The Abecedarian Proxy (Beginner's Carrera Proxy)

[Czar]

Todd, I kind of see your point about longer tracks, but if everyone runs the same... anyhow, a ten point system is fine with me, and it is easier to score. So, the current points standings are:
Reek 55... 10 pts; Ember... 9 pts; Tusco Todd... 8 pts; Aaroldn... 7 pts; Manchvegasracer... 6 pts; Bibbster ... 5 pts; Burrell... 4 pts; Ventura Alfa... 3 pts; Czar... 2 pts; Baford1... 1 pt.

[TuscoTodd]

Czar -
I think the point scoring will help keep things "simple" verses trying to come up with a way to adjust for skews in lap totals due to track size, difficulty, etc as there are some pretty radical differences in length, complexity, etc that may have lead to some notable differences in how each track was "weighted" in the totals if the average for one track was 45 laps per car another was 60 per car, another 35 per car, etc. - so appreciate the simplification/clarification. :)

Now I just have to wait for the big box of toys to show up here in Ohio! :D
(looking at a tentative run date of August 6th currently)
:D

[arroldn]

Thanks for the update and car information. Hopefully the 575 can make up some ground in the future events.

Arrold

[TuscoTodd]

Holy cow! Priority Mail was SMOKIN' fast! The cars have arrived!!!
:D
Haven't had a chance to unpack and check them out yet - but will in the next couple days in prep for going to the track! :D

[Ember]

Any chance of some feedback on the cars?

[Czar]

Sorry to be so long in getting back on the thread. Here are my impressions on my track.

Track is Carrera, painted with latex. Layout is very technical with only one long straight. Tires were cleaned with a soft rag and water. At inspection, each of the bushings was lubricated with Inox and the gears were given a little silicone grease. At race time, braids were given a drop of Inox, brushed, wiped with a rag and fluffed. Each car was driven before each race until the driver felt comfortable.

The two fastest cars, Reek 55 and Ember, were a study in contrasts. The performance of both cars shows how much a good design can make all the difference in performance - just like some real cars are also better because of design. Reek55's Corvette was like a dart. The nose was attached to the groove and the drive train pushed the car forward so smoothly there was always a sense of control and purpose. The car was tuned and balanced as well as any Carrera I have ever seen, and it was fast. The Audi from Oz was also fun to drive, but not in a take away your breath way as the Corvette. Interestingly, Ember's car was the only entry with no added weight. But that was probably because it was the heaviest (by far) of the box stock cars. But, Carrera got a magic mix of balance with this car. It is rock solid on the track. Driving this car was so predictable and even that you could push it late into a curve and know that it would just roll around. (Because of the shape of this car, all of the analogies that come to me are of a turtle, or rock or something else that is perceived as slow, and this car is not slow.) So, it was like a turbo-turtle just ripping around the track. It was fastest lap time of all in one of the heats. Tusco Todd, Arroldn, and Manchvegasracer entered cars that were good performers, but just not quite as stuck down as the the top two. Manvegasracer's Porsche had very good straight line speed, but was a little twitchy in the corners. Really, the results here are indicative of how well the cars handled on the track, rather than significant issues with speed. Some of the handling can be traced to a narrow, shorter wheelbase than the Audi, but Reek55's Corvette was easier to drive with none of the handling discrepancies. Next, Bibbster and Burrell. Both of these cars were quite smooth and easy to drive but they didn't have speed of the other. I must compliment Bibbster on the smoothness of his axle/Super Glue trick. Also, his front tires were so shiny they glowed! For someone who had never even seen a slot car less than a year ago, Burrell's car showed real promise. Ventura Alfa's Alfa was real delight to see. If you read his posts earlier about added lots of lead, well, he wasn't kidding. Every surface of the chassis was plated. The car suffered from being a little slow and a little top heavy. I am sure it was slow because of all the added weight and the fact that it was still top heavy shows what a fight he had on his hands. I could get into a nice rhythm driving the Alfa, but it just couldn't sustain the speed of the other cars. Now the caboose. It is pretty embarrassing to do so poorly with your own car on your own track. With my BMW I suffered from a narrow chassis, high CG, and Carrera tires. Though I added weight it would sometimes just roll over in the corner. Obviously need to re-work the weight balance to make it predictable. I don't think it is much of a coincidence that the bottom cars both have stock Carrera tires. There isn't much to say, expect that tire upgrades are the cheapest and most significant change you can make to many cars, Carrera included. Carrying the lantern rouge is the Ferrari of Baford1. As I said earlier, this car really slid around on the track. Traction just wasn't there. Compounding the bad traction was the weight placement. All of the weight was placed up front, behind the front axle. (BTW, the big weight came loose during shipping and I taped it into place) The largest piece of weight was also up above the other two weights. This held the nose down, but caused a pivot point. With no traction the car would slide wildly from side to side.

