This past weekend I took a 6 hour drive South East to Adrenaline RC Raceway to have a rematch with Jacob Hardison at his families track. This time I was bringing along my brand new WRC SBXE.1 platform to begin to develop a set-up and get a feel for the buggy. I got in Friday around 3pm and hit the track 13 times starting with the kit set-up and doing one adjustment at a time to see how the buggy responded to changes. I was limited on my tuning options with no springs, or pistons but I did what I could geometry wise and a little with the diffs to work on dialing it in for me.
Qualifying: Qualifying started on Saturday and before Q1 I was able to get in 2 more practice runs and got my fastest lap time thus far. In Q1 I would take the TQ but in Q2 I went a little backwards on my changes. In Q3 however my changes were great and I was on a TQ run with 2 minutes to go in the 8 minute qualifier when my plastic servo horn stripped out. (Now I never suggest anyone race with a plastic servo horn but I was running the car completely box stock to get a feel for it's abilities.) So I would qualify second behind Jacob heading into the 10 minute A-main.
Some laps from my first ever qualifier with the WRC SBXE.1:
Mains: At the start of the A-main I had a mistake shorting the first jump and got into trouble falling back to 4th. I worked back into second over the coming couple laps and set my sights on Jacob. He stayed relatively clean but I was able to reduce his lead from 4 seconds to being right on his tail with just over a minute to go. I even gave him a little love tap in the back right but he held his composure and I had a couple slower attempts through the whoops section and he got me by 1.5 seconds in the end. It was a very fun race though and hearing the spectators hooting and hollering was a lot of fun!
After Hours onboard fun:
Setup Sheet from the event:
Notes from Event starting with kit set-up and ending with set-up above:
Kit setup to start:
600 oil, 5.5.5 diffs. 24/26RH
Run 1- 55* - Used clay typo , decent. Shock oil feels stiff. Maybe little light on center diff (Front ballooning just a little. Good steering feel overall. Rear squatted a bit on power and out of corners. (I think rear link is too high and maybe too short. Shocks too heavy. Lots to think about changing but doing one at a time. 20.8 fast (10min)
Run 2 - (2min) 20.7 fast. Scuffed rear outdrives. Supported rear better. 👍🏼
Run 3 - (3min) 20.8 fast. Lower rear link to lower inside hole. Stayed flatter in rear. Little better corner rotation. Way less tip on off camber. 👍🏼
Run 4 - (3min) 20.5 fast. Longer rear link, outside on rear hub. 21mm —> 26mm. Rear easier to drive. (Maybe not necessary on this track but good tuning option. Rear locked in well. :-)
Run5 - 600 P1 —> 45beta rear oil.
(3min) Felt good. Better in the rough. Rear squatted just a touch more but still good. Consistent 20.6-20.7.
Run 6 - (5min) 7K center diff. Little more drive. Loosened up rear a little on throttle. But felt good and fast. 20.2 fast.
Run 7 - (5min) 2.6 rear bar from 2.7. Maybe rolled just a bit more in rear, didn’t stay quite as flat. Not huge difference but little deeper roll perhaps. 19.9!
Run 9 - (5min) clay scribbles. Felt pretty similar to the clay typo, perhaps little more on top of track feel. Maybe little more steering- maybe.
Run 10 - (6min) raised front RH back to 24 (had sagged to 22). - I think lower possibly better for steering. Lengthened rear wheelbase (moved shim on inside arm from rear of arm to front (rear a little freer))
Run 11 - (6min) Less rear toe. Full down instead of full down and out. Better rotation easier to drive tighter through sweeping corners. Better sweeper cornering. 20.0
Run 12 - (7:30) 1mm less front camber (removed upper arm shim). 1/4 turn shorter steering link (to get the toe out back)
Felt looser overall and in rear too. Think I want to go back to stiffer rear bar.
Run 13 - (7:30) 1/2 turn more toe out. Better turning on power through end of straight.(higher speed 90* corner) 1st time saucing, Sauced clay typo(same used set I’ve been running, maybe little more grip. Suspension too stiff - maybe 45-50*. Too much pack and too stiff I think.
Day 2:
Run 1 - (5:30) 1.3x4 1.4x2 with 42.5 Beta oil in rear.
Would independent dump on rear corner a bit. Rear felt looser. Used my sauce on the very used clay typo. (Rear ride height had fallen to 24.)
Run 2 - 23/26RH. 2.7 rear bar. Added camber front shim on top (but back on). 3/4 turn less front toe (lengthened steering link)
Much better. Better supported rear. Good steering. 19.8 (5:30)
Q1 - freed up rear upright shim so it rotated more freely (can still do a little more) had to lower rear ride height 2 turn to get back to 26.
(9:30min) car was decent. Still struggle in whoops/ just need time on shocks. Was a little loose in rear but overall good. 19.7 fast.
Q2 -(9min) 1/4 turn more toe out. Front link raised to full up. Throttle freq 9k, brake 4K. Throttle and brake were too aggressive. Car felt a little on top of track with Clay Scribbles sauced fdj green. Bit loose. Still need suspension work.
Q3 - 23/27 RH. (8min) Used typo again w/ FDJ green sauce. Throttle Freq back to 10k and brake back to 5k. HB wing forward (front edge over center of tire) 40 beta rear oil. Moved front upper arm back to middle position. Upper arm full back position (more caster)
Best it’s been! 19.4 fast. Wasn’t tippy in off camber. Could see it squat and hold the squat. 👍🏼 rear felt more stable with HB wing further forward
Main - 55 beta front oil.
(11min) was a little loose and a little over aggressive steering. But decent overall. Foams are shot and perhaps that is part of squirm. (Nearly 1hr 30min on the same set Clay typos now. foams are pretty shot.)
GoPro vid - raise front RH 2.5 turns. (12min)
Thank you so much for joining with me in this new Journey. Expect a lot more of this to come at all events I attend. If you have further information you would like to see feel free to drop me a line on facebook or at Lutzinator408@gmail.com
📸 Credit to Hannah Hardison at Adrenaline RC Raceway: https://www.facebook.com/AdrenalineRCRaceway