M03 RACE SETUP 

Racing, for us it's the lifeblood of our M03's. It's what keeps us going. But just how do you turn your M03 into a race winner? This, is what we do....

OK, first up, this is NOT a 5 minute fix. We can't just tell you things that will magically make your car an awesome competitor. But we will tell you the facts - no bullshit, just what works for us.

The absolute first thing you need to do is to read our M03 build-up story. Go on, read it now..I'll wait..

Done? Well there's your baseline set-up to start with. Follow that and you're already most of the way there.

There are only a small number of things that are critical to getting a mini to work well, and these are - suspension, tyres and...well that's it.

Starting with suspension, if you've followed our guide in the M03 Build-up then you're probably pretty close now. Need more guidance? The 'events' section (it's over on the left, have a look now) usually has the complete setup for the top 3 drivers at the end of the story. Check some of them out, copy them if you like. What you're trying to do is establish your baseline setup. Find one that works - then leave it.

Yes, we mean it, LEAVE IT. Despite what people will tell you, you do NOT need to make constant suspension changes to your car all the time. Once you've found something that you like, don't play with it. I changed the setup on ONE of my three race cars only ONCE in the last 12 months.

No changes? Why so? Because by far the better way to tune for conditions is to change tyres... It's a different track yes, or maybe a different temperature? That doesn't mean that the geometry and the damping etc that you had before suddenly doesn't work! Your problem on the new track is more than likely GRIP, not suspension.

This is where tyre tuning comes in. For us, more often than not we run the same combination everywhere. For us it's Powers or Spice 36's, front and rear. But...sometimes they don't cut it. When that happens we reach for a softer rear first. Usually Spice 28's solve the problem. But these are just examples. Tyres are SUCH a difficult area. Most of our running is on outdoor bitumen or asphalt tracks, and these tyres work for us. What you're looking for isn't the best possible grip, it's BALANCE that you're after. You need to find a setup that will give your car the best balance between front and rear. Even if the ultimate grip isn't the best, provided your car is balanced then it'll feel good to drive.

If you're running to something like TCS rules, then your options are more limited. But even within the Tamiya range there are still choices to be made. For instance, when we run on carpet, we leave our suspension the same, we just change our tyres. Usually M grips or S grips, or a combination of the two works for us.

If tyre tuning doesn't work, then, and only then, do you start playing with your suspension. When it comes to that point, ALWAYS try ride height adjustments first. Often a 1mm change at either end can work well. One of my own cars just wouldn't turn enough for my liking, and tyre tuning wasn't doing the trick. I raised the rear 1mm - problem solved. In short, tyres and suspension (allied with ride height) are your main focus areas. Get them right and 90% of your problems are solved.

Of course sometimes even those options don't help. In that case, don't forget your old friend, the lead weight. if you're running Lipos you probably already have some in your car. But the tuning possibilities of the lead weight are enormous. Some strategically placed weight on your car can transform an unruly vehicle in an instant. Even as little as 20 gms makes a difference.

Steering - well this one can impact on an M03 more than you realise. Under power, the front wheels of an M03 will pull inward, creating toe-in. Now this is rarely much of an issue, but if your car is setup with toe-in to start with, more is a bad idea. Ideally you want the front end as neutral as possible. A brand new car can have the wheels set parallel, but as the car wears you may need to fine-tune the steering links accordingly. Toe out is a trick you only use when you really need more turn-in. It works, but will also make the car a lot more nervous in a straight line.

Possibly THE most important thing on your M03 is....you. No other factor impacts on the performance as much you do yourself. Assuming your track has computer lap timing, the read-outs probably have what our system calls a 'consistency' factor. In other words, the computer compares each one of your laps to all the others and ranks them. For us, a consistency factor in the order of .2 is what we're searching for. That sort of performance means that each lap we do is within a few tenths of all the others. THIS is the single most important factor in racing. Can you do this? Or are you a 2.4 rating? You absolutely need to get this part of your racing sorted first.

It doesn't matter if you can do a single lap a whole second quicker than anyone else, if every other one you do is over a 3 second range! Work on that consistency.

Examples? Early 2008, I handed my own car over to local Modified Touring Car Hotshot Andy Cooke to drive in one race. I'd been going quite well all day and was happy enough with my performance. After 3 laps Cookie was already quicker than me, and ended up OVER A SECOND A LAP QUICKER!! What does that mean to you? It's just proof positive that you can gain a LOT more through your driving than you'll EVER get through hours of setup. Back to my original premise again - Find a basic setup that works for you - and LEAVE IT.

Another example - Late '08 and Jay at the Metro Masters. His car was toast, 2 of the shocks had almost no oil in them and he was all over the place, he hadn't driven for 4 months. By the end of the meeting, he came second - still with that POS car. He didn't stuff around all day playing with setup - hell he didn't even fill the shocks up again! In his words 'I waited for the track to come to me' But what that really means is that he just drove the wringer off the car as it was. More proof that the vast majority of improvement with a mini, comes from YOU....

Bodies - You'll hear a lot of talk from people about how 'this body steers better than this one' etc, etc. OK, listen up people - It's rubbish. It's simply not true. Yes, it makes a difference on Touring Cars, but they go a lot faster than minis do.

At the sort of speeds (most) minis run,  the aerodynamic effect is so small as to be virtually undetectable, and certainly not enough that we can notice it. It's not an opinion, it's fact, and backed up by lots and lots of testing on our part, as well as learned opinion from aerodynamic experts. So don't worry too much that your mate has a 'slipperier' shell than you. Stick your old VW Bus shell on and go and whip him!