14LikesTamiya F104 Pro!
02-15-2010, 11:20 AM
#2191
Tech Regular
A cautionary tale
OK, I'll preface this with a caveat that this setup works at the somewhat-slippery, no-track-spray AV facility, as I've tried it at other tracks without success.
Anyway, when I got the F60 kit I swapped the carbon fiber chassis plates off my F104 Pro for the fiberglass ones. I think they're actually more forgiving over TA's bumps, as I've found with an old F103 I campaign there.
So with that basis, I have: a very soft shock spring, dry damper discs, the soft T-plate, and black springs up front with a "tensioner" (a .8 mm washer) under each one. I run a "motorboat" ride height, with more in front than in back. And, as mentioned, I've been running the rear rubber tires with no insert (I am building tires with inserts for warmer weather) and the stock insert on the fronts. The only chemical I've applied to the tires is Goo Gone (that nice orange-scented cleaner from the store, used to use it on F201 tires).
Ambient temps at TA this winter have been in the high 50's and low 60's; this last weekend was the first with weather in the 70's. This weekend, some of the guys were having good success with inserts on their rear tires, but as I say the ambient temps were up.
I ran the tires 10 times with this setup, by which time they started to get what looked like the "death groove" on the inside next to the sidewall. However, I found that a trip to my foam tire truer and some careful emery-board work actually took care of that and brought the tires back. They now have 12 runs on them without signs of dying.
I have tried the Much More tire warmers (they fit the rears just fine, fronts need a shop towel wrap to help them fit tight) and indeed found their benefit was good for only a couple minutes. And, as Fred will not allow tire warmers through tech, I'm not sure I'll use them at the Feb. TCS race. But I did find my tires came in after a lap or so without warmers. But it was true that as the track cooled down in the early evening and grip declined, the car slid more.
I have to clean up the damping motion on the front end because it bounces too much over a couple bumpy sections. Still, the car with the F60 body is very driveable, and if you ask around at TA they'll all tell you it's not because of my driving ability.
Anyway, when I got the F60 kit I swapped the carbon fiber chassis plates off my F104 Pro for the fiberglass ones. I think they're actually more forgiving over TA's bumps, as I've found with an old F103 I campaign there.
So with that basis, I have: a very soft shock spring, dry damper discs, the soft T-plate, and black springs up front with a "tensioner" (a .8 mm washer) under each one. I run a "motorboat" ride height, with more in front than in back. And, as mentioned, I've been running the rear rubber tires with no insert (I am building tires with inserts for warmer weather) and the stock insert on the fronts. The only chemical I've applied to the tires is Goo Gone (that nice orange-scented cleaner from the store, used to use it on F201 tires).
Ambient temps at TA this winter have been in the high 50's and low 60's; this last weekend was the first with weather in the 70's. This weekend, some of the guys were having good success with inserts on their rear tires, but as I say the ambient temps were up.
I ran the tires 10 times with this setup, by which time they started to get what looked like the "death groove" on the inside next to the sidewall. However, I found that a trip to my foam tire truer and some careful emery-board work actually took care of that and brought the tires back. They now have 12 runs on them without signs of dying.
I have tried the Much More tire warmers (they fit the rears just fine, fronts need a shop towel wrap to help them fit tight) and indeed found their benefit was good for only a couple minutes. And, as Fred will not allow tire warmers through tech, I'm not sure I'll use them at the Feb. TCS race. But I did find my tires came in after a lap or so without warmers. But it was true that as the track cooled down in the early evening and grip declined, the car slid more.
I have to clean up the damping motion on the front end because it bounces too much over a couple bumpy sections. Still, the car with the F60 body is very driveable, and if you ask around at TA they'll all tell you it's not because of my driving ability.
02-15-2010, 09:02 PM
#2194
| + YouTube Video | |
02-17-2010, 12:21 AM
#2195
Rubber tyre/tire success
Last Sunday's racing got rained out, but I managed to get some in last night at our Tuesday evening meet.
Track temperature was around 27degC (80degF), so I tried some practice laps with the Tamiya rubber (51399/51400) and the car was pretty slippery and not a whole lot of fun. Even tried them on the warmers, but not a whole lot of difference. Interestingly, most the touring car guys were posting very quick times, so the track wasn't considered bad.
