Racing by post - Rounds 1 to 60. New thread started for Round 61 onwards.

[Jonathon Gillham]

@jupitertwo I'm intrigued by the big difference between your TB05 and TA07.   I expected them to be very similar but your TB05 has a much faster fastest lap and is obviously more consistent to get an extra 4 laps in.  Are they both the Pro version?  Have you upgraded one more than the other, or spent more time on setup, or could it just be better tyres?  I don't think the motors will make any difference on these sorts of tracks if you have them geared properly.  Any insights?

[jupitertwo]

15 hours ago, Jonathon Gillham said:

@jupitertwo I'm intrigued by the big difference between your TB05 and TA07.   I expected them to be very similar but your TB05 has a much faster fastest lap and is obviously more consistent to get an extra 4 laps in.  Are they both the Pro version?  Have you upgraded one more than the other, or spent more time on setup, or could it just be better tyres?  I don't think the motors will make any difference on these sorts of tracks if you have them geared properly.  Any insights?

Yeah, I expected the TA07 to be comparable or better than the TB05. Al the popular opinion I’ve read puts the TA07 as the better vehicle. They are both the ‘Pro’ versions yes, and no additional hopups as far as I recall. The batteries are the same type too. Tyres wise the TA07 was running Rush tyres this time, so similar to the Sorex ones the TB05 has. I expect there’s a confidence thing, I’ve grown to like the TB05 so far, so perhaps switching back to belt drive I’m not giving myself enough time to get used to it? Whilst the track shouldn’t expose much between the 10.5 and 15.5t, perhaps there’s something in the acceleration that’s enough to change things? Perhaps I’m just not giving it my all, wanting the TB05 to be better  

However, given I was able to get the TT02S to much closer to the TB05 with a Torque Tuned, I expect you could be on to something with the gearing. I’ve not tried changing it yet, so I expect the TA07 is running the stock 20T pinion, the TB05 the stock 24T. I had some smaller pinions in the shopping basket somewhere, but I’ve not got to ordering them yet. Would the FDR being out that much make the difference?

[ryback]

@jupitertwo I just clicked on your showroom link and saw the photo of the TS050 shell - awesome! I’m tempted by one of those. Is it finished now? Any photos? Any plans to run it on one of these courses? 

[DayRider]

On 1/4/2021 at 8:03 PM, TurnipJF said:

I put up all the results that I receive via PM. However some PMs seem to take an inordinate amount of time to arrive, while others don't arrive at all. I haven't received any entries from you since Round 4 for example.

@netsmithUK Any idea why this is happening?

I don't think I have broken any records, just a bit mift? not to worry I will try again on the next round. Hopefully they might still come through, that's very odd eh? just glad I haven't been kidded off for been out standing and just plain amazing  

[Jonathon Gillham]

1 hour ago, jupitertwo said:

Yeah, I expected the TA07 to be comparable or better than the TB05. Al the popular opinion I’ve read puts the TA07 as the better vehicle. They are both the ‘Pro’ versions yes, and no additional hopups as far as I recall. The batteries are the same type too. Tyres wise the TA07 was running Rush tyres this time, so similar to the Sorex ones the TB05 has. I expect there’s a confidence thing, I’ve grown to like the TB05 so far, so perhaps switching back to belt drive I’m not giving myself enough time to get used to it? Whilst the track shouldn’t expose much between the 10.5 and 15.5t, perhaps there’s something in the acceleration that’s enough to change things? Perhaps I’m just not giving it my all, wanting the TB05 to be better  

However, given I was able to get the TT02S to much closer to the TB05 with a Torque Tuned, I expect you could be on to something with the gearing. I’ve not tried changing it yet, so I expect the TA07 is running the stock 20T pinion, the TB05 the stock 24T. I had some smaller pinions in the shopping basket somewhere, but I’ve not got to ordering them yet. Would the FDR being out that much make the difference?

