Worra Lorra Racin’!
The RC summer season really felt as if it had started today. The sun was shining, the grip was high.
There was racing on all over the place, here’s a tiny sample of the racing that friends and others have got up to in the last few days.
- I raced indoors on Friday night at Dorset
- Friends raced up at Yately on Saturday
- I raced today (Sunday) at Yeovil, alongside an excellent Kart meeting
- Friends raced over at Adur today
- Friends raced at South Hants (my home club) as usual
- ‘Facebookers’ raced off-road at Slough (and so did Lewis Hamilton and his little brother Nic!)
- The worlds best TCers raced at the ETS race in Holland over the weekend (another Tamiya victory)
And that’s just the racing I know about on the grapevine, there will have been dozens and dozens of other meetings all around the country (and around the world) going on this weekend.
It reminds me what a fantastic sport we have, it’s so down to earth and what makes it is us, the racers. WE are the the sport!
So wherever you raced, in whatever class, remember, it’s just a sport, it’s just some fun, keep it enjoyable and don’t ever forget how privileged we are to be able to do it.
Nationals Update – Numero Uno
So the dust has settled on the first national at West London, and my report for RACER has been submitted… so now time to sort out my Lazy post (kinda fitting it’s taken so long for me to post, given the name, hehe).
Ok, so new season, whats new?
To be honest, not that much, all the usual suspects were up there, even with the large number of team changes going on.
In Mod, you still had Moore, Grainger and co up front. Interestingly, it seemed to take Andy a while to get into his stride, he came from being a bit middling on early sat, to TQ the final round on saturday, and then taking all three finals… maybe a case of removing some rust from the system 
The HB proto looked good on new and old tyres, as did Glenn Domans 416, if anything it seeming more comfortable on older tyres, and spot on in the wet!
Chris G was very quick in the first two rounds with the Mi4, some 6seconds clear of the filed! However, he didn’t have very good finals, managing to have an incident in the first turn in every one! The car also seemed to struggle a little on old rubber, a bit of similarity with RedBull F1 car.. a bit too hard on the tyres!
ProStock was pretty much a Schumacher affair, with 5 out of the top ten being the british make, albeit all bar one being Mi3.5′s. Rob West and Jay Westwood were the two to watch in this one, Jay having a bit of a mare on saturday (and almost going home!), but coming on strong in the finals to take the win.
So onto my own experience… well, it was a weekend of frustration really. In the first Q round, it was going ok until the rain arrived in the final minute, making the track really greesy. Was quite happy to see that despite that, I was 28th in round… however, it the weather did effectively loose me one “new tyre” run, as you have to start on new boots
Second round, new boots again, and put in a good time to go 25th, although made a few silly errors. Third round, final set of new boots (sunday was forecast to be wet wet wet, so thought it best to use them while I could!), and went 23rd in round, although again with some silly mistakes. Still, couldn’t be dissapointed as I was lying in 16th overall overnight!
A KFC, 3 Buds, and a kip in the car later… it was sunday morning, and suprise suprise, it was damp!
However, by the time everything got going there was potential for it jut to be damp, rather than fully wet. Being in heat 6, I was paying close attention to the weather… lo and behold, it changed it’s mind 5mins before the run. Cue a rapid change from dry electrics to wet ones… and thats when I had the biggest issues of the weekend! Managed to pop the negative wire off the battery plug by reverse connecting it in a rush (something I’ve now solved with a bit of red heat shrink rather than black). Thankfully the speedo still worked, but with no soldering iron on, it was a case of tape it in place and hope.
Amazingly, it lasted 3mins, until I barrell rolled it out of the first turn, and with the tape being damp, end of run. I was hoping though that I would have got a score in, but on returning the pits, discovered that I’d also plugged in the PT the wrong way round, so it wasn’t counting…. chalk that up to the rush before the start 
Anyway, the final qualy the rain decided that it wanted to make a proper job of it for a short time at least, with puddles everywhere. With all the wet electrics in the car, a bit of an increase in ride-height, and wet tyres on, away we went. quite simply, the car was great in the wet, ending up 3rd in the heat, and 15th in round! If only I’d done the same in round4.. who knows.
