: First, to the guy that has cars that are too loose: tighten it up a lot
: by either using a bit more weight on the right side or by taking out
: about 2-3 rounds of wedge out of the car. How much that is in shocks, I
: honestly don't know the exact number. The second remedy for the skating
: could be by bumping up the spoiler a couple of degrees. It will take a
: bit of mph from the topend,but the hanling will be so much better.
: In general to all the handling complaints, just fool around with it
: a bit and use some common racing sense. If your car's loose(oversteer),
: take out some wedge, bump up the spoiler, lay off on the stagger,
: and/or take weight off the left side. If it's too tight, put in a bit
: of wedge in, add a bit of stagger, and bump the spoiler a tad.
I think that I am the person you are refering to in your post.
Could you PLEASE explain how "Wedge" works. I know very little
about Stock Cars and want to learn.
Thanks.
Jeffrey K. Stier
Jeffrey K. Stier ([email hidden]) wrote:
: Firstname Lastname ([email hidden]) wrote:
: : First, to the guy that has cars that are too loose: tighten it up a lot
: : by either using a bit more weight on the right side or by taking out
: : about 2-3 rounds of wedge out of the car. How much that is in shocks, I
: : honestly don't know the exact number. The second remedy for the skating
: : could be by bumping up the spoiler a couple of degrees. It will take a
: : bit of mph from the topend,but the hanling will be so much better.
: : In general to all the handling complaints, just fool around with it
: : a bit and use some common racing sense. If your car's loose(oversteer),
: : take out some wedge, bump up the spoiler, lay off on the stagger,
: : and/or take weight off the left side. If it's too tight, put in a bit
: : of wedge in, add a bit of stagger, and bump the spoiler a tad.
--- Actually your info on wedge is correct, but backwards.... if it's
loose, you can add wedge and vice versa.... see below....
: I think that I am the person you are refering to in your post.
: Could you PLEASE explain how "Wedge" works. I know very little
: about Stock Cars and want to learn.
: Thanks.
: Jeffrey K. Stier
--- Jeff and others. For those who may not have read one of the earlier
"Insider" Newsletters with this column in it, I'll post it here in it's
plain form. Hope some find it of help.
[begin wedge discussion]
Subject: INSIDER TECH input (WEDGE)
"From the Shop"
I am pleased to have been given the opportunity to share some lines
with you in what is the first installment of the "Insiders" tech-section.
We'll cut right to the 'meat' here in this opening segment.
Living on the 'WEDGE'
---------------------
Probably one of the most used but often least understood terms in the sport
of NASCAR Racing when watching weekend broadcasts would be the infamous item
known as WEDGE. Wedge and Cross Weight are synonomous entities.
First, some facts. Don't let the term "cross weight" mislead you into
thinking you are adding more physical weight to your race car, you're not.
You are merely redistributing weight already present in your machine. The
only means of increasing your vehicles's weight is by physically adding more
to it.
We'll assume here that you are relatively happy with the rest of your car
set-up, as this is only a small piece of the 'set-up puzzle'. Also my
discussion will lean toward more 'real-world' situations and will assume
that the program has been modeled adequately ;-). I will attempt to not
re-hash stuff found in all of our manuals where I can avoid it. Obviously
one should read or re-read that section as well.
Adjustments to wedge essentially alters two things on your race car:
1) The redistribution of weight present in your car (commonly presented in
terms of adjusting weight percentages from the RF to the LR, though in
reality you can adjust from any corner to suit your needs, but we'll keep
to the game)
2) Adjusting the 'ride-height' of your racer.
Since this is not a physics lesson (and frankly, I'm by no means a physics
major ;-)), the ride-height is just simple words refering to the differences
in the center of gravity of your vehicle (The lower you can get your center
of gravity the more your car will 'stick' to the track... this is why often
times you can barely see the driver in a fine-tuned stockcar at your local
track as that it upwards of 200 lbs of weight <driver> that is placed in the
car; they want to get it as low as they can)
As mentioned in the manual, wedge adjustments are performed via enclosed
adjusting shafts or rods in the suspension/spring assembly. These adjusters
can be tightened or lossened by way of a wrench from the top (or under the
hood for the front) at each corner of the car. (Hey! An adjustment that can
be made to a car and you may not even have to get your hands dirty! :-) ).