I doubt the FDR is the problem if its as per kit, it must just be setup and driving. Try swapping the wheels over, but if they're similar it must just be you find the TB05 better to drive. I don't think there is much between the kits, they have the same suspension and type of chassis etc

[jupitertwo]

21 hours ago, ryback said:

@jupitertwo I just clicked on your showroom link and saw the photo of the TS050 shell - awesome! I’m tempted by one of those. Is it finished now? Any photos? Any plans to run it on one of these courses? 

Heh, sadly no. I had a quick peak in the box when I found it in the shed, and I think it’s in the same state. As I recall I had a bad run with some painting, so postponed doing the body. I was also in a phase of not starting the build till I’d done the body, so there she sits. When we get in to the spring perhaps, when the weather is warm enough to paint again 

All this 2wd buggy talk has got me putting the motor back in my Super Astute rere. Just have to find somewhere to run it now.

[El Gecko]

1 hour ago, jupitertwo said:

Heh, sadly no. I had a quick peak in the box when I found it in the shed, and I think it’s in the same state. As I recall I had a bad run with some painting, so postponed doing the body. I was also in a phase of not starting the build till I’d done the body, so there she sits. When we get in to the spring perhaps, when the weather is warm enough to paint again 

All this 2wd buggy talk has got me putting the motor back in my Super Astute rere. Just have to find somewhere to run it now.

It's a 2wd buggy... run it anywhere you want!

[Finnsllc]

ok  been trying to get in here. When is round 7 gonna be posted. found a construction site i want to use by my house.

[mud4fun]

On the subject of 2WD buggies, we've managed to get a set of Schumacher race spec wheels and tyres fitted to Middle Mudlets DT02.

The fronts which are hex drive are fitted to Fastrax hex adaptors (which have two 850 bearings in them) but needed a std 5mm washer on the inside, then the fastrax adaptor then the wheel then a Schumacher shim (left over from my cougar build) then the nyloc nut. Without the washer and shim the fit is too sloppy. Also we needed to drill the wheel centres out to 5.1mm to fit over the axle. A touch of light grease on the washer and shim means the wheel spins smoothly and the shim means there is near zero play/float in the assembly. The wheel rotates smoothly and freely. I binned the supplied bearings and instead used quality rubber shielded 850's instead. 

The Tamiya rear axles don't have quite enough thread on them to allow the Schumacher rear wheels to fit as they have substantial thickness of material in the wheel centres so I machined a bore into the rear wheels. I went a bit OTT as I only needed 2mm depth to allow them to fit..... sigh.....will do better on next set of wheels.

This now means middle mudlet can run the same tyres I have on my Schumacher Cougar, Egress, Avante2001 and Thundershot. The silver compound carpet tyres being superb tyres on cold wet tarmac (and dry tarmac) as we've proved time and again this last year.

She currently has the Silver (super sticky) cactus rear tyres and the yellow compound staggers up front. I have some silver compound cut staggers on order for her and we'll fit them hopefully by friday ready for next round.

While doing those modifications we noticed that the DT02 shocks are almost identical lengths front and rear to my Schumacher Cougar alloy shocks so we will be ordering a set of Schumacher alloy shocks to upgrade the DT02 next month.

We will also be fitting the Reedy 19T quad mag spec motor this weekend.

I have no idea why I do these things as it just makes my life harder as Middle Mudlets DT02 will be even more competition to my Cougar and I'm struggling to keep ahead of my daughters as it is! It already turns far better in tight turns due (I assume) to its very short wheelbase compared to the Cougar. (The DT02 looks like it is 30mm+ shorter wheelbase than the Cougar?)

[mud4fun]

1 hour ago, Finnsllc said:

ok  been trying to get in here. When is round 7 gonna be posted. found a construction site i want to use by my house.

Hi @Finnsllc, welcome to the postal racing club 

The new round 7 track layout should be announced in the next few days but in the meantime you can always setup the round 6 track layout and have a bit of a practise (weather permitting).

What cars are you intending to enter?

