Back To The Track

[Mad Ax]

<- Waits for the post about how the tires flew off the wheels because they weren't glued...

- James

Race night arrives. I can't be bothered to stick around at work, so I head off to the track nice and early and help the organisers put out the tables. Once I've got somewhere to sit, I unpack the car and start getting my pit space set up for a night's endurance. Car on my old Pedigree Bitter barmat, transmitter to hand, batteries out of box and ready, charger plugged in and switched on, tools laid out neatly and cooling stand ready to be fired up for intense cooling duties after each stint.

I remove the wheels from the car and pull off the unglued tyres. I've never bothered to glue Tamiya TC tyres, because I've never had them come off (apart from after my very first race with the TA05, when the inner rim of a tear tyre came slightly off). I push-fit a Sorex 24 tyre, but it seems way too loose to stay put. I use a Tamiya tyre insert, which makes it sit a little firmer on the rim and feels better too. I figure it'll do for the first race, just so I can see how it handles. The tyres are seriously sticky - I don't know if there's some release agent put on them when they're manufactured, but after fitting them to the wheels my hands were royally gummed up.

I then reset the rear shocks back to their stock position, as I'd tuned in a little too much grip for the borrowed Sorex tyres the previous week. The rest of the car seemed find and ready to race, so I let it be and went to watch some practicing, figuring the racing would start soon. I chose not to run a practice session as I wasn't sure how long I'd get between stints for charging. In the end, I'd have probably had enough time to drain the pack on track and fully recharge it, as the club seemed to be having some technical problems and it took a while to get the teams organised.

Team sheets were written up by hand. There were seven teams of 3 or 4 members, which meant up to 7 cars on track at any one time - endurance can sometimes be a bit crazy! I was to be racing with young Callum, with his green Mini, and a top-heat racer called Ben, who had forgone his touring car for a Mardave rigid-axle chassis for the endurance race. Ben apologised quickly and said his basic car would hold back our team's lap count, but we weren't bothered and just wanted to enjoy the racing.

We chose a running order of Ben first, Callum second and myself last, so I made sure my car was ready then headed off to my marshalling post.

Endurance really is crazy for marshalling. There's a huge mix of skill, experience and technology on track at the same time, from youngsters in their first season with box-stock TT01s and Minis, to long-term drivers with club-legal hot motors and tuned chassis, all the way up to experienced racers using the non-championship format as a chance to get their other cars set up for this weekend's Thrashnals. During my first stint I think I spent longer in the middle of the track picking up overturned cars than I did stood at my post. Truly manic!

Stint 1

I ran to the track on the second whistle, eager to test out my latest mods. Callum pulled his car into the pit lane, and I was cleared to go. And go I did. Straight into the barrier.

The car was like driving on ice. I had literally no grip. The car would accelerate in a straight line, then understeer on full lock and head straight into the barrier. It did it almost every corner. Then the front started to grip, and the back end was flying around everywhere. I really wished that I'd taken five minutes in the practice to scrub in the tyres - there surely must be something on them that needs scrubbing off before they work properly.

Then the tyres flew off the wheels because they weren't glued.

I knew something wasn't right at the end of the first or second lap, when the car shot sideways for no reason. Then a rubber hoop went bouncing across the track to be caught by a marshal. The car ground slowly the pit lane, the other rear tyre having come off and jammed the wheel. So early in my stint, there was nobody from my team waiting in the pit lane, so I had to grab my car and run back to Ben's pit area. "I'm out with technical problems." I told him. "Are you ready to race yet?" He was, but not without hunting in his toolbox for a few minutes to lend me some proper tyre glue.

Good stuff, that glue, but very thin! I think I managed to stick myself to just about everything I touched. I stuck the car to my Pedigree mat, which left some annoying hard gluey bits in the towelling. Oh well, an excuse to go looking for another bar mat, I suppose! With just the outsides of the tyres glued, I left them to set and relieved Callum from his marshalling duties.

Stint 2

Having glued the insides of the tyres after my marshalling stint, I was busy unsticking myself from my Pedigree mat when the whistle blew. With fingers unstuck, I headed to the track and picked up from Callum. Once again, the car was like driving on ice, but at least the tyres stayed on, and after a couple of laps everything started to bed in. The car still felt a little loose at the rear, but it was improving all the time.

Sadly, the same can't be said for my driving. I managed to find a good couple of minutes in the middle of my stint to get in some good solid laps, but I wasn't really on form. I found myself forever turning too early or too late for corners, catching the apex and rolling or bashing straight into the barrier. That said, my car was seriously quick in a straight line, able to power past most others on the straights. I even found that, when I got it right, I could thread around other cars in the tight sections and make some good progress, but then I'd let myself down with another series of big crashes. Thankfully I mostly avoided hitting other cars, but I was getting worried for the state of my own when the whistle blew.

