Setup Discussion, Tips, and FAQ

[bige3dalejr88]

Welcome to Season 7 everyone. This thread is for anything and everything setup related. Share links, telemetry discussion, tips, ideas, lap guides, etc. Feel free to share setups, tips, etc. This is to help everyone. If the slow guys get faster, that means you fast guys need to get faster. It's a double payoff. 
I'm not expecting and asking people to share their particular race day setup. But if you have a decent/good starting point every week, that would be nice. Many of you guys said you would help the ones that struggle, as long as the one's asking for help are willing to help themselves. We have several members who are really good at this type of stuff. Even if you're not on the same team, it might be a smart idea to start talking to your fellow racers.
Here's a few links to get started:
https://d3bxz2vegbjddt.cloudfront.net/members/pdfs/iRacing_Setup_Guide.pdf
http://www.sim-racing.co.uk/sim-racing/
https://www.reddit.com/r/simracing/comments/5ibi9o/setup_guides/
http://perfectsimracer.com/race-simulator-ultimate-guide-2016/
https://pretendracecars.net/2015/08/15/basic-setup-theory/
http://www.apexspeed.com/sim/setups/
https://www.simracingcoach.com/en/
http://www.racelinecentral.com/RacingSetupGuide.html

I will say this though. Be wary of what set-ups you share. If you share something that can be deemed completely unraceable by the majority of the field, possible severe penalties might handed down. We are here to have fun and be competitive at the same time. There was a lot of opposition to going to open set-ups this season. And the ones that pushed for it, said that they would be willing to help. Well, this is the spot to do it.

 

[Johnny Pierce]

http://www.iracing.com/the-commodores-garage-1-welcome-to-my-shop/

 

[bige3dalejr88]

I have a few questions to ask. I've primarily done road racing since joining iRacing. I joined the game cause I used to like Nascar. All of my setting up a car knowledge is on the road cars. I know a lot of the stuff applies to both oval and road cars. But there are some differences, that I still can't grasp.

1. Tire Pressure: In road racing, I try to aim at getting my tire pressures within a 1/2 - 3/4 of a lb of each tire, at the end of the run. I would also try to get my tire temps no higher than 184. 
A)  I realize that this can't be done in oval. My question is, are you guys trying to get each side (RF and RR) close to each other?
B) And what's the highest tire temps I should allow? 

2. ARB/Roll Bar Pre-Load: I've always tried to get the pre-load as close to zero as possible in road cars. I've noticed that some of the people that have shared sets with me have the pre-loads at various different settings. Does the as close to zero as possible not apply to the oval series cars?

3. Can someone please tell me what the heck is the deal with steering off-set? 

 

[Johnny Pierce]

Everything we do with the oval cars has to do with getting the right aero package. This 500 lb spring rule has our team hunting for speed on short tracks. We use the negative preload to pull the nose down on straights. The neg preload actually compresses the front springs. Tires, I wing it for the most part. Staying around the fixed setup pressures seem to do ok, but most team's are tight lipped with it comes to tires. Steering off set is just used so you can have the steering wheel pointed straight when you go down the straights. When I build a set, first I get the aero correct, then the handling, then the tire wear. It is a battle in futility of trying to capture these 3 things. And just when you think you got it, someone shows you that you don't. I imagine my setup up process like needing dough. You are constantly working it, over and over. You are never happy, unless you are up front.

 

[bige3dalejr88]

I am now more lost than ever. :?: 

 

[Johnny Pierce]

Ok, let's start with the easy one. Steering off set has nothing to do with speed. It is simply an adjustment for driver comfort. It is basically as useful as a seat adjustment IMO. Oval cars, because of setup stagger, naturally pull to the left. That means you have to point the steering wheel at like 1 O'clock to go straight. Steering off set can be changed to make it where the wheel will be straight at 12 o'clock to go straight. I run no steering off set. just how I got used to driving. Catch me on teamspeak and I will gladly help you understand preload. There also could be some benefits of steering off set that I just have never stumbled on. Maybe some others have opinions.

