District race competition

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mxquad

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Oct 2, 2012
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This weekend is my hometown District race. Last September I put in my white car with red fenders and 4 Intimidator wheels touching, 4 fender, oil car that runs a 2.98 on our 40 foot best track. The brown car in the middle beat me with a time of 2.97, the front left NDFW wheel just barely touches and uses graphite. Any ideas or see anything I'm missing? Besides the NDFW wheel?

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That little nub on the top is awfully suspicious looking.
I mean seriously though. Look at the classic features of a 5Kids approach to building cars.
On top of that it is very minimal in terms of aesthetic choices not even paint. Only stain.
Then there is this nub on top which makes no sense at all.
 
It's hard to tell from the pic, but I don't see any graphite rubbed on the inner hubs of the brown car. If it was running graphite I would think that area would be shiny silver!

Did you have your DFW axle bent enough to lift the tread?
 
From my personal test with oil it sounds very different as the car is going down the track.
As well as a small flick of the wheel and you can easily tell.
But with other cars going down track as well it does cover it up.
But oil is way faster, I repreped a old graphite set of wheels, just really cleaned out
with soap and water then again 2 times with alcohol, then polish 1 again(very minimal)
and red rocket....even with all that oil is still almost .03 faster.
I wish we did not have to use Graphite.
 
RC, I had John build my car specific for this race, negative cant in rear, and both fronts had positive cant (no lifting of either front wheels). No wobbling,, straight and smooth rail riding. The brown car beat me the first 3 times, then on the 4th race I won (probably because his graphite had run out). I ran tech inspection and caught the NDFW barely touching. Not sure what the nub on top is for.

So this Saturday I'll run tech inspection again and no doubt he will bring the same car. I know he goes outside right before registration to lube / graphite the wheels. So my dilemma / plan is, if I catch his car riding 3 wheels even though the NDFW barely touches (technically is 4 wheels touching), Do I / should I register one of my cars with 2.3 gram wheels and rides on 3 wheels and runs a 2.95? Or use my normal white car in the picture and see if he can repeat the 2.97 time again?

We are also having a modified class that allows 3 wheels and a 8 ounce limit. If I catch his car riding on 3 wheels and ask him to run the modified class he will run his mouth at the table and make a big scene. I will be racing several cars in the modified class, all 5 ounces.
 
Certainly looks like a pro build syle car. So does yours. Before he makes it to check in, you may try talking to him in private and agree to something. As long on you're both on the same page. Either raise your NDFW a tick or have him lower his. The treads aren't shiny so they have been taken down some and appear narrowed. your rear are inside out so must also be lightened.

I'd make a gentlemens agreement before the race and then race.
 
I'd say match his game. Run a bent axle at the NDFW and tweak it to to the same as his, barely touching. I would make sure that, if you do this, the "steer" in the NDFW is not fighting the DFW steer. Check wheel gaps and steer too.
 
do you have any specific rules for all 4 on the floor? I mean if you do a roll test on cars to verify 4 on the floor, do all 4 wheels of his roll? Or during inspection does it show all 4 touching, then rotate it so it's lifted? I agree with Bracket, not seeing graphite on the hub does not make sense. It looks like from the 2nd pic, he has some graphite on the right tire (looks like a little glitter), could be just "window dressed" as rocket stated.
 
If mercury were in a PWD car, wouldn't this be a way of getting an extra boost off the hill?

Of course the dangers of poisoning everyone in the room should deter anyone in their right mind from trying it but...

Perhaps magnets lined in a tube that would propel another magnet at the transition would be another way. I would tip that car many times during inspection to see if there is some kind of moving weight. Also I would have a magnet attached to a bracelet on my wrist.

I'm sorry, but that nub just does not fit the picture.
 
Prep wheels for graphite the OPA way. PLEASE, i HAVE ALREADY HEARD ALL THE OBJECTIONS.
Use only 2 drops of oil on Axles.
Put Graphite on outer and inner edges of the wheels, but nowhere close to the hub.
By the time of the race, the oil will be all but dry.
 
What kind of wheels is he using?

From the pic it looks like it can be anything.

If it is a Lightspeed then it might make sense.

Of course I suspect he is using oil.

Those Intimid8tors you have are less than 1g!

If his wheels are anything heavier than 1.5g you should have about a car length lead before his car makes it 6" right?
 
Thank you everybody, this is exactly the kind of conversation I hoped to get. So you can see why I'm confused how it's beating me. We don't really have any rules on wheels or axles or canting; as long as all 4 touch. I don't know what kind of wheels he has, but will ask a friend to find out. He won't let me see his car other than tech inspection which he stands on top of me like a hawk... Glad everybody is curious too what that nub on top is. He claims that he's not using oil and accused me of running John's oil and told me to stop. I will give the underneath a good look at inspection and I'm using a flat board and a block under the front so I can give the front wheels a good look. I tried sliding a sheet of paper under each wheel and it slid under the NDFW, I will check to see if it's locked this time.

My 0.8 gram wheels (car built by DD4H) should out run any other wheel, but somehow his 3 wheeler got me. This is the best forum for this type of discussion!! I'll take new pictures at the race and will post afterwards. I appreciate everybody's thoughts, glad I had the pics otherwise it would be hard to explain....
 
The rules say the body must be from the official kit, and the wheels and axles too... Lack of knowledge prevents catching any car that comes through tech that's not from the kit. Pretty much they weigh your car for 5 ozs and check if it fits in the box, that's it. At tech at last years district I didn't run tech and when I checked in my car I made it loud and clear that I made them check all 4 wheels were touching. The other two guys didn't do this and slid in two 3 wheel cars that blew my 3.00 car away. It was visible how their two cars were 3 wheeling while they were smiling at me. This added fuel to my fire for this year's district....if all 3 of us are running 3 wheelers, may the best car win.
 
MX,
Did you get a look at the underside of his car? It looks like he has the rear wheels moved forward. Might he have three rows of cubes behind the rears (maybe not three full rows)?

I think the nub on top is cosmetic, just to simulate a cockpit?

I could see where he's getting some speed out of lightly touching the fourth wheel. I used the process DD4H posted in another thread. Put three wheels on and set the steer, add the fourth, make sure it's touching and recheck the steer. Tap the NDFW up until the steer is where you set it with three wheels and the fourth still rolls.

Your wheels look awfully clean, too! No graphite in there either?
 
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