Race Car Setup Infographic Flowchart

7/25/2019

As a supplement to our Racecar Setup Guide, we've created a flowchart to give those newer to car setup a starting game plan to follow. This chart represents a good basic setup philosophy that covers the primary elements that affect vehicle handling and performance. It will give a driver something to build on and tailor to their own needs as their vehicle dynamics knowledge expands.

This flowchart shows a balance-based approach where no advanced telemetry or tools will be needed. A driver will primarily use their ability to detect understeer and oversteer to work toward a good setup. This is an approach that will grow with driver skill and as you become more sensitive to car balance, you will be able to hone in on a better and better setup.

I hope you enjoy this infographic. For a more in-depth look at the physics of racing, make sure to check out The Science of Speed Series, starting with The Perfect Corner, available in paperback or ePub.

by Adam Brouillard

13 Comments

9/27/2016 01:13:37 pm

thank you sooo much for the guides how to setup a race car. I'm a simracer and realized that to get the most out of simracing one absolutely have to understand setups and car behaviour. Your guides help so much, can't thank you enough :)
Especially in which order to proceed for a structured, logical approach is so important as a beginner to not be entirely overwhelmed and frustrated.

Filip Craciun

10/25/2016 02:28:01 pm

And all this time I thought front toe out gave quicker steering response, not slower.

maziere

1/4/2018 11:30:26 am

Bonjour, serait il possible d'obtenir ce tableau en version francaise.J'ai du mal pour la traduction;Merci pour votre compréhension.

Michael

6/19/2018 09:12:01 am

Great Work, also your Step-by-Step Racecar-Setup article! I'm a sim racer (iRacing) and search for guide like this and youtube-videos explaining racing basics and in depth setup guides....but there is not much out there.
Thank you for your awesome work!

Jim

7/25/2018 07:32:29 am

Great Graphic and well developed too. I refer to it while setting up, and have to carry it around. Can you make it available in a larger format? In something like 18x24 (minimum) or "poster size" would be a great addition to the Garage/Trailer/Shop. Costs more - but could be a Best Seller!

Cheers - Jim

Scott R. Burdett

3/19/2019 12:29:49 am

This is a really good way to simplify chassis characteristics, once a person overcomes inconsistency or driver errors.
Slightly different approach than what I was thought working on our family racecars, but I'm definitely going to give it a try. In local southern California NASCAR tracks (if I'm correct)?, they always said to start working on any chassis adjustments from corner entry -mid -then finally exit. Maybe when running road coarse circuits I can see that the exit is most important area as it quickly becomes the next entry.
But I'm still attempting to control a sim as well as real world driving techniques. I find it very difficult to preload suspension, or even just to properly trail brake given the controls/racing wheels with out spending $25000. Any suggestions on a fair priced sim car simulator? Or at least a place someone can try out one before buying one? Scrip barrber driving school is just to far to drive to try one out, besides having to be a current member is a necessary thing before they even let you use the simulator.
Thanks , will definitely try this approach any how as im sure something has to work better than what I've done so far. Always room to learn and improve at any given level of driving.

8/10/2019 11:00:41 pm

Excellent! Just what I needed.

Justin

7/2/2020 12:47:51 am

When going through S's car stays loaded up and then when I transition it wants to loose control how to you set it up for a smooth transition

Adam Brouillard

5/18/2021 02:08:30 pm

A car will always naturally go toward oversteer during transition due to yaw inertia. This is just something a driver will need to compensate for through car control. You can tame this somewhat by stiffening front or softening rear dampers and making sure you are running some toe-out in front and toe-in in the rear.

Loic

2/21/2021 11:28:24 am

Hello Adam,
I have a setup issue with a powerfull propulsion car. Under acceleration, the weight transfer is such that i encounter massive understeer, during gear upshift, the front comes back for a little while.
Can you please help me to understand what is at stake and how to prevent it?

2/23/2021 04:33:36 pm

That's pretty typical if this is a street car as they are biased toward understeer for safety. See if just getting some new sway bars will help shift the balance enough. You might need to get new springs through. In general, match the wheel rates to front rear weight ratio, then adjust with sway bars. Most people start with an understeer bias and work their way backwards as skills improve.

2/25/2021 05:30:00 pm

Thank you Adam.
This is actually a GT3 458 Italia (in sim of course) I have soften the front antiroll and hardened the rear quite a lot. If I do this more, the car tend to oversteer severely while in pure cornering mode. So it really feels as if the front looses contact under acceleration.
Unfortunately the game doesn't tell me about the weight ratio. But given the behaviour of the car, do you think going for rake and softening the rear springs would make sense? My goal is clearly to lessen the weight transfer from front to back under acceleration, but I lack the physic knowledge to achieve that goal.

3/3/2021 05:16:51 pm

The only way to lessen weight transfer beyond just lowering the car's cg is to lessen acceleration. This is not what you want. Assuming it's not just a car control issue there might be something odd with the car going on. A car that oversteers in pure cornering, but that goes to understeer during corner exit is very abnormal. It could be some sort of electronic traction control or differential causing the issue.

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Race Car Setup Infographic Flowchart

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