A new old car!
Bought as a Re-Re kit in May 2023, the Optima-Mid scratches a couple of itches for me. The Salute is a wonderful car to own, but I worry about getting parts if I damage it racing. It’s also arguable whether the transmission is up to modern brushless motors without a slipper clutch. Being a re-re, there’s much better availability of spares for this, and a proper slipper clutch out of the box.
It’s also a car that I never owned back in the day, having always been a Schumacher fan boy.
- Mid Maintenance Corner
Finally got around to fixing the rear drive issues on the Mid. Out go the Yeah Racing UJs, Replaced with Koswork UJs, which have a retaining cap over the drive pin, which seems much better.
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/koswork-universal-drive-shaft-2-optima-series-1347828
Off come the kit Hexes, replaced with Koswork +2mm Hexes, for a bit of extra stability at the back, and hopefully won’t bind on the bearing.
Also replaced are 4 of the Kit Bearings from the hub carriers. Yeah racing do a very reasonable full kit, so that means there’s some spare in the Hauler.
https://www.modelsport.co.uk/product/1354342
Also got another Kyosho rear roll bar kit… cos I lost the old one π
- Some Happy Snaps from the Weekend at Tivvy
Me in my happy place, on the rostrum π
Andy takes a tumble, I take a very wide line and give up a place to John Howe to stay out of trouble.
But by the bottom of the hill, I want that place back…badly!
A moment later, John backs out of the tangle with the heavier car.
And that’s 8th Place from 10th on the grid. Lovely Jubbly!
And here’s a photo of Finchy and Farringdon’s Orbs…
- COBRA Club/Vintage Day 21/01/2024
I haven’t got around to writing up the last round of SWORD yet. Suffice it to say that I’d kind of lost my way with the b6.4d. I’d been playing around with some settings and confusing myself a bit. Not to mention, Driving the b74.2d, or the “Turbo Nutter Bastard” as I’m beginning to call it, allows you to drive it so aggressively that going back to a 2wd is a harsh contrast.
Anyway, I went closer to a kit setup when I prepped it yesterday. But with 400wt front and 375wt shock oil in the rear. 12mm ride height all round, Yellow Springs, and 1.6 & 1.7 Two Hole Pistons in front and rear respectively. There were some hardly used Proline Prisms in the Hauler, and these seem to work quite well with the Fuzz Bites on the front. So stiffer, more pack, low and high roll centers.
The Mid didn’t need much fuss, lowered the ride height, put the transponder in. Jubbly!
Optima Mid
Practice was pretty predictable, I seem to have mislaid the fittings for the rear roll bar, so I had to stand on the brakes at the end of the straight, or it rolled too much. Aside from that, it just needed pointing at the apexes and it did it’s thing.
Fast Lap:
21.292
Avg. Lap:
23.680
Avg. Top 5:
21.931
Avg. Top 10:
22.648
Avg. Top 15:
Top 2 Consec.:
65.243
Top 3 Consec.:
65.243
Std. Deviation:
2.154
Consistency:
90.905%
ο Lap Times
# Time Pace Pos 1 22.845 14/5:19.830 4th 2 24.223 13/5:05.942 6th 3 28.246 12/5:01.256 7th 4 23.207 13/5:20.193 6th 5 28.038 12/5:03.742 7th 6 25.074 12/5:03.266 7th 7 22.662 13/5:23.691 6th 8 22.724 13/5:20.156 6th 9 22.187 13/5:16.631 6th 10 21.764 13/5:13.261 6th 11 21.292 13/5:09.946 6th 12 23.829 13/5:09.932 6th 13 21.751 13/5:07.842 6th The First Round had two rather obvious cock ups, but still managed >90% consistency. Good enough as I’d never driven the thing on Carpet before.
Round 2 started well, the timing said I went from 6th to 2nd. But…
Fast Lap:
21.083Avg. Lap:
21.083Avg. Top 5:
Avg. Top 10:
Avg. Top 15:
Top 2 Consec.:
Top 3 Consec.:
Std. Deviation:
Consistency:
100.000%Β Lap Times
# Time Pace Pos 1 21.083 15/5:16.245 2nd 
Oops.