 

[TurnipJF]

Round 7 is due to start as soon as we have a track design. Anyone is welcome to put forward a design, and our Round 6 winner @jupitertwo gets to pick which one gets used.

[mud4fun]

Has anybody noticed that the England lockdown rules have tightened compared to previous. No longer allowed to do recreation in parks. Which means we can't do postal racing in the local rec ground. Only actual exercise is allowed. This is getting ridiculous. Thankfully we have a decent sized garden but I feel so sorry for anybody living in a flat, must be awful.

Despite our decent sized garden, due to flower beds and other obstacles we will still struggle to lay out most postal racing designs. However we've decided to start re-landscaping our back garden to increase the size of the garden track. We are going to lose some patio area and a couple of raised beds from the veg garden to allow a 2m wide track with a 15-18m main straight plus much larger complex infield. That will keep us busy for the next few months. The lawn will be extended first and that will allow more room for postal racing too. Thought this may be a good use of lockdown time and will keep the kids occupied, fit and having fun building jumps etc.

 

[El Gecko]

Here's an option for Round 7 (sorry for the crudity of the drawing, this computer is rather limited)

[mud4fun]

3 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

Here's an option for Round 7 (sorry for the crudity of the drawing, this computer is rather limited)

 

My kids love that @El Gecko as it suits their new cars, middle mudlets DT02 with its super tight turning circle and short wheelbase would beat me hands down on that.....  but realistically you'd need at least 8m of space to fit it to allow 1m of space either end. That will be tricky in many UK gardens. 

Our rear garden is 70' long x 40' wide BUT it is covered in annoying obstacles such as flower beds, paths, flower pots, shrubs and concrete washing line post supports - all of which are going to be removed over the next few months BUT I'm divorced so don't have a wife to complain..... I dare say a few fellow racers aren't quite so 'lucky' 

[El Gecko]

31 minutes ago, mud4fun said:

My kids love that @El Gecko as it suits their new cars, middle mudlets DT02 with its super tight turning circle and short wheelbase would beat me hands down on that.....  but realistically you'd need at least 8m of space to fit it to allow 1m of space either end. That will be tricky in many UK gardens. 

Our rear garden is 70' long x 40' wide BUT it is covered in annoying obstacles such as flower beds, paths, flower pots, shrubs and concrete washing line post supports - all of which are going to be removed over the next few months BUT I'm divorced so don't have a wife to complain..... I dare say a few fellow racers aren't quite so 'lucky' 

Hmm, not compact enough, eh? Maybe we can swap the dimensions? So 3m "tall" and 2m on each half of the "horizontal", for a total of 3m x 4m? Would that be small enough with enough runoff space around the outside turns? Or just change the horizontal to 4m total and keep the 2m height? That would be REALLY compact!

I was also thinking of mirroring it along the Y axis, so it's not quite as similar to last round's track.

[mud4fun]

45 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

Hmm, not compact enough, eh? Maybe we can swap the dimensions? So 3m "tall" and 2m on each half of the "horizontal", for a total of 3m x 4m? Would that be small enough with enough runoff space around the outside turns? Or just change the horizontal to 4m total and keep the 2m height? That would be REALLY compact!

I was also thinking of mirroring it along the Y axis, so it's not quite as similar to last round's track.

doesn't bother us as we can fit it in anyway but I was just thinking about people with less space. Let's see what people think. I like it and my kids love it. We will set it up tomorrow and give it a go on the lawn and see how we go.

