New On-Road Car!!!

 I picked up the just released Tamiya Formula E Gen 2 on the new TC-01 4wd shaft drive chassis kit.  I was looking for a "cheap" (less than $500) sedan chassis.  While this chassis comes with a Formula E body, it comes with bumpers and body mounts for a sedan body also!  So I figured I'd pick up a kit and a sedan body.  Then if the Formula E class doesn't happen, I can race in the Sedan class.

Now I need to pick up a low profile servo, 48p 64t spur gear, sedan tires, transponder, aluminum threaded shocks, sedan body, front/rear sway bars, aluminum rockers, and shock springs for tuning.

I plan to paint the bodies with a simple paint job to match my Euro truck :)

Updated 8/31/20

Picked up some needed parts for my new kit!

Low profile servo, transponder, Sorex 32R and 36R tires, and standard pitch spur gears.  Next up are threaded aluminum shocks, sedan body, sway parts, aluminum rockers, spring, and a titanium screw kit!

Out Club Racing Again, SDRC Raceway, 8/8/20

For my 1st practice run I went with tires with treads (Dirtweb and Positron).  I think there was still dust on the racing line since I would get sideways mid-corner.  I also installed a new spur gear to see if my transmission noise would go away, but it didn't.  My fast lap for this practice run was 20.167. 

For practice run #2 I ran tires with a ghost tread (Transistor and Positrons).  I also tried using an aluminum pinion to get rid of the transmission noise.  The noise was still there and my fast lap was 19.839.  I guess I'll have to changes at least the idler gear in my transmission since I didn't get a new top shaft and don't want to rebuild my diff. 

I went with slicks for practice run #3 (Electrons and Positrons).  My car was still a little loose.  I attribute this to the lack of regular track maintenance.  My fast lap was stuck at 20.066.  

For my 4th and final practice run #4, I stayed on my slicks from P3.  There was no improvement in grip or fast lap, as I could only manage a 20.780.  

In Heat 1, I finished 2nd with a 14:01, fast lap of 20.355, average lap of  21.515, and consistency of 94.34%.  I made 3 driving mistakes and had 2 crashes.  My motor temps were about 150 F at 72/25.  For my tire setup I was saucing the tires, wiping off the excess, and putting on the tire warmers at 173 F for 10 minutes, then leaving the tire belts om until it was time for the race.  For this race I used my ghost Transistor and Positron treads.  

In Heat 2, I finished 2nd with a 15:12, fast lap of 19.430, average lap of 20.830, and consistency off 96.01%.  I made 2 driving mistakes and had 1 crash.  For this heat I went with my Electron and Positron slicks.  Grip was good on the racing line, but a little slippery off line.  

I qualified 6th for the A main and finished in 7th with a 13:09, after being as high as 3rd.  My fast lap was 20.119, average lap of 23.973, and consistency of  85.62%.  I made crashed so many times it wasn't worth it count them all.  

For the next race I plan to add -30% expo to the steering and change to a higher drive frequency.  Hopefully these changes make the car smoother to drive on slicks.

Saturday Club Racing, SDRC Raceway, 8/1/20- Return to 2wd Buggy!

I return to racing after taking a month off due to not feeling like racing much.  Racing expert 4wd buggy was getting boring, due to the low entries and just trying to not finish last.  To change pace I decided to run 2wd buggy again, since I haven't raced my 2wd buggy on the wall ride layout yet.  This layout is also coming out in a couple of weeks and I want to get some video of my 2wd buggy racing on it.

In Heat 1, I finished 2nd with a 15:09, fast lap of 19.706, average lap of 20.655, and consistency of 96.98%.  I made 4 driving mistakes and had 0 crashes.  My motor temps were below 150 F.  Maybe I should gear up?  For my tire setup I was saucing the tires, letting them air dry a few minutes, then wiping off the excess, and putting on the tire warmers at 160 F until it was time to race.  

In Heat 2, I finished 5th with a 14:02, fast lap of 20.357, average lap of 21.919, and consistency of 94.29%.  I made 7 driving mistakes and had 2 crashes.  

I qualified 2nd for the A main and I DNF'd in 6th. My fast lap was 20.544, average lap of 21.919, and consistency of  92.97%.  I made 3 driving mistakes and crashed 5 times.  I guess I clipped a pipe one too many times as the splines on my servo horn stripped out causing my DNF for the Main.  

Hard way to change the servo horn :(

Muchmore Tire Warmer System

I've been considering getting the Muchmore IC Controlled Tire Warmer System for awhile now, but its been out of stock on Amain for months.  Luckily SDRC got a couple of sets in this past week!  When I arrived at the track for racing they still had them in stock so I decided to pick one up.  To my surprise they came with the long tire belts for off-road, which I thought were a $65 add-on, bringing the Amain price up to $265!  However SDRC was selling it with the long tire belts included for $189.  Score!

Long off-road tire belts included!

Messy wires! :(

Where to put the belts when not in use?

The wires for the tire belts are quite long, which annoys the heck out of me as they are all over my pit space!  The wires for each tire belt are not also bundled into a front and rear set, so they fall all over the place!  I picked up some spiral wire wrap to bundle the cables together for the front and rear belts.  I also need to shorten the length some how to make it easier to put them away when they are not on the tires.  Hmmm.

Tire warmer cables cleaned up!