im probably going to get ripped to bitts here but this is my advice...
1. no driver drives the same EVER, your driving style is like a fingerprint, you may drive similar to someone else and if you watched a replay you may be hard pushed to find a difference but the car will handle differently...
2. a setup only ENHANCES your driving or lap times, if i see another new driver ask the fastest guy on the server for his setup again im going to cry, if you think that your going to go from a 1.10 to 1.8 or even a low 1.9 because of a setup think again if this was the case we would all be driving along fernando alonso earning 5 million a year..
3.the setup of a car is very touchy what i mean is you change 1 thing it effects another, so putting together several sets its just gona send you backwards...
now ill admit i havent read all the posts here so i may be cover stuff already said and so on...
You carnt be fast if you dont know how to use/drive the car no setup can take away the need for driving experience, some people have posted here saying they have tried your set and said it was better than theirs or have done half decent times with it in just a few laps, this is because they know how to drive the car, if we take BL1 with FOX a good driver can do a 1.10 or even a mid 1.9 with ANY set simply because they 1. know the track inside out and 2. have the experience to adapt..
ok so here is my advice
grab a set that is STABLE! hence it doest kill you if you put a foot wrong or miss an apex, (the easy drive setup pack is great for this) dont go ask drivers that are doing silly times or even mildly quick times it wont work.... once you have your set FORGET ABOUT SETUPS, either online or offline (they both have there advantages) just keep lapping and lapping as you have already found you will hit the bar where you can find no more time to shave off Everyone has this its just what we do abou it that counts....
watch other drivers in replays or online that are slightly faster than you 1 sec MAX! if you start watching guys doing 1.7's you will learn nothing, so if your PB is 1.9.50 find a replay or a online driver doing 1.8's watch him over and over notice the lines hes taking and were he puts the power down also where he breaks, although there are so many variables in the breaking department its less of a issue when watching someone, due to setup and driver style, the main things your looking for are the race line, where they/if they hit a given apex and finaly where they apply the power, but without doupt race line is the main thing, it may only be a small difference but that can gain you valuable 10th's...
2nd thing is wich if you want to be fast (competative is a better word IMO) you NEED to know how and why the car does what it does, hence lean the basics of a car setup, as i say above this come after you have learned how to drive, once you have done that while lapping you will start ......err making friends with the car
I.E you will notice that the car doesnt want to do that, basicly you will learn how to recive feedback from the car, you will take a turn and say to yourself "its understearing badly when i turn in badly" so then once you know what makes the car understear/oversteer on turning in you can simply pitt adjust and try again, once you have fixed that you may notice that on that same turn your overstearing on exit and loosing time, so once again you adjust and
test, before you know it your knocking 10ths of all over the shop, once you hitt the bar again you start the proccess again... its just the way it works, you canot go from 1.9 to 1.7 in 1 sesion or a twidle of the setup thats the fun of this game IMO....
as a E.G a guy was asking for help on a server the other day, so i spent the night with him helping him, his first BIG mistake was he was using a set capable of silly times and he was using a game pad! hence he was spining out in EVERY TURN, i watched him lap and together we came up with a banchmark setup then we went through racing lines power on points and so on, when we first met he was doing 1.10's "BL1 FOX" after a night of a setup revamp and HIM LEARNING HOW TO DRIVE the next day he comes on doing low 1.9s every lap, in 24 hours i think thats pretty good and so hear his times have tumbled again...
so please dont be one of these people that race on super fast sets who carnt handle them taking out half the cars in the race, and expect to be competative with the guy you had the set off i will put my full years wages on it that its impossible, being fast comes in stages some people progress faster than others but its still the same for who ever you are...
good luck and enjoy learning this awsome game, hope i havent bored you to death and hope it helps
regards Gizzmo