Stint 3

I didn't change anything except the battery. The rear diff felt a little loose, but endurance racing in a team of 3 doesn't leave a lot of time for adjustment, so I left it be and got to the track before the whistle blew. I got straight out onto the circuit and took care to warm the tyres before I really went for it, although the horrendous cold-tyre understeer still caught me out at one point. When I got back into the racing, I was a little steadier than before. I tried to concentrate on lines rather than speed, and went back to my original style of keeping out of people's way and making steady progress rather than overtaking four cars in a lap and then losing five places when I got stuck in a barrier. I was mostly better than before, although a bad exit from the top corner put my car into a multiple barrel-roll that would have become an overnight Youtube sensation had it happened in 1:1 GT racing. The car landed upside down next an empty marshal post, and stayed there for some time.

Slightly angry with myself for making too many mistakes, I was almost glad when I was relieved at the end of my stint.

Stint 4

Again, I found no point in making changes. A freshly-topped battery went into the car, along with a little extra tape to try to keep the multitude of wires in place. I was at the pit lane as the whistle blew and on track for the last time. We weren't sure how long was left to run, and the field was getting thin, so I decided to get in some good laps and finish on a high. It was then that I realised part of my problem: I had reverted to the old driving style I'd adopted for the slippery Tamiya slicks - throw it into the corners, let the back end slide around, then power out. The faster drivers don't spin their cars nearly as much as I do. They stay planted and straight all the way around, even on the fast corners, engine pulling, using 4wd traction to keep the car flat on the carpet. I started to try it, and was amazed at the extra speed I could carry through corners when I went in smooth and straight.

Of course, I was still bashing barriers and clipping apexes, but my laps felt much faster.

Many people seemed to pack up and go after their last driving stint, because marshals were thin on the ground until the final whistle blew.

Summary

I'll keep it brief this week, as there's not really much to say. The car doesn't need any new bits and nothing needs repairing. The tyres are covered in dust and dirt, like a scale version of an F1 tyre after its warm-down lap, but they're still stuck to the wheels. The glue is finally beginning to peel off my left index finger, although I expect it'll remain on my nail until it grows out in a few months time. The only problem I have seems to be with the bio-organic input device that holds the transmitter.

No lap times this week, as the timing system didn't seem to be in use. The team came in 5th out of 7, which was probably to be expected as all of us spent time in the pits when we should have been on track.

Next week is back to regular championship racing, so hopefully I can improve my game and try to up my laptimes.

Next week's goal: to finish better than last place in my heat by merit.

[Walsall-Basher]

its funny reading about another new racer getting to grips with all the pitfalls that can and most likely will happen! i'll give you a tip from my many weeks of experience...get some brake cleaner (used on 1:1 motorbike brake discs) or some nitro engine cleaner (same stuff) and get all that rubbish off your new tyres, use some tough paper towel or an old pit towel. i thought my tyres were wearing down (looked like an F1 car as you say) but its really just matted fibre and rubber from driving dirty lines stuck all over your shiny new rubber. they'll look brand new after you get it all off. then get some tyre additive to cure that understeer!

[Mad Ax]

Thanks for the advice, Walsall-Basher! Tyre additives are banned at our track, but lots of racers talk about using "tyre cleaner" at home the night before a race

[HunterZero]

Then the tyres flew off the wheels because they weren't glued.

I knew something wasn't right at the end of the first or second lap, when the car shot sideways for no reason. Then a rubber hoop went bouncing across the track to be caught by a marshal. The car ground slowly the pit lane, the other rear tyre having come off and jammed the wheel. So early in my stint, there was nobody from my team waiting in the pit lane, so I had to grab my car and run back to Ben's pit area. "I'm out with technical problems." I told him. "Are you ready to race yet?" He was, but not without hunting in his toolbox for a few minutes to lend me some proper tyre glue.

[Taman]

Then the tyres flew off the wheels because they weren't glued.

+1

lol classic that gave me a good laugh, great read, enjoying your posts and gald to hear your enjoying your racing! I'll be doing the same thing soon

[Kevin_Mc]

another good read, i was having a good laugh picturing the tyre coming off and the car limping into the pits.

Nice to hear you got faster after adjusting your driving style to suit the tyres, hopefully the times start to come down in the next few weeks with you gaining in experience. It's also nice to hear all the boys helping you out too, sounds like a decent club all round.

looking forward to the next installment

[Will16]

It's a good idea to glue tyre forbthat reason.....

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself, can't wait for the next update!

[Mad Ax]

Monday, 14th February - Race Night

I decided not to post a pre-race update yesterday, as basically nothing changed since my last post. I just turned up at the race night with two freshly-charged lipos and a car that hadn't been out of the box in a week.

I was going to grab some brake cleaner during the weekend, but it poured with rain on Sunday and I basically couldn't be bothered, so I arrived with tyres still dirty from last week. My race buddy arrived, however, and leant me a bit of solvent labelled as "paint and plastic cleaner" - which is essentially just lighter fluid, so I'm told. (Does anyone know this for sure? Is it safe to use lighter fluid? It's easier to get hold of and transport than brake cleaner). It was dead easy to use - just dab onto a towel and wipe the wheels clean.