Only problem I have is that I ordered loads of new tyres for driving on tarmac (at the rec ground) and now I need full pin spikes for driving on grass during lockdown arrrghhhhh, Modelsport will be loving me, yet another order to go in to them 

edit: Actually you could shorten the overall length while keeping pretty much the same design by simply moving the top two markers right by 1m thus reducing overall length and making even more tricky the two middle turns! 

edit2: at the end of 12 months of postal racing I'm convinced we'll all be able to compete competitively at club events that previously we thought as novices there would be no point in entering..... the improvement in our driving (well, certainly my kids) since we started doing the postal racing is staggering. Judging corners, entry angles, speeds, braking and consistency have all improved massively. Sadly I'm clearly too old to change as I am just as bad as ever.... my fingers seem too eager to go full throttle LOL

[El Gecko]

1 hour ago, mud4fun said:

doesn't bother us as we can fit it in anyway but I was just thinking about people with less space. Let's see what people think. I like it and my kids love it. We will set it up tomorrow and give it a go on the lawn and see how we go.

Only problem I have is that I ordered loads of new tyres for driving on tarmac (at the rec ground) and now I need full pin spikes for driving on grass during lockdown arrrghhhhh, Modelsport will be loving me, yet another order to go in to them 

edit: Actually you could shorten the overall length while keeping pretty much the same design by simply moving the top two markers right by 1m thus reducing overall length and making even more tricky the two middle turns! 

edit2: at the end of 12 months of postal racing I'm convinced we'll all be able to compete competitively at club events that previously we thought as novices there would be no point in entering..... the improvement in our driving (well, certainly my kids) since we started doing the postal racing is staggering. Judging corners, entry angles, speeds, braking and consistency have all improved massively. Sadly I'm clearly too old too change as I am just as bad as ever.... my fingers seem too eager to go full throttle LOL

Yep I'll leave it be for now, I'm curious to see others' track suggestions as well!

Agreed on the novice front too. My driving skills are still very novice, but have significantly improved over the last few months. I also have a heavy throttle finger like you, and have to remind myself multiple times during the race to dial it back and keep control (usually after a spinout). The cool thing is that while we may be well past our prime competition years, the kids watch us and take mental notes of what NOT to do, thereby avoiding our mistakes from the beginning and giving themselves the upper hand.

[mud4fun]

14 minutes ago, El Gecko said:

Yep I'll leave it be for now, I'm curious to see others' track suggestions as well!

Agreed on the novice front too. My driving skills are still very novice, but have significantly improved over the last few months. I also have a heavy throttle finger like you, and have to remind myself multiple times during the race to dial it back and keep control (usually after a spinout). The cool thing is that while we may be well past our prime competition years, the kids watch us and take mental notes of what NOT to do, thereby avoiding our mistakes from the beginning and giving themselves the upper hand.

so true!

The only reason I'm keeping ahead of them at the moment is through unfair monetary budget advantage..... I'm running far hotter motors, expensive HV LiPo's and I have top spec buggies......even with all those advantages they are damned close to me on some of these rounds with their silver cans and 7.2v NiMh's.... eek!

[Carmine A]

I like that!! A Double Figgar of Eight. 👍👍🍺✌ 

MY Challenge is going to be GETTING a Car Ready in time. The TT-02SR RRRR got some half decent new Tyres and Alumininium Rims. 

WITHIN 3 DAYS, my First Build in my "Life.2.0" should be arriving!! A FF-03 Pro - with Yeah Racing Alumininium Oil Diff with Steel Gears.... 

I just have to figure out if the FF-03 will take the 50T or 52T Diff Ring Gear.... It doesn't say WHICH. This also fits the M07 - which of COURSE will be coming in the near future!!! 😁

I'm going to need to get on the FF Addiction Thread, and ask the Gentlemen who've ripped apart 2 or 150 FF Chassis Cars. 

This is supposed to be a SAHWEET Handling Car - but as infinitely Adjustable as it may be.... 

It doesn't come with a Driver Enhancement feature!!! 😜😂😂😅  I am properly Chuffed! The HELLL that was my Family's Life WILL BE ending very soon!! 

