return to racing

Hello again,

Welcome back to my blog. I've not made any posts recently due to working away and not racing very much. Whilst away, I did manage to race a few times at a club near to where I was working. There, I was disadvantaged by using a 17.5t motor against the club spec of 13.5t, most running boost, on a track with a longer straight and sweeper than at my usual club, where I can just about get away with the slower motor.

The car coped better on this particular track (above and below) as there wasn't a long straight and sweeper, and the switchbacks  were handled very well.

I have to say, the Spec R car coped admirably, holding its own in the tighter infield sctions, only being out paced on the longer straight. The set up on the car allowed it to be driven quite tight into corners, enabling defensive driving against quicker cars. I find the car to be quite responsive and quick to change direction which was demonstrated in the tighter infield track sections.

On another blog post you will see the new Spec R R2 car which has a number of improvements on the previous car.

New Spec R R2 - new release

Spec R have anounced the release of the long awaited Spec R R2 car. This is the updated version of the R1 and follows the release of the S2 late last year. The main features of the car are as follows:-

- High strength and high precision anodized alloy parts for added durability and style 
- Ultra narrow chassis design with USA high quality Carbon Graphite 2.25mm main chassis 
- 2.0mm USA high quality upper deck and 3.0mm shock towers.
- Slimmer transmission/motor mount components and design for improved handling and smoothness
- Dual bellcrank steering for precise cornering performance
- Front/Rear Suspension Arm mounts are adjustable for a variety of fine tunings for different track conditions
- Lightweight and super smooth rear HD gear differential is included
- Enhanced acceleration from the use of lightest transmission components
- Front/Rear Suspension system with carbon reinforced plastic parts
- Improved material and stronger plastic parts(with carbon)
- Lightweight and anodized alloy turnbuckles and ball studs
- All new big bore oil shocks for best performance
- Balanced chassis design
- Internal gear reatio 1:1.9

Also of note are that the motor mount and bulkheads are no longer red ! 

Car became available on January 2nd 2015. See link below :-

link to Spec R R2

Set up progress

As you have read in previous posts, I've been working on the set up of the upgraded S1 after changing the oils in both diffs. I recently had two really poor outings at my local club and another which we occasionally visit. I found the car was hooking, almost handbrake turning into tight corners which made it difficult to drive.  I decided that the car needed a strip down, clean up and re-build. This was duely done with all suspension parts removed and cleaned, shocks cleaned and oils checked, and a couple of changes made to the car :

• Changed front springs from Xray silver to Xray blue to calm the car down
• Changed rear diff oil back to 5000 thickness
• Front suspension toe blocks changed to 0degrees from the 1degree ones
• Front camber changed from -2degrees to -1

I took the car to the track last Thursday and the change was amazing. I comfortably won my three heats with really quick times, and am confident my times would have challenged the fast lads had I been in a quicker heat and not had to overtake back markers on most laps, including a buggy ( everyone has to race somewhere !!). My fastest lap was 0.2 slower that the fastest drivers, but I could see on the rest of my lap times where I had encountered back markers with up to half a second being added to the lap times.

The car was planted and predictable, and I was able to place the car exactly where I wanted it on the track, and was able to go really close to the corners on the tight track which had a number of 180degree corners. I have added the set up sheet in the set up sheet area of the blog.

I look forward to my next race this week where I hope I can get a bit closer to the faster drivers. I will video the races next time and add some footage to the blog.

Spec R gear diff updates

Following recent issues with the Spec R diffs, a strip down & re-build was in order. I contemplated reverting back to the previous oils, but thought twice about it as I was clear in my mind that the thicker oil up front and thinner in the rear was the way to go. I was still struggling for rear end grip, particularly under braking, so drag brake was taken off the speed controller settings. I also changed the front anti-roll bar from a 1.2 to a 1.4 to stiffen the front up a bit. This improved things slightly, but there was still room for improvement. A second pair of eyes was called for, and a club mate suggested a roll centre change.  I changed the inner rear camber link height to 2mm from 4, and front to 3 from 1.  I also shortened the rear camber links from position 3 to the most inner, position 2. These changes had the desired effect as the excess roll in the front had been making the front of the car dig in, causing an imbalance. The rear now had more of a camber change during cornering which produces more rear end grip.  The car was now much better balanced but unfortunately I only got it sorted in the last heat, when a crash took me out of the race with a stripped ball joint.

The overheating problems I had suffered have now disappeared following the re-build, and I look forward to racing again this week so I can work more on the set up.

I've posted a new set up sheet in the set up sheets section of the blog which show the changes made from the previous set-up.

