Improving your cars from event to event

Tips to help you get your cars to run better
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gordon
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Improving your cars from event to event

Post by gordon »

Motor sport is competitive by its nature, whether in 1/1/ or 1/32 scale. As with 1/1 racers, we all want to be front-runners with our 1/32 cars on the slot track and we want to win races. At FRC we have about nine classes which we race in groups of three classes every two weeks. This means that each event we have not one, but usually at least three cars to prepare and race in three different classes. By the time an event is coming up, at least five to six weeks have passed since we last raced the cars for those classes, so how do we know what should be done to improve their performance? How do we even remember what they ran like?

I expect that most of you have systems to address these questions. Just this morning I had an exchange of emails with O'Brie about this topic. Over the years I've developed a simple but pretty effective system of my own, resulting in my cars slowly becoming better with time, which I passed on to him today. I thought I'd share it with you all for what its worth.

My Method

I seldom if ever take notes trackside on race night. The real testing takes place during the races and there’s no time for note-taking then. I try to take notes the day or night after racing, or the Saturday after while everything is fresh in my mind. I use an iPad for recording these notes because of its ability to search and return information immediately, however you can use a computer or other electronic device, or simply an old-fashioned notebook and pen. The key thing is to make notes that can be referred to later.

The initial and most important notes I take refer to how fast the car qualified (available in the race report on the forum), who was on pole (available likewise) and with what time (for an idea of how far off I was), how the car felt - its handling, acceleration and top speed compared to the fastest car in the class, my driving errors, etc. These are represented by the first paragraph in blue in the example below. I then add thoughts of what may address the shortcomings (red below). These may not be added immediately - they're often added over the period before the class comes round again. The first and main thing is to get the record of what transpired with the car in the races (the blue section). Here’s an example for my Zakspeed Capri, almost exactly how I wrote it at the time:
Slot car notes 9/11/18

NOTE: Track seemed slightly down on power and everybody's times suffered as a result.

Modified Production

Zakspeed Capri:
… Car was sluggish with times of 5.2 to 5.3 sec. Handling was excellent with XX tyres, but reverted to previously installed taller YY tyres so that added weight could be removed. Eventually qualified at 5.152 sec, 0.345 sec off Ramesh's Subaru's pole time of 4.807 sec.
… Idea 1 (No, I'm not giving away setup secrets! They're lots of other tips to help you out there).
… Idea 2.
… Idea 3.
… Idea 4.
… etc.
Over time you end up with a full development history of each car you race which can be referenced to see what may or may not have improved its performance. You'll also know what components are currently in use on the car (e.g..motor, tyres, wheels, gears, etc).

In summary, you absolutely have to note down the blue portion for each car you raced within a day or two of the races, otherwise you’ll never remember five to six weeks later when the class rolls round again and you'll just have to be guessing.

So this is my technique. Perhaps you can mention yours in the comments below.

(As a footnote, I just very recently used an iPad database app to develop a more automated system, however the method described above has worked very well for me.)
steveaca
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Re: Improving your cars from event to event

Post by steveaca »

Good tips Gordon. I do make notes but they are not as in-depth as yours.
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gordon
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Re: Improving your cars from event to event

Post by gordon »

Here's a sample screenshot from my new iPad database app:

Image
Luke
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Re: Improving your cars from event to event

Post by Luke »

gordon wrote: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:44 pm ... I'm not giving away setup secrets!
Secrets or not Gordon,

It’s all good and hope you don’t mind because you have taken tuning slot-car order to some great and systematic heights ..!

Over the years, I was often told how meticulous I am with certain things ... but today can safely say.
  • Should meet some of my friends and other family members :)
Thanks all the same for the topic.

Luke
Last edited by Luke on Sun Jan 20, 2019 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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gordon
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Re: Improving your cars from event to event

Post by gordon »

It's all in an effort to be competitive Luke. Forgetting the database which is a challenge in itself for me, I've used a lot of words to suggest some simple points for everyone to hopefully benefit from. Apologies for it being so long and verbose.
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