Ah well, not an expensive breakage, and I proved there is potential there.
Associated B6.4d
Practice was a relief. It seems like I’ve got back on track (pun sort of intended, soz) with the config. As I found in Round 1, Something needed warming up. Not much, I don’t know whether it was tyres, diff, slipper, shocks, motor or a combination of these. But it just got better throughout the race, more consistent and predictable as the laps clocked up. I dropped a couple of places and ended up with a 14 that felt like it should have been quicker. But the consistency was >90% so I’ll take that.
Lap Times
# Time Pace Pos 1 23.831 13/5:09.803 7th 2 20.547 14/5:10.646 6th 3 26.079 13/5:05.314 6th 4 24.318 13/5:08.019 6th 5 20.15 14/5:21.790 5th 6 20.833 14/5:16.769 5th 7 21.912 14/5:15.340 5th 8 21.741 14/5:13.969 4th 9 22.606 14/5:14.249 6th 10 19.777 14/5:10.512 4th 11 19.693 14/5:07.347 4th 12 23.182 14/5:08.781 5th 13 20.153 14/5:06.731 5th 14 22.299 14/5:07.121 5th Round 1 Round 2 was a case of finding the pace but lost the consistency on two dumbass arguments with corner markers. But a 15 was as faster than I’ve gone all winter by some margin, so chuffed. Without the mistakes on lap 6 and 12, I’d be in the 16s. Exactly the reason i set my consistency target at 90% or higher.
Lap Times
# Time Pace Pos 1 21.505 14/5:01.070 4th 2 20.353 15/5:13.935 4th 3 20.278 15/5:10.680 4th 4 22.39 15/5:16.973 4th 5 19.057 15/5:10.749 4th 6 25.058 15/5:21.603 5th 7 19.531 15/5:17.511 5th 8 19.54 15/5:14.460 4th 9 18.774 15/5:10.810 4th 10 19.939 15/5:09.638 4th 11 19.39 15/5:07.930 4th 12 27.706 15/5:16.901 4th 13 20.646 15/5:16.347 5th 14 18.935 15/5:14.038 5th 15 19.134 15/5:12.236 4th The Third Round was slightly less pacy but the consistency was back over 92% again, a nice neat drive.
Lap Times
# Time Pace Pos 1 20.916 15/5:13.740 4th 2 20.058 15/5:07.305 4th 3 19.999 15/5:04.865 4th 4 21.38 15/5:08.824 5th 5 19.258 15/5:04.833 2nd 6 20.138 15/5:04.373 2nd 7 20.254 15/5:04.292 2nd 8 25.443 15/5:13.961 2nd 9 23.506 15/5:18.253 4th 10 20.421 15/5:17.060 3rd 11 20.915 15/5:16.756 4th 12 19.722 15/5:15.013 4th 13 22.029 15/5:16.199 4th 14 19.508 15/5:14.515 4th 15 21.846 15/5:15.393 4th Round 3 Round 4 and I’d done my quali work. Slipped back down to a 14 because of scrapping and steering round trouble.
Made the C Final Mid Pack, which is much more like it. Thankfully, there were two rounds of finals. I say thankfully because I drove like an incompetent tit in the first final. Best to skip forward to the second final.
Very chuffed indeed with the Second final. Didn’t pussy out on the start, 6th to 3rd on the first lap and settled into a nice groove as the car warmed up. Clipped a Corner Marker out of a switchback on Lap 5 which opened the door for Fran Bravery to pass. James Harris Spent the next 8 or 9 laps trying to give me heart failure, but eventually both he and Fran made mistakes that cost them both, and rewarded my re found consistency with a 3rd place. Only 6 seconds off a 16, >95% consistency, little fist pump as I stepped off the rostrum.
The rear wear pattern on the Prisms tells the story of my day, it looks like I’ve found the rear config I’ve been looking for with the B6. Much more wear on the inside to center line without the car diffing out or oversteering under braking. Looks like 2 Deg of camber is about right.
