Couple Quick Things

 I'm pretty stoked! /r/slotcars has hit 2000 members. Pretty crazy considering when I took it over there were only about 100 or so pretty inactive members. It's taken awhile to grow, but it's doing well. Good people hanging out there, and I think it's great.

I also got back onto Facebook, mostly to reconnect with friends I hadn't talked to in a long time. I joined some of the slot car groups on there, but I only just started with that. I'll have to search and expand my slot car subscriptions/joins/whatever. 

I haven't put together my track painting video yet, mostly because of all this life change that is happening now. As it stands I probably won't get much time on my track for the next few weeks. I have one or two things I want to do, but those are little and require very little time. And neither involves me being in my pajamas racing race cars all day. 

But it's challenges that push us to be better people. And I'm ready for a challenge. And I know that the day I set my track up once I move will be a good day. I'm looking forward to it very much.

Summer Leftovers Race Pt. 2

 When I said that I was going to be able to break down races into smaller sessions, I wasn't expecting this. I've had any number of things come up that have made it impossible to get upstairs, much less run any races. But I'm going to finish this one. Five more cars to run. Here are the results so far:

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car            Time            Lap           Offs         

#65          5:42.55          6.84            0           

Matra      5:29.73          6.58            4  

962C       5:32.42          6.64            1   

The Matra has a comfortable lead, running a 6.58 lap time, which is almost as fast as the Alfa in the Summer Salami Race, which ran a 6.5 flat. So let's run some cars.

__________

The Ford GT40 #8

It had been awhile since I was on the track, so I wanted to start off with a dependable car. Need that when it's been awhile. The last thing you want is to start a session with a troublemaker. 

It ran a very smooth race, and felt quite fast. It's always been the kind of car that felt like it was in the running even when it wasn't. 

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car               Time            Lap           Offs         

#65             5:42.55          6.84            0           

Matra         5:29.73          6.58            4  

962C          5:32.42          6.64            1   

GT40 #8    5:30.81          6.6              1  

I love that the GT40 cars aren't afraid to get in there and mix it up. Very respectable lap time out of the #8, and right on the Matra's tail. The grouping of the cars is looking real tight so far, with 3/10ths of a second separating the field. Gotta hand it to Slot.it for making quality race cars.

__________

The Alfa Romeo 33/3 #2

When you're running as well as this car is, it really doesn't take anything to get it going. A quick wipe down of the tires and it was good to go. I was looking forward to this race as this car is probably going to set the lap record. 

It ran a great race, completely glued to the track. Every time I drive this car, I get sucked into the whole short-is-better thing. It almost always feels better to race with a shorter wheelbase car, even when you'd think it wouldn't have an advantage. Let's see how it did.

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car               Time            Lap           Offs         

#65             5:42.55          6.84            0           

Matra         5:29.73          6.58            4  

962C          5:32.42          6.64            1   

GT40 #8    5:30.81          6.6              1  

Alfa            5:22.69          6.4             1

Such a fast car. I would be hard pressed to believe that any other car will beat it. It's 2/10ths ahead of the next car. That is dominance. 

__________

The Chaparral #66

I'm am equally as interested in what the #66 is going to lay down as I am the Alfa. Not that I think it'll be necessarily faster, but it's improving all the time. Should run a fast lap.

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car               Time            Lap           Offs         

#65             5:42.55          6.84            0           

Matra         5:29.73          6.58            4  

962C          5:32.42          6.64            1   

GT40 #8    5:30.81          6.6              1  

Alfa            5:22.69          6.44             1

#66             5:21.68          6.42             0

Well would you look at that. It didn't run as smoothly as the Alfa, but it still ran faster. Unbelievable. I had a feeling that this car was something special, even in the beginning. It was still a little twitchy in the corners, but that may be due to tires not being adequately clean.

___________

Alright, I'm going to call the race. I have two more cars to run, the #11 and #5 GT40s, but I haven't had  the time to run them. And I don't think I'm going to get the time. I have to start considering tearing down and packing up everything. I'm going to wait as long as I can on the track, in case I somehow do get the time to run those last two cars, but I really don't see it happening. I hardly got any time this weekend and the next two weekends are completely booked.

So I gotta hand it to the Chaparral. Extraordinary performance, taking the field. I'm going to break down the layout and set up something small to goof around on until moving day. Unless I get super inspired and somehow run in to time, it'll just be up for fun. I might come on here and do a couple of things, though. I can do these in spurts here and there and it's usually fine. So until then, good racing!

