2020 Summer Salami - 50 Lap Main Event Pt. 2

This is Part 2, a continuation of the 2020 Summer Salami. If you need to get caught up, start there. 

The racing so far has been hot and fast, and the field is starting to take shape. Let's look at where we are as of this morning:

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                                      

orange denotes leader

It looks like the smart money has so far paid off, with the Matra doing what was expected of him, which was to take the lead. The #8 GT40 almost caught him, and was literally only a few track pieces behind. 

After that the rest of the field starting turning over more conservative lap times, with exception of the #11 GT40, which was well off the pace. Really what we're talking about is a lap time of about a half second difference from first to last. That's pretty dang close. 

So let's get caught up on what the track looks like:

The entire left side of this track, from where the straightaways are on the right side, is extremely fast and fun. Just about every car rips through there.

First up today is the #5 GT40. He's thrown down wicked lap times and has been a solid competitor since he showed up on the scene. As solid of a slot car as they come. Does he have what it takes to pull it off? Can I add any more cliches in here? Let's find out!

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              

#5         GT40     5:41.86        6.82          0  

Nice racing! At first I thought he might have had it in him to pull out that little bit extra, but whenever I tried it he started to get twitchy in the corners. The tires were clean, but it just kept happening. I got it into a more steady groove, but it was off the pace by then. Fell into the middle of the pack, running an almost identical time to the #66 Chaparral.

__________

Next up, the other new guy, #65 Chaparral. He came out of the box in much better shape than his twin, and has put up good numbers in tests. The driver is still getting used to the car, so mistakes might be made. He has had a significant number of laps in it, however. 

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              

#5         GT40     5:41.86        6.82          0  

#65       Chap      5:34.22        6.68          1

Whoa, that was close! Off the lead by 3 seconds. Very nicely done and puts it into a solid third so far in it's debut. Very nice feeling race car. I can definitely tell the difference between the two Chaparrals. This one just has a much better planted feel. I could probably push it a little harder. 

__________

So that leaves us with our last entry, the #2 Alfa Romeo 33/3. The Champion of the first 20 race season, and always a threat. It has seemed to me that it prefers shorter, more complex tracks than the big flowy ones, but it still likes to go fast too. This car, like all the cars before this race, got thorough going-overs to make sure it was in tip-top shape. So here we go:

The Race

Car       Make       Time         Lap       Crash       Championship

#66        Chap      5:41.68      6.82          1                     4              

#11        962C      5:42.55       6.84          1                   2

#11        GT40     5:54.37       7.08          1                    1       

#10       Matra      5:31.53       6.62          0                    7

#8          GT40    5:32.71       6.64          0                     6

#5         GT40     5:41.86        6.82          0                    3

#65       Chap      5:34.22        6.68          1                    5

#2         Alfa        5:25.27       6.5            0                    9

Holy Cow! Out of nowhere, and I mean nowhere! Dude, when I said this car prefers short twisty tracks, I meant it. I've seen this car get beat way too many times on longer tracks. But this? Holy crap. That's a 6 and 1/2 second lap! Okay then. And that means the Matra can actually be beat. I think it's still too early to call the Alfa the fastest of them all, but dang. Nice work, Alfa. 

So there it is. I think it's a pretty good format. I think crashes are indicative of more than they look. Every car that ran well didn't crash. Every other car that crashed suffered from it. 

Alfa, Matra, Shell GT40 are one, two, three. Nice work everyone. 

Disappointment: Porsche 962C. Was hoping for more.

A Quick and Dirty Look at Slot Car Controllers

 So you have a slot car set, and you've had time to get some new cars and some more track to make it longer. You've gotten better cars than the ones you originally had, but they're so hard to control that it's almost not fun anymore.

The controller should definitely be a consideration. It's the interface between you and the car, and the better it is, the better your racing will be. It really does make that much of a difference.