- Results of the Mendip & Tiverton 2023 Summer Championship
Time to take a peek at what I spent my summer doing. First off, the 2wd Championship at my local track, Mendip.
First off, Congrats to Keith Halsey. Seeing off stiff challenges from Dane, Gavin and Neal while spannering 3 or 4 cars at a time is no small feat, nice one!
And shouts out to Andy Nelson, Chris Law, Mike Halsey and Steve Pollinger. All of which have had strong seasons after I had pipped them last year. Must do better next year!
And obviously, I need to find a special way to send commiserations to John Farringdon for beating him by one place and 7 points. I’ll let Mr Bean do the talking…
Championship
Summer Championship 2023
Best 4 Rounds To Count. Tie Break: Countback
2wd Buggy
Pos Name Ability Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 1 Keith Halsey 100% 404 96 92 101 101 101 99 0 101 2 Dane Winterson 96% 389 0 0 0 98 0 98 96 97 3 Gavin Knight 95% 385 0 90 99 0 0 0 97 99 4 Neale Carbis 95% 384 0 0 93 95 99 97 92 93 5 Michael Halsey 95% 383 88 82 90 94 98 93 0 98 6 Chris Rollins 94% 378 89 85 95 0 0 96 98 0 7 Chris Law 90% 362 79 73 78 91 92 88 83 91 8 Andrew Nelson 89% 359 84 78 89 0 95 89 0 86 9 Steve Pollinger 89% 358 0 0 0 0 97 86 86 89 10 Alistair Munro 88% 355 0 74 85 90 91 87 81 87 11 John Farringdon 86% 348 82 76 79 0 93 90 79 83 12 Wayne James 83% 337 83 79 73 0 0 85 85 84 13 James Santer 83% 334 77 71 86 89 0 0 82 0 14 Harrison Polinger 81% 329 0 67 0 0 90 82 78 79 15 Miles Harris 78% 317 0 72 80 0 89 0 76 0 16 Martin Owen 97% 293 98 94 0 0 0 101 0 0 17 Adam Roulston 94% 286 94 0 96 0 0 0 0 96 18 David Bueno 92% 278 0 0 91 0 0 95 0 92 19 Dale Calder 90% 274 0 83 94 97 0 0 0 0 20 David Allen 90% 272 0 0 0 0 0 91 87 94 =21 Matthew Hodges 89% 271 93 86 92 0 0 0 0 0 =21 Oli Davies 89% 271 0 0 81 96 0 94 0 0 23 Ian Russell 88% 268 0 0 0 0 94 86 0 88 24 Leon James 77% 233 0 69 0 0 0 83 0 81 25 Tommy Hall 100% 202 101 101 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 Jamie Hall 97% 196 97 99 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 Harry Mears 97% 195 99 96 0 0 0 0 0 0 28 Ryan Lees 96% 194 0 93 0 0 0 0 101 0 29 Martyn Hadley 96% 193 95 0 98 0 0 0 0 0 =30 Chris Cooke 93% 187 0 0 0 0 96 0 91 0 =30 Stuart Ball 93% 187 0 0 0 0 0 92 95 0 32 Ted Calder 90% 181 0 0 88 93 0 0 0 0 33 Dan Hurrell 89% 180 90 0 0 0 0 0 90 0 34 Paul Rose 87% 176 0 88 0 0 0 0 88 0 35 Ollie Davies 87% 175 86 0 0 0 0 0 89 0 36 Gary Simmons 84% 169 0 0 0 0 0 0 84 85 37 Andy Leach 82% 165 0 81 84 0 0 0 0 0 38 Sophie Calder 81% 163 0 80 83 0 0 0 0 0 39 Stephen Needle 78% 158 0 0 76 0 0 0 0 82 40 Joe Ball 78% 157 0 0 0 0 0 80 77 0 41 Stephen Carpenter 75% 152 0 0 74 0 0 0 0 78 42 Liam Bard 73% 147 0 70 77 0 0 0 0 0 43 Jacob Bard 71% 143 0 68 75 0 0 0 0 0 =44 Phil Vickers 98% 99 0 0 0 99 0 0 0 0 =44 Dan Harding 98% 99 0 0 0 0 0 0 99 0 46 Tyler Liddle 97% 98 0 98 0 0 0 0 0 0 =47 Ben Smith 96% 97 0 97 0 0 0 0 0 0 =47 John Tucker 96% 97 0 0 97 0 0 0 0 0 =49 Eugene Galley 94% 95 0 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 =49 Michael Evely 94% 95 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 95 51 Shaun Ogden 93% 94 0 0 0 0 0 0 94 0 52 Charlie Klinkenberg 92% 93 0 0 0 0 0 0 93 0 =53 Dan Osborne 91% 92 92 