Summer Leftovers Race Pt 1

I'm going to run another race. This one will be almost identical to the Summer Salami, a 50-lap inside lane affair. Why? Because I like the layout and have done quite a bit of work on the cars. There is, however, one change to the layout. I have moved the incline to the hill right up against the turn going into the straight. This seems to be taking car of flying cars, as they can't get up enough speed to catch air when there's so little runway. The apex now has four track pieces, so there's no issue at all with the hill being a distraction.

Since I've been doing work on the cars, I'm going to run each through the track and write a breakdown of what I did. Last night I picked apart a few cars and did some stuff, so I want to check them against time. 

Chaparral #65

In a post a day or so ago, I mentioned that I wasn't going to give the #65 the same treatment as the #66 to see what times would be like. Thing is, yesterday I was running the #66 and #65 back to back, and the #66 felt better with the weight in and all tuned up. So last night I was tuning the #65, when I noticed that it was a little light in the nose and wouldn't stay down. That's the same problem the Matra had, and I fixed it with weight added just behind the front axle. 

So I did the same thing here. I had to. If I didn't, it would have underperformed. I didn't run lap times between the two cars before adding the weight, so I won't know if either car was faster, but the #66 just simply felt faster and more planted than the #65. 

I also did a full lube, oil and cleaning to the car.

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car            Time            Lap           Offs         

#65          5:42.55          6.84            0           

In the Summer Salami Race, the #65 ran a 5:34 at 6.68. So it turns out I haven't fixed the problem with this car. Perhaps the weight was having a negative effect. We'll have to see how the #66 runs to really know. If both turn in slower lap times than the Salami times, then it might be the case. 

Boy it sure felt smooth when I was driving it. I was pushing pretty hard and didn't wreck once. It's got that smooth GT40 feeling to it, but it also has that extra level, like the Alfa does, were you can push it and hang right on the knife's edge with it. Why it's actually going .2 a lap slower than before? I don't know. I might take the weight out for the next race, though. 

__________

The Matra

I couldn't wait to get this car back on track. I took it apart yesterday and messed around a bit with the front suspension, tried getting rid of some vertical looseness in the front axle, only to try it, not like it and reset it back to the way I had it. So the car got a thorough lube, oil and cleaning.

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car            Time            Lap           Offs         

#65          5:42.55          6.84            0           

Matra      5:29.73          6.58            4  

As I was running it, it felt better and a bit faster than the #65. It just felt like it had the bite needed to make it through the tighter turns on the right side of the layout. Thing is, the car crashed four times, all my fault, and all various places throughout the track. I think that's due to a combination of things: the car's ability to run on the edge and my exuberance regarding it. 

There's a thing I've noticed about these cars. If you have a particular body style you like and it's a well-built slot car, the effect it'll have on you as an owner/operator of the thing feel more tangible than if you were just racing anything that would move. In other words, it'll become your favorite. When I got the first three cars, the two GT40's and the Alfa, I had a blast with them all, but I had a particularly good time with the Alfa. It was the most fun car to race, and felt like I could run it harder than the other two cars. 

Fast forward to the additions of the Porsche and the Matra, even though they came separate. The Porsche was fast and fun, but it didn't have that edge. The Matra, however, did have it. Suddenly I had two incredible cars along with more very very good cars. Those three cars took up the first drawer in my slot car pit box. The Matra and the Alfa were so similar in ability that it took me to another level of confidence while racing. And what that did was made my lap times better. If you're always riding on the edge, you're putting in the best time. 

The #66 Chaparral is looking like it could be in that group as well. It's going along roughly the same path the Alfa and the Matra did: started off good but with potential to be much better, and over a little time got there. I think the Chaparral is getting to that point where it's going to be an unstoppable force. But the Matra, I think, is already there.

__________

The Porsche 962C 

I put the #5 GT40 on the track, intending to run it next. During warmup it was coming off the track all over the place. Something's not set up right, so I put it back in the pit box and grabbed the Porsche. It's responding well to tuning and seems to be ready to race. I loosened the float up 

Summer Leftovers Race Results 

Car            Time            Lap           Offs         

#65          5:42.55          6.84            0           

Matra      5:29.73          6.58            4  

962C       5:32.42          6.64            1   

Man, the Porsche was just flying through the left half of the course. Just absolutely killing it. But the right half...the side with purely 1/60 curves slowed it down considerably. But once the track opens up, the Porsche hauls ass. That's kind of the way I expected it to run. Maybe not so hot through the tight sections, but like a bullet through the straights and larger radius turns. It had one pretty spectacular crash, but otherwise ran very well.

