Vetran 1/8th SetUp advice need urgently!
I have been Racing 1/8 Off-Road for 10 years and late last yr i got bored with it and decided to give the 1/8 On-Road a try. With no on road experience AT ALL (hammering around a Tennis court with an old Tamiya Road Wizard with a Standard silver can when I was 16 is absolutely no comparison), I bought my 1st On-Road Nitro at the start of the year. What else but an Evolva.
My 1st 2 race meets where, to choice a better phrase... Baptism by Fire?! I dont think I was truly ready for the sheer speed of the cars, i mean i had watched them several times before i even got the idea to race them, but untill u actually do it u have no idea what its like to race these INSANE little machines.
Anyhow half a race season into it and i have now hammered down my consitency to a very respectful 0.6 sec over a 5min run.
The track we race on is a car park and its reasonably short & tight, some say its too tight for 1/8. The lap record is 13.2 sec, my best is a 13.3 but with no consitency. ATM I am good for flat 14's with the occasional moment of brilliance with a 13.6.
I have 2 problems..
#1 I have reached a stage in my own setup knowledge of the car where i cannot go any faster, when i try to make a small adjustment to enhance the handling further I in actuall fact go slower, not only slower but as a result I try to push more and exceed the limits of both the car and myself and find my self summersaulting over those F@#$ing Barge boards. ARGGHHHH!
I feel the car needs more grip at the front to make the turn in more responsive, the track is already resonably bumpy so my initial set up was on the softer side of normal. I go Softer at the front to try and get more grip, First with sway bar then with shock angles. The grip inproves but the car feels more docile, now it feels like i must anticipated the turn in to the apex in order to use the improve grip. Thou this set up did result in slightly quicker lap times my consitency went thru the roof as i struggled to find that exact turn in point. After major shunt into yet another Barge board and having to replacle the left side front bulkhead (surprisingly the arms survived! Very impresive) I decide to return to my orginal set up, slightly slower yet way easier to drive.
#2 At first all the 1/8 boys where giving me advice and bringing me up to speed with lap times, but as soon as my time got noticably better and at time was able to challenge some of the vetrans the advice stop flowing. Underneath the Fun & Games these guys are dead serious competitors and i guess i cant really blame them for not showing me ALL their secrets. In a way i see it as a mark of respect or in any case they see me as a potential threat... lol
Out of the 6 regulars that race every race meet there is a very nice mix... 2 Evolva's , 2 MRX4's, and 2 950R's, with me being one of those Evolva's. Engine wise we r all pretty much on par with each other for HP, and even if someone had a substantial HP advantage the track is like Monte Carlo and the straight aint long enuff to use it all. I tried not to pay to much attention to the setups of the other brand of cars but focused on the other evolva and to my surprise he was running very hard springs both front and rear when compared to what i was running. Then I realised the the other guys were also running stiffer springs.
But this made no sense to me the 4 time Off-Road State champ!
The track is very bumpy for onroad standards. Logically this would dictate softer springs with slightly higher ride height?
In the Offroad world when we race on a bumpy rutty track we go MEGA Soft with full ride height to soak up the ruts and bumps.
Only on a nice smooth blue groove track do with go hard with lower ride height. But i guess thats Offroad.
Now before i go crazy and buy every different set of springs avalible for the Evolva and then completely lose my self in spring rates and oil weights I ask u Vetran 1/8 Racers
IS STIFFER BETTER!?
also
What is the single most effective way to increase turn in response, to eliminate that delay feeling after ur have turned the wheel.
I know its a long post but u gotta see it from my POV, ifeel like i am at a dead end.