There isn't a slot car manufacturer alive that's making a worthwhile controller for slot car racing. Most are subpar and frustrating at best, uncontrollable at worst. Thankfully, there are quite a few companies out there that continue to make great controllers.

On the left is the standard Carrera Evolution thumb controller. One grabs hold and pushes the red plunger down with their thumb. On the right is the Slot.it SCP-1 controller. It uses a finger trigger as is much more ergonomically comfortable.

When you buy a Carrera Evolution racing kit, you get two of the thumb controllers with it. I don't like these. Never have. When I was a kid, I had an AFX set that had finger-trigger controllers, and it was excellent. But trying to drive with your thumb just wasn't instinctive for me. I don't have the sensitivity in my thumb to get really touchy with the plunger. 

The controllers themselves are clumsy for driving. You have such a limited range, slow, slow medium, then BANG! Whipped into a wall. There is no middle ground. The one good thing about them: they're cheap. You could throw your controller into a wall in frustration and get another on ebay for six bucks.

So time to upgrade. There's just no point fighting it anymore. You've looked at controllers, saw all the different specs, got intimidated and moved on. But now's the time to do it. Take the plunge[r]....

The DS 350 3D Controller. It's a finger-trigger too.

The thing with nicer controllers is that their origins are with racing when it was in its commercial track period, a.k.a. the golden years of slot cars. Most controllers are setup with particular resistances. This was originally done so you could run different cars on those huge commercial tracks and get way more speed than you could on your home track. The controllers are built to work with special circumstances. Sure, there are controllers that'll work with everything, and we're going to talk about that in a minute, but if we're talking about the next-level, ready-to-win controllers that are still good on the budget, then we have to talk about these.

DS is one company that makes slot car controllers. There are a host of them, ranging in resistance depending on what you need. I did a lot of research online before purchasing. I wanted to make sure that I was getting the proper resistance rating, or very near it, for what I was doing. After reading multiple suggestions of going with a 40ohm controller to race well with Carrera cars on Carrera track, I gave myself a little more room and got a 35ohm controller, so I'll have a little more control all the way. I'd still get the power, it just wouldn't be so much of a last-plunge punch like the Carrera controller. 

This controller runs up to medium speed about halfway depressed, then starts a more gradual upward curve. This allows me to maintain speed while being able to feather the throttle through the turns. There's is no black/white, on/off feel to this controller. You can actually feel and understand what's happening. Suddenly you become much better at high-end control as well, as you've got more room to move. 

I'm a drummer. Been so for many many years. For a drummer, the thumbs are like an on/off switch. While they do a lot, it is mostly of the hit/don't hit variety. The fingers, on the other hand [I'm full of them today], have so much more control over the power, accent, speed, etc of the stick. Sure, the thumb's doing stuff too. You need your thumb. But in this case its acting more like a fulcrum than a fine-tuner. 

Fingers are just better for doing the sort of stuff like slot car racing than thumbs. In fact, aside from being a contestant on Jeopardy, I can't for the life of me think of any other time or place in life where the thumb-plunge is used in any way, shape or form. Anywhere.

So, you now have your new controller and you've tried it out. It costs almost as much as a cheap car, but you notice the improvement right away. But you only bought one. What happens now? Do you buy a matched controller to what you just bought? Or do you maybe get something else with a slightly different resistance rating? Could control some of your cars better. Never know. 

Or, you could look at the next level: electronic controllers.

The SCP-1 again. An impressive piece of kit.

"I'm not insane. No way I spend three cars' worth of money on a controller that's way out of my league."

Yeah, I thought the same thing. But in case you don't remember or haven't read the old days of this blog, the SCP-1 was gifted to me by a kind colleague on a slot car forum. I still find them available online nowadays for around 80 bucks, which is pretty good. Would I pay that now if I didn't have one? Damn straight.

It's hard to justify spending crazy money on a controller. But here's the thing: you don't need two of these. Just the one for you. Get yourself a nice 30-buck-chuck like the DS controller and your friend will be able to race you no problem. 

