oil and graphite

[MBRacing]

Back story I have 2 cars almost identical, weighted the same, same profile etc. Car 1 has .091 SS axles and 1 g lite speed wheels prepped and running on graphite. Car 2 has revel axles stock BSA wheels (not lathed) prepped and running DD4H oil. I would have guessed car 1 to be quite a bit faster with the lighter wheels and better axles but surprisingly there is only about .025 difference between them. Car 1 jumps to a lead off the start but then they run pretty consistent from there to finish just about a car length difference. If car 2 started faster it would be a close race.

Does that sound reasonable and is oil really that much better that if I switched to lighter wheels on car 2 could I expect to shave another .040-.050 off the time? First time running oil so pondering the results. The only thing odd is car 1 to get best times is set to about 4” steer in 4 feet, car 2 is set to more like 10” in 4 feet, but that’s where I got the best times at.

 

[BulldogRacing]

oil is that much better for sure. It depends on how it's applied but when done correct it's a winner!

 

[MBRacing]

All of my light wheels have been run with graphite, I wish I had a fresh set around to swap and try just to see what happened for my own reference.

I forgot to finish my thought on the amount of steer needed...... car 2 with the revel axles has more bend in the DFW does that cause me to need more steer? Or is it a factor of the smaller revel axle diameter lets the wheel 'twist' or deflect more because of the slop and taking some of the toe out of it when actually running with a rail. Meaning statically and on the tuning board he wheel may have 10* toe in (just for illustrative purposes), but on the track against the rail it dynamically has 5* toe in.

 

[txchemist]

0.025 is a big deal.. But hard to do an autopsy without a body. For grins, swap axles & wheels on just the back two. and see if speed goes with axles & wheels. ( first leave the tuning alone for each DFW will be not touched)
then see if different tuning changes your times. The Revell axles are much easier to get bent so you might pick that up with swapping just back wheels. Study the data and then complete the swap and take more data. If one of the Revell axles on a rear was bent and the added steer was needed, then when you get straight SS axles, it will show up.

 

[MBRacing]

I didn't think about that one of the Revell axles might be bent and thus requiring more steer, but I see your point. Trouble is once I put the SS axles in it wont hold the Revells anymore because of the diameter difference. I know the Revell axles were straight when I put it together though.

I was just shocked that the car with stock wheels and axles ran that close to the car with 1g lathed wheels and axles.

 

[txchemist]

Rotate both back axles 90 degrees on the Revell car and see what happens.

 

[pony express]

The lighter wheels and graphite will give the advanage start. Once the cars pick up speed the oil will be advantageous. The light wheels shouid be an advantage all the way through. 0.025 is a big difference to the rest of us. We dream of that.

 

[MBRacing]

I messed with them some more last night, nothing was bent. I did shift some weight and found a little speed though. I'm still surprised I really thought the lighter wheels even on graphite would make a bigger difference though.

After reading about the starting gate slamming on some tracks in posts on here I tried dropping the starting gate by hand, cushioning it from below to keep it from slamming the bottom of the track. Made a huge difference of almost .030 in both cars, but especially the way the oil car starts. Doing this they both were more consistent and I think I was chasing myself in circles before because the gate slamming was making them inconsistent in how they got started. I am very impressed with the oil for my first time though as that car will run within a 1/2 car length of the other one even with stock axles and stock wheels and I haven't re prepped anything since I put it together and it probably has 40 runs on it now.