Here's a tech tip post following my TQ & win at the Trofeu HOBBY 351 Lisboa yesterday at CRB-Clube Rádio Modelismo de Benfica in Monsanto, Lisbon! My car was working exceptionally well, so I'd like to share my findings for anyone racing with a similar configuration and in similar conditions!

I had prepared two XRAY X4'25 cars leading up to the event. One aluminium 1.5mm chassis car with graphite lower arms, as well as a more "conventional", carbon chassis with medium lower arms.
First of all, something has to be said about the spec tire used, the Tpro 36. It's a rather soft tire which works exceptionally well on the first and 2nd run, but considering the high tire wear, even in a stock class, the 3rd and 4th run requires a lot more mechanical grip from the car to put down quick laptimes, hence why I had some faith in my carbon car. Although, it did turn out that my aluminium car was just better balanced overall, regardless of tire age, even though the carbon car did generate more mechnical grip, the balance wasn't as good.

I was using the base setup that I've been working on in the last few weeks using Matrix D36 tires in the modified class, preparing for the upcoming ETS. However - I did make a couple of adjustments to make it better suited for the 13.5T EFRA Blinky class:
• Horizontal rear body posts. Kept the car flatter and improved cornering speed. Still my preference for spec classes.
• Slightly lower front bump steer shimming and a bit more rear camber. To add grip to both ends of the car especially on corner entry and mid-corner.
• Wider rear offset. To improve corner speed, and to make the car a bit less "snappy" mid corner, which allowed me to stay on the throttle longer through turns.
• Bigger stagger between front and rear downstop settings, to improve off-power steering.
• I did like 450 shock oil in the hotter afternoon conditions. I did prefer 425 for the morning and late afternoon - cooler conditions.
• I tested the Wolverine (typical spec bodyshell choice) as well, but did not find it as good as the Speciale at this track. It felt nice and free, but just wasn't "in the track" enough and thus, was not able to generate a fast enough laptime throughout the run, especially as the tires wore.

Electronics:
• I was using the trusty Hobbywing Technology G4R 13.5T motor with a standard rotor. A gear ratio of 3.958, and 47.5 degrees of endbell timing.
• Noteworthy was, in my G3X ESC, that I tried freewheeling enabled and set to "3" for A3 - huge improvement! So much better feel, and allowed me to hit my marks with much more confidence. Even though the tires were 1 run older, I was still able to improve 2s off of my A2 overall time. I was impressed, and wished that I had tried it earlier!
• My battery of choice was the Team EAM, Inc 6300 (283g) which gave the best compromise between overall power and handling in the technical infield section.