But electronic slot car controllers are a different animal. Yes, you still have the same basic trigger-finger throttle, but there's so much more. And it's these things that set this unit apart. This allows total customization of controller to car, with the ability to adjust on the fly, and do a host of other things. 

Being able to dial in each race car adds a huge thrill to racing. So much you can do. Power trim sets how much power you want to have how fast. Min Speed sets what happens the second you apply pressure to the trigger. Brake is electronic, and will slow your car faster than the normal coast most controllers do. Curve/Max, in this case is maximum power. Great to set if you want to be able to control a car and race it right on the edge. Also great if you have noobs or kids over and need to keep the overall speed down. There's also a set-and-forget button so you can race against a drone car.

Having more functional control of the power curve and everything affecting it will definitely improve your racing. Certain functions will make a huge difference in a car's performance. Being able to control a car that might be touchy by lowering the Power Trim and adding a little braking makes it act like a different race car.

I went from lousy [Carrera] to fantastic [Slot.it] right away, and would have been totally happy with the DS [or any other brand] controller if I hadn't. Get a good controller. Anything but the stock one. So get one. Just do it. Do it for me.

2020 Summer Salami - 50 lap main event - Pt. 1

Today's post....or should I say, The following few posts will be expanded coverage of the 50 lap 2020 Summer Salami. The first race ever between the entire field of cars. Due to time issues, I'll be running this over a period of time, but it'll all be done in the next day or two at the most. It's very hot here today, so attic time is limited until later in the evening. Regardless, I ran the first two cars a few minutes ago.

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

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

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                                     

__________

Porsche 962C #11 Leyton House

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 

__________

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. 

__________

.....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] 

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.

__________

Matra Simca [#10]

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.

__________

Ford GT40 [#8]

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.

_________

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.

Gotta Have Class

My goal all along has been to get a good collection of competitive race cars. Having a field where any car has a chance to win a race at any time makes the whole experience a lot more fun.

I’m speaking as a home racer on a limited budget. I have all the track I need. It’s going to be a slow, ongoing collecting of cars from here on out.

But how do you know when cars will be competitive with each other? Aren’t all cars competitive anyway?

Well, not really. The difference between a well built 3rd party slot car and a slot car from a kit manufacturer is pretty vast. You can’t just put any two cars on the track and expect them to be competitive with each other. One company might put faster motors, different gearing, less weight, or other things that could put it ahead of the other brand immediately. While Carrera and Scalextric are pretty comparable, neither holds up compared to Slot.it, NSR, and other 3rd party manufacturers.

Old class picture. The Porsche [Group C] on the left has an inline motor/transmission. The other four [Classic] are sidewinders. The Porsche so far tends to run around the middle of the pack.

One way, and really one of the best ways to know you're going to get competitively matched cars, is to buy from a class of cars offered from the same manufacturer. DTM, Group C, Classics, GT3, F1, Nascar.....all of these are classes of car, and all of them are different from each other. DTM cars from Carrera, for example, are of a similar design, weight, and containing similar parts to the other cars in the Carrera DTM class. You could race those together all day. Same goes for Slot.it and most others. Slot.it Classics, which is the class my cars come from, have the same orange-endbell sidewinder motors in them and the same gearing. So with diligent tuning it’s totally possible to get the cars running within a fraction of a second of each other.

So what helps is to find a class of cars you like, then look at the rest of the class offered. I like Classics and Group C. They’re not the same, but they’re close. And I know there are a dozen or so of each that I’d like to have, and am already well on my way with Classics. Thing is, if they’re in the same class from the same manufacturer, then I’ll be in good shape. 

New class picture. The Porsche is still the standout here. The other cars are all Classics and have similar configurations.

Once I have a half dozen cars of each class, they’ll race to compete against their own class as well as the entire field, similar to how races like Le Mans 24 Hours are run. If Group C cars go on a lap average a half second faster than Classics do, then the two classes aren’t competitive and there needs to be a focus on competition within each class. They’ll still race together, and there will still be an overall winner, except now there will be a winner for each class as well. It’ll give the slower class something to work towards, and will help keep cars established without getting buried as a back-marker.

