Endurance Racing by post - Round 10 track is up!

[TurnipJF]

I have had a couple of runs with my TC-01, but nothing earth-shatteringly quick. Quite happy to let the round run until the weather behaves itself.

[Pylon80]

First attempt today!

Whining portion begin

After 3 days of non stop high winds the dust and invisible black on black pebbles were back, making for very challenging conditions. The first 14min felt like slow motion racing. Occasionally an invisible pebble would knock the car 45deg off course.

Whining portion end

But overall it was fun as usual and I love that track, which is why I wanted to share it 🙂 First time I try it in such small size though.

The two "sweepers" left then right were a joy, steering with the throttle, which is where the Formula Tuned 32t motor really shines. The hairpin at marker 10 was surprisingly manageable by coming in hot and tapping the brakes just right 😎 The one at marker 1, I kept running wide and hitting the gravel and crunchy asphalt. I slowly improved over the 30min, braking earlier and making it look better and better.

I think if I can enter every weekend until the end of the month I could get some semi decent lap counts. I'm also hoping "they" will clean the parking lot before the end of the round

No significant tire wear as usual. Battery consumption was 1600mah total.

[Andreas W]

Good to see you are going. 

I marked up the course on Friday so will hopefully get a few attempts made this week. It's on gravel but with tarmac with pebbles between marker 1 and 2, so more rallycross than anything else. 

[Pylon80]

27 minutes ago, Andreas W said:

Good to see you are going. 

I marked up the course on Friday so will hopefully get a few attempts made this week. It's on gravel but with tarmac with pebbles between marker 1 and 2, so more rallycross than anything else. 

That's the spirit! I actually have that awesome XV-01 coming which will come in handy for those dust and pebble days 😎

Edit on the previous post: calipers say that I lost an unusual 0.5mm of tire at the rear of the Group C during these 28min' racing. Steering with the throttle, eh

[Pylon80]

Second attempt today. The dust was even worse than last week... At times there would be a gust of wind  and I would hear the sound of sand and rocks getting swept across the parking lot 😅 like I'm at the beach.

Anyways, I tried to focus on the driving. But a pan car in the dust is a handful! I managed to improve my braking technique and it was a thrill when I would drive a slow  but really clean lap and hear LapMonitor announce "new best lap!" 🙂

Interestingly after the 2min pit stop I am pretty sure I felt the tires had cooled down and weren't making the same grip as before. It seemed to come back after 2 or 3 laps. 

Looking at LapMonitor after the race I found that I had improved  my best lap by a whooping .5sec compared to last week! I was not expecting this but then I did get a few pretty clean laps in spite of the lack of grip. Now I want to try again next week...

I started enjoying the routine of cleaning the motor, rebuilding the diff (it's always pretty gritty after 28min in the dust) and cleaning the king pins. It's time consuming but it's fun to look forward to the next attempt as I do it.

[Andreas W]

I was able to finally mark up this course on tarmac today. I made the detour and went to the spot I have used the most. I had not planned for this, so I only had the XV-02 on soft rallyblocks. I had made 3 stints on muddy gravel earlier and some free riding on snow, so it was clear that the battery would not be up for the full stint. That was fine, since I didn’t want to wear out the tyres. Just get a feeling for the course. 

 

It's been a while since I ran at such speeds the last time. The XV-02 is pretty fast when it gets to stretch its legs and put the power into the surface,  so I'll need some time getting used to this again. Nevertheless it was a lot of fun, so I'll give it a go next week with the XV-01 on MST LTX. 

[Pylon80]

Passing though the local park with the kids yesterday afternoon, off the corners of my eyes I saw the basketball court where I sometimes run my cars. I had been missing out on Endurance that same morning and so I quickly made a plan for some night racing!

The grip was better than my other spot but nothing like what I have experienced with my M-05 on these same courts. Still, I knew I was faster and I was eager to look at the stats in LapMonitor. I was in for a shock! The average lap time reduced by 1:23s compared to last week... HOLLY JIS SCREW! This yielded 10 laps more than last time 😀

I still think the car under-steers a bit so I'll be experimenting with some weight on the front and perhaps some changes to Ackerman and/or front toe 🤔 I have the initial steering to my liking, as long as I use the brakes correctly, but mid corner I just find myself constantly at full lock... And I am not convinced that it's due to a lack of steering angle.

Back home I measured my tires for diameter and found that they lost double the amount that I usually see. Another indication that grip was higher. It's still a very slow wear rate and I estimate that the rear would last 20h before I have no more spacers to remove on the pod. Of course by then I'll have other problems, including gearing issues, as I already have the biggest pinion that fits. I can always use the F1 spur (63t instead of 70t) or even switch to F104 spurs and 64p pinions. Anyways, I'm not there yet.

Something that never happened before: at the beginning of the race I heard a stange noise coming from the car and the rear was handling funny for a few laps. Turns out a large cactus spike or perhaps Palo Verde thorn was stuck in one tire and had worn flush. I removed it with tweezers, no damage to the tire 😅

The Group C is such a fun car.

[TurnipJF]

7 hours ago, Pylon80 said:

The Group C is such a fun car.

That it is!

How much toe are you running? I have been fiddling with toe settings on mine, and am now at 1 degree toe out. Seems to make the car feel more nimble.

[Pylon80]

2 hours ago, TurnipJF said:

That it is!

