Get back to work...

So how did everyone setup for Oswestry, and any tips etc on the car?

I'm having a mare with it right now to be honest, so would like to glean as much info as possible to try and improve where I am with it! I can see it can be quick, as Kev showed being in the A (well done Kev!), so not slagging off the car just my understanding of it, but at the moment I am still @20 places lower with mine than when I run other cars.

How did you find it Jimmy, could see various coloured springs on it at different points, did you find a good setup?

Hi Dave,
The biggest improvement i have made recently has been wheelbase. I have been running mine recenlty on the shortest wheelsbase (inboard and out). I've also found filling the chassis pocket behind the cells with 20gramms of lead a really helps in calming the rear end down. i also run the cells as far back in the chassis as i can.

I have been really happy with the car the last few weeks and it keeps getting better.

Let us know what your problems were and maybe we can help?

This is how i ended up today:-

Front:
40wt oil
56 holes
green losi spring
outside on wishbone
inside on tower
long link on tower in extra drilled hole 1.8mm lower than top
short on hub - no spacer

Rear
3 washers behind wishbone
hub forward
middle link on hub
middle on tower
middle on wishbone
outer link on tower - just below half way in slot
2 1.5mm washer under antisquat plate
566 holes
35wt
red losi spring
cut down camber link ballcup for extra droop

20 gramms lead in rear pocket
inside and outside spikes cut off front
5.5 sintered on 21/84

I don't have the time to really do loads - not if I want to take a single photo, so I wanted to do as little as possible. I should keep my thoughts for the review really but hey!
practice at oswestry was the first time I drove it, I didn't thread lock a screw and it fell out. The first run was marred with the steering link (from the servo horn) again falling apart because I didn't build it properly (only 2 threads inside one of the rod ends).
Anyway I noticed in practice the rear was loose under power, so Bob suggested putting in some more rear ride height and more antisquat. The car felt better but still wasn't 'right' and I tried some softer (losi) springs which again made things a bit better but the car still felt only OK. I could get it round without too many problems really but it didn't feel dialled.
I knew it needed a one way for that track and for my style of driving so I borrowed a one way off Stu Hurley (and still have it, oops! - see you next weekend bud) and the car was great. I didn't take all the advice from Kev because the car was already very good and I didn't want to mess with it so I left it pretty much as I already had it.

I think I went something like 100+ 90+ and 80+ in rounds 1-2-3, then 56th in round 4 with a couple of silly errors - so I could have done a lot better had I got the car to that point sooner I think. In the final I started 10th and got to third, but then the excitement got to me and I couldn't catch the leaders! :lol:

Anyway, I've got reports (race and review) to write, but its fair to sum it up by saying I wasn't over the moon early in the day - but to be honest I'd never driven it before and after building it I knew the setup would need tweaking a fair bit to get the best out of the car. By the end of the day I was really very pleased with it, I couldn't stop smiling in fact.

The 'setup' I was running by the end was a mish mash of what I've got off Lee, Kev and Bob

front
55 piston holes
losi green spring
camber/ long upper hole on the inside - inside on hub
35wt AE oil

rear
556 piston holes (two 55, one 56 - I think haha)
Losi red spring
30wt kit oil
Camber / middle on hub - long on tower, about 1mm above fouling on outdrives (I have old style rear tower with slots, not holes)
2 x 1.5mm washers under the front brace to give more antisquat.
cut down AE ball cup for more droop

Nortech Whities in the shocks all round - this made a HUGE difference!

6.5 bonded on 17/81 - front outside spikes cut off

rest is as per kit settings.

Hi Kev,

Are you running a one way too, I've noticed a few of the guys running it are at the moment?

I think everyone runs a 1 way dave, i have tried a diff but the car just feels better with a 1 way

Ah, I'm all diffed up still, is it a B44 one way that fits?

Also, are you all running a kit diff in the back or ones without the rubbery ring inside the gear?

I'm running a one-way but i think its personal preference, i'm always faster with a one-way so would pretty much never take it out. Its the NTC3 one that fits, but Aero have one on the way i believe

If you are running the kit diff, thin the yellow spacer down, but when its time for replacement get the small hole gear.

