inconsistant ET

[srcracing]

this past saturday at the races (WHIRL) my car ran fairly consistant in the2,3,4,5, round then 6,7,,round it picked up 2 tenths then droped back down in round 8 the times are posted at whirl in rookie stock how are you guys keeping it so constant?

[Knothead Racing]

SRC, I'm still working on that myself. However, it looks like you need to break in the graphite a little bit better. (The car starts to slow and pick back up.) If your happy with the set-up? Try working on the break-in.

Unless your runnin' oil, in which case you need help from the Pure Stock Winner.

And it's the WIRL
short for............ (W)ooden (I)ndependent (R)acing (L)eague

Lets keep our eye out for the videos and see if theres something else going on. Good Luck

[scrracing]

thanks ,you know ,Ididnt spend much time with break in .you said somthing about oil? oil?ummm thought that was,,,,,,well anyway. oh yeah Ididnt realize I keyed WHIRL I stand corrected PS waiting for vidios too.

[ProQuest]

Hey Guys.

Maybe it is just me, but in my opinion a .02 spread is not bad at all. I hope for a .01 spread between fastest and slowest heats, but rarely do I get it. Anything less than .02 and I'm a pretty happy camper -- more than .03 and I'm looking for answers.

Alastor had a fastest heat of 2.879 and a slowest of 2.896, for a spread of .017. That's nearly .02. Ichiban had a fastest time of 2.760, and a slowest of 2.830, for a .023 spread.

Like Knothead suggested, try breaking in the graphite a bit more, but if you stay in the .02 or less range, I'd say you are pretty much on the right track (pun intended).

ProQuest/Steve H.

[Knothead Racing]

Hey SRC,

Went back and checked your times (your car is Jungle Jim right?)

Remember in the WIRL, your avg. time is based on your fastest runs. Meaning they throw out your slowest time.

However, for this calculation we'll forget about that.


In looking at the data, looks like your best run was 3.055 and the slowest run was 3.258 (remember they throw that time out) that's a difference of .203

Lets forget how you say that right now.

That maybe a little more then just lube break-in.

Make sure everything is tight and nothing is rubbing from time to time. Make sure the axles are tight and the wheels are free at all times.

We'll get back to the lube break-in later.

If you were looking at a .02 spread you'd be fine.

Let us know how you make out. Good Luck

[scrracing]

I wasnt aware of them throwing out slower times thanks.

[Gravitycraftsman]

SRC

Regarding the break in ..I found I saved my fingers this past year when I used a Dremel Tool with a soft polishing attachment when applied Lightly to the wheels prior to attaching to the car with graphite. If I don't have time to align....I place married wheels and axles on a paper plate and stuff it into a large Freezer bag and lock it up until I am ready.

Then I use the dremel tool again after the alignment is set to go and in place.

It's a great way to break in Wheels and Axles before boxing it up for Marietta!

I am sure other have their favorites as well.

GC

[ProQuest]

SRC:

My bad!!! I completely misread your post. When I read 2 tenths, in my mind I was thinking 2/100. 2 tenths is a problem. I'm with Bruce (Knothead) on this one. .2+ is definitely more than a lube brake in issue. When the videos come out maybe something will jump out at us as the possible cause of the inconsistent times. By the way, take hart -- your best time of 3.055 is very competitive. If your car ran that once, it can run it again. As Bruce said, we all struggle with consistency.

In attempting to trouble shoot your issue, it would be helpful for me to know whether you are using the slots, or drilling axle holes, and whether you are trying to go straight or aligning to rail ride. Let us know.

ProQuest/Steve H.

[scrracing]

I drilled axle holes with the tool you can get in the derby shops,I only extended wheelbase towards the rear,kept the front in the same location as the slot,as for rail hug trick i cant seem to find enough talk on this to try I have an idea but to answer you on Rail Rider no,I just make sure the car rolls straight.

[scrracing]

Gravity you keep married wheels/axles in the freezer? cant say ive heard of this before,what does this do? if you dont mind me asking.

[Gravity Steve]

Gravitycraftsman says..."Freezer BAG"... that's just to keep them clean, I would think.

[sporty]

I wanted to reply and add a mention my thoughts on this.

As others have said .02 is pretty decent, thats about what we do in the cub scouts races, and adult races.

Now, as others have mentioned, the polish and prep of the axle come into play, how hard the car stops, the stopper at the end of the track, how its placed on the track, type of graphite, how it was applied, how long its been on the wheels before being raced. how it was broke in.

So many areas that can be looked at when it comes to track time variance's.

I see alot of cars have a much wider spread in times than that. Again that is at cub scout level and not hard core league racing. But the same principals should still apply.

In my attempts for more speed, you also do trade off some consistency in my method of prep. If the car is running alot of races, then I try to prep and set up for running more heats.

i hope this info or comments is helpful to you.

I know many can debate grooved axles, certainly my experience was they did not provide faster runs, but it did allow more graphite and I did see longer runs that had more consistent times.

There seems to be a trade off at every level of racing.

I spent some time this year, after 9 to 12 runs, taking the axles back off and seeing what they looked like and then trying different preps and graphite or the same graphite, just a different process.

Little changes make a difference in times and after awhile you can trace it back to the result and prep process or lack of.

However, the time differences you speak are not bad at all.

Sporty