Amazingly, as the solvent dried, so the tyres regained their awesome stickiness. I also spotted where my gluing efforts had gone all wrong and two of the tyres have nasty glue splodges on them. I'd imagine the superglue film is actually harder wearing than the rubber tyre, so I'll probably wear the tyres out before I wear off the glue splodges. Oh well. That's actually my first instance of "money wasted" in that sense, which isn't bad going for someone who listed down every bit of snake oil going as a must-have for RC racing a few years ago.

I noticed the rear diff felt a little loose, but I went out for a practice to see how it felt. The tyres warmed up quickly, but the car felt like it was steering from the front. Coming out of tight corners I'd give it full throttle and expect the back to slide around, so I'd open the steering to compensate. Instead the car just torque-steered off the front wheels and went straight into the wall a few times. I tightened up the rear diff, which helped matters a little, and the car felt a bit better on track - not torque-steering as I opened out of corners.

A little bit of race politics worked its way into the night, as it's come to light that a racer was using an illegal motor setup a few weeks back. It was an accident and not a deliberate attempt to gain points (he wasn't going to make enough rounds to qualify for the championship anyway) but it's prompted a load of rule reminders to go up on the walls. All cars must now be left on the scrutineering area immediately after the race and collected after marshalling (we run a race-marshall-pits cycle in the club). I normally drop my car back to the pit area immediately after racing so it can get straight on the cooling stand and the battery on charge right away, so I wondered how it would affect that. But rules is rules and everybody must obey the rules.

I was put into Heat 4 as usual, which is a loose grouping of Seniors underneath the championship-leading Heat 5 Seniors. However, as some regulars were missing and some others were present, I wasn't up against my usual competitors. The only racer in my heat that I regularly compete against is a lad named Kevin.

Race 1

I started last out of 5 cars, but made good progress off the line and got past two cars in the first lap. Even with cold tyres, the car wasn't at all bad. Its biggest barrier was the driver, although it was a great heat to be in for racing practice, as I was competing against 3 slower cars. I seem to get a really good rhythm going when I'm out on my own, but the pressure of having to maintain a fast lap time, get past slower cars, and remain in control of the car was too much for me. I'd catch up the slower guys, get around them, but crash into the barrier in doing so. On many occasions I simply had to wait until they crashed before I could get past. Thankfully that was happening quite often, as two competitors seemed more interested in talking to each other instead of actually racing

I had a great tussle with another racer who was slower than me in the straights but held a tight line in the corners. We tangled together a few times but not disastrously. At one point I flipped the car in the middle of the track while the marshal was busy talking to a buddy instead of marshalling, which cost me a whole lap, then on the next lap I bounced over the barrier immediately after the start and had to do a short lap. It was so short that I knew it wouldn't be counted (8 seconds is the minimum lap time) so I accepted a longer laptime rather than wait until the other cars caught up and passed.

Rear grip wasn't that great, and I was having trouble especially in the faster corners. There was more traction available to push the car hard out of corners, provided I could keep it lined up on the way in.

I finished the race in 2nd place, 3 laps down on the leader. My fastest lap was 10.379 seconds against a heat-fastest of 9.554, and an average of 12.559 against fasted average of 11.458.

I asked the stewards if they wanted to see my car after the race, since I wasn't in the championship, and they said no. My race buddy Darren in Heat 5 Seniors got called up in marshalling for running an illegal ride height (under 5mm), which prompted me to check mine. It was over 8mm, so I quickly dropped front and rear down to 5.5mm by adjusting the bump stops.

Race 2

I started second, and kept up with the leader for a little while until we came to lap the slower cars. Then I got into my usual barrier-bashing-while-trying-to-overtake habit and slowed down. I must admit, the car didn't feel as fast as it had in the first race. Grip was better, but I was having trouble keeping it on the track. I was keeping a reasonably good pace and getting better at overtaking, but didn't expect to get such a good position. However, come the race end, I was still in 2nd place, now only 2 laps off the leader and with the heat-fastest lap of 10.007. Kevin hadn't had a good race and had maxed out at 10.020 - so it was a close-run thing for fastest-lap honours. My average was down to 11.826 against Kevin's 11.046.

I was called in for scrutineering after the race - the club said they are counting my championship points, even though I won't qualify for a place due to not completing enough events, plus the ride height issue is not just for competitiveness but to prevent carpet damage. The car passed with no problems, so I spent my pit time by moving the upper rear shock mounts in one position at the back.

Race 3

I started 2nd again, and got away fairly clean. Still having problems with control, though. I came to realise that I was suffering from weight transfer problems as I slowed into corners on part-throttle. The car would turn in nicely on full lock with slight but controllable understeer, but as it slowed around the corner the grip would suddenly return to the front and the car would turn sharply, normally causing me to hit the inside of the corner, sometimes lose rear traction and spin. I wasn't sure during the race if my rear shock adjustment had made this better or worse.

I tried mostly to stay out of trouble and not crash, and try to increase corner speed to drive around the grip transfer problem. It sort of worked sometimes, but other times it made the car understeer straight into the barrier. Things must have been working, because I finished the race just one lap behind the leader, and for the first time (legitimately) broke the 10 second barrier with a 9.859 fastest lap and an average of 11.519. Kevin's fastest was 9.722, average 10.884.

