XRAY - Model racing cars

I am on a tight bugent and I can only buy one thing. Either the alu steering blocks or a setup system.
I know you cant compair apples with oranges but which one of these two items do you think I should buy.
Is the setup station really necesary for buggies?

no unless you plan really to race
better buy a good digital caliper meter to measure the
distances of all your suspension rods then
and buy the alu steering blocks they are real nice
and you will like your buy

"really to race"

even some of the world fastest guys don't use setup stations. The Hudy thingy looks really sweet, but with eye you get it close enough. Nobody cares what degree your tires are lying as long as it works. If it doesn't, do some small changes and try again. If it works then good. Just measure that the turnbuckles are about the same length in both sides. If it makes you somehow faster that you know that both sides are under 0.01mm tolerance and really can tell the difference... the go ahead, get the station. My point being: Setup the car with a station, drive it, do some small adjustment to the other side of the car only and drive again, and tell the difference. (If you pass that test, let your friend do the adjustment without you knowing what he did, drive the car and tell what he did.)

In offroad circumstances the car takes such a beating and the track changes so much that those finetunings you can make with the station dont result in any real advantage.

Like JQ said, setup station just made him slower.

(But for pit-respect that thing is priceless and as said before, looks damn cool. But the real advantage in my opinion is a bit overrated.)

so you can't use the 3d ackerman with the alum. knuckles/steering blocks ?

the TQ only comes with the '3d' plate, right?

The TQ has the regular flat steering plate.

Personally I use the hudy setup station, it is very nice! Good for people who actually care about how their car is setup and want to make sure it is easy to drive through both right and left hand corners! Although really a flat board a RPM camber gauge as well as a RPM toe-in gauge is enough setup equipment for most people. If you race at all I would say do not settle for anything less than that budget setup system of RPM and a flat board. Just eye balling your settings certainly wont allow you to get the most out of your car. After all how do you ever expect to write a setup sheet without knowing what your camber and toe settings are! Those are some of the most important adjustments on the whole car. I disagree with Sami L completely.

+1

If the setup station will even give you a half a percent performance gain, why not use it? IMO, a HUDY setup station is invaluable. Most of us mere mortals aren't good enough to "eyeball" it.

+2

I currently use the RPM camber and toe gauges and find out they really help. I used to try to "eye ball" my set ups and this did not work at all. My XB8 was very unpredictable in the straights and also in the corners I felt as if I never really had contol. I would like to eventually upgrade to the Hudy set up station but right now that is out of my reach. But I do highly suggest atleast getting the RPM camber and toe gauges because they are cheap and very effective.....

Some just seem to be able to drive in WC semifinals without one. Dunno how many of the world champ -level guys actually use stations.

Still I dont quite get it why does it matter if your camber is lets say 2 degrees if it doesnt work. Then you turn the turnbuckles some and it starts working, you must put it to the setupstation, look that its 1.5 now and after that it really starts working?

Rich: That money spent into a half a percent... doesn't seem money well spent to me. But I'm no uber leet pro that must dremel all his part to make the car lighter or change all oils after 5min of driving... It just that this forum sometimes gives the idea of "you must have this and this to be fast" when most of those / us amateurs get like 10 percent after every trip to the track. In these times the time spent with a setupstation and the half percent advantage really isnt anything. Better to put that time and money into vital racing goodies like fuel and tires and DRIVING the actual car.

Personally I dont care about my degrees, I drive it when it works. If it doesn't then slight change and more driving. And if you look at my setup-sheets you notice.

Long story short: Don't give (rookie-)people the wrong impression they become faster if they buy every single gadget out there, because in many cases practice makes perfect.

Sami L. It's not a matter of having the latest gadget to make you faster, it's a matter of being able to replicate your settings with some accuracy. The HUDY setup station is just a tool as with any tool in your pit box, it will not make you faster.

Since we're pointing out the innacuracies in each other's posts, don't kid yourself into thinking that the World-class drivers "eyeball" their chassis settings. As a matter of fact, if the driver you mentioned was good enough to make it into the semis at the World Championships, just imagine if he would have done what the current IFMAR World Champion and the runner-up in the FINAL did...use the HUDY Setup Station. Chassis setup must be a little different in Finland, but since the U.S. dominated the World Championships I'll stick to what they do.

On that note, JQ is truly a world-class driver and with a little bit of luck he was more than capable of making it to the WC finals.