__________

Using Your Surroundings

 I have, what I would call, a pretty sweet table to build slot car tracks on. I made it myself, it came out great, and it really makes a difference when you race on it compared to the floor. I love it, and would do it all over again if I could. 

I'm going to miss having all this room.

But I'm lucky. I have a place to build a table. Or should I say had? Life changes, people change, things change, and change has to happen. I'll soon be moving out of this house with the sweet table, and I'm bummed about it. Sure, the attic has it's ups and downs: occasional wasps, bees, cold, heat, etc. But it's got my table in it. 

Well, that's changing. I'll be back in a small apartment soon, similar to the one where I got my start. And I'll be on the rug again soon. But this time I will be coming with loads of track and cars. Almost more than I need. 

If you're reading this, you're probably thinking I'm going to try to make this huge bummer seem like it's not so bad, and that's what I'm going to do. 

We all gotta start somewhere. Pictured is the box kit, painted, with the original Carrera cars, the R18 and the Safety car. Also pictured is furniture moved out of the way.

One thing I learned about having a table is that it gives you a lot of pressure to do something about it. Whether it's building an awesome track, trying out new things, or just racing all the time, there's a certain bit of pressure when you're staring at a monolith. I feel compelled sometimes to drive a car around, even if it's only for a few laps, then I won't pick it up for a couple of days. 

You have the space, you've built the table, now get to it.

When I was on the floor, time and space were both limited. I had to tear down the living room, clear the space, build and run the track, break that all down, clean up and reset everything before the wife came home. Well, I'll be living alone, so I'll have time and space. I plan on still doing things on the floor, no table. But I'm also thinking about what I'm going to do when I get down there. I did a lot of racing when I had not much to work with, but now that I have enough track to almost run the entire apartment, things should get interesting. 

Over times additions were made. Notably here some straights and some 1/30 curves. Also got my first batch of Slot.it cars.

It's likely most of the tracks will have a small footprint, but more overpasses and stuff. Hard to say at this point. I may be totally content to just make very basic tracks to do car tests and races with. Either way I'm going to be going back to that Saturday Morning thinking when I race. I'm referring to my childhood and how I only could race on weekends, usually early Saturday morning. So the sessions were bigger and more intense. I also know a couple of guys who would probably have fun racing while we're grilling, so I might be taking the track other places as well. 

So what's my point? My point is, if you look down in your living room and see some space, get your kit out and set it up. Make a day of it. Just do it. Sure, I always wanted a table, and I always will, but slot cars are fun, dammit. Even if you're on the floor. Just make the best of your surroundings.

I'm proud to be retaking my RugRacer status.

Summer Salami Outside Lane Time Trials Pt 2

 I got a chance to run a few more of the remaining cars for the Time Trial. It's been interesting so far, but there are still some more cars to come. 

The #11 Gulf GT40

This car has been seeing more laps recently, and due to the repair to the suspension it's running much better. During the time trial, it still seemed a little skittish, but I felt like the pace was good. 

The Time Trial

Car               Time        Lap         Offs          

#11 GT40   3:03.18     7.32          0

Not a bad run. Beat the Matra by 3 seconds overall. Makes me think something might be wrong with the Matra, since so many cars are beating it. But the #11 drove one of it's better times of all time today. Nicely done. 

__________

The Alfa Romeo

It ran such a good Summer Salami race that I had to run it as is. No fancy tricks. During the time trial it ran great. No offs, so it got a fantastic flow going. It's also incredibly nimble when there isn't much track to work with. Add to the fact that it can take the faster parts of the track pretty much like all the other cars and it sits at an advantage.

The Time Trial

Car               Time        Lap         Offs          

#2 Alfa       2:53.39     6.92          0

Fastest car yet, beating the #8 GT40 by 6 seconds overall. Dang fast. It just handles so well. This car is going to remain competitive for a long long time.

__________

#5 GT40

Hope you had a nice vacation, buddy, because it's time to go back to work. He ran the time trial like a lightning bolt. Don't know what got into this car. Maybe he just really responds well to the controller. 

