Setup Tips from Rusty Greer

Contributed by Rusty Greer

Rusty Greer is the driver of the #7 RTB Opel on the TPTCC Tour, and is always one of the fastest drivers on the track. As the creator of the setups that several TPTCC drivers use, he is constantly inundated with questions about car setup. To help the other TPTCC drivers get started, Rusty offered to give us a quick look at how to loosen up the normally understeering AWD DTM cars.

Here are a few steps to get rid of the understeer in the DTM cars. Always try one adjustment at a time, so you can see which ones are most effective. This is not a detailed guide, but a way to get started with any car.

Anti-roll bars: A lower value for the front, or higher in the rear, will loosen the car up.

Tire pressures: Same principle, lower front pressure or higher rear. I never go below 29 in the fronts or above 32 in the rears. Tires with less pressure will run hotter and wear faster, so be careful with this.

Springs: Following the pattern above, a softer set of front springs or stiffer rears will help an understeering car.

Weight: Moving the weight balance of the car rearward will make it looser, and moving it forward will tighten it up.

Aerodynamics: By covering up openings in the front of the car, you can increase downforce and help the car's nose stick. Typically, you need 65% of the airflow to keep things cool, so 35% is the highest I'd go with this. Decreasing the angle of the rear wing is another way to make the car understeer less.

Brake bias: Using more rear bias (a lower number) will loosen the car up under braking.

Hopefully this will help with getting some baseline setups done, or tweaking to make the most of the ones you have.

Thanks, Rusty, from all of us at TPTCC Magazine.