The Show-down: stuff I need to learn

[Retro Racer 44]

My apologies to bdsharp for paraphrasing his thread title. This was my second Show-down. My orange Camaro came dead last last year, even though it had a stinker chassis and the same components as everyone else. My Studebaker this year qualified last, but raced a couple of spots higher. What am I missing?

I will admit my Studey is a heavy car, perhaps heavier than the rest.
I tried an independent front axle system. Was it to blame? Did it make any difference in the handling or just add unnecessary weight?
Was the Studey too long and therefore hung out where others could hit it?
Was it too narrow and rolled?
Any suggestion from the drivers as to what I am needing to do better?

I have a Mustang white body waiting to be built up for next year. I am going to study every picture and article on this website to see if I can get a better car running for the next Show-down. If not, I will have to resign myself to road racing.

Cheers,

Keith

[HomeRacingWorld]

Well, the biggest thing that held it back was the choice of the 26T crown. A 27 is the normal.

The weight is some of it. Your model was 134g. Mine for example is 108.

The wheelbase is the longest of all entries. A shorter wheelbase choice might help.

The car runs fine. Chassis design is great. Just a gear change and a diet and I think you would have a game changer.

[nhdungeonracer]

[Gameover]

i learned i need a big hammer to smash mine lol. tough crowd to compete with here! but man its fun!!!

[strangebrew]

Don't ask me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Mine finish mid-pack at best. I'm stubborn & prefer to do it MY WAY, & I'll keep doing that 'till I
find something that really works......................Then I'm not telling ANYBODY. :roll:
This year I tried suspension on the Buick & it flew at my track... .tippy & stunk up Harry's place.
I tried an offset wheelbase & independent fronts on the ASA ride...Once again, great at my place, but loose in the turns at Harry's.
My Falcon was the best at Harry's & except for a dropped guide & left side bias it was pretty conventional.
Maybe innovation isn't the fastest, but it's the most fun. :P
One thing ...........it's hard to set & tune your car if your track is different from Harry's. What works on yours, may not at HRW.
I just try to keep it as free as possible with no rubs, scrubs or binds. After that.......................I'm going to CHEAT! :D

(Besides, after reading bdsharp's post...................................I'm obviously not spending enough MONEY.) :whistle:

[HomeRacingWorld]

[Retro Racer 44]

Thanks for the responses.

I am going to go with a 27 or bigger crown next year and try to build it lighter. I guess I didn't need the exhaust pipes, but there was a flaw in the body that I cut out just at that place, and I thought they looked cool.

The other problem is that I don't even have an oval to test on. Perry's Rocket is the closest in style, a sort of folded oval, but is still a road course.

Would a Ford Falcon Ranchero be an eligible Sportsman body?

Cheers,

Keith

[HomeRacingWorld]

No, that's not really a Sportsman type car. Go with your Mustang idea.

The exhaust did look cool. I liked it.

Your chassis setup was spot on. Guide height just right, tires true.

[RazorJon]

I did run a few cars, my lap times was bad, was not feeling well and ,,,,, ok who am I kidding I suck as a driver

[bdsharp]

I must have had some beginner's luck with the gearing. I didn't pick it- as I recall, the gears were part of the package from SCC. When my car comes back, I want to see what it is. The issue of weight confuses me, too. Does adding weight down low in the chassis improve handling, or is overall weight reduction better? Obviously, weight up high is bad. I think that making sure the axles are square to the chassis is key, along with keeping friction to a minimum, including side loads.

[dreinecke]

I think the issue Harry was referring to was overall weight of the car, not placement necessarily. I think Retro may be slush casting his Studebaker - and that can add a huge weight penalty to the car body. The Chevelle you got from me is 2-part cast and one of my heavier ones, but is by no means a pig. Removing the mounting points if you don't use them the way I put them in can save some heft as well.

[strangebrew]

If you add weight............the lower the better............If you have weight high on the centerline you can't avoid,
(heavy body etc.) add some as low as possible to compensate. If you used a Piranha motor, it seems to more than
make up for extra weight. But a little taller gear will help a heavier car....
9:28 or 9:29 vs. 9:27.
Just my humble opinion. ;) ;)

[Frydaddy]

I'm not sure what most cars weighed at the Showdown but both my cars weigh in at 144/145g and seem heavy to me.
Brew is 100% spot on, it's where the weight is that makes the most difference in the handling of the car, I didn't true/glue my tires when testing the car, I spent most of my time moving small amounts of weight around. As some of the guys stated earlier, each track is different even though very close in size and shape. Harry's track is so smooth it's scary and my cars run totally different on mine than they did on his, I felt I had better control and a more consistent surface at HRW :(

On a side note regarding gear ratio, I stripped a crown gear the night before (27t) and replaced it with a used gear laying in the parts bin and the car woke up...... But only Harry knows the ratio :o

[midmoslts]

I had the opportunity to drive your car in the one of the races. Now I'm more into 1/24 scale and there for have more experience driving them, but for my driving style this is what I would say....

I couldn't drive it hard into the corners. It wouldn't de-slot, but it would upset the car and make for a poor lap.
It was a little free and slow to wake up coming off the turn.
The slow to come back to life encouraged you to drive it deeper into the corner, but again it would totally upset the car when you did.

When we had open track time I drove it and found it to be a fun car to drive. When the race was on I never had a problem with cars getting under the tail. While I am not an expert with 1/32 scale cars I would be willing to bet that gearing would help. I would also think of trying some weight down low just in front of the left rear tire.

Thanks for allowing me the privilege of driving it for a race.

Now I'm not saying that any of this is what you should do it is only what I would try.

[Frydaddy]

Midmo, couldn't agree more, the gear change would have helped carry the weight. There were so many cars that drove better than mine, each of them had their own characteristics and seemed to give a little to get a little and were a blast to try to figure out.