[MrFlippant]

Yeah, that was my one concern. Next step, a heavy duty DPDT switch and an analog controller. Wiring for analog is super easy. Including the switch between digital and analog is just as easy.

 

[Charles R]

New Track Record (in the best Tom Carnegie voice - well remembered if you ever attended the Indy 500 during his 61 years)

Surprisingly it took the old street (2010) Ferrari 458 to break 8 seconds. The Ferrari FXX flirted with it countless times however running x times more laps it fell short. A couple of sessions and the 458 flew by 8 seconds. If I had to guess I think the 458 has a little less torque which makes it easier to drive it right up to its limit and not beyond - as such it handles better. The FXX is far more touchy and can probably beat the 458 it's just much harder to get there. Especially accelerating out of a corner.

Pretty sure a Carrera car can't break 7 seconds (perhaps with magents which ain't going to happen) so I'll set another goal, perhaps getting the slowpoke FXX finally under 8 seconds.

 

[Charles R]

Ghost Cars

After a couple of months I programmed a Ghost car. Actually the track record holder. Bottom line it was a waste of time. On my track you have to set the speed so slow it's rather insulting to even have the car on the track. You pass it so quickly you want to pull over and see if you can help them! If I assigned a Ghost car with magnets it might be another story. Perhaps in a few months I'll give that a try...

 

[MrFlippant]

In all my time playing with this stuff, I've not found a ghost car to be competitive unless you make it better than your car in some way, such as having magnets, or more magnets than your car, better tires than you, etc. It needs to be set up such that you lose ground in the turns and gain it in the straights. As your driving improves, you make the ghost go a little faster.

 

[Charles R]

Had a little skirt material leftover and turned it into a banner.

 

[Charles R]

Motor Upgrade - RMS-132X Aftermarket 23.5K

A couple of the cars I owned didn't have quite enough torque/speed to my liking. As such they weren't quite as much fun to drive as the cars that had plenty. Somewhat covered in the Motor Lottery post a while back. Searching my favorite reseller I found they sell an upgrade motor which claims to be 38% faster than the stock model. In his YouTube video he states "twice as fast"... so I'm not sure of the actual specs however my reseller contact informed me most people have been happy with them and they found a "notable speed difference"

Installation is simple plug and play as shown in the video. My only concern is they may be too fast and he stated he runs them at 40% (power) or so. Which made me realize... yeah I can under power them. I like the thought of always having too much "speed" and I can tune (every car) to my liking. More or less removing the Motor Lottery. Anyway I ordered up three and we'll see how it goes... they do state you can only run 4 cars (at a time) with the OEM power supply which won't be an issue.

 

[MrFlippant]

Good thing you're already running no mag and have better tires to help put that power down.
Gluing and truing tires is always a good idea, but it becomes even more important when the motor is high RPM. At speed, tires that are not glued to the rim can actually balloon out and rub on the chassis and/or body. In extreme cases, they can sustain damage and explode. If you start noticing odd behavior at high speeds, glue the tires on if you haven't already. If possible, get them as true as you can as well.

 

[Charles R]

Gluing and truing tires is always a good idea, but it becomes even more important when the motor is high RPM.

I true them as soon as they are installed. Gluing I haven't gotten into yet. I presume you can unglue them if need be? Such as replacing them later on. Initially I did a lousy job truing as I didn't try to true them by hand when they were mounted - now I try to press the tire onto the hub all the way around. I'd just place them on the hub and start sanding... also wasn't careful enough to ensure both tires were getting equal treatment. With one pair one tire was almost "bald" and the other looked brand new.

Of course you don't know what you don't know but I'm thinking I don't want to go much faster. More so bring the slower cars up to speed. Up to now my fastest (torque/speed) car has been the most fun to drive with the fastest or closest to fastest lap time. As my driving improves I'm guessing I'll be able to handle a little more or worse case again bring a slower car up to speed. Which should increase its fun factor. Right now I tend to grab the "fastest" as its the most challenging even though it doesn't hold the lap record. Now I'm not looking for flying off the table nonstop like this guy... eventually he figured it out (next video).

