Video of my Optima Mid against modern cars last night

[J77MYF]

I raced at my local club (10 Electric) last night. Unfortunately the vintage class was cancelled due to the meeting being very busy and not enough time to fit it in. Luckily someone dropped out of modern 4wd so I still got to drive it. I managed to qualify in pole and finished in 2nd which I was happy with considering it's just a bog standard mid.

For anyone who's interested the YouTube link is:

http://youtu.be/MrltpPpB1G0

[Migs]

That's really cool mate. I love it when the vintage cars still show they've got it against the modern runners

[Essex2Visuvesi]

Just out of interest were you running a brushed motor?
The reason I ask is that on a polished wood floor getting the power down smoothly is the key.... And in many cases the modern brushless motor is just too much.
When we raced indoors, the winner of the tc series was running an old brushed motor and was the most consistent throughout the season.
Sometimes there is such a thing as too much power

[J77MYF]

Just out of interest were you running a brushed motor?
The reason I ask is that on a polished wood floor getting the power down smoothly is the key.... And in many cases the modern brushless motor is just too much.
When we raced indoors, the winner of the tc series was running an old brushed motor and was the most consistent throughout the season.
Sometimes there is such a thing as too much power

It has a 10.5 brushless orca motor in it. I think any more power would be too much in that size hall.

[OptimaFan]

Nice race! Without those couple of rollovers, you would have kept that pole the whole race, I think. Also good to see that comeback from 3rd place to close to taking the lead again, and then another rollover created too much distance to make up before the race ended.

[J77MYF]

Nice race! Without those couple of rollovers, you would have kept that pole the whole race, I think. Also good to see that comeback from 3rd place to close to taking the lead again, and then another rollover created too much distance to make up before the race ended.

I know what you mean. A couple of silly mistakes and I handed it away but hopefully next time I can keep it clean :thumbsup:

[Sir Shawny500]

[QUOTE=J77MYF;895486]I know what you mean. A couple of silly mistakes and I handed it away but hopefully next time

Yep it was a shame buddy as i thought you had it in the bag. Glad to see the K1 pass you! lol

[J77MYF]

[QUOTE=J77MYF;895486]I know what you mean. A couple of silly mistakes and I handed it away but hopefully next time

Yep it was a shame buddy as i thought you had it in the bag. Glad to see the K1 pass you! lol

Haha I'm surprised it did as well as it did. The lad with the K1 is no slouch.

[DanB4]

Wow that is impressive!

[alcyon]

Another member with a great run. The swb was an excellent choice for such a tight track.
it looked very good but also it lacks a bit more steering.
btw your arms should be ready this week.
i have a outdoor dirt race on the 8th of february there will be at least 3 top level drivers so it will be a tough fight.

[J77MYF]

Another member with a great run. The swb was an excellent choice for such a tight track.
it looked very good but also it lacks a bit more steering.
btw your arms should be ready this week.
i have a outdoor dirt race on the 8th of february there will be at least 3 top level drivers so it will be a tough fight.

I have a Lazer ZX which I've rebuilt to use but I don't like it as much as the mid. Do you have any good base settings for these?

The Mid does lack steering and on a track like this. You've got to get your corners perfect or you're running deep. Overall I absolutely love driving this mid and find it a lot of fun.

I'll put those arms on and save these originals. I probably should have ordered some more at the same time as spares.

Good Luck for the race. I'm taking mine to a big indoor meeting at Worksop next week. It's a big track and the Mid feels a bit small on there against the super fast modern cars.

[alcyon]

I guess you could try ot 47 0 degree c hubs. Those should give more initial steering.
you could also try to lower your car since its indoors. perhaps add some drag brakes too. For low traction outdoors the caster is needed.

[DerbyDan]

Great video, some neat driving there :thumbsup:

What tyres are you using on the gym floor - it looks like you have reasonable grip considering? Talking of grip, your Optima was designed in a time when we raced on loose/low grip tracks & I'm sure the suspension was 'optimised' to generate grip - unlike now where Astro tracks tend to have excessive levels of grip.

When my mate ran his LWB Mid Custom Optima on our indoor astroturf track at Moulton... no amount of suspension tuning can stop it from grip-rolling!

[Chalkie]

As Dan said I've raced my LWB mid indoors a few times now, compared to the modern 4wd cars it generates grip so goes very well on slippy floor and other such surfaces but on higher grip really is a bit of a handful (although still quicker over a lap than a certain procat :p)

Have you got a one-way diff in the front? If not I think one would really help your car hold a tighter line on a track such as that, plus you can trim the line with a bit of brake if it runs wide, they do come up on ebay or here from time to time.

[alcyon]

As Dan said I've raced my LWB mid indoors a few times now, compared to the modern 4wd cars it generates grip so goes very well on slippy floor and other such surfaces but on higher grip really is a bit of a handful (although still quicker over a lap than a certain procat :p)

Have you got a one-way diff in the front? If not I think one would really help your car hold a tighter line on a track such as that, plus you can trim the line with a bit of brake if it runs wide, they do come up on ebay or here from time to time.

That's interesting, that means on a low grip surface like outdoors with loose sand, the original Mid Short arm suspension is better than the Lazer ZX long arm ?

[J77MYF]

Great video, some neat driving there :thumbsup:

What tyres are you using on the gym floor - it looks like you have reasonable grip considering? Talking of grip, your Optima was designed in a time when we raced on loose/low grip tracks & I'm sure the suspension was 'optimised' to generate grip - unlike now where Astro tracks tend to have excessive levels of grip.

When my mate ran his LWB Mid Custom Optima on our indoor astroturf track at Moulton... no amount of suspension tuning can stop it from grip-rolling!

I was running Associated Hex rear wheels with mini pins and on the front I had 2wd Associated Hex wheels (not cut) with 4WD mini pins.

Mine isn't too bad on carpet but you do have to be steady with the sticks.

[J77MYF]

Have you got a one-way diff in the front? If not I think one would really help your car hold a tighter line on a track such as that, plus you can trim the line with a bit of brake if it runs wide, they do come up on ebay or here from time to time.

My car just has the bog standard gear diff. I'll have to keep an eye open for one on fleebay.

[DanB4]

I found my LWB Mid a handful at the 2014 IconicRC Revival meeting - no time to tinker with setup - the Works 91 dogfighter was however on rails on carpet at Christmas time, I used the same mid, again a handful on carpet.

[DerbyDan]

As Dan said I've raced my LWB mid indoors a few times now, compared to the modern 4wd cars it generates grip so goes very well on slippy floor and other such surfaces but on higher grip really is a bit of a handful (although still quicker over a lap than a certain procat :p)

Fighting talk James! That was a one-lap fluke LOL! Consistency as well as pace wins the race ;)

[Chalkie]

Fighting talk James! That was a one-lap fluke LOL! Consistency as well as pace wins the race ;)

I think it was a five-lap fluke if I remember rightly ;), anyways I'm sure there will be a gentlemanly rematch sooner or later :)

[Chalkie]

That's interesting, that means on a low grip surface like outdoors with loose sand, the original Mid Short arm suspension is better than the Lazer ZX long arm ?

You'd have to test back to back and I guess other things change as well (shocks on the rear of the rear arms instead of front for example) but the general thinking seems to be that short arm cars are more responsive and carry corner speed better whilst longer arm cars are more stable and better over bumps.
Certainly the modern cars could have longer arms than they currently do, so there must be a downside to going too long with the arms.