48 replies to this topic

[Tex]

Two things I've read really stick out in my mind:

(1) Little Ralphie Thorne matched last year's Can-Am TQ time... and didn't qualify into the A Main, and

(2) C-main winner (I think) matched last year's A Main winning total. One would think after five years that there's no more Retro frontiers to conquer and that performance has stabilized.

NOT!

WHERE did this increased performance come from? A new shipment of fresh unobtainium? 24 volts? Or did everyone just raise the bar with their driving skill?

Dweebs in Texas want to know!

[Pablo]

I never met a dweeb from Texas.

Everything is getting better. In a hobby where everyone is pushing for speed, improvement is inevitable.

[Noose]

Set- ups, practice, and fine tuning. Now that the tracks are being run on year after year guys take notes, refer to the pics, etc.

Mike also did some braid repair and had the temp very constant.

Now think about this. Howie ran Alpha medium Wonder, Ron ran Alpha untreated, and Ray ran JK big hub treated. All to tune their cars and look how close the racing was.

[Pablo]

They all ran different cars, so is there any wonder why they used different tires successfully?

[Old pink can guy]

Tex,

I think Noose said it all. Look at the D3 race reports and also the ones from Toyko. The fast guys can drive and also spend time testing.

I was at a D3 race when P the Dokk your choice had a dog motor and he makes them go figure.

Test, prep, and practice. If ya can always have two, if not four, race-ready cars in your box on race day. What was the bomb last night may be a pile today.

[MSwiss]

Although the total entries were down, (about 16, pretty much the diff of not having the "long travelers", Tex, Pablo and Ken Bryan here, running almost all of the classes) the quality of drivers was real, real good. Along with "new to the Sano" Michigan guys that were real fast, like Rick Davis and Mike Reninger, ones from last year, John Miller and Jeremy Wyant have been going at real hard and are super-competitive.

Noose, Howie, and I talked about it back at the house and there wasn't anything real dramatically different.

As Noose mentioned, I rebraided 2/3 of the donut on one side of slot on yellow, purple, and black. That wouldn't explain the real fast Q times in both F1 and Can-Am on blue.

The power is untouched/identical to last year, 13.50v.

I kept the A/C set at 70 on one of my three units which I think didn't hurt. Even though it was cold outside, with all the bodies inside, it ran quite a bit and I wore a sweatshirt about half the time.

The only other thing was during early to mid-Thursday practice, I did take a few laps, polled a few of the drivers and touched up the track a bit with the spray glue, mostly in the gutters, three or four times. It didn't hurt as the top five in Can-Am all had 36 laps on black. I doubt if anybody other than Howie hit 36 last year.

The bottom line was the track was probably the most consistent across eight lanes it's ever been. I raced untreated tires, but after the race, was surprised how well I got around on treated tires that were running totally out of true.

Back to Tex, Pablo, and Ken. Guys mentioned how they were missed. Hopefully we'll see them back at Sano VI. Ken has already PM'd me that he's interested in returning next year.

[Roho21]

Set- ups, practice, and fine tuning. Now that the tracks are being run on year after year guys take notes, refer to the pics, etc.

Mike also did some braid repair and had the temp very constant.

Now think about this. Howie ran Alpha medium Wonder, Ron ran Alpha untreated, and Ray ran JK big hub treated. All to tune their cars and look how close the racing was.

That's very cool! Amazing how we all find our own unique way to get to the same spot!

[Pablo]

I'm in for Sano VI.

[Cheater]

No one missed me? Sob...

I'm going fishing next October! LOL!

[MSwiss]

They'd miss you more if pulled a controller trigger a bit more. LOL.

[Cheater]

I can do that, but I'd have to pull the plug on the near real-time race results and the video stream. Heck, I might even have to resign as a Slotblog rootadmin.

Is that what everyone wants me to do?

That would mean PdL would be running this asylum unassisted and for me, that's a very scary thought! LOL!

[MSwiss]

I think with the quality of the Ustream broadcast here, the heat-by-heat results are less necessary.

[Old pink can guy]

Greg,

Please do not deslot on us now. I humble myself and will pray to the Cheater for the next half hour.

Your friend,

Ken

[Bill from NH]

No one missed me? Sob...

I'm going fishing next October! LOL!

Lake Michigan had fish last I knew.

