Because we can measure changes we make we can be scientific about it, don't make random changes and go out on the track, repeating this until you find one that works, what happens when you do this is that you adjust your style to the setting changes you made, so eventually it might feel like you setup is spot on, but in fact you have learnt to compensate.

Always run the car for a few laps before you start to change settings, and only change one setting at a time, then observer the results, some of the things you should note about the handling of your car are:

• What does the car do under braking in a straight line?
• What happens when you enter the corner?
• What happens when your are mid-corner?
• What happens when you exit the corner>
• What happens under acceleration?

Note any problems or area's that you think can be improved, and what the car currently does. Remember that there is no right or wrong way for the car to behave, it's up to what you want. Personally I always tune my cars to over steer I find that I can put faster times in if my nose tucks into the corner and I power around it, the down side is that the car is twitchy and can start to slide if I time the corner wrong, or come in with too much speed. The advantage to under steer is that it's much easier to be consistent, and it's a lot safer which isn't a consideration for radio controlled hobbies.

When you make a change to one of your settings you can expect to find it has a knock-on effect and the car will handle differently in all areas, so make small changes and observe the effect on the track. Fixing your oversteer on the entry and make it worse on the exit and visa-versa.

Next I discuss the shocks and how they affect handling, mainly over steer and under steer.

Next... Setting your shocks

Sideways forever...

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