Racing this way is also a great way to go ahead and buy pretty much whatever cars you want and race them in a structured way. Classics against Classics. DTM against DTM. That sort of thing. You could even cross manufacturers, although you'll likely start seeing where certain companies are much better at something than others are.

My first two cars. Both Carrera, both put out to pasture. These cars were so wildly different that they never even came close to each other. The Safety car had a little handling and was a little lighter than the beast sled that was the R-18. That Carrera thought they would be competitive with each other [if they even thought that] is dumbfounding.

As a slot car nut, the last thing I want is to get bored with a car. Having the same car come in last every time makes it hard to want to race that car, but I’ll continue to do so. It’s basically the same as the other cars in design, so it should be able to become competitive. It’s just a matter of me figuring out how to make it that way. So the focus after the race isn't "how can the 2nd place guy beat the 1st place guy", it's "how can the last place guy improve for the next race." Every time you improve the last place car, you close the gap between the field.

If you've read through the earlier stuff on this blog, you'd notice that usually when I finish a race I tend to the car that needed it most. Frequently that's the last place car unless there's another one performing equally badly and inconsistently. And I like to get the loser running better so he can get his mojo back. It doesn't take much for a car to be not as right as the other cars, holding up the rear. So even if all I do after a race is inspect the car and confirm I made a mistake somehow, it's a start to a faster lap time. 

Taking the top off and inspecting the car, seeing how it's working together, fitting together, whether it's got enough lubrication, etc...all important.

Focusing on the losing car, taking it to the garage before the next race, and keeping close tabs on it’s progress helps, especially when the repair time yields improved results. Practically every car I have started off pretty good and got better over time. The parts are all there, but it’s up to you how to set them up.

So sticking to a single manufacturer's class is a great way to start out. There's something out there for everybody, and at least one other competitive car. And if you want to try a different class? No problem. You might want to pick up two cars in that class to start, just in case the new car doesn't race well with the rest of your cars. 

Two Classics, Alfa Romeo 33/3 [L] and GT40 [R]. Both have similar materials and characteristics, with exceptions being chassis/body length, width and guide flag position in relation to wheels. So what you end up with are two cars that race well together but drive differently.

That's my explanation on the benefits of buying cars in the same class. Happy motoring!

Another Paint Session

But this time I filmed it. I'm going to put it up on YouTube in a few days. I just need to do a little editorial first. 

I painted all the new track I got, which was the Overpass as well as 10 straights. Pretty straightforward paint job, even though I ended up using some old tape that gave me problems coming off the rails. But otherwise it was good. Two coats and dried overnight. Ready to go.

And of course now that I have all those straights I need to do something with them. I still had the old layout up, which I liked, but it wasn't enough. So I started replacing curves with straights where they were supposed to go, and then using the larger radius curves to replace the 1/60's every chance I could get. I ended up using all of the fancy curves but one, and ended up with a VERY FAST race track. I mean, screamin'. And I still had five straight pieces left over. 

While it's really hard to tell from this Pano shot, it's actually a very fast layout with big soft curves, going into two 180° turns. I'm still not using the Overpass the way it's intended, but I'm still trying stuff out with it. It'll be all over in future layouts.

I also have quite a few extra 1/60 curves. I don't need them in the current layout, but I have 6 pieces I'm not using. So it's good to know that I have the length to make whatever I want, and I also have plenty for technical sections. 

There's a 7 piece front stretch and a 9 piece back stretch, and the curves taking it down the extensions are all larger radius, which means you can haul through them. I've gone around and added elevation for banking through all the fast turns, although I kept the big 180° flat. Just about every other turn is banked by a couple degrees. Just enough for a magless car to push its weight into the turn and break out slightly less. I have a feeling there's one car in particular of mine that's going to like this track, and that's the Porsche 962C. It's got everything that car loves to run. Straights and more straights. 