Back in the pits, I was advised by Darren to move the front shocks out one position to help with the front grip problem, and by another racer to abandon my Tamiya-inserted glue-stained tyres and get some pre-glued rims with Yellow inserts. Whether I'll do this right away or not I don't know, as I've spent a lot of money and really should concentrate on getting used to other aspects of racing. Maybe I'll get pre-glued rims before the next championship starts so I can start on fresh rubber.

Not really much else to say - I'm very pleased with my improvements so far and every week gets better. I have a feeling that I might soon hit the ceiling of rapid improvements and then have to go through the long process of making and testing tiny changes and gradually getting more experience and working towards improving my technique.

There's no racing next week, so I probably won't have anything to update for a fortnight. In the mean time, will try to get something to clean up the tyres and I've been advised to use additive to keep them soft after racing.

Peace out

[digitrc]

When you say you adjusted the ride height with the "bump stops" what exactly do you mean? Do you mean the droop screws? Because you should NEVER use the droop screws to adjust the ride height. They will take all the grip and handling away with them.

Use the spring collars to adjust ride height. Set the droop so you have at least a couple of mm downtravel all round (check by lifting the car up from ride height, the suspension should sag before the wheels leave the ground).

I'm sure your tyres are fine. I have put plenty of glue platches on tyres by mistake and for club racing they are OK. You can file them off with an emery board if it bothers you. I wouldn't have built the tyres up with Tamiya foam inserts personally but that doesn't mean they are fit for the bin. Most people buy the pre-mounts nowadays. It's true that a lot of people use lighter fluid as a tyre cleaner also, I use motor cleaner myself.

[Mad Ax]

I said I wasn't going to make any more unprompted updates before the next race night, but I just had to come online to post this:

I went to visit my parents, and for some reason decided to take my new LiPos and charger with me so I could charge them for a little bash. I left a pack charging on the dining table while I was chatting, and when I looked around 10 minutes later, it had a bulge at one end. Immediate panic set in. Why didn't I use the charging sack? WHY? Quickly I unplugged the pack from the charger, opened the sack and threw the battery in. There was a little smoke in the air, and I couldn't understand why I hadn't smelt it. It was already hot. I'd read somewhere that once heat is generated in a LiPo cell, it kicks of a reaction that can't be stopped and the pack will generate runaway heat until it blows. I ran for the back door, ripped it open and threw the sack out onto the patio.

A few minutes later, smoke began to billow from the sack, and then it inflated like a balloon. Smoke and flames poured out, but the sack did its job and prevented anything worse.

When everything had cooled down I kicked the sack aside, and saw a nasty burn mark in my parents new patio.

And then I woke up.

When you say you adjusted the ride height with the "bump stops" what exactly do you mean? Do you mean the droop screws? Because you should NEVER use the droop screws to adjust the ride height. They will take all the grip and handling away with them.

Use the spring collars to adjust ride height. Set the droop so you have at least a couple of mm downtravel all round (check by lifting the car up from ride height, the suspension should sag before the wheels leave the ground).

Thanks for the advice there. I've always set buggies up there ('cos the basic buggies I have don't have droop screws) but I can see your point. I've only got the basic oil-filled shocks that come with the car, which are set up as per kit instructions. I don't even know if the kit springs are soft enough to sag with just the weight of the car and battery. The only sag I ever see on a touring car comes from the play in the suspension arm balls / screws. This probably comes from too many years of building TT01 chassis for the shelf!

I might have some softer springs somewhere but I can definately remove the collars to soften it up a little. A proper set of shocks is on my List Of Stuff To Get Later but I'm not spending any more money just yet.

[Percymon]

Always a good read this thread, and good to see you have overcome some of your earlier electrical issues on track.

Pity about the lipo pack but goes to show that rc lipos have a lot more issues than those in mobile phones and the like - whether a dream or not .

Sounds like you are at the point of enjoying the racing challenge now rather than being frustrated by shortcomings in the car and ancilliary equipment

[Kevin_Mc]

lol i hope that really was only a nightmare!

a good read as always, the only blog i read if i'm honest and i always enjoy the updates. Nice to see you're getting quicker and closer to the front with experience, it sounds like a hectic night.

[Mad Ax]

Thanks for the encouragement guys

It's been fun getting this far. I'm really happy with how far I've come in just a few weeks, and more than happy with the purchases I've made. Now I think is the time to sit back, keep my wallet in my pocket, concentrate on learning about car setup and improving my racing and overtaking skills. The current championship still has a few rounds left to run, and I'd like to be competitive for the start of the next. I know there's little chance of taking the title from people using graphite-chassis'd race machines who have been racing since childhood, especially with my standard TA05, but I'm now reaching the speed where I can have some good challenging races with people of similar skill and tech.

Watch for updates in 2 weeks!

[Kevin_Mc]

missing this week's installment - hurry up next week!

