Maurizio: Very
difficult question! The system was designed in first place as a
challenge, to see if we could make a 4WD system which could work well
inside a model that was a real 4WD (Audi R18 e-tron). I knew it could
be quite good for rally cars (actually I had the clutched design sketch
and first prototype made 15 years ago), but for LMP it was totally
uncharted territory.
So far, I've used the model in
two 24 hours, on on Ninco and one on Scalextric Sport. It ran
surprisingly well - setting pole on Ninco.
It can be
competitive with standard 2WD systems, but a lot depends on the grip of
the surface you're running the car on.
A few tips:
1 - Make sure that
the whole system is running with as little friction as possible; to
check it out, remove braking from controller and gauge how far model
goes under braking.
2 - Contrary to
standard setup tips, where the wheels are in general left as high in
the chassis as possible, you need to have the car planted on all four
wheels. This means that, being the front wheels lower than the chassis,
the bottom of the pickup may rise, leaving less blade in the slot. On
Ninco, being the surface quite wobbly, front wheels must be lowered
significantly, leaving little blade in the slot. To avoid this effect,
use the wooden guide pickup, and file its sides so that it fits the
Ninco slot width comfortably. This can also be done on Scalextric
Sport, and certainly on wood and Carrera the wood type LMP pickup
should be preferred.
3 - we've discovered
during the 24 hours races that the model, surprisingly, doesn't loose
much top speed. We believe it is due to the fact that the front wheels
are actually running on bearings, and that the pickup is only used as a
guide, not a resting point - hence, no pickup friction as it's bearing
no weight. Actually our braids were still very good after 24 hours of
racing.
4 - We're announcing
today spare part CH105 which is a ball bearing that can be used on the
belt tensioner to reduce its friction.