I then switched to the Ride H1 compound on the rear and H2 on the front (these are the two hardest compounds for each end). The rear was transformed, but the car was understeering quite a bit. Brought it in and swapped some H1's onto the front. Much better!
In no uncertain way, the car was fun to drive again and the occasional bit of over enthusiasm going into the faster corners was easily caught. It's always been pretty good in the daytime, but the cooler (by Sydney standards) evening meets were always a struggle.
The Ride rims look nice as well. As we head into the cooler months, I've still got the S1 compound for the rear, which should be good when it gets colder.
I can only conclude that the current Tamiya rubber is very sensitive to track surface as well as temperature. When I tried it on a very hot day here (68degC/154degF) they were only half a second slower than the foams (ref).
So, in the meantime, I can heartily recommend the Ride rims and rubber.
Track temperature was around 27degC (80degF), so I tried some practice laps with the Tamiya rubber (51399/51400) and the car was pretty slippery and not a whole lot of fun. Even tried them on the warmers, but not a whole lot of difference. Interestingly, most the touring car guys were posting very quick times, so the track wasn't considered bad.
I then switched to the Ride H1 compound on the rear and H2 on the front (these are the two hardest compounds for each end). The rear was transformed, but the car was understeering quite a bit. Brought it in and swapped some H1's onto the front. Much better!
In no uncertain way, the car was fun to drive again and the occasional bit of over enthusiasm going into the faster corners was easily caught. It's always been pretty good in the daytime, but the cooler (by Sydney standards) evening meets were always a struggle.
The Ride rims look nice as well. As we head into the cooler months, I've still got the S1 compound for the rear, which should be good when it gets colder.
I can only conclude that the current Tamiya rubber is very sensitive to track surface as well as temperature. When I tried it on a very hot day here (68degC/154degF) they were only half a second slower than the foams (ref).
So, in the meantime, I can heartily recommend the Ride rims and rubber.
02-17-2010, 05:45 AM
#2196
I need Help! I got one set each of the takeoff and pit shimizu rubber tires for the F104 and tried to mount them on the Tamiya metal plated f104 wheels. However, they don't seem to fit right when I try to mount them on the grooves. The tires (especially the rears) only seem to sit right on the wheel if mounted on the outer edges which seems to be an awkward mounting position. Has anyone tried this out? I'd appreciate any help. Thanks in advance.
02-17-2010, 08:46 AM
#2199
That esc is a Yeah Racing 60amp w/ fan. It came with a Tornado fan in case I wanted to switch to 3cell. So it don't overheat! I took the Ferrari out on this track on Sunday, even though you can't see my car, preview this track.
| + YouTube Video | |
nice vid.. car looks pretty fast
02-17-2010, 09:24 AM
#2200
i decided to pic up one of the zen upper decks. it fit pretty good and i am happy with it. instead of buying more batteries that are round, i can use all my regular hard case batts. http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-f10...k-p-29723.html
02-17-2010, 09:28 AM
#2201
i also ran the f60 tires this weekend. i was impressed since the f103gt kit tires sucked so bad. i treated them and took them to an open parking lot that wasnt cleaned or preped. temp was about 65deg. te car did push a little but not to many spin outs under accell. not bad for parking lot pimping. when the weather gets better i will try them at our local track.
02-17-2010, 01:40 PM
#2202
Thanks, yeah I had to get that car on video. I saw what it could do first hand and it blew my mind. I should get my Ferrari on vid here soon enough. I did race it Sunday. It took a few good spin-outs dew to the scale sandy shoulder. From where I was standing it looked like that was it! But she handled the damage quite well for being a queen for a minute!
02-17-2010, 07:14 PM
#2204
http://www.tamiyausa.com/articles/fe...article-id=442
02-17-2010, 07:37 PM
#2205
i decided to pic up one of the zen upper decks. it fit pretty good and i am happy with it. instead of buying more batteries that are round, i can use all my regular hard case batts. http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-f10...k-p-29723.html
Phil.