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =53 Terry Leach 91% 92 0 0 0 92 0 0 0 0 =55 Nick Dunstan 90% 91 91 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =55 John Pape 90% 91 0 91 0 0 0 0 0 0 57 Richard Evely 89% 90 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 90 58 Mike Moyse 88% 89 0 89 0 0 0 0 0 0 59 Jamie Stringer 87% 88 0 0 0 88 0 0 0 0 =60 Daniel Vickers 86% 87 87 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =60 Roger Mills 86% 87 0 87 0 0 0 0 0 0 =60 Reece Needle 86% 87 0 0 87 0 0 0 0 0 63 Ken Fung 84% 85 85 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =64 Phil Chapman 83% 84 0 84 0 0 0 0 0 0 =64 Mat Mead 83% 84 0 0 0 0 0 84 0 0 66 Greg Lane 81% 82 0 0 82 0 0 0 0 0 =67 Andy Leech 80% 81 81 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =67 Chris Horsley 80% 81 0 0 0 0 0 81 0 0 =69 Trinity Ley 79% 80 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =69 John Howe 79% 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 80 0 =69 Lee Benneworth 79% 80 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 80 72 Oscar Mills 77% 78 78 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 73 Martin Williams 76% 77 0 77 0 0 0 0 0 0 74 Nathan Jarvis 74% 75 0 75 0 0 0 0 0 0 Next up Tiverton 2wd
Congrats to Jordan Newbery on a pretty much immaculate season.
And a shout for Luke Bradshaw, looks like I’m going to get overtaken again because this is big step in performance to nearly get me this year.
And obviously, well done to John who used his cheaty Orb to paddle his way to beating me through the wet summer. Oddly, I found a gif of Mr Bean impersonating the Orb. The resemblance is uncanny:
TRCCC 2023
Best 6 Rounds To Count. Tie Break: Best Points
2wd
Pos Name Ability Points R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 R6 R7 R8 R9 R10 1 Jordan Newbery 100% 1195 200 186 198 200 199 199 197 199 194 197 2 Dan Harding 99% 1188 198 191 0 195 192 199 199 197 198 197 3 Keith Halsey 98% 1175 193 194 198 0 0 0 0 196 194 200 4 Gavin Knight 97% 1164 190 186 188 194 194 194 194 196 192 191 5 Bryan Burrows 96% 1152 189 195 189 0 192 196 184 190 190 186 6 Paul Rose 95% 1138 185 186 168 190 152 190 185 190 189 193 7 Dan Hurrell 93% 1120 184 188 185 0 185 188 185 188 0 186 8 Chris Busby 93% 1116 190 176 171 189 179 186 188 184 172 175 9 Chris Rollins 92% 1103 176 166 185 188 0 187 190 0 177 0 10 Paul Hopkins 90% 1083 185 174 176 184 185 0 175 0 170 178 11 Carl Davis 88% 1055 164 173 0 182 0 0 0 178 172 186 12 Dan Warner 87% 1046 172 173 170 0 176 179 173 173 0 171 13 John Howe 86% 1033 155 166 157 177 173 173 170 169 153 171 14 Dave Berry 86% 1029 158 158 151 172 166 174 172 169 156 176 15 Keith Jenkins 85% 1015 156 0 162 177 0 170 175 175 0 0 16 Paul Bradshaw 84% 1011 0 157 166 174 159 172 164 0 170 165 17 Kev Dymond 84% 1007 170 0 160 180 153 0 169 0 175 0 18 Andy Leach 84% 1005 166 0 173 0 0 166 172 170 158 0 19 Neale Carbis 83% 991 147 153 0 167 166 168 155 0 164 171 20 Paul Field 98% 983 196 0 194 198 199 0 196 0 0 0 21 John Farringdon 81% 972 136 0 0 0 153 163 160 158 167 171 22 Steven Hull 78% 933 144 162 150 169 157 0 151 0 0 0 23 Adam Roulston 93% 931 180 0 184 190 0 0 192 0 185 0 24 Alistar Munro 77% 928 140 153 148 164 0 154 153 155 149 0 25 Luke Bradshaw 77% 923 0 147 140 160 145 