1/28th Pan Setup

Car is Loose or Oversteers

Install Wing to Rear of Car

Slide Wing Toward Rear of Car

Increase Wing Angle

Softer Side Shock Springs

Stiffer Front Springs

Softer Center Shock Spring

Decrease Center Shock Spring Tension

Try Harder Front Compound Tire

Try Softer Rear Compound Tire

Move Battery to Center of Car

Raise Front Ride Height

Lower Rear Ride Height

Increase Castor

Car Pushes or Understeers

Slide Wing Toward Front of Car

Decrease Wing Angle

Stiffer Side Shock Springs

Softer Front Springs

Stiffer Center Shock Spring

Decrease Center Shock Spring Tension

Try Softer Front Compound Tire

Try Harder Rear Compound Tire

Move Battery Toward Left Side

Lower Front Ride Height

Raise Rear Ride Height

Decrease Castor

Car is Erratic:

Bent Front Suspension Pin: Remove spring and check for free movement

Glue Tire Issue: Check side wall to see if rubber is still glued to wheel.

Bent Axle: Tire “wobbles” while spinning.

Loose Screws: Especially Chassis Screws, add Blue Loctite to prevent.

Bound Ball Joint: Steering link and shocks should spin free on balls.

Shocks: Either Bound Up, Bent Shaft, or Out of Oil.

Bearings: Broken or completely seized.

Foreign Objects: Unlucky Dirt/Stones preventing suspension movement especially in front pivot balls.

Bottoming Out: Look on bottom side of chassis for buffed or scratched areas.

Tire Rub: Look on inside of body for extreme black marks from tires.

Radio Problem: Bad Servo, Weak Servo Saver Spring, Transmitter Pot blown.

Front –

Front Toe: Front edge of car tires point toward the chassis as viewed from above the car.

Toe IN - Settles and makes steering reaction less aggressive especially on acceleration. Easier set-up to drive and works well on bumpy tracks.

Toe OUT - Increases aggressiveness of car especially on entry to the turn. Works well on smooth, high bite tracks where rear traction is not a problem. Generally the preferred set-up for pan car racing.

Front Track Width: 

Wider - Decrease front grip, give slower steering response & increase understeer. Narrower - Increase front grip, give faster steering response & decrease understeer. More aggressive steering.

Front Spring:

Softer – Aid on rough surface. Will help the car get into corner quicker & feel like more overall steering. 

Stiffer – Make the car easier to drive & be smoother in the corners. As traction increases, increase the front spring rate to maintain the same car feel.

Front Droop:

Increase - More traction and over all steering.

Decrease/Remove - Reduce traction rolling & stability the car when it is twitchy. (high traction track)

Front Upper Arm: 

Shorter upper arm provide more camber change during compression. Increase front roll-centre. A more parallel upper arm will yield a lower roll center. A more angled arm is a higher roll center. raise roll center if traction is low, lower it if traction is high (ie. traction rolling, "tripping" over the front, etc).

Shorter arm - More reaction/intial cut

Longer arm - More overall steering, not as reactive.

Parallel arm - Reduce traction roll, take some side bite out

Angled arm - Increase side bite, camber gain

Bump Steer: Bump toe-in will cause oversteer during mid-corner. Advise to have none or slight bump toe-out instead.

Front Roll Center: use 1mm carbon fiber shim to lift the front suspension, help to put power down on corner exit. Increase front roll center- decrease front grip

Castor: Angle of the kingpin in relation to a vertical plane as viewed from the side of the car.

Increase the angle - Make the car more stable out of the turn as well as down the straights and increase steering entering a turn. 

Decreasing the angle - Make the car feel more “touchy” at high speeds and help steering while exiting the turn. Less Castor – More front grip, more steering.

Lower Castor Angle – Better on slippery, inconsistent & rough surface.

Higher Castor Angle – Better on smooth, high traction track.

Reactive Castor – Amount of castor change when the front end of the car is compressing (diving) or decompressing (rising).

Increase the angle – Make the car react quicker & offer more steering.

Decrease the angle – make the car easier to drive smoothly into corners.

Camber Gain: Angle of the Upper Suspension Arm relative to the ground, so that when the suspension travels, the amount of camber for that tire will increase. This will help change the “feel” of the car thru the turns. With the arm parallel to the ground the front suspension will have the least amount of camber gain. Lowering the Upper Suspension Arm on the Upper Suspension Mount will increase the amount of camber gained when the suspension travels. 

ACKERMAN: Running the servo flat will reduce ackerman and also add a slight bit of bump toe in. This will make the car more smooth on corner entry and not so darty and will have a smooth overall feel though the corner.  Increase ackerman and eliminate the bump toe all together help to get the car to enter the corner when bite is lower and you need to set the front end in the corner. Tie rods straight across seems to provide more ackerman (the inside wheel turns more than the outside wheel) Ti rods angled forward (the attachment at the servo forward of the attachments at the steering blocks) reduces ackerman. Varying the ackerman changes the feel of the steering. More ackerman gives more steering, up to a point. Height of the tie rods or actually the height difference between the attachment at the servo and at the steering block affects bump steer. Higher at the servo than at the steering block will give bump in (the front wheels will toe-in on compression of the front suspension) which can make the steering overly aggressive and unpredictable, having the tie rods higher at the steering blocks will result in bump out, which makes the car easier to drive, but possibly a bit slower due to less steering. 