HD diff and thicker oil !

Having recently upgraded the S1 with the aluminium bulkheads and suspension mounts, I decided to try out thicker oil in the front diff and thinner in the rear one. Upon re-assembling and running the car, I found the gears had worn in the diff. I stripped and re-assembled the diff with an additional shim.  When I ran the car, the front diff was extremely tight. Upon stripping the diff, I found the inner casing to have worn away, jamming the gears.

You can see where the casing has worn which caused the shims to be very tight, preventing the diff from rotating freely.

I ordered the new HD diff and fitted it with 1,000,000 thickness oil to replace the 300,000, adding 2,000 to the rear to replace the 5k.

I ran the car at my regular club and found the handling to be a little loose, although the thicker oil in the front gave the car extra pull out of corners, and handled the sweeper at the end of the straight really well, allowing me to pull off some passes down the inside. I moved the front shocks out one hole to improve rear end handling, and this made a big difference, although I'll make further adjustments to make the car more stable.

I hope this has been informative, and I'll report my further progress in future blogs.

Spec R S1 Upgrade using aluminium parts - part 2

Following on from the review of the alloy upgrades which I added to my Spec R S1 car, I have now run the car a couple of times.

I initially found the car to handle slightly different from the plastic version. I made some changes, including the addition of a front sway bar. I settled on a set up which I have posted in the set up sheets section of the blog.

The changes have made a good car better, giving a more solid feel to it.  One difficulty I had with the plastic car was achieving a balance between turn-in and under steer, and rotation and oversteer. The alloy car has allowed me to achieve a good balance while cornering for both.  The aluminium upgrades will no doubt make the car more reliable as the aluminium will not strip in the way that the plastic parts have.

I am happy with the car, but after reading comments on forums and speaking to fellow racers, I am planning on trying the car with thicker oil in the front diff. I understand that this will provide a performance similar to a spool, with more pull out of corners and quicker cornering speed.  I will provide feedback of the results in another blog.

Great Manchester Cycle 2014

We are the Laws family, Mum Rachel, dad Ian, Michael who is 11, and Amy who is 10.

On Sunday June 29th, we are taking part in the Great Manchester Cycle 2014. This is a charity cycle event around Manchester in the UK, and covers 13 miles.

Most people nowardays have been affected in someway by cancer, and Ian has a colleague at work who was recently diagnosed with throat cancer and is being treated at the Christie Hospital in Manchester.  The Christie is one of the UK's leading cancer research hospitals, and we are doing the cycle ride for this charity. We would really appreciate it if you could sponsor us and contribute to this marvellous charity by clicking on the button below.

Thankyou

Spec R S1 Upgrade using aluminium parts

Hi and welcome to another blog. This one focuses around upgrading the S1 using the aluminium bulkheads and suspension mounts from the R1.
I'm happy with the S1 and for the price it has really exceeded my expectations performance wise, and I've suffered very little in the way of breakages. However, due to wear & tear and the need to replace some parts, I decided that replacement parts should be upgrades.
The parts below are the upgrades which have been added to the chassis :-

I also added the Tamiya ballcups and some Yeah Racing turnbuckles,

and Yeah Racing aluminium pivot ball suspension mounts to give more rigidity to the suspension mounts and arms.

The finished car looks like this :-

 

The aluminium servo mount and steering rack had already been added :-

Another worthwhile upgrade is the addition of Spec R aluminium spacers on the suspension mounts to replace the kit plastic ones. This makes the whole suspension mount more rigid and prevents any compression, movement or wearing which can happen to the plastic ones through time.

I also added anti-roll bars to the car. The car looks great and is enhanced by the edges of the chassis parts being red following treatment with nail varnish and super glue. 

I can't wait to run the car and to see if these changes have made any difference.

Here is the finished car with my new bodyshell :-

My next blog will detail how the car performed, and what tuning I've done to improve it.

Stockport Model Car Club - The unveiling of the new carpet

On Saturday March 15th 2014, Stockport Model Car Club took delivery of its new carpet, replacing the old one which was around 30 years old !! A large turnout of the club took delivery of the much awaited carpet, and so the track building began - out with the old - in with the new !!

As you may have seen in my previous videos, the club has a small, technical track and has to accommodate the pits within the hall.  For this day, the whole hall was used as a track, and a separate room hired to accommodate the pits.  For a lot of drivers, this extra track was an unusual occurrence, and for most, the extra grip of a new track was difficult to deal with, meaning tyre and set up changes.

Watch the video of the track building and racing on this club racing day, see how the drivers handled this new era !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0_mYQIb7ls

I hope you enjoyed the video.

