[Almost] Midseason Notes

Here we are, almost to the mid-point of the season, so time for some notes:

I'm glad I approached things the way I did, making a racing season to coincide with getting these new Slot.it cars. Had I just done the standard tune-and-run without giving myself any goals to reach, I don't know if I would have gotten as much out of the cars in the time I did. Each of the three cars is uniquely different, and although the points show the #8 Shell in a good lead, it isn't from domination. There has been no single dominant car, and that's exactly what I wanted. Getting three cars that can compete with each other is precisely what I had in mind.

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The Alfa:

PROS: Fast, nimble, fun to drive. CONS: a bit loose [due to lack of parts]

As I said before, I expected this to be the dominant car before I got them, and to my surprise it isn't, at least not out of the box. I know for a fact it can be, as I have spoken with guys who race them. Parts are needed: grub screws, a spacer, and a little weight. I think if I'm going to mess with and modify any of the three cars by swapping motors or transmissions, this is the one I'll fix up. It's got the most potential for absolute speed and handling, I know this. I just haven't gotten it there yet.

It's also consistently the most fun to drive, due to its shorter wheelbase, which allows it to go through turns much quicker. It's not a cruiser, so it requires a bit of thought while driving to get the most out of it. It's the kind of car you'll find yourself feathering the controller with a lot more, as it's more responsive.

The issue with it is the amount of play in the rear end when the pod float is applied. Because there is so little space between the spur gear and the chassis, there's significant contact even with the slightest amount of pod float applied. Without the pod float, the car is loose. No amount of body float can offset that loss. I pretty much have to get this tiny .005" spacer that's going to cost about 3¢ to put in the space between the spur and the chassis.

The Alfa's [left] guide pin is much closer to the axle of the car than on the GT40, giving it quicker handling.

Bonus points for the white nose, which for identification purposes make this car really easy to pick up on the track. This is also, if you're curious, the first car I put on the track when I start a session.

Parts Needed:
2 x 6mm grub screws for under the front axle
1 x axle spacer for between spur gear and chassis
2 x tungsten weights
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#8 Shell GT40

The #8 GT40 loves sitting for pictures, and is a lion on the track. Raw speed and great handling make it a bit more fun to drive than the #11 car, and it hasn't suffered from nearly as many offs [6] this season.

I am loving everything about this car, even if it is a little noisier than the #11. It's just a beauty all the way around, and has such great control. Just over half the offs this season compared to the #11, and it shows in the standings. The handling is the primary reason this car is leading the series at the moment, which is surprising, since that title should really go to the Alfa. And ready for this? I'm pretty sure the chassis is warped. In fact, I know it is. I've taken it apart and checked.
I'm planning on straightening it using the hot-water-magnets-and-iron technique, which is really a lot less Game Of Thrones than it sounds. It involves stripping the car to its chassis [pod taken out also], attaching that chassis to a flat iron surface with carefully-placed magnets, drowning it in boiling water, and letting it cool in the water overnight. Many success stories using this method, which is actually recommended by Slot.it for that very purpose.

If you have a Slot.it car and want to check the chassis' integrity, here's a piece of advice that I found valuable: do it with the pod OFF, as it isn't the same piece of plastic, and likely will contribute one way or another to a faulty conclusion. So take it off first before checking if the chassis is warped. Not all of them are like that, but some come that way.

A shorter car in both directions. The Alfa [front] should be the better handler, but won't be until I've got all the parts to make it that way.

Parts Needed:
2 x pod screws for the middle section [they didn't come with the car, for whatever reason
2 x 6mm pod screws for the front axle

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#11 Gulf GT40

This is really the car to beat....I just can't admit it to myself.

I've read plenty of stories from people who have bought slot cars and had to spend hours of time and quite a bit of money to get them in running order. While I haven't spent money, the hours are starting to add up.
If this car is anything, it's what I'd call practically out-of-box perfect. Aside from needing an axle spacer, it runs wonderfully. It has never given me trouble, and while it has had a few offs [10] this season, it's only because it runs so well that it's the one car I really like to push...well, and it's a little butt-heavy compared to the Alfa. It has just the right amount of braking-to-speed ratio for me, and responds well to throttle controls.
It feels heavier than the Alfa, but then it's a bigger car, so it should.

Parts Needed:
2 x 6mm pod screws for the front axle

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The Carrera Cars

R18 [left] and Safety Car

The Carrera cars have proven a few things to me: I love running cars without magnets, lighter cars are faster cars, and being able to easily modify a car is great. These cars do none of these things well. They are great for good old fashioned smash-n-crash racing, though, as they're nearly indestructible [at least compared to the Slot.it cars, which while light, are much more durable that I thought they would be].

I think if I were going digital, I'd want Carrera cars as I think they'd be easier to chip [or already come that way]. But my path is analog and eventually routed, so I'm not focusing on digital for the time being.

I had a feeling I was going to experience some abandonment issues regarding these cars as since I've gotten the others, these have rarely left the pits, and in cases of longer races, aren't getting used at all. This I expected, as I had heard such good things about the higher-performance Slot.it cars, and everything I heard was true. They are superior, but that's okay. That's where having separate classes comes in.

