Genuine stock class for fun focussed racing...

[craig smith]

IF YOU LOOK THROUGH YOUR EMAILS 12 MONTHS AGO BEFORE JOINING THE CLUB I ASKED IF YOU WOULD BE RUNNING MARDAVES AND YOU REPLIED NO THEN WHEN I JOINED THE CLUB LOOKING FOR A CHEAP CLASS YOU INTRODUCED 1/18TH FTX OR ATOM WHICH I BOUGHT BUT YOU NEVER SET THE RULES SO PEOPLE BOUGHT BRUSHLESS SYSTEMS WIDER CHASSIS THEN LONGER CHASSIS THEN THEN THEN AND YOUR WORDS SCOTT WERE ILL SEE WOT EVERYONE IS RUNNING SO AFTER SPENDING £500 PLUS AND EVERYONE GETTING BORED WITH 1/18TH YOUR NOW DECIDING MARDAVE WELL I MUST SAY IM WELL UP FOR THAT AS I THINK I WAS 12 MONTHS AGO THE CLASS'S CAN ALTERNATE AS TIME GOES BY THROUGH CHANGING BODY TYPES AT AROUND A FIVER BUT ........ MAKE SURE YOU SET RULES AND KEEP TO THEM.
FOR INSTANCE LAST FRI A FINAL YOU TOOK ME OUT IN THE FIRST FEW LAPS AND THREW ME OVER THE BARRIER DIDNT STOP WAIT APPOLOGIZE OR ANY THING SO NEXT QUESTION IF WE/YOU DO MAKE NEW RULES WILL WE STICKING TO THEM AS FOR MOTOR CHANGE THATS MORE MONEY ON THE 1/10THS ALONG WITH NEW TYRES FOR THE CARPET IF YOUR NOT CAREFULL YOU WILL KILL THE HOBBY HOPE YOU CAN APPRECIATE MY VIEWS AND CORRECT MY SPELLING MISTAKES LOL

[bedsrcmcc]

Craig

As mentioned in my PM to you, running a club can be a thankless task at the best of times and as Chairman the buck does stop with me so I accept we may have done somethings wrong. It would have been great to run all types of classes from day one when we start just over a year ago now.

At that time we took the decision to start the club with TCs only. The committee then chose to introduce the micros, albeit without any firm rules, and I think that was a mistake but that's what the club decided.

Thankfully we are being a little more careful now about a new 'cheap & fun class' and I'm really happy that we have lots of discussions going on here and at the club on Fridays.

Eventually once we have all the information in front of us, the clubs committee will make a decision. I'm with you on some of the comments you made last Friday about the rules if we introduce this class, so lets get them right now before we fall into the same problem we have with the micros.

With regard to racing, I've noticed also that we seemed to have stopped talking on the rostrum, so we should all try and work together - yes the racing is close, very close at times and there will always be a bit of door rubbing - maybe I'm trying to drive too much like Matt Neal

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by HPI Paul

I will race my mardave this friday with the 2 packs and see how things go.........

Paul, I really appreciate the fact you're doing this during a Championship, your support and input into the club is very welcome

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by craig smith

AS FOR MOTOR CHANGE THATS MORE MONEY ON THE 1/10THS ALONG WITH NEW TYRES FOR THE CARPET IF YOUR NOT CAREFULL YOU WILL KILL THE HOBBY

To be honest Craig, I'm certainly not shouting about the merits of a motor change. I'm very happy to stick with my 13.5, fine the rules do not stop others from going the 17.5 route if they want but I will stand firm against a view to change the rules of the Touring Cars.

So as far as I'm concerned, apart from the tyre change due to the new surface, everything else stands and I'm not looking to make changes on anything else...

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by HPI Paul

There seems to be a lot of love for the caterhams.......

I'm going to throw another curved ball into the melting pot...

What about the Mardave Sidecar?

[learnerdriver]

very diffuclt to setup and get working well - not ideal for a starter class - saw one at tamworth and whilst it looked good, it took the driver all day to get a reasonable setup
mardave minis and caterhams would get my vote

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by learnerdriver

very diffuclt to setup and get working well - not ideal for a starter class - saw one at tamworth and whilst it looked good, it took the driver all day to get a reasonable setup
mardave minis and caterhams would get my vote

I thought that would be the case Chris. I bet they look good outdoors on tarmac.

