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The front motor configuration. Hated by some, but it gets an unfair reputation. Sure, they can be cantankerous...but what car can't be? I know some Revogram NASCARS that are worse than this car will ever be.

Anyway, I picked this car up a year or so ago and it has sat on the shelf. Nothing like a race event to get it down and start some tuning.



So I am having coffee with it and thinking about my approach. Box stock testing really surprised me. It ran SMOOTH as silk out of the box. Looks like good wheels and axles, so maybe a quickie :).

Hopefully it will fit right into our "Front Motor Division" :auto-checkeredflag:

Great looking car, can't wait to see what it needs. I have a couple but never really did anything serious tuning on them. Jim

Fuuny thing Jim, it really needs little. Maybe tires and a session on the Razor. It was spooky smooth out of the box.

The Front motor cars are an area I am not well versed. The few I have need attention, so I am watching too!
Cool car by the way.

Bob

I think it's a matter of getting use to a front motor car. I tend to give up on them, but if you race them with other front motor cars, makes for some good times.

It's that big. The grandkids gave it to me, which means mandatory use. :)

I

When our group used to do a FMD class the Scaley L88, with very little tuning, cleaned the clock of about every other car in the class. I have one I've had for.....sheesh..6 years; it's on it's second body and still hauls the mail. Only tuning was weight, no mag, silicones and "Wise" driveline coupling. Stock wheels (mine has the Minilites). I am interested in what "the master" will do to this beast.

I always thought these cars ran great!! Looking forward to your approach on this!

That is my favorite car to get as a bargain. The James Garner car is one of my fastest. I have one that matches that one that is almost as fast, but the big thing with these cars is the near perfect balance. Forget front motor- it just doesn't apply to that car. Every motor I ever tried in that car runs fantastically well. From Scaley Sport to Scale Auto, from Slot.it orange to Slot.it to red, green, white, and even the old Prof Motor HotRod motor. That car loves all of them. I have run several of the M/T motors, too.

Watch the tires. The bigger the meats on that rascal the better, and there's lots of room. Have fun!

I like my L88, but the front tires are nowhere close to touching the track.
I know, the tripod effect...but I'm of the school that all tires should touch the track.
Currently in pieces waiting for a new guide...been waiting for months now.

I have three. The only thing I have done to them is install Paul Gages tires on the back. I am sure I could do more to them but they are pretty decent as is. They are among the top three of the best front motored runners that I have.

Well I have to agree. Not much needed but the same on this one. Will tune it tomorrow and road test.

I recently did a front-motored Alfa TZ2 and, so far, it's doing well in the IPS proxy. I think that most front motored cars can benefit from some weight just in front of the rear axle; I used about 5 gms and it seemed to help.

A good set of trued XPGs will also help. I recently trued a pair and finished them off with 2000 grit sandpaper (your method, Harry). After running them in on my skid pad, they were so sticky that the rear of the car wouldn't slide on my SCC set-up plate! Now, that's sticky!

Separately..........and I don't mean to hijack this tread................ :text-threadjacked:

I did some testing on PGT and XPG tires recently; after talking to Paul about the two of them. In our discussion, he said that PGTs get their maximum bite at a lower slip angle, whereas the XPGs get their maximum bite at a higher slip angle. I understood this, but couldn't really envision it until I ran the two tires on identical wheels on my skid pad. Then it was clear. Here are the results of that testing, which I sent on to Paul:

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Hi Paul,



I finally got a demonstration of what you're talking about when you talk about different slip angles for PGT and XPG tires



I had a car on my skid pad and tested it first with PGT rears, then with XPG rears.



I put the car on the skid pad and ran it in both directions, slowly increasing the voltage until one of two things happened:



1. the inside rear tire moved into the area of the inside braid, or

2. the car was about to de-slot.



Both of those measurements turned out to be important.



For the PGT rears, the inside rear wheel moved into the inside braid at 5.2V run counterclockwise and at 5.3V run clockwise. It was on the verge of de-slotting at 5.7V run counterclockwise and 5.8V run clockwise



For the XPG rears, the inside rear wheel moved into the inside braid at 4.8V run counterclockwise and at 5.0V run clockwise. It was on the verge of de-slotting at 6.7V run counterclockwise and 6.8V run clockwise.



So, the PGT rears stayed on track at a higher voltage than the XPG; which gybes with your statement that they get their maximum bite at a lower slip angle. On the other hand, the car was on the verge of a de-slot at a lower voltage when running the PGT rears than it was when running the XPG rears, which gybes with your statement that the XPG's have their maximum bite at a higher slip angle.



To my observation, it took longer for the PGT rears to drift out of their original line, but the XPG's kept their line and stayed on the track longer.

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So, for proxy racing, where you experience drivers with different driving styles, the XPGs seem to be the way to go. Although, if I was building a car for a local series race held on a twisty track, I might go with the PGT compound, just because it can hold a tight line a little longer.

I also wanted to add, that, for me, the difference between truing PGT and XPG tires using a mediuim grit sandpaper, like 220 grit, for example, and truing them (or finishing off the truing) with fine 2000 grit, followed by some "polishing" at the track, is night and day. I think it's definitely worth the time to do as Harry does and finish off your truing with the fine grit paper. By the way, you will find that truing the harder compound PGTs is much easier than truing the XPGs on finer sandpaper, but they both come out well.

End of thread hijack :text-threadjacked:

And now, back to your front motored L88 car thread..........................................

Allan

Allan - that is some great info! Thanks for sharing!