2008.04.13, 11:46 AM
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#1
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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Spring setting's on RCP track?
Hello. I was racing the other day and noticed something. Does the spring settings really make any difference at all on the RCP track? Reason I'm asking, is I noticed how soft and cusion'y the track is, thus it has some give to it. Are the springs really effective and do harder, softer, normal spring's really do anything on this type of surface? I beleive you can tell the difference more on a hard surface like gymnasium floor or your hard wood floor at home.
But on an RCP track, is there a noticable difference?
I was racing my 962 yesterday on the track, and noticed how the change in tie-rod's help on our very technical track, but I really couldn't tell if the springs did anything. Anybody else notice this?
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2008.04.13, 01:33 PM
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#2
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The Undertaker
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 156
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For me, they do make a difference. I went from running the awd orange springs to the white ones (see chart below) and it took out a lot of the push I was experiencing.
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2008.04.13, 02:36 PM
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#3
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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So what's the difference between the pro II and pro III springs? I did notice running my new silver PN AWD, that the rear tend's to spin out. I've got stock springs out back, and some low-down hard springs up front from who I dont' know.
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2008.04.13, 03:13 PM
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#4
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The Undertaker
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: SoCal
Posts: 156
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Marc, the Pro II and Pro III just have different spring rates. BTW, I am using these springs on my MR02 pan car, I have no experience with AWDs.
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2008.04.14, 03:48 AM
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 365
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Marc,
One thing that my local track discovered is that the spring rate describe by the picture above is not totally accurate. And in general, besides what DJ has said, the most of the springs from Pro III is harder than those in Pro II.
I too race my AWD on RCP as well as Carpet, and what makes RCP interesting is that, unlike the hard surface for 1/10 touring where ground is flat and very high grip, RCP has a little elasticity in them.
But spring rate definitely do have effect on the car, since the RCP overall has a consistent yield across. Personally, I find myself using more Pro II springs a lot more often than Pro III springs(such as Pro II green, Pro II white or Pro II lime blue). If the car spins out almost at every corner, then I would suggest to put in a softer spring to the rear to make the car 'pushier' when exiting.
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2008.04.14, 09:34 AM
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#6
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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Thank's Aurora, yes my AWD does spin out on the turn's. I will try your suggestion for this weekend.
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2008.04.14, 03:03 PM
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#7
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The Galliant Dude
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern VA
Posts: 920
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Running soft springs tends to improve grip for me, but it also seems to cause my inside rear differential to unload if i push it too hard, which tends to make the car kinda hop its rear around a corner. I'm sure bearing diffs would help but mine are stock, what kind are you running?
I'm not sure thats whats happening, it just seems that way.
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2008.04.14, 03:47 PM
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#8
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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Parts told me to change the rear diff's to ball diffs as they won't stress and strip the way the gear diff's do. When your turning, the rear flexes and left and right are not parrellel with eachother. This causes the diff to stress and can cause gear stripping. So it's recommended to use ball diff's out back. I had ball diff's on both front and rear of my orange AWD, and swapped the front ball diff with the rear stock diff from my new silver AWD. So now, both AWD's have stock front's, and ball rear's. I also think I now have softer springs rear and stiffer springs up front. Without a track at home to test on, I won't know if the changes helped till I head out to the track this weekend.
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2008.04.14, 03:49 PM
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#9
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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However, the point of this thread really was this. Are spring setting's really effective on a track that has some give to it like the RCP does? Or are the spring setting's more effective on hard wood surface? What do you look for after you've changed the springs? How will you tell if it's made a difference or not? Tie-rods are noticable on a technical track, but are springs? That is the question.
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2008.04.14, 05:05 PM
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 365
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Marc,
Certainly, changing the front/rear toe rod will affect the handling of a miniz in an obvious manner for turning characteristics, but one thing to remember is changing the front toe too much will also make the car more nervous down the straight, and wheels that are pointing too much outwards will somewhat slow down the car.
Spring rate change will show on RCP, but depending on a few things:
1) How consistent you can try a car so you will notice the change? (skill)
2) How big is the rate change and the rest of the car setting.
One can generally observe the behavior of a car in 4 different scenarios:
1) Corner entry
2) Mid corner
3) Corner exit
4) Straight
And look for either the car is 'just perfect', 'understeering' or 'oversteering' in those 4 scenarios.
The effect on hard wood floor vs RCP will be difficult to compare unless one have almost identical track on both surface, and appropriate tires and settings for each ground are chosen. My experience with hard wood floor is that--unless it is ultra ultra dust-free and you have really high grip tires on, the tires may catch on dust and start drifting around like there is no tomorrow, which btw, kinda fun.
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2008.04.14, 05:49 PM
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#11
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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Thank you. I also enjoy drifting with the stock tires on my hard wood floor. Except, 99% of the time it's dirty and dusty and has pet hair on it. Don't like to mess up my car's chassis!
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2008.04.14, 11:49 PM
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#12
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Los Angeles (Pasadena), CA, USA
Posts: 2,809
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RCP is soft, but not so soft that it dampens the effect of adjustments. Granted I think the effect of adjustments on RCP is less than that of making adjustments on concrete, but the effect is there, very noticeable as long as you're driving your car near its handling limits.
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2008.04.15, 12:20 PM
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#13
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Honda Insight Racer!
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Colorado, USA!
Posts: 6,399
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Thank you color, that was the answer I was looking for. I will look for these changes this weekend when I race. I've put yellow Kyosho springs on my MR02 962 and I'll have to double check how it's handling was effected.
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