by Retro Racer 44 » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:35 am
First let me say that I don't claim to be the fastest driver, but at least the run would be equal for all cars. I did qually at 10 volts (our usual power setting) and ran at least ten laps per car. The Trackmate software was calling out the times and letting me know when I achieved a best time. As I got to 10 laps, I only continued as long as the time was improving, and stopped once it didn't. I expect many of the cars to achieve faster laps during the races. I will use this result for the starting order for both of our races.
I found that all nine of the cars were a joy to drive in qualifying. They all had good handling, grip and brakes. A few of them would come out of the slot if pushed too hard, and none of them showed a tail-happy condition.
#9 was the fastest car and was also the smoothest to drive. It tempted me to try to push it faster, but would de-slot if did.
#8 was very smooth and fast. It must like a little Goop under the hood, eh?
#38 was very well planted because of its weight, but it was very fast in spite of it.
#19 was fast and smooth, but it lifted its rear wheel when pushed and had four de-slots as a result.
#17 was the noisiest car of the group. The gears are a very loose mesh, but the car still runs fast.
#10 has very low clearance underneath. The front edge of the motor pod was touching the tape, and solder joints in the tape caused the car to bump. If I pushed harder it would de-spot.
#98 was not as fast as the cars above, but was a smooth runner. It would also de-slot if pushed harder.
#73 was not as fast, but was smooth. It would de-slot if pushed too hard.
#88 was once again the turtle in qualifying. As usual it was well planted with no offs, but it felt like it had an NC-1 in it compared to the others. I either got a poor Hawk, or the gear ratio is all wrong, but except for two tight corners, I could hold the throttle down all the way around. When this proxy is done, it is getting a Piranha.
The plan is to run the race on Wednesday if drivers and marshals at available.