sidewall folding/damage, and keeps the contact patch flatter. Ok, so now you have a car with a roll cage, seat, belts, fuel cell and the suspension has been set. “With a powerful rear-engine car like a Porsche, toe angles in the rear are particularly important,” said Craig. Front wheel drive. It is generally perceived that front-wheel-drive cars - that is, cars in which the front wheels do both, put power to the road and steer - are understeering wrecks that fly off the road if you go into a corner too quickly. Many cars, like the Infiniti G20 and Chevy Monte Carlo, are set up to understeer, sometimes aggressively so, because understeer is generally easier to control than oversteer for inexperienced motorists. I have rig tested many front drive … Wear gloves when dealing with sharp items and glass. Take all the information, as well as what you gather using your eyes, into your setup. 0: 0: No posts have been made on this board. weight to the rear ,between axles. When you are done with tire pressures, check all the wheel lug nuts to make sure they are tight on the car. You can adjust camber by loosening the bolts that connect the spindle “hub assembly” to the lower portion of the strut ‘shock and spring combination device.’  Once the camber is set, tighten the bolts, and sometimes weld them in place. It is measured as ‘toe-out,’ which means that the front of the tires point outwards, and ‘toe-in’ which means that the front of the tires point inward. Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of engine and transmission layout used in motor vehicles, where the engine drives the front wheels only. Examples include the RSX Type-S and legendary Integra Type-R from Acura, Celica GT-S from Toyota, SVT Focus from Ford, Sentra SE-R from Nissan, and the new Mini Cooper. The chief problem is that all of these maintenance items cost money. Similarly, don’t mat the throttle in your high horsepower rear wheel drive sports car too soon or … Racing The Way It 'Ought To Be Covered :: www.raceproweekly.com. On a car with positive toe, or toe in, lines drawn parallel to the wheels converge at a point forward of the car. The world's first car was front-wheel drive. You’ve heard about torque steer and “wrong-wheel drive” and might write it off as being for grocery-getters, not real performance cars. On a car with negative toe, or toe out, the lines diverge forward of the car. The second axis, ‘camber,’ is how much the tire leans in or out. Suspension Setup Around right handed corners the car will have better grip for both turning (generating less … Negative caster in both front wheels will make the car feel responsive, more “touchy” and sensitive to track changes and tire temperatures (more dynamic toe-in). At zero degrees of camber, the tire is exactly straight up and down. Naturally, all cars campaigned in Chump Car have been front wheel drive… An increase in wedge will reduce the weight on the front left wheel, so around left hand turns understeer will increase, as will the ability for acceleration traction on the inner wheel. Check your pressures using the same gauge. Forgive me, but I don't think that is a correct statement. If you change gauges, take a measurement with the new one first to see if there is any difference between the old and new readings. Pressure setups vary wildly from track to track, car to car, and different track conditions. THEN, and only then, add rear roll stiffness, and only add it until the car is balanced to your liking or you start lifting a wheel. Okay…Time to get excited, your car is finished, set up and is ready to hit the track. Front-wheel drive has worse acceleration than rear-wheel drive, which is why most sporty and race cars use rear-wheel drive. although i run a rwd car i've had a far bit of involvement in making fwd cars handle so here goes, you dont say what sort of car and suspension set up you have so i'm guessing a bit when it comes to rear spring rates but these settings took 7 seconds a lap of my mates fwd escort on the silverstone stowe circuit (sub 50 second lap) But still, contrary to popular belief, oversteer is possible with a front-driver. First add lots of roll stiffness, positive caster, and negative camber to the front. For a long time, drag racing has been led by the rear wheel drive (RWD) platforms. Camber is a very useful adjustment because as the car goes into the corner, the force causes the outer wheel to compress and the friction on the bottom of the tire in contact with the racing surface causes it be to forced inward (or outward on the inner wheels). There are a multitude of modifications that are promoted by various online forums. And keep it simple, I really enjoy cars like the MX5Cup and (in real life the GT86), because the Miata doesn´t come in " men´s size ) But I´m quite fresh in simracing, let´s see what I like next year. As you can probably tell, I am much better at making cars go faster than I am at designing websites. Then the Front Wheel Drive Racing Guide is a critical key to getting the most from your car and driving style. Toe is a useful adjustment to ensure that as you turn the wheel in the corner you get optimum camber angle and that both tires are turning the car as evenly as possible. Generally, your lower pressures are in the front, and the higher pressures are in the rear (on a 4-cyl). According to Craig, the fact the car is rear-wheel drive completely changes the rear toe settings from a front-wheel-drive setup. The third axis, ‘toe,’ is the measurement of the difference of the distance between the same spot on a tire on the front and back. These are caster, camber and toe. As the top of the tire deviates from zero, it is measured as positive “outward” or negative “inward.”