Another hatcam video

Here is another hatcam video of my Spec R S1 touring car. The car is fitted with a Speed Passion Reventon R speed controller with a 17.5 turn motor, and had one minor change after the first heat, I moved the front shocks in 1 hole, to position 5 to give a bit more turn in on a tight, twisty, technical track.

I finished 2nd behind the 8.5 turn motored red buggy after making a mistake early in the race. A couple of further mistakes, coupled with the delay on my reverse put me a couple of laps down by the end of the race.

Here is the video.

Overall I'm very pleased with the car. The handling was great, only a couple of driver errors prevented a very fast time.

My next blog will cover further upgrades of the car.

Hatcam video of Spec R S1

This video was filmed from the drivers stand using a hatcam during our usual Thursday night club night at Stockport Model car Club. While watching this video back, I found that for part of the course I watch the car by eye movement and not by fully rotating my head, hence the bottom right hand corner of the track not being in the video !!  We have a small, tight technical track with a low grip carpet.

The car has a Speed Passion Reventon R speed controller, and a Speed Passion 17.5 turn motor.  The car has the aluminium steering rack and servo mount from Spec R, Xray Springs on Tamiya TRF shocks, and Tamiya ballcups. The tyres are well worn Schumacher Shimizu Wet tyres, and the body shell a Protoform 200mm Dodge Stratus 3.1 in my favourite pink and white "Marlboro" style livery.

This was an intermediate level heat, although there were a couple of slower cars in the heat, which makes fast laps quite difficult to achieve as on most laps there is a back marker to pass.

The car handling was excellent, although on the low grip carpet, and quite early in the evening before the grip had come up, I found rear end grip difficult early in the race.  This did improve as the heat and the evening progressed.  I'll post a set-up sheet soon.

Please feel free to post your comments below.

Accidents and replacements

I have replaced the kit front spool with a gear diff in both cars. My sons has already had its gears replaced by the carbon gears. Today, on a tight technical indoor track on carpet, with a straight that became a sweeper, I could see the front wheels and diff struggling to maintain a line around this part of the track. On inspecting the car back in the pits, I saw that the diff had gone, meaning that replacement gears were required. I have now installed carbon ones, part number SPR010-G2, and will closely watch their performance and how long they last.

Another part which has been replaced recently as a result of an accident is the front suspension mount.

A crash caused the end where the hingepin fits to chip, causing the front arm to come out of position. The part required replacing, but another alternative would be the aluminium parts from the R1 car, part number SPR-R1A115.

The toe inserts and other associated parts, along with similar upgrades for the rear suspension could make this upgrade an expensive one, although the suspension mounting would be more solid.

A couple of weeks ago, my son had a big crash and stripped the front pair of screws on his front bulkheads. I managed a temporary fix by inserting some slightly larger Kyosho tapping screws. It turned out to be indeed temporary as they have also since stripped. There will be a re-build with new S1 kit plastic bulkheads being fitted. A longer term solution could be the installation on part SPR-R1A106 which is the aluminium lower bulkhead from the R1 car.

This is a more solid option which would provide rigidity and also prevent a re-occurrence of this problem.

It has been well documented how cheap the car is in comparison to other models. We have raced our S1's for more than a year and apart from driveshafts breaking when running the front spool, there have been no breakages until recently. Whether it could be due to the plastic parts wearing through constant running, or the fragile nature of the plastic parts is open to debate. Replacing the plastic parts should put the car back on the track, or for the relatively small price of a new S1, a brand new car could be built for £50 / $80. Suitable R1 upgrades could replace the damaged parts, also relatively cheaply.

Thankyou for reading the blog, and I hope you found this useful.

Alu Steering Rack

Following on from a recent blog when I described the upgrade aluminium steering rack. I orderd two from Spec R, one for my car and one for my son's. I duely fitted them after removing the plastic kit version.  I added 2 x 0.3mm shims to prevent any binding and to remove any possible slop.

When assembled, they immediately felt smoother and more free. At the track, our small technical track became more technical with the addition of a chicane at each end of the track.  I must admit to struggling with chicanes, having difficulty finding the right balance between turn in and rotation, with just enough of both to prevent oversteer. The new aluminium steering rack felt smooth and I was able to navigate both chicanes easily,  the new steering unit must take some credit for this. One thing to watch out for is to ensure the fixing screws are tight enough as the posts are metal, I almost made this mistake !

