Ask Aaron Waldron
05-17-2007, 01:59 AM
#3541
To be honest, I don't know why that started. 4wd electric cars were much more in the limelight than 1/8th scale off-road for a long time, and the technology had a chance to advance decades ago. They use the same rear tires as 2wd off-road buggies to offer parity among the two classes, and I'd imagine adapted a skinnier front tire to add more aggressive steering (not to mention, provide clearance for the suspension geometry of many more car designs). Running the narrower tires on the rear of these buggies would reduce traction.
To refer to a Scott Hughes quote from the May '07 issue of Car Action regarding narrowing rims, "The typical characteristcs of a narrow tire and wheel are a more aggressive, more responsive, and, of course, lighter setup."
At the same time, I'd imagine that 1/8th scale off-road buggies were designed to use the same size tires front and rear to allow the same tires to be used at both ends, since this tire and rim size and configuration is not shared by any other class of car. It's more common to see an 1/8th scale buggy with four tires of the same pattern and compound, than any other class of car.
To refer to a Scott Hughes quote from the May '07 issue of Car Action regarding narrowing rims, "The typical characteristcs of a narrow tire and wheel are a more aggressive, more responsive, and, of course, lighter setup."
At the same time, I'd imagine that 1/8th scale off-road buggies were designed to use the same size tires front and rear to allow the same tires to be used at both ends, since this tire and rim size and configuration is not shared by any other class of car. It's more common to see an 1/8th scale buggy with four tires of the same pattern and compound, than any other class of car.
05-17-2007, 12:16 PM
#3543
Tech Initiate
What kind of pizza do you like Aaron?
05-17-2007, 12:30 PM
#3544
Factory Seal - I always had better luck with Adam's electric setups...must be all that gas truck driving, haha.
If you have the chance to try Matt's setup, give it a shot! You might like it.
Jeff - Hahaha...that could've been much worse.
Pepperoni, Ham, and Pineapple.
If you have the chance to try Matt's setup, give it a shot! You might like it.
Jeff - Hahaha...that could've been much worse.
Pepperoni, Ham, and Pineapple.
05-17-2007, 02:55 PM
#3545
Tech Rookie
Mr Waldron what's something I can work on to get my lap times down? Any kind of pratice drills?
05-17-2007, 05:30 PM
#3546
Aaron, can you tell a diffrence between the Losi wing and the Proline Hd wing? On the 8b.
05-17-2007, 05:39 PM
#3547
First and foremost, practice being smooth. Smooth on the throttle and brake, don't crank on the steering wheel back and forth, etc. Don't use more energy than what's necessary to go around the track.
Try to drive seamlessly around the track, without getting squirrelly and out of control, without over-jumping or under-jumping anything, and always moving forward. Rather than trying to go as fast as you can through a certain section, focus on getting through it safely and easily with little drama. There might be a small double in between two 180's that you can jump, but if you go tight in both corners and have to single-single to go faster, do that (anyone who raced on Revelation's little track this past year knows what I'm talking about!). And sometimes, punching the throttle coming out of the corner will be slower than squeezing slowly. Your car should accelerate straight as an arrow, or you're pulling too hard.
And as always, the stopwatch should be your only judge. Not your brain when you think "man, that was a dialed lap", not your buddy when he says "dude, that was really fast!", because the clock won't lie, haha. Bring a friend and a stop watch, or a personal lap counting system, with you on a practice day and try to shave a certain amount of time from the beginning of the day until the end. Give yourself a goal of "cut .8 off my fastest lap" and spend all day working on that. Or "ten laps straight under (a lap time)".
You can also use a stopwatch to work on certain sections of the track. If you're struggling on one particular jump or corner, have someone time you from 2-3 corners before that section, to 2-3 corners past that section. That way, you can find out if double-singling that triple is really as much slower as you think it is!
The most important thing is to keep moving in the direction of the racetrack.
Try to drive seamlessly around the track, without getting squirrelly and out of control, without over-jumping or under-jumping anything, and always moving forward. Rather than trying to go as fast as you can through a certain section, focus on getting through it safely and easily with little drama. There might be a small double in between two 180's that you can jump, but if you go tight in both corners and have to single-single to go faster, do that (anyone who raced on Revelation's little track this past year knows what I'm talking about!). And sometimes, punching the throttle coming out of the corner will be slower than squeezing slowly. Your car should accelerate straight as an arrow, or you're pulling too hard.