Mini's and Caterhams look the best bet then...

[craig smith]

MARDAVE V12 GET MY FULL VOTE WITH THE CLASS'S CHANGE FROM WEEK TO WEEK ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH INTEREST IE DIFFERENT BODY TYPES 1960'S THEN STOCK RODS ETC WOULD LOVE TO TRY THE RELIANT ROBINS AS FOR BATTERYS THERE ARE A FEW OF US POTENTIALY MOVING FROM 1/18TH TO MARDAVE SO HOW ABOUT USING THE 1/18TH LIPO PACKS
MARDAVE'S THE SOONER THE BETTER THERE GREAT CAN I RUN THE ORIGINAL MARDAVE MINI'S IVE GOT FOUR OF THEM ON THE SHELF

[craig smith]

WOT ABOUT THE MARDAVE LEGENDS THEN THE CARAVANS THE LIST GOES ON AND ON

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by craig smith

MARDAVE V12 GET MY FULL VOTE WITH THE CLASS'S CHANGE FROM WEEK TO WEEK ONCE THERE IS ENOUGH INTEREST IE DIFFERENT BODY TYPES 1960'S THEN STOCK RODS ETC WOULD LOVE TO TRY THE RELIANT ROBINS AS FOR BATTERYS THERE ARE A FEW OF US POTENTIALY MOVING FROM 1/18TH TO MARDAVE SO HOW ABOUT USING THE 1/18TH LIPO PACKS
MARDAVE'S THE SOONER THE BETTER THERE GREAT CAN I RUN THE ORIGINAL MARDAVE MINI'S IVE GOT FOUR OF THEM ON THE SHELF

The point about 1:18th LiPo's is the very reason I'm keen to be able to use them as many of us already have packs that would fit into a mini chassis and therefore reduces initial outlay...

As for different bodyshells - maybe we just leave that aspect open to all Mardave bodyshells and let people choose their own, having a mix of bodyshells will probably look great too - as well as the odd caterham mixing it up.

[learnerdriver]

The only problem with using lipos in a nimh setup generally is the lack of weight, not sure how the mardave will handle with less weight ?
I can feel another test coming on, lol - mardave + 1/18th lipo, where's paul when you need him

[HPI Paul]

I would like to repeat what I said earlier in the thread;

"I think (if we do go mardave) we should run with the 4-cell nimh's for the following reasons;

The 4.8v are more than fast enough
Cheaper for new starters
Safer to store and charge than lipo
Just need a basic charger - ideal for new starters"

I also think the 7.4v micro packs will be too quick for a "budget/ new driver class", especially new starters. Another risk is that unless we use an ESC with low voltage protection, big risk of the lipo packs failing.

In summary, I think that using the micro lipo's will make it more expensive for new starters (direct and indirect costs) and will bring in raft of other side effects that will reduce scope for placing limits on ESC's etc which is at the core of making it a stock class.

Hope I am not being too negative - more than happy to run a micro pack on friday if someone can please supply (deans connector) - I will need to change the ESC that I currently have though.

Paul

[craig smith]

ILL BRING SOME LIPO'S DOWN FOR YA TO RUN CAN I BRING A MARDAVE MINI AS FOR BATT CUT OFF SIMPLES JUST AT A BATT ALARM FOR £3 DETECTS WHEN YOU NEED TO STOP AND CHARGE SIMPLES, 4 CELLS MAY SOON GET BORING DUE TO SPEED BUT AFTER ALL YOUR LOOKING FOR A CHEAP STARTER CLASS BUT THEN AGAIN IF YOUR STARTING FROM NEW WHY WAIST MONEY ON NIMH AND CHARGER WHEN YOU COULD BUT A 1/18TH LIPO FOR £16 AND PROB A SLOW CHARGER FOR A FIVER
HARD ONE GUYS WITH YOU WOT EVER YOU DECIDE MIGHT NOT DO AS YOU SAY BUT IM WITH YA LOL

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by learnerdriver

The only problem with using lipos in a nimh setup generally is the lack of weight, not sure how the mardave will handle with less weight ?
I can feel another test coming on, lol - mardave + 1/18th lipo, where's paul when you need him

If there is an issue of weight Chris, we could always increase the minimum weight for those who wish to run LiPo to even out with those runnin cells. It could be tat we would need to run them both for a few meetings on different tracks before we can finalise a weight.

