[BAracer]

I have posed a similar question on another thread, but thought it might be better to ask here... 

So I have read every single tuning thread so have got a vague idea of all the theory. So I think I can glue and true the tyres and get my car into a reasonable set up on the work bench. 

My question is...once I put the car onto my (plastic) test track, in what order should I be looking to race tune it? 

For example, if it oversteers round corners, should I be added weight or fitting softer tyres as a first step? Or should I concentrate on front end stability first? Or should I be adding rear weight first to eliminate wheel spin out of corners? Am I explaining myself very well? 

Thanks in anticipation...

[JasonB]

That's a difficult question, because it seems to me that tuning is not always a linear process. It's more like a five way negotiation, where the only solution is to find the best balance between elements which disagree with each other, and the only way of testing the solution is to drive it and time it.

Having said that, if you're thinking of fitting new tyres, that would probably be a sensible first step. Glue and true them, as you've said, then move onto weights and their distribution, and body float.

Well that's what I'd do anyway, not that I'm an expert tuner by any means.

[CMOTD]

MOST IMPORTANT, whatever you do: just one step at a time, test before doing the next thing, otherwise you never know which bit has improved things or not. If your memory is as bad as mine then write down each step so you can go back if necessary.

[woodcote]

Depends on the car, how familiar I am with the brand and/or layout of the car - and where I'm going to race it.

I tend to work with a check list of my usual steps (based on Gary's DiSCA tutorial) and the rules I am building the car to. Making a note of what I do definitely helps! The first thing I always do is to give the car a good look over and a couple of gentle laps to make sure it works and there's nothing obviously wrong.

If it's a standard Scalextric car, there are things I always do - running in the motor, taking the car apart and removing any flashing left from the moulding process. I check everything is straight and nothing is binding when I put the car back together again. I lightly true the wheels to remove any moulding flaws. I lightly true and then varnish the front tyres. I remove any body-holding lugs from the body/chassis and lightly sand the edges of the chassis to allow body roll. I spend a bit of time removing the vertical travel of the guide blade. And I fit copper braid. I just get all that done before testing.

Those things done - and probably some Slot.it P6s added (good on Sport track and no need for truing or gluing) - it is time to tweak on the test track. Adding weight is probably the most important thing. I start with a just a little - over the guide and in front of the rear wheels. A really heavy car might go well on a home track, but not on a big club layout with long straights and big braking zones. Lap times on a small home track can be deceptive  - especially if the club track surface is different. All it can do is give me some indication that the car is straight and solid. Most of my tweaking will take place between race events (if I didn't have responsibilities running the races, I might do some tweaking there). And it is important to change just one thing at a time.

   

One example is my WHO/digital Trans-Am - a Scalextric AMC Javelin. Over two years (eleven races), Ash and me have developed it to be one of the better cars on the grid - but it certainly wasn't to begin with. I ended up adding more weight, moving the weight around and eventually taking some out. I now tend to use tungsten putty as it is easy to add, remove and move. The car worked better on some tracks than others, so it was about making it a better all-rounder and also learning how to adjust our driving. It was a lengthy development process, but worth it with two wins last season and pole position ten days ago.

[BAracer]

Thanks for the responses. 

So I am sensing there is no standard ABC process that, if followed, will optimise the performance of any particular car in the least number of steps.

Which is fine. I do enjoy a bit of trial and error...

[BAracer]

The 40/60 weight balance thing has been around for probably decades. I don't follow it closely, but it isn't a bad place to start with weight tuning.
I am fortunate in having my own 65 foot track for depth testing, and race weekly around a group of 6 or so wood tracks in all, so I get plenty of opportunities to experiment.
As the guys in the basic tuning thread mentioned - it is more like a multi-way split of different things to experiment with, rather than a linear process.
But if the car is sidewinder OR angle-winder, I always begin my weighting process with a few grams to hold down the nose, as the car is probably 30/70 or thereabouts.

I guess I first make sure it is flat/square, 4 wheels on track, guide full depth, all wheels glued and trued.
As I begin to drive I am looking for undesirable behaviour - eg a saloon, or even sport GT like this which rolls over, it needs low weight.
If it deslots without rolling over, I am asking myself, which end, and how?
If it lifts the nose out of the slot when starting, or coming out of tight turns, I am checking the braid is set as low and flat as possible, then weighting the nose or tail as required
For podded cars, I am checking the amount of pod float is even all around, and that nothing is catching, and asking myself if the pod might be flexing, - motor screws help with that, as they turn the motor into a stiffening element.

If the body is heavy, I am asking whether I want weight in the pod itself, or on the main chassis plate, to make the whole thing more stable under cornering load (and sometimes I end up with more pod weight, other times sod's law comes into play and I add more to the chassis and have quite a light pod and drive-train.

If it sounds or feels tight, or seems a little unpredictable - I am really looking at possible chassis/body interferences, chassis/pod interferences; or of wheels inside the arch touching the body during corners.......

Sometimes think I am a top 1% tuner, and other days I think I am an utterly useless plonker when I cannot sort a behaviour issue on a car.

Further thoughts on the topic from Slotloco in his Review of the Scaleauto 991 R-Series car...