Some people like a front diff, and it's probably good for downsloping jumps on a big jumpy track - but I just don't like it & find I have to drive super agressive just to get round the track. With the one way diff it just goes around without hassle. I always run a one way in my cars, so it wasn't a big surprise when the car was transformed (for me) when I added one.

I'm going to change the diff bits now, got a major rebuild on anyway so will put the different gears on.

With a one way I ran one all last year in my 501x as it transformed the car, but when I got the worlds edition just found I didn't need a one way to make it aggressive enough.

I'll post my setup tonight, in terms of observations yesterday though:

1. My biggest problem was landing it from the jumps, I like to land front wheels first but whenever I did this in the Aero it dug in and flipped. Forced back to the Tamiya for round 3 onwards (due to breakage) I found it way more consistent on the jumps. However, think my Aero rideheight was lower than Kev's or Jimmy's so maybe that was part of it

2. Tamiya was sharper steering (which really surprised me!), maybe a one way will help?

I think what depressed me was when I had to go back to the Tamiya due to a major breakage I immediately had better round scores, was hoping I'd have got more of a handle on the Aero by now!

Mine still felt worse on bumps than a lot of the others I saw by the way, how many of you are running whities but original length cartridge spacers, and how many of you have made both changes?

You have to make all the changes that have been suggested previously dave, they are all there for a reason and they all add up to make the car better, there is no point in doing bits and bobs:)

I still have original length spacers yeah. I think the bump handling is just down to the setup and getting something that works - it's still got a little way to go I think.
I also 'dug in' landng the triple and once over the table top.. I was told that changing to button head screws would solve this - but I think Aero are working on a bumper also to make it slide instead of dig. I ended up always landing the triple flat to stop it happening.. the table top I was usually down sloping tho.

I've not raced the World Tamiya but you're right the one way transformed the original car and made it come alive, I think the same is true for the Aero if you like that style of driving. It rotated thru the corners much more smoothly and predictably by the end of the day.

I don't know if anybody else noticed on there cars, but on lee's car the rear diff outdrives were SCORCIO hot after a run:cry: Drive train was running free:confused: on the way home the only thing i could think of that it maybe is maybe the outdrive was slipping in the outdrive bearing???

maybe the rear diff / diff rings were slipping? not sure how you'd get them that hot? come on Lee, explain! :lol:

Jim No the diff was rebuilt and was the same afterwards, crown gear was intact;)

I've drilled the pistons, shortened the spacers and put whities in, I wasn't aware of anything else which affected the suspension? Looks like droop/antisquat may be better changing too now though from Kev's/Jimmy's posts. The reason I asked on the spacers is I got told yesterday Kev is running full length spacers! Plus Jimmy is too from the below!

I'm actually running a thinner washer on top of the assembly though.

One thing you have to be careful of is not tightenning the lock nut up full on the towers. The plastic inserts are designed to rotate on the srew rather than the shock so it wears the cheap screw out first. If you tighten the nut up it with bind, i noticed a car had that problem on saturday (won't say who though :p)

Its worth checking the droop, i can measure what i'm running if it helps? The longer balljoints are a must on the back in my opinion (on most of our tracks) if you run the middle wishbone hole.

If you are at Taly and want me to have a look on the saturday come and find me

I hope it wasn't mine! :lol: I noticed the nuts can totally bind the suspension up - so just back them off until you get a tiny ammount of play so the shocks can rotate freely. It's somethign a lot of people over look on most cars and can make the car surprisingly naff.

No, not yours:). It is something thats easy to get wrong on most cars, but in this case the insert is supposed to rotate on the screw so it doesn't wear the shock bodies out.

I had that problem when I first had the Tam (from overtightening it) so am careful not to bind the Aero ones! Might try a little looser again though.

If you could measure the rear ball ends that would be great, I can cut down some Aero ones to fit it or use AE ones if the balls the right size? I've had a right old time trying to find correct spare ball ends!!