Now, having said all that, thank you everyone for sending the cars, they were all fun to drive I am having a great time (I keep telling myself) and can't wait to see the results from the next round of racing. Another thing for all the tuners out there: make your car run silently (or close to it). All the top runners were QUIET when running. Gears were meshing smoothly with little friction and axles didn't chatter under acceleration. If you have a quiet car that sticks to the track, you have a fast car.

[reek455]

[Burrell]

[TuscoTodd]

Burrell - that chart is AWESOME!!!!
:D

[Ember]

Great feedback. Thank you.

I must make one little correction. My Audi does have a little weight added, but it doesn't stand out much because it's painted to seal the lead. It's a habit formed from doing another proxy. I should've thought to paint it a different colour so that it stood out, but black was the densest paint I could find at the time.

The Audi is a bit of a mobile lump. The base car is quite good on a big wide open track. I have been inclined to run it on a friend's track which is designed with flexi-cars in mind. The weight was added for my track which has a couple of off-camber tight turns and a couple of elevation changes that caused the raw car a little grief. So a little weight in the side pans in front if the tyres to make sure they bite well and keep the car moving and a smidge under the front axle to stop the front from bouncing out or lifting when the track falls away. Other than that it's just standard blueprinting.

If we do this again I will definitely buy another Carrera car for the task. To date I only own that one and a Cobra Coupe.

[baford1]

Czar I agree with Ember great feedback & comparison between the 10 cars what you said about my Ferrari made a lot of sense having to much weight up front as they say live & learn
I guess the only way for me is up if not I don't mind to carry the lantern can not wait until the next race should be good & Burrell awesome looking chart makes everything nice & clear

Richard

[TuscoTodd]

We will be giving "broadcasting" of the run of the cars today at Mark's Model World a go! :)

The uStream link that we will be using is: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/apalmer

The "plan" is to broadcast the race at 4:30 EST (Eastern Standard Time) today (we think we have a work around for the router issue that was causing the cut out / no picture issues for the last attempt for the Maverick run). :banana-dance:

[TuscoTodd]

Bibbster and all -
I have to apologize for the failed broadcast. We thought we had the issue licked with actually bypassing the router and going direct to the line - but even with leaving the sound off to try to save bandwidth, I guess it was a clippy mess from what APalmer relayed.
It is really unfortunate as there was some pretty impressive racing, with more than one instance of cars literally running side by side shuffling back and forth no more than a foot for multiple laps!
In fact, what is very telling of this fact is, that after the 8 lanes of running, two minutes per lane, cars finishing in the second through fifth position were separated over less than a lap and a half!
:banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance: :banana-dance:

So a definite "tip of the hat" to all those who submitted cars!
:text-bravo:

Results will be posted tomorrow evening, once I confirm all the lap counts, fastest times etc. (but I at least wanted to post a little update for those that tried to tune in - tonight yet)

Thanks! :)

[Ember]

Ooooohhh.... Doncha just hate waiting? Aaaargh! :angry-screaming:






Is it tomorrow yet?
















How about now?

[Slot Therapist]

Todd, I was definitely impressed with the entire field. A couple I fell in love with. Burrell and Ember's car especially. Can't wait for another race like that.