I think I'm not at the point where I can pretty much make any track layout I desire. I have more than enough straights at 29, so I can cover a good distance. Also with the variety of curves I've got a lot of options.

Class Picture 2020.

Race Idea

So I've been thinking as I've been running cars the past few days. Now that I have eight cars, it's getting difficult to get a session long enough to cram all the races in. So I'm thinking of doing longer races, but less cars per session. So, two groups of four cars, or four groups of two cars for endurance races. I've been wanting to do some of those, but they are long and require a lot of time. 

So I might do something like that. Instead of running all the cars in 20 lap heats, I'll run, for example, two cars in 100 lap heats each session. It'll also give me a chance to focus more on each car, in life and here on the blog. Sometimes the slower cars get left behind and don't get a proper chance. Then one race leads to the next and the next, and nothing has improved and it's out of championship contention.

Once I've run a session, I'll take those and put the times together. Once the cars have all run, that's the race. I'm also going to be re-instituting the OFFS score, as I'm going back to full-clock mode. No more stopping the clock on crashes. That made me lazy and careless. There was no longer a chance you'd have to run and replace your car. Now it's back. I'll still keep the 3 lap rule, which is if the car crashes in the first three laps of the race, I can stop it, check or fix the car, and have a do-over. 

The "I'm also going to do" section

I'm also going to do more garage work and new team orders. Cars will be well done over before each race. They will also be given specific setup care for best possible performance.

Crazy when I think back on those simpler times, on the rug, and pulling this car out of the box for the first time. Watching it effortlessly rip around the track compared to my Carreras. Completely falling for this car. My main wheels. It has done more laps than any other car by far. And to think that I now have EIGHT cars, each of which I love just as much as the next. Not a dud in the bunch.

I'm also going to do two races per layout, one inside lane and one outside lane. Both lanes offer unique challenges, so they'd be almost like two different tracks. Almost. If that gets boring or the results aren't interesting, then I'll probably scrub the idea. But we'll see. I'd be curious to see if times were faster on the outside, even though there's no safety barriers or borders.

As it is now I'm able to run drone cars, so I'll be looking for ways to incorporate that into what I'm doing. It's fun racing against drone cars, but I don't see how it would translate into anything but a good time. I haven't done anything like a drone race since the Drone Time Trial test way back in the beginning of 2016. There I just set them up at their fastest drone speed and timed each car. Took the driver out of the equation. Kinda want to do that again to see where we are now.

I'm also going to do a full article on the Overpass. It needs one. It's got potential if it's used correctly. It'll wreck your cars if it isn't. So far I've tried it as is, with one piece between the apex, and now with two pieces between the apex. Each additional straight piece added helps settle down the airborne effect. With two pieces it's pretty much manageable. So it'll make a good overpass, especially if it's got two straights in it. But this is all for another post.

So where does that put me, now that I have amassed so much track now? And eight cars. That's starting to become respectable almost. And I got another controller, so I'm all set in that department.

I'll continue to keep looking for cars, but I might be a bit more random in my future purchases. Track I think I'm good with, unless it's the occasional large radius curve piece. I'll keep an eye out for sales of those, but otherwise I think I'm okay. I have enough 2/30's and 3/30's to have good fun with and make dull sections interesting.

So it's going to likely be cars from this point out. There are a few other things I could use: lap timer/counter, power supply. But otherwise it's going to be about cars. I'll need to start looking at other classes, as I was just on the slot.it website and just about everything they have on offer I own. I'll need to pick up a McLaren M8D. But I'm going to look into more Group C cars to start, then maybe off to another manufacturer. Not that there's anything wrong with Slot.it. There isn't. Great race cars. But there are other brands and manufacturers out there, so maybe I'll try something else in the future. 

I haven't mentioned this, but the new controller is working great connected straight to the Carrera jack. I'm probably going to do the same to the SCP-1 as well.