[Ron Hershman]

To me, the reason for faster times and higher lap totals was because the track traction was very good and probably the best I have ever seen at Mike's. Like Mike said... it was very good across all eight lanes.

The stickiness on Thursday was very good and from that foundation it allowed rubber to be put down and give us great traction.

Running the Spec race early Friday put a good amount of rubber down and the room temp staying 64 to 71 degrees helped as well.

With many a good driver and cars there... everyone was "pushing" and making all the competitors "step up" and get faster.

The cars were no faster this year compared to last year... the track was very good and we could do some things this year that we never could in the past both driving and set-up wise.

Lap times were faster due to the track and the lap totals were up due to everyone driving better and the track being better to race on and a tad easier to drive IMO.

[Tex]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

[Tex]

I just spent half an hour looking unsuccessfully to confirm whether or not the Pro Slot ball-bearing motors were run at Da Sano V(?); can ya'll confirm yea or nay?

[MSwiss]

Yes, they were.

[Tex]

I'm surprised no one thinks a ball bearing in the motor added anything to the increased performance. I know some successful and revered drivers whom I respect don't think BBs for the rear axle add anything performance-wise either.

And, while my relative lack of success compared to theirs is a matter of record, I can watch my BB'd rear axle spin and spin and spin, finally coming to that little back and forth rocking motion before coming to a stop... I've not seen bushings do this.

Maybe the lesser friction from using BBs doesn't offer a GREAT increase in performance, but you'll never convince me that there's NO increase in performance from using BBs as opposed to bushings.

[Duffy]

I'm surprised no one thinks a ball bearing in the motor added anything to the increased performance... you'll never convince me that there's NO increase in performance from using BBs as opposed to bushings.

The issue may be that the BBs represent only incremental advantage that some scientific instrument might measure but that we don't observe on the track, down there in the soup of of engineering chaos that our cars admittedly are. Most of what passes for scientific process in slot car setup boils down to "Hmm, well, that helps/don't help..."

Prof. Fate tells me he thinks the biggest advantage is in durability: ball bearings run way longer before wearing out than bushings. If that's so, having a BB at the highest sidewise load in the car - the pinion-end motor bearing - sounds like cheep insurance to me.

Duffy

[Ralph Thorne]

Tex,

I think Ron pretty much hit the nail on the head. As far as your BB question, I recently had a few motors refurbished and had BBs installed. When they came back I noticed no increase in speed.

[Tex]

Can't and won't argue with you there, Duffy; I agree. I'm just looking at the overall improvement in lap times and race lap totals and trying to understand what's behind the increase.

[Ron Hershman]

I have yet to see the addition of a BB make the motor "faster". It may improve the performance of a motor where the arm shaft was worn and "wobbly" but the new "off the wall" BB motors are no faster than the bushing motors off the wall.

I do think that with the BB motors, it eliminates shaft movement which allows and gives a quieter and longer lasting gear mesh due to less movment in the shaft/pinion/crown gear arrangement. Quieter and smoother running cars run a tad quicker.

Again laps times and totals were up at Sano V due to a stickier track and racers getting around the track better with less crashing.

[Tex]

I understand and agree with the "less wear"/"longer life" aspect. I just don't buy it that there's no performance increase with the introduction of a ball bearing. There is a certain amount of drag/friction associated with a shaft/axle rotating through two bushings. Replace one of the bushings with a ball bearing and I BELIEVE the drag/friction will be reduced, resulting in better performance in the form of higher RPM. I could be wrong, obviously, but it's a very simple common-sense kind of assumption I'm making. Frankly, I'm flabbergasted that no one else seems to think this plausible... that less friction would yield higher RPM.

[Pablo]

I hear ya, Tex. I do not disagree with you. I also believe 100% in the opinions of the legendary racers like Hershman and Thorne, and others. I have three simple comments at this time :

1. You may be underestimating the ability of a modern, quality bushing to bear a rotating shaft or axle. Modern racing bushings, such as Slick 7 axle bushings, are precise and if installed with care, are on par with BBs. Those BBs have friction too, ya know

2. You assume that BBs = less friction. This may or may not be true, depending on the quality of the BBs.

3. In a race with lots of heavy crashing, BBs are preferable because they can be set up without slop, take a hit, and be able to spin freely.