 

[MrFlippant]

IMHO, truing is pointless without gluing. YMMV

 

[Charles R]

Motor Upgrade - RMS-132X Aftermarket 23.5K - Impressions

Today I received three of the above and played around a bit. Not as much as I'd like since my new car appears to be defective (looks to be a bad chip). Anyway I did a few drag races. My "fastest" car versus the car I was going to upgrade. I wasn't trying to compare how much faster it was (upgraded) rather simply how much speed it gained. With the body off it lost as you can see in the first image. Sometimes it was closer other times further. After upgrading the motor it was another story as you can see in the second image.

Of course what really matters is how it drives and lap times to a lessor degree. Much like the drag race it took the slower car and made it drive faster and made it more responsive. At the same time it felt rather smooth... not overly jumpy. It added quite a bit of torque. More than the fastest car. Making it more challenging to drive in a good way. Regarding lap times I haven't been able to break the track record (got to within one tenth) although after upgrading my fastest car I'm guessing I gained roughly two tenths of a second on my typical lap times. A lap record is more than likely in the car. Just need a better driver to find it - hopefully that will be me at some point.

Is it worth the upgrade? I think it largely depends on your car's motor. How lucky you got in the lottery. With my fastest car I'd say it's not worth it... now my others I'd say it's well worth it. It's just enough additional torque/speed to increase the (controllable) challenge adding to the fun. It's like getting a new car for less than $20.

UPDATE: After a couple hundred laps or so the new motors have captured the lap record for both inside and outside lanes. Although by surprising little time. From a half of a tenth to a little over a tenth of a second. Now the cars are obviously faster and it's fairly easy to turn a faster hot lap. However when you really push the car it's harder to drive versus the "slower" car where you can drive it closer to its potential (which isn't as fast but easier to obtain). I'm guessing a really good driver would be somewhere around half a second faster with the new motors. Someday I might get there. Until then I'll keep sliding...

2ND UPDATE: Having run into an issue using the RMS motors they stated the motors may not be suited for my layout as referenced here. They were nice enough to offer a possible "fix" however since I was going to begin to use a third party accessory that recommended not to use high performance motors I discontinued their usage.

 

[MrFlippant]

Hit those urethane tires with some high % isopropyl alcohol and then see what happens.
Also, high RPM motors don't make much difference unless the track is long, has long straights, and wide turns. On a short track, which yours is, RPM above 20k is wasted. As you've found, torque matters more. But, torque doesn't matter if the car's tires aren't hooking up well. For a short track, you want good torque, manageable RPM, and tires that hook up well so that the power is put down properly.

 

[Charles R]

Hit those urethane tires with some high % isopropyl alcohol and then see what happens.

I tried couple of times and surprisingly it didn't make much difference. From what I could tell a tenth of a second or less. Not enough that driver variance could have been the difference.

I did drop the power to 80% which resulted in slower lap times. So I guess there isn't too much torque at 100%. I was kind of hoping 80% (or so) would be the sweet spot. That way if the performance varies per motor I could tweak the power on that car to the "ideal" setting. At 80% lap times are much more consistent and I'd guess I'd probably use 90% if I had to race for my life over extended laps. 100% is differently faster but tricky to hit just right... which makes it more entertaining.

Also I'm using braking at 100% and I think there is a chance at 90% my lap times might be faster. I tried 80% for a while and it was close to 100%. I'm guessing with some practice 90% might be the sweet spot. Although braking does seem to a degree to vary per car.

 

[MrFlippant]

Yep. Braking will be just as varied as top speed with the same motors. Also, Carrera cars are relatively heavy and tend to need more braking for the same brake distance as other cars. But, you're absolutely right that a well chosen brake setting will make a big difference, depending on your driving style. If you really like to take the car super deep before braking AND you can get back on the throttle in the right position for the turn, then hard brakes might be helpful. Whereas if you tend to go too deep and come out in the turns, and/or you're not so quick to get back on the throttle at the right power, then less brakes can help by forcing you to let up sooner and still having some coast that you can bring the throttle back into.

 

[Charles R]

If you really like to take the car super deep before braking AND you can get back on the throttle in the right position for the turn, then hard brakes might be helpful.

