[SpEEdyBL]

Updates: (2 entries, one from last week, and one today posted into one)

Sorry it has been a while. Been busy lately.

Peformance:

Overall, the buggy is much more responsive with a little bit more steering - something that my original 8ight has been dying for. ...And no more traction rolling . Weight bias with the 3000 mAh packs is 48.5F/51.5R, verses the original 8ight E's 47F/53R.

So far I have completed a few indoor races and a few outoor races with some pretty outstanding results! For one, no DNF's and all finishes in the top third of the pack except when my esc unplugged from my reciever on one occasion. (It wasn't plugged in all the way).

The outdoor races were the real test as I had to run 30 minute mains in a field of mainly nitro on a very large dirt track of 40 second laps. Still I was able to complete all three mains with 2nd, 5th, and 2nd, out of 7, 15, and 7 respective fields that included sponsored drivers, adding a lap to my total each race. Next time i will be trying a brand new set of AKA enduros, instead of year old city blocks with the outer pins gone.

I timed a battery change with my velcro solution (entering pit lane to exiting) and it took 27 seconds - still slower than nitro's three 7 second pit stops, but I think I can chop off 5 or so more seconds with better communication with the pitman and neater wiring.

The total mAh that my 3000 mAh 6s sets took was 4000 mAh each time, with a single set lasting over 21 minutes during practice, but at race pace. Last year on the original 8ight chassis, my Tekin 1900 on 4s 5,000 lasted 19 minutes on the same track, so quite an improvement.

The Tekno Neu 1509 2.5Y (1450kv) motor was topping out at 160F geared 12/46 which matches the top speed (maybe slightly faster than) of nitro. The light motor was a good concept, but it is causing more problems than it is worth. The motor leads extend over th batteries, making battery changes more difficult (unfortunately it is not a good idea to bend or cut those types of wires). It's also way more powerful than I thought it was going to be. I was looking for something with less punch than my Tekin 1900 on 4s, but it ended up having considerably more. For fun i put 17 tooth on for running in the street, and it could still pull wheelies with ludicrous top speeds.

So far, the velcro has been working well in terms of holding the batteries down. I still have not made a chassis brace yet, but I have gotten away without one sor far. My first priority is to remake the chassis with better jigging in the machine. The pockets ended up being to deep in some places because the aluminum sheet bowwed upward during cutting. Some places are paper thin and have caused me to worry. There are also some slight changes that I want to impliment that will relieve stress at the hole locations where I can see some cracks initiating.

This saturday is another outdoor raceday. Next week I will build the chassis. I will have more pics once I get a hold of a decent camera.

Saturday Race results:

2nd out of 13 this time in the 30 minute A-main. The aka enduros were great. Better grip overall so very consistant, but less peak grip than the worn city blocks. I should start machining the new chassis on wednesday.