Originally Posted by
jiml
You're really making a strong argument for character limits in posts!
There's one flaw in your argument, and that is equipment
does make a difference. What most people don't understand is equipment is a much smaller part of the equasion that skill is.
At a 1/12 race last year, I went through 3 qualifiers squeezing as much power as I could out of my motor and batteries. I had very consistent lap times, but those lap times were a second or better off the pace. For the mains I asked our local "pro" driver (not really a pro but he is by far the fastest) if could borrow one of his motors. The first thing he says is "are you sure it's the motor?" obviously using you argument. I said there's only one way to find out. So he gives me a motor from the bottom of his box that he thinks has 2 runs on it, and will probably do good. I put it in the car, and take my grid spot, 5th in the B. Being an older driver I know from 5th it better to let the 4 cars in front take themselves out than be involved in it yourself
When the mayhem cleared I was able to get by for 2nd. The racer in 1st was an A main driver having a bad day. So I settle in for the race, and I'm turning laps a half a second faster than I had all day! About 2 minutes from the end I get tangled in lapped traffic, and the 3rd place car gets by me. A lap later we go into the long back straight and I go past him like he's standing still! I hear him yell "where the heck did he come from???"
One of the most fustrating things in on road is no matter how many classes you have everyone ends up running stock! And with today's cars if you're setup is right you only need to lift a couple times during a lap. I remember running mod 1/12 in the mid 90's when you had to take care of your batteries during the race or you dumped. Figuring out a strategy that worked for you was part of the fun. When that went away, so did part of the soul of RC racing.
In today's world of instant gratification, trying to explain to someone you need to put in a bunch of practice before you can even be considered decent is like talking to a wall. All you ever hear is I want the fastest whatever. Why spend nearly a thousand dollars to race an RC car and not be good at it to start when for two hundred bucks you can get an RTF heli?
If you were a second off at a local event. My guess is that every piece of your puzzle needed a bit of work. Including the motor. And it's believed by a lot of people I respect, that the 3rd run on a stock rebuild is the best, hence your digging the motor. Look at your puzzle, and the next time you're running stock, stick to your rebuild regiment, but ONLY make changes to the car. Don't even change the rollout (assuming it's close). Don't just assume that because everybody runs a magenta, you should run a magenta. Or if everybody else is running .045 springs you should to.
What happens to club racers, is the race itself becomes of such importance (and it is important), that most people don't take the necessary time to really try things. And usually it's because they don't have the time. If you're 1 second off, you will never go as fast as you could, until you REALLY aren't afraid to take dead last.
Used to be that club racing was where you went with your friends to drive and have fun, share setups and learn. And then go to the big shows to see how you're doing. Seems as though more and more, it's ONLY about the club race. And people get pretty twisted up over the wins and losses at that level.
A car that is tight for me is loose for my son. Completely different driving styles. I'll try his car, it's almost perfect, I give it back to him... It's loose, you can see it as he drives it... It actually looks hard to drive, maybe even tweaked. I drive it again... perfect.
Always assume your car could be better, and you'll probably be right. Slap a 19turn in that thing, can you make it go 2-3 laps faster? If not, it's very likely that a faster (and it's a relative term) stock motor isn't going to help. If the car won't go faster with virtually unlimited power, then you're up against a different issue. A car that's easy to drive is easy to drive, fast or slow.