Breakout Racing: The Ultimate Spec Class!!!
10-15-2012, 04:55 AM
#91
Tech Rookie
Had a great time in breakout yesterday and got a few bugs worked out of the new car, thanks Howard for all the pit help.
10-16-2012, 09:45 AM
#93
There's quite a bit of wisdom in this statement. I always tell our newer drivers that it isn't the lap that's within 1/10 of a second of the breakout time that wins the race... it's the lap that's 3 seconds slower than the breakout time that loses it.
The same idea applies to the regular racing formats, too!
Last edited by howardcano; 10-16-2012 at 09:58 AM.
10-17-2012, 08:48 AM
#94
Weight Handicaps
I just dusted off my ABC DTM 1/24th-scale cars, and I am considering putting some carpet in my basement for practice this winter. It brought back old memories of racing at the Hobbytown in Denver (at Alameda and Union) with Brett and the gang. We ran it using weight handicaps, just like the real DTM series. The winner of each race had to add 3 nickels (15 grams) to his car for the next race, and the second place car added 2 nickels. Fourth place and lower could remove a nickel for the next race, if the car already had a weight handicap.
I grew concerned when I found that my car was actually faster with 5 nickels (due to the lower center of gravity), but when I got up to 10 nickels the car was slower, so the handicap did finally work. I finished the season with 43 nickels on the car, which almost exactly doubled its weight. It's not easy fitting 43 nickels on a car that's only 6 inches long!
If we had been able to run Breakout instead of a weight handicap, it would have eliminated the hassle of fitting all of that weight to the car!
I grew concerned when I found that my car was actually faster with 5 nickels (due to the lower center of gravity), but when I got up to 10 nickels the car was slower, so the handicap did finally work. I finished the season with 43 nickels on the car, which almost exactly doubled its weight. It's not easy fitting 43 nickels on a car that's only 6 inches long!
If we had been able to run Breakout instead of a weight handicap, it would have eliminated the hassle of fitting all of that weight to the car!
Last edited by howardcano; 10-17-2012 at 09:31 AM.
10-29-2012, 06:13 AM
#95
Mini Mania! Single-Cell TC3
We had our first race yesterday in the Fastlane 2012/2013 Winter Points Series yesterday. It was the first appearance of a Tamiya Mini, in this case the M06 rear-wheel-drive model to TCS specs, with a silvercan motor. It was immediately right at the breakout time of 11.5 seconds with no adjustments necessary, so it seems that we guessed pretty well at the breakout time. For future track layouts, I'll run some laps with my M05 and use the results to suggest a breakout time.
Another interesting car made its debut. It was an Associated TC3, running a 13.5 motor on one LiPo cell, and used foam tires. Despite a total guess on the gear ratio, this car was also immediately on the pace!
Another interesting car made its debut. It was an Associated TC3, running a 13.5 motor on one LiPo cell, and used foam tires. Despite a total guess on the gear ratio, this car was also immediately on the pace!
12-17-2012, 03:04 AM
#96
It's been a while since I updated this thread, so I thought I would share the latest happenings with everyone.
Yesterday was the third race in the Fastlane winter points series. We had an excellent showing for Breakout class, with a full A main, lots of close racing, and an excellent win by a driver who ran an old RC10L(3?) pan car he rescued from his closet (by now, a typical story here!). He used old, chunked tires that were rejuvenated with traction compound, and a 17.5 turn motor running on 1s LiPo.
Breakout is now our largest racing class! It has also served the purpose of getting drivers involved in our other classes, as well. One of them earned a fine third place in his first oval race in the Fastlane oval series two weeks ago!
Yesterday was the third race in the Fastlane winter points series. We had an excellent showing for Breakout class, with a full A main, lots of close racing, and an excellent win by a driver who ran an old RC10L(3?) pan car he rescued from his closet (by now, a typical story here!). He used old, chunked tires that were rejuvenated with traction compound, and a 17.5 turn motor running on 1s LiPo.
