[Dom9]

Another 'difficult' night last night!

First run out the slipper nut came undone. Almost got a full cell out of it though and in the slippery conditions, I think it actually helped with my driving and I crashed (slightly) less and felt I was putting in better laps, despite the new layout/jumps causing me some difficulty.

Initially I think that may have been because I couldn't get enough speed on the combination before the straight, after a tight turn, due to the slipper. I also seemed to 'lose' it there a bit, which may have been the chassis bottoming out.

Rear traction seemed pretty good with the LiPo moved to the back, considering how slippery it was and running Schumacher Mini Dart Yellows. Front bite/ turn-in also seemed better (though maybe that was the slipper taking some of my ham-fisted throttle inputs out) with less toe-in at the front.

All in all - much happier with that setup, at least in those conditions. It would still be nice to try it in the dry/ warmer conditions.

On the second LiPo, things were going better on the jumps but I was spinning more under power with the slipper tightened up but a lot of that could be attributed to my inputs, I guess. However, a low speed impact with another car cracked/ snapped the RH rear upright.

That's the same corner of the car that was damaged last time out so I reckon it was probably cracked from previous incidents. A new pair of uprights have been ordered, along with the rear anti-roll bar kit.

The ARB won't help the spinning (though some driver improvement will) but may help a bit with the turn-in, which definitely dropped off a bit on the 2nd LiPo, once the slipper was tightened up.

The car will be repaired before the next practice (on the 17th, I assume), the rear ARB added and I think I'll jack the ride height up a little (I had lowered it after the first practice a couple of weeks back) to try and avoid bottoming out on the jumps on the new layout.

I'll keep the geometry the same (new front toe looks near to 0°, by eye) for now and then hopefully get through my 3 LiPo packs next time to improve my thumb skills.

I would agree that it feels a little soft but I think I'll look at damper internals/ springs after the next run, if I am happy with it. Feels like some 'more' damping on the new layout might be good and certainly when grip goes up but with conditions the way they are; the dirt setup seems to be working ok.

Plenty of power and torque (maybe too much for me) from the Dynamite 4000kv sensorless setup and plenty of run time from the 4000mAh shorty LiPos. More grip generally needed in the damp/ ice though!

What are the recommendations for tyres on the astro when the conditions are as they are?

Still - A cracking laugh, a good turnout and seemed like a nice bunch of people again! None of this has dampened my enthusiasm. I enjoy the fiddling as much as the driving, I reckon so I am looking forward to developing it further.