160 148 0 144 163 26 Stuart Ball 92% 920 0 188 180 0 187 0 178 0 0 187 27 Chris Law 76% 907 133 148 138 0 147 0 154 152 147 159 28 Oli Davies 88% 883 169 174 0 0 183 184 0 173 0 0 29 Michael Halsey 86% 858 171 168 168 0 0 0 0 176 175 0 30 Ollie Davies 93% 745 0 0 0 0 194 178 0 0 186 187 31 Nick Dustan 90% 717 176 178 0 0 176 187 0 0 0 0 32 Andy Nelson 78% 624 144 0 0 0 150 167 0 163 0 0 33 Wayne James 77% 618 0 0 149 0 0 0 162 160 147 0 34 Harry Mears 99% 595 0 197 198 0 0 0 0 0 200 0 35 Alfie Ball 71% 570 0 141 135 0 138 0 0 0 0 156 36 David Murphy 69% 555 128 142 0 0 0 0 0 148 137 0 37 David Bueno 88% 526 0 0 176 0 0 0 0 182 168 0 38 Chris Cooke 83% 501 0 0 152 0 167 0 0 0 182 0 39 Trinity Ley 82% 492 0 0 0 0 163 0 0 0 160 169 40 Reece Needle 77% 465 0 151 0 0 0 0 0 155 0 159 41 Andrew Stone-Wright 75% 452 138 0 0 163 151 0 0 0 0 0 42 Stephen Needle 75% 448 0 144 0 0 0 0 0 150 0 154 43 Mark Martin 70% 421 0 0 135 0 135 151 0 0 0 0 44 Rob Pinkney 81% 323 0 156 0 167 0 0 0 0 0 0 45 James Santer 75% 302 0 0 0 158 144 0 0 0 0 0 46 Liam Bard 75% 299 0 0 143 0 0 156 0 0 0 0 47 Terry Leach 74% 295 0 0 0 0 0 0 155 0 140 0 48 Ben Reed 74% 294 0 0 0 0 140 154 0 0 0 0 49 Adam Mozes 72% 287 132 0 0 0 0 155 0 0 0 0 50 Joe Bristow 71% 286 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 134 152 51 Martin Owen 100% 199 0 199 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 52 Steve Ashton 95% 191 0 0 191 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 53 Jonathan Wolfe 94% 188 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 188 0 0 54 James Westmoreland 88% 176 0 0 0 0 176 0 0 0 0 0 55 John Finch 84% 168 0 0 0 0 168 0 0 0 0 0 56 Bradley Satterley 83% 166 166 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 57 Ben Winters 82% 164 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 164 0 0 =58 Dale Calder 79% 157 157 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 =58 Dan Vickers 79% 157 0 0 157 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 60 Jos Hooper 76% 153 153 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 61 Mike Evely 76% 152 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 152 0 62 Ted Calder 75% 150 150 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 63 Leon James 74% 148 0 0 0 0 0 0 148 0 0 0 64 Mark Bennett 73% 146 146 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 65 Richard Evely 72% 144 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 144 0 66 Chris Thomas 71% 143 0 0 143 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 67 Lee Benneworth 69% 137 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 137 0 68 Lincoln Blight 68% 135 0 0 0 0 135 0 0 0 0 0 69 Jacob Bard 66% 132 0 132 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 70 Luke Harding 65% 131 131 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - Maintenance Corner News! Optima Mid Re-Re ESC Mount
The only little niggle I had left to fix with the Optima Mid was how the modern brushless ESC was mounted in the Chassis. As you can see below, even when you cut out the top deck as the manual suggests, the upward curve on the lower deck edge makes it very awkward to fix it in place. I had been using several layers of thick nano tape, but was never happy with this compromise.