At the same time I replaced the ballcups on both cars with Tamiya ones which turned into a huge job due to a part falling out of the battery box on my digital calipers, rendering them useless. This meant that all 12 turnbuckles had to be re-built manually and adjusted while in place. The new ballcups were a much better fit than the kits ones and don't have any "give". The kit ones on my son's car had started to pop off, indicating that they were wearing and needed replacing.

These have proved to be worthwhile upgrades along with the aluminium servo mount which I had added recently.

Correcting steering slop

Last week I brought out the S1 after an absence of about a month. On arriving at the track I noticed a bit of slop in the steering, and compared it with my son's S1. Mine definitely had too much, and this became apparent during the course of the night.

The track had a straight with a sweeper and two hairpins, followed by a quick left then right  hairpin, which if taken properly could be taken quicky as a chicane.  The chicane was where the slop let the car down and I had to back off a little to make sure I got through without any mishaps. This affected my lap times and consequently I didn't achieve the number of  laps I would have liked, although I did manage to win my three heats.

On returning home after racing, I stripped down the steering for closer inspection. This revealed no damage or wear, so I decided to shim the front section of the steering rack. When I originally built the car, the advice on the forums was to shim the steering rack which I did, but only the rear section.  This shimming is for the front part as this is where the slop has crept in over time.

A single 0.3mm shim was added but when re-built it wasn't enough to remove the slop. The addition of a second 0.3mm shim sorted this out.

 

Picture of the shims in place prior to re-building


Spec R make an upgrade which is standard on the R1 and PRO versions of the car.  Part SPR-R1A120 Aluminium Steering Rack pictured below is a direct replacement for the plastic part on the S1 car. This is on my wishlist for improving the car as the alloy parts remove the flexibility which is associated with the plastic parts, and also removes the problem of slop in the steering.

Spec-R S1 Endurance Race at Racework Hobbies in Singapore

RaceWorks Hobbies in Singapore organized its first on-road endurance on 2 November 2013.  A total of 9 teams took part in the event, run over 4 hours. Each team, consisting of 3-4 drivers, ran the Spec-R S1 Sports Edition 1/10th Touring Car powered by 17.5T motors with ESCs in “Blinky” mode. Teams were required to rotate their drivers every 40mins.

The drivers and cars who took part in the race.

S1 cars are ready!

Despite a thunderstorm that stopped just 45mins before flag-off, the race was able to proceed as planned with only a 15 min delay. Just 2mins into the race, Team Quantum climbed up to the top with very consistent laps. They remained in 1st position throughout the first 2 hours, but mechanical problems in the 3rd hour resulting in several pit stops, allowing the 2nd place car of Team Trident to close up the gap and eventually overtaking Team Quantum for the lead.

With just 40mins to the end of the race, both teams were on the same lap, with Team Trident having a 6 sec advantage over Team Quantum. However, at the very last minute, Team Quantum crashed, losing momentum as a result. With the heat off, Team Trident opened up the gap and finally took the checkered flag completing 606 laps, 2 laps ahead of Team Quantum.

It was worthwhile noting that all 9 teams were still running at the end of 4 hours. A great testament to the Spec-R chassis as well as the preparations all teams had made for this event.

RaceWorks Hobbies would like to thank all participants and race sponsors (Spec-R Racing, Overtake RC and Quantum Racing) for making the race possible.

Results for the race are as follows:

The Champion - Team Trident! Congrats drivers!

The 1st runner up - Team Quantum

The 2nd runner up - Team JonHo

 

Reported by Racework Hobbies - Singapore

 

(Courtesy of www.spec-r.com the official Spec R website)

 

 

As a club racer of the Spec R S1, along with my son who races the same car, we can speak for the reliability and durability of the S1 car.

 

 

I hope to report on more successes of the Spec R cars in future issues of the Spec R Racer blog.

Spec-R R1 Team Driver T. Kueng Wins Annual Championship at Team Power Club in Hong Kong

The Team Powers Club was held on 03 November 2013 in Hong Kong. Spec-R R1 driver C. Keung was the Annual Champion!

Congrats to C.Keung!
(Courtesy of www.spec-r.com - the official Spec-R website)

Review of Spec R Aluminium Servo Mount

Last Thursday night I tried the Spec R Aluminium Servo Mount for the first time on my Spec R S1 touring car.  I had ordered it directly from the Spec R website, and it arrived in about a week.  The part is a direct replacement for the two servo mounting posts, so I removed the old servo mounts and screwed the servo to the mounting holes on the new mount, before fixing the mount to the chassis using the two screw holes below the top plate.

