Now is when it starts to get interesting. The NSR cars, in all their glory and awesomeness, are really only one of the stories going on here. Another is a hot and pretty serious competition between a number of cars that have been racing here awhile. These cars are no slouches. If you think about it, an out-of-box NSR is probably going to be faster/smoother than an out-of-box Slot.it. Thing is, these Slot.it cars are not out of the box. They've been tuned and worked on, each with its own story to write.
So this batch of cars should look familiar to anybody who's been around here awhile. But before we get to the entries, let's see where we stand so far:
Pos Car Time Lap
1. 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
3. 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
4. 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
The Sunoco 908 and the Gulf 917 ran pretty good runs, while the other two felt a little sluggish. I'm going to be digging in to the Montjuich #83 tonight. It should be comfortably in the 5.7 or less area. The Rothmans 917 should also be going a little faster. But remember, we're waiting on tires. This race will be a good gauge to see what they do on their own tires, though.
All cars are running at a set power limit of 70%.
Today's Entries
Ford GT40 #5
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| This car's M.O. is it's a good, solid race car that occasionally impresses with flashes of brilliance. An accidental podium finisher, but still mostly running mid-pack. |
Weight: 70.3 grams
Tires: Slot.it well-tuned.
The three GT40s I have have all been very consistent runners for a long time. They don't run the same speed with each other, but they're all three spirited in their own way. This is the baby brother of the three, picked up three years after the first two. It ran the track well today, not getting overly pushy or wiggly. Weight seemed to help the car through the curves better, although it still felt middle of the pack. Here's the result:
The three GT40s I have have all been very consistent runners for a long time. They don't run the same speed with each other, but they're all three spirited in their own way. This is the baby brother of the three, picked up three years after the first two. It ran the track well today, not getting overly pushy or wiggly. Weight seemed to help the car through the curves better, although it still felt middle of the pack. Here's the result:
Pos Car Time Lap
1. 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
3. 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
4. GT40 #5 2:28.02 5.92
5. 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
Like I said, I didn't expect the Slot.it cars to lay down. I expected them to bring the heat, and that's what they are doing. The #5 set a good lap time that scored above the 908. Good on ya, Ford. Nice work.
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Alfa Romeo 33/3 #2
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| It's Johnny Racetrack! |
Weight: 64 grams
Tires: Paul Gage PGT Urethane tires. I thought I would test these tires against the Ortmanns since I had them. I figure the Alfa is a podium finisher on the rubbers, so we could use whatever that time is for a rough idea of what it would run.
The car ran a little rough. The added weight seemed to make it twitch a bit more. Not sure if the Paul Gage tires helped at this point, but I'm pretty sure the weight didn't. Maybe a bit too much. I think getting it down to 58-60 grams would be better. Here's the result:
Pos Car Time Lap
1. 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
3. 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
4. GT40 #5 2:28.02 5.92
5. 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
6. Alfa #2 2:36.79 6.24
Okay, no. It's either the tires or the weight. I think I'm going to have to go with tires first, then cut the weight down a little. But now it's just wrong and feels that way. This isn't the Alfa I know. That thing should be right up towards the front.
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Matra Simca #10
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| Party crasher. |
Weight: 68.4 grams
Tires: Slot.it well tuned.
No special tricks with this car. The weight seems to be sitting nicely. I don't think I want to add any more at this point. We'll see what happens with the Ortmanns.
Pos Car Time Lap
1. 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
3. 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
4. Matra #10 2:27.17 5.88
5. GT40 #5 2:28.02 5.92
6. 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
7. Alfa #2 2:36.79 6.24
Interesting how this is starting to shape up. While I had a clear speed control of 70% on all the cars, that's still plenty power to get into trouble. It's good to see the Slot.it cars rise to the occasion. The Matra is such a good runner. If there was a car in the Slot.it line I was going to recommend, it would be that one. I think it is a very sneaky car, and one that will always be up front. And being 3/10ths off the leader? I'll take it.
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Porsche 962C Leyton House #11
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| Big race car on a big track. What could go wrong? |
Weight: 71.5 grams
Tires: Ortmann Urethane.
This is the first Slot.it car I outfitted with the Ortmann tires as a test to see if they were worth buying for the line. I like the results so far, but this is the first timed test. Result:
Pos Car Time Lap
1. Sunoco 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. Gulf 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
3. Leyton House 962C #11 2:26.07 5.84
4. Rothmans 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
5. Matra Simca #10 2:27.17 5.88
6. Ford GT40 #5 2:28.02 5.92
7. Montjuich 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
8. Alfa Romeo 33/3 #2 2:36.79 6.24
I eagerly await our Ortmann Tire overlords. If that's what I'm going to end up with, then I'll take it. That's a fantastic lap, by the 962 no less! Guys, this isn't a normal occurrence. You know this car; sluggish, needs more power and is butt heavy....all that stuff. But put a little weight in and some urethane tires and it comes unglued! It just split the NSRs right up the middle! Granted, it squeaked by the Rothmans 917, but it still beat it.
