How to Revive On-Road Racing
03-11-2011, 01:08 PM
#122
The VTA rules are not changing anytime soon. They had to be changed because were VTA is popular, racers were going away due to the speeds and tire wear.
If you think that "going slower" is bad for racing, there is no hope for on road. Ever increasing speeds across the board are hurting on road.
If you think that "going slower" is bad for racing, there is no hope for on road. Ever increasing speeds across the board are hurting on road.
03-11-2011, 01:36 PM
#123
Tech Fanatic
iTrader: (13)
we just had a race in mobile at the cancer society chili cook off if front of 125k people that attended this event so we had flyers for the local hobby shop and race events for the local club we had a lot of questions and the tv coverage was great too..look for community events and see if ya can get a few racers to put on a race and get the exposure ,the race is a lot of fun
03-11-2011, 01:50 PM
#124
As someone new to RC racing I would like to add my $0.02 to this thread. I think there are a couple things that would help attendance at races. First, someone needs to promote the races. I've never seen an advertisement for any of the local races at my LHS. You can get the info if you ask but if you don't know it even exists how are you going to know to ask? Second, cost is a factor but not for all classes. This is where the need for promotion comes in again. If a new racer is put off by the initial cost of getting involved with TC then it would be helpful to know that other less expensive classes are out there for them. Finally, if it wasn't for the information that was happily given to me by some of the more experienced guys at the track I'm sure that my first visit to the track would have been my last. There is a lot of information for a newbie to sift through in this hobby and without the guidance of the more experienced guys a lot of new people are going to walk away. One more thing, more novice classes would be great. Nobody wants to feel like they are "in the way" during a race but if you're new and you're on the track with the fast guys there is a good chance that that is how you're going to feel. Like anything, the only way this hobby survives is by adding new people. It should be very easy for new people to get involved.
03-11-2011, 02:03 PM
#125
Two big things I think that could be hurting on-road are having too many classes and being forced to go slower. There seem to be classes designed to cater to certain skill levels, boosted, non-boosted, mod, RCGT, VTA, and on and on. Why not have only two or three classes? Or group them together as someone stated earlier (like Le-Mans).
As far as speed, who doesn't want to go fast?
I know I do
The amount of rules created to slow cars down is surprising (to me, at least). I understand that a fast car is harder for a beginner to drive but no one is saying they have to drive it that fast, gearing, endpoints, expo, etc. can all be used to tune down a car and make it easier to drive. And as someone stated earlier, people need to come to terms with the fact that not everyone can be in the A-Main.
A class that's really picked up around here is the 1/8th GT electric. I believe some factors of its success are the openness of the rules. Any motor, battery, and ESC is allowed. We really only regulate the body, wheels, and drive-line.
As far as speed, who doesn't want to go fast?
I know I do The amount of rules created to slow cars down is surprising (to me, at least). I understand that a fast car is harder for a beginner to drive but no one is saying they have to drive it that fast, gearing, endpoints, expo, etc. can all be used to tune down a car and make it easier to drive. And as someone stated earlier, people need to come to terms with the fact that not everyone can be in the A-Main. A class that's really picked up around here is the 1/8th GT electric. I believe some factors of its success are the openness of the rules. Any motor, battery, and ESC is allowed. We really only regulate the body, wheels, and drive-line.
03-11-2011, 02:08 PM
#126
people just need to get over the cost issue. that is just not the issue. i understand that people think that a $500 sedan is expensive, but i would be surprise if any person that jumps into off road and only spends $250-$350 on a startup rig, does not spend $1500 by the end of 12months of racing. the fact is any hobby that people spend time doing consistently over a year is going to cost money. on road may cost more then off road, but that is really just the initial entry cost. after that you spend a but load. I woudl bet i spent more my first year, then my initial investment.
cost is not an issue. we have prob 5-6 new racers in the last 6 weeks. most spent the $500-$600 initial inverstment to jump in. i would not be surprised that 4-5 of them will still be racing something within 6month. the fact is, your prob don't want people that have a hard time coming up with the initial inverstment, because, well they could not afford the ongoing cost. racing and rc cost money and you want people with a level of discretionary income that can afford to spend to stay racing.
I run my own business and contract to several fortune 500 companies. I can tell you that moeny is being spent and people are willing to spend money. you just got to give them a reason to spend it.
cost is not an issue. we have prob 5-6 new racers in the last 6 weeks. most spent the $500-$600 initial inverstment to jump in. i would not be surprised that 4-5 of them will still be racing something within 6month. the fact is, your prob don't want people that have a hard time coming up with the initial inverstment, because, well they could not afford the ongoing cost. racing and rc cost money and you want people with a level of discretionary income that can afford to spend to stay racing.
I run my own business and contract to several fortune 500 companies. I can tell you that moeny is being spent and people are willing to spend money. you just got to give them a reason to spend it.
03-11-2011, 02:51 PM
#127
IMO I think it comes down to what class is the funnest one to race in, cause if your not enjoying yourself racing with other people then that class will die out.
