Mod racing getting silly

[johnboy]

Following on from the 17.5t too fast thread. Mod racing at York has become near on dangerous now with its silly speeds in that hall. Take last sat night someone got hit in the nuts whils there were on the rostrum. The speeds of the cars are far too much for most racers at the club. Yes I had a 6.5t in my 4 wd but did say that it was far too quick. Look at the American style of racing they race what they feel comfortable and if its too fast they don't run it. If 13.5 turn is there most popular class then that must be for a reason? How can people learn to race properly when they are going from one crash to the next as the cars speeds are too high due running fast motors. A few year ago it proposed at the agm for limits on the motors but was shot down. I think it needs it still. Now before you reply with it won't work ect ect. Think about costs of slightly slowing down tyres last longer and the biggest factor racing gets better as people have time to think about how to overtake not that I caught the car in front so fast did t have the time to avoid hitting them.

[450kid]

I think I might start racing turtles!

[footey]

john i do agree in away but for them to do this i think it is inpossible i think it has to be down to the indivual to realise that there car is to fast and slow it down acordingly

[450kid]

I agree with footey if the driver can't realise there car is too fast it's there fault! Slower is faster because they can drive easier. Anyone wanting to run a13.5 or 10.5 class I will join them this week if people want?

[johnboy]

Trouble is some quite a few drivers don't realise it's too much for them. I'm just putting my opinion across from what Ive seen over the last couple of times being at York.

[daz]

Originally Posted by footey

john i do agree in away but for them to do this i think it is inpossible i think it has to be down to the indivual to realise that there car is to fast and slow it down acordingly

Bang on the money there Shane. Worst case is the first 4wd heat at York, the standard of driving is sometimes appalling as the cars are ridiculously fast, spoke to one guy in the heat who was a fairly new driver was running a 5.5, as thats what his mates told him to run. Wtf, I run a 7.5 in 4wd and thats quick enough. Another example is our resident batty boy Col, who has gone down to a 10.5 and is now going quicker.

[johnboy]

Originally Posted by daz

Bang on the money there Shane. Worst case is the first 4wd heat at York, the standard of driving is sometimes appalling as the cars are ridiculously fast, spoke to one guy in the heat who was a fairly new driver was running a 5.5, as thats what his mates told him to run. Wtf, I run a 7.5 in 4wd and thats quick enough. Another example is our resident batty boy Col, who has gone down to a 10.5 and is now going quicker.

There you go my point proven col using a 10.5 and going faster

[daz]

Originally Posted by johnboy

There you go my point proven col using a 10.5 and going faster

To be fare tho mate, my son with his remote control Thomas the tanks engine train could go faster than Col

[neallewis]

Oh we all laughed at the car in the nuts, but it was painful for Chris and could have happened to any of us. I don't think it had anything to do with the motor spec and could have happened equally with a 17.5 or 13.5 motor.

The issue was how close the big jumps were to the "rostrum". A slight misjudgement in when to apply the power was the fault, but I maintain, if it wasn't so close to the rostrum, then it wouldn't have happened.

I run a 10.5 in my 2wd, and can make it as fast as a 6.5 down the straight with speedo timing advance, boost and gearing if i wish. At another smaller club I race at, I just turn down my throttle end point and generally go much faster than when I run at 100%.

Slower is faster to a point, and this was proven by Brett. I raced alongside him in the 4wd qualifiers, him with his saturn 20, me with a new 7.5 (in a new 4wd car only used once previously). Sure enough his was faster by being much more consistent, I had too much power for the slippy, so made errors and lost time, but felt it was fine on the carpet. He got in the A, me in the B finals. When he got there, it was totally out gunned.

I'm just a visitor to the club, rather than a paid up member, but I do enjoy your club and coming to the meetings when I can.

I agree with the sentiment of close competitive racing, but racers will always try to go faster to win no matter how it's limited, restricted, or managed.

[johnboy]

I agree that driver judgement comes into it but if a club was to enforce some rules ie blinky mode on esc which is easy to police then that helps Alittle. I'm not wanting to spoil any racing but sooner or later someone will get hurt quite bad by the speed of the cars in a hall of York size. Touch wood it ain't happened yet but never say never.

[ericd2477]

Hi all, although I have never raced at your club I can understand the problems you are having because we have exactly the same problems at Ribble Valley in Leyland(Preston).
We had someone injured last week when a buggy became airborne and shot through a family of visitors at shoulder height then hit a member on the forearm - large bruise and gash.
The 1/10th buggies are too fast with just any motor in but what do we do ?

I think it is time to restrict motor sizes when indoors before someone gets seriously hurt.

