The results are in!

I was able to finish testing my batteries last night and here are the results listed as Battery, IR, Run time, Average Discharge Voltage; from best to worst:

SMC 5200mah 50C #1, 5.1, 598 sec, 7.71V
SMC 5200mah 50C #2, 5.1, 597 sec, 7.71V
Reedy 5000mah 35C #2, 7.3, 483 sec, 7.70V
Reedy 5000mah 35C #1, 7.9, 445 sec, 7.68V
Orion 3800mah 30C #2, 12.5, 173 sec, 7.63V
Orion 3800mah 30C #1, 13.0, 160 sec, 7.62V
SMC 4700mah 40C #1, 15.3, 166 sec, 7.60V
SMC 4700mah 40C #2, 15.3, 170 sec, 7.58V

My 4700 40C SMC's are my next newest packs, having bought them in May at the re-run of the JBRL round at Hot Rod's, but they been the worst performers the last few times I've tested them. I think this was due to the fact I've been storing them around 8V, which I think might have killed the capacity and voltage. I've also noticed the same thing occurring with the LiPo batteries I use for my helicopters. I used to store them fully charged for months at a time, and they have lost a bunch of capacity and voltage. Thus, I have begun storing all my packs at their nominal voltage, 7.4V for a 2cell and 11.1V for a 3cell, which stores them at about 20% capacity left in the battery. This was confirmed to be a good starting point, since my new SMC 50C packs were at about this voltage (~7.5-7.6V) when I pulled them out of the package. SMC recommends storing the packs at 6.6V, to maintain their capacity and voltage, but I'm a bit weary of that, as most other theories say to store them at 20% capacity. How do you store your LiPo packs?

Also, I really like my Reedy 5000mah 35C packs! They're over a year old and are producing numbers similar to my brand new SMC 5200mah 50C packs.

Have a Happy New Year!

More Power!

I finally got a pair of the above batteries! I've been wanting to get them ever since I learned about them a few months ago. With the high 5200 mah capacity and 50c discharge rate, it should provide crazy power! I tested them on my Turbo 35 using a 20A discharge rate and 7.4V cut-off. They produced a run time of 598 seconds, IR of 5.1, and average discharge voltage of 7.71V!

I plan to test all my current batteries using the same parameters and compare them to the SMC 5200 50C's.

TQ'd Stock Truck :)

This weekend I was trying out profile 7 on my LRP SPX. This profile is supposed to use "timing boost" to increase the rpms on the top end, giving you some extra speed down the straights. I dropped my gear 2 teeth and decreased the motor timing to 10°, just in case using this profile heated up my motor more. During practice I timed my runs and tried to pull over soon after 6 minutes, and my motor temps were in the 150°F range, so I geared up 2 teeth for racing.

In round 1, I finished the race in 1st, setting the TQ, and my motor came off at 170°F, the exact temp I was aiming for :) The second heat of Stock Truck was up next and I wondered if my TQ would stand. It wasn't looking too good for me, as early on, the leader was on a pace a few seconds faster than my TQ time. But, with about a minute to go, he rolled in the center triple and took forever to get marshaled. I thought to myself, "Well, that's it, he can't beat my time now." Sure enough, his pace slowed to about a second slower than my time. Whew! Still the TQ :)

For round 2 the track was slick! Too much water was put down during the break between rounds! There were even puddles still on the track :( There was no way I would go faster to re-set the TQ :( And the track might be just dry enough for max traction for the second heat of Stock Truck. I was a lap slower this time since I had to drive around all the puddles and couldn't get on the gas too hard or attack the corners, for fear of looping it :( Luckily, for me anyway, the track was still too damp for the second heat of Stock Truck, and the winner was still slower than my time, and was never on a pace to beat it. Woohoo! I was still TQ :) Now, I've TQ'd before, but not against such a fast field. The top 5-6 guys were all capable of setting the TQ, it was just came down to who drove the fastest and cleanest.

The main did not go off as planned. I got a decent start, but a marshal stood up on the 1st lap, and blocked my view of the second turn apex! I lost sight of my truck! I was yelling at the guy to duck (along with several others), but it was too late. By the time I saw my truck again, it was pointed the wrong way, and I went from TQ to 6th :( I was so pissed, I drove my ass off, and made it back up to 3rd, when Nick stopped the race, because the scoring program crashed! I had a second chance to get back to the front! Woohoo! The leader was way out there, because of the marshal blocking the apex, and now we would be restarted! Nick re-set the grid in the race order at the time of the program crash, so now I would be starting in 3rd, as is seen on the OCRC YouTube vid of the race.

