Carrera Audi A5 DTM

[HomeRacingWorld]

[hksk25]

While running the Audi this morning I noticed the backend kicking out a little at the end of my 2 longer straights, 14 & 12 ft. Did Carrera change the specs for their motor? This car and the Aston Martin Vantage are almost, or as fast as my Scaley GT cars. I have had a few Carrera cars and they didn't have the speed or brakes these cars have!

Harry

[HomeRacingWorld]

Not that I am aware of. But I think the new tires are giving you a little better grip and that could lead to the better performance. Better grip in the straight, less tire spin, more speed.

[BRS Hobbies]

Harry,

That's the one. I was wondering if the Aston Martin has the new tires?

Best regards,
Brian

[HomeRacingWorld]

Yes, all these newer models have them from what I was told and by the way they feel.

I still switched to PG's...because my surface likes them, but the stock tires were working pretty good as is on the the lumber.

[hksk25]

I've put PG tires on both of mine. The stock tires were good with the mags in, on plastic.

[SuperSlab]

[SuperSlab]

I prepped mine last week and took it to the track on Friday: a total revelation! I am emphatically not used to stock-ish Carreras performing similar to or better than Scaley TransAm cars but this one does.

I am in the habit of making up a lap timing sheet to take to the track as I record lap times for my cars (noooo, not OCD, not me, nosirree...) and as part of the process I always write down the lap times that I am anticipating for the evening. Interesting exercise for new cars that I had never run before or in cases where I have made changes. It is a bit of a point of honour to get my "guesstimates" really close.

So for the Audi I put down an expected lap time of 8.8 seconds. This is a relatively slow time because I have found that the combination of typically good handling + "normal" Carrera weight + relatively lowish power of the E200 motor generally = slowish lap times.

The surprise was that this car turned a lap of 8.487 seconds (this is a very bad miss for my lap time prediction BTW). Pleasant surprise indeed. Comparable lap times for Scaley TransAms is 8.430 for my '70 Sunoco Camaro and 8.500 for my '68 Sunoco Camaro.

As is typical for Carreras it is beautifully smooth, handles great, looks great and has the extra boon of good lighting.

As for the "stock-ish" comment: I have done the following:

* I am a avid disciple of the goodbodyfloatisessentialforgoodhandling school of thought. As such, it pains me when manufacturers append body parts to the chassis: body float results in awful gaping seams opening up in the body. I just hate that. So I cut all the body parts off the chassis and glued them to the body (where body parts belong after all!).
* Glued and trued urethanes on the stock plastic wheels.
* As is their wont, Carrera made this car ride heavily on the front wheels with the guide only partly engaged in the slot. I ground off the front axle bushing "clips" and glued the bushings in the correct position to have the front wheels just barely touch the track. This sufficiently raised the front wheels to where they were touching the body, so I added a couple of small spacers on the body posts to restore the right ride height.
* Replaced the body screws with smooth shank screws to aid body movement.
* And.. that's it!

I will post a few pictures later showing the changes.

Great car!