Thankfully, I’ve got a new 3D Printer to replace the CR-10 that recently gave up the ghost. On Thingiverse, I found a design for a part that fixes that issue nicely. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5793585
I had some Orange PETG hanging about, so I printed a bunch of them off. And I’ve mounted one in the Optima Mid to very pleasing effect.
All that was needed was 2x M3 4mm CSK screws. Perfect!
If I can get permission from the designer, I’m thinking of selling them on the website. In the meantime, if you’d like one, let me know and I’ll sort one for you!
- Tiverton Summer Championship – 09/07/2023
Kept putting the wrong tyres on all day. Really shit performance. I’d rather do it today than at the reigional.
Balls.
Picture is Taki Inoue, because I was as bad as he was today.
- Maintenance Corner – 01/07/2023
Optima Mid
Last time out at Mendip, I pulled the lower steering hub king pin screw out with a glance along the straight barrier. Again. Looks like this casting is a bit Dairylea. Yeah Racing do a CNC aluminium replacement. Nobody had stock of just this part, but it is included in a kit of upgrades. The kit upgrades the steering hub, the ‘C’ upright, the rear hubs, the front hub/’C’ hub inserts to brass, and puts UJs to replace the dog bones in all four corners. All upgrades I was considering, can’t wait to see what they all do in concert. Old parts in the right hand photo, new bits that replaced them in the left.
Mardave Mini
Fitted Phat Bodies Β£2 Wing and gave it a good clean. Looks like the wing was worth it’s weight in gold. A really good clean of the motor, front king pin polish and a new set of tyres and a new Mardave body in time for next week.
Associated B6.4d
Off to Swindon this week, so I’ve prepped for a High Grip Setup. Laydown transmission/Gear Diff back in. New JC Carpet wing set at 0Β°. Back Pill settings Set to current in the below pic:
If there’s as much grip as I’m expecting, I might have to take a bit of that toe in off. But that’s a racing thing π
- Mendip Summer Championship RD4 – 17/06/2023
You have to read this report in the context of me not only running 2 cars (The B6.4d and the Optima Mid), but also running the meeting! Honestly, I don’t know how Gary does it. Also it was warm, windless and very humid, so with all the running around I did, I was pretty much physically clapped out by lunch time.
Quali went fairly badly for the B6.4d. I left the Tivvy settings on the car, and with no time to change anything, it just didn’t go anywhere.
Qualifying – Round 4
Round By Round. Best 2 Rounds to Count
4wd Buggy
Pos Name Best Tie Break Points R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Keith Halsey 16 / 315.78 0 3 0 2 0 2 Steve Ashton 15 / 308.80 14 / 301.53 2 6 3 0 2 3 Mark Cox 15 / 316.45 14 / 314.25 2 0 2 3 3 4 Jamie Stringer 12 / 312.64 6 2 4 4 5 5 Alistair Munro 12 / 316.24 8 4 5 5 4 2wd Buggy
Pos Name Best Tie Break Points R1 R2 R3 R4 1 Keith Halsey 15 / 303.43 0 0 0 0 0 2 Phil Vickers 15 / 310.42 4 2 2 2 2 3 Oli Davies 14 / 305.95 6 3 3 3 7 4 Michael Halsey 15 / 320.92 8 9 5 6 3 5 Ted Calder 14 / 311.15 8 4 4 4 5 6 Dane Winterson 14 / 309.54 10 7 6 7 4 7 Neale Carbis 14 / 315.85 10 5 10 5 8 8 Dale Calder 14 / 317.19 12 6 9 8 6 9 Terry Leach 14 / 327.14 16 10 7 10 9 10 Chris Law 13 / 301.75 16 8 8 9 10 11 James Santer 13 / 310.35 13 / 310.35 22 11 11 12 12 12 Alistair Munro 13 / 311.00 13 / 313.55 22 13 12 11 11 13 Jamie Stringer 12 / 307.34 25 12 13 13 13 I felt like I could have driven a 14, but just couldn’t get it there. The upside was the Proline rears were a good shout, So I’ll be running them here and at Swindon if it’s dry now.