More Ackerman – More steering into the corner, less corner speed, less stable in the chicanes.

Less Ackerman – Less steering into the corner, more corner speed, more stable in the chicanes.

Inline Axle:

Inline Axles denote the axle placement inline with the kingpin. This is usually an optional steering setup and requires the use of a different Axles (in most cases) and different steering blocks.

Inline Axle: setup provides quicker initial steering movement, a very aggressive steering response with more corner-entry steering.

Trailing Axle: setup provides slower initial steering movement, a less aggressive steering response with less corner-entry steering.

Rear -

Shock Angle (Center Shock): 

Lower position - Will increase the stiffness of the spring and generally works best on smooth high bite tracks. Less on-power steering.

Upper position - (shock parallel to the ground) will make the spring feel softer and works best on low grip surfaces and bumpy tracks as well. More on-power steering, up to a point.

Centre Shock Length:  The lesser the shock extend & unload to the rear, the move on-power steering.

Longer – Increase rear traction.

Shorter – Decrease rear traction.

Center Shock Damping: Partially control weight transfer of the car front-to-back & also control the car over bumps on the track.

Lighter – Let the car enter a corner abit harder & absorb a bumpy track, but the trade off is slightly less drive coming out of corner & abit wandering. (Balance to rear (more rear traction).

Heavier – Let the car be smoother entering a corner but it will feel abit twitchy over bumps. The car will have more drive coming out of the corner. Balance to front (more front traction/steering)

Center Shock Spring:

Softer – Allows more weight to be transferred to the rear of the car, resulting in better rough track handling over bumps but will reduce the drive of the car coming out of the corners. More rear traction, much off-power steering, little on-power steering.

Stiffer – Results in better forward drive but sacrifices handling over bumps. Less rear traction, much on-power mid-out corners. Little off-power steering.

Side Damping:

Thinner - helps to increase rear traction & allows the car to transition faster and turn-in a little better. Decrease front traction, decrease steering.

Stiffer – Increase front traction, increase steering. Slows transition & soften steering in fast sweeper. If car is double steering on power use, thicker oil to slow reaction time but if go too far, inside rear tires will lift in tight corners.

Side-to-Side Stiffness:  Insert o-ring between the T-bar pivots to adjust. Further back towards motor will increase the stiffness.

Side Spring:

Softer – More side bite for rear end but will be lazier transitioning back & center.

Stiffer – Less side bite. Faster transition but feel edgy.

Rear Droop: 0.5mm-1.0mm for med-high traction. 1.0mm-2.0mm for low traction.

Lengthening the shock slightly for more droop helps the car turn in more aggressively and is nicer on bumpy surfaces.

Increase – Makes car turn in harder. More hi-speed steering. Handle bumpy track better.

Decrease – Car smoother into corners.

Pod Damping:

Thinner – Allow the car to dive harder but it will also be more unpredictable.

Thicker – Allow the car to stay abit flatter & be easier to drive. If too heavy, the car will wander & feel loose.

Pod Length: Increasing the pod length (distance from axle to t-bar tweak screw) makes the center shock and t-plate effectively a lot softer and best for severely bumpy conditions and flat tracks.

Longer – Easier to drive & smoother but less responsive to driver input.

Shorter – More responsive to driver input.

T-Bar Shim:

Increase – Add anti-squat. More initial steering on entry & plant rear mid corner & exit (push).

Ride Height: Check by pushing the chassis down once or twice to simulate bumps on the track. Generally a safe place to start is with all corners of the car with even ride height under the chassis. Since these cars sit so close to the ground even 1/16" difference is drastic.

Front end higher than the rear - Make the car increase rear traction especially out of the turn. 

Front end lower than the rear end - Make the car increase front traction especially entering the turn. 

Decrease ride Height – Increase overall grip & steering response. Better on smooth track

Increase Ride Height – Increase Chassis roll & is better on bumpy & asphalt track.

Wheelbase: Wheelbase is the distance between the front and rear axles. 

Forward position - Make the car more stable on long fast tracks with flowing turns or tracks with low bite compared to the power used.

Rear most position - Make the car more suitable for short tracks where you are constantly turning. 

tire split is pretty useful for tuning steering characteristics. 

Larger split - more rear grip, less turn in. 

Closer split - more turn in, free rear end.

2 - 3mm of split should be a pretty common number.

Rear track Width:

Wider – Increase the stability of the car, increase rear grip at corner entry & middle corner & decrease corner speed.

Narrower – Increase rear grip at corner exit, increase corner speed & increase car responsiveness.

Battery Position:

Forward – Increase the stability of the car, less overall steering & more rear traction. Less weight transfer into corners.

Rearward – Increase overall steering & corner speed but make more rotation off-power. Car can feel darty off-power.