Borg Motorsports

Thanks for the great feedback Jesse! Swag is on sale right now to celebrate the good start to the season. Just sayin'

If you're there, you will definitely see me at Nationals!

Borg Motorsports

Thanks for the kind words Michael.

That's a complicated question and it really just results in some kind of a balance of the two. For things like track records or time trials, I would definitely err on the side of the fastest possible (or theoretical) car setup. You get a ton of tries and can practice quite a bit (generally the track is always there) before the event so you can learn what you need to do driving wise to maximize the car. Obviously the setup will be different depending on the track you are at.

For something like an endurance race, ultimate speed might not be the best choice if it results in more pit spots or is mentally or physically taxing on the driver. In those cases, erring on the side of easy to drive and/or consistency over a stint may be the best way to go.

For autocrosses, not being able to drive the course very much plays a huge factor in the setup. You need something that is relatively surface agnostic in terms of the character of the car. Then you can tweak the steady-state balance as a function of the grip levels.

In all cases, a truly talented driver will be able to get the most out of the setup and will be able to adjust to a faster setup if one is found.

If you are looking for specific advice for you or other amateur drivers, I would say start with the basics on the car in terms of setup. Nothing fancy at first, just get the car handling predictably and consistently, then work on your skill. Over time as you get faster and develop better habits, you will be able to adjust to different setups. That's when you can start trying things that make the car faster, but maybe don't feel as nice subjectively.

For example, I frequently find that lower tire pressures are generally faster, but cause the car to feel more numb or unresponsive. Some people can't adjust to this and need increased response to drive quickly. They will then tell others that the higher pressures are better because it responds better. While this is true, I will happily drive around a soft tire if it is faster on the clock.

As a way to practice this, you can try running with different pressures (overall, front vs rear, etc) to make the car more or less predictable and to change the balance. This will help teach you to rotate a car that is prone to understeer and to rein in a car that is balanced to oversteer. If you're feeling really adventurous, buy a pair of 255s for your next TNT day and try driving the car with 255 front/285 rear (an STU car in this example). Then switch to 285 front/255 rear. You'll learn a lot about car control and about handling less than ideal platform setups.

DiCi21

Good to see the 2016 updates! I am looking into building a C5 for STU over the winter for the 2017 season. Any reason that you are running the 275 Rival S instead of the 285 RE-71R?

Borg Motorsports

Unfortunately, I am not at the point where I can answer that. Per my original post under the Wheel and Tire section:
All I can say is that I am planning to run the 275/35R18 Rival S at Nationals this year. If anything changes as development continues into the winter of 2016/2017, I'll post it up here.