Stay Tuned.... I'm also looking forward to Paying it Forward to some poor Blokes that are experiencing the misery we were forced into!  This will give us great Joy! 😉✌👍👍 

2020 is OVER my Friends!!! 🍺🍻🍻🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉 

I may be starting slowly.... But the EPIC is coming!  I Hope and Pray that you and your Family had the most Joyous of Holiday Seasons, and a MUCH better 2021 🙏🙏

[El Gecko]

2 hours ago, Carmine A said:

A Double Figgar of Eight. 👍👍🍺✌

Actually a triple! There are three "8"s there if you count the hourglass in the middle, it's like an infinity trinity 🍺

[mud4fun]

@El Gecko we been out on the lawn running your track design today. We had enormous fun. It is a great track, fits fine on the lawn. We fitted it diagonally so that we had more space around the end markers. Despite the design requiring alot of turning, that main diagonal start straight works well to balance it all.  We started at the lower right marker and ran diagonally up to the top left marker. The seemed to the best way to start. Also worked out well when we were racing two cars at a time on the same course too as it gave us a chance to get a head start into the first turn.

We fitted large pin spikes to the rear of the Cougar and jacked up the ride height, re-fitted the kit pin spikes and ribs to middle mudlets Sand Viper and youngest mudlet just ran her Aqroshot unchanged from round 6. 

The Cougar and Aqroshot got the same number of laps on our first attempts (only a couple of laps less than I got on round 6 so the lap times are very similar). The Sand Viper was a few laps short mainly due to the front ribbed kit tyres having no grip on wet grass and only running a silver can. My silver compound schumacher cut staggers actually gripped quite well and the Cougar managed to turn better on grass than the DT02.

Middle mudlet and myself then raced against each other on your track design. This was hysterical and loads of fun. Thankfully both the Cougar and Sand Viper are tough little buggies because we crashed into each other loads of times as we crossed paths going around the figure 8's at different times. The cougar won by roughly the same number of laps that it got more than the DT02 when running on its own although the overall lap count was lower. 

The buggies are filthy and the lawn is cut up and now back to mostly bare earth/mud but we had tons of fun, loads of laughs and nothing broke despite me going straight into the fence at high speed, middle mudlet and I crashing into each other a dozen times and middle mudlet running wide and head on into a large solid plant pot.

 

[mud4fun]

UPDATE: We swapped the stock ribbed front tyres on Middle Mudlets Sand Viper with a set of Schumacher slim front wheels fitted with stagger rib tyres and she did another attempt at the same track layout, she got two more laps just from the tyre and wheel change. The DT02 turned as well if not better than the Cougar! She is only one lap short of my best lap count now and we haven't even fitted the better motor yet. We've been so impressed by this little buggy, for a 'base model' kids toy it is fab. 

edit: Of course youngest mudlet once more just went out, did one attempt, drove so smoothly that it looked like she was out for a sunday drive, matched my best lap count and then promptly retired to sit in front of the log burner..... and to cap it all the Aqroshot was still pretty clean, didn't even need a wash.......  

[mud4fun]

I've been out in the garden today for a couple of hours practising driving a few cars. My Thundershot, Avante2001 and Cougar are all now on the same lap counts on El Geckos track design. I managed to get another lap out of the cougar by removing the tyre foams from the front tyres (thankfully hadn't glued the fronts). Removing the foams significantly reduced the oversteer issues on frosty grass/mud and meant I could achieve much tighter turns under power. The 4WD's did match the Cougars lap counts by the 2nd or 3rd attempt but were not able to beat it so I now have three cars on identical lap counts.

Have we agreed a round 7 layout yet? I've been using El Geckos design for now as it is good practise but not sure if that has been accepted as the official round 7 design?

 

[TurnipJF]

7 hours ago, mud4fun said:

Have we agreed a round 7 layout yet? I've been using El Geckos design for now as it is good practise but not sure if that has been accepted as the official round 7 design?

How about it @jupitertwo? Care to make it official?

[Re-Bugged]

On 1/8/2021 at 4:42 AM, El Gecko said:

Here's an option for Round 7 (sorry for the crudity of the drawing, this computer is rather limited)

Well that should scrub in the new sticky tyres on the M08 👍🏻