Ardent Raceway and HPI 24hr Le Mans RC challenge!!

[Dez82]

Originally Posted by lotussmart

Hi Guys, IMPORTANT RE TYRES
You will probably be relieved to hear that due to a supply issue we are having to change from the kit tyres to the new HPI slicks (the ones they put forward for the BRCA National) we are testing to see if they can run on the kit wheels or if we will have to run dish wheels. They will be the same price and the tyres you got with the kit will be used for the random wet weather simulation sections. Dates of when the new tyres will be available will be released shortly. John.

OK I'd better start some tests with some decent tyres to see how the geometry affects the handling, back to square one.....
I might have to come testing later this week then, might throw in some F1 testing for the weekend too. Any excuse ;-)

[Craig W]

If I think back HPI use to give wheel space with there wheel n they were 2mm spaces

[mcreeder]

Challenge 30 tyres didn't fully fit over the kit tyres when they were looked at for the SPC which is why we ended up with Pit Shimizu D30's. It would be a real shame if we ended up on medium narrow dish wheels, cos they will just not fill the shell

[MRD]

Originally Posted by mcreeder

Challenge 30 tyres didn't fully fit over the kit tyres when they were looked at for the SPC which is why we ended up with Pit Shimizu D30's. It would be a real shame if we ended up on medium narrow dish wheels, cos they will just not fill the shell

I totaly agree. Part of the effect of this race is the scale look.

[Dez82]

Dish wheels suck.

[B3buggy]

Good news. It was going to be a hard 24hrs of Drift racing

At least they are white Dez Did like the look of the kit Wheels to honest, shame about the tyres.

What is the news on the ESC's? Are they being replaced for one with a lipo cutout? Just want to know if we can change the connectors on the one we have already, without fear of having to give it back.

[Craig W]

If tyres are like pitz d30 they well go on a 26mm wheel

[TOMO WEF]

Its a shame we arent using the original tyres as it wouldve been the same for everyone and something different to level the playing field to the normal tc guys who will have a huge advantage if we go to a "normal" tc tyre.

[SlowOne]

You could say that - but only if you haven't driven one!! Trust me (and all the other posters who have driven one) you really didn't want to use those tyres! John's post is good news for us all.

[lotussmart]

Originally Posted by B3buggy

Good news. It was going to be a hard 24hrs of Drift racing

At least they are white Dez Did like the look of the kit Wheels to honest, shame about the tyres.

What is the news on the ESC's? Are they being replaced for one with a lipo cutout? Just want to know if we can change the connectors on the one we have already, without fear of having to give it back.

Cut away and if you feel you need to invest in a lipo cut off then do, new ones will not be available in time.

[lotussmart]

Originally Posted by TOMO WEF

Its a shame we arent using the original tyres as it wouldve been the same for everyone and something different to level the playing field to the normal tc guys who will have a huge advantage if we go to a "normal" tc tyre.

The car is totally different to a TC believe me :-) and level playing field comes as soon as we get over 5 minutes as TC driver's internal clocks/alarms start to chime and attention goes. :-)

[SlowOne]

Originally Posted by lotussmart

The car is totally different to a TC believe me :-) and level playing field comes as soon as we get over 5 minutes as TC driver's internal clocks/alarms start to chime and attention goes. :-)

Team Doris in with a shout then - as 12th drivers we lose attention after eight minutes!!

[MRD]

When and how can we pick up our cars? We could do with them posting really but it might be cheaper coming down.

[TOMO WEF]

Hi Slow one trust me I have driven the car John was testing with and both the cars Dez was testing with on about 4 occassions on the old control tyre so Yes I have driven one and was speaking from fairly extensive experience having also owned not one but two of these hpi's myself lol

I just liked the slippy slide of it all, brings a different skill to it plus some people had invested a fair amount of money in trying these tyres out like Dez for all that to now be a waste.

I dont mind what we use aslong as its black and round-ish
I am going just for a laugh have done a 24hrs before with mardaves with mates at our old club years ago and its always a chuckle.

[Dez82]

Any news ref final tyre choice? I did some testing with some half decent tyres, 32R and some preglued Carson rubber I had laying about, both knocked several seconds off the lap time but neither were what you'd call super grippy, although anything better than kit tyres turned this drift car into a racer, finally.

But - and it's a big but, my run times shortened to 10 minutes on 5000mAh packs, the motor made over 150 degrees C in just 5 minutes from stone cold and the 15T HPUI ESC was well over 80 degrees C at the end of every 5 minute race, the HPI gear just sin't built for handling grip it seems.

I don't know if I can fit enough fans to keep this alive for 24Hrs! Dropping the gearing might help but it's already painfully slow as it is!

[Dez82]

Well I've been trying out different tyres with a bit more grip than the kit X Pattern D Compound, at Wednesday night indoor club meetings, and that's two HPI 20T Saturn motors I've worn out now, the brushes have worn down so far the motor is losing speed and just over heating.

So if you are doing the 24Hr I'd advise a quick change method with a flying lead and idiot proof connectors for a quick swap out.

Good news is I've yet to fry a ESC, but having said that the longest I've run has been 8 minutes and they are getting upto 80C plus in that time!

[hashiriya]

Nice to see Dez is being as helpful as ever by providing that much needed testing and feeding back the results.

It's a shame about the kit tyre as I had a quick go on our 24hr car with kit tyres after the SPC round and it seemed to go ok and nothing like the drift car which some of the other were describing (trust me I know about drift cars and their lack of grip)

Although I don't have the answer, I would like to think that keeping the grip lower would be better for not allowing us to keeep the throttle open for too long to keep temperatures and wear down.

[Dez82]

My pleasure Maz, just want everyone to enjoy themselves and the event to go off without complications.

The kit tyres are fine on a clean carpet, give the drive line motor and ESC an easy time and double the run time from each battery pack. With the use of a dremel and grinding drum I cleaned up a set and they went round Ardent great for about three minutes then they picked up carpet fluff and additive and became drift slicks again, another whizz with the Dremel and they were good for a few more minutes. You won't wear them out until the track cleans up!

Additive made them worse, tyre warmers made them worse.

[jasonb]

Has anyone found any 24mm wheels with the same offset at the kit 26mm ones? Don't really want to run dish wheels

Jason

[Dez82]

+3mm front, +6mm rears.

I'm working on it ;-)