[Mad Ax]

Apologies for the delay in this update, had a manic few days both at home and work and haven't had time to finish off all my text. Anyway, the race night went as follows:

Monday, 28th Feb

I arrived early as usual, and killed time setting up some tables until the organisers arrived. I got myself set up in a corner and set to adjusting suspension, after last week's mistake of screwing down the ride height with the droop screws. I unscrewed the screws a little to bring the static height back up to about 8mm, then removed the compression spacers from the shock bodies to allow it to droop (fully loaded with battery and radio, of course). The rears were easy to set up but the IFS front was more difficult - stock settings have a fat & thin spacer, which was too high; removing the thin spacer made it too soft and it drooped below the minimum allowable ride height. I could have adjusted the pushrod lengths on both sides, but I'm not sure if that's the correct method of adjusting ride height (after all it won't affect spring rate, just static height). Instead I added the little allu spacers to the IFS levers to increase the spring rate, similar to moving a shock upper mount outwards, so I'm led to believe (correct me if I'm wrong as I'm new to this type of suspension!) This firmed up the front end enough to allow it to sag to around 5mm fully loaded. I decided this was a good starting point and left it alone.

I also installed a Novak Lipo cutoff, as my Ripmax No Limits speedo doesn't have any lipo protection. Just for extra peace of mind! I was going to do a full reset on the speedo and lipo cutoff (because I'd been using the Tx and Rx in other cars recently), but I couldn't find the instructions for the speedo again, and the Ripmax always confuses me so much that I end up with it not working at all, so I just left it alone.

The track got built while I was setting up the car - and what a technical track it was! Very tight and twisty, with only one main straight with ended by turning into a very tight chicane. Practice went reasonably well, although the track was so busy that I got out before my car got totally trashed and decided to wait for the racing to start.

I've also decided that, for the purpose of measuring my progress and also of giving my keen fans some way of following my racing, I will be comparing every week's racing against the two competitors who sit immediately above me in terms of performance. This is better than just giving my heat time against the fastest times etc., because the heats aren't always made up of the same competitors, and the laptimes will vary depending on track layout. My closest competitors will be known on this blog as Keith and Rob.

It was an unusually busy night, with a handful of new faces and some returning members who haven't been at the track for a while, which can only be a good thing. This meant a 6-heat structure, with me in Heat 5, alongside Keith and Rob.

Race 1

The car performed well in the first race. As car 1, I started in first place and held the lead for a while, until a very quick new member overtook me during a crash. I lost a few places by hitting barriers, but everybody else was having the same problem and I managed to claw back second place before the race end. There was some really good close racing between Keith, Rob and myself, which really added to the sense of fun and excitement. I finished one lap down on the fast racer, on the same lap as Keith. My fastest lap was 11.692 again a race-fastest of 11.109. Keith's fastest was 11.418 and Rob's 11.698.

I was pretty pleased with the car's performance, so I left everything alone for the second race. My only issue was a smell of burning, so I was very keen to get the car on the cooling stand as soon as I could - the motor was very hot. I'm running the smallest pinion I can get for the standard spur, and my car has lower gearing than most others on the track, so I guess everybody must have been having overheating issues.

I also noticed that I struggle on technical tracks because I tend to look directly at my car, rather than where it's going. I barrel into a corner only to realise that I'm not on the right angle, and have to adjust my speed and line at the last minute, often leading to loss of control. I made a mental note to pay attention more in the next race.

Scrutineering is now obligatory for all cars after each race, so the cars have to be left on the scrutineering stand. Technically this shouldn't be a problem for a stock class but I was a bit worried about my motor sitting there baking for 5 minutes while I was marshalling. Maybe I can make a new scrutineering stand with built in cooling fans!

Race 2

Race 2 didn't go so well. I started in second, but had a big off at the top of the track and was in last place before the end of the first lap. Frustration got the better of me and I couldn't keep from barrier-bashing for the first half of the race, until I got into a good rhythm. I noticed a little understeer creeping in once I got back up to pace, which would quickly switch to oversteer as I came into a bend. Part of me felt that the car wasn't as fast as it should be, which I put down to maybe not getting full deflection on the throttle - I'd had to adjust the throttle trim a few times because the speedo wasn't hitting neutral.

I also remembered that I was supposed to be paying more attention to where I was going, so I started to look ahead of where I was going, focusing on corner apexes and guiding the car around it with peripheral vision. I have to admit that, to start with at least, it worked really well. There were a few times when I should have been paying more attention to where I was rather than where I was going, but for the most part it worked. Unfortunately, towards the end of the race, something stopped working - whether I lost concentration or the car lost grip I don't know, but it seemed that I'd be sweeping nicely into a corner, ready to point the car where I wanted to go, when in my peripheral vision it would suddenly spin around and go the other way. Looking ahead seems to work as long as the car is grippy and predictable but doesn't work when there's oversteer.

I finished 3rd, 3 laps down on the leader and 2 behind Keith. My fastest lap was up to 11.372 against a heat fastest of 10.558, and I was 3 tenths down on the previous race average.