Eric

[footey]

again same as 540 class { running brushed only } in this class just limit motors to say 10.5 SIMPLE and easty to police where blinky isnt

[johnboy]

Originally Posted by footey

again same as 540 class { running brushed only } in this class just limit motors to say 10.5 SIMPLE and easty to police where blinky isnt

Blinky is easy to police Shane.

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by footey

again same as 540 class { running brushed only } in this class just limit motors to say 10.5 SIMPLE and easty to police where blinky isnt

But I can make my 10.5 as fast as I want, faster than lower turn motors.
And I could still drive it at the "rostrum" off the jumps, and hit myself in the nuts if I wanted.

To me making it safer is about thinking about where the jumps are placed, marshal positions and ensuring drivers don't rev up when being marshalled.
Limiting motors or insisting on blinky doesn't make it safer.

Blinky is easy to police. Telling little Jonnys dad they can't race today because the bargain speedo and motor combo they bought isn't complaint with the rules is a different matter though. It just helps with pricing people out of a class/club.

I run blinky at other clubs in my supastox, but I've also seen the resistance to implementing it, when people have already invested in kit that isn't compliant with the rules.

[footey]

what happens if the escs your running dont have blinky and surley making cars slower is making it safer as for where the jumps are thats down the 2 or 3 people who build the track as all the others just sit there in the pits lol

[Richard Lowe]

I do agree with the position of the main 'feature' being close to the rostrum not being ideal, I usually put it there to make it easier for people to judge - especially for some of the younger members who don't have as high a vantage point as the rest of us big kids
We can try it toward the back of the track or even somewhere in the middle if people want next meeting, it would definitely help stop people trying to sterilise Chris!

Also I 110% agree with most of the cars people drive being over powered too. One of the things I noticed when I went to the US to race for the first time was the complete lack of vaguely guided missiles in the lower heats flying off in random directions, the American's do seem more disciplined than most UK club drivers in driving a car they can handle. For most people I think a 10.5 is a nice balance of being fast enough but still controllable, there are a couple of members who have recently switched their monster motors for 10.5's and are more than happy

You have to also look at the other side of the coin though, for the drivers that CAN handle big power having a 10.5 motor limit could be a real pain. Having to swap motors out every week would not only be annoying but constant soldering would eventually give internal dry joints on the motors and make them go bad sooner. Additionally (and this might just be me) but driving a 10.5, especially in 4wd would have me bored rigid. Yes you can add timing to the ESC that gets some of your top speed back but you lose torque, which just makes the car feel like you're running a badly matched set of nicad's and a cell or two has dumped

It's a tough one...

[Gray01]

I am not suggesting anything needs to change as I am just a newbie who struggles with a 17.5 at the moment.

Now I am sure the more experienced will explain why his wouldn't work, but could instead of 540 /2wd mod / 4wd mod could you just a 'motor limit'?

For example you could have races 'up to' 17.5 / 10.5 / unlimited, irrespective of 2 or 4 wheel drive, yet still run the 2wd and 4wd classes within in these races and score accordingly. While your sharing the track (time) with cars in other classes, your not actually competing against them.

Kinda like full scale GT racing if that makes sense?

Would that work, or cause more problems that it would potentially solve?

G

[Moss Models]

Richard has hit the nail on the head. I couldn't be arsed to swap motors all the time.

Is there another way the kids could have a higher vantage point on the rostrum in order to see better? This would then open up the scope for the jumps in different areas. My son does have real trouble seeing all the track sometimes as they can be head height with everybody elses transmitter. Even I can't see all the track sometimes and I am 12 foot tall.

I think Neal was right about the jump but what caused problems was the stepped nature throwing the cars off line before hitting the jump, but it has to be a challange or it will be boring.

[footey]

mixing classes would make a lot more hassel as fast 4wds would be in with slower 2wds just wouldnt work

[Moss Models]

Originally Posted by Gray01

I am not suggesting anything needs to change as I am just a newbie who struggles with a 17.5 at the moment.

Now I am sure the more experienced will explain why his wouldn't work, but could instead of 540 /2wd mod / 4wd mod could you just a 'motor limit'?

For example you could have races 'up to' 17.5 / 10.5 / unlimited, irrespective of 2 or 4 wheel drive, yet still run the 2wd and 4wd classes within in these races and score accordingly. While your sharing the track (time) with cars in other classes, your not actually competing against them.

Kinda like full scale GT racing if that makes sense?

Would that work, or cause more problems that it would potentially solve?

G

Good idea in theory but I think the 2WD people would get anoyed, unless your Rich Lowe who would still make us look silly