So last weekend I extensively drove the car on astro... both in wet and in dry conditions!
The result? In the end, very nice!
In the contrary to earlier tests on tarmac and even an (extremely low bite) astroturf tennis field, the car lacked rear stability/bite on the rear.
It turned out the rear end needed minispikes on the rear instead of cut staggers, more droop, and (shame on me) better filled shocks
I got more and more people saying the wing needed to go further back, and up. After doing so, it seemed like the wing stabilized the rear more - not just on the ground, also in the air it seemed a little more consistent.
After this, I experimented with the gearbox. First off, I switched from an 83 to a 78T spur - it's almost hugging the casing now. If it was a switch from the kit (87T) spur the differences would've been more noticable... but for me, it felt as if the car turned a little quicker. I'm sure it helps on other things too, like going over bumpy sections and jumping/flying, but to be honest by that time I was getting pretty sleepy.
Then as a final thing, I wanted to test the 4-gear gearbox. The test of 3-gear vs. 4-gear had a night's sleep between them, so I will be re-doing this test... But I would say so far that the difference isn't like night and day, but it does seem to be more stable on the brakes/when decelerating, and it seemed more eager to get away on-power.
What struck me was how easy it was to jump despite the windy conditions. I think itīs got something to do with the new piston setup I was running, in combination with the small spur, high wing etc... but whatever the case, it was jumping perfectly flat very consistently, even in pretty windy conditions it seemed to fair pretty well with it.
I also asked X-Factory test driver Bruno Heremans (Elvo) to drive the car in the dry. He almost immediately asked me to increase the rear toe-in. After that he tested it some more. He too seemed surprised by the jumping characteristics.
After the test I received his verdict on the car, with a list of very nice ideas where the car could be improved. The basics of the car are good, the suspension geometry decent and the weight balance is very nice, but there are some points that need attention. The way it seems now these changes can all be implemented in an evolution of this car, not a redesign from scratch like I did between the previous and current prototype
So the performance is very good so far. Also, the car's durability seems good so far: No carbon or 3D printed parts have broken yet after two proper test days/events. I have encountered small damage/issues with Durango parts and that lexan bumper from the first test, but all of that still is pretty minor stuff... and I'm not driving it as if it's delicate! Then lastly, tire wear is higher on the front than a regular 2WD on the rear, but it's not shocking.