Category Archives: THECar Advice

May 12 2017
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driving, JQ Europe Tour, Race Reports, RC Tracks, THECar Advice

Nordics/Bitty Contest/Euros Warm Up Day 1

When tax money is spent right…..

Practice, we talkin’ about practice! Today was a good day. Track is “motocross”, and I love it. It’s balls out, punch it, go fast, but it’s rough and loose, so you have to pick your lines carefully, and you have to hit each section at the right speed. That speed is fast, but it needs to be the right fast. And you can’t avoid all the bumps, you just have to power through them. Exactly the sort of surface I enjoy the most. It’s a case of, either you go fast, or you go slow. Medium will catch out you, and don’t let off if you get in trouble or it will end up worse, just smash the throttle. Like motocross, but safer.

I got both my cars really good, and I’m still basically using a standard bumpy track setup. Only minor changes from track to track, regardless of surface, really happy about that. Things to look at, swaybars, antisquat, toe in, droop.

Lee Martin is running both the JQ cars, nitro and electric, so I hope he will do well. It’s tough because he has very limited track time with nitro, and got the electric at the race, and with the track being “special”, let’s see how it goes tomorrow. Fingers crossed we get them how he likes his cars!

Real food at the track. That’s special!

So you are telling me I should put this red donut into the rubbery thing?

Infinity BLACK Edition

Carlos Duraes was forced to limit his manspreading to 1 meter.

That’s just ridiculous. Bigger than in America.

Max “Full Throttle” Johansson smashed the throttle and seeded 6th in Nitro! Amazing job! He also glues his tyres full throttle, so he needs protection.

You know how you told me to put that red thing in the rubbery thing? It was waaaay better.

Prittydesign

 

May 01 2017
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driving, Race Reports, THECar Advice

Rhein Main Warm Up Race – Setup and Driving

The Track

Very challenging this year, more so than previous years. This year it became very slippery on the black groove, but then it had patches of traction that unbalanced the car, and of course the carpet had traction. The layout is also strange, in the way that the timing and flow of the track seems off. It’s hard to get the right speed and be consistent, in both corners and jumps. You have to really go slow to go fast, and you have to be very precise. I like the track and look forward to this race every year, but at the same time, it can be oh so frustrating.

The Setup

I basically ran my NEO17 Setup except for going to 2 degrees anti squat by running the 1 insert hole up in the C plate. I also ran 12500-20000-4000 diff oils. In practice and qualifying I ran 30/27.5 but for the mains I went up to 32.5/30wt. I felt like in the A main my car was still too soft, and I should have gone up more.

The great thing about the BLACK Edition is how consistent it has been track to track. I am making little, or no changes, and I am competitive on all tracks and in all conditions.

My car was good, except for being too soft and not landing well in the main. I felt like it could have been better transitioning from no grip to grip, but I honestly didn’t know what to do about that. It didn’t really become and issue until the mains, and that was too late to start guessing, I just needed to try and drive around it by being smooth on the throttle and steering. Tyres could have been one thing, Keller was on AKA catapult, a tyre I never run, and he said the same, except for this track! I ran Impact.

The Race

In qualifying Darren Bloomfield was the man to beat, but it was still close. He was in control though, Hazelnuts would call up to him “+2”, and in a while “+4”, and Darren just controlled it from there I think. I qualified 5th, but basically we were all within 5 seconds or so, and I felt like for the longer mains I would be more competitive, so I wasn’t worried.

In the main the time the cars were down on the line was unusually long, and Darren flamed out. That was a shame, because instead of what I expected to be the 4 of us going for the win, it left 3, Keller, Neumann and me. We did have quite a good race, eventually Keller pulled maybe a 10 second lead as I battled with Neumann. At some point I broke away, and we were just driving 1-2-3 with a decent gap between all of us. Then around halfway in the race I found a good groove and clicked off fast laps, and Keller flamed out in the pits. Andy Kramer from LRP got him started quickly, and he still maintained his lead, but then he made a few mistakes, and I got to within just under 2 seconds behind him, but I just couldn’t do anything with it. He drove away from me a bit, and I made a mistake. Then once again, in the final moments, just after the last pit stop, I again closed in, to about 3 seconds, but then for the last minutes was caught up with back markers and completely lost my rhythm. I don’t think I could have caught Keller without him making a mistake, but if I could have stayed close who knows!

