At first I wanted to do 100 laps, but again, time issues. But 50 laps is actually a very satisfactory time for a race. It's pretty much somewhere between 3 and 5 minutes, depending on your track length. That gives you time to get into a groove, get faster throughout the race, cut time bettering yourself, and most important it keeps the driver as part of the package.
I don't use a manual lap counter. I set a stopwatch, run 50 laps and then divide it through a time calculator to get the lap time. If you have a lap counter, and you just run silly laps all the time and then look to see what your fastest lap was at the end, then that's not what I'm talking about. It's easy to just let the timer tell you, but it's much more difficult to discipline yourself to lay down faster and faster lap times using only your instinct to tell you whether you're going faster or slower than you should be. I think it improves you as a driver, and 50 laps is a good indicator of enough time to make it count.
Sorry for the digression.
The Track
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| This is by far the fastest track I have yet to build. Adding those 10 straights to my inventory really opened things up. I was able to get all the length I need, and the best part was that I could use all those great large radius turns for smaller kinks in larger straights. The whole left section, with the yellow 2/30 curves, is fast as hell. You could almost punch it completely through the green/yellow 3/30-2/30 curve combo going into the straight. The right side is made up of tighter 1/60 and 1/30 curves, as well as a nice big esses just before the back straight. The starter tracks on the backstraight represent where my overpass is placed. [Inside track length: 52 feet.] |
I really wanted to build a track that took advantage of all those straight pieces I picked up recently. I also wanted to get rid of as many 1/60 curves as I could. The esses is the only place they're overused, and even there it's okay. Otherwise I wanted to make an absolute balls-out race track. I think I succeeded. This layout is a blast!
Since there are two new cars added to the mix, the previous championship scoring system will now be reset. I don't know how many races I'll get in this summer. Hopefully more than one. We'll see how this goes and what I might need to change to make it work better. I also changed my mind on the crash system. Out of fairness I'll be stopping the clock on all crashes, and there will be no point or time deductions.
Because I have 8 cars, I decided to break up the racers by session. For example, I just ran two cars, the #66 Chaparral [#66] and the Porsche 962C [#11]. I picked them both randomly based on the drawers they were sitting in in my pit box. Let's look at the cars, based on running order:
#66 Chaparral 2E CanAm
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| Starting with the #66?! The DRAMA! The INTRIGUE! |
I've always been of the attitude where if you have a hard race, pick yourself up, and get ready for the next one. It might suck to lose, but once it's over there ain't nothing you can do about it. So move on. There are more chances coming.
That's what the #66 car is doing. After a rough start out of the box, it's seen its fair share of tuning, and laps times are significantly improving. I had an idea at first, it didn't pay off, and now I've looked at the car a bit differently. At first I was comparing it to the Matra and the Alfa, but when I really started looking into it, I noticed that the Chaparral compares most favorably to the GT40. In fact, looking at them upside down, they're about the spittin' image of each other. From widths to lengths, placement to shape, practically twins.
So taking that new information, I took a look at a new setup. I set it up roughly like the GT40's: medium body float, medium pod float, and did touchups from there. I ended up 1/2 turn body front / 1/4 turn body back, which made the body have about the same level of float throughout. It kind of fits the split personality of the car. It has a racecar front, just as fast as the fastest out there, and this big boxy back end. So when you think the tail is going to jump out around a corner like with the Alfa, the Chappie just rolls its big butt through it. So in a sense it handles the track much like the GT40 would, except is has the snap the Fords don't.
The Race
The room is hot, it's late afternoon into evening. 50 laps, estimated somewhere around 5 minutes. The #66 got off to a good start and picked up a groove early. I find that to be important to setting a good overall race time. Sometimes cars can take many laps before you find the groove, and some lose it just as easily.
I cleaned a lot of rubber off the tires prior to the race, but with this heat things tend to get a little loose, so I'm keeping an eye out. The car crashed on lap 19, going too fast through the right-handed first turn. The rest of the race was fast but uneventful, and it looks like the #66 is going to set a respectable time to start the race.