The Time Trial

Car               Time        Lap         Offs          

#5 GT40     2:52.19     6.88          0

Fastest car yet. Even faster than the Alfa. Ran a tremendous race. Felt like the best GT40 of the three, but not the fastest car. Turns out it was. 

During the time trial, I noticed the last two cars I drove were skipping over something in the far left 180° turn. I took it out and took a look inside, but didn't find anything. I put it back into place, started up the #66 Chaparral's time trial, and the car deslotted there twice in the first two laps. I don't have time to change it over just now, so that last car will have to wait. 

Sometimes Weight Can Get You Down

 I mentioned a few cars had struggled over the hill with lightness in the front end. It was too hot to race today, so I decided to have a little pit session and add some weight to a couple of cars. It doesn't feel like they need to be heavier, just have a little bit more evenly distributed weight. 

First on the block was the #11 GT40. Once I got the front suspension issue sorted out, it got light going over the hill and was bucking a little during acceleration. 

I cut a lead square about 5/8" and put it right behind the front mounting post. Perfect place for it, and that little bit made the difference.

When I did this to the Matra, it responded by kicking ass forever. I don't know if the same thing will happen here, but I've had this car so long I'm hoping something will work. 

I also decided to do one of the Chaparrals, since both of them are doing the same thing. Since I hadn't run a time trial on the #66 and hadn't replaced the track pieces that were screwed up, I went ahead and added the weight. 

I did the #66, but I think I'm going to wait a little on the #65.

I'll run the trial in the morning for the car, but then tomorrow night I've got another race lined up. So I might skip the time trial altogether for the #66. As it stands I'm going soon into crazy time, so I might be here a bit more sporadically in the near future. Things are about to get really screwy.

But before that happens, I want to have some definitive numbers. I think I can do an endurance race tomorrow if I'm lucky. If not I'll do another race, but re-tune all the cars beforehand. Maybe make a track change or two as well. Something big either way. And special. 

I'm also going to scrub the idea of having a championship just yet. I've got ideas for that, but it'll have to wait a month or two before I'm ready to tackle it. 

__________

UPDATE: I went ahead and skipped the time trial for the #66. It wouldn't be fair now that I've added weight, and I'd rather get to a race than a time trial. Sure, I could just add up what I got and call that a race, but I really didn't prep all the cars before doing it, so I don't think it's fair. 

Adding weight to the #66 really made a difference. It's even more planted than before, but now has a much better flow through the turns. More deliberate. No weird tossing around of the car. I didn't add weight to the #65 yet, and I might not just for the sake of comparison, so we'll see. If it suffers for it, then I might change my mind. 

Summer Salami Outside Lane Time Trials

 I got a little time today, so I started up on some outside lane action. I normally run on the inside lane for a few reasons: there's more room for movement using the outside lane as a border, I design tracks with the inside lane in mind as the primary/only lane, and my Slot.it controller is wired to it. The controller comes off easily enough, but since I'm the only racer here I set it up the for the inside lane regardless. So essentially I think of it as a one-lane track and not a two-lane track. 

Well, today is different. Since I got the DS 35ohm controller I've been using it off and on, so today was going to be the first time I've done a dedicated race with it. 

It may look small, but I have freakishly big hands. The handgrip is actually the same size as the Slot.it handgrip.

Since I'm using the outside lane of the same track I ran last race, I'm going to run this short time trials first and see where everybody is before committing to a 50 lap race. The situation is very different. Instead of having the electronic controller with all the great settings, I have just the analog trigger. This is going to have an effect on some of the cars, as they run better with a little help from the electronic controller settings. Be that as it may, we are here to race. So we'll start off with the time trials. In a way, this could be quite revealing about which cars might be easier to drive, more responsive to control, and how good of a performer in general that they are. 

Cars were not tuned or treated in any way prior to the race. The weather is mild, and it has been raining [this matters in my unprotected attic], which are good weather conditions for racing. I picked the first four cars I had out today and started with them.

The first car was the Porsche:

Slot.it Porsche 962C #11 Leyton House

I thought I would start off with the Porsche because I thought it was going to be the car that required the most power and the most gentle touch of the bunch. Just from how I have to set the electronic controller to get it to run fast, I have to apply that sort of thing here as best as I can. I ran some laps to get used to the car/controller combo, then ran the race. The car didn't seem all that fast, but it also seemed like it was missing the braking ability from the other controller. It couldn't slow down enough to get through the turns without sliding out, so I ran a bit slower than I would have with the other controller.

