Originally Posted by
J-PaP
I'm building mine at the moment. I'm hoping to have it ready by Wednesday and plan to do a full comparison. Going to run the following in each of the 4 races using the exact same motor and gear ratio and same compound tyres.
1. F104 x1 with my current settings
2. F104 x1 with rear widening kit removed
3. F104 v2 undecided on settings yet (may go softer roll & pitch springs and add some toe out at the front since that really helps at the track I race... May just directly swap the front end from the x1 on to do an initial test if I'm short on time)
4. Exotek F1 ultra
Should be interesting to how each car performs.
So to follow up on my nights racing in which I was able to test 3 different cars. I skipped on testing the f104 x1 with the widening kit removed as I wasn't happy with the first qualifier.
Track tonight was extremely chilly and damp due to the clear night. In past experience with these conditions traction is definitely not easy. You can't punch the car out of corners but instead really need to make sure you are straight.
I used the exact same motor and esc in each car. Same set of tyres for the two F104's. The f103 was the same compound but the f103 version.
Race 1 (well was actually race 2) - F104 X1
The car behaved reasonably well given the conditions. The way I drive is I do like to hug the paint which was impossible in the conditions so did need to be a bit more careful. Front traction was pretty good. The low speed corners car was turning on a dime. Corner exit you needed to be sure you were straight at the time. At high speed corners I did need to back off and throttle as I'm going through as it was understeering.
Fastest lap - 12.688
Race 2 - F1 Ultra
This car was really nice to drive. Clearly felt quicker than the f104 did. The wider rear tyres meant I could punch it out of corners. It could have used a little more front toe out but the car is setup for a different track. As a result low speed corners were not able to be taken as well as the f104 x1. In the high speed corners I was able to take it full throttle without even fully steering. The link type chassis really keeps the rear gripping right through the corner. The car is a bit different to drive to the f104 so I do think had I used the car throughout the night a 12-12.1 was definitely possible.
Fastest lap - 12.222
Race 3 - F104 V2
Was really curious how Tamiya goes on this car. From the kit setup I did fit the carbon hopups (rear wing and shock brace) and alloy motor mount. What I was really surprised about was given my x1 has no alloy in it at all bar the camber plate, diff and top plate posts, the v2 still weighed 10 grams less and had the alloy motor mount and two dampers etc.
I went for softest springs for the roll and pitch and 20wt oil in the roll damper and 30wt in the pitch damper. One mistake I did make is I forgot to pre tension the pitch shock. As a result I did the race with the car about 1-2mm off the ground. Didn't damage the chassis too badly surprisingly. More surprising is that given the chassis was dragging along and the pitch and roll springs weren't able to work as they were meant to, the car was still easy to drive. Rear traction was not as good as the f103 and I did need more front toe out. But it was planted in the high speed corners and was close to turning on a dime in the low speed corners. Had the pitch damper been set correctly I think it would have performed stronger. I think this car is definitely the one to have. Should be good for at least .3 faster than my fastest lap
Fastest lap - 12.188