Driving on slippy stuff??????
 

Hey,

After taking up most of the carpet at teesside, leaving the track very very slippy i am seriously struggling to make it round most of the corners without the back overtaking the front. How does one go about driving on a really slippy surface? Ive been told to drive as smooth as possible and to put 25wt oil in the back with the shocks in middle at the top. Im running a 12x2 V2 in a mamba max ESC so i have full control on what the motor does when i pull the trigger, any ideas?

Thanks :)

Josh

Minipins instead of spikes work. I also tried putting the throttle arc at around -80 for throttle and -60 for steering, this meant the throttle wasnt as harsh and the car had understeer which lessend the back stepping out. Also, I loosen the slipper clutch a bit and use a bigger wing, this tends to help a bit but its still gonna be dificult to get used to it, I know it was hard for me.

Buy a Losi. lol

I don't know if this is legal as I haven't raced in a few years (about 15!).

When I was racing indoors on a slippy wood floor, I got the best results from using foam tyres and rolling them in silicone (bath sealer stuff) to create a stippled covering.

The car stuck to the floor after that, made driving much easier.

Looks like you are out of luck on that one:

3.10 No sponge/foam tyres may be used. Foam tyre caps are not allowed but internal foam inserts are permitted.
3.10.1 No additives other than water to be allowed on any tyre.

But it also says: Please Note: BRCA Regional events can run to variations of the following rules :- 3.10, 3.10.1, 3.10.3 ......

That's just for the BRCA santioned events though. Fine to mess around @ club level providing the club allows.

One of the reasons I beleive TRCC off-road is all carpet is that the concrete floor has proved undriveable from day 1. It's worse than a polished wood floor. We have in the past only removed carpet/astro from only a corner or 2 for a race meet, but not 60%.

Making adjustments to the car will only make litle differences. The only thing that will keep the car going where you need it to is your thumbs. Smooth is definatly the key - Take wide lines into corners so hat you turn in really early (and off power) then when the car has exited the corner feed the power in slowly. If your speedo is adjustable, turn the punch down till you're more used to the contidions.

Thanks for all this :)

By just using a spektrum DX3.0 i cant change my throttle curve on the tranny, but with using the mamba ESC i can draw the throttle graph (curve) so i will be taking that right down, putting the traction control on 100% and putting the start power on low. Is there anything i can do to the timing on the motor to dubb it down a little? (Im sorta new at brushed :()

Thanks again :) keep it coming,

Josh

Point and shoot seems to work best for me when the grip is really low instead of sweepy lines. Aim the car at the apex, pivot and drive out, try to get all your acceleration and braking done in a straight line.
A little 4 wheel drifting is ok, but if you get to the point of opposite lock you're going slower :)

Don't bother with any curves or 'traction control' settings, most of the time they make things worse. Your thumbs are the best things to work on ;)

The problem i find is coming off this step thing and then accelerating in a straight line, my car just doesnt :confused: I will get the hang of it, will take me a while though. I intend to do the durham, york and bately indoor regionals when there on (no idea when there on :p)

Well in the final I had a flat pack in so the car was slower than a 19 but I still held the lead for a few laps as the car felt flat I couldnt "jam" the throttle and the car took the corners easily and it was only on the straight i lost time so I think its just a case of being as smooth as possible on the slippy.

throttle curve graphs and things like that never really help me on slippery surfaces, not really anywhere. again [i no im repeating what people are saying but...] be smooth with your thumbs. coming off that 'step', drop off then, smoothly and slowy put the throttle back on, not just jamming it on. i would reccommend [i dno if anyone suggests differently] not having any throttle on coming off the step, don't have it on in the air, apply the throttle smoothly after you hit the ground. even tho i havnt seen it, i can only guess so could be wrong.

Setup is very important too ! Try the Worlds setup and don't be afraid to use lead on the back and a huge wing. If your tyres are old (more than 2 years) they won't grip, if they are new they need some break-in.

My tires are minipins, You wouldnt belive how slowly i come off the step and i do not jam the throttle on, its wierd, sometimes it goes in a straight line, othertimes it just spins out randomly :confused: I'll keep trying, i'll get it somehow.

I had quite alot of lead on the back and i am ordering a nice, big Jconcepts wing.

Rich, in one of your posts you say silver springs up front if the surface is slippy. Is that as in slippy so you cant turn the front end in as on the Teesside surface, the back end steps out and I worked towards softening the rear or hardening the front and this tended to help or does softening the front help aswell?

You will find that changing the springs/shocks makes very little difference on polished floor, as it is totally smooth and hard, which also means that your tyres will not be pushed into anything to provide grip!

You will find that altering your driving style and roll centres makes more difference, as Rich Lowe has mentioned before you need to drive smoothly, but use a point and shoot method (which is very easy to do with 2wd buggy). Just brake in a straight line, and almost do a very slight handbrake turn to get the back around on tight turns.

You may also find that slightly worn yellow minispikes are better than yellow minipins, because there are fewer spikes, which causes more pressure on each of the spikes, increasing what little grip you have. It may be better to drive a slightly understeering car more aggressively using the brakes to pivot the back of the car around.

Give it a try! I have tried running 2wd before, but nothing will handle better in low grip situ such as this like a 4wd or touring car!
M

So if i stiffened the front up alot to make it understeer that could help? I'll give it a shot on wednesday and just keep trying other things, i'll find a way of making it slightly better.

p.s. anyone know of a way to make a B4 front anti-roll bar?

The concrete at Teeside is like ice from what I remember, if almost all the track is like that now I'd go right down on springs if there isn't any carpet. When it's that slippy you need to get the front working well or you'll have to rally drive it just to turn the car, you'll have to live with the back end being a bit loose I'm afraid :wtf:

Can we have the whole track on that surface for the regional?! Much more fun driving on zero grip :) :p

When we raced 2wd buggys we always set them up to naturally understeer then use the brake and throttle power to induce oversteer if/when its needed. I usually used yellow full spikes, although the last time I was out I found the worn minispikes worked better for overall grip.

Come on Josh, if the LEGEND comes down on wednesday then he will be more than happy to help you out.:D Plus it will be great practise for the indoor regionals if you plan on doing them this year. :)