Race 3

I decided not to change the car before the 3rd race. I got in a couple of warm-up laps to get some temperature in the tyres, with lots of hard acceleration and braking. It worked on the rears, but I still started with horrible understeer at the front. It came back into line after a few laps, but I never got into a rhythm. I was having understeer into oversteer problems again - I'd take the four fastest corners as one big long fast curve, accelerating through the first 3 then coming off the throttle to slow into the chicane. As the car slowed so understeer from the front would suddenly switch into oversteer, which could happen before changing direction for the chicane or after. Basically I didn't feel like I was fully in control of the car at all. Then, half-way through, the car hit a barrier and cut out.

The problem was a loose motor cable. When my soldering iron died a few weeks ago I crimped on some spade connectors for the motor, and had forgotten about them. I really need to resolder the wires properly, as they are exposed to barrier scrapes. By the time I'd got reconnected the race was over.

Things packed up quickly after the last race, and I didn't get a photo of the timing sheet, so I'm not sure if I was as slow as I felt. I also didn't see the points sheets before everything got tidied away, but hopefully they'll have a championship standings sheet at the next event.

Summary

I had a good time in race 1, but races 2 and 3 reflected how far I have to go. A big crack in the front of my shell after race 2 was joined by a matching one on the other side after race 3. It won't be long before I'll need a new shell, as the entire front valance now hangs loose and drags on the club's expensive carpet. I'll have to tape and trim it before next week. Maybe my next shell should be a regular touring car shell so I can revert to upright front shocks, although I'll probably just keep patching up the 350R shell until the start of the next championship.

I mostly think I need to work on smoothness, control and attention to the lines that I'm taking. However, there is still an underlying handling problem that I have to look at. I'm not really sure what to adjust next or if I should try swapping for different springs to get the right stiffness and ride height. I also need to get something to clean my tyres up and make them nice and sticky. I might tighten up the rear diff a bit more too, as it was feeling a little loose, which may have added to my handling woes.

Next week is open enduro, so I might take my hopped-up M03 along for a change. Watch this space for further updates, or add your chassis tuning advice !!

Thanks for reading

[digitrc]

Your handling problems sound like a general lack of grip.

You've mentioned your tyres - are you still running without cleaning them at all? That will make a difference. A can of motor spray and a paper towel or rag is so inexpensive to get hold of and it makes a real difference to the grip at the start of the race. Are you still using your home-built Sorex's with the foam inserts? If so, I suspect you are finding their limits - get a set of the pre-mounted versions which have a modern moulded insert inside.

Apart from tyres, the other most likely cause of a "mystery" handling problem is a mechanical problem with the car. If you can't work it out when the car is built - strip it right down. Double check all the bearings, double check all the moving parts, double check everything for wear or damage and re-assemble according to the kit instructions. Usually that setup is not far from what you need. You might be surprised at what problems are hidden away inside the car.

As far as driving, don't think about it too much, just do it. Practice is key and your body will learn what to do without you forcing it.

[Percymon]

Chin up ! some good news in race 1.

Altering the ride height probably did nothing for your turn in - think backa few weeks where someone else set the car up for you and try those settings again, especially now you have the stickier tyres. A softer front end, or more camber, might help turn in and reduced understeer.

[Kevin_Mc]

haven't managed to read this until today, the update was worth the wait, if not for the best of reasons, but again a very good read

[mike_o]

A very nice write-up, thank you!

I don't want you to turn your nice and well-written blog into a cartoon, but I would love to see a picture of your car and the track :-)

cheers

[TenzoR]

As interesting as the IFS design can be, skip the IFS and put back the front shock tower. I know it might means getting a new body or a couple plastic parts tree but it's much easier to tune the standard front shock setup.

Things to invest that are cheap and crucial are shims. You need to make sure all the moving parts does not have any movement other then the intended movement. However, you also don't want any binding.

Which TA05 IFS are you running? v1? v2? R?

[Mad Ax]

First of all, thanks to everyone for your help and advice since last week, and secondly apologies for not getting online to reply sooner. I did read your advice and put it to good use in the paddock last night.

TenzoR: My 350R body is now looking pretty battered, so I might get a standard touring body soon-ish and rebuild the car in regular TA05 format. I think I've got all the parts I need. As far as I'm aware, it's the original IFS car - I don't remember it saying v2 on the box. It's the Ebbro 350R kit. I wasn't prepared to spend the extra on the ISF-R kit as I didn't want to have too many things to adjust all at once (and was also skint).

I haven't got time to give a full update to last night's event, but I'll start with the opening of the night, where yet club politics and electrical work made for an interesting night:

Monday, 7th March

I left work dead on time and drove the 10 minute drive to the venue, to be sure of getting a good parking space near the entrance. There's nothing that kills a good night like having to lug two boxes full of tools, batteries, charger, pit equipment and car (I can't afford a wheeled pit box yet!) across a grass expanse to the overflow car park when it's pitch dark and freezing cold. I got there plenty early, so took a walk down the road to buy some lighter fluid and even found some spare time to get a haircut. Completely unrelated to racing, unless there's a theory that short-haired drivers are faster than long-haired ones, but I just thought I'd throw it in anyway, for the sake of completeness.

