So i ran my first offroad race this weekend.
 

i ran my first race today. i ran the 1/8 scale buggy class with an ol' mugen MBX4R i got from a friend. and i had a lot of trouble with depth perception towards the back of the track. are there any pionters you guys have or is this just a seat time deal? BTW i got sixth... out of seven :(. but all in all it was fun and i left with the car is in one piece! :nod:

Thats the most important thing, finishing the race:nod:

Congrats on finishing your first race... just finishing the first time out is a pretty good accomplishment. There is no substitute to track time and practice. The more wheel time you get the better. There are some tricks like wheel dots and other things to give you a little better perception of the car, but learning the track and driving it are the best thing you can do. It will get easier the more you do it. Practice, Practice, Practice..... and have fun!!!!

all about track time... get out there early and run as much as possible is my motto

Exactly... the first thing I like to do each race is get out and walk the track. You are able to see little things that you can't see from the drivers stand. As the race goes on take a look when you go out to marshall. Where are the ruts forming, pot holes, etc. Remember that warm up before the race is just that... warm up. Don't try and push it to hard. I see alot of new guys break during warm up and end up missing the race.

^^^ All good advice.

And remember - Not crashing and finishing the race will get you past 1/2 the drivers in the sportsman class.

I have to say, my first time was similar. I wasn't used to racing on a huge track, I had depth perception problems as well. but luckily my first car was the jammin x1cr. and I must say I finished just about all of my races untill that piece of crap force 26 went out on me.

Tought me alot, infact I'm pondering going back to a jammin because it was soo good. But good luck, and after alot of seat time, it'll be second nature to you!

NO... you have to keep the 8ight !!!!!!

your one of the reasons I'm thinking of switching. :p I can't be consistenent with it, and you've beat me on too many occasions. It has to be the buggy. I guess it suits your driving style better than it suits mine.

So In a way, that should make you feel good. Let me see your current setup, and maybe I'll keep it if I can get it to work better for me.

its all about practice and seeing your lines:nod:

that was my biggest problem. i couldnt make the car hit the line i wanted. which caused me to stack one jump pretty much every lap. let me tell you that mugen is one tough buggy :lol: thanks for all the reply's, what sucks is my older brother ran a faster lap than me with his LST :cry: practice, practice, practice is an understatement at this point ;)

congrats on your first race.. remember slow is fast and when you going slow and staying on the wheels your making time but if your consistently on your lid waiting for marshal's your losing time whether your fast or not. but good job

To finish first, first you must finish! :nod:

Ok, about vision/depth perception:

I have pretty marginal vision, even with glasses.

I've found that the brightest freakin' paintjob I can get helps. My car is virutually all flourescent yellow. Flourescent yellow body with a bit of graqhics, floursecent yellow wheels and wing...

Even then when it gets across the track I have a little trouble telling how I'm lined up. Experience DOES help, but so does good vision. I lack both.

Some folks say darkening the center (black magic marker) of the wheels (just the little circle that is indented for the wheel nut) helps, but I haven't tried it.