03-11-2011, 03:41 PM
#128
We are reviving our sedan class here locally this summer. All we are doing is getting a few of us local "off-road" guys to race onroad that nvr have before. I started bringing my T2'009 out to the offroad track and people were like drooling over it. So a few bought some of the used sedans off here and now we got more peeps. We are going race Sat morning off-raod then Sat night onroad. Going try to get a series together too. Also going with a spec tire for the guys that dont know what tire to buy too. :P
03-11-2011, 03:47 PM
#129
[QUOTE=theisgroup;8786219] the fact is, your prob don't want people that have a hard time coming up with the initial inverstment, because, well they could not afford the ongoing cost. racing and rc cost money and you want people with a level of discretionary income that can afford to spend to stay racing[/QUOTE
yep
yep
03-11-2011, 06:51 PM
#130
Things like VTA are not the answer for everywhere, I'm running on a big outdoor nitro track, you need some speed to keep it interesting.
Tracks have to find something that works for them, I think this is a big factor, there is possibly a perception you can have a class that will work 'everywhere', but I just don't see that as true, cause if it won't suit the track size/style or traction, people just won't come if it's not right or fun to drive.
Right now for our track, we are trying to create a class that just works, being easy and fun to drive, with as few quirks as possible, so far this means 10.5 zero, and foam, as that combo works here.
Will the class succeed though?, who knows, but it deserves a go, and the previous formulas were dead here.
Oh and a major gripe of mine, modern body shells, seriously if it does not look like a real car, why the hell are we using it?, and every new shell now looks less like anything, it's kind of sad.
Tracks have to find something that works for them, I think this is a big factor, there is possibly a perception you can have a class that will work 'everywhere', but I just don't see that as true, cause if it won't suit the track size/style or traction, people just won't come if it's not right or fun to drive.
Right now for our track, we are trying to create a class that just works, being easy and fun to drive, with as few quirks as possible, so far this means 10.5 zero, and foam, as that combo works here.
Will the class succeed though?, who knows, but it deserves a go, and the previous formulas were dead here.
Oh and a major gripe of mine, modern body shells, seriously if it does not look like a real car, why the hell are we using it?, and every new shell now looks less like anything, it's kind of sad.
03-11-2011, 06:56 PM
#131
Has anyone considered that some or most of the clubs when running race meetings forget about the middle to bottom end people that pay the same money to enter and end up short changed by only having 1 final (4 heats , 3 Finals for A Main and rest 1).
Now if you have travelled 2/3 or more hours to an event, it tends to turn those people away from the sport.After all they just want to have some fun.
Now there are clubs that run 3 finals for everyone which is great. So why don't all clubs do this, even if they have to cut heats back to give everyone the same amount of track time. I know here in Australia there is definitely a TOP TEN mentality with clubs and drivers.
just my bit
thanks Steven.
Now if you have travelled 2/3 or more hours to an event, it tends to turn those people away from the sport.After all they just want to have some fun.
Now there are clubs that run 3 finals for everyone which is great. So why don't all clubs do this, even if they have to cut heats back to give everyone the same amount of track time. I know here in Australia there is definitely a TOP TEN mentality with clubs and drivers.
just my bit
thanks Steven.
03-11-2011, 08:09 PM
#132
the fact is, your prob don't want people that have a hard time coming up with the initial inverstment, because, well they could not afford the ongoing cost. racing and rc cost money and you want people with a level of discretionary income that can afford to spend to stay racing.
I run my own business and contract to several fortune 500 companies. I can tell you that moeny is being spent and people are willing to spend money. you just got to give them a reason to spend it.
I run my own business and contract to several fortune 500 companies. I can tell you that moeny is being spent and people are willing to spend money. you just got to give them a reason to spend it.
God gave RC to you! Put it in the soul of everyone.
I keep hearing that VTA is not the answer. And then others say have you tried VTA. I hear racers dont want to go slow and I think racers just want good close door to door action. Differrent racers want differrent things and I have to say that for some people, some clubs VTA is in fact the answer. For those of you that VTA is not the answer, I am mildly interested in what your question is. It must be differrent than mine.
03-11-2011, 10:52 PM
#134
A bunch of us simply walked away because of price. Manufacture's have gotton out of hand with the price of just the kits. The 417 is ridiculously priced. True the kits are more advanced than they were back in 99 but we also had a bigger selection to choose from. Anyone remember Kawada??? When I jumped into sedan we had the street weapon, Schumacher, yokomo, kyosho, HPI, AE was about to release the TC3, and Xpress. Nothing was extrememly high priced back then. Tire's were decently priced and lasted more than just a few runs. Remember the 138G or the Losi yellow?? The more I talk about this the older I feel. I said good bye to sedan this year......if it was meant to be it will come back. Until then.....22 here I come
03-11-2011, 11:12 PM
#135
A bunch of us simply walked away because of price. Manufacture's have gotton out of hand with the price of just the kits. The 417 is ridiculously priced. True the kits are more advanced than they were back in 99 but we also had a bigger selection to choose from. Anyone remember Kawada??? When I jumped into sedan we had the street weapon, Schumacher, yokomo, kyosho, HPI, AE was about to release the TC3, and Xpress. Nothing was extrememly high priced back then. Tire's were decently priced and lasted more than just a few runs. Remember the 138G or the Losi yellow?? The more I talk about this the older I feel. I said good bye to sedan this year......if it was meant to be it will come back. Until then.....22 here I come