Driving

For the most part I did OK, and I was once again trying to push more than in the past few years. This resulted in mistakes in qualifying, but it also resulted in the fastest lap in the main, and me catching the leader during the race. I wasn’t able to be as consistent as I wanted. I would have 5 great minutes, and then something would happen to where I lost my pace, and it would take a couple of laps to re group, and then I would find the rhythm again. It’s not easy this racing thing! Looking forward to the Euros Warm Up now!

The reaction to seeing my ID, and learning my 2nd name.

Apr 27 2017
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driving, rant, THECar Advice, Thoughts on Work

Bad For The Industry

Here are some posts that are bad for the industry.

Excuses

Setup

Driving

Testing

Stupid people should refrain from attempting to put other people down, because the only outcome is that they will look more stupid than they seemed before they started talking. Normally, the more ignorant and the less successful you are, the more you talk about, and hate on other people. The statement below is a great one. The reason for this is simple. Small minds cannot comprehend new ideas.

Apr 25 2017
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Race Reports, THECar Advice

NEO17 Setup

Since getting back to Finland things have been hectic. Not had time to sit down and do many thoughtful blogs the past few days. I still owe you some form neo. For now, here is the setup the team ran. The main points to note, are the drilled pistons, they really make a difference! Get the stock fronts, and the 1.3 rears, and drill them out. I use this drill kit myself.

The other great change was the +1 degree hub inserts, that gave much needed forward bite, and good rotation in tight low speed sections. Make sure to pit the + towards the inside.

For the NEO17 setup go here.

For all BLACK Edition Setups, check here.

Apr 05 2017
4 Comments
THECar Advice, Thoughts on Work

Flame Out Clarification

I’m not joking. I really would like to understand what happens, and why a pipe or a tank can break, causing the motor to flame out on full throttle.

  • This is not a REDS issue, I had the same thing happen with my THE Engine, and with OS.
  • This is not a Sidewinder issue, I have had it happen with different fuel.
  • This is not a JQ fuel tank issue, I have had the same thing happen with different tanks.
  • I run a P3 plug.
  • This has nothing to do with any simple issue, like tune, plug, clutch, air leak, other similar.

Every time this has happened with a pipe, it just happens suddenly, change the pipe, and everything is fine. With a fueltank, I have had it happen with a brand new tank, as well as with a used one that one day goes bad.

The motor can either run fine first, and then just flame out on throttle after a few minutes. Or it can also just flame out on throttle as you are warming it up. In some cases it will flame out while warming it up, and then it will actually run once warm.

So it seems like it has to do with pressure fluctuations, but what is happening, and how? Let’s figure this out.

Mar 29 2017
5 Comments
#Inspiration, #rcgypsy, THECar Advice, Thoughts on Work

Your Choice – Pick One!

A: THECar BLACK Edition is a very good car.

B: JQ is a very good driver.

Pick one, because one has to be true.

Dec 16 2016
1 Comment
driving, JQ USA Tour, rant, THECar Advice

Small Changes To Get It Right

jqracing-we

One thing I have written about before, and I even mention in the manual, is that the right way to set up a car is to make a few small changes, and not to make huge ones. With a good, balanced car, like the White Edition LV, you can go from a loose, hard to drive car, to a stable easy one by only changing a swaybar 0.1mm, camber 1 degree, and a change in rear arm height of 0.5mm. That’s not a lot of changes at all. You might say, isn’t that a bad thing? Well, yes and no. The good cars out there are like that. Ever wonder why the Kyosho guys always run almost the same setup? The changes aren’t significant that they do, but sometimes they are dialed, and sometimes they are off the pace. And looking at their setups, it’s almost like nothing changes, only minor changes to camber, rideheight, downtravel, swaybars, springs. That’s because the car is good, and  that’s where the White Edition LV is now.

