¶ General Guideline
Guidelines shared here are applicable to all cars. For the Mayako MX8 there are a few good starting points to keep in mind:
- Engine back for stability and rear grip.
- Diffs front to rear, Thick-Medium-Thin, for example 15-10-5.
- 6 hole pistons, 6x1.3/6x1.4 are always good. 500/450 at 20deg.
- 0-0 or 0-1 diff shims will always work and be smooth.
- Long links for stability.
Don't forget to check out the interactive setup sheet.
Community setup tips from the Discord can be found here: Community Setup Tips
¶ How To Approach Setup
We all look for magic setup solutions, but we rarely make sure to be ready to apply them :
- We must prepare our equipment well.
- We must be patient, and connect with our car.
- We must be present and think about our driving, and car performance while driving.
- We must take a moment to identify and analyse the precise problem we are having, or thing we want to improve upon.
There are three basic things that we should determine first, before we begin adjusting the car further according to initial vs overall grip:
- Tyres: The tyres determine the traction level, balance and initial grip vs overall grip feel of the car. Select an easy to drive tyre with more overall grip first, and later on you can select a faster one with more initial grip.
- Differentials: Diff oils are a fundamental setup change that you need to already set as a starting point before hitting the track for the first time. The rule of thumb to follow, is that the higher grip of the track, the thicker diff oils to run. If you struggle on power, you should go to thinner oils, specially middle or rear, and if you struggle off power, go thicker, in all 3 diffs.
- Shock Pistons & Oils: After picking a good tyre, and a good starting point for diff oils, the final step is to set the time it takes for the car to pitch and roll, and transfer load. The piston and shock oil choice is what determines the overall feel and response of the car.The rule of thumb to follow, is fewer larger holes (for example 5 hole 1.5/1.6mm) with damping that feels thick for higher grip, or difficult edgy rough tracks, as this helps to slow down the damping, delay load transfer, and give the car more overall grip. On loose tracks, or smooth tracks where you know you need corner speed and support from the car, you would choose a piston with more smaller holes (for example 7-8 holes, 1.2-1.4mm) with damping that feels medium or even soft, as this helps to speed up the damping, reduce the delay of load transfer, and give the car more initial grip.
¶ Low Grip Tracks
- Tyre Choice: On low grip tracks you need to decide if you need initial grip or overall grip. The final choice of tyre will come down to your skill level as a driver, the higher skilled you are, the more aggressive tyre you can choose.
- Diff Oils: You typically will want to run thinner oils in all three. This is due to the fact that thinner oils will make the car more responsive off power, making it easier for you to enter corners, and then when you get on power, the tendency will be for the power to be transmitted more to the front tyres, aiding in a controlled acceleration out of the corner, as the rear tyres will not be driving as much, and as such don't make the rear step out if you give the car too much throttle. However, the goal should be on running the thickest oils you can get away with, that still allow for rotation off power and comfortable flowing handling around the track. This is because thicker oils will provide more forward drive. The limiting factor will most likely be the point that the car gets loose on power out of corners.
- Shocks: The piston selection will be heavily layout and surface roughness dependent, but you will probably want to run the larger diameter pistons, so about 15.9mm in a 16mm body, and more holes in the pistons. For low grip tracks, more holes of a smaller diameter will offer more grip, due to the fact that you set the suspension softer, while still maintaining the right amount of pack. So 7-8 holes of 1.2-1.4mm for more traction. You can also try conical pistons, flat side up, for slightly faster rebound, or building the shock with some rebound in it, or finally running a bladder instead of emulsion. The honeycomb style harder bladders offer more support and offer the most help in pushing the tyres into the track as load transfers initially. They can help you shave a couple tenths off your lap times on a slick polished track surface.
Initial Grip vs Overall Grip: On low grip tracks the goal is to balance initial and overall grip in a way where you maximise forward traction and corner speed, while maintaining a good balance, which means that if you lose grip it happens gradually, and the car slides out with all 4 tyres, or pushes.
¶ High Grip Tracks
- Tyre Choice: On high grip tracks you should run a harder compound as it will be more stable, and provide more consistent grip. A tyre with more initial grip will be more precise, and a tyre with more overall grip will be easier to drive, as long as the compound is hard enough. The final choice of tyre will come down to your skill level as a driver, the higher skilled you are, the more aggressive tyre you can choose.
