RC Glossary
Thanks to our friend at mini-jt.co.uk for providing us with these terms!
- Ackerman
- Anti-Roll (sway) Bars
- Ball Differential
- Bump Steer
- Camber
- Camber Link Locations
- Caster
- Damping
- Droop
- Oversteer
- Pack
- Ride Height
- Roll Centre
- Shock Oil
- Shock Pistons
- Shock Position
- Shock Springs
- Toe
Describes the difference in the angle of the inside and outside tires in relation to the chassis while cornering.
Anti-roll bars can be used to stabilise a car from excessive roll, which occurs when your car leans through the turns by centrifugal force. Anti-roll bars are generally used on smooth, high traction track conditions. If the conditions are very bumpy, then anti-roll bars are probably not necessary.
If you are driving on a high traction surface and your car wants to oversteer, then use on the front only. This will decrease the front chassis roll and decrease steering throughout the corner. This has the feeling of increasing rear traction.
If your car is under steering, then try on the rear only. The rear anti-roll bar will decrease rear chassis roll and decrease rear traction. This has the feeling of increasing steering.
Can be adjusted for tightness and slippage, but adjusting the diff is not really a good solution to solve the problem of too much or little traction.
Refers to the steering geometry changes that occur when the suspension is compressed.
Camber is the angle of the tire in relation to the ground. A tire that is perfectly up and down has 0-degrees of camber. A tire that has the top leaned away from the centreline of the chassis is said to have positive camber. A tire that has the top leaned in towards the centreline of the chassis has negative camber.
More negative camber gives higher traction when cornering and more positive camber reduces traction when cornering. Camber is best set when the contact patches of the tires are is always as big as possible. So with a stiff suspension and firm tires you’ll need less camber than with soft suspension or tires with big, flexible sidewalls. If the tire wear evenly across their contact patches, the camber is about right.
The Mini-T Pro has a couple of camber-link locations. The longer or higher the link, the more traction and less stability. The shorter or lower the link, the less traction and greater stability.
Long Link: A long link gives a lot of body roll in turns. It feels as if the body is willing to keep on rolling until it can’t, but the springs prevent it from rolling any further. The car has more grip in corners, especially in the middle part. But if there already is a lot of traction, long camber links can slow down in turns.
Short Link: A short link will make the chassis roll less. Its tendency to roll drops as it rolls. It feels as if the car generates a little less grip.
More Parallel Link: A parallel link gives a little more roll than an angled one. It feels smooth, and consistent as the body rolls in turns.
Angled Link: An angled link makes the car feel as if it has a tendency to centre itself (level, no roll) other than through the spring or anti-roll bar. It will give more initial grip, steering into corners. It makes it very easy to “throw” the car. The body rolls a little less than with parallel links. It’s possible to use softer springs and a softer damping than with parallel links, without destabilising the car. Always keep an eye on the balance of the car; large differences in roll-centre front versus rear will make the car feel less consistent!
Refers to the angle of the front axle/steering knuckle in relation to the ground. More Caster will give stability, especially at high speeds.
More Caster generally suits large high-speed open tracks.
Less Caster will increase steering drastically. Steering feels more direct, so the car turns tighter and faster. Small amounts of caster are suitable for tight tracks.
Thicker oil (heavier damping) makes the car more stable, and makes it handle more smoothly. If damping is too heavy, traction could be lost in bumpy sections. The car will also change direction slower. Soft damping makes the car react quicker. Damping should always be adapted to the spring ratio; the suspension should never feel to “springy” or too slow.
Heavier Front or Softer Rear: The turn radius is wider, but smoother. The car doesn’t hook up suddenly. The car is easier to drive, and high-speed steering feels very nice. Easy to drive.
Softer Front or Heavier Rear: The steering reacts quicker. More and better low-speed steering.
The down travel of a suspension arm once it is fully extended.
Describes a lack of rear grip. This occurs when the rear of the car wants to come around or spin out while cornering. A car that has this trait is said to be “loose”.
:: Pack ::
How firm or soft a shock feels when compressed with a specific shock oil and piston.
This describes the height of the chassis in relation to the surface sitting on. This adjustment must be made with the chassis ready-to-run but with no body. By turning adding or removing the spring spacers the chassis can be raised or lowered. Try using a slightly lower ride height for high traction conditions as carpet racing.
