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Jonathon Gillham

First time back after a 20 year break

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On 2017-6-30 at 0:35 PM, SuperChamp82 said:

Great advice Jonathon - thank you.

I've built up a dozen or so batteries - from NiCd to 1 - 3S lipos - with home and track chargers. 

The kids will have great fun racing 2 cars we've built each - a Lunchbox, Blackfoot Xtreme, Blitzer Beetle and Holiday Buggy. 

Im selling a seriously hopped up Baja Champ because it's good but a long way from performing to the cost of its upgrades. 

To be honest, I'm still dithering about its replacement - with the current favourite being the Masami Cat XLS with transmission upgrade being released by Shumy next month ? 

Seems to be a huge amount of quality kit for the money with the potential to be a long lasting race contender if judiciously hopped up and maintained for a couple of years ?

Thanks again for a superb reply 😁

Sounds like you're almost sorted then. I'm not sure about the Cat XLS, thats the rerelease one right? I know they cleaned up back in the day but the tech must've moved on since then? 

Its definitely worth checking out your local clubs before you buy. I visited a few and thought I would run touring cars indoors but ended up running buggies outdoors. It was what I always wanted to do even though its much further from home, and the club has a much better vibe.

I know that clubs all have different classes which depends on popularity of the types. Mine has a lot of buggies and not many trucks, sometimes there are only 2 or 3 trucks in a race vs 10 buggies. I read on here that someone really wanted to race a 2wd TRF but the had nowhere to race as the clubs close to them didn't run that class and they didn't check first.

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So I had my most successful race meet yesterday. Rain was threatening all day but the odd light shower wasn't enough to stop any races. Both cars are well sorted now and performed flawlessly, other than things like having the wrong tyres on for the conditions and a muppet behind the wheel. I was sent the wrong wheels with the Ultima and they guy wasn't there yesterday to swap them for me. I got talking to someone else there who gave me a few sets from his spares as he has the sold the car he used them on now, all used but I'm stoked, new they cost about  $70 per set and you have to glue them. These still have a lot of life left in them, give me a few different tyre options and most importantly have been glued properly!

I ran the Ultima in the open class because it was the first time put in 2wd but will be moving to 2wd stock next meet. I won't be entering that class again, I got cleaned out a few times by the kids and I don't want to risk the car like that. One was particularly bad on the straight, I'm going past and the kid swerves and sends me cartwheeling and I hear a squeaky voice say "het, that wasn't my fault". Whats that all about then??! You can't hold a line and thats my fault? 

The 2wd needs a bit of work on setup, a bit tail happy but the basic setup is right. Mid motor with 3 gear stand up transmission, so could go rear motor for more grip but no one else runs rear motor at the track except a Losi XX from the 90s. It should be a combination of tyres, suspension changes and maybe install the slipper clutch (assuming its in the spares I got)

The 4wd Lazer was flawless, it was so easy to drive compared to 2wd. I will be upping the timing on the motor, its about 3/4 of the way to max, as I need a bit more to clear the double instead of land on it. I have some room in the gearing too because I needed a new spur to get the FDR lower so didn't bother when I got it. I am making an order shortly for a transponder so will probably add a spur and pinion to that.

Overall a great day out, I have imrpoved so I don't call on marshalls that much now, and am working out how to get around the harder parts of the track. I know I have halved my laptimes from my first attempt, which is one benefit of starting from such an awful position! Next month i will have a transponder so will actually see how far off the pace I am.

So far this re entry into racing toy cars is looking pretty successful. Next phase is to get my son's driving up to a standard where he can com race too.

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21 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

I will be upping the timing on the motor, its about 3/4 of the way to max, as I need a bit more to clear the double instead of land on it.

I upped the motor timing to max on my k1 (and the kf2 when searching for a bit more), seemed to give more down the straight, but also seemed to reduce the braking strength. 

I'm not sure if I just didn't alter my braking point enough though, either way, take care!

(Still waiting on the parts to repair the k1 front end and made the mistake of replacing the stripped plastic kf2 servo horn with a metal one 😔) 

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2 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

I upped the motor timing to max on my k1 (and the kf2 when searching for a bit more), seemed to give more down the straight, but also seemed to reduce the braking strength. 

I'm not sure if I just didn't alter my braking point enough though, either way, take care!

(Still waiting on the parts to repair the k1 front end and made the mistake of replacing the stripped plastic kf2 servo horn with a metal one 😔) 

Thanks for the heads up, had never really thought about timing affecting braking but now that you mention it it does make sense. I don't really use brakes that often as the cars aren't that crazy fast and its low grip, so too hard on the brakes mean you swap ends. I find backing off the throttle works well enough.

I've ordered a new spur (76T instead of 78T) and some more pinions so can get FDR between 6.3 and 7.5 I think, aiming for 6.5 but currently at 6.9, so that will make a difference without the timing change.

More timing means more top end less torque right? So dropping the FDR to 6.5 may be all I need at this point anyway.

Don't have the slipper clutch with the RB6.6, will persevere without it and try to get more rear grip without changing to rear motor but may have to buy the slipper.