#66 - or - To Infinity And Beyond

Every time you get a new car, there are a series of things that you can do to it to get it "setup" for your track. Things that are all minor, yet together improve performance dramatically. A setup is a thing I do on every car, often more than once. Slot cars are extremely sensitive to adjustment, so it's possible do a perfect setup for you. And you'll know when it's that perfect setup because it will be driving just how you like it. 

Such is the case with every car, such is the case with the Chaparral #66. He limped a bit out of the box, and an overexcited me did a quick setup on it. 

When I ran the Chappies against the Matra yesterday, I couldn't help thinking that maybe the problem lies in me not giving it the full treatment, instead going quick-n-dirty. So this morning while waiting for my box of clips to arrive, I decided to spend a little time with the car, going over everything. 

First thing I noticed were there was still some factory tread on the tires, so I needed to put them on the sandpaper for a bit longer. I reminded myself to do that at the end. I checked the drivetrain and axles to make sure there wasn't any binding anywhere. I didn't think there was, but there's no way that there's nothing wrong when the car was almost half a second per lap slower than the #65. 

I lubed and oiled the car again, getting everything this time. I cleaned up the extra and made sure everything else was nice and secure. I set the body up for medium/medium float and ran some laps. It performed much better this time, almost running as confidently as the #65. I think I really need to run a race to determine what both of these cars can do. 

So the Car Flinger is pretty interesting. If I'm trying to set a hot lap, I really have to pay attention to it. It's almost like slowing down for the inside of a 1/60 curve, except it'll throw you. It takes very little to catch air. 

I see myself using this sometimes, but not all the time. I'm going to keep it in the mix for awhile, trying some other stuff out, but ultimately I'll have enough track pieces to keep myself interested without having to resort to using it much. I will use it anytime I need an overpass, though. I think for that it's pretty great. 

Another little thing that's kinda turned into a cool and important thing: that new DS 3503D controller. I got my box of clips that I was waiting for today, and part of that order was 4mm banana clips for the controller. So they come, I take 'em out, run upstairs to see if one of them is going to fit in the spot. Hmm...touchy. Not so easy. Might get easier. Okay, maybe I should just go ahead and put it together and deal with getting it to fit after. Sounds like a hassle. Wish I could just pop off the connector from the Carrera plung....

This is how my brain works sometimes. The answer to my problem is not only staring me in the face, but it's openly, outwardly mocking me. I popped off the Carrera connector and a bit of cable, did the totally easy wiring, taped it up and within 15 minutes away we went. We being me and my controller. 

The DS 3503D Controller.

So now I can say it: that DS 3503D controller is perfect for my racetrack. It's got great midrange response, plenty of top end, and can be feathered around the tricky parts. 35 ohms seems to be just right for running the Slot.it cars on Carrera track. It'll be a great home controller, and is a breeze to operate. Not too sensitive that a noob would pick it up and crash a car, but still plenty of gusto. I can see it successfully running other brand cars as well. 

Additional Notes:

I've been running the #66 throughout the evening, getting better performance and a smoother ride. I think it was just down to the setup/tuneup. So instead of waiting until I had time to run all the cars, I just ran the #66 against the #65 and Matra's previous times. Before the #66 ran a 2:35, and tonight it ran 2:27. That's just behind #65, and there's probably still room for improvement. Of course I haven't done really much at all to the #65 yet, so there's going to be all kinds of opportunity to increase speeds. 

I also spent quite a bit of time with the new controller, which means I was on the outside lane. So there were all kinds of fresh experiences tonight. I think the controller is going to be fantastic, and I don't expect any problems. Running on the outside lane is interesting. I don't know if I like it any better than the inside, but I do like being able to switch lanes when I want. Plus the ability to now race against a drone car makes a big difference. I'll still do my races in the more traditional [for me] time trial manner. I'd rather have hard numbers for the important stuff. 

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.