Quite happy to just have fun running the Optima. Very chuffed I could keep up with Jamie’s modern Associated.
Less pleased with myself for clouting the the barrier on the straight like a clutz and ripping out the lower kingpin bolt and stripping the thread in the last round. TIT! More about that in the next Maintenance Corner.
The Finals went a bit better in 2wd. James let me off the hook a few minutes into the first leg.
Finals – Round 1
Race 2 – 2wd Buggy – B Final
Pos Car Driver Result Best10 Best 1 2 Alistair Munro 13 / 306.95 23.30 22.85 2 1 James Santer 13 / 323.09 23.66 22.29 3 3 Jamie Stringer 12 / 317.57 25.60 24.54 The second leg was a titanic struggle, with James and I trading the lead a bunch of times, and on track rather than due to mistakes. Made my day that race did, despite losing it. Fair play James.
Finals – Round 2
Race 2 – 2wd Buggy – B Final
Pos Car Driver Result Best10 Best 1 1 James Santer 13 / 311.94 23.32 22.41 2 2 Alistair Munro 13 / 312.61 23.36 22.69 3 3 Jamie Stringer 12 / 314.32 24.76 23.79 In the third, I was very lucky that James got a bit scrappy in the first half of the race, because my slipper was too loose and overheating after I took the cooling fan off. Thankfully, because it was the AVID 3 plate, it held on to the end and bagged me the final. Another confirmation that it’s better than the kit slipper.
Finals – Round 3
Race 2 – 2wd Buggy – B Final
Pos Car Driver Result Best10 Best 1 2 Alistair Munro 13 / 315.32 24.01 23.07 2 1 James Santer 13 / 321.23 24.02 22.85 3 3 Jamie Stringer 12 / 315.68 25.53 24.87 Don’t recall ever being as knackered as when I got home after that lot. But all good experience.
- Tiverton Summer Championship RD 4 – 11/06/2023
Busy, busy day. In the height of summer, RC meetings tend to be a bit less well attended. Either folk are on holiday, or they are going to the bigger events further afield that take advantage of the better weather. So running two cars and having to be either driving or marshalling for 4 of the 5 heats means you can be run off your feet. You pretty much have to rely on one, if not both cars running well with the settings you installed before you arrived.
As much as this held me back a bit in 2wd, it was worth it to get the Optima Mid out for its second run.
The short wheelbase conversion on the B6.4d wasn’t as much of an advantage as I had hoped. I’ve since seen Tommy Hall’s Mendip setup, and it only cuts 2mm off the wishbone, not 4. I might get another set and try that. I did try out some Ballistic White Spikes in the last heat and Final, and that gained me a place at Neal Carbis’ expense. So I might get some more of those for Tivvy.
The Mid ran very well in vintage. Yellow Mezzos on the rear, Yellow Cactus Fusion on the front and softer (Medium) springs all round. I’m in two minds about the front roll bar. 3rd Overall was very pleasing for first time out.
Wish Tivvy had published their results, which is what delayed this article, but hey ho!
- Maintenance Corner 08/06/2023
B6.4d
The main whip came back from Mendip caked in a nasty coat of black fine dirt and sand π The box seems free and smooth still, so a full gearbox rebuild wasn’t needed, but the shocks and suspension needed some attention. I’ve made a short wheelbase mod to the rear lower arms that was suggested by the UK AE Team Drivers, and while doing that, I found i’d made a mistake on the last rebuild, and an under piston washer had fallen into the piston and was restricting the droop travel on one side, so correcting that was satisfying.
Also the Wheel hub bearings on the right side were quite gritty and not really free, so a run through the bearing blaster and re-lubricating was nice to get done. On the front, I found I needed to be using the +5 lower spring cups to get the full droop travel.
Both quite important spots to make sure the car rides bumps and lands after jumps correctly, so all good work.