Running in separate classes allows me to do a few things. While the Carreras aren't competitive for 1st, they are still somewhat competitive with each other, or can be. In real life, it's not uncommon to see different classes of cars sharing the track during a race, so why not do that at home? It's either that, or leave them in the box.
This is, I LIKE Carrera cars. I've always liked them. It's just that I like the Slot.it cars better, that's all. And I'll own more Carrera cars in the future, I'm sure of that, as will I more Slot.its, and probably a few NSRs and a BRM or two [I can dream].

The Safety Car; I tell you something, that car WON a race this season. Yes, it wasn't the biggest race, but the SC won it. And I'll bet it would do well in a drag race as well. It's a damn fast little car, and if it were lighter by about half, it would kick ass. I took the wiring out of it for the lights as it was annoying me, and I expected those would be the first things to go in a crash, but they aren't even scratched. I'd bet they'd still be working if I hadn't of jerked the electronics out.
Same general rule goes for the R18. Shed a lot of weight, add new tires and it would be a screamer too.

So, to keep it all going I race the cars in classes. The R18 isn't too far off the Class A Slot.it cars. It had a good showing in a race, coming in 2nd. Both of the Carreras have one magnet in them, as they are desperately needed, so that helps separate the classes even further, yet make them more competitive with each other.
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The Carrera Track

The track is handling the abuse well, although I am looking forward to getting it off the rug.

I'm very happy with the track, especially since I've painted it. There's a lot of talk on the internet whether painting your track improves grip, and I'm here to say that it indeed does. It may not be by much, but I believe it changes the structure of the surface. I've been told by someone I trust that plastic track gives off an electrostatic charge when the car races on it, and covering it with latex paint negates that charge. That's quite a bit of rocket science for me, but I buy that explanation. Or that latex is just a grippier surface compared to plastic. Either way I know I'll never go back to unpainted, and will do my best to paint any tracks I buy prior to using them. It's a fun exercise, takes very little skill, and can be done in a matter of a few hours. The added benefit of being able to see your cars better on the light gray surface certainly helps matters.

The Slot.it cars are running on their stock out-of-box C1 tires, which aren't the recommended tire, yet do surprisingly well on the painted latex track. They've got plenty of grip, and I'm starting to notice hints of a rubber racing line developing. It's subtle, but it's starting with a perceived smoothing of the surface where the tires meet the road. It doesn't look like they're digging a groove, but more like laying a sheet of rubber. I suspect this is happening more lately because of the C1 tires on the Slot.it cars. I think they're probably closer to real rubber than the Carrera tires are, which I think could do with being replaced. They're hard as rocks.

Racing on the rug is a bit of a hard reality for me, but one that is ending soon. I can't wait. I want to get the cars up to a level where I can see them, and I know from past experience that the racing is better when the track is at a more reasonable height [off the floor].
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The Slot.it SCP-1 Controller

The SCP-1 works amazing, and is still the best piece of kit I've gotten for the track. Such a difference. I don't even use the Carrera controllers anymore....not even to race against ghost cars. While a fun idea at first, it meant to run a ghost car would be using up my SCP-1 for that, and I have to race against it with a stock Carrera controller. They can't handle the Slot.it cars' raw power, and neither can I.

I deliberately didn't include the settings of the controller in with the races, since I still haven't found the true sweet spot for each car yet, although I'm getting very close. Due to my track size, I'm limited to small tracks, and I use the controller's power limiter to give me only 20-30% power. This stops me from flying off the track and allows me to have a larger sweepable range for the trigger. If I barely press it, the car barely moves, and if I punch it, it will go off the track. So I try to give this type of settings to each car, dependent on the track layout. Some cars respond better to a higher minimum speed, which allows them to cruise a bit more at a rapid pace without so much emphasis on acceleration and deceleration. Tight tracks require less power and more finesse, long tracks need more overall speed for the straights.
It's pointless for me to use the CRV function as opposed to LIN. CRV gives the car a tremendous amount of power...almost to the point of being comic. For kicks I set up my straights [13] to test acceleration. It isn't even funny how fast these cars can go at full power. It really puts it into perspective that I've got it maxed at 20-30% power to functionally get around my track. I couldn't imagine every being in a situation where I'd have to use all of the power available to me. That would have to be an insane track of otherworldly proportions.

By the time I'm finished with this racing series, I'll have the controller figured out and will include settings in the next series. I'm really enjoying this format and find I don't tire of it.
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My "Ecclestoning"

I think I've set up a pretty good competition, with two Classes and a variety of tracks and events. I have a few more ideas for tracks and events that I'll add as time goes by, but for the most part I think I've gotten the rules to where I like them. I did add some things throughout the season as needed:

Penalties for offs
Ties go to Class A car
DNF's after 3 crashes

Now that I'm going to go to a stopwatch as opposed to a set time, there are no more chances of ties, so that rule is now obsolete. I had too many "would haves" in prior races.
I was thinking that I would give 1 point penalties for each off, but I'm not sure I'm going to do that. The time lost is enough of a penalty, I'm finding. I am considering adding a DNF [Did Not Finish] to any car that crashes more than 3 times in a race, but just recently added that, so I'm not so sure just yet. I haven't really had more than one race where that rule would have applied, and it wouldn't have effected the results, I don't think.
Any DNF would automatically give the car 0 points, which would move everyone else up, potentially giving a podium finish to a Class B car. That's kind of cool and would be worth the risk to try. The cars that would suffer the most: the #11 and the Safety Car. The #11 frequently has multiple-offs in a race, and that can get dangerous, points-wise.