Steve Smith's

60/60/1 Setups

Steve Smith's 60-60-1 F2 Cooper Setups (3kb zip file)

Canny ol' Dave Kaemmer! You always knew there was a reason he left alternatives to the 85-deg. power-side ramp angle in the diff...dincha? I had my doubts. I often described the results of any deviation from the ubiquitous 85/whatever setting (used by almost everybody since GPL appeared nigh on 2 years ago) as "an amusement park ride." Anything less than 85 deg. on the power side seemed to provoke uncontrollable oversteer. The coast side of the diff, OTOH, seemed to work with anything from 30 deg. (for the maximum ABS effect...at the expense of spool-like push), to 60 deg. (minimizing the effect of 'riding' the throttle in the turns...at the expense of longer braking distances).

Then we got Dave Noonan's 'groundbreaking' (if I may say so) oval-track conversions...and it quickly became apparent that the only way a '67 F1 car was going to handle on the ovals was with an almost completely open diff: 85/85/1 (a single clutch, and very 'disconnected' axles). My friend Michael Hausknecht was the first to alert me to trying a more rad diff setting on the road circuits. Guess what? It works like crazy!

Setups go in and out of fashion. Remember the 'lo-rider' phase? (In real life, too: Villeneuve initiated a 'lo-wing' craze in IndyCars several years ago.) In the beginning of GPL's 'life,' everybody was using 85/30/* setups (the * depended on your engine's torque: if you had a lot, like the Lotus, you used fewer clutches; if you were short, like the BRM, you used more), because the faux-ABS effect of the low coast-side angle gave you a little confidence boost. At the time, the pain--the car became a fright pig in the corners, with ferocious mid-corner understeer--seemed worth the gain.

Later, as we became more adroit at braking...almost a science in itself...the online competition became fiercer (and we found it harder and harder to squeeze any more speed out of the original setups) and the coast-side angles went up. We were giving something away on braking, but we were carrying more speed out of the corners because we could get on the loud pedal earlier.

At first blush, 60/60/1 setups (I have fooled with variations like 60/45/1, but I always come back to 60/60/1) would seem to have the obverse of the same problem: if you give it too much throttle too early, you loop the car (instead of plowing off nose-first: the Dreaded Papy Push). The difference? With understeer, you can only wait; wait until the car scrubs off enough speed to regain some front-end traction. But, given enough power, you can 'play' with a tail-happy car.

So why not just adjust a 'normal' (85/*) setup for more oversteer? Because a 60/60 setup is better. First, it kills the traditional Papy understeer, dead. The car now turns in more quickly. Indeed, it transitions so fast it feels like a dramatically lower polar moment. Mid-corner, it tracks along like a train. Unlike push, you can position the car--into any conceivable angle...and some that ain't--with the throttle. Easily.

The problem comes at the exit. You have to learn a whole new driving technique: squeezing on the throttle as you come off the turns, not mashing it. You have to modulate the throttle until the car is pretty much pointed straight before it will (in Doug Arnao's words) "accept the power." It requires great concentration...at a time when you normally Alpha out. And once you've mastered it in solo Training sessions, you have to learn it again in the heat of competition; it's all too easy to spin out on the last turn of the last lap in a "Red Rage."

But 60/60/1 setups are a whole lot easier to drive for extended spells. Particularly if you like to dirt-track around--they like *lots* of Wellie...but not timidity. Quite the opposite; they reward exuberance. Slides seem very controllable, you feel more self-confident. I find I have far fewer 'offs' at slippery tracks like Kyalami. True, my lap times have improved trivially, if at all. But, overall, 60/60/1 is simply more fun, more rewarding to drive.

These setups don't work everywhere (and don't seem to make much difference on some cars, like the slower F3)s. They work best in places where sweeping directional changes are made, like Riverside's famous Esses (taken at 100 to 125 mph). They are of no benefit whatsoever at Silverstone, where you're forever rounding low-speed, high-angle hairpins. The Rings (both Nurburg and Oesterreich) are particularly good candidates. Rouen's infamous Nouveau Monde hairpin becomes less infuriating (unlike Spa's La Source, which seems impervious), as does Mexico's 'Rhythm Section.' You waste less time at Mosport, Brands Hatch, and Zandvoort waiting for the push to bleed off. Even the Glen seems to benefit...although not Monza...not at all.

To get the ball rolling, below are a couple of suggestions for the F2 Cooper, my preferred test 'mule.'

Steve Smith's 60-60-1 F2 Cooper Setups (3kb zip file)