V12-CE SETUP MANUAL
Official Mardave bumper plates will
be released soon. Until they are,
cut a 45mm x 125mm rectangle
of 3mm nylon sheet, round off the
front corners and mount it to the
chassis using the two holes usually
used for the front body posts. Drill
another pair of holes in the bumper
plate, just in front of the edge of
the chassis, and mount the body
posts through these. This gives the
option to position the posts further
forward for better support of the
front of the shell, and body posts
could spaced from side to side to
avoid any awkward moldings in the
shell. Lastly, cut and shape some
15mm deep foam, punched holes
in this to go over the body posts,
and it is job done.
8. FRONT BUMPER
It can be worthwhile to have differ-
ent bumpers to fit different shells.
Bumper plate bolted to chassis and
body posts bolted to the plate.
9. GENERAL SETUP
Any small, light, rear wheel drive
car is very delicate to set up right
- small changes have a big effect
on the way the car drives. Below
are some tips that should keep you
pointing (mostly) in the right direc-
tion.
TRYRES:
The most important setup tool are
your tyres, being on the right tyre
at the right time is 90% of getting
your car running well. UFRA pink
‘Medium’ (part number V54P) is
extremely popular as the rear tyre,
but front tyre compounds can vary
widely depending on track layout,
grip level and driver preference.
The JAP range are good - ‘shore’
ratings are a good indication of grip
with low shores (38’ for example)
giving more grip than the harder
52’ shore. JAP ‘Medium’ fronts are
actually the softest and offer most
grip. Start with a pair of 44’ or 46’
fronts, and get a pair of hard JAP
50s and some softer JAP Medi-
ums so you can test what works
best for you.
ADDITIVE:
Be careful. UFRA Pinks can take
additive twice a day (maximum)
with no ill effects, but JAP fronts
can get over-softened easily.
Most front tyre compounds pick
up most of the additive they need
straight off the track, but some
can be applied on the inside 1/3
of each tyre if you need extra
bite. Using additive more than
3 times a week on any tyre will
over-soften it – the structure of
the rubber changes and the tyres
just fall apart. A good strategy is
to buy multiple sets of the same
compound and run each tyre just
twice each meeting. Sure, this
means an increase in expense to
begin with but they last longer in
the long run.
Contact have recently released
a range of tyres for the Mardave
cars. Initial testing indicates
that grip is good, compounds
take additives well and wear is
not excessive. They are more
expensive at £6 (rears) or £7
(fronts) but they do come ‘trued
and glued’ which saves a lot of
mess. Their 32’ shore rears and
either 42’ or 45’ shore fronts are
popular, but true them down to
47mm (front) and 50mm (rear_
for best results. Their drawback
is that the wheel rims have no
lip on the outer edge – the tire
is much more prone to chunking
when you hit something.
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