Breakout is now our largest racing class! It has also served the purpose of getting drivers involved in our other classes, as well. One of them earned a fine third place in his first oval race in the Fastlane oval series two weeks ago!
12-17-2012, 04:38 AM
#97
This is a perfect class to get newbies involved in racing. It doesn't matter what car you have, what battery, etc. Everyone gets to race on an equal footing. Got that HPI Flux RTR that doesn't quite meet the rules for any existing class? No problem. Don't want to invest in new batteries and a charger just yet to run your car from the NiMH era? Come out and run.
Being inclusive instead of exclusive is pretty important in today's economy. I'd rather dial back the throttle EPA and get a newbie hooked on racing than turn them away because they don't want to spend $1000 to buy a "legal" setup.
Being inclusive instead of exclusive is pretty important in today's economy. I'd rather dial back the throttle EPA and get a newbie hooked on racing than turn them away because they don't want to spend $1000 to buy a "legal" setup.
12-17-2012, 05:38 AM
#98
I'm curious to see how many newbies and kids show up after Christmas to race the new RTRs that Santa brought them.
12-17-2012, 06:10 AM
#99
These breakout classes should also be run heads up. No IFMAR qualifying. Make every heat a race. Maybe use finishing position for all of the races to determine the overall winner. Give out a sticker or cheap ribbon. Then the newbie will show their friends, and you may have just grown your racer base. If you make it fun, they will come back. If it's not fun, they won't be back, guaranteed.
12-17-2012, 06:25 AM
#100
Four races and no qualifying heats sounds perfect when there's only enough guys for one main.
12-17-2012, 06:54 AM
#101
Nothing will turn a prospective racer off quicker than telling them that they can't race the new car they just got, and that they need to spend more money just to be allowed to race. Talk about an elitist attitude! Hobbies are supposed to be about having fun, right?
These breakout classes should also be run heads up. No IFMAR qualifying. Make every heat a race. Maybe use finishing position for all of the races to determine the overall winner. Give out a sticker or cheap ribbon. Then the newbie will show their friends, and you may have just grown your racer base. If you make it fun, they will come back. If it's not fun, they won't be back, guaranteed.
These breakout classes should also be run heads up. No IFMAR qualifying. Make every heat a race. Maybe use finishing position for all of the races to determine the overall winner. Give out a sticker or cheap ribbon. Then the newbie will show their friends, and you may have just grown your racer base. If you make it fun, they will come back. If it's not fun, they won't be back, guaranteed.
12-31-2012, 05:44 AM
#102
Yesterday we had our first kid with his RTR Christmas present race with us. The car was a TC4 with diffs front and rear, brushed motor, and the RTR tires. It was the first onroad race for both car and driver. His dad replaced parts and checked for loose screws while I made several changes to the car (as time permitted between heats): set ride height and droop screws, doped the tires properly, changed to stiffer front springs, checked corner weights, and turned down the throttle EPA. His times improved with each run, and his fast lap in the main was a full second faster than in his last qualifier (and only one second off of the breakout time).
New blood!
New blood!
01-21-2013, 06:24 AM
#103
Yesterday was another points series race at Fastlane, and we had seven cars participate, which maintained the status of Breakout as our most popular class.
Our youngest driver, with the TC4, has now picked up many laps compared to his first experience on the carpet (and using the same track layout). It's good to see the purpose of the class being fulfilled. Unfortunately, Dad has been kept busy replacing all those plastic bits on the car. It would be much easier if they were running a pan car!
The margin of victory was our closest ever. I had TQ, but got overtaken at the start by the second place car, partially due to my slow reflexes, and partially due to the second place car using 13.5/1s while I used 17.5/1s. We spent the entire six minutes nose-to-tail, with my car having an advantage on top end speed but with less acceleration out of the corners. On the last lap the other driver made a slight bobble at the last corner, and I managed to pull alongside at the flag for a "photo-finish". I lost by 0.005 seconds!