The re-start was clean this time and the marshal stayed seated :) I took the lead, then fell back again, to 3rd, in the 1st few laps. I then put a clean, out braking, inside pass at the end of straight, on Darin Halverson, and took over 2nd. I then switched on the afterburners to catch his brother Brian in the lead. He made a mistake on the lander of the step-up and got stuck between the pipes a couple of laps later, where I cruised by and took over the lead! I think we swapped the lead at least once, but I was leading on the final lap. I had about a 1 turn lead on Brian, when we both got caught up with Chuck Fowler, who had crashed on the step-up, because the marshal had flipped him over right in front of us. I got the best of it, since I still had the inside line to the next turn. I thought I had the win, but cut next to last turn before the line too close and rolled on my lid! DOH! Brian took the win, and I almost lost 2nd too! DOH! I should have left a little more room on that apex, and I could have coasted to the line :( Oh well, next time :(

SPX notes:
-R1 P7, 10deg, 72/26, 170°F
-R2 wet, swithed to P8, 10°, 72/26, 160°F, not hard on motor
-Main, P8, 10deg, 72/26, 160°F
-try 20° timing w/P8 next race

Stock Truck A Main


My brother qualified 2nd in the B main for Stock Truck. He had an awesome race! Swapping the lead back and forth with Ceaser for the bump-up spot in to the A. I thought he had the win, but he went too wide in the last turn, which let Ceasar sneak in to the inside to take the win and bump to the A.

Stock Truck B Main

OCRC Charity Race

A few weekends ago was the OCRC Charity race. Robert was donating all our gifts from our entries to "His Nesting Place", a foundation that helps abused women and their children. Combine this with the fact that rain was in the forecast for Sunday, and you have a "big" race! The turnout really good, with 17 or so heats. I was running both Open SC and Mod 4wd and both classes had an A and B main!

Mod 4wd was up first in the round. It was fun racing my B44 again :) I was doing pretty well, running 2nd, but I made a few bobbles, then my CVD popped out of the drive cup :( I had to pull off, since I had no punch to clear the jumps with 3wd! lol! Round 2 was more of the same, running a consistent, but slightly slower pace this time, in the 4th position, when I clipped a pipe on a crash, and the CVD popped out again! I kept going this time though, as I wanted to finish the run, since I DNF'd the first round. I looked over the car between rounds, and the only thing I found wrong was a loose ball stud, so I thought this was the reason the CVD kept coming out, so I tightened that up and called it good.

I ended up being the BQ, with my limping run from round 2. But, during warm up for the main, my CVD popped out again! Crap! I yelled for my brother to grab my car, so he could fix it, and asked for a grace period. The funny part was that is usually only done for the A main! Hahaha! Nick B was cool and gave it to me anyways though! :) My bro got the car fixed just in time for the start, but on the step-up jump, I rolled when the car bounced and the CVD popped out again! Now, I was thinking something else must be broken in the rear end to keep popping out the CVD so consistently! My bro got the car fixed again, and I was off! I tooled around for fun, and even tried clearing the huge triple in the center of the track! I tried it twice, casing both times on the lander jump, then finally broke on the second try! Hahaha! Well that was fun while it lasted.

Upon inspection of my car, Carlo found that the rear arm was broken around the inner hinge pin in such a way, that it looked intact, but could flex enough to allow the CVD to come out. DOH! I had been racing the entire day with a broken A arm! Then while recording the Stock Buggy A Main, Wallnuts came over and put something in my sweatshirt pocket. It turned out to be $10 in race bucks, because I managed to still finish in 3rd for my 4wd main! LOL! I guess I kept running long enough to pass the other cars that had broken and dropped out! Woohoo! Think what I might have done if I had been racing a healthy car!

Mod 4wd notes:
-loosen slipper (tranny gears grinding under braking)
-check front transmission gears for damage from tight slipper

Mod 4wd vids:






The second class I was running was Open Short Course. The last time I ran this class at OCRC, I was using a 10.5 motor, and I wasn't able to clear the step-up jump in front of the driver's stand. So, this time I went with the 8.5 out of my 4wd! No problem clearing that jump now! I would still wreck every once in awhile, but at least I wasn't landing short, which ended up breaking my chassis.

In round 1, I was tied for the lead of the race, swapping it back and forth with Lee Gravelle, every time we crossed the line. I lost the lead on the last lap though when I got sideways at the end of the straight and got stuck on the pipe and needed to be marshaled :( I also noticed during the run that I was losing some punch for clearing the jumps. I thought it might be my battery getting flat, but when I checked it after the race, it still had good voltage. In round 2, I basically blew out and crashed a bunch along with all my punch disappearing. During that race, I realized that the problem wasn't the battery, but the slipper, as I could hear it slipping a bunch this run. It must have overheated and glazed over, thus I had no punch! I had loosened it a bit to keep the truck straight on power with the 8.5 and SC tires, but I guess I loosened it up too much :( For the main, I tightened it back up to my normal setting.

