Well the track report is not going to be a good one.....
I got to the track and was the only person there...perfect. Started track maintenance since they raced last night. Was working the track when the three guys who own the place came back in the back and started talking my ears off. Finished track maintenance while the owners sat and watched while talking to me. Start prepping the car for the first run, still having my ears talked off. Finally after an hour of being at the track, the owners go back to the front and I finally have peace where I can run the car and do what I need to do.
No sooner than I set the car on the track, the doors open and about 25 screaming kids walk into the track area for a birthday party. They start going through my pit, including the parents. I have to pull the car, I go over to the pit and kindly ask the mom to remove her purse which is laying on top of my tool box. I gather up my stuff and stow it away so nothing walks off without me knowing and get back on the track while I still can.
Run about half a pack and pull the car for tire changes, minor adjustments, etc. Now I have the kids and parents talking my ears off. I decide to wait to put the car back on the track and sit and babysit my pit since all the heathens are running around. The birthday party starts and I watch as the track is utterly destroyed by 20 plus kids who rented short buses.
The party ends 2 hours later and the track is destroyed beyond the time I want to invest in fixing it. I throw the car on the track and slowly navigate the course to find any new potholes. As I am driving the rear is extremely loose from all the loose dirt on the track surface. During my slow laps I occasionally bump the throttle to make the hand full of doubles. As I am getting ready to pull the car I decide to attempt to double on last time on bringing the car to me. The rear end slides out on the ramp and the car gets sideways in the air. As it hits the ground I hear the distinct sound that break parts make, super loud crack. Walk over to the car flip it over to see the rear shock tower has snapped in two. UGH!!!!!
Overall impression of the car - Super unpredictable
The car was extremely twitchy and was really difficult to drive fast. To compare (Rod you will like this), my B5 is kind of like a 450 motocross bike. It is super easy to ride and you can be lazy with it, getting in the throttle as you need it. If you lay into the throttle, it will go and feel planted everywhere you point it. My version of the NIX91 was similar to 2 Stoke. I felt uncomfortable and felt like I was on pins and needles the entire time (those who haven't ridden 2 stokes, you have to maintain super high rpms through your corners so the bike will shoot out, 4 strokes you can roll through the corner with easy then lay on the throttle and torque kicks in and away you go).
Another issue I found is I don't get full servo throw left VS right. I noticed it on the bench but was so minor I didn't bother with it. On the track my turning radius was cut in half left VS right. I need to find a better way to mount the servo so I can get the throw I need. The problem is the steering bell crank hits on the front of the servo before the front wheels fully lock.
Never in a million years did I think this car would bottom out. I kept slapping the chassis everywhere, shock tuning is in short order.
I did get to compare three battery configurations, full stick pack, shorty (rear) and shorty front. The care really tamed down a lot after getting rid of the full stick pack. The shorty pack moved forward felt better than running toward the rear. I have a feeling has everything to do with my piston and shock oil configuration in the rear. There was no way I was going to try to change oil today. Hell when I was changing tires I had parents and kids saying, "So what are you doing huh, oh you're tuning your car up!"
Ran an 8.5 with 8 degree end bell timing and it ran flawless. Diff started barking just a tad which I have seen frequently with the original Stealth tranny. I prefer to have my diff work smooth so I take my time to get is set properly.
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