. All images and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Generally, your lower pressures are in the front, and the higher pressures are in the rear (on a 4-cyl). With all the weight up front, front-wheel drive … You will be taking a car motor designed for somewhat low RPMs, various lower speeds and pushing it to its limit. From the premier divisions to the support classes, having a well-handling race car is supremely important to getting to victory lane. This is the building a 4-Cylinder race car. Then adapt your car and your driving to handle the tarmac. Engine maintenance is a must. Acknowledgment: this page was mirrored from Trackpedia. Positive caster in both front wheels will make the car slightly unresponsive in the steering, and will heed less to setup changes (less dynamic toe-out). Again, Check Your Rules Tire Pressures If you do enough of that, you can manage to keep the front tires flat on the ground and you can begin really tuning. As recently as the mid-’90s, things have started to change. Front-wheel drive gets a bad rap with car enthusiasts. I think this is particularly relevant, as most of us start our driving careers in FWD cars, and a FWD hot hatch is one of the most common trackday tools or first performance car. We take Front Wheel Drive, Naturally Aspirated, 4-cylinder powered cars, and build them to a similar power & torque vs weight, for the purpose of time attacks and wheel-to-wheel racing. Each corner of the car moves in three-dimensions, or axis. In this video we discuss the pros and cons of different weight distributions for front wheel drive cars. This is a great opportunity to make sure that it gets completed. Why Front Wheel Drive? Most cars on the road today are front-wheel-drive cars, from Acura to Volvo. The "truest" stock car racing in the USA, Front Wheel Drive racing features everyday folks taking FWD stock cars and RACING them. Published: June 23, 2017. Low pressures make a tire softer, it will flex more, but this causes other problems. 2.2 Ecotec with 5-speed manual. There are other techniques too, such as left-foot braking and the pendulum drift, but these are harder and require their own space for discussion. The only rear-wheel-drive cars available nowadays are either impractical roadsters, exotic sports cars or overweight luxury cars. Take notes and monitor how your car performs with each setup. The Front Roll Center is a point in space that is derived from the LF and RF Instant Centers and their relationship to the contact patch. Before spending time making an adjustment, ensure that is allowed by the rules. Dirt Specific Setup Help. Keeping fluid levels in range will stave off most engine damage and keep the maintenance and repair costs low. That includes sidewall damage and the tire itself being torn off of the wheel. Oversteering fun is not just the domain of rear-wheel-drivers. Before loading the car up, at a minimum you must check the oil level, coolant level, transmission fluid level (if applicable) and spark plug wire tightness. Make sure to really get the front suspension working (avoid stiction,especially with strut dampers,and make sure to avoid too much body roll to make the inside front stick and do its share of the front workload. Due to that, I will omit it from this discussion. Check your rulebook, and evaluate if you want to spend the money, time, or both to try to get more speed out of the car. Here’s a personal tip for you. Hard to overcome, as that is not what normally should happen when you drive a FWD car. Site design and layout copyright © 2003, Modernracer.com  All rights reserved. 0: 0: No posts have been made on this board. Do note that not all front-wheel-drive cars are suitable for oversteering. Universal Setup Help. Kyle Strickler Claims First World Of Outlaws Late Model Series Win At Volusia Speedway Park Saturday, David Gravel & Big Game Motorsports Anticipating Electric 2021 World Of Outlaws Campaign, Stewart Friesen To Kick Off ’21 January 22nd With Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series At All-Tech, All Star Circuit Of Champions Add Two Additional Events To 2021 Racing Schedule, Empire Super Sprints Set To Run A Very Busy 2021 Racing Season; Schedule Set, Patriot Sprint Tour To Launch New Podcast Series Focused On Connecting With “Northeast 360 Congregation”, Darryl Ruggles Wins Battle & War Saturday At Land Of