RC Car Tuning: Ride Height

In this guide we're going to talk about ride height and how it effects your RC car's performance.

Photo Courtesy: competitionx.com

So first let's define ride height. Ride height is basically how high off the ground your RC car is. This is measured by the distance from the bottom of your RC car's chassis to the ground. Now that we understand the obvious, let's figure out how ride height effects your RC car's performance.

Photo Courtesy: neobuggy.net.

    So let's say you have you're running your RC car on a high bite track (one with lots of grip). In this situation you're car will have enough grip and you'll probably want to go with a lower ride height to keep from rolling over in the turns. On the other hand if you're running your RC car on a lower traction surface (less grip), then you'll probably need to slightly raise the height to increase grip. A higher ride height increases grip on a surface with less traction by allowing the car to lean slightly and give the tires more grip. Another important thing to think about is whether your RC car, truck, or buggy will be on a terrain with lot's of jumps and bumps which will cause it to bottom out (that's when the chassis hits the ground). Be sure to keep that in mind as you're tuning your RC car. So let's lay out what we just learned:

Lower Ride Height: better for high traction surfaces to avoid flipping

Higher Ride Height: to increase grip on surfaces with less traction