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Depending on motor torque, running taller gears in a given area,could slow you down,(As I've found with the speed runs) but it's always good to have gear options! (Especially if both the car's take the same gears like the k1 and kf2! 😁) 

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Sounds like good fun Jonathan. Speaking from limited experience of setting up a 2wd and needing more rear grip I found a few things to try with setup which were all fairly obviously effective when just trying them out. Moving the rear shocks to innermost position will give more rear roll initially and therefore more grip. Biggest effect I found was anti roll bars. If you have a rear bar installed try a thinner one or no bar if that's the next step, and if that isn't enough move to fitting a front bar. These steps will progressively move the grip rearwards. There's tonnes about this on petitrc

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1 hour ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Sounds like good fun Jonathan. Speaking from limited experience of setting up a 2wd and needing more rear grip I found a few things to try with setup which were all fairly obviously effective when just trying them out. Moving the rear shocks to innermost position will give more rear roll initially and therefore more grip. Biggest effect I found was anti roll bars. If you have a rear bar installed try a thinner one or no bar if that's the next step, and if that isn't enough move to fitting a front bar. These steps will progressively move the grip rearwards. There's tonnes about this on petitrc

Thanks for the tips, I have no idea on the current setup so will check it out and compare to the petitrc setup sheets. 

 

22 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

Depending on motor torque, running taller gears in a given area,could slow you down,(As I've found with the speed runs) but it's always good to have gear options! (Especially if both the car's take the same gears like the k1 and kf2! 😁) 

Yep, thats going to be interesting as the car feels really slow on the long straights but I'm barely on the throttle in some sections and rely on quick acceleration once through the technical sections. I hope that between motor timing and gearing I can find the right balance.

The main problem with these changes is the carpark is shut when I go to practice and I have to jump the fence. It isn't the easiest to get all the gear in but a mission to go in and out all the time to make the changes. First world problems, some would argue the fact I have the luxury of getting to the track midweek should be enough!

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So another race meet today and its also fathers day here in New Zealand. I thought I had a great day out but some of my family were wondering why I would want to go out by myself and play with toy cars. Nit my wife or son, my mum mostly.

We have had a lot of rain this week which meant a wet and slippery track, but fortunately no rain today so we got a full day in, 3 qualifiers and a final per class. I ran 2wd and 4wd stock today, so that meant I was near the back (not last!) But didn't get taken out once. I also had my transponder so was being timed which was both good and bad.

The race scheduling didn't suit, i was in race 2 and 4 and you marshall the race after yours,  so basically had 4 races on the trot then 3 races where i was able to charge batteries etc, which wasn't ideal. No chance to put a battery on charge after my first race and not enough time to charge them both in the break so they got progressivley lower as the day wore on. Was fine though.

I have a few sets of tyres but only one pair of goosebumps for the rears but needed them on both cars. See above, timing didn't allow me to swap them over like last time so ended up buying another pair of tyres and frantically gluing them between races. With the other tyres I was sliding all over the place. I ran the goosebumps on the Lazer in the 1st race, Ultima in the second and both for races 3 and 4.

The Lazer is just so easy to drive, it does what you ask. The change to the spur and pinion made all rhe difference, I was able to clear the double and it gave enough extra speed to get me out of trouble. Felt a bit slower off the mark but it wasn't as I was able to clear the double from a short run up. My times dropped by 15secs for fastest lap across 4 races, and average dropped about 10secs. Shows how much practice counts.

The Ultima was amazing when I was on form but a nightmare if I was a tiny bit off. Pushed the weight a bit further back this time by moving the battery back which helped, but the new tyres made all the difference. I was always a bit slower in the Ultima than the Lazer but the times tracked lower each race, both fastest lap and average.

So from here I think it will be more of the same, the cars are now setup for the track and the main thing is that I need to practice. I have joined another club which is close to home but still developing the track so they don't hold race meets but I can practice there. Ideally i will get there once a week which should see really good improvement

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Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself and you're getting a handle on things,It's frustrating when you change setups and don't get any results, but fantastic when you do! 👍

Practice will make a difference now, knowing what the car will do, before you do it, but, I found swapping between 4 and 2wd slowed me down as I was having to learn to drive each car again everytime I drove it. Ive stuck with the 2wd (mainly as the 4wd is still laying in bits!) and really enjoying driving it atm, I was 5th in the A final last time out (but the quick guys were at a national race, the 6yr old came 3rd in the under 13's for the season and posted the quickest lap at the club track last week!?!) 

I'm on holiday atm, headed down south to see family, managed to find a space for the kf2 in the car so I'm planning on getting some track time while I'm down here! 🤔👍

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14 hours ago, TeaMonster said:

Great read as always, I enjoy reading your post race write 👍

Thanks, glad that someone is enjoying it. I like sitting down and debriefing the day, my wife is patient but you know...

 

4 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

Glad to hear you're enjoying yourself and you're getting a handle on things,It's frustrating when you change setups and don't get any results, but fantastic when you do! 👍

Practice will make a difference now, knowing what the car will do, before you do it, but, I found swapping between 4 and 2wd slowed me down as I was having to learn to drive each car again everytime I drove it. Ive stuck with the 2wd (mainly as the 4wd is still laying in bits!) and really enjoying driving it atm, I was 5th in the A final last time out (but the quick guys were at a national race, the 6yr old came 3rd in the under 13's for the season and posted the quickest lap at the club track last week!?!) 

I'm on holiday atm, headed down south to see family, managed to find a space for the kf2 in the car so I'm planning on getting some track time while I'm down here! 🤔👍

Interesting, I hadn't thought about running both 2wd and 4wd as slowing me down but that makes sense. I find the 4wd easy compared to the 2wd and want to persist with both as I think it will make me a better driver in the long run. I have joined the other club now with the idea I will get 2 or 3 practice sessions in between race meets, will see how that works out. At least we are heading into spring now so hopefully the weather plays ball.

I know that feeling about the kids racing. There is a name I have heard a lot from the timing system, always at the front. I met him and his mother while checking out the results, hes about 14 I think and is near the front if 4wd stock.

Nice work taking the car on holiday, hopefully you get to the track!

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