Ouch, not so stellar test experience

So I tried to get some testing in Sunday so after finding a decent place to run I got to it only to run into handling issues. The car was doing a big back and forth weave (not a wiggle like an over aggressive gyro can cause though) and it eventually ended up causing a crash, don't worry I will get crash damage pics up later. I was lucky though and it didn't seem to hurt any electronics or the central core of the car.

It really felt like I had to much rear downforce and that the car could not get enough load on the front to track straight. I am going to make some changes to the setup on my gyro though as it is possible it was acting up but I am not sure yet.

So I am going to stop using a rear wing and switch to just big upright vertical stabilizers as I think they will make enough downforce with drag to keep the back down but not so much that I have handling problems. The big decision is how big should I go, a very large side mounted stabilizer (dark gray) or a smaller rear deck mounted one (light gray). I am thinking I should go big as I can always trim it down easier than add to. Given enough time I will try both but I still have many other things to try to work out to match a given wing setup so I have a good overall package.

On an upside I think I have found a better place to run as I have gotten permission to use a closed airstrip that is supposed to be in decent shape (I will check it out this weekend to see for myself). Hopefully it will work out.

Pretty pictures and some testing

Finally got some runs in this weekend and so far so good for the most part. I put in a 28 tooth pinion and went out and found the largest parking lot I could find (which still wasn't big enough) and started out doing some runs on 2s first and it handled great and was actually pretty tame. This was good since the parking lot was actually to rough, my buddy Scott's TC4 which has an undertray (and less ground clearance) and less downforce was having trouble staying on the ground and was really giving him fits at times (mainly from loose pebbles and whatnot on the asphalt).

After a bit I put the second battery in and did a few slow runs and nothing smoked itself so I looked over at Scott and told him I was going to nail it, we both agreed it was a bad idea given the surface and I did it anyway. I have to tell you I was very surprised at the stability, now I didn't get to stay in it for real long because of room but it was amazing for the time it lasted. I have never driven something so brutally fast and the spring pollen on the ground that rose up from underneath it made it look just like a landspeed racer blasting across the Bonneville Salt Flats. I know I need to go buy some sort of speed measuring device to see where I am at speed wise but at the moment I am really more worried about stability and reliability.

The only real bummer was after a couple of 4s full throttle jaunts the spur gear let go. Now I felt pretty good about the mesh (it looked good after running 2s) so I am not sure if it picked up a rock, couldn't handle 4s power, I need to change the mesh for 4s power, or even if maybe I got onto the throttle too fast. With some more testing I hope to straighten it out and with any luck my contact at a local small airport will come through and I will get a chance to really stretch it out on the strip.

Anyway I borrowed a decent camera to get some nice shots in case I destroyed the car testing. I really flubbed the paint job and had to strip it and repaint it so the paint job is not the best but I will hopefully have a prettier one for the first race.

Running out of time gotta keep on, keepin' on!

Made a few bits and pieces to get the body and wing mounted and basically try to get some runs in this weekend. I also recieved my tires from BSR so I will balance them, finish up the last of the modifications and add-ons, paint the body and let 'er rip.


I waterjet some mounts to attach the rear wing to the shock
towers as I feel it will be best to put the force from the wing directly into the chassis instead of into the lexan body. I will bend a section of .078 piano wire into an upside down "L" attach it to the wing with buttons and in slips into the bracket and is held by set screws.





Here is another angle of the wing mounts and a view of the extension I had to make for the rear body mounts. I still need to countersink the screw heads and decide on a finish on most of the parts... just trying to get it all done at the moment.




I also made a new front under bumper out of aluminum that was bigger to hold the lexan front-lip spoiler I am planning on using. This way it can be interchangable so that I can adjust downforce with different lips.

Basically it won't be long now, at least I hope so as I really need to test this thing!

Its Official

Barring any catastrophe, the ticket has been reserved and I am going to the ISC event at the Encino Velodrome. I guess I need to get this thing finished and do some testing, huh?

Encino Event Flyer

Battery Strap

Since I am planning on running in the electric stock (2s) and electric mod (4s) I wanted a battery strap that would use the stock mounts so I could switch back and forth easily. So today at lunch I laid out a design and used the waterjet to cut out some .063" aluminum and bent it up in the metal brake to have a nice (or at least what I think is nice) little one piece mount to hold the 2- 4s I will need to run. I made it a touch big so I could put a thin foam liner and now just need to decide how I want to finish it. I am thinking I may polish it but I may have too much A.D.D. for that process and may just paint it black. Ooohhh or maybe rubber coat it and kill two birds with one stone!

Pics below....

Chris

A wee bit closer!

Hey, some actual pictures of some assembled progress and my makeshift work area, otherwise known as my buddy Scott came to visit over the weekend and made me put some stuff together (which meant mainly he took my wrenches and started wiring stuff himself - which is cool as he is much better with electrics than I will ever be).


I tried to do some test runs this past weekend but between the bad weather (IT SNOWED IN ALABAMA!) and the CC/BEC being a bad unit I was only able to run it on a single pack so I stuck a NIMH pack in it and played for a few minutes. Which was long enough to realize that I may never own another car without having a gyro in it again unless racing rules don't permit it. It makes driving a car a million times easier (and makes cool controllable drifts) and I didn't even really dial it in yet. Anyway I had to do a bit of cajoling to get the LHS to take back the CC/BEC as they don't typically take electric stuff back but they did (big thanks to Oak Mountain Hobbies in Pelham, Al.) and hopefully I will have a new CC/BEC by the end of the week and I can get some test runs done soon.

I did finally pick up some batteries this weekend and I think they will do the deed. I got 2 Thunder Power 2s 5000mah 40c (80c burst) Pro Race Packs. So with a possible 400 amp discharge it will probably be more power than I can even use so I think they will be just super.


So I have a few more things to get together and lots to straighten out but hopefully I will be ready in time to go to the fist ISC event in Encino at the velodrome in April...

ISC Race Info

I would really like to go and if finances work out I will be, hope to see you there!

Chris