I then took the car to the track in anticipation.  Immediately, the car felt more responsive which is due to the added flex.  The car felt like it changed direction quicker and felt more planted through what was a tight, twisty, slalom style infield, which was also quite a quick track.  The correct line through the infield was important to get a quick, smooth lap, and the new servo mount provided the flex and responsiveness to be able to do just that.

All in all, a worth while addition to the car and I look forward to trying out more upgrades in the future.

R1 S1 PRO Comparison

After checking out the new Spec R R1 PRO kit, I decided to do a comparison between this and the existing R1 and S1 kits.  Below is a table which compares the S1 and R1, with the new parts on the R1 PRO kit below.

Differences are highlighted in bold

R1

S1

- High strength and high precision anodized alloy parts for added durability and style - Ultra narrow chassis design with high quality Carbon Graphite 2.5mm main chassis; 2.0mm upper deck and 3.0mm shock towers. - Slimmer transmission/motor mount components and design for improved handling and smoothness - Dual bellcrank steering for precise cornering performance - Front/Rear Suspension Arm mounts are adjustable for a variety of fine tunings for different track conditions - Lightweight and smooth rear gear differential is included - Enhanced acceleration from the use of lightest transmission components - Front/Rear Suspension system with carbon reinforced plastic parts - Improved material and stronger plastic parts(with carbon) - Lightweight and anodized alloy turnbuckles and ball studs - Full metal oil shocks for best performance   - Balanced chassis design - Internal gear ratio 1:1.9

- High strength and high precision anodized alloy parts for added durability and style - Narrow chassis design with high quality fibre 2.5mm main chassis; 2.0mm upper deck and 3.0mm shock towers. - Slimmer transmission/motor mount components and design for improved handling and smoothness - Dual bellcrank steering for precise cornering performance     - Lightweight and smooth rear gear differential is included - Enhanced acceleration from the use of lightest transmission components     - Improved material and stronger plastic parts(with carbon)     - Metal oil shocks parts with plastic shock body for best performance - Balanced chassis design - Internal gear ratio 1:1.9

What's new on R1 PRO SPEC?

    - 2.25mm USA High Quality Graphite Classis
    - 2.00mm USA High Quality Graphite New Style Upper Deck
    - 3.00mm USA High Quality Graphite F/R Shock Towers
    - Alu. Central Servo Mount
    - Alu. Fan Mount
    - Soft Shock O-ring

So, with the new parts on the R1 PRO kit, where does that leave the R1 kit ?  There's not much of a price difference, although the PRO kit doesn't include the new motor mount which in my opinion it should.  Will racers continue to buy the R1, or go for the R1 PRO kit ?

I emailed Spec R this week and asked about the possibility of a Conversion kit for those who have the S1 or R1 kits and don't want to have to buy a full PRO kit.  You may remember amongst others, Kyosho released a SHIN conversion kit for the Stallion which upgraded the car.  The reply from Spec R was that they don't have the conversion kit, but they "will consider it".

So, there may be a conversion kit in future, so watch this space !!

BRCA R/C Touring Car Championships - Round 5 Mendip

See video streaming of the BRCA Touring Car Championships - round 5 from the Mendip circuit.

http://rcracingtv.net/2013/09/brca-electric-touring-car-championships-round-5-mendip-live/

Unfortunately - No Spec R Team !!

Visit to Cheshire Cats Car Club

Last Sunday, my son and I visited the Cheshire Cats Car Club which is in Congleton in Cheshire. The track size is larger than our club, and what was most noticeable was the carpet had much more grip.  At our club, quite a few of us use Schumacher Wet tyres which offer more grip than the usual Sorex 28's, but at Congleton, the Sorex 28's went back on the cars.  As the day went on and the grip got better, my sons car also ran with no tyre additive, and he still had more than enough grip.

There were 3 heats, my son went in the race with the kids, and I went in with the fast lads, which probably wasn't the best idea !  I finished forth but the car held up well against a Schumacher Mi4LX and a Tamiya 417v5, and may have finished closer but for driver error and inconsistency. The other 3 drivers ran quicker motors and / or boost against my 17.5 turn Yeah Racing Hakamoto.  I was slower down the straight, but was able to keep up through the infield which is a real credit to the much cheaper Spec R S1 car. I find the car is excellent through a tight infield, is able to change direction quickly, and gives superb turn-in on a tight track.

Below is some video footage of one of the races.  Mine is the predominantly white looking car with the coloured sides.

 

I find the handling of the car very good, and consistent, and as my confidence in the car grows I am able to set faster and more consistent lap times.  My set up hasn't changed apart from using Sorex 28 tyres on this occasion on a more grippy carpet against my usual Schumacher Wet tyres. The set up can be found here.