howardcano

iTrader: (37)

I tested several of my road course Breakout class cars on the oval yesterday, with some interesting results. Naturally, the gear ratios needed to be taller. But they were also more critical to hitting a breakout time than they are for road course. The reason was that changing the throttle endpoint made less of a difference on the oval than on the road course, since there's no slow corners, and the throttle endpoint affects acceleration more than the top speed.

All of my Breakout cars currently use 32 pitch gears, since they are rugged, and most of them were free (given to me many years ago by fellow racers who were changing to a finer pitch). It seems like I may need to change to 48 pitch so the ratios can be adjusted in smaller increments!

slow poke

It has been a long time since I have run a breakout race, but is was some of the closest racing I have ever seen, and a lot of fun. Spec type racing without a spec car or the need to tech, your lap times are the judge.
The need to focus on driving is still there, but the cost to keep up drops by a huge amount, as the top of the line equipment is not a must have.This type of racing help racers that are just starting out or are not quite "there yet" to hone there driving skill without having to listen to the faster guys gripe about the "slow" guy that was in the way. Having fun, keeping it fair, helping reduce cost, and getting people interested in racing.....sounds like a winning plan to me.
Ignore the guys that make fun of this type of racing, sure it is not for some (mostly the guys with the $$$$$ whose advantage would be lost), but I bet most of those guys have not even run this type of race to see how fun it can be. Good luck to ya.

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

Thank you for the vote of confidence. You are correct in that most of those who speak negatively about Breakout racing have never tried it. Those who have tried it and found it lacking usually say "It's not for me", but don't begrudge others who do it. And then there are those individuals who feel they must judge and control the actions of others even when they are not materially affected by the result; the best response to these irrational people is none at all.

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

Contrary to what many people might believe, I have found that Breakout racing is not intended to, and does not prevent, the fast guys from winning. (Conversely, it doesn't guarantee that they will win!) What it does do is prevent the fast guys from running over the slow guys (which makes neophyte drivers feel safer), and lets drivers of widely varying abilities have a close race with each other (which everybody enjoys). I have had many Breakout races where I finished within a car length of drivers who would be several laps faster or slower than me in the "normal" race classes.

slow poke

You are right, it does not keep the faster guys from winning, and no type of racing should penalize you for doing a good job setting up your car or wheeling it around the track well. You still have to be able to drive in this format, but what it does do is minimize (not eliminate) their wallet from getting them to the finish line first. They out drive ya to the line they deserve the win this means you need more practice, they out spend ya to the finish line.........ya have to spend more money, that is where many call it quits.
Nothing can stop a racer with a bigger budget from having an advantage....good for them, but I have seen too may people give up before they really got going as some classes have a huge learning/spending curve that makes it very hard to keep people interested. This type of racing can do nothing but help. It helps keep people that may normaly leave.

pejota

iTrader: (12)

Can you list what kind of cars and equipment you are using?

Servos, ESC, batteries, motor, tires, etc?

Thanks!

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

Most of my cars use at least some parts that could be considered "recycled old technology"! I ran three cars on the oval for testing:

SpeedMerchant World GT with old school Associated front suspension, converted to 235mm width, McAllister Nissan NPT90 body, Futaba FP-S132H, Novak Havoc 1s, ThunderPower 1s 5000mAh 50C (puffy!), Novak SS Pro 17.5T, BSR pink front / TRC(?) grey rear, 32 pitch gears.

Associated fiberglass RC10L, unknown brand 235mm Camaro body, Hitec HS-525BB, Castle Mamba Max Pro with generic voltage booster, CRC 1s 4200 65C shorty, Novak SS Pro 13.5T, Associated green front / unknown green rear, 32 pitch gears.

Associated RC10L3O with old school Associated front suspension, converted to 235mm width, McAllister Jaguar GTP body, JR NES-510, Novak Havoc 1s, ThunderPower 1s 5400mAh 65C (puffy), Novak Ballistic 13.5T, unknown front (green?) / BSR pink rear, 32 pitch gears.

All of the above cars have been loaned to other drivers for our onroad Breakout races. The SpeedMerchant was also loaned as 200mm wide car with a Protoform Mulsanne Lemans body.

Other cars that I have run in breakout:

BMI DB10R with Protoform Sophia body and PF Mulsanne body, Royal(!) mini servo, Castle Mamba Max Pro with generic voltage booster, Checkpoint 1s 5000mAh (puffy), Novak Ballistic 10.5T, unknown black front / BSR pink rear, 48 pitch gears.

Graphite 10L made mostly from vintage HPI option parts, with dynamic strut front suspension converted to accept TC foam tires/rims, Protoform Peugeot P905B High Downforce body, Futaba FP-S132H, Novak Havoc 1s, SMC 1s 4000mAh 25C, Novak SS Pro 17.5T, Jaco 30mm TC pink front / Associated green rear, 32 pitch gears.

SpeedMerchant RoadKill 10 with dynamic strut front suspension converted to accept TC foam tires/rims, Parma 1/10 Lola gas car body, Futaba FP-S132H, Novak Havoc 1s, ThunderPower 1s 5400mAh 65C (puffy), Tekin Redline 13.5T, Ennetti TC 32 front / BSR pearl rear, 32 pitch gears.

Some of the LiPo cells are 5+ years old, and the Associated green tires are 20+ years old! (rejuvenated with a one-week soaking in Paragon).

I don't have all of the info on the cars that other drivers have raced, but they include a Delta Villain 235mm pan car with 8.5T/1s and Tekin RS Pro ESC, an Associated graphite RC10L3 running 17.5T/2s, a 200mm Corally pan car, 17.5/2s TC on rubber tires, 25.5T/2s VTA on vintage rubber tires, 21.5T/2s USGT on HPI X-pattern rubber tires, and a 1/12 pan car.

pejota

iTrader: (12)

Thank you sir!! Looks like a lot of stuff you can get dirt cheap or have laying around.

Ahicks

Attachment 979735I thought i would try to post a pic of the new crc car i have put together with a Sophia GT body.
Hopefully i can make it to fastlane sunday for a test and maybe a run in breakout.

Ahicks

Novac 10.5 with 1s lipo, 3.82 gear ratio for starters.
Hopefully that will get me close.

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

And a Novak GTB 4 Cell plus Novak Smart Boost!-- I forgot to mention this in my previous post of cars and equipment being used for Breakout.

Are you considering selling your old RC10L? I was speaking with someone last Sunday who might be interested in running Breakout with us. He was a total beginner, but enjoyed running my RC10L in practice.

Ahicks

Possibly, it will depend on if i can get one of my kids to run it.
I do have an old bo-link pan car chasis i would let go for cheap.

Ahicks

I was thinking about converting either the 10L or bolink into an experimental oval car, but it would probably be easier just to look for a used oval car.

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

Either car would be excellent for an oval Breakout class, if we start one!

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

Yesterday I tried running without charging on the same LiPo cell for all of the qualifying heats and the main, hoping that the reduced cell voltage would help keep my lap times constant as the track picked up traction during the day. It worked pretty well, as my fast lap was only about 1/10 of a second slower in the main than in the first heat. There were only enough drivers present to run the Breakout class, so under more normal circumstances where we have two or three classes racing, the traction will come up even more, and my lap times should vary even less.

So now I don't need to charge during the races, and since I already don't use traction compound either during the races, there's no reason to even remove the body after each run. That's maximum fun for minimum effort!