- Diff Oils: The focus should be on running the thickest oils you can get away with, that still allow for rotation off power and comfortable flowing handling around the track. This is because thicker oils will provide more forward drive. On high grip they also need to be thick because they help to calm the car down off power, and make it more stable entering corners.
- Shocks: You will probably want to run fewer larger holes in the pistons, for example 5 hole 1.5/1.6 or 1.6/1.7, due to the fact that you set the suspension harder, while still maintaining the right amount of pack. You can also try the smaller diameter pistons, so about 15.8mm in a 16mm body, as they can help to calm the car down. The larger piston will offer more support, but be more responsive, the smaller will feel softer, but be less responsive. You will want to run thick shock oils, which make the damping feel thick as you work the suspension up and down. This helps to slow down load transfer and make the car easier to drive. You should run harder springs, but not go overboard, as very hard springs will make the car too responsive.
In this condition the car response might become a problem in itself. The front and rear response can be lower by using lay down shocks, lower arm bushings on lower positions, neutral toe angles, longer wheelbase and lower ride heights. Keeping the tyres well aligned and the car within it's working range by stiffening the springs\roll bars becomes imperative. Long camber links/arms calm the car quite effectively.
¶ Open Tracks
In this condition you generally worry more about stability than response. Stiffer damping\springs\roll bars to help keep the tyres well aligned to the track and inside the car's working range. In high speed it's also better to add some stability by using more caster\KPI.
¶ Tight Tracks
In this condition you generally worry more about initial speed\response than peak grip. Stiffer damping\springs to increase response without compromising grip as much ,one end each time to avoid stiffer roll bars. In high speed it's also better to add some response by using less caster\KPI, for lower speeds thinner front diff fluid.
¶ Smooth Tracks
- Tyre Choice: Smooth tracks you have more freedom to select a fast tyre, with more initial grip. The final choice of tyre will come down to your skill level as a driver, the higher skilled you are, the more aggressive tyre you can choose.
- Diff Oils: The focus should be on running the thickest oils you can get away with, that still allow for rotation off power and comfortable flowing handling around the track. This is because thicker oils will provide more forward drive.
- Shocks: The piston selection will be heavily layout and grip level dependent, but you will probably want to run the larger diameter pistons, so about 15.9mm in a 16mm body, and more holes in the pistons. If the grip is higher, consider running the small springs under the piston offered by various companies.
¶ Bumpy Tracks
- Tyre Choice: Tyres that have a larger, rounder, more flexible carcass, and larger more flexible pins, will usually be better and more forgiving in bumps. A softer compound will also help in reducing the chance of catching an edge and flipping over.
- Diff Oils: If the car feels hard to control when accelerating in bumps, thinner diff oils will help, making the car accelerate smoother. Specially lowering the centre diff oil helps, typically 5000-7000 in the centre diff is good for rough tracks. Thinner diff oils in general will be better on loose rough tracks, and only thinner centre diff better on high grip rough tracks. This is because the thicker front and rear diff on high grip will help the car to remain stable off power going into corners.
- Shocks: Pistons are key to get right on a rough track. Fewer larger holes, for example 5 x 1.5 is better when you want to slow the response of the car down, and make it more calm and stable, which is good for bigger bumps, more extreme bumpy tracks. However the suspension will not be as good on smaller sharp bumps, on a track with a rough surface, instead of bigger bumps. Here more smaller holes is often better, so 6, 7 or 8 holes, 1.2-1.4mm typically. Then you can set the suspension up softer to handle the rough surface, while still maintaining a good amount of pack for bigger holes or landings. Another good idea, specially for edgy rough tracks, is using a piston with a smaller outer diameter, around 15.8 in a 16mm shock body. This will help to smooth out the ride.
Stability wins over outright speed. Less damping overall with fewer but bigger piston holes, higher ride heights, thinner or no roll bars are all a good option. Depending where and how fast the car is hitting the bumps diff height makes a difference, low diffs for when you want to skip them and raised diffs for when the bumps are large enough for the car to actually get grip on them. Anti squat is best close to zero in order to let the shocks eat up the imperfections. Wheel base can also help the car skip over the bumps.