I qualified 5th for the A Main! :) I got a decent start, but touched a truck in the air over the step-up jump on the 1st lap and got the worst of it, tumbling :( I was marshaled almost immediately, but got hit in the rear and tied up with another truck before the center triple, dropping back. I think I made it up to forth for a lap, but a short landing on the triple and a roll over, dropped me back to my final position, 6th. Oh well. At least I was able to finish in the top 3 for the 1st 4 races with my SC10 :)

open sc
-slipper set too loose for 8.5-overheated and lost punch at 4 min
-check slipper pads/plates
-rear end loose mid corner, tire roll over? change to shorter rear camber link?

Open SC Vids






My bro was also racing Stock Truck. He did well and made it into the A main, but was hoping to be the BQ. We were trying out the timing boost profiles on the SPX with his truck and still dialing in the right gearing and motor timing though, so he might have been a little bit slower. Here are the vids that I took of his runs :)







My bro and I also got a few of the A mains from the Charity Race and here are those vids







I also got my friend Calro's run in the Mod 4wd A main


And finally, here are OCRC's vids of mine and my bro's mains. In the Mod 4wd B main, you can see my bro and Carlo trying to fix my broken car :(

A whole lota SC racing and YouTube Vids!

Since my last post I've run Short Course the last 3 times I've been racing. Twice over Thanksgiving weekend, then last Sunday at West Coast's Grand Re-opening race.

I've changed my shock package to a much a stiffer setup that the AE drivers were using this past summer. 40wt oil with red springs in the front and grey in the rear. I also changed my camber link locations to the same ones I use on my T4, in order to get the SC10 to rotate more in the turns. I like this setup much better, as it feels more like my T4, which was my goal.

I raced the Friday after Thanksgiving in Stock SC at OCRC on the new expanded track. The OCRC track went from one of the smallest, to the largest! The straight feels like it goes on forever! I TQ'd and took the win, so I decided to try Open SC on Sunday and step up to a 10.5 motor.

Here is OCRC's YouTube vid of the race:


I came back on Sunday with the 10.5 motor in the SC10 and headed out to practice. With more motor I was hoping I would be able to clear the huge step-up jump in front of the driver's stand and the single to table-top in the center of the track. Well the center jump was fairly easy to clear, but I broke the chassis on the step-up! :( And the shop didn't have an SC10 chassis in stock! Fortunately, Nick Black loaned me an aluminum chassis brace, so I was able to race that night. Thanks Nick! It took me a while to fix the chassis, so I didn't get much practice with the 10.5 motor. Now thinking back, I'm not sure if it was much of an advantage, as I wasn't able to use the power. But, I may try it again for fun! I plan to run the 13.5 motor more, as this will be the motor I will need to run for the 2010 JBRL season. Since not enough Open SC trucks showed up, I was put in the Stock SC class. But, I later found out that the winner and myself had both signed up for Open SC. I ended up qualifying in 3rd then finishing in 2nd, when I was able to jump over the 2nd place truck on the center jump by downsiding the table-top :)

Here is Sunday's race:


After that weekend of racing I picked up a new chassis, and plan to get the RPM bumper/chassis brace that was just released. In the mean time, I will be running the stock bumper, but with the loop from the bumper to the front shock tower cut out. With this part gone, the bumper is able to flex more, and doesn't transfer the load from a front impact to the shock tower, which ends up breaking the chassis. The new RPM bumper also does this and adds a brace under the front of the chassis.

Other notes:
-Check diff tightness
-Get another SPX!
-Switch limiters to 5/4

This past Sunday I ran WC Unlimted SC at West Coast's Grand Re-opening race. This time I had a 13.5 in the truck and it felt pretty good. Decent speed and enough punch for the jumps. The layout at West Coast had I nice flow to it, but only had 2 big jumps on the track. This made for good racing, as you weren't just trying to survive the jumps. The track was also much smoother now, like OCRC, and had awesome grip! I even pulled a wheelie down the straight in the main!

In round 1 I benefited from starting up front and took the lead, but dropped down to 2nd in the 1st minute. I had a clean run and turned a good time, which seated me 3rd in A main out of 22 entries! Woohoo! In round 2 I had to start in the back and got into a couple of wrecks, so I wasn't able to turn a good time :( My run from round 1 was still fast enough to keep me in the A, but I would now be starting from 4th on the grid. In the main I had a bad start, but was able to get up to 3rd. I then dropped down to 4th, after a clean pass was made on me. Then, I took back over 3rd, after the truck in front made a few mistakes. Took home $10 in race bucks :)

Here are the races!







My brother was also racing in Stock Truck. My normal class! He did really well, making the A main in 8th place. He was able to run in 3rd for a few laps, but got passed in a pile up. His driving is getting a lot better, so soon he may be in the top of the A! He just needs a little more speed, as he's not crashing very much now :) Here are his races:







I also ran my B44 with a mod motor for the 1st time in a year! To say that the grip and speed were better than the SC10 would be a gross understatement! It took me a bunch of crashes to get used to the throttle/brakes in the air, as they are more sensitive on a 4wd mod buggy than an SC truck. I didn't race it though, as I wanted to concentrate on the SC10. Here is a vid of my practice run.