The X6 65% Rule, remember that?

[Danosborne6661]

I've owned the Cougar since it's release, I run it indoors on a mix surface track of Carpet and polished floor. The cougar always works pretty well on a high-bite track but I've found as soon as you hit a slippy area it no way near works as well as my X6/B4 have.

When you look at the cougar it does have an awful amount of weight up front. With the servo being mounted really far forward and people running a stick pack battery. For this reason I converted my car to run saddle packs which is the opposite to what most Cougar drivers use, now from when I ran the X6 I learnt the weight you place through-out a 2WD car is crucial so I thought I would work out what the ratios were.



With my newly saddle pack converted car and added weight (Not all the weight as pictured above) to the rear it was still only hitting 59% of the weight at the rear, I was amazed by this as I am running a lot more weight to the rear then a lot of you guys are so I dread to think what sort of weight ratios you lot are running!

Anyways I've added even MORE weight on and around my saddle pack to recreate the 64/65% rear weight ratio which is so perfect on the X6, here is what I am now running

Front - 602g
Rear - 1055g
Total - 1657g

64% Rear ratio, 36% Front

So I chucked the car on the track and instantly it is MILES better, even on shot tyres the car is much more balanced and chuck-able. Generally, what I am trying to say is the 65% X6 rule still applies for the Cougar and my question really is how the F&%$ are you lot running with so much weight up front?!

Here's a pic so you can really see how much weight I am running around my 4400mah Vampire pack to achieve the desired X6 weight of 64% on the rear which makes it feel like the car it should be

[liam]

Glad you found a way to get the car to handle how you like it.

How did you work out the weight distribution percentages? Would like to do that on my xxx

Cheers

[flipside]

Weight you add around the lipo will also add a portion of it to the front %. try to add weight under the motor area, around the gearbox, etc... But try to keep it as central as possible (for example the weight to the sides of your lipo's is not the best option)

Adding weight further back, for example 20gr, will maybe be like adding 60gr under your lipo (regarding weight % on the rear wheels). I'm just guessing numbers but you get the point. Ideally the weight should not go further than the line of your driveshafts.

Also try a smaller spur so your motor will shift back, this has an even bigger effect than shifting with static weights. (motor shift of 2mm has massive effect on handling).

[gazhillAE]

Way too much time on your hands!

I could of told you a few ways to get more rear end without going for the fat boy saddle conversion!!!

;0)

[Spencer Mulcahy]

The 65% rule will only work on the X6 when the cells lay across the chassi in stick formation. Now alot of people have gone saddle formation in there X6 (as I have)and like you have with the cougar, the car works better with no weight under the batteries. I have weight in the front bulkhead and under the speedo and thats it maybe the math has changed.

[danharding]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

Way too much time on your hands!

I could of told you a few ways to get more rear end without going for the fat boy saddle conversion!!!

;0)

Tell us then

[gazhillAE]

Originally Posted by danharding

Tell us then

Trishbits rear weight for in front of motor
Trishbits 4degree rear brass block
2.0 rear springs (you could always use the 1.6 if you want to be silly)
Bigger rear wing
Ghea 6 hole rear pistons
27.5 losi oil (I use this indoors currently and upto 35.0w on higher grip)
Alloy gearbox housings
Few 5-10gram weights on back of gearbox housing
Inner on rear mount
Test different anti squat settings
Alloy rear spring cups

If you have too much steering loose some from the front end by adjusting it accordingly to calm the rear end down

Depends if your looking for more side bite on power or off?

Adjust speedo to lowest punch setting
Reduce the steering curve on your tranny
Reduce the throttle curve on the tranny

Too tired now to think of more but there is a few more than likely ive forgot

[Danosborne6661]

I've ran this 3 times since adding the lead at the rear, it's gone from handling like the pooey out the box car to amazing!
The maths still applies, 65% all the way!

[mrspeedy]

Seems like using saddle packs might be the cheaper option

[Danosborne6661]

Originally Posted by gazhillAE

Trishbits rear weight for in front of motor
Trishbits 4degree rear brass block
2.0 rear springs (you could always use the 1.6 if you want to be silly)
Bigger rear wing
Ghea 6 hole rear pistons
27.5 losi oil (I use this indoors currently and upto 35.0w on higher grip)
Alloy gearbox housings
Few 5-10gram weights on back of gearbox housing
Inner on rear mount
Test different anti squat settings
Alloy rear spring cups

I'd still say changing to saddles is a easier and more cost effective way

Alloy rear spring cups

Now your getting desperate

[hansie]

Hello all and especially Dan,

How did you figure out the weight distribution on you Cougar?
Did you put the car on 2 scales or something and if so, what was the precise placement of the car on the scales?
Thanks in advance!

Greetings

Hans

[Danosborne6661]

Right what you need to do is have a set of scales with a wheel on top to allow for droop and then a surface exactly the same height for the opposite side of the car. Start by weighing the overall weight of the car, write that down. Then put the front end of the chassis on the scales and place the rear end on the other surface you've made, make a note of the weight of the front. Do the same again for the rear. You now have readings for overall weight, front, and rear. To get the percentages all you need to do is divide either the front or rear weight by the overall weight of the car. To ensure your readings are accurate though add your individual front and rear weights together to make sure it's within 10g of your first overall weight reading

Oh yea and it's also more accurate if on the scales you have a ruler or something so the car sits on the scales by the width of the car and not just balancing on the centre of the chassis.

[fastinfastout]

its even easier if you have 4 mini scales. You can buy them off ebay for next to nothing these days. Then its just an easy percentage calculation.

[racingdwarf]

I'm not going to get into the maths, but I do agree I have been playing with weight in my B4 since switching to lipo,and the changes weight can make are like black and white in diffrence,I was blown away at how mutch better my B4 is over the bumps and stable turn in etc with weight added correctly,and correctly depends on each indeviduals style.

I think the cougar has got this weight distribution very wrong,out of the box,as it may work well on tracks with loads of grip,but all normal club drivers I know who have one, realy have trouble generating grip if the conditions are not idea

[Danosborne6661]

Originally Posted by racingdwarf

I think the cougar has got this weight distribution very wrong,out of the box,as it may work well on tracks with loads of grip,but all normal club drivers I know who have one, realy have trouble generating grip if the conditions are not idea

You said it in one! I also think they have got it completely wrong, really doesn't seem to work. The majority of people that I speak to that own Cougars don't seem to get on with them either. It could be a fantastic car out of the box, but the weigh distribution is completely wrong in my eyes, this 65% weight X6 set-up is amazing though.

It might be ok for some people as they run on a higher bite track but I run mine on indoors on a partly polished floor track where it is hell if you haven't got rear traction.

I don't think people should worry about getting the weight as low as possible either, it IS good to have the majority of the weight low but I would also recommend having some mounted on the side of the battery and slightly higher up which creates the side grip that the X6 never lacked.

You'll find with the 65% set-up you'll have loads more rear traction, but don't worry. The cougar STILL seems to have the massive amounts of steering and doesn't understeer like the X6 does.

Also, if you find the back end can still just 'let go' on a REALLY slippy track, try adding 30g of lead BEHIND the rear axles, on-top of where you adjust the anti-squat, this makes the back lean a bit more like on a rear engined car to get a good bit of grip, i'd only use this option as a tuning aid though as I don't think it is necessary at most tracks