I'd have to look back, but I can't remember any time prior to this that the 962C beat the Matra.
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Ford Shell GT40 #8
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| If there are any cars that I own that are comfortable in their own skin, this one is it. It has run so reliably that it requires almost no adjustment. |
Weight: 68.3 grams
Tires: Slot.it well tuned.
This car is in the zone, especially with the added weight. After running 8 or 9 cars you can feel which ones are doing better than the others, and the Shell #8 is just breezing through every section of the track. Nothing bothers it in the least. Results:
Pos Car Time Lap
1. Sunoco 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. Ford Shell GT40 #8 2:21.26 5.64
3. Gulf 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
4. Leyton House 962C #11 2:26.07 5.84
5. Rothmans 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
6. Matra Simca #10 2:27.17 5.88
7. Ford GT40 #5 2:28.02 5.92
8. Montjuich 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
9. Alfa Romeo 33/3 #2 2:36.79 6.24
The Shell car just squeaked by the Gulf 917K, pretty much beating it by a couple car lengths. Very impressive run by the #8 today. The added weight looks very good on the car and just makes it run even better. I'd say by now that it is without a doubt that a well-tuned Slot.it car could compete against an NSR car. Maybe not a fully-tuned NSR, but out-of-box certainly. And mine are no longer out of box. I've started work on all of them.
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Ford Gulf GT40 #11
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| Up until as recently as today my ex wife refers to this as "her car" even though she's only driven it once. My 3 & 1/2 year old daughter, who is ripping up the lap times these days, is claiming it as hers. She's going to win that battle. |
Weight: 68.3 grams
Tires: Slot.it well tuned.
Aside from adding about 5 grams of weight, this car is mostly awaiting tires. It's in pretty much the same boat as the other cars. I haven't given this car any other treatment lately aside from the standard lube/oil I give to each of the cars. So here we go:
Pos Car Time Lap
1. Sunoco 908 #6 2:20.77 5.60
2. Ford Shell GT40 #8 2:21.26 5.64
3. Gulf 917K #19 2:21.35 5.64
4. Leyton House 962C #11 2:26.07 5.84
5. Rothmans 917K #9 2:26.89 5.84
6. Matra Simca #10 2:27.17 5.88
7. Ford GT40 #5 2:28.02 5.92
8. Ford Gulf GT40 #11 2:28.79 5.93
9. Montjuich 908 #83 2:33.00 6.12
10. Alfa Romeo 33/3 #2 2:36.79 6.24
Displaying a bit more health than the two cars below it, it could still use some work. We'll see what happens when the tires come. Not that I think this car's problem is only tires, but I have a feeling we'll see a more even playing field on the urethanes than we're seeing on the rubbers. I'm not saying this car is going to get better. It might get slightly better, but it's not going to pull off times like the #8.
Interesting result so far. Kinda goes right up against my thoughts that I'd need to run different classes, when clearly there is no separation here. I've got NSRs going as slowly as 9th place right now. Neither of the 917s, which I thought were going to run away with this event, are leading, and one of them isn't even on the podium! And the other is at risk of being run off! How dramatic this is.
Very impressive showing by the 962C and the Shell #8 so far. Quite unimpressed with the Alfa. Still probably haven't figured out the Monjuich 908 yet.
So we still have to run the Chaparrals, the Carreras and the Revoslots. There are still plenty of challengers and spoilers left to come. Holy crap this really is exciting!!
UPDATE:
I replaced the Paul Gage tires on the Alfa and will run it again on the Slot.it rubbers. I think the PG tires are fried. I took a closer look at them last night and they don't look right. Don't know what happened. I do know that they sat in the attic in a small parts box all winter. That would have done something to them. Either way, I don't think it's fair to saddle the Alfa with that result when it was the fault of some defective tires. I wouldn't do that to any other car, so I'm not going to start now. This renders my Paul Gage / Ortmann comparison moot, which is too bad. I paid a lot for those Paul Gage tires, but it's my fault for not using them.
I also set the Montjuich 908/3 back to factory snug settings, and readjusted the ride height. I'm not going to add weight just yet. It won't run again as it was a setup issue and not a defect.
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