 

[KodeyKnapmiller]

As Johnny pointed out, steering offset has little to no effect. It is a personal preference thing, I like it anywhere from 12 o clock to 1 o clock like he said, short tracks and plate tracks I prefer to have it at 12 o clock to know that I’m dead straight as holding a straight line is crucial. For 1.5 mile tracks, I like it a little to the right so that when steering into the corner I know exactly how much wheel is in it. Just a preference thing. 

For tire pressures, my team pays a lot of attention to where the pressures start, and end up. You want to find the optimal hot temperatures for the tires, which is a different number for every track and sometimes for different setups. Some tracks you run a 5 psi split, and some upwards of 15 psi split. It’s all about testing, and dialing in your setup. Adjust your tire pressure first, to a average psi on your rights and lefts to then work on aero and ride heights then you will fine tune your tire pressures for the last adjustment. 

 

[bige3dalejr88]

Thanks Johnny and Kodey. That clears up a few things. I'm starting to understand more every day. So, you pull down the front of the car with negative pre-load. This is to get the splitter to suck down to the ground as close as possible without hitting?

 

[smattocks]

Gr stuff, Johnny and Kodey...Keep it coming

 

[Johnny Pierce]

Preload is a ***** to explain. I really isn't about preload as much as it's understanding the whole front end as a system. One day I want to do a video explaining this stuff, but now it's about catching up to this new 500 lb spring rule.

 

[bige3dalejr88]

Well, its happened again. Everyone check your setups, iRacing did another update today. Xfinity setups have been adjusted to pass tech. Might or might not apply, but just check

 

[Jeffery Ford]

Guys what are you guys running right now at Atlanta? I'm doing a hot lap of 29.5 and averaging under 30 for a few laps. Trying to gauge if my own setup is competitive at all.

 

[Johnny Pierce]

We were 29 flat at 78

 

[KodeyKnapmiller]

Depends what track temp you're running at, 78 degrees is pretty close to being a night race.

 

[Jeffery Ford]

29.5 was at 87 degrees.

 

[Johnny Pierce]

In an effort to help keep our Sunday Night Races open setup, I am going reveal some of my garage over at https://www.facebook.com/Sim-Tech-Racin ... 771388143/. I am gonna try to do a small video each week(After the race) to explain our build and why we built the car the way we did. I refuse to just hand setups out. Not cause I am greedy and selfish. I want guys to learn and that is the only way to get faster. The whole give a fish, teach to fish thingy Of course I am not the best or fastest on iracing, but those guys aren't sharing secrets anyway . The reason I will not give out anything before the race is because I am still trying to figure it out until right before the green flag drops. I have never had a setup in my life that I was satisfied with

 

[bige3dalejr88]

In an effort to help keep our Sunday Night Races open setup, I am going reveal some of my garage over at https://www.facebook.com/Sim-Tech-Racin ... 771388143/. I am gonna try to do a small video each week(After the race) to explain our build and why we built the car the way we did. I refuse to just hand setups out. Not cause I am greedy and selfish. I want guys to learn and that is the only way to get faster. The whole give a fish, teach to fish thingy Of course I am not the best or fastest on iracing, but those guys aren't sharing secrets anyway .  The reason I will not give out anything before the race is because I am still trying to figure it out until right before the green flag drops.  I have never had a setup in my life that I was satisfied with

Thanks Johnny, will definitely be checking these out

 

[Jeffery Ford]

This is a question for setup builders.  What is the flow for beginning a setup?  Tire pressures, then ride heights, then everything else?  What software if any do you use?  Just trying to get some information so my fast lap isn't 1.5 seconds behind the fastest guy.  
Any help appreciated.   I'm sure others here have the same questions. 

 

[KodeyKnapmiller]

You should adjust tire pressures/ride heights to where you think they should be, then begin doing everything else. Camber, spring packages, and after you get your springs close, you’ll then need to fine tune ride heights, and tire pressures again as a last fine tuning adjustment. Ride heights are very track dependent, depending on how bumpy the surface is. We use Motec. There’s no real “flow” on how to begin your setups, but once you build one how you need it you’ll just get in the routine of doing it that same way.

 

[Jeffery Ford]

I've seen motec. Not used it however. Eddie has offered to help with getting acquainted with the software.

When your using motec, what information are you getting from it that is helpful?