And as always, the stopwatch should be your only judge. Not your brain when you think "man, that was a dialed lap", not your buddy when he says "dude, that was really fast!", because the clock won't lie, haha. Bring a friend and a stop watch, or a personal lap counting system, with you on a practice day and try to shave a certain amount of time from the beginning of the day until the end. Give yourself a goal of "cut .8 off my fastest lap" and spend all day working on that. Or "ten laps straight under (a lap time)".
You can also use a stopwatch to work on certain sections of the track. If you're struggling on one particular jump or corner, have someone time you from 2-3 corners before that section, to 2-3 corners past that section. That way, you can find out if double-singling that triple is really as much slower as you think it is!
The most important thing is to keep moving in the direction of the racetrack.
05-17-2007, 07:19 PM
#3548
For a personal clock, a lot of radios have a stopwatch built in. Just set that timer to a decent lap time (not ballistic fast, but faster than an average time). Then each time the radio beeps (or vibrates with some radios) gauge where you are on the track. The next time you come around, gauge it again.
For example, lets say you set it at 20.5 secs and you come onto the straight right when it beeps. You run that lap taking one line and it beeps again 10 ft before you get to the straight. Then you take another line and it beeps right as you're coming on the straight again. You can estimate that your first lap was about a 20.9 or so and your second lap was about a 20.2 or so. It serves not only as a tool for finding the fast line, but also as a tool to push you to drive smoother as often the smooth lap is what makes it by the beep every time.
For example, lets say you set it at 20.5 secs and you come onto the straight right when it beeps. You run that lap taking one line and it beeps again 10 ft before you get to the straight. Then you take another line and it beeps right as you're coming on the straight again. You can estimate that your first lap was about a 20.9 or so and your second lap was about a 20.2 or so. It serves not only as a tool for finding the fast line, but also as a tool to push you to drive smoother as often the smooth lap is what makes it by the beep every time.
05-17-2007, 09:03 PM
#3549
That would work in a pinch, I suppose. I'd rather not think about what's going on and just drive my car, then be able to review lap times later.
Oh, and drrm1223, easy with the "Mr. Waldron", my dad doesn't even like to be called Mr.!
I'm still a few weeks away from my 21st birthday. You can't call me Mr. until I'm at least 30, hahaha.
freefallmarine - I haven't run the Pro-Line wing. I don't think there is a significant advantage to any other wing that would make me not run the stocker.
Oh, and drrm1223, easy with the "Mr. Waldron", my dad doesn't even like to be called Mr.!
I'm still a few weeks away from my 21st birthday. You can't call me Mr. until I'm at least 30, hahaha.
freefallmarine - I haven't run the Pro-Line wing. I don't think there is a significant advantage to any other wing that would make me not run the stocker.
05-17-2007, 11:56 PM
#3550
Originally Posted by Aaron Waldron
freefallmarine - I haven't run the Pro-Line wing. I don't think there is a significant advantage to any other wing that would make me not run the stocker.
05-18-2007, 12:05 AM
#3551
Agreed. That is probably where you'll notice the biggest difference between different wings: jumping, and at the end of a straightaway. And the Losi wing seems to do well on both accounts.
05-19-2007, 01:46 AM
#3555
Tech Adept
Shock Oils/Piston setup?
Hi Aaron
I'm running the 8ight buggy in the UK and I was wondering if you could explain about the different weights of shock oils in relation to piston size i.e 35wt with 55 piston is this equal to 40wt with 54?
The reason i ask is that on the tracks i race at they can be quite bumpy and the rear end seems to be quite bouncy(the rear doesn't glide over the bumps but seems to kick up in the air). I currently run 40wt/54 front (because of the jumps) and 30wt/55 rear.
I have tried putting silver springs on all round and that seemed to make it worse (although my mate said it felt better for his car)
Currently we are using the schumacher oil as the Losi is not available yet from my local model shop, are these oils lighter/heavier in relation to losi for the same wt?
Many Thanks
Lunie
I'm running the 8ight buggy in the UK and I was wondering if you could explain about the different weights of shock oils in relation to piston size i.e 35wt with 55 piston is this equal to 40wt with 54?
The reason i ask is that on the tracks i race at they can be quite bumpy and the rear end seems to be quite bouncy(the rear doesn't glide over the bumps but seems to kick up in the air). I currently run 40wt/54 front (because of the jumps) and 30wt/55 rear.
I have tried putting silver springs on all round and that seemed to make it worse (although my mate said it felt better for his car)
Currently we are using the schumacher oil as the Losi is not available yet from my local model shop, are these oils lighter/heavier in relation to losi for the same wt?
Many Thanks
Lunie