Thanks for the info and insite urnotevenwrg2.

-I run/ran Li-Po(4000 mAh 2s 20c) and Ni-MH batteries in my Tamiya Evolution 5 with the Reedy Sonic M3 10.5 and Team Orion VST2 10.5 Motors.
-I do believe I can't go any faster at the school-yard track (my lay-out)
-I/we sweep and blow the track before runs
-laps is timed using a Stopwatch (I trust their eyes and finger reflexes) it might not be as accurate as a computer lap-counter; but It's Good Enough

-my times are consistent (my best continuous fastest lap-times) -36.06, 36.09, 36.07, 36.09, 36.06, 36.06, 36.09, 36.10, 36.09, •36.10, 36.06, 36.11, 36.06 (it was a cold Sunday morning - 38°. I ran four extra laps - I knew the electronics couldn't over-heat)


I've been race'n 1/10 R.C. Cars On-Road - Rubber Tire for 14-years.

I think you can get an app for your phone that turns it into a lap counter. I think the app uses the camera to sense when the car drives over the finish line. I would also like to see a video of you doing some laps. Because you would literally have to drive perfectly to get laps that consistent.

When you say 14 years of racing experience, is that 14 years of sanctioned racing with a timing system and more than 9 people?

How can you get accurate times with a stopwatch within 0.01 seconds? You need a transponder to accurately count laps. If you have 14+ years of racing experience, then why can't you get better batteries? You said that cost was an issue, but with 14+ years of experience, you should really have better batteries.

I believe I have video of my Fastest-Laps(1 or 2 or 3 laps). I will ask my daughter to put up the pictures and recordings of the runs.

I've been racing 1/10 R.C. Cars - On-Road - Rubber-Tire for 14-years.
-never been to a sanctioned race (to much to deal with - . . . . . . .and I don't like/want people touch'n My car/stuff - anything
-never ran with lap counting system; yet
-I would like to see more than the 9 of us; but we're in Brooklyn, New York City.
-I came-up with the Fastest-Lap Challenge to keep the(my) cost down (my chassis' are Optioned-Up)
-have'n Fun with a smaller racing system
-I've been run'n at the school-yard track with my lay-out (exact same lay-out) since 2008

If/when you come to N.Y.C.; check us out. (if our schedules match)

Lap-times are lap-times.

We do it with Stopwatches.
-with 1 Stopwatch: Start the Timer(one time keeper) when the car crosses the Start/Finish Line - - - - - Stop the Timer when the car crosses the Finish Line; then write down the lap-time.

-with 2 Stopwatches: Start the 1st Timer(time keeper #1) when the car crosses the Start/Finish Line - - - - - Stop the Timer when the car crosses the Finish Line(Lap #1 - write down the the lap-time) - when the car crosses the Start/Finish Line again; the 2nd Timer will start(time keeper #2) - - - - - Stop the Timer when the car crosses the Finish Line(Lap #2 - write down the lap-time). . . . .Repeat

I know it's better with a computer lap-counter; but this system works Just as Good.
(besides; the computer lap-counter will add the cost and I'll have to set it up and break it down. There's no power at the school yard)

The longer you race; the better batteries you should have?????

If/when you are in N.Y. City; check it out.
P.S. 296 school yard (in Brooklyn). . . . .Smooth-Swept Asphalt
-Evergreen between Covert and Eldert
11208

​Thank You

Only when accurately measured.

And your lap time consistency looks suspicious. 0.05s difference between your slowest and fastest lap? Not even the top drivers in the world get that, and that's less variation than I would expect from a manual stopwatch.

For 10-years run'n at the same track(school yard track) with the exact lay-out year after year; you get a rhythm with the car. I'm not the only driver who runs here who puts-down consistent laps. I'm just the fastest..... by a bit; so far.

If/when you're in N.Y. City; check us out (if our schedules match).
-help us prep the track(you help; you;re guaranteed to get as many runs as the time allows in the day)
-we start track-prep before sunrise - 5:30a.m.(now on Sunday mornings. . . . .whenever)
-we call it quits at around 11a.m. (that's when the kids start to come out)
-we will try our very, very, very best to time the laps. . . . .for you

Thank You


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How about I meet up with you guys and we build a new layout and see who is fastest? The same layout for 10 years is just sad. Running the same layout year after year really limits your ability. You are only keeping you and the other drivers from getting better at driving. Also, your idea of what happens during club racing is just comical. Unless you go to a large race and run a spec class, nobody is going to touch your car or bother you. Never have I had anything like that happen at the 50+ different tracks where I have raced in 28 years of sanctioned racing.

Please don't think that I would not have any problem beating you on your 10 year old layout either, no stopwatch, straight up race. If you run NiMH batteries your car is nowhere near the limit that is capable on your track. There is not enough power to overdrive the car. If your car was more powerful, you would go faster, especially if your track is massive and mostly straights. How big is the area of your track? Make the area of your track less than half the size, and see how your lap times very greatly when you spend more time in corners, and less time going straight.

