Optima Mid Modern Race Build

[Mr. ED]

Looking good Jake.
Can I suggest your replace the brace on the oppiste side of the moterplate? The one you have is for use with the MSC.
I'm sure that with your macining skills, you can come up with somethin a little meaner.

[Seabass]

I had no idea what that brace was, thank you for the suggestion. I figured i would leave it alone since I didn't know what is was. I think I will do something now I know it was for the MSC.

Jake

[Lonestar]

Jake, I think the board is really fortunate to have you around with all the inspiration you spread around... One more great build, good job!

Will you race her? Curious about lap times

Paul

[sheriff]

Very clever stuff, well done!

[Seabass]

I do plan on racing this one. I will have to give you a heads up on how the car runs.

Thanks

Jake

[tozrovr]

That is definitely a before and after set you can be PROUD of!

[DennisM]

Very naughty setup with the white belt and the natural arms.

[losiXXXman]

Your MID looks tops Jake. Now go show the B44s, Durangos, and XXX4s what the old girl can do!! It would be cool to see a group shot with your OIN 10', your Losi, and the MID together since they have your race scheme in common.

BTW I see that your looking for an Ultima now.... have don't let scr8p and reggie know that you've been tempted by the dark side.

[Seabass]

Yes I am a bit nuts. I definately don't need anymore cars according to others in the house...

I took the Optima Mid to the track tonight and put several rolling laps in to get a feel for the car. A 13.5 timed and boosted was crazy fast and had plenty of power.

One problem I need to fix is the steering. It acts pretty strange since I installed the RC10 Worlds bell cranks, I get full throw on the inside tire but 3/4 throw on the outside. Once I put the car on the track the car turns very violently and swings the rear of the car around. I started putting in faster laps when one the of the shock mounts stripped ending the night.

There is a club race tomorrow which I was informed they are just now starting a new 4wd class which 4-5 buggies are supposed to race. I have my short bus dialed so i should be able to concentrate on the Mid. I am going to replace all the shock mounts and try again tomorrow.

The car jumps extremly well and overall felt great except for the steering under power. Any suggestions?

Jake

[Mr. ED]

the 3/4 thing sounds about right to me. The outer wheel makes a little bigger arc. But if it is too much you could give some toe-in on the front.
Als make sure yo got enough ground clearance on the front and firm enough springs or dampening. IFnot your car will nosedive when turning and when it hits the 'floor' pivot around that point of contact. Also, if you got exponential on your radio: turn it negative on the steering: a lot

(Just had the same issue with a 2WD last weekend and got those last advises)

[Seabass]

Sounds good. The rear is pretty stiff and there are a few other factors I alos need to look at as well. The layout is brand new and there was a ton of dust on the surface. Everyone was having problems early in the evening when the car broke. The end of the night the track was breaking in and cars were starting to hug the track. I need to try a couple other things first but will eventually figure it out. Thanks for the suggestions.

Jake

[Seabass]

Long time since I updated this one. I was able to get the steering under control but it is still not quite to my liking yet. I have a strange feeling the bellcranks I used are the culprit. I do have a set of the A&L bellcranks that I will use in the car. Looking at the design of the current bell cranks vs the A&L, I have a feeling my steering problems will go away. I was able to get some more laps in with the car but the wing mounting setup was complete garbage. I removed the wing from the car but it changed the way the car felt so drastically, I decided to pull it and have not driven it since. It has since been removed and I made a new carbon fiber wing mount in similar fashion to the OEM mount.

Right now the car is in a large crate headed for Korea with the rest of my parts so I can't do anything else until we are reunited. I plan to hit the Korean tracks and I should be able to get the car dialed in and the bugs worked out of it.

I will be sure to get an update on this one and hopefully I can get some action pics as well.

[Mr. ED]

Hey Jake, I hope you won't have to wait as long for your stuff as I did when relocating to China; I think it was nearly 5 months.
Where will you be in Korea? I have made many business trips to Korea in the past; totaling over 6 months effective.
Let me know if you need some tips (no, I don't know any good rc shops; there was one in Seoul near Miwa Womens University but I heard it's gone: from Hyeong)

[Bormac]

Still am in awe over this build.

[Seabass]

Thanks Jason.

I did take the car to race and actually was impressed with how the car handeled overall. The car would nose down on the jumps but I was able to correct that with a bit of tuning.

I started to finally get into a groove with the car (8.5 timed) and it was stupid fast. Late in practice, I was doing some final laps with the car and came to the triple on the backside of the track. There was a wreck just before the triple I slowed down for, drove around the wreck and pinned the throttle to clear the triple. I ended up getting a little sideways and hit the jump wrong.

Ended with a snapped rear shock tower

I don't have a spare so that was the end for the Mid's maiden voyage at the races.

I think the car is super stable, it turns great, and handles bumps very well. I plan on machining new towers front and rear that will be a little more durable.

Right now the cars sits on the shelf beat and broken. When I get back to the us in the next few months, the car will get a new shell and new towers.

The layshaft I made works extremely well, that is one of the coolest thing I think I made for this car.

Jake