How much toe are you running? I have been fiddling with toe settings on mine, and am now at 1 degree toe out. Seems to make the car feel more nimble.

I started at 0deg last year then progressed onto 0.5deg but I'll certainly try 1deg for the next attempt! Thank you for the tip 🙂

[Andreas W]

First nearly full attempt today. It's like a greek antiqu theatre, where the same actor played multiple roles just holding different masks before the face. Like that I put the Impreza body on top of the XV-01 (non winter) and had a blast. 

 

A few things are clear. I am seriously rusty after the winter. I have ran more times per week,  but not anywhere near as fast as this and all the 380 running has done the throtle control no good. There was a lot of dust on the surface, so not a lot of grip. The inner front wheel would spin in some corners, so the tyrewear there is severe. I rotaded the wheels at the pit stop (over 3 minutes) and concluded that I would try the well worn slicks next time. No reason to wear out a good set of MST LTX when the grip is probably no better than with the slicks. 

 

The 5000mAh brick was not up to it this time, so with 1,5 min to go I reached the end. I thought about running two shorties, like I mostly do, but the last times before the winter I just used the brick and thought it would be enough. 

 

All in all a fun experience,  but I am looking forward to warmer weather and running the Carten on decent slicks.

[Andreas W]

I put on a new set of Ride slicks today and used two shorties put all the way back in the compartment. Now we're talking. The good feeling is coming back, the grip is far better and the improvement was a wopping 39 laps inkludert a roll by marker 2 (but landed on the wheels and could just keep on). Now at least I have a decent result.

 

This time I see the wear is hardest on the left rear wheel. RC Maritime still has these wheels for a good price,  so I should just grab a few of them. 

[Pylon80]

@TurnipJF  and everyone is the round over? Thank you 🙂

[TurnipJF]

Because people were having difficulty getting any runs in due to the weather, we made this round open-ended. If all who wish to attempt this course have had sufficient opportunity to do so though, we can bring this round to a close. What say y'all? Carry on or call it done?

[Andreas W]

I have made one good attempt that I am happy with,  so for me we can end this . 

[Pylon80]

I have made a few attempts myself with the Group C and I am happy to close it as well 🙂 No pressure to anyone who still wants to try the track!

[TurnipJF]

I have also had a few good attempts. I'll leave it another day in case there is anyone else who wants to make any submissions, then wrap it up at midnight tomorrow night.

[TurnipJF]

Position	Username	Lap count	Class	Car	Motor	Battery	Running surface	Surface modifiers / excuses	(Optional) Running weight	(Optional) Fastest lap
1	Andreas W	151	GT3	XV-01 Subaru Impreza	Hobbywing Justock 13.5t	2S LiPo	Tarmac	No - the track surface was clear and dry.
2	TurnipJF	141	GT3	TC-01 Mercedes CLK GTR	13.5t Orion	2S LiPo	Tarmac	No - the track surface was clear and dry.
3	TurnipJF	136	GT3	TT-02 Type S Mercedes AMG GT3	13.5t Bluebottle	2S LiPo	Tarmac	No - the track surface was clear and dry.
4	Pylon80	130	Group C	Group C Jaguar XJR-12	Formula Tuned 32t	2S LiPo	Concrete	Dusty		11:77
5	TurnipJF	122	Group C	Group C Mercedes C11	4.5t Speed Passion	2S LiPo	Tarmac	No - the track surface was clear and dry.

[TurnipJF]

Well done @Andreas W on taking the overall win, and to @Pylon80 on taking the Group C trophy, on dusty concrete no less!

[Andreas W]

Wow, that was a surprice. I had a good feeling after fitting the new slicks,  but did not think to be that competetive from the get go. I have to say that I love that car and I am so happy that I pulled the trigger back in 2022 and got it. 

 

Do we feel for scaling up Imola,  or is it too twitchy?

[TurnipJF]

1 minute ago, Andreas W said:

Do we feel for Stalingrad up Imola,  or is it too twitchy?

I'd be up for that.

[Andreas W]

31 minutes ago, TurnipJF said:

I'd be up for that.

Stalingrad,  maybe?. Sometimes the auto correct comes up with words that are completely out there,  if I don't look carefully while writing "outlandish".

 

@Pylon80. Would you mind scaling up Imola for us? Then we can crack on almost immediately . 

[Pylon80]

Thank you @TurnipJF for organizing all this for us! I only wish there were more entrants, especially in the Group C class since we know a lot of members have built one. Ahem we also know @skom25 is on the fence to get one

@Andreas W congratulations, that's a really fast pace you achieved. For the new track, I'm away from a computer and will be leaving on a trip on Monday 😐 but I'll try and scale the track tomorrow.

Next round I'll set my 380 TT-02 to 251mm, put on my old beat up 911 RSR shell and enter in the GT3 class! That car is incredibly fast in postal and I'm curious to see how well it does in the slightly bigger track.

[Andreas W]

Thanks for doing the drawing, Pylon80. 

 

I have fixed the Carten and intended to run it last Friday. At my work place there was no rain and dry tarmac,  but on the spot 15 minutes away there was rain and the place Ihad marked the course was occupied. So I marked up the normal course and ran the XV-02 instead. 

 

The Carten is geared up more for this season, so I hope and think it's competetive.

[Pylon80]

Trying to do the track scaling before leaving on a trip, but I can't find the Imola track post 😕 as the links don't seem to be showing today in the RBP thread.

[TurnipJF]

Does this show up for you?