Most people would go overboard, changing links, diff oils, shock springs, tyres, 3 deg camber, adding weight, different wing….Take it easy. If you start from a setup that I have posted, to make it suit you, all you need to do is make small changes. Trust me. If you don’t know what to do, ask me.

Today I was at Revelation and my car was a bit nervous and loose for my liking, so I lowered the rear arm 0.5mm, I put a 2.6 rear swaybar on from a 2.5, and I reduced rear camber buy maybe 0.5 deg. The car was suddenly a lot better and really good for me. If I wanted to calm it down even more, I would have done some more minor changes like that, I would not have made it a whole different car!

Nov 08 2016
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THECar Advice

White Edition Setup Advice

Don’t for get about this page

Nov 05 2016
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driving, JQ USA Tour, RC Tracks, THECar Advice

JBRL Finals at ProLine

arma-dnc-75

Believe it or not, I have never raced at the ProLine track! They have just never hosted a race jan-march I guess! Well, tomorrow I will finally get to race there. The track is awesome, big, and true US style, nice jumps and rhythm sections, and it’s going to get bumpy! Awesome, I can’t wait.

Today was practice, and we tried a few different things on the car. Working on corner speed, need more corner speed! Got something good going, but needed to settle the rear end a bit. Remember what to do? Lower the entire rear link, 1 hole down to middle tower, and lower middle on hub. That was just what the car needed, settled the rear end down nicely. Car should be really good tomorrow.

This race I will again be focusing on my driving. I need to be more aggressive, and faster. Let’s see how it goes. I need to maintain the control I have of the car, but sort of send it more 😀 Could go well, like it did at TA a week ago, could be a disaster. Tomorrow we will see. Car is good, need to work on my driving. That’s where we are at!

Oct 31 2016
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driving, JQ USA Tour, Race Reports, RC Tracks, THECar Advice

Top Notch Series Race 1 Setup & Driving

sat_quagraion

A couple of notes about yesterdays race at Thunder Alley. As I wrote yesterday, I managed to TQ, but then had a bit of a brain fade moment in the main and finished 3rd. I thought I would give you my thoughts on the setup that made this performance possible, and the reasons for me blowing out in the main.

Setup

I have posted my setup here. The two main things that I changed at Thunder Alley that made the car really good, were the rear swaybar up to 2.6mm, and the front pistons to 7 hole 1.2mm from 5 hole 1.4mm.

The thicker rear swaybar made the car go through the sweepers much better, and stopped it from getting out of shape when accelerating out of corners into jumps. I was able to drive more aggressively without losing control.

I changed the front pistons due to the bumpy surface. The 5 hole pistons are really good on most tracks, but if the racing line gets bumpy, they make the car a bit unpredictable. You will find that you are correcting the direction of the car a lot. Changing to the 7 hole pistons will be better in these conditions, as the car will be more neutral and more easily for where you want it to go. I ran 32.5wt in the 5 hole, and 27.5 in the 7 hole pistons. Both flat pistons.

Driving

In qualifying my car was really good, and I was driving comfortably and with some more confidence than normal. This showed as my pace was good, and I was able to push even more, and lower my lap times when needed. A track like Thunder Alley is very different from anything we have in Europe, and it requires a very different sort of focus and driving style in my opinion, so I was quite frankly a bit surprised at my pace. One thing I was focusing on was to be more aggressive, and be harder on the gas exiting corners, as well as when landing jumps, as I have written on here before. Maybe the focus on these details is beginning to pay off.

What I need to practice more for US races, is racing at night. The mains are always at night, and I’m not very good under the lights. Everything seems to happen so much faster, and I’m not as calm as in the daytime. Also, in the mains the intensity is different than in qualifying. Everyone is pushing 100% and you are driving in traffic, trying to pass the car ahead, and defending from the car behind. I need to be more assertive in these conditions and feel like I belong up there. I need to drive with confidence, and not be too careful, and the results will be better. The best way to gain confidence for me, is to practice even more with the setup that I am running now, to become more confident with the car, and also do more of these races where I can be racing at the front. This will stop those blackout moments where everything goes wrong for a lap or two, which happened to me at this race! You can’t afford any bad moments like that if you want to win.

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