Kyosho Optima Mid
The first run of a new car will always throw down a bunch of small issues that need attention. The Mid had two handling issues that should be quite eaily solved. In Kit form, the chassis ride height was quite high, and the car seemed to bounce over the bumps, rather than absorb them, so softer springs seemed a good call. But that conflicts with solving the other problem, “Grip Roll” and generally biting front end. which would probably be exacerbated by softer springs. For that problem, I’ve fitted a front roll bar.
The steering knuckle hinges were a problem, specifically, the left upper knuckle screw undid itself with vibration and the collar dissapeared, so that had to be replaced and the screws threadlocked in. I hate using threadlock, because it makes stripping the car down later a pain, but sometimes there’s just no better option.
Next up was the central steering linkage, just about the only part on the car that I thought was below par. Its job is to link the servo output from the left side of the mechanism, to the right side. But it comes as a worringly flexible strip of plastic. So I got the OTW143 kit, where the link is a nicely machined alloy part, and the two brass bushes are replaced with bearings. As soon as you put the part on, the whole thing seems more positive and defined.
At the back, two screws holding the wishbone hinge pin retainer seem to have gone AWOL, so I replaced them and again threadlocked them in place.
- Mendip Summer Championship RD 3 – 05/06/2023
At Mendip, we have a Gary. Garys are useful things that restart generators all day when they keep conking out, patch in spare generators when the first one permanently pegs it, and a billion other things that you don’t realise need to be done until somebody points it out. I wasn’t Gary-ing yesterday, but I will be in a fortnight. So I kept myself as much out his way as I could, and got on with the business of competing the B6.4d and giving the Optima Mid it’s first run out.
2WD first. I shoved in a good first session using Tivvy settings. 13 laps when the best was 14, so happy with that. I don’t really want to talk about the 2nd heat, because on the first corner of the first lap, I stuffed it into the outer fence like a dickhead.
I completely broke the servo horn, which was obvious on first inspection. Not so obvious was I think I damaged the actual servo. It worked, but seemed a bit wonky. Bugger.
Luckily, The next two Quali sessions went more to plan. Despite the slightly wonky servo, 2 sucessively quicker 13 lappers. Without the servo breakage, I wonder if I could have qualified 2nd or 3rd in the B Final. But as it happened there was enough to take 7th, which was enough. The finals were good fun, and hard fought despite the dropouts. The generator problems and the very sunny, warm day, caused a very long day and quite a few to get headaches and so forth. But perseverance eventually yielded an extra place on quali, and the knowledge that, without the servo issues, and if I had used a second set of tyres, there was a lot more to come.
The Optima Mid was just a giggle. Once I twigged that the steering Servo was essentially buggered, It went around lovely. A bit twitchy on turn in, a bit high on ride and rolly, but nothing that can’t be cured.
Overall, a great, knackering, long, tiring, excellent day. π
- Kyosho Optima Mid … DONE!
The Optima Mid is done! Below I’ve got a little piccie of the Top Desk cutout I made to accomodate the ESC. I think it worked out quite neatly.
The paint job looks even better in real life. The red is Hobbynox Red Pearl. An it has a very fetching colourshift effect between primary red, and it mostly is in the pictures, and a bright hot pink. Very chuffed with the results.
I’ve also swapped out the receiver and servo, which I hope will give a better result.
- Mid Nearing Completion
So the chassis is done. not sure about the servo and receiver which I might have to swap out. I have a Futaba Receiver in the Mission FT and a spare Etronix Servo left over from when I first got the KD. I think I might do that Saturday before I prep for the first run out at Mendip on Sunday.
The build was quite easy. The only niggle was not being able to fit a modern ESC anywhere on the lower chassis without fouling the upper. The manual says it’s fine to cut a small slice out of the upper deck to fit one, so I got the dremmel out and did that.
The body is coming along well. The usual livery but with Hobbynox pearl paint. Just the white coat to go.
- Perfect Saturday π
Managed to restrict myself to just Bags A & B yesterday so that I can geek out with Practice and Quali for the Monaco GP on the Telly while getting on with Bag C. Heaven π
