Sideways SWLE01 - Capri Zakspeed Gr5 - Limited

[goosenapper]

[Florida_Slotter]

[goosenapper]

Florida_Slotter- Thanks for that great description of the running of Sideways Gr5 cars. Your post alone makes me want to blow off work and go hit the track! I did end up preordering this car and can't wait for it to arrive. The tuning options that this car gives will probably end up causing me to go insane:
"...a half turn here, shim here, hehe, tighten this, and floor it!" :teasing-tease:

I just hope that this release carries a hefty clear-coat, because I have a feeling that this car will become my go-to racer!

[Florida_Slotter]

Once you get it, tweak it, tune it and make it righteous, it will be just the same as giving the beauty queen a little kiss on the cheek! You will want more! :dance:

[goosenapper]

[cgingras]

[goosenapper]

[SuperSlab]

is my JPS Capri ever ludicrously fast! And OK: I know I would probably be considered a bit of a barbarian for actually running a JPS Capri, but so it goes.

Anyway:

I received my car on Thursday evening when I got from work. I only had time to throw on some urethanes and took it to the track for our regular Friday night racing. It was OK but nothing exceptional. Turned a lap just under 8.1 seconds. An aside: anything under 8.5 is decently quick, under 8 is serious stuff, lap record is 7.53 sec. The car was a bit rough and also loose: part of it obviously due to the fact that I did not have time to glue and true the tyres and round the edges.

So over the weekend:

Glued and trued urethane tyres, added about 6g of weight stuck to the interior, replaced the pod screws with smooth shank screws (the pod was hanging up on the threads), loosened the pod and body, added a spacer between the body and chassis at the rear (loose pod and body caused some light binding of the tyres), taped the pod, lubed.

And so I took it to the track tonight.

OH WOW!

I was hoping for a very pretty car that ran passably well: I really, really did not expect the performance I actually got! Best lap: 7.641 seconds! This is the 6th fastest lap time of the 101 cars I have tested to date on Luf's revised Targa track. Sits in the following company in the top ten:

7.531 Audi R8 NSR
7.552 Mosler KRM NSR
7.592 Porsche Spyder AvantSlot
7.619 Porsche 917 Gunston NSR
7.635 Lola T70 Spyder Blue Proxy Revell-Monogram HRS2 chassis
7.641 Capri Racer Sideways
7.745 Ford GT Mk IV NSR
7.746 Honda HSV 10 ScaleAuto
7.77 Mercedes SLS GT3 ScaleAuto
7.782 McLaren F1 GTR FINA New Slot.it anglewinder

It is silky smooth, runs like it is on rails and completely stable and predictable. I know there have been some comments around hop/chatter with good grip: mine exhibited absolutely none of that and the grip levels were incredible. If there was any opportunity for hopping it would certainly have surfaced tonight.

What a great pleasant surprise: well done Racer!

[goosenapper]

[SuperSlab]

Goose

The reason for placing the weight high is to increase grip: I was taught early on in my return to the hobby that adding weight low improves stability, adding weight high improves grip. Seeing as my car was sliding a bit on first testing I wanted to improve grip, hence sticking the weight to the bottom of the interior.

Seeing as you mentioned your car tipping over I am not sure whether weight high up would be required, unless tipping over was just the result of grossly overcooking it in the corner!

As for the pod: I must confess that I am one of those loathe-to-replace-parts types of people: I try to keep my cars stock in terms of components as far as is possible. I typically only replace parts if i) it is for a proxy series that I am building up a car (once a year!), ii) I am specifically going out of my way to prepare a hot custom configuration (not that often) or iii) I find there is something specific in a car that is just beyond redemption. I must say: it is exceptionally rare for me to find stuff that falls into the third category, i.e. some components are just plain not usable. So asking me about replacing the pod is probably not your best option as I am seriously biased!

But with that said: the only reason that I could think of why I would even contemplate replacing a pod would be if it is too flexible, causing chatter/hopping. Even then, my first reaction would probably be to brace it. In this case, the car is exceptionally smooth and stable, even at extremely high grip levels and ludicrous cornering speeds. From my perspective the pod is therefore clearly totally up to the task and there is no reason that I could see to consider replacing it.

Good luck with further tuning and enjoy it!