34-37 depending on set up, weather, track surface, and driving style .

Better to use a probe pyrometer (not the crap infrared kind) and focus on proper temps...which will predicate pressures (hot and cold)

 

Thanks VR!
Hopefully this season we can get to work together so you can get me out of last position!

 

It would be my pleasure...

 

I had a few PMs on setup

2/16ths front toe
5/32 rear toe 2.8 camber front and rear

Shocks 4 clicks back from full stiff
Front sway full stiff Rear sway full soft
25psi cold start 34ish hot

That's what I use at every track except move cold pressure based on how hot it is outside

 

I hope to learn to drive well enough to put 9 lb's of heat into those RR's! At Limerock I found myself ADDING air to try and hit 34-35 hot between sessions where I used to be draining it in my 911..

 

We share our information and haven't run across anyone in the south or the east who holds it close to their chest. We're not getting paid for this stuff. Hope this information helps.

Toe
I have very little toe on the front and some on the rear. I've not felt that much difference from toe in settings on the rear but have felt it on toe out - which is nuts. I've played with toe out in the front on tight tracks and have liked it but you just need to manage the car under braking.

Sway Bar
Assuming you're running stiff springs in the rear and soft upfront my bar settings are - full soft in rear and 1 off stiff in the front for most tracks. If it's a high-speed track like Texas World Speedway or Road Atlanta I will go full stiff in the front.

Shocks
I start out at one click off full stiff in rear and front. Then I will dial in the shocks based off this logic:
Entry Understeer -> Soften Front
Entry Oversteer -> Stiffen Front
Exit Understeer -> Stiffen Rear
Exit Oversteer -> Soften Rear

I'm usually dialing out a little exit oversteer it seems on these cars as correcting at exit kills your speeds. A lot of people have switched springs to run soft springs in the rear which gives puts your shock settings in the middle'ish allowing you to dial out more Entry Oversteer but I get too much inside tire wheel spin on corners so changed it back. It would be nice if we were able to run a square spring package.

Ride Height
Our cars don't allow you to lower the cars too much or you're going to be all over the bump stops assuming they're stock - which they should be to be legal. I raise and lower my car based (maximum one turn each way) on if the track has a lot of high curbing I need to be stable over. I prefer to be on that balance of maybe being on my bump stops for one corner so long as it doesn't cost me too much time as I feel I'm gaining it elsewhere where the car is low. If you change your ride height on the track - it does tweak your toe a little.

Tires
Matt is the same as me and I'm typically starting at 28 cold and like to end between 35-36 hot. The biggest factor next IMHO on tires is whether the track likes fresh or old rubber. Mid-Ohio loves >8 heat cycles whereas COTA loves 2-3 heat cycles. It's also critical to have tires that are not grained so care for them on the first session and don't overdrive them.

Braking
I've been doing a lot of playing/testing here with pad and rotor choices. Trying to balance bias, initial bite and release characteristics. This is all personal preference on pedal feel.

Cage Design and Car Characteristics
All the above is also largely dictated by the cage design and the characteristics of the cars pre-cage. I have three SPBs and each of them are unique in that one oversteers like crazy so like it on tight / technical tracks and the other two are planted in the rear so like them on more high-speed tracks. So the setup will be different based off the cars characteristics and trust me that they're all unique.

Seat
This is the upgrade that I think is most overlooked. I run a perfectly fitted race-tech seat that's bolted to the floor and has a solid rear back brace. I've driven friend's cars who are running standard seats that have no stiffness and/or not bolted to the back. This (to me) limits feedback from the car thus hurting my ability to know what it's doing.

Driver
It goes without saying that the driver is the most important setup you can do on the car and there's coaches who can help on this front. However, I think it's critical to know what your car is doing at entry, apex and exit. Adjusting the car maximize speed and smoothness on corners and balancing what corners you think are most important to get right on setup and figuring our which ones you're willing to sacrifice is a big part of the sport for me. I get incredible satisfaction with tweaking the setup and feeling what the car is doing and my inputs and then adjusting to find the right setup for the track. I just hope to figure it out by qualifying!

Data
I just use data to try corners different ways and determine the fastest time around the track. I don't think it's hard work and gets you to speed at new tracks well. Most people who drive the same tracks probably don't need data because they know all the nuisances but I'm generally doing a few new tracks per year and want to be competitive in the first visit. Without data or coaching - that's tough with a big field. For me anyways.

Wrap Up
This is an amazing sport and each person gets a different experience that suits their preference. Some people just like to go out and drive and that's fine and some (like me) likes to optimize their driving style with the car's best possible setup in concert. I can say from the Texas area that the drivers that are studying data and focusing on car setup along with driving abilities are in the front of the pack. We have a lot of drivers who just go out and have fun and are battling in mid-pack and if you see them after a race their smile is just as big as mine. So to each their own!

 

Wow the difference in sways is super interesting

My car came setup from east coast with 2 camber, stiff springs up front, soft in rear, full soft in front for sways and full stiff in rear.

The thing was a drift machine at that setup, every single corner where any trail braking was used I was counter steering into the apex, I also had a front spacer in

I swapped all that around to current settings and found a ton more corner entry stability without (any noticed) exit changes

Bit tough to compare as I only have a total of 14 days in the car 5 with old settings and this year with the new

Ride height I run a bit of rake forgot to mention that

 

Whoops - typo which I corrected and was just checking if you were reading or not..

 

lol - that's awesome - I was thinking to myself - holy sh*t this guy must be a ninja if he can keep the car underneath himself with those settings

 

Interesting that you are using the same camber all around. I have not tried that and usually have about .5 degree more negative front than back. Are a lot of other drivers going with the same amount all around? Might be something for me to try out.

 

There's been a couple of mentions of ride height and rake but no specifics. Would anybody care to share their settings?

 

I think I have a 10mil rake have to look - I also haven't tried different setups there so am not someone to replicate there

 

^ Agree with everything Chris put down here.

A few comments/hints re. the above:

Toe - zero toe front and on tighter tracks some Ackerman effect can be helpful by using a bit of toe out to help steer the car more to apex. On fast tracks (i.e. Road Atlanta, Road America, Mosport) the additional scrub isn't worth it.

Springs - Yes yes yes per Chris's comment.... SPB really needs a rule change to allow square springs. Re. current rules putting the 500s on the front helps you to roll in more corner entry speed and putting them on the back helps to improve roll coupling and put the power down earlier on corner exit. Neither is perfect. So, again, need square setup!

Ride height is about both compliance (not hitting the bump stops) and bump steer. Hint hint hint get a bump steer gauge and figure out the sweet spot.

Rake is the often forgotten part of adjusting front-rear grip balance. Best to play with a range of +1 to -1 degree (use digital inclinometer on center tunnel as reference) and see what you like in conjunction with your alignment/bar/shock settings.

Tires - useful to have a mid-heat cycle set (4-8) with you at all times. Ditto Chris's comments on Mid-O for example.

Seat/ergonomics - allowing for differences in preference, torso/leg length ratio, my biggest beef when I drive someone else's car is sh*tty ergonomics. Seat fit, height, angle, lateral offset (alignment to pedals & s/w), and stiffness, along with steering wheel height, dish, hub spacers all play a part in letting the driver be as relaxed and efficient as possible. It pays to be fussy to get your setup optimized.

 

I'm working on ergo this off season - thinking custom molded seat to fit my tall frame better into car

Right now it's cushions and back brace which just isn't ideal

 

I appreciate all the setup information.