chicagokenji

Rob, what's a racer to do to get speed in and out of corners with a TA car?

Can you post a list of things to try?

liljohn1064

iTrader: (17)

Good point! RobK, Isn't it just road race mechanics? at the corner be outside, move inside to the apex and then back out to the edge? As straight a line as possible at the highest speed you can maintain?

robk

iTrader: (22)

You can look at my first post, as that has some things in it. Quite a bit is based on traction level, like I can't say "always run a 12lb spring", but I'll try to point some stuff out I think is important. I hope some guys who have had success will post what they think is important too.

*Relatively soft car- I think the tire compound being what it is, basically from 1996 (lol), you need more mechanical traction than current TC tires. So springs at the very soft range are appropriate. This lets the tire work w/o overloading them.

I really only was able to figure this out last week, since if the tires got hot, they wrapped with fuzz from the track (too sticky). I had seen shades of this in 8 minute main races where the car would get funny handling part way thru the race if you overdrove it.

If you calmed down, it would come back. My car was too stiff, especially in front. Softer=faster, and more consistent for 8 minutes.

*Higher roll centers- I think this is dependent on the car, but if you follow with softer springs, the car will roll more. A higher hinge pin mount will take some of this out of the car. I am now starting to think the front roll center should be equal to or higher than the rear. My car rolled across the nose a lot in the main, and was loosing speed due to this.

Also, Mike Haynes (Dominator of the Gate)has the hinge pins higher in the front than the rear in his setup. Jimmy S (g12314), who was very fast last week, also has higher front pins, and my buddy Kevin K did too. Notice the trend?

I think it works well with the softer springs since it lets the car rotate off the rear end more. Probably helps the front tires from getting roasted too.

*Less Rear Camber- I'm not as sure about this one, but I think you may as well use all of that big honkin' tire. I know that my car didn't get loose at 1* of camber like it did before. Still, not 100% on this...

*Stuff that may or may not be so great....-
Sway bars-I put them on my car since it rolled a lot. I wound up removing the rear bar for the main, but I think it was a mistake. It actually helped control some of the front end roll. The rear of your car actually influences things a lot, especially rotation. The good thing about swaybars is it can keep your car flatter in the corner, but let the weight get on the nose or back to the rear dependent on throttle. Some people don't like them...

Long camber links-I wound up here more by chance than anything. The front needed it, but the rear was unchanged from when I was looking for more rear traction when my car was picking up fuzz. Longer camber links aren't as reactive.

Droop-My car seemed better when I had a lot of rear droop. Not sure why. Normally I wouldn't run a lot of droop, and the track conditions were a bit odd, so I will have to review this.

Hope this helps

robk

iTrader: (22)

What you're saying is true, but if your car is pushing, or is getting abound up in the corner, or it's loose and has no forward traction, all that good driving doesn't help. Practice on the layout will get you faster from the radio end of things. You can't pinch off corners or blow past the apex, but the car has to cooperate.

dragracer72nova

iTrader: (114)

Robk,
Which chassis are you running? I never got a chance to look at your car this past weekend. Were you driving the Stealth Camaro?
Dave

robk

iTrader: (22)

Pro4/Murdered out Camaro

Davidka

iTrader: (86)

Do the brushed guys run bearings in their 27t motors? Seems like they should since the BL motors only come with bearings.

reenmachine

iTrader: (26)

From the rules:

roadkill

iTrader: (152)

quick ? for someone, I am going to order some tires and rims, but kinda need some help.
I have a ft tc4 chassis,with an hpi 65 shelby gt 350 body going on it, what mm wide tires and rims do i need to order, 26 mm all the way around,or 26mm in front and 31 mm in the rear, thanx for the help.

robk

iTrader: (22)

26mm front 31mm rear, yes it all fits

not-a-lobster

iTrader: (2)

We got our vta's on the track for an exhibition and all I can say is "Ice driving?" Most of the guys were running 27t and 4 cell. I still need tires and a shell for my tc3 so I just marshalled but it was a riot. My question is who decides what are the legal bodies? Just a question. Definately gonna try the afformentioned set-up tips, thanks.

k_bojar

iTrader: (30)

ApexSpeed is the decider of what's legal..

This class definitely has enough choices for drivers - you have bodies from HPI, Parma and Pegasus Hobbies, I think a total of 10 ro 12 all together...

what do you mean by "ice driving"?? I think just about everyone here is running some "basic" rubber setup for the respective chassis and have good luck - carpet however, is a different story

not-a-lobster

iTrader: (2)

The vta class is very new at our small club and we are still in trial and error on set-ups hence the Ice Driving term, the cars were very loose. I was just wondering how those particular part numbers for bodies were selected. Also wondering the same thing on WGT bodies but that's for a different thread.

k_bojar

iTrader: (30)

Without answering for ApexSpeed, the bodies were chosed because they most represent the actual cars that ran in the TransAm Class in the late 60s and early 70s (don't remember the actual designation of the SCCA class that they ran in)

if you look thru any photos (and Doug has a few listed on the USVTA website), you'll see most of the bodies that were chosen for this class...

You aren't one of those guys that are trying to "change" the class to meet his needs are you??

Stealth_RT

iTrader: (5)

not-a-lobster, what traction compound are you using on the tires? You ARE using traction compound, right? If you are not, the cars will always be loose, if you are running on carpet.