Nice to see your V3! Love those shocks....
Here's a quick (not so quick) rundown on my evening at the Lancashire Dirt Arena.
What a great venue! It's easily the biggest track I have ever driven on. Wide and flowing with a back straight I reckon to be about 40 - 50m long. The surface was a sandy loam that we all thought wouldn't hold up very well to a nights punishment - especially from the hoards of Eighth Nitro Buggies.
Triple jump in front of the drivers, small jump just after the switchbacks in the centre and a double just before you start to wind up for the straight. The switchbacks developed lovely berms as the night wore on and the jumps help up very well.
The dirt did get into everything though and the car probably weighed about half a kilo more at the end of the race than it did at the beginning!
The car went well when it was running, but it failed to finish 3 of the 4 qualifiers due to CVD failures and a broken rear swingarm. The CVD thing was my fault as I used pins that were too short, that's sorted now. The rear arm failure is also my fault as I'd modified it to lengthen the wheelbase. I'll not go into the details, but my modification worked, in as much as it improved the handling of the car, and failed, in that it weakened the arm.
All that dirt just brushed off, and I was amazed that none of the bearings were damaged and everything else seems fine.
After breaking the rear arm, I reverted to the stock setup and standard wheelbase and was amazed at how much worse the car felt! So, a longer wheelbase car works for me!
I've found a way to lengthen the wheelbase without weakening the rear arms. Just move the whole rear suspension assembly back 7mm!( It can be moved back without having to move the gearbox).
Easy with the front hinge pin bracket, but the back one isn't as easy. I've had to cobble together a chassis extension to carry the back bracket. Anyway, it's done and it feels solid, if not particularly pretty. My undertray will cover the back plate, so it shouldn't hank on the ground noticeably!
The car has probably reached it's full development now and is a million times better to drive now than it was when I first got it, and really look forward to returning to the LDA for the big race in March!
Jimmy