With the scores on the doors, turns out that some people had had even more inconsitent meetings (I always seem to fall foul of this in Rnd by Rnd), and despite counting a 25, 23, and 15.. I was pole in the D, dropping 15 places from the overnight, grrrr!!!!
The finals were fun though. I struggled a little in the first one, mainly as other guys around me had saved a set of new tyres for the finals. Despite how good the car was on the older boots, there was a deffinate advantage to running new ones. Posted the fastest lap time, but just pushed too hard, and ended up 3rd.
Second final was unbelivable really, impressed even myself. Got the most fantastic start ever, and the car just was working exceptionally well from the off. First lap was 2s faster than anyone else, and by the end of the race I was 4 up the road, even after having backed off a bit in the final minute. And if I thought that was good the next final would be some of the most fun racing I’d had in ages…
Basically, the rain came back right before the run, not heavily but enough to make the track very damp. If I’d have known how bad it was, I’d have gone with wet tyres (and maybe even starting at the back), but at the time it didn’t look too bad. BIG mistake :p It was very obvious from the first turn, when the car just decided turning wasn’t going to happen. Sorex32′s and wet tarmac are not comfortable bed fellows.
However, it turned out to be very fun, as for lap after lap, myself and Steve Lander were battling for 1st. I was quite a bit faster, but couldn’t find a way past, Steve making it really difficult. I did manage to get by cleanly once, but had taken a bit too much kerb, and was requested to give the spot back. Ended up finishing 2nd, but it was someone else’s turn to have a PT issue, as Steve’s only recorded nine laps, and I bumped up to 1st, winning the D, wOOp!
So a nice new plastic trophy on the shelf (hmm), and on to Halifax. Knowning roughly where I am now, I reckon a B final place at one of the rounds is the target… I just hope it’s dry!
Tamiya M-05 Mini Video
I’m getting far too excited by the prospect of the new Tamiya M05!
I lent Tamiya my country house for the filming, but they didn’t even give me a kit for the trouble!
They said, “No way Crabb-san, you buy your own! You don’t buy enough of our plastic kits as it is…”
Fair enough, I’m no kit collector…
Sweet video in the end though, and if you don’t chair dance to the cute music, you’re not actually alive!
New Tamiya Mini – M05
So it’s been a while (10 years in fact!) but Tamiya are due to be releasing their new FWD mini very soon!
Tamiya USA has this to say about the new car;
After 10 years since the release of the first M-series R/C car, Tamiya is now releasing the latest M-05 chassis with the popular Rover Mini Cooper racing version body.
Looks like they are also going to release an M05 Pro version at the same time, much to the same vein as the M03-R (the image above is infact the M05 Pro).
The car looks good… and with the laid down front shocks, mush lower shells can be used… awesome! There’s been some great ones out from ABC recently that won’t fit and M03, but should fit this 
For me the Pro is the version to get, but then again, I’m a hop-up/pimping’ aholic :p
Moore-Speed Type B-C Bodyshell
Moore-Speed Type B-C Shell
This shell looks really interesting. I want to try one. I’ve asked my LHS to get me one.
Hot Bodies describe it as being “designed for aggressive steering and high top speeds, as well as stability in the turns.”
I love the idea of the wide wing-mounts, and I do need a front-endy shell for my 415, it lacks steering (in comparison to a 416), and I personally like how the ol’ DNA shell handles, despite how unfashionable (and knackered) it is.
Full details on the Hot Bodies site.
Think you’ve seen it all?
Kimwipes S-200 – Tyre Warmer Tissue – Specially developed in conjunction with Sorex these tissues have special properties to make them perfect for lining your tyre warmers to prevent additive soaking into the tyre warmer.
… and you have now… I guess they can be useful for mopping up spills too!!!
What is the world coming too?
Got any more “different” tools/accesories you use for cars, post them in the comments section
Speedo Wars – A Little Hope…
So, Mr Simon has given me a log-in to add some blog post’s to rcLazy… There’ll be some nationals reports coming later in the year, but to kick things off, I thought I’d natter about speedo’s… no, not the swimming trunks, the Electronic Speed Controls (ESC’s).
