Lighten up!!!

[cycrunner]

I am a veteran of league racing - started with WIRL in 2008 and did well there. Branched off into other leagues where the competition became better and I have started to get "slower" and now find my cars really dragging and I don't know why. I thought I had most of the knowledge needed to be really competitive but I obviously have lost or missed something, and I don't know what it is. What is true is that a lot of guys are learning the ins and outs of prepping and fine tuning their cars and are getting better at it. That includes all the aspects of this sport - bore prep, better speed products, etc.
I am discouraged but when I go into my workshop I find the get a lot satisfaction from making cars, and trying to improve my performance. I like to make wheels from scratch, machine stock wheels down to 1.0 and 2.0 grams, make bodies and all the other stuff we do in this sport. I made my own tuning board, and a two lane 39 foot pin to timer track. I am amazed at how well some builders are doing without a track to check out their cars!. Don't know how you do it. There are obviously things going on that none of us completely understand. Just try to build two identical cars and you will not get the same performance from both cars! I could go on but will leave it there for now - got some work to do on some new cars.

 

[GravityX]

I believe that when all else fails, we need to get back to basics and re-evaluate. Time to tear down to what we know and rebuild a solid foundation again, without employing all of the latest "Tricks". I've read right here, on this forum, where the first thing that a lot of the newer builders want to do is build another car right away because their cars failed to meet their expectations. I think we were all in this trap at one time or another. I would evaluate the car first and see what I may have done wrong and take notes. Lots of notes. It will only help later on. Make adjustments one at the time, making too many adjustment will cause confusion and you won't know what caused the car to react the way it did. Patience. Be patient. It does not happen over night guys. Practice, practice, practice!

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

I think the thing most builders new and some old miss is the R/D. Research and Development. To me that's half the fun. Sure racing your car is fun, but the most fun is finding the next big thing. Anyone can buy a product sold on a pinewood derby site, no offense John, plug and play and say they're a good builder, but where's the fun? Did you actually win or did the model kit you put together after collecting the pieces run the time for you? I'm not a good builder. I have no secret formula or special wax or oil. I'm simplely obsessed with PWD. To me, if you lose that passion, why are you even in this hobby?