How's your driving? The "Stormer error correction", thread.
01-10-2008, 03:54 PM
#46
There is a mental edge to this too, if you start first you have a clear track for a fair few laps usually and that can be an advantage than being in the middle of the field and trying to make moves earlier on in the race and outbreaking yourself or getting involved with the car you want to pass.
The more I think about this the more I delve into it, really good reading.
The more I think about this the more I delve into it, really good reading.
01-10-2008, 03:59 PM
#47
If you were a second off at a local event. My guess is that every piece of your puzzle needed a bit of work. Including the motor. And it's believed by a lot of people I respect, that the 3rd run on a stock rebuild is the best, hence your digging the motor. Look at your puzzle, and the next time you're running stock, stick to your rebuild regiment, but ONLY make changes to the car. Don't even change the rollout (assuming it's close). Don't just assume that because everybody runs a magenta, you should run a magenta. Or if everybody else is running .045 springs you should to.
What happens to club racers, is the race itself becomes of such importance (and it is important), that most people don't take the necessary time to really try things. And usually it's because they don't have the time. If you're 1 second off, you will never go as fast as you could, until you REALLY aren't afraid to take dead last.
Used to be that club racing was where you went with your friends to drive and have fun, share setups and learn. And then go to the big shows to see how you're doing. Seems as though more and more, it's ONLY about the club race. And people get pretty twisted up over the wins and losses at that level.
A car that is tight for me is loose for my son. Completely different driving styles. I'll try his car, it's almost perfect, I give it back to him... It's loose, you can see it as he drives it... It actually looks hard to drive, maybe even tweaked. I drive it again... perfect.
Always assume your car could be better, and you'll probably be right. Slap a 19turn in that thing, can you make it go 2-3 laps faster? If not, it's very likely that a faster (and it's a relative term) stock motor isn't going to help. If the car won't go faster with virtually unlimited power, then you're up against a different issue. A car that's easy to drive is easy to drive, fast or slow.
What happens to club racers, is the race itself becomes of such importance (and it is important), that most people don't take the necessary time to really try things. And usually it's because they don't have the time. If you're 1 second off, you will never go as fast as you could, until you REALLY aren't afraid to take dead last.
Used to be that club racing was where you went with your friends to drive and have fun, share setups and learn. And then go to the big shows to see how you're doing. Seems as though more and more, it's ONLY about the club race. And people get pretty twisted up over the wins and losses at that level.
A car that is tight for me is loose for my son. Completely different driving styles. I'll try his car, it's almost perfect, I give it back to him... It's loose, you can see it as he drives it... It actually looks hard to drive, maybe even tweaked. I drive it again... perfect.
Always assume your car could be better, and you'll probably be right. Slap a 19turn in that thing, can you make it go 2-3 laps faster? If not, it's very likely that a faster (and it's a relative term) stock motor isn't going to help. If the car won't go faster with virtually unlimited power, then you're up against a different issue. A car that's easy to drive is easy to drive, fast or slow.
You're right about most of what you say, but here's my problem. I'm fortunate enough that the really fast drivers will share setups and advice with me. So I know what things to try, and I'm just good enough to know if a particular change worked. Problem is some changes will put the car right on the ragged edge, and I'm just not good enough to keep it there for the entire race.
Now I'm fine with that. I just don't have the time to put in the practice the other racers can. Now I wouldn't have a problem if we all ran mod. If I'm down on power I just go in the shop and buy a faster motor. But with everyone running a motor as severely restricted as a 27 turn, even the slightest advantage will show up big. I can't count how many times I've seen guys slap the boards 3-4 times a lap and still beat me (although it is fun when they break and I wave as I go by
).This is one of the reasons I've been fighting for classes based somewhere on skill level. It just isn't fair to have someone new to the hobby, or even someone who doesn't want to put that much work into it, have to compete with "the Big Guns." Pulling over every lap to let the fast guys by gets old fast, and people leave the hobby instead of trying to stick it out. In order for the hobby to grow we need to push the fast guys up and give the guys that stink some track time to ourselves.
PS I like you you want the sport/hobby to get better too!
01-10-2008, 05:39 PM
#48
Bob-Stormer, thanks for the topic! It really is true that racing is about consistency. One of my friends says I am faster than him, and I retort back that that may be true, he is quite a bit more consitent. This is offroad mind you, but the same rules apply: be consistent, speed comes later. Ever since I started racing, consistency was my primary goal, and it only drives me harder to be a better mechanic and driver, but also gives me much more pleasure to go race, because the goal is not just winning, but seeing WHY I placed where I did.
01-10-2008, 05:51 PM
#49
Hey Guys,
Pardon me if this has already been said but is this theory what some rc scoring programs calculate also???...
Not sure of the software, perhaps AlyCat, but at some meetings on our race result sheets the numbers are displayed as:
Laps, Overall Time, Best Lap, Average, Cons
with 'Cons' being a decimal number.
I think its probably the difference from your average to your best, but its a good indication of how consistant you are, and it helps alot.
EG: at an indoor event a few years ago, i was racing against a mate of mine who's one of the top stock drivers in the country, both had the same cars Xray T2, with a similar set-up...just customised to our styles slightly. Now i actually turned a faster lap time than he, and he even commented my car looked to flow through the corners better than his, however at the end of the race... after he'd lapped me twice, we checked the Cons. Mine was 0.82, and his was 0.10. So it was CLEARLY and indication of how important consistancy is.
Anyway, thats my 0.02c
Cheers,
Robbie
Pardon me if this has already been said but is this theory what some rc scoring programs calculate also???...
Not sure of the software, perhaps AlyCat, but at some meetings on our race result sheets the numbers are displayed as:
Laps, Overall Time, Best Lap, Average, Cons
with 'Cons' being a decimal number.
I think its probably the difference from your average to your best, but its a good indication of how consistant you are, and it helps alot.
EG: at an indoor event a few years ago, i was racing against a mate of mine who's one of the top stock drivers in the country, both had the same cars Xray T2, with a similar set-up...just customised to our styles slightly. Now i actually turned a faster lap time than he, and he even commented my car looked to flow through the corners better than his, however at the end of the race... after he'd lapped me twice, we checked the Cons. Mine was 0.82, and his was 0.10. So it was CLEARLY and indication of how important consistancy is.
Anyway, thats my 0.02c
Cheers,
Robbie
01-10-2008, 05:57 PM
#50
Robbie, I'll have to look for that field in Alycat. That is what I use for our race. Currently my setup doesn't print out "cons", but if it can I am definately adding that field into the setup.
01-10-2008, 06:08 PM
#52
01-11-2008, 03:21 PM
#55
I was just looking through my Alycat this morning and could not find it...where do you enable that feature?
01-11-2008, 05:58 PM
#57
01-11-2008, 09:43 PM
#58
... lolJust goes to show that keeping it straight and on the black stuff counts.
Cheers,
Robbie
