Motorsport Wheel Alignment: 7. Test Results
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7. Test Results
01.47
| 00:00 | - Once we have our alignment complete, we want to document the changes we've made in our setup sheets. |
| 00:05 | It's a good idea to track these changes along with the racetrack you're racing at and the weather conditions. |
| 00:11 | What we're trying to do is build up a knowledge base that we can use when we return to the same track at a later point so that we can start with an alignment setup that we've proven to be effective under the same conditions. |
| 00:22 | Of course building up this sort of documentation takes time, but you have to start somewhere. |
| 00:28 | Now comes the fun part of testing to see how the changes have affected the way the car behaves. |
| 00:34 | This should be approached with caution for at least your first couple of laps, as you gently feel out the effect of any changes and explore how the car's handling has changed. |
| 00:44 | Depending on the type and magnitude of the changes we're making, we could find that the handling has been dramatically affected so it's never a good idea to head out of the pit lane at 10/10ths effort. |
| 00:55 | In particular, we want to be a little cautious testing how the car brakes and turns into a corner as well as how the balance of the car has changed mid corner. |
| 01:03 | Once you've gained confidence that the car is behaving as you'd expect, it's time to push on and see how your changes have worked out. |
| 01:11 | The whole process of making alignment changes is iterative and we're much better to make a number of smaller changes in the right direction, than make one large change and find that we've overshot the mark and turn the car into an evil handling demon that's trying to throw us off the track at every opportunity. |
| 01:28 | As we've discussed already, driver feedback, lap times and data are the way of determining if you've made an improvement. |
| 01:35 | It's also important not to get caught up trying to prove that your change was the right way to go. |
| 01:40 | Ultimately, the data and the lap times don't lie. |
