wittyname

iTrader: (4)

How many use a practice engine and then a different mill for race days ?

sfox1026

I don't have a practice engine. I have a back up car and engine. Mainly use it to try different setups. Then if I have a problem with race car or engine, I have a backup.

I am not that good of a driver, so I have a back up in the event of crash damage!

HaulinBass

iTrader: (16)

Same as the guy above

tcb22185

iTrader: (61)

I deffently dont run my good mill on practice days. But do use same clutch and all on my practice engine.

mblgjr

iTrader: (86)

Practice with exactly what you race with

So your backup or primary engine should match/be the same.

One of the easier things to do is break in a pair and then alternate them so effectively they're of similar age/performance throughout the season.

Austin1031

iTrader: (1)

Exactly what I do. 2 Triton L5's that I alternate throughout the season. Just makes sense to me to run the same mill.

Motorman007

iTrader: (89)

Bingo Use the motor you are running. Then get more of that same motor so you know the feel of it from track to track.

If you go OS then Practice with a Picco they will not feel the same.

Gavel

iTrader: (6)

I have an engine i only use at big meets, this way i can have a well perofrming engine for the entire year while my practice one get abused. Then when the year is done my race engine becomes my practice and i buy a new race engine

Roelof

With offroad, engines do last longer so practice and racing with the same engine is no problem. In the onroad it is different. When drivers have for example 3 engines to go into an important race they will try all 3, due tolerances there are differences so drivers do select which engine to use when. I myself start the practice with a normal engine and my last practice session wil get the race engine to do the last adjustments making it ready for the race.

racer1812

iTrader: (31)

Nobody that I know does this.

E1 Diablo

iTrader: (10)

I ran my backup motor(s) last season while practicing several times in my last race season.

I appreciated my race motor a lot more after running the backups. I got a better appreciation for fuel economy and power of my race motor compared to my backup. If my backup outperformed my race day motor I would've swapped.

Was hoping a $200 motor would outperform a more expensive motor, but that never happened.

Herrsavage

There is a LOT of confirmation bias in RC, so thinking something you spent a lot of money on is better is fairly typical, but not always objectively true IMO. Not saying it's so in your case, but you see it a lot. There are also just variables - driving style for ex., and many things are relative. How many times do you see guys say they switched chassis brands and "voila", they're automatically faster. That doesn't mean though that particular chassis is objectively faster of course. But people talk that way.

I don't race these days (might do one later in the summer, if all the stars align..), and I was never very deeply into it. But at least at the tracks I raced at, the most important thing about an engine was always just that it ran right. The tracks were almost always blown out with little to no traction. If it didn't cut out it was all good. %99 of the time it was too much power for good traction anyway, and could barely top out on the straights. When I was getting more and more into it I was getting engines for racing, including modded ones, which I felt like I was taking extra special care of, and others for practice. But in retrospect it didn't matter. I raced with a cheap Go 3-port (on a 2041 pipe), and it was awesome. I also ran what for me was a higher end RB Fire 11, which I still have, and it was a tick even more awesome(of course I expected it to be, so there was some CB there too probably..) I saw the Speeds etc idling like clockwork, and that was nice and all. But I'm fairly certain that spending double for a Speed compared to the €200 or so I usually spent on engines, given the track, my skill level, and well just the "stakes" involved(cost-reward..), would not have made any difference whatsoever.

So long live the $200 engine ha ha.. For practice or as a main racing engine or whatever..

TruggyDude91

iTrader: (2)

Personally, I think its a waste of money to have a race engine and a practice engine. Just run the same engine for practice and for a race that way you are familiar with how the engine runs, tunes, and should any hiccups occur, you are experienced with how to remedy the problem. If you run good fuel and tune your engines correctly your engine should last quite a long time. If you are absolutely terrible at tuning and don't run good fuel in your engine then I can see having two engines.

I think this mentality of I have to have a practice and race engine comes from factory motocross teams. Our nitro engines do not face the same abuse that the factory engines do. I know for a fact that the Pro-Circuit Kawasaki 250f team bikes engines are designed and built to only last for 2hrs. After that, they need a complete engine rebuild. That's why they have detuned practice bikes for their factory riders so they have something to romp on during the week and the race shop is not rebuilding 20k motors multiple times a week.

Our Nitro engines are not designed to only last for a gallon of fuel and require a total rebuild after each race. Save yourself some cash and run the same engine you practice with. 'Nuff said!

Herrsavage

Probably makes more sense to talk of a "backup" engine as opposed to a "practice" engine..

am

I have practice engines. My practice enignes is the engines that starts to wear out. I use them until they are worn out. I normally use two maybe three enignes in a seasson. I always have good race engines, and my practice engines are so so, but thats why they are practic engines.

I used to rotate my engines, but found out that when the season was getting near the end i usually had two so so engines and ended up buying a third one after all...