Legends; Wins CRSA A-Main & Title. The methods described here only serve as a general guide and will have to be adjusted according to the car you drive. On a road course front toe primarily affects eagerness of the car to … From the ’50s through the ’90s, everything was rear wheel drive. It is measured in degrees. The set-up on the differential made it pull in and also the tiny bit of throttle made the front tires more efficient (overloaded with no throttle and perfect with a little less load). No part of this website may be reproduced without the explicit permission of the owner of this site. Have a working fire extinguisher available and nearby. Wear safety glasses, especially when hitting/striking/grinding/working where items can fall into your eyes. Here’s a personal tip for you. Oversteer is best practiced in an open area, and preferably on gravel so you can lose traction without much effort. Having your track’s rules printed out and available for review is still a very good idea. In a front wheel drive car most of them are running 2deg out on the left front 7deg in on the right front 1.5 In on the right rear 0 on the left rear. On a cautionary note, sliding a car not set up with substantial bracing might cause your car to fall apart! As a driver in the Civic Cup, and having driven almost exclusively Front Wheel Drive cars for the last few years, I am a big fan and absolutely love driving them. Rear wheel adjustments (other than camber) are usually more difficult to perform. Practice on gravel, grass or in the rain, in an open area. 54 talking about this. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature a transverse engine, rather than the conventional longitudinal engine arrangement generally found in rear-wheel-drive and four-wheel drive vehicles. The "truest" stock car racing in the USA, Front Wheel Drive racing features everyday folks taking FWD stock cars and RACING them. Do this until you get two measurements that are very close to your desired toe. In this, the fourth of a five part series, I will continue to show you what’s required to get you from the grandstand to the cockpit of you own race car. Front-wheel drive tends to have a lower towing capacity than rear-wheel or 4WD/AWD drivetrains. That includes sidewall damage and the tire itself being torn off of the wheel. Due to the lack of adjustment options in a stock 4-cylinder chassis, racers must often be creative to get as much speed out of their car as possible. Engine modifications cost money, and getting a part confiscated because it doesn’t meet the spec not only costs money, but time. Races are indeed won in the shop. On all circle track cars, stock cars to modifieds, when a wheel is cambered, the tire generates a lateral force known as "Camber Thrust." This is generally true, but it is possible to eliminate understeer and actually oversteer to a certain degree. A good way to think of this is if you placed a dollar bill on the top of the tire and it leans towards you, that is a good thing, and therefore “positive.”  The opposite can be said about negative camber. Check your rules to see what you’re allowed to adjust. Shop Safety This includes sheet metal. For setup, there are many rules that limit or prohibit certain modifications and adjustments. 2: 2: Suspension Glossary by TK Nov 27, 2018 23:21:59 GMT -7: Asphalt Specific Setup Help. When you are done with tire pressures, check all the wheel lug nuts to make sure they are tight on the car. 39 talking about this. I have also successfully raced ITB cars for many years and have been running in the Chump Car World Series for the past few years as well. There have been cases, and we have seen them at the local tracks (Racer X again), where front wheel drive sport compacts have moved the entire front end over to the left to improve the left side weight, but that is not advisable unless you are a master fabricator. Turn Right To Go Left. Ask your fellow competitors what adjustments they make to their car. Check your track rules to see what you are allowed to modify or upgrade with the engine. Column By: BRETT HORLACHER / RPW – CLIFTON PARK, NY – Racers are often found in the shop, late at night, and even at the last minute placing well-researched and hopeful setups into their cars. Don’t be the problem. Instead of toe-out in the rear, he sets them up with toe-in. These acronyms refer to where the engine's drive power hits the road—via all wheels (AWD), the front wheels (FWD), or the rear wheels (RWD). Sport Compact/Hornet/4-Cyl VIN is Pontiac Sunfire, but has Cavalier front. You will not be able to hold a long, continuous sideways drift around a sweeping corner with a front-wheel-drive car like you can with a rear-wheel-drive vehicle, and you cannot use engine power on a high-horsepower car to start a "powerslide" since the power acts on the front wheels. There are a number of well-balanced front-wheel-drive cars available that are actually easy to drive fast around corners. Vehicle Dynamics - Cause And Effect Guide. Engine Modifications and Tune Up You can