By the time I got back, the organisers had begun to arrive. Some maintenance work was running late in the hall, so setup time was compromised a little. During idle phases of waiting for the contractors to clear the area so we could lay out the tables, I was chatting to the club secretary, who doesn't actually race but operates the timing system every week. As I may have mentioned a few weeks ago, the club has been running an unusually long championship - 14 rounds in all. This doesn't include the Endurance event run on the first Monday of every month - so it feels to the organisers like the championship has been running on and on. Instead of each competitor's best 6 out of 8 rounds counting towards final points, the current championship required 11 rounds to qualify.

So, the club has decided to reduce the number of Endurance events, effective immediately, to try to push on to the end of the championship. An AGM is approaching, during which the club hopes decide a number of things, such as whether or not to take a summer break and if it should go back to regular 8-round championships.

This of course is great news for me, because it means I'm closer to being able to compete properly rather than just taking points away from other championship contenders. I earn championship points on every round but won't be able to complete the mandatory 11 rounds to qualify. This wasn't such great news for those who arrived with different cars or setups expecting an Endurance night. This led to some interesting grumbles on the subject of politics that I won't go into here.

To be continued!!

[Mad Ax]

Setup

On the advice of my followers (particularly digitrc and Percymon) I decided to go back to a near-stock setup to see where it left the car. I put the front end back exactly as per the book - no shims on the IFS cantilevers, mid & thin preload spacers on the springs. This gave a laden ride height of just over 6mm with a good bit of sag in the springs.

The rear-end stayed as it was, with the preload spacer removed for a softer rear end and the shock upper mount one position in. I noticed there wasn't much sag, so I screwed out the droop screws a little.

I then had a horrible time trying to set up the ESC and lipo cutoff. I just wanted everything recalibrated, but I couldn't figure out the Ripmax No Limits (again). I seem to always struggle with it. I know Bigwheels Inc. has got instructions in his showroom, so I'll print them off and keep a copy in my pit box for the future. Even the Novak Lipo Cutoff was struggling, and wouldn't go into setup mode. Eventually I managed to make it go (including sending the car shooting off the back of the paddock desk, scattering tools and parts and cheezy Quavers when I thought it was in setup mode and it actually wasn't) so I just left it well alone, even though I was sure it wasn't setup properly.

I then dug out my fresh lighter fluid, squirted it onto my Pedigree Bitter pit rag, and cleaned up my tyres.

I was placed in heat 4, with regular "rivals" Keith and Rob, another who I usually compete closely with, and a new member I hadn't seen before with an ultra-clean looking Evo bodyshell.

The track was a horribly twisty affair, without much in the way of straights and a very narrow infield section with a number of switchbacks designed to test my steering lock beyond the limit. At the bottom corner, where it emerged onto the pit straight, the carpet was rucked and buckled like an off-road track. It was a corner that would be my undoing over and over again.

Race 1

I took a couple of laps to get heat into the tyres, but it didn't really help. I started in 4th place but lost my place almost straight away then the car swapped ends in the first corner. The rest of the race seemed to pretty much follow that pattern. The front end was well planted, but the back end would swap at every corner. I found myself running slower and slower at each corner in an attempt to retain control. I'd noticed the previous week that the rear diff was a little loose, but I'd forgotten to tighten it up, an oversight that I regretted immediately.

I finished in 3rd place, 2 laps down on Rob, the race winner and behind Keith in 2nd. My fastest lap was 15.536 against Rob's 13.365, with an average of 19.3 against 17.138. I headed back to the pits to get the car on the cooling stand, the lipo on charge, and the chassis adjusted to try to dial out that oversteer problem.

to be continued...

[TenzoR]

if you want more mechanical grip in the rear, run a higher degree of toe-in. XA-D gives you 2 degree, XA-E gives you 2.5 degree and XA-F gives you 3 degree. I swapped between D and E before and the E gives me better rear traction. The 1.5 degree camber works well on all 4 corners and I haven't played with that. But my camber links are using the furtherest holes and they are leveled.

Since the TA05 shares the same suspension geometry as the TRF series, you can easily look at TRF415, 416, 417 to get you an idea. Are you running on carpet?

[Mad Ax]

TenzoR: thanks for the advice. I'll check the current setting and see if I can try a different toe-in soon.

Race 2

Marshalling for the first Heat 5 Seniors was fairly eventless. The best bit about being in Heat 4 seniors is that I have to marshall the race immediately after mine, which almost always comprises the fastest and best racers in the club. Firstly, I get a chance to watch their driving close-up, and see where they have grip, where they push hardest, where they back off, and what lines they take. Secondly, because they are consistent and accurate drivers, there's not usually much actual work to do, and I can relax for five minutes. However, the tight track seemed to put even the fastest off their stride, and there was enough bashing and paint-swapping to make a classic BTCC round of the super-touring era look tame.