Car Make Time Lap Crash Championship
#66 Chap 5:41.68 6.82 1
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Porsche 962C #11 Leyton House
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| Now we're talking. I'm curious to see how this guy handles this track. |
The Porsche has been a project. You'd think that, by its looks alone, nothing could beat it. And that's the way it probably should be, but it isn't. So I've been working with this car, and it's done pretty well. It hasn't led the pack many times, but it's made a mostly respectable time of it.
It doesn't run like the other cars. I find myself needing to raise the overall power from 40 - 50%, just to give the Porsche the powerband to accelerate in the straights. The inline motor and transmission are different from the rest of the cars, so adjustments need to be made. Still, it is mostly in range to compete, so compete it does. I will be getting more Group C cars in the future, so if it doesn't have competition now, it will later.
The Porsche is a very sound, stable race car. It has an occasional wild tail, but it more than makes up for it with straightaway speed. It absolutely cooks down the straights, so this track should be right up its alley.
The Race
I talked about finding your groove early. The Porsche struggled with that. It wasn't until about lap 25 or so when he picked up and started laying down hot laps. He crashed on lap 8 at the right-handed first turn. Same as the Chaparral.
I was right, the Porsche is incredibly fast. It hauls ass in the straights, but still gets beat in the turns. Overall I think it ran a fast race and did very well.
Car Make Time Lap Crash Championship
#66 Chap 5:41.68 6.82 1
#11 962C 5:42.55 6.84 1
orange background denotes fastest time
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Dude.
Even if these two aren't the fastest cars, and we don't know yet, it's still insane that they set such a close lap time and overall race time at 50 laps. It's insane. They both drove differently, had to be driven differently, and were setup differently, yet ran almost identical times. Less than a second at 50 laps. Think about that for a minute.
Even though the Porsche ran well, it's still not fast enough. Let's see if it's got what it takes to stay in the upper end of the field.
The #66 is a pleasant surprise overall. I wasn't sure if I got my first dud when I took it out of the box. Good to see it ain't that. Is it enough to beat the favorite, the Matra? We'll see.
Championship Points System
Because the amount of cars have changed, the points per race have changed. I'm going old-NASCAR style with a point bonus for the win. So here's what the eight car field would look like:
1st 8pts + 1bonus point
2nd 7pts
3rd 6pts
4th 5pts
5th 4pts
6th 3pts
7th 2pts
8th 1pt
Yep, everybody gets a point. Call me a helicopter parent if you must, but we're going to do it this way. I think it'll have interesting effects. The closer points will keep the competition close and make it worth pushing for that extra tenth. So you won't find a car out of contention after 3 races. This will allow struggling cars to turn it around and attempt a comeback.
The extra point for the winner will help to break ties, and if it there is still a tie, overall wins will determine who wins the championship. Overall.
The Championship can consist of long and short tracks, fast or technical, or whatever suits me at the moment. Once this race is run we'll run another on the outside lane with the new controller.
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.....and wouldn't you know it, I spent all that time yesterday putting together this post and at the end of the night forgot to publish it. Didn't even check until a few minutes ago. I've already had my coffee and have run the next set of cars, so I'm going to add the session to this post. Let's get to it:
Ford GT 40 [#11]
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| This GT40 is now a reclamation project. It's not up to snuff, so it's probably going to be the next car I'm working on. |
This car used to be wildly inconsistent. It would run a great race one day and dog it the next. I could never figure out why. I've gone over the car countless times, added rubber gaskets and kept it clean and shiny. But it's just not reliable. When you race it, especially if it's the first car on it a session, it feels pretty good. It's a quiet racer, solid, reasonably planted. But it's just not fast. Not even by GT40 standards.
When you run hundreds and hundreds of laps with your cars, which is actually pretty easy to do, you notice things about them. And when you're running timed races, you can actually look at data to see what's happening. Sure, it's only time, but there's a lot you can do to affect that.
What I've learned about this car is that it gives off the illusion of comfort, when it reality it's pretty unstable. The setting is mid/mid, so nothing radical has been done to the car that might be restricting it is some way.
