Track tips Spare the horses

ARE YOU BEING EVADED BY THE LAP TIMES YOU think your car is capable of? Simply not going fast enough? It can be tempting to peer under the hood and think “what if?”

Yet while the allure of adding more horses to the corral is highly tempting, it may be worth taking another look at your set-up. A few simple adjustments will not only shrink lap times but also make the car much more fun to drive on the limit – and, most importantly, less likely to launch you into the scenery if something goes awry. The best thing is that, unlike unnecessary investment in your engine, set-up changes can be very cheap indeed, yet yield huge gains.

Start by dividing corners into two types: fast or slow. Then, divide these corners into three sections – entry, mid-corner and exit. Next, while driving, try to note what you’re feeling in each corner, and in each section of said corner.

Of course, this is quite a detailed mental effort, and keeping the car pointing in the right direction is rather more important. However, with only a few short notes you can paint a picture of what’s happening based around three questions you need to ask: is it understeering or oversteering, is it doing this on entry, mid-corner or exit, and is the action mild, moderate or severe?

The key is to get all this down in notes as soon as you return to the pits. Add context to these notes by explaining what inputs you were making while the car’s reactions were playing out.

Such notes are the best way to help a chassis guru to make changes – but even if you’re doing the work yourself, by thinking through the processes in a segmented form that mirrors going around the corner, you can adjust things slightly rather than take giant leaps.

For example, mid-corner oversteer in slow corners might mean that the front of the car is too stiff and lacks compliance. Softening the springs, shocks and sway bar might make a dramatic change – and cure fast-corner understeer while you’re at it.

Experimenting is key, and pursuing a stiffer set-up might yield results. A snappy or unpredictable car may mean it has a lack of roll support, especially if you’re pursuing a soft or friendly balance. However, a set-up can be too soft, just as it can be too stiff.

While YouTube paints the scene that oversteer is king, for the best lap time a balance that tends towards light understeer is usually the quickest. Consider making the front end comparatively stiffer than the rear, so running the car fairly flat.

Too much understeer, however, will add time, because you’ll be forever waiting for it to diminish before getting on the throttle again. Try dialing it out by increasing the rake angle (the difference between the front and rear ride heights) or make the back end stiffer. This will help the car to change direction quicker.

It’s a case of experimenting, and there will always be a trade-off – what works at one corner will not work at another. However, try different things, stick at it and keep track of your times, and you’ll be shaving seconds sharpish.