Higher: The car feels better in bumpy sections. It can feel tippy, or even flip over in high-grip conditions.
Lower: The car feels more direct, and it can potentially corner a bit faster. It’s also harder to flip the car over. Lowering one end of the car, or putting the other end higher up, gives a little more grip at the lowest end, but try to avoid big differences in ride height between the front and the rear.
Refers to both the camber locations and the mounting point for the suspension arms. By adding or removing shims from under the camber ball stud or raising or lowering it in a shock tower, you will change the rate of camber change. By changing the height of the suspension mounts, the weight transfer and roll rate of the car is altered.
A viscous fluid that is used inside the shock body to vary the dampening rate of a shock. Available in a variety of viscosities, a thicker oil will resist piston movement more, while a thinner oil will allow a piston to pass more freely. Using thinner oil will also allow the car to be more compliant, handling bumps and inconsistencies in the surface better.
The assumption is made that if pistons are changed, the viscosity of oil is also adapted, to give the same static feel. (Same low-speed damping).
Smaller or less holes means more “pack”. Pack means the damping gets very stiff, or almost locks up, over sharp bumps. Small holes are good for smooth tracks.
Bigger or more holes mean less pack. The point at which the damping gets stiff (where the shock “packs up”) occurs a lot later, at higher shock shaft speeds. Big holes are very good for bumpy tracks. The car is more stable and has more traction in the bumpy sections. It won’t be thrown up over sharp bumps, the suspension will soak them up a lot better.
The Mini-T Pro allows three front and rear top fixing positions for the shock absorbers, plus two front lower wishbone and three rear lower wishbone positions.
More Inclined: Has a more progressive smoother feel. More lateral grip. Having all shocks inclined makes the car very easy to drive, and it feels like the car has more grip, but it’s not always fast.
Less Inclined (more vertical): More direct feel. Less lateral grip. (side-bite).
Front more inclined than rear: Steering feels very smooth. A little more mid-corner steering. Mounting the rear shocks very much upright can result in the rear end feeling unpredictable. It also makes the rear end jitter in turns.
Rear more inclined than front: Feels aggressive turning in, but for most of time the car has a little less steering. The car has a lot of side traction in the rear, and the turn radius isn’t very tight.
Try to keep your car level during acceleration, deceleration and cornering.
Stiffer springs make the car feel more responsive, more direct. The car reacts faster to driver input. Stiff springs are suited for tight, high-traction tracks, which aren’t too bumpy. Usually, when you stiffen the whole car, you lose a small amount of steering.
Softer springs are better for bumpy and very large and open tracks. They can also make the car feel as sluggish and slow.
Stiffer Front: The car has less front traction, and less steering. It’s harder to get the car to turn, the turn radius is bigger and the car has a lot less steering exiting corners. On very high-grip tracks, if the track itself feels tacky or sticky, very stiff springs are the way to go.
Softer Front: The car has more steering, especially in the middle part and the exit of the corner. Front springs that are too soft can make the car hook and spin.
Stiffer Rear: The car has more steering, in the middle and exit of the turn. This is especially apparent in long, high-speed corners. But rear traction is reduced.
Softer rear: The car has generally more rear traction, in turns as well through bumpy sections and while accelerating.
Looking down at your car from overhead, if the front part of your tires is closer than the rear, that is toe in. If the rear part of the tire is closer, that is toe out. 0° toe gives a very neutral feeling.
Front Toe-in: Stabilizes the car on the straight, and coming out of the corners. It smoothes out the steering response, making the car easier to drive. It can make the car turn in a little more in the middle and exit part of a corner.
Front Toe-out: Increases turn-in steering a lot. But can make the car very nervous on the straight.
Rear Toe-in: This is one of the most sensitive adjustments! One degree goes a long way. Stabilizes the car greatly. It makes the rear end “stick”. The more toe-in you use, the more the rear of the car sticks. This becomes especially apparent going in and coming out of the corners. But more toe-in make more difference between sticking and breaking loose. Large amount of toe-in will scrub off a little speed on the straights.
Rear Toe-out: Rear toe-out is never used. It makes the rear of the car very unstable.
