by SuperSlab » Sun Aug 18, 2013 6:35 pm
So I had the cars out at Luf's this morning and it was .... interesting..
First up: to establish the benchmark I ran my NSR Gunston Porsche 917. As per my earlier e-mail: I was thinking of a 7.5 sec lap for this one. I actually had some second thoughts and put down a 7.4 on my timing sheet. Actual time: 7.407 sec. Hey, not bad!
But alas: this was a short-lived sense of wellbeing in my forecasting abilities.
Next up: Fly Joest Porsche. Estimated lap time: 7.85 sec. Actual: 7.465 sec! Oops! Missed the bus on that one, didn't I? But at least it was a nice miss! Pretty darn impressive and satisfying actually. A relatively lightly tweaked Fly still with plastic wheels and it is within spitting distance of an NSR? VERY satisfying that!
And last (and maybe not so least?): Black Arrow Aston. My predicted time for this one was 7.65 sec. If this came true then the Joest Porsche would walk away with the crown by quite the margin! Fly-lovers (take a bow Modlerbob, Harry & Xr4ti) must have been holding their collective breaths.... but it was not to be I am afraid. Not even close. Not within a country mile is closer to the truth actually.
How about.... 7.240 sec? So about my 7.65 sec guesstimate: not really close was it?
This is a stunning slot car: whisper quiet, velvety smooth, absolutely planted in spite of the overabundance of power. This is one serious piece of slot car kit!
Like all good economists and weather forecasters, I did a bit of introspection after the event: why did I miss so badly? I think the big reason is the changes that Luf made to the track: there are now a few straight sections (most un-Luf-like that!). This has changed the characteristics of the track quite a bit, to such an extent that bigger horsepower (within reason) is now a plus. And note we run the track at 10V. At 12V I think things would have been different: the NSR Porsche (20k NSR Shark motor) would have been more competitive.
But in spite of my embarrassing miss on the times: I am deliriously happy with both these cars. Imagine how I would have felt if they were that much SLOWER than my estimates!
Last edited by
SuperSlab on Sun Aug 18, 2013 8:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.