The time difference was solely due to the location of the transponders in the cars. Mine was just behind the front wheels, his was in the nose. I have nobody to blame except myself, since I own the winning car. Beaten yet again by one of my loaner cars!
Our youngest driver, with the TC4, has now picked up many laps compared to his first experience on the carpet (and using the same track layout). It's good to see the purpose of the class being fulfilled. Unfortunately, Dad has been kept busy replacing all those plastic bits on the car. It would be much easier if they were running a pan car!
The margin of victory was our closest ever. I had TQ, but got overtaken at the start by the second place car, partially due to my slow reflexes, and partially due to the second place car using 13.5/1s while I used 17.5/1s. We spent the entire six minutes nose-to-tail, with my car having an advantage on top end speed but with less acceleration out of the corners. On the last lap the other driver made a slight bobble at the last corner, and I managed to pull alongside at the flag for a "photo-finish". I lost by 0.005 seconds!
The time difference was solely due to the location of the transponders in the cars. Mine was just behind the front wheels, his was in the nose. I have nobody to blame except myself, since I own the winning car. Beaten yet again by one of my loaner cars!
05-12-2013, 09:50 AM
#105
Several months ago the owner of our local track decided to add a Breakout class to the oval racing program. He is a dedicated oval racer (he is the organizer for the BRL series), but his decision may have been influenced after he won several of our onroad Breakout races! Breakout class is now our most popular for both oval and onroad venues.
Our youngest driver has graduated from the TC3 to an RC10R5 thanks to his sponsor (Dad), and is right in the hunt. Dad tried to run the TC3, and quickly found out that his son was a better driver!
For fun, I decided last week to throw together a car cobbled up from spare parts I have accumulated over the years, just to see how crappy a car could be, while remaining competitive. The result is shown below. The chassis is an old offset oval Hyperdrive that I had previously hacksawed (to get graphite pieces to use on other cars). I had a spare 235mm pan car body, so I widened the chassis with a couple of pieces of 1/8" fiberglass on the front end and spacers on the rear axle. The "old school" Associated front end uses foam rubber pucks (cut from an old mouse pad!) instead of springs. The pucks have enough inherent damping to eliminate the need for high viscosity silicone oil on the kingpins. The rear is "zero roll" stiffness, like on a Formula Vee, with no side springs or dampers, and the tweak screws in the T-plate not tightened down. The gears are old 32 pitch, donated by other racers.
I created the car for onroad, but tried it during our last oval race to see how it would go. I ended up setting TQ by 1/4 second. Unfortunately, I had never adjusted the diff for a standing start, so in the main I ended up in last place by the first corner! I worked my way up to second at the flag, about 1/2 second behind. Fun!
Our youngest driver has graduated from the TC3 to an RC10R5 thanks to his sponsor (Dad), and is right in the hunt. Dad tried to run the TC3, and quickly found out that his son was a better driver!
For fun, I decided last week to throw together a car cobbled up from spare parts I have accumulated over the years, just to see how crappy a car could be, while remaining competitive. The result is shown below. The chassis is an old offset oval Hyperdrive that I had previously hacksawed (to get graphite pieces to use on other cars). I had a spare 235mm pan car body, so I widened the chassis with a couple of pieces of 1/8" fiberglass on the front end and spacers on the rear axle. The "old school" Associated front end uses foam rubber pucks (cut from an old mouse pad!) instead of springs. The pucks have enough inherent damping to eliminate the need for high viscosity silicone oil on the kingpins. The rear is "zero roll" stiffness, like on a Formula Vee, with no side springs or dampers, and the tweak screws in the T-plate not tightened down. The gears are old 32 pitch, donated by other racers.
I created the car for onroad, but tried it during our last oval race to see how it would go. I ended up setting TQ by 1/4 second. Unfortunately, I had never adjusted the diff for a standing start, so in the main I ended up in last place by the first corner! I worked my way up to second at the flag, about 1/2 second behind. Fun!
Last edited by howardcano; 05-12-2013 at 10:02 AM.