With the recent advent of brushless within our sport (the first Novaks were only avaliable in 2006) technology has been moving on rapidly. The first ESC’s were pretty good, although had a tendancy to overheat if pushed hard, and it took a while for the new technology fangled to get a hold. For example the first brushless world champion was only crowned in 2008! However, with such rapid development, all major classes are now brushless, with the ease of maintenace being the real advantage (brushes, what are they… things you clean a car with right? 
).
Anyway, to make it a bit easier, if we call the early pionears Gen1′s (such as the GTB and original Sphere’s), and the later models (such as the Sphere TC, and GM90) Gen2, we’re now getting onto the Gen3′s….
Ok, so where’s the issue?? Surely the latest and greatest should be the best, correct? Not necessarily, as it depends quite a lot on the classes raced…
Quite simply, there are a lot of different types of speedo’s out there currently, and as such there is a lot of confusion over whats best for what. Hopefully I can help outline the differences a little better, and make any choice easier.
In essence the Gen3 speedo’s can be split into two catagories;
Those with dynamic timing advance and Those without..
Right, whats dynamic timing advance? It’s effectivly a clever trick a speedo does with the motor timing, where by the timing is advanced further as the motor gets further up it’s rev range. This gives a continuing increase in power, with more RPM.
Now most Gen2 ESC’s had the facility to advance the motor timing, however this was usually independent of the motor speed, and by a set amount. Using the example of the LRP’s, increasing the power profile would increase the static motor timing
So what are the options? All the following speedo’s can be considered Gen3 (in no particular order)
- Tekin RS Pro
- GM Genius 120
- LRP SPX / Nosram Matrix Evo “Stock Spec”
- Team Wave RB50
- Speed Passion GT2.0 Pro
All these speedo’s have the ability to adjust the timing “on-the-fly”…
There’s one recently released that can be counted as a gen3, but doesn’t dynamically adjust the timing, and that is the LRP SXX/ Nosram Pearl. So where does this fit into the modern scheme of things… well this is where the classes raced come in!
For fixed winding stock classes (17.5, 13.5, 10.5) generally, there is capacity to burn in the cells… using a speedo with dynamic advance is great for these classes, as the extra power can be used. So any extra power that you can get out of the motor, is a good thing.
For unlimited/modified racing however, the easiest way to increase the power is to change the motor (not an option for the limited classes). And given that timing in modified is usually retarded to aid in driveability and run time, dynamic advance is not an essential requirement.
So, decision time… whats best for you? Well, I’m not going to tell specifically which speedo to run, as they are all very good, although they achieve the effects in different ways.
Well quite simply, if you do a lot of spec racing, then a speedo with dynamic timing advance will be a must.
For modified, dynamic advance really shoudn’t be a deal breaker, as the key points for that sort of speedo will be it’s efficency and driveability.
The interesting class to keep an eye in the coming year will be the 6.5/LiPo class, as it’s possible that with the restricted wind, the motor advance feature may be useful, or it could be too much for the motor/cells… something I’ll try to keep an eye on over the coming year. I’ll also try to keep people updated on whoose using what, and what’s popular… so expect it too get a bit techy everynow and then!
Cheers
Ed
(oh, and if your wondering… I’m running an Team Wave RB-50 )
Touring Car Personal Best
A great day racing today. Just a normal club meet at SHMCC Bashley.
I got the car going well, and got a personal best with 17.5, which is always nice.
The interesting thing of the day for me was ditching Sorex 28s. I’ve been finding they just don’t last, I think they’ve changed from last years 28s. I put on Sorex 32s and they were so much better, more stable, and they looked as good at the end of 4 runs as at the beginning.
It’s the sidewalls that knacker up on the 28s, they flex more and deteriorate, but on the 32s they don’t do that in the same way, or at least not as quickly.
I think I’ll stick to 32s for a while, maybe 28s if it’s a cooler day.
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