Again, 28 years of sanctioned racing experience.

Hey urnotevenwrg2;

-if I build a new lay-out; it would require more track prep and time
-the same lay-out over the years let's the local guys get the chance to be faster than us (me). Some are still try'n.
-I have ran and raced at the Floyd Bennett Field Track (6 - 10 guys on the grid; overall)
-I stopped race'n my pro chassis because it was get'n expensive and take'n-up time for repairs. Other drivers crash'n in my car and break'n parts made me feel that it's not worth it. - - -That's why I came up with the Fastest-Lap Challenge.
-I only race(bash) with my Tamiya TT-01.

Batteries. . .I mostly still run Ni-MH. But my son let's me use his 2S 4000mah 20c or 25c Li-Po batteries (sometimes). I'm scared of Li-Po batteries (fires). I won't charge them near my house.

-the Track basically runs half the running track area. It's 1-lap x 2; and the two halves in reverse.
-it has 4 Sweepers, 4 Hair-Pins, 4 Short Straights and 4 Medium Straights.

Best of all; it's MY Track Lay-Out.

You'all welcome to give it a try.

Thank You

If this is your track and you set the rules, why not just run a hotter motor? At the very least, crank up the timing on your 10.5, install a fan, and work on gearing.

urnotevenwrg2 brings up a good point. It's important to go and watch some racing in person, just to get an understanding of what racers are doing currently.

Thanks for the info and insite.

I run a 6.5 Motor in My HPI Pro 4 (6-cell 3600mah Ni-MH or 4000mah 2S - 25c Li-Po Batteries) and 10.5 in my Tamiya Evolution 5 (same batteries).

I found-out that a 3S (11.1V) battery would give more power/speed to the motor. . . . . . .(?)

If so; anyone run'n a 3S in their chassis will beat my fastest lap at my school-yard track.

-the Rule(s): - - - - - - - to Fairly beat my Fastest-Lap at my school-yard track; you Must run a 6-cell Ni-MH or 2S Li-Po battery. . . . . . .(looks like I'll have to put the challenging cars through some kind of small battery Tech-check).
-Gearing and Timing settings are up to you

I have many R.C. Car ISTC IFMAR races on DVD and I still get/read R.C. Action Magazine (once in a while).

Thank You


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3s batteries are not allowed a sanctioned races, so nobody should be running them in a touring car. No pro racers use ni-mh as lipos produce considerably more output. Here is leg one of the most recent IFMAR touring worlds. 4.5 turn motors with full size lipos. All running transponder. The track was changed relatively recently before the race so no practice advantages.

Thanks for the video rcbuggy88.
I've seen that race before; online. But; I saw it again.

I find it funny that when you read threads about Dyno tuning on here, the peanut gallery jumps all over you because, "the Dyno doesn't tell you what will happen in the track" and "power on the Dyno doesn't mean fast on the track". So, now here is a guy that has successfully organized a regular event for 10 years for him and his friends, talking about pure laptimes and the peanut gallery is jumping all over him because they don't like stop watches and can't just agree to disagree with the posters battery preference? You really can't win on the internet. The stop watch times are fine when you are running a track with 30+ second laptimes. It sounds like a really large layout with a lot of scale appropriate flowing turns.

The poster has listed concerns about fire as his reason for not running lipo. How about someone addresses that?

In the early days of the lipo transition, many fires were caused by people trying to charge lipo batteries with non-lipo chargers and they were using ESC's that didn't have lipo cutoffs. I think the risk and occurrence of lipo fires got blown out of proportion due to that. The occuance of lipo fires at racing events these days is quite low. With a nice charger, a 2 cell lipo like you would run will charge very quickly, like under 30 minutes. Also, just to be safe, you charge the battery in a fire proof bag. This gives you a way to handle the burning pack if something goes wrong. You could charge your batteries outside on race morning and it wouldn't take that long. I believe after doing this a few times, you'd be much more comfortable with them. Buy name brand hard case batteries, not the direct from China stuff, a name brand charger, not a Chinese knock off, and a lipo sack, and you should have no troubles. I highly recommend protek batteries and chargers. I've been using them for years and have had great life and reliability and the prices are modest. I say all of this because some of the comments on here are true. The battery in your setup is the weak link, and variations you will see in motor performance will likely be due to their differences in performance in edge case regions that will make comparing your experience to other people's experience difficult.

Best if luck to you and keep at it.

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Another piece of advice on the lipos is to get into your speed control settings and bump up the lipo cutoff voltage. The default is usually between 2.8 and 3.0 volts per cell. I'd bump that up to 3.4 per cell. This insures that if you have an imbalance in the way the two cells are discharging you don't over discharge one of the two cells and ruin the pack. This also prevents you from unknowingly trying to charge a damaged cell. Modern lipos have such high capacity, the run time trade off isnt that big if a deal and it is highly effective protection.