After a frustrating event at the Petit RC where I
ended up qualifying in the worst place possible (BQ or 11th) it was
off to Worksop and the BRCA British Winter Open Championship. Going
from high to low grip conditions meant making some changes before I
went so that I would be in the ballpark. The first change was to move
all the shock positions back in on the wishbone mounts and remove the
rear anti-roll bar. The latter had been a very effective set-up
change, despite this being the thinnest one that Associated offer. The
tyres would remain the same, as would the inserts.
Alongside the suspension changes, I would also be
running Speed Passion equipment in 2WD – a Pro GT2.0 speed
controller and Competition 3.0 motor in 7.5R form. Installing this in
the B4 was easy, and the connectors for the motor allow for quick
motor changes. I opted for a 7.5R as along with the power from LiPo
batteries, the wind has worked well indoors and out.
At Worksop, the car felt
reasonable although the end of the straight, the sweeper tightened up
and this unsettled the car as it was in a braking section too. No
matter what I tried, it was inconsistent that was probably due to the
fact that the suspension was loaded up, the car was changing direction
and the steering angle was increasing. The brakes were quite severe,
so I had a play with the speed controller’s initial and overall
braking amounts. This would have been very quick had I not made such a
tight installation of the wires. In order to plug in the programmer
included with the Pro GT2.0 unit, you either need access at the
receiver or speed controller end although both were not easy – a
clear error on my part and one that I will have to rectify for the
future.
Into the first race and I decided to move
the shocks out on the rear to increase stability, and this also helped
the car through the fast chicane in front of the rostrum. Despite a
first lap lead, a small error saw me take second in the first race and
a good start. During the rest of my races, I was still struggling with
the end of the straight and this made me vulnerable as I found myself
tuning the brake set-up just for this section and so leaving me with
too little overall braking for some of the other areas of the track
where more was needed. For the final couple of races, I decided to
remove the lead plate that I run under the battery pack. At 125g, it’s
a hefty piece and has a big effect on the handling. I also decided to
adopt a different approach to the end of the straight by changing my
line and using the front tyres to scrub speed instead. The combination
of these appeared to work better and by the final race, I felt that I
was at my most competitive, driving the neatest I had all day and
turning the best laps.
One thing I noticed though was that the
Speed Passion 7.5R motor might be switched to a 6.5R version for the
outdoor season as it lacked a little top speed. In order not to
over-motor the chassis, a smaller 12mm rotor will be used and this
will offer less torque than the standard rotor.
Thanks to everyone who assists me with my
racing including:
* CML Distribution
* Horizon Hobby UK
* JConcepts
* LRP
* Much More UK
* RudeBits
* Schumacher
* Speed Passion
* Trishbits
* Upgrade
