Chappie Things

There's a difference between the two Chaparrals I just picked up. The #65 is definitely smoother, faster, and handles better. The #66 isn't sluggish, but it isn't spry. It goes through it, but it doesn't feels as good as the #65. 

The more I drive this car, the higher my expectations get. I think it's going to tune into a screamer.

I've been switching back and forth between #65 and the Matra, running laps and looking at the similarities and differences. While the Matra has a shorter nose and longer wheelbase, the two cars have a similar feel. It's a good, planted feel. They drive different, but they feel easy to drive.

There are, however, more similarities between the Chaparral and the GT40 than the Matra. Both long nose/short tail, both solid, planted performers, and both using a similar driving approach. 

The differences between the two Chaparrals is going to come down more to setup than anything else. Both cars have the stuff, I just think the #66 isn't tuned just right yet. Neither has gotten a complete tire sanding yet. I did a mmmostly...tire sanding, so there's still a little more to be done. I also haven't run the new cars against the crew yet. 

I know you have it in you, little guy. You can do it. 

I might roll back on my plan to do a no-float/float to the #66. I did that because it seemed that if I loosened the body even a little the body would slip under the edge of the chassis, and I didn't like that. I have a idea I'm going to try this weekend. It's an old idea, but might still work. If it does, then I'll look at the idea of running one Chaparral float/float and the other float/no-float. It might be more interest to see just how much of a difference the pod makes in the equation. I've gotten to where I like to loosen the pod screws on my cars in general by about 1/4 turn. Bodies range from snug to loose. 

I'm planting on painting my track pieces this weekend, so I'll be running and tuning these cars until then. If I can settle on the track plan, maybe I'll try to cram a race in there. Cars like the #66 could be one of those that runs okay but consistently, always staying near the top without outright winning. Never know. I'd like to think that I probably just forgot to check something and it just needs an adjustment. That's probably it. If not, then I'll be curious to see where it's going to land in the pecking order of speed. I would hope it would beat the GT40s, but even that is a challenge nowadays, as the #5 is kicking butt and competing.

So here's hoping the track clips and banana clips come tomorrow. I'd like to have a 2nd controller running asap. I'm getting antsy.