the state of onroad electric racing?
07-16-2009, 08:38 PM
#16
......
Attitude matters, I think. The veterans have to cultivate and have patience with the newbs, and we've seen good leadership on that front from some of our longtime racers. Classes, the economy, realism, tires, motors, batteries, blah blah blah. It's the culture and the leadership that matter. Onroad is demanding. That's its virtue. It thrives where there is the culture to support it.
Attitude matters, I think. The veterans have to cultivate and have patience with the newbs, and we've seen good leadership on that front from some of our longtime racers. Classes, the economy, realism, tires, motors, batteries, blah blah blah. It's the culture and the leadership that matter. Onroad is demanding. That's its virtue. It thrives where there is the culture to support it.
And I also agree that on road is the most demanding especially in terms of patience. Not everybody will have it and many people will just give up before even starting to learn. This is where help from experienced drivers can make the difference between the club becoming a shrinking die hard fan gathering or a successful venture with healthy new member retention numbers.
07-16-2009, 08:56 PM
#17
you need to remember not everyone runs on carpet, some of us have the luxury of a very large parking lot to run on, and mod is growing.
07-16-2009, 09:02 PM
#18
This is indeed a point that I have not seen made before in similar threads and I think a very good one (so for me this thread is already worth its server space). Perhaps more important than the state of the economy (albeit in the US I understand times are really tough right now).
And I also agree that on road is the most demanding especially in terms of patience. Not everybody will have it and many people will just give up before even starting to learn. This is where help from experienced drivers can make the difference between the club becoming a shrinking die hard fan gathering or a successful venture with healthy new member retention numbers.
And I also agree that on road is the most demanding especially in terms of patience. Not everybody will have it and many people will just give up before even starting to learn. This is where help from experienced drivers can make the difference between the club becoming a shrinking die hard fan gathering or a successful venture with healthy new member retention numbers.
todd/putawaywet, while using way to many big words and proper grammer has done a good job of helping the northwest enjoy indoor carpet racing again. he runs a simple program based on family and fun and its working wonders.
07-16-2009, 09:12 PM
#19
hey all: I've heard that driver entry numbers are down at many onroad events the last few years so what's causing onroad racing to be a little stagnant right now? Is it the poor economy right now or maybe 1/8th nitro buggy/truggy is just attracting more racers right now and is the hot class(es) to b in? Thanks for the 
You got it !
1/8 gas bug is by far the most prestigious class to win these days.
07-16-2009, 09:15 PM
#20
07-16-2009, 11:18 PM
#22
Tech Fanatic
Make the onroad cars tougher
Here's a good example where you lost an onroader.
My son started racing 1/8th scale buggy with me last summer. He had a blast - practicing in the yard then going to the races. One time he bumped from the C main all the way to the A main and ended up driving 45 minutes straight. Not once that summer did he have a DNF. Summer's over so now we head inside for touring car. His first onroad race he breaks every practice run and every qualifier and even the main. So we keep going and he gets better. Too many frustrating days and spent money on parts. He eventually makes it through a race day without breaking. Now this summer we start back with 1/8th scale buggy and he's a much better driver and he's having fun again. He told me he'd rather stick to offroad and we'll find something else to do in the winter.
Why is it that you have brittle cars and harder track barriers? For offroad they have tougher cars and softer/flexible barriers. Everyone's complaining the cars are too fast well make the cars tougher. Its obvious we've got the horsepower now to move a heavier car.
My son started racing 1/8th scale buggy with me last summer. He had a blast - practicing in the yard then going to the races. One time he bumped from the C main all the way to the A main and ended up driving 45 minutes straight. Not once that summer did he have a DNF. Summer's over so now we head inside for touring car. His first onroad race he breaks every practice run and every qualifier and even the main. So we keep going and he gets better. Too many frustrating days and spent money on parts. He eventually makes it through a race day without breaking. Now this summer we start back with 1/8th scale buggy and he's a much better driver and he's having fun again. He told me he'd rather stick to offroad and we'll find something else to do in the winter.
Why is it that you have brittle cars and harder track barriers? For offroad they have tougher cars and softer/flexible barriers. Everyone's complaining the cars are too fast well make the cars tougher. Its obvious we've got the horsepower now to move a heavier car.
07-17-2009, 04:13 AM
#23
Some cars are built tough so that drivers can learn on-road. For me, what comes to mind is a TA05. I know for a fact that they can take quite a beating and I'm sure there are others cars like it.