I'm happy to run heavier with LiPo's if it evens out the racing.

Talking of weight, how simple do you think it could be to have success ballast? The top 2 or 3 from each week have to run with Xg of weight the following time they race like they used to do in BTCC

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by HPI Paul

I would like to repeat what I said earlier in the thread;

"I think (if we do go mardave) we should run with the 4-cell nimh's for the following reasons;

The 4.8v are more than fast enough
Cheaper for new starters
Safer to store and charge than lipo
Just need a basic charger - ideal for new starters"

I also think the 7.4v micro packs will be too quick for a "budget/ new driver class", especially new starters. Another risk is that unless we use an ESC with low voltage protection, big risk of the lipo packs failing.

In summary, I think that using the micro lipo's will make it more expensive for new starters (direct and indirect costs) and will bring in raft of other side effects that will reduce scope for placing limits on ESC's etc which is at the core of making it a stock class.

Hope I am not being too negative - more than happy to run a micro pack on friday if someone can please supply (deans connector) - I will need to change the ESC that I currently have though.

Paul

Paul,

No problem with cells for beginners, but those of us with LiPo's should not be put off from converting from Mircos to Mardaves. Have a think about my weight option for LiPo users - that may help solve your concerns that LiPo Mardaves would be faster.

As Chris and Craig say, it looks like some testing is in order

[Jon R]

I dont have much experience with mini or mardaves but they do look good, especially the caterhams. I do have some experience running with 4 cell batteries though, about 4 years ago I used to run one of these:

http://www.teamxray.com/teamxray/new...0Touring%20Car

Running it with 4 cell nimh and a 4.5 novak brushless. While it wasnt the fastest thing out there it was definitely one of the most fun forms of racing. Its a shame it didnt stay around

Both the minis and the mardaves look like a great little form of racing! So even though I wont be running one they do get my vote! If anyone is interested I found this review of a mardave caterham:

http://www.mardavespares.com/tic2/p4...e_RRCJAN08.pdf

Paul, from the review I have a few questions. Is your mardave chassis plate countersunk underneath? As the review recommends doing it if you are not running in the BRCA championships. Also have you tried "water dipping" or spraying WD40 on your motor for improved performance?

I still have one of my Xray 1/12th touring cars if anyone is interested in seeing it, I will bring it along one friday (not that I am saying we should allow them to run, its just nice to old past cars )

[ek9russ]

Would be intresting to do some testing with LiPo and 4 cell.

I think you would have to add a huge amount of weight though if both where to be used together to even it out. If you think about it, 4 cell is 4.8V and using a LiPo is 7.4V, thats means the LiPo has over 50% more volts than the 4 cells as well as being lighter to start with

Also I dont think the motors that come with the Mardave kits are the longest lasting things in the world, running them on higher volts means higher rpm, which means they wont last as long. Going through one of those a month will soon add up over the year...

Have been looking at the LiFe batteries, these run at 6.6 volts, from what I have read they dont 'blow up' like LiPos and you dont need to worry too much about running them low. There is some small ones about that you can use as recieiver packs in nitro cars, I dont know if these would have enough in them though to last a race

I like the idea of adding weight to the leader in the final, we could run a reverse grid in the final, would be good fun if we had a large final

[HPI Paul]

Originally Posted by Jon R

Paul, from the review I have a few questions. Is your mardave chassis plate countersunk underneath? As the review recommends doing it if you are not running in the BRCA championships. Also have you tried "water dipping" or spraying WD40 on your motor for improved performance?

Chassis is not counter sunk but would probably be a good idea. "water dipping"?? - you can explain to me on friday! .
Paul

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by HPI Paul

Chassis is not counter sunk but would probably be a good idea. "water dipping"?? - you can explain to me on friday! .
Paul

I also read somewhere about water dipping -WTF!!!! We are discussing the safety merits or LiPo and now we talk about water and electrics OMG!! I have no idea how it works...

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by ek9russ

I like the idea of adding weight to the leader in the final, we could run a reverse grid in the final, would be good fun if we had a large final

Reverse grids wouldn't work Russ. You can imagine what will happen, a go slow approach in the heats to secure pole in final and then run away with a win...

I think the success ballast idea is workable and might be worth discussing further though...