Originally Posted by
bucketboy
Hi guys, I really like the look of these cars, beautifully made, some great bits of engineering and some real inovations. I might be tempted to get one just for those reasons but lets not beat around the bush, I race and I want to win, so can any of honestly tell me that your race pace (not a single lap or a one off good run) has actually improved?
I live an hour and a half away from the track where I race, at the level I am at I am looking for lap time improvements a 1/10th sec, 5secs in the race gets you from bottom of the B to top half of the A. What I don't want to do nor can afford the time to commit to is a car that "has potential" but due to a narrow set-up window actually slows me down.
While the kit is not cheap it is not that but the lack of trackside support (spares and set-up advice) that is stopping me from hitting the "add to basket" button this instant.
I run 13.5 and 10.5 boosted rubber, any comments would be helpful.
Bb
Hi Bb,
I believe many have the same reservations that you have however I decided to be an early adopter and am VERY pleased I went for it. The level of precision and run to run consistency is unparalleled by any other car I've owned. The car, on rubber tires, appears more like a car on foam tires. It is direct, you put it where you want it every time. I have picked up at least a tenth on my fastest lap with this car but more importantly my consistency lap to lap has significantly improved. My previous fast lap with other cars was a 13.0. I turned a high 12.8 with the A700 but was far more consistent with it too turning lap after lap of 13.2's. Simply it is precise, fast, flat, stable, and transitions very well without having a hint of a traction roll.
So to answer your thesis statement of " .... so can any of honestly tell me that your race pace (not a single lap or a one off good run) has actually improved? "
I can honestly say YES.
Previously a driver that placed third overall in the stock class at the US carpet nationals last year put down a 6 minute qualifying lap record that I didn't feel I could easily reach with my previous cars. With the A700 yesterday I was on a pace ( in qualifying ) to break the record but made a couple errors on my own by being a bit too greedy cutting too tight a line and crashed. Apparently I didn't want to beat the record, I wanted to crush it ! I also made a couple mistakes saucing my tires which had nothing to do with the car itself. I ended up second on the grid. Yesterday I was able to drive it very conservatively and cruised to an easy win ( in Stock 17.5 ) after taking the lead on lap 2. While other cars were starting to traction roll my car didn't have even a hint of a traction roll. This is with very little time to test more settings. We use a temporary track that we set up three race days a month but we have an incredible talent pool of National Champions so I am able to learn from the best. So far, everyone I've shown the car to is very impressed. I've only raced it twice now, this last Wednesday and Saturday ( yesterday ).
here is a video of the race last night that my brother took. I'm the red/white/orange/yellow car the camera is following all race long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsA2QLoGiSc
I used Ivan Laptev's ETS super stock setup and only changed the spring rate and damper settings ( stiffening the spring rate considerably ).
Parts availability is a worry but its been true for every car I've owned to one degree or another. When I owned another top brand I routinely had to order parts from HK because they weren't available in the US.
I can only tell you I'm very happy with it. Thankfully, once you set it up , things stay where they are supposed to from run to run. I checked it throughout the race day and everything stayed consistent. And to boot, its lovely to look at.
I hope that helps in your quest for a faster and more consistent car. My very short experience ( on carpet ) says it is.
Cheers,
Jake D.