Onroad or offroad, spec classes are always the most expensive to run. Limited hp means having to get the most out of everything else (tires, batteries, vehicle drivetrain, etc), which all costs money. Mod is always cheaper to run. But onroad mod is too fast for most drivers. Offroad, grip is more limited so you can't put down all the hp you have anyway.

Any MODIFICATION of a motor is Illegal by All Sanctioning Rules - thus if you have to Modifiy the motor for additional timing adjustment - it makes the motor Illegal by Sanctioning Rules -

This happened several years ago with the Original NOVAK SS motors - (which is what helped create a motor w/ Adjustable timing)

Our two fastest guys (who are fast in any class they run) did have stellar, certified motors. Weekly the battle for first and second was between those two and the real action was third through eighth. LOL

But luckily for us, those two guys realized that they are top runners and have decided to take a break from this class to try to revive 1/12 scale pan cars and beef up the 17.5 class. One of them even put his USGT motor up for sale locally to give others a shot and not have any excuses.

I've never been one to blame my equipment for a lousy performance. I might blame setup, but that again falls back to me. I normally blame my lack of consistency and making dumb mistakes. I know the way to improve is to work on my setup and get more trigger time.

Anything I should do to wear in the tires other than sauce them up with SXT 3.0 and run them?

Running a tight carpet track...

Gravity tires. Take the bead/ridge out of the middle with a Dremel and do a few laps on the asphalt or use gravity tire sanding tool. Both work equally well. Biggest thing is that center ridge.

In what direction would I mount the rubber on the wheel for these USGT Specs? Tread in the same direction on all sides or opposite tread on left vs right?

It will look better if they all face the same direction, but I have never found any difference in performance no matter which way they face.

There was some very good USGT racing at Lake in the Hills Hobbytown today. Thanks to Shawn and the Hobbytown crew.

Don't know how well he mirrors will hold up, but they are secured by small body clips on the inside of the body so the mirrors can be easily removed if you are worried. For show I'm going to leave the mirrors on; for racing they will be safe in my pit box. My 1/8th scale buddies have the same body and it really looks sharp on the track. Coolest detailed body I've seen in a long time and I'm told one of the fastest too. OK so my Ferrari and Audi will has to sit for awhile! All I have to do now is mount a TC wing and wait for the rain to stop here in TX. I'll so some lap times with the various bodies and report if this Corvette is as good as is claimed.

I remember a sign at the first race track my son and I went to: "Speed is measured in cubic dollars; how fast can you afford go to?" After doing this hobby/addiction for 30+ years I'm not sure I agree with you. If you think the world class mod drivers don't obsess over the same details (tires, batteries, vehicle drive train, etc.) as the guys that run the spec classes you simply haven't known a world class racer. Believe me they obsess about those details even more so than us guys who now just run the spec classes. IMO what makes spec classes costly or more costly than it needs to be is lack of quality control of the spec controlled parts (motors, batteries etc.). Take for example Street Spec, a old attempt to control the cost of racing. Good idea - IMO poor implementation. Take the Street Spec motor for example. You had to buy 5 or 10 to find that one that was awesome. Then we (me too) cut the rotor so small that it lasted only a few runs. (OH but you say, those weren't rebuildable motors how can you cut the coms? - my secret and it involve REVTEC com drops). Some realized the foolishness of all of this and pushed for rebuildable hand-wound high quality 19T motors, so instead of buying 10 $50 dollar motors we only had to buy 1 $80 good motor and replaced only that $19 armature instead of buying another 10 $50 dollar motors when the armature got too small.

There are way more Spec Drivers then "world class mod" drivers. Spec racing has and will always drive the hobby. It's why we have classes like USGT, Street Spec, etc etc etc. It's why we have "blinky" ESCs and Premounted tires. There will always be cost control measures thrown in to try and control the class. But someone will always find ways around the spirit of those rules.This in turn causes people to either feel they need to buy the latest and the greatest to stay competitive, or stop running the class all together. The cycle continues,rinse repeat.

Personally I applaud those smart guys and gals who figure out cleaver innovative new ways WITHIN THE RULES to make their cars go faster and handle better. The people who kill a class are the board banges who think they will win the A Main if they only have this or that and give up because they never get there. Instead of chasing the motor of the week, they would be much better off learning how to drive and learning how to build and set up their cars. Guess who needs to help them learn those skills?

There is a third option: race with whoever is your speed. As I get older, I find that I don't much care where I finish, as long as I had a good race for that position. On any Sunday, only one guy will win the race, but everyone can have fun.

Tell me about it. As I approach the big 7 OH in the not too distant future, blind in one eye and tremors in both hands I'm surprised I can drive as well as I do. The thrill of this has always been about racing someone. Sure its nice to win, but I'd rather race someone bumper to bumper for the entire race and get beaten than win a race by three laps over the second place car. I'd rather slow down and race with a slower car than just go out and just run laps. It's also good practice for me too - driving in traffic. And it helps the slower driver see where his line is slowing him down.

howardcano and John Wallace2 - Well said.