Basically when one corner is tightened, you distribute an extra portion of
the total weight to that point. In doing so you effectively remove weight
from the opposite corner (percentage speaking). You also have adjusted the
'ride-height' of the chassis where the weight has left and been added. The
chassis will have been raised where it left and lowered where it has been
added. (A good example of wedge/ride-height would be to have a look at some
of your local "Street-Stock" division racers on the track... ever notice how
the RF-end seems to be sticking up or protruding skyward on some of the
vehicles? This is a good indication the wedge/ride-height has been added/
lowered (respectively) to the LR :-)). The ideal scenario, generalizied in
the game, would be the ability to systymatically add and remove weight from
all corners of the car and maintain a desired ride-height that you wanted.
(ie. you could add 5 lbs to the RF, take 5 lbs from the RR, add 5 lbs to the
LR and take away 5 lbs from the LF. You have effectively added about 40 lbs
of wedge to your racecar, also maintaining your ride height.... but this
isn't a Math lesson either ;-) but there are formulas for this exercise).
** Rules of thumb:- MORE WEDGE = TIGHTER CAR/UNDERSTEER
LESS WEDGE = LOOSER CAR/OVERSTEER
In setting up your race car for the simulation, remember a few items
when contimplating your cross-weight adjustments:
1) Your car will ALWAYS be 'loose' on coldish tires, nothing can
be done about this.
2) In general, remember you have 20 gallons of fuel in which to
keep your car semi-driveable. I personally prefer a decent
handling car in the mid to early portion of a fuel load and pray
for a caution as the tires begin to go away. This translates
into an extremely loose setup at the start in terms of wedge
but becomes quite comfortable after a few gallons are exhausted.
This will depend on driving styles, of course, and work in
conjunction with the other settings you've elected to drive with.
3) As your car lightens due to fuel consumption (remember, each
gallon used is about 7 lbs. off your rear weight or nearly a
full 1% of rear bias!), you'll begin to develope a 'push' or
understeer. Eventually it'll want into the wall with more force
then you can counter it with without severly slowing down. This
effect acts as if more wedge has suddenly been added to you car.
4) For decent qualifying starting points, I suggest doubling or
even tripling your wedge settings in order to hold 'er to the
track with the limited warm-up period (ie. 20 lbs. race wedge,
I'd look at 50 to 60, maybe more, for a qualify wedge setting)
Here's some other weight related tid-bits for you to ponder as we make our
way through the venues this IWCC-season. Guaranteed you'll be referring
to these for some advice (I think!) as they're what I apply to my first
time at a new track.
[Again, these are based on 'real-world' occurances, exercise extreme caution
when trying these at home :) ]
1) Increase REAR weight and you improve your turn exit speed, while
making the car looser in the middle portion of the turn.
In other words, improves forward speed in corners
2) Increase SIDE weight (left) and you improve your cornering
ability in the mid-portion of the corner.
3) Too much wedge = a colder LF tire running temperature.
4) Not enough wedge = a colder LR tire.
5) Banked courses = add wedge, decrease stagger
6) flatter corners = remove wedge, increase stagger.
7) Wedge does NOT alter the %'s weight on the portions of the car,
that reamins constant. The only way the %'s change from
different aspects of the car (left or rear) is by physically
adding more weight or removing it. Example: 52.4% left
weight will stay that way no matter what adjustments you
make to the cross/wedge weight.
Well, that's it for "From the Shop" this time kids. Hope something in this
passage was found interesting or helpful. I can attempt to explain certain
things in more detail if anyone has any questions on the subject. Also, if
something doesn't sound quite right, please correct me if I went astray
somewhere. I can always haul out the video tapes again and double check
things, this was going more from experience and memory. Until next time,
apply full-throttle pressure and don't repaint any of the walls. <off>
Chris Goucher
Northern Lights Racing team member
#2, Alpine Lager Beer Ford-Thunderbird
[[email hidden]]
[end]
--
Christopher Goucher Atlantic Geoscience Centre
E-Mail [[email hidden]] Basin Analysis Subdivision
work: (902) 426-4754 Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
home: (902) 865-9270 CANADA