Back in the pits, I checked the rear diff - it definately felt a little loose, so I popped off the upper arm and tightened it up until there was a nice, noticeable friction without losing diff action completely. I also decided to put the rear shocks back to their stock position (upper mount on outermost hole) and stiffness (medium preload spacer) to see if it made a difference.

3rd position in race 1 saw me starting 3rd, and gave me a clear track ahead of the two slower cars. I'd taken my time to heat up the tyres, but again I was having bad problems with oversteer. It was the same problem as I'd had the previous weeks, but with a better front end - coming into a fast corner with the throttle in neutral, the car would turn in nice and easy, then suddenly the ends would swap. I have to admit that it wasn't as bad as race 1, although it still caught me out a few times, especially in the very narrow infield section were accuracy out of corners was crucial to getting down the infield straight without clipping a barrier, and getting a good line into the final chicane was essential to getting a good run out of the bottom corner where a rumpled carpet could send a badly-lined car skywards. A few times I caught the carpet on the wrong angle, completely lost all grip as the wheels came off the ground, and went nose-on into the barrier.

Then I noticed something else. I would only lose rear-end grip if I went into the corner with a neutral throttle. If I kept the power on, the front wheels would pull the car around. Later in the evening, as I was marshalling the final race, another racer admitted to having had the same problem while he was getting to grips with his car - the weight transfer as the car slows would reach a critical point at which all rear-end grip suddenly disappeared and the car swapped ends. At last, I could find a way to drive around the problem. It was more of an issue in tighter turns, where too fast an entry meant understeering into the barrier, but at least I was getting back some time on the faster bends instead of losing it by going slower and slower to try to avoid a spin.

Unfortunately, this meant re-learning the track and the lines I had to take, which in turn made for some interesting encounters on track. To be fair, it seemed like everybody in my heat was struggling to find a rhythm, and there were a few big shunts. One instant saw a tangle that sent Rob's car flying upside down through the air as Keith's and mine passed underneath, prompting a shout from the club organiser as "You lot are ruthless!"

A short while later my car stopped moving completely - the motor cable had pulled off again. Typically, it stopped at the furthest possible point from the driver's stage. Now I've got a decent soldering iron, I really ought to take the time to solder it on properly instead of using stupid crimp connectors... I managed to get running again, but it wasn't long before the race was over.

Result: 4th place, -5 laps; 3rd fastest time of 14.928 against 13.457, average 22.186 against 16.404.

Race 3

Marshalling for the Heat 5 seniors was an experience, to say the least. If Heat 4 had been ruthless, then Heat 5 was criminally insane. A prospective new member had come along with his family to watch the racing, and was twice attacked by cars completely leaving the track, skipping over the barriers and under the netting and straight into the paddock, which is a very rare occurance on our tracks, especially in Heat 5 seniors. One racer lost a spoiler in a roll, which I had to recover, and a short while later was involved in an incident that put a championship rival's car three feet into the air. It was an aggressive race that led to one member withdrawing early before anything got damaged.

Tension in the paddock was as palpable as that in a Formula 1 pit immediately after a stewards' ruling. It's been a long championship; it's coming to a close and every point counts. My constructive criticism of "try to keep it on the blue bit next time" wasn't accepted with quite the humour with which it was intended...

Returning my attention to my own car, I decided to experiment with small, individual changes. One change at a time should teach me more about car setup than changing a whole bunch of things at once, so I moved the rear shock upper mounts to spaces inwards to see what would happen. I also made sure I got in a few good hard warm-up laps to warm up the tyres, as well as a few practice-starts to really drive heat into the rears.

The race began with me in a comfortable 4th, chasing down 3rd place, who I usually finish ahead of. Either my adjustments had worked or my skill had improved, because the rear-end problem was muted slightly, although still far from fixed. The front-end lost a bit of turn-in, which meant I sometimes understeered off the track, but I wasn't swapping ends so often and had much more control in the slower corners. There's definately a long way to go, but it was my best race of the night, and I managed to snatch 2nd place, 2 laps down on Rob, after Keith suffered a mechanical failure despite posting the fastest lap of the race.

I held the 3rd fastest lap of 14.595; the two faster laps were a second under that, the fastest at 13.467. My average was 17.75 against 15.523.

Summary

It should be no surprise that everyone's fastest laptime generally improves with each race. After all, we learn the track a little on every lap, and each race gives us a chance to try again. This means that it's really hard to quantify the differences caused by changing car setup between races, but it also proves that the biggest gains come from adjustments made within the bio-mechanical input device known as the "driver", and not with adjustments made to the car. My car felt better after adjusting the rear shocks, but to be honest, it kind of felt like I'd compromised front-end grip to get around a rear-end problem.

Maybe next week I'll go back to the outermost shock setting and try changing the rear toe-in or camber instead. I should also pop up the Microtech and get a proper set of pre-mounted Sorex tyres, as the car has never been as good as it was on that night with Darren's wheels.

Watch this space for next week's installment! (That's if I'm still welcome at the club after this week's, erm, less than positive review...)

[Walsall-Basher]

and dont forget the soldering work, no point having a great handfling car if it dnfs in the finals!