That was my Go Kart racing style as well as street when I was young and dumb. Missed one corner real good and barely missed a telephone pole.

Although typically on the street I was a boring driver. Way back I had a roommate and we had matching cars for a while (Fiat X1/9). He would drive crazy and I would never keep up. Didn't even want to try. We used to go Karting so one day we decided to settle it. We requested to drive the same kart (one after the other) and best lap wins. No more your kart was faster than mine...

I think we went five laps and he went first and was close to the top laps of their racing league with each lap. So I was a little worried but I threw the kart into the corner and floored it right after the apex. Luckily I didn't overdrive the kart and by the third lap I was going as fast I was going to... I don't remember by how much but I well remember I beat him!

Over the years he attended various driving schools and his kids competed in karting at a high level (along with their neighbor Conor Daly). One day I told one of his kids to ask his dad about us racing karts and who was the fastest... funny he didn't remember.

 

[Charles R]

After seeing this layout I was inspired to spend a few minutes to see if I could come up with something similar (can't fit a eight lane 180 so I had to stick with six). Sort of the most track you can lay down without leaving the ground. Outside of not having a long straight I must say I don't hate them! Don't think they will ever see the light of day but it was fun.

 

[Charles R]

Blown Wheel

Perhaps the upgraded motor has too much torque? Trying to set a track record one of the car's rear wheels came loose from the axle and that was that. Back to the pits. Could be a consequence as it was iffy from the start and hasn't turned a lot of laps. I guess time well tell... if I blow a few more wheels.

 

[MrFlippant]

Not uncommon with pressed on wheels from any number of "toy" car manufacturers that use a knurled axle and pressed on plastic wheels, certainly not at all limited to Carrera. As such, there are a variety of fixes for the damage, depending on the extent of the "blowout." Most of the time, the knurling has just cut into the plastic enough to let go, and you can fix it with a single drop of super glue in the axle cavity of the wheel and press it back on and wait. If the hub has cracked, but is otherwise will in the original shape, super glue is also a good remedy. If you've actually lost plastic, then the fix gets a little more involved. At this point, some people remove the entire axle and replace it with a smooth one, and accompanying wheels and gears. Slot.it makes a kit that is specifically marketed as a replacement for Carrera rear axle assemblies for this reason.

 

[Charles R]

At this point, some people remove the entire axle and replace it with a smooth one, and accompanying wheels and gears. Slot.it makes a kit that is specifically marketed as a replacement for Carrera rear axle assemblies for this reason.

The car has a one year warranty and I'll see what my reseller has to say. Funny thing is looking at a few sites I don't see anyone listing the rear axle (assembly) for sell. They list numerous others (mostly or all older models) but I can't find it. Surely it can be replaced... Down the road I'll probably look at Slot.it for durability and perhaps having a more standard Paul Gage tire (one that would fit more cars).

 

[MrFlippant]

Replacement parts from the toy companies can often be hard to find, if the company even bothers to make them for sale outside of a car. If you want an OEM replacement, you're just as likely to end up with a replacement car as you are just the axle. The newer the car is, the more luck you're likely to have.

 

[Charles R]

Replacement parts from the toy companies can often be hard to find, if the company even bothers to make them for sale outside of a car. If you want an OEM replacement, you're just as likely to end up with a replacement car as you are just the axle. The newer the car is, the more luck you're likely to have.

Found that out looking for a rear wing. They were available for the older models but not the newer ones. I imagine the economics for both the manufacturer and reseller of dealing with replacement parts don't make sense. Especially based on the small volume of each car and its unique parts.

To a large degree it's probably just me but I would vote for a more generic "after market" wheel and tire look. At least as an option for replacement. I get it a lot of their sales are to collectors and they want proper wheels and tires. However for me the car is simply a means to an end... something to drive/race. I have had only a handy full of cars and more than half have required different sizes of rear tires. Even if they were the same exterior size their inner hub might be different. Pretty much designed to be one and done... something goes wrong purchase another car.

UPDATE: They added a rear axle (had a stripped down Ferrari FXX or stripped one down ) to my replacement chip order which is now being picked... so no new car for me! Hopefully I can reuse the same Paul Gage tires. Just shipped!