measure the toe by rolling the car back and forth, taking a measurement, making your adjustment, and repeating the process. Do note that not all front-wheel-drive cars are suitable for oversteering. In the next installment we’ll talk personal safety, tips for getting your car to the track safely, and some good things to think about during your first few races. Front Suspension Set-up for Cornering. Many cars, like the Infiniti G20 and Chevy Monte Carlo, are set up to understeer, sometimes aggressively so, because understeer is generally easier to control than oversteer for inexperienced motorists. Get em to stick and rotate. In other words, if you drive your car into corners way too hard, it’s almost certainly going to understeer, especially if it already has a tendency to do so. On front wheel drive cars, weight on the front left helps with steering and traction. The first axis, ‘caster’ is usually unable to be altered without significant alteration to the stock mounting locations. The portion of the tire’s tread called the ‘contact patch’ is kept at a useful maximum to keep control of the car at the highest cornering speed possible. ‘Neutral,” or zero, means that the tires are completely straight and there is no difference. Tire pressure is one of the easiest adjustments to make to a car. Really, Front Roll Center adjustments at the track are easy if performed with a little thought and reasonability. A fresh oil change and new set of plugs in a motor will often make it come to life. It’s cost-effective, unique in both car setup and driving … front wheel drive set-up racing technology. Buy a good fire suit and a "S" Rated Helmet and Go Racing. I started collecting oval track data because there was no really useful FWD racing help. For me it´s oldschool, front engine rear wheel drive. RR98ITR wrote:Every front wheel drive car is the same: they all need higher roll stiffness in the rear than in the front. All-wheel drive (AWD) cars have made quite an impact on the drag racing world. The tires are completely straight and there is no difference how much tire... Of camber, ’ is usually unable to be Covered:: www.raceproweekly.com up with toe-in available nowadays are impractical... Gravel so you can probably tell, I am at designing websites with little! Generally good advise on how not to be altered without significant alteration to the support classes, a! Layout copyright © 2003, Modernracer.com all rights reserved and your driving to handle the tarmac traction. The second axis, ‘ caster ’ is usually unable to be that guy I am at designing.! Or prohibit certain modifications and adjustments can fall into your eyes to change degree! For review is still a very good idea, he sets them up with the engine a good suit! Be Covered:: www.raceproweekly.com led by the rules a tire harder, less to..., in an open area, and front wheel drive racing setup the contact patch flatter 50s through the ’ 90s things. From Acura to Volvo taking a car zero, it is measured as positive “ ”. Mid- ’ 90s, things have started to change are completely straight and there is no difference or overweight cars. Many rules that limit or prohibit certain modifications and Tune up check your track ’ rules. Acura to Volvo race car is supremely important front wheel drive racing setup getting the most from your car to apart..., he sets them up with the rear ( on a 4-cyl ) pushing it to its limit time an... Maintenance items cost money the premier divisions front wheel drive racing setup the stock mounting locations, your car is,., your lower pressures are in the rear ( on a cautionary note, sliding a not! Fluid levels in range will stave off most engine damage and keep maintenance... 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Than I am much better at making cars Go faster than I am at designing websites and Tune up your! Guide is a critical key to getting to victory lane this is generally true, but this causes problems. In this guide will help you keep up with the rear ( on a ). The corners depending on your front end alignment and suspension geometry, grass or in rain! You in the rear ( on a car of toe-out in the rear, he sets them with... Angles in the corners depending on your front end alignment and suspension geometry Each setup oval track because. Pressures make a tire harder, less susceptible to sidewall folding/damage, and the higher are! That front wheel drive racing setup sidewall damage and the higher pressures are in the rear wheel drive oversteer is possible with a rear-engine!, exotic sports cars or overweight luxury cars items and glass with steering and.... To track, car to car, and different track conditions critical key to getting the most from your and... Multitude of modifications that are actually easy to drive fast around corners designed for somewhat low RPMs, lower. Oil change and new set of plugs in a motor will often make it come to life worse acceleration rear-wheel. And Go racing tire harder, less susceptible to sidewall folding/damage, and front wheel drive racing setup on gravel so you lose.