So it is what it is. We still have to race it.
The Race
Car Make Time Lap Crash Championship
#66 Chap 5:41.68 6.82 1
#11 962C 5:42.55 6.84 1
#11 GT40 5:54.37 7.08 1
This result is more indicative of what the back of the field is going to look like. This car might just end up being the big loser, although I haven't run the other two GT40's yet. When I first put together this track, I thought a 7.0 was the goal, but it's obviously a bit faster than that still. Faster than 6.8 as well, I have a feeling.
Whatever happens, this car is going back to the garage again.
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Matra Simca [#10]
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| Oh, it's ON now. |
Every car I race goes through a pretty thorough inspection/repair/tuneup session. Since I've been doing so many laps on the Matra lately, I needed to get in there and get everything looking good. It wasn't bad. On the contrary, it was remarkably clean for how much use it had gotten.
This car is no joke. Every since getting it into a well-tuned position, it has consistently not just won, but blown away the field. It races so well that I'm considering getting a second Matra just to see if this one isn't just some anomaly.
Despite its ruthless handling of the field, it's still salivating for a race. Let's get to it:
The Race
Car Make Time Lap Crash Championship
#66 Chap 5:41.68 6.82 1
#11 962C 5:42.55 6.84 1
#11 GT40 5:54.37 7.08 1
#10 Matra 5:31.53 6.62 0
And here we go! The Matra ran flawlessly. It's unbelievable how great that car is. If you've been reading this blog, and are still on the fence regarding a slot car to buy, get this one. Holy crap it's fast.
The Overpass has been a bit of an issue with the Fords, which had each car de-slot/re-slot on the fly at least a half dozen times per race. Not so with the Matra. The profile is so low that the car stays on the track much better than the others. And the length/type of track is really favoring the longer cars. Both the Porsche and the Matra love this track.
There was no waiting period for a groove to occur. This car picks up where it left off last time you raced it: kicking ass. It feels so good that you know it's the winner as you're driving it. You can feel those .2 seconds like it's a minute.
And yes, while it didn't blow away the field, it put down the fastest lap time so far. There are a couple of potential spoilers, but it's hard to say if either of them have the stuff to win it all.
But yeah, all hail the Matra. 6.6 lap record.
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Ford GT40 [#8]
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| This car has been performing so well lately. |
Whenever I have a nice big session, one that I can get a bunch of cars out and compare them, I'm always amazed to find how well this GT40 handles. It is, by default, one of the best slot cars you can own for a good, well-rounded fun time. It's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, but it does those things well.
Lately I've been spending a lot more time on other cars, so I needed to do a little revitalizing to this one before the race. Nothing drastic, just the general cleaning/tuneup. It's gotten so many laps under its belt that it's really comfortable in its own skin.
The Race
Car Make Time Lap Crash Championship
#66 Chap 5:41.68 6.82 1
#11 962C 5:42.55 6.84 1
#11 GT40 5:54.37 7.08 1
#10 Matra 5:31.53 6.62 0
#8 GT40 5:32.71 6.64 0
Oh yes! Now we're talkin'! The last race I ran with this car I admonished myself for not giving it all it had, and I hadn't. I got comfortable and the result showed. Not this time! It was hammer time the whole time. Such a good overall lap time that I'll proudly take 2nd place for that. Hell of an outcome.
This is what happens when you spend time on a race car trying to get it right. I did a lot of work early on to this car to get it running fast, and since that early time it hasn't required much in the way of major work in the last few years. It's been all easy stuff. So in a way that car has been competitive this whole time, and still is.
But being .2 off the leader is pretty impressive. Maybe the Matra should be taking a look in its rear-view mirror. It's position atop the leaderboard is looking more and more under threat the entire time.
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So, wow! After 5 of the 8 cars have raced, it's starting to look more defined. Not a whole lot of space separating first to last, .4 tenths of a second, so it's a competitive field. Some spoilers have yet to run, notably the #5 GT40 and the Alfa. There's also still the faster of the two Chaparrals left to run, so this thing isn't decided yet.
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