07-17-2009, 05:06 AM
#24
Again this is something that manufacturers should be thinking about with the introduction of lipo. Lipo's are so much lighter that they could add 50 grams in strength of parts and it would be fine!! But they can't because every country is playing a different ball game. go to one and modified is 5 cell, go to another and it is 6 cell and no lipo, go to another and everyone is running lipo. and the honest truth is that being around a particular weight matters because the car accelerates quicker brakes quicker and alows you to be more aggressive without shifting to much weight to make you slide. now a tao5 is a strong car but to most racers once they get into onroad properly they won't go and try to be at the top. Naturally who wouldn't which means buying the faster chassis. which with a good hit will handle quite awkwardly till you readjust everything. but thats my 2 cents worth for the strength issue!!
07-17-2009, 08:16 AM
#26
Here's a good example where you lost an onroader.
My son started racing 1/8th scale buggy with me last summer. He had a blast - practicing in the yard then going to the races. One time he bumped from the C main all the way to the A main and ended up driving 45 minutes straight. Not once that summer did he have a DNF. Summer's over so now we head inside for touring car. His first onroad race he breaks every practice run and every qualifier and even the main. So we keep going and he gets better. Too many frustrating days and spent money on parts. He eventually makes it through a race day without breaking. Now this summer we start back with 1/8th scale buggy and he's a much better driver and he's having fun again. He told me he'd rather stick to offroad and we'll find something else to do in the winter.
Why is it that you have brittle cars and harder track barriers? For offroad they have tougher cars and softer/flexible barriers. Everyone's complaining the cars are too fast well make the cars tougher. Its obvious we've got the horsepower now to move a heavier car.
My son started racing 1/8th scale buggy with me last summer. He had a blast - practicing in the yard then going to the races. One time he bumped from the C main all the way to the A main and ended up driving 45 minutes straight. Not once that summer did he have a DNF. Summer's over so now we head inside for touring car. His first onroad race he breaks every practice run and every qualifier and even the main. So we keep going and he gets better. Too many frustrating days and spent money on parts. He eventually makes it through a race day without breaking. Now this summer we start back with 1/8th scale buggy and he's a much better driver and he's having fun again. He told me he'd rather stick to offroad and we'll find something else to do in the winter.
Why is it that you have brittle cars and harder track barriers? For offroad they have tougher cars and softer/flexible barriers. Everyone's complaining the cars are too fast well make the cars tougher. Its obvious we've got the horsepower now to move a heavier car.
I also agee with the fact of the breakage. Coming from off-road myself, I see what you are speaking of. But with classes like VTA and RCGT, that got my attention and off-road became a distant memory. Ive learned that racing isnt always about speed...its driving skill and setup. I would hope that all the mod tc classes remain, but I'm here racing on-road cause of the slower classes. I know that the slower speeds help with breakage, cause over the last year of racing VTA, Ive only broke my TC3 twice, and my TC5 once. And those where small parts, like an arm or hub.
they race for this belt every points race
07-17-2009, 09:02 AM
#27
I agree with you, but there are some caveats here.
We have kids running at our track too and the youngest is 9 but he has been racing with us since he was 6.
First let me say that the car you would give such a young kid has to be quite tough. This kid started racing on a TT01 and I can tell you his car did not break very often which was quite surprising considering the abuse it took. Parts were very cheap too, and the car was fast enough that he could win the race.
The class you allow kids to race in is also important. Faster classes are very expensive for everybody to race not just kids and not only because the cars are hit harder. This is partly why I just don't want to go to a higher class. Let alone the most fun is in the lower classes where you can make a mistake and recover over five minutes. I persevered and now a lot of the top racers joined in just because they saw how much fun we had.
On the other hand, I have quite a few cars and can run a few in a lower class because I don't have to spend a lot of time setting up the car, repairing and so on. This way, I can spend money on buying more cars rather than maintaining one in a fast class.
We have kids running at our track too and the youngest is 9 but he has been racing with us since he was 6.
First let me say that the car you would give such a young kid has to be quite tough. This kid started racing on a TT01 and I can tell you his car did not break very often which was quite surprising considering the abuse it took. Parts were very cheap too, and the car was fast enough that he could win the race.
The class you allow kids to race in is also important. Faster classes are very expensive for everybody to race not just kids and not only because the cars are hit harder. This is partly why I just don't want to go to a higher class. Let alone the most fun is in the lower classes where you can make a mistake and recover over five minutes. I persevered and now a lot of the top racers joined in just because they saw how much fun we had.
On the other hand, I have quite a few cars and can run a few in a lower class because I don't have to spend a lot of time setting up the car, repairing and so on. This way, I can spend money on buying more cars rather than maintaining one in a fast class.
07-17-2009, 10:31 AM
#29
