How do you get to the next level

[Rs fruitbat]

In terms of racing R/C cars ,how do you go from an average racer to a front runner ? Or in my case a below average to average racer

Is it just natural talent or can your skills be improved through practice or is it knowing how to set up a car and having a bottomless pit of money to buy the best of the best ?

[mark christopher]

Originally Posted by Rs fruitbat

In terms of racing R/C cars ,how do you go from an average racer to a front runner ? Or in my case a below average to average racer

Is it just natural talent or can your skills be improved through practice or is it knowing how to set up a car and having a bottomless pit of money to buy the best of the best ?

practice,good hand eye coordination, concentration, practice, a good sense of what the car is doing, and what to do to too make it better. study set up guides such as xxx main chassis guide (google it and find the pdf) practice, practice and practice.
thowing money at it is a miss conception, give neil crag or lee martin a rtr kit and you take their full factory rides, they will still whip most peoples butts

[cutting42]

Originally Posted by Rs fruitbat

In terms of racing R/C cars ,how do you go from an average racer to a front runner ? Or in my case a below average to average racer

Is it just natural talent or can your skills be improved through practice or is it knowing how to set up a car and having a bottomless pit of money to buy the best of the best ?

Practice, practice and practice

To make it to the A final of a national you need talent as well but you can certainly make a huge difference by just running as much as you can and also at varied tracks as well.

I started about 4 years ago aged 46 with zero ability and race every week at a local club and have gradually made it from the D final up to generally getting into the A finals at the club. I also started racing regionals last year and that gives a great range of different tracks. Go along expecting to be in the bottom finals with the little kids at the beginning but it is great experience and you will improve.

Don't worry about setups or getting the latest kit. Any of the major cars will do, preferably one that your local club has and copy setups. That's all I do even now, you don't need to spend a lot of money but you will need decent tyres and as you get quicker you will wear them out quicker.

I read somewhere that 80% of speed is the driver, 15% is the tyres and the last 5% is everything else including setup, make of car, type of gearbox etc.

[danDanEFC]

Find a fast guy at your track, and just pester them to check your car & watch you drive.

I bother Chris Evison, Stuart Wood and others on a regular basis (NW based)

For Yokomo stuff I bother the LMR team both locals and Lee.

[bretts]

As said before Practice, practice and practice.

Also, consistency is key, a super fast car may just mean you crash more often, find a motor you're happy with not just what everyone says you should run.

Kit setups usually give a good 'balance' for consistent laps. So always start there and make one change at a time. If you're not happy change it back and try something else.

Set yourself targets such as:- 5 mins with only 1 or 2 crashes. Remember you're racing the clock not other cars.

Sometimes, setups by the top guys mean the car is super reactive and might be too much for the average driver. Use as guidelines not gospel.


Finally don't forget the six P's

Finding the last .3 of a second per lap is the hardest ;-)
HTH

[dodgydiy]

even bigger hint.... dont drive like me!!!!!

as a not so good driver, i find that i have to make a car work for me, i have to change things so the car suits me as its harder to drive round a problem when your not as good. i try to make the car balanced and easy to drive so i make less mistakes, it may not be the fastest round the track but for an average driver one mistake costs a lot more time than you gain by a slightly improved setup. your b4 'should' be fairly well balanced and easy to drive as it is, if you need it to do anything differently that you think would be helpful, ask!! practice is key to it all really though.

[Rs fruitbat]

Originally Posted by dodgydiy

even bigger hint.... dont drive like me!!!!!

your b4 'should' be fairly well balanced and easy to drive as it is.

You beat me every week

There nothing wrong with the B4 it's the man behind the controls

Thanks for the replies so far

[birdy]

Originally Posted by mark christopher

practice,good hand eye coordination, concentration, practice, a good sense of what the car is doing, and what to do to too make it better. study set up guides such as xxx main chassis guide (google it and find the pdf) practice, practice and practice.
thowing money at it is a miss conception, give neil crag or lee martin a rtr kit and you take their full factory rides, they will still whip most peoples butts

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...up%20Guide.pdf

http://www.hudy.net/xhudy/products/p...96176f78500991

[dodgydiy]

http://users.telenet.be/elvo/

all you ever need to know about setup.......

[Steve.T]

Have to agree with the three "P's" but learning all you can about car setup helps hugely.
However, I thinkmthe bigest improve you can make is concentration on the rostrum.
If you watch an "A" final at any meeting you'll find the best drivers say nothing because they are concentrating so much.

[buggy#0]

Originally Posted by Steve.T

If you watch an "A" final at any meeting you'll find the best drivers say nothing because they are concentrating so much.

I think that's a given at any meeting, even club level. Very rarely do I hear people talking, and if so it's (rightly) punished.

There are a few key things I've learned and started to put into practice over the last year. JQ has spoken about the difference between skill and talent, and I think it's true for most of us - in order to become a "good" driver you have to put in the effort and keep practicing. It sounds like a cliche but it's completely true - the more you practice, the faster you'll get, or the more consistent you'll get with your pace. It's not something you can really work past unless you have astonishing natural talent. Most of the fast drivers coming up the ranks on the European scene (and the American/Asian scenes too) are practicing virtually every day, indoors and outdoors, rain or shine. It's not easy to do that unless you essentially commit your whole life to the sport, but putting in the work pays off.

I spoke to Spencer a couple of hours after he won the Worlds last year, and the one thing he stressed was how important it is to travel to different tracks, and go to some big events. I suppose it goes hand in hand with practice, but just being around different drivers on different types of track all adds up in terms of experience. If you ask a factory/pro driver how to get fast, I'm fairly sure most would pick this out straight away.

Several people have mentioned understanding setup - I think this is a huge thing that's often overlooked. When people copy setup sheets, some don't really understand why they're making such changes or what effect they'll have. Understanding every element of your equipment, be it what the car does, how certain tyres react to different conditions, how your electrics function, or what every part of your radio gear does, can have a huge impact on your approach to racing. It makes it far easier to understand when something is awry with your car - you can have much more control over a race day instead of having several little issues and trying to just drive around them. On a similar note, a well prepared car is important - it doesn't have to be the fastest or the one with the best setup, but as long as everything is in one piece, screwed together properly, and everything functions as intended, it'll be consistent. A consistent car is one you can get to grips with quickly and one that will let you focus on your driving.

[Welshy40]

Half the battle is finding a good base setup, once you have that then practice helps you get the best from that setup and later on when you find your more consistant and cant go any further then you can start tweaking the setup more.

[DarkHawk]

I would also like to add that you can use a slower motor this will help you practicing your lines and hitting the Apex and then you can install a faster motor the better you get

[CHEVY]

Don't throw stupid amounts of money at problem been there done that empty wallet used to do 2wd ,4wd no difference just car fully of alloy shiny bits and box full of spares you never use

Yoda says feel the force it will come