2012 SRI Shootout Setup

This past weekend I was fortunate to attend theSRI Shootout in Louisville, KY. Last year I had to miss the event so this year I did everything I could to make sure I had the weekend open. I was going to run 1/8 e-buggy along with 2wd but the friend I planned on borrowing the 1/8th from decided he could make it as well so off to the races we all went. It's a good thing he went as the car's ESC exploded shortly into his first practice pack. Note to self. Don't borrow e-buggies as the electronics are too fragile.

I was a bit worried for the race as I've had problems over the summer with slicker track conditions at both Go Fast and CCRC. My car has always been good on high bite but when the track goes slicker there goes mylap-times. This hasn't only been my problem with the 22platformbut a common complaint by many drivers with the car. My goal this weekend was to attack the methodology of setup completely different and try to maintain pace as the day went on.

Qualifying
It turned out to be the right direction. In qualifying I had some of the fastest laps and despite not having the cleanest runs I was still able to take the TQ in the 2nd qualifier of the day.

The Final
Come time for the mains the moister in the track came up and the track regained some grip. In the 15 minute practice session I choose to stay on the same tire I had been on all day. Looking back I probably should had mounted new to have the fresh edges as by the time we was up the track had developed a little more dust than what was on it during the open practice. The car was good in the main, actually really good. The minor changes I tweaked to the setup for the final run of the day was right where it needed to be. While the main was fun, with a good battle through-out the main, at the end of it Hogle out drove me and I had to settle for taking 2nd for the day.

The Setup
The setup is different. High rear roll center, transmission, plastic pivot, and motor placement are the big changes. I'll detail the changesseparatelyin future posts. Secondary is the 2 hole shock pistons. I've learned a bit more about them since myprevious post on the subject but in general my first conclusions remain accurate.

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