Time Trial

Car      Time        Lap        Crashes   

962C   3:17.89   7.88            2

Normally I'd be concerned with an almost 8 second lap out of a car that recently ran a 6.64 on the inside lane of the very same track, but I know this is different, so I'm going with it. Besides, it's a time trial and not a race. So there won't be any official scoring. There will likely be some tuning done to some of the cars before the actual race begins. With that said, the Porsche was sluggish.

__________

Up next was the Matra:

Slot.it Matra 670B. Have you bought one of these yet? It's my firm recommendation you do so.

This glorious car has an innate ability to conform to just about any track situation. It's such a smooth runner it's almost criminal. It was the first car I tried the DS controller with, and they went great together. I was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of time I set. 

Time Trial

Car      Time        Lap        Crashes   

962C   3:17.89   7.88            2

Matra  3:06.92   7.44            2 

That's quite a difference between these cars so far. I was expecting the Matra to set the high bar early, and it has. But now it looks like the Porsche got thoroughly spanked. So be it. I don't think the Porsche and the DS controller are the best pairing. It needs something faster. But the Matra was smooth as butter through it all. Super easy to get a groove on, could run at a fast pace and still not risk crashing. It did crash twice at the same turn pretty much everybody else crashed at, which is the left after the hill. 

__________

And then came the #8 GT40:

Slot.it GT40 #8

The GT40s are curious cars. The three that I have all run very much different than each other, even though they share similar traits. This car is quiet and solid. It's usually the faster of the three. Usually. I ran the time trial and it handled great. It really had no problems ripping up the track. 

Time Trial

Car            Time        Lap        Crashes   

962C        3:17.89     7.88            2

Matra       3:06.92     7.44            2 

#8 GT40  2:59.28     7.16            2 

Well, would you look at that. Here I thought the Matra's time was going to be the time to beat, but it has just been handled, and quite easily, I might add, by #8. That's pretty special. Now I'm curious to see what the rest of the cars are going to run. 

__________

Next up, Chaparral #65:

From the Slot.it Chaparral 2E Can-Am 1966 Collector Set

I had planned on stopping at the GT40 and heading downstairs to start this post, but I talked myself into running one of the Chaparrals as well. Glad I did. This car really is great at imitating all the good characteristics of the rest of the cars. It's planted like a GT40, rides like a Matra and handles like an Alfa. I have a feeling one of these two Chaparrals are going to be in the #1 slot soon. 

Time Trial

Car            Time        Lap        Crashes   

962C        3:17.89     7.88            2

Matra       3:06.92     7.44            2 

#8 GT40  2:59.28     7.16            2 

#65 Chap 3:02.37     7.28            2

Very nicely done. Even beat the Matra. Something tells me the winner of this time trial is going to be the car that gets along best with the controller. #65 certainly does that. It ran the trial very well and wasn't troublesome in any way. 

Interesting how so much of this relies more on finger dexterity and restraint, rather than hitting it hard. Now that I've run four cars [the rest will come in the next post], I've got an idea of what I can expect from the rest. I think the Alfa is going to lay down the best time, unless it doesn't get along with the controller. 

I think I'm also going to run a head-to-head comparison of the controllers on the inside lap with one car. I know they'll lay down different lap times, just curious what they would be. 

You're probably wondering why I don't just use the lap times I just got for the race. Well, 25 laps really isn't enough time to get a flow going. By the time you've run the race your car is just starting to get good grip and a solid flow. So many crashes happen early in a race, but not so much later, and if you look back at it, I don't usually have more wrecks with more laps. I don't usually crash more than 2 times at 50 or 25 laps. 

But it is all going to come down to this controller and which cars work best with it. The more I think about the Porsche, but more I believe it to be true. The thing about it is, it has a stronger motor, 23k as opposed to the 21.5k motors in the other cars. It also has a 9/28 gear setup instead of the 11/32 the other cars have. It's an inliner, the rest sidewinders. So when the other cars all have a similar response to the controller and the person running it, dropping in a car with that much of a different setup is going to matter. This is where I'm going to likely have to score by class when I expand my Class C cars. They all run that same 23k inliner 9/28 pinion/gear setup. So a load of 962s and 956s would be very competitive with each other. Funny part is is that they'd probably be a little slower than the Classics on the whole.

I hope to get the other four cars run in a day or two.