Team Azarashi, GRAYSEAL

[PredaTom]

Hi folks,

well, I'm proud to announce that I am Team Azarashi Factory Driver for 2013 to develop and promote the Grayseal, the new conversion kit for the AE B44 or B44.1 in France and near countries.

The Grayseal concept proposes a design as never seen, with a specific layout that gives a perfect left/right balance and a very low overall weight.
I measured it at 1574g with a B44 bodyshell & undertray (Grayseal body not painted yet ) and caliber tires.

Here are few sales pics (courtesy of Team Azarashi).
I will present mine later as it's not perfectly finished yet.

However, I was able to make two runs at our indoor dirt track facility near Paris.
I compared the Grayseal with my TRF511, same day, within 30mn, and used the same ESC (same setup) same motor, tires, etc....to make the comparison as better as possible.

On this slippery track, the Grayseal, without any added weight and a too hard and not accurately set suspension is already faster and easier than the 511.
The front end offers a really better and more precise corner in, while the rear end is absolutely stuck on the track at places the 511 was hard to hold on the line.
The acceleration is also much better at corner exit.

So, this is very promising!
I will keep you informed about the later runs I will do (astroturf for example).

I thank the boss Shun Kimura to give me his trust for 2013

[Toyman]

What about steering? More weight in rear (theoretically) should negatively affect steering.

[PredaTom]

I've not compared with a B44, but as said, the Grayseal was much better than the 511 in turns on this dirt track.
And I've not any extra weight on the car, so it's easy to put more in front in case of needs.

[Chrislong]

It'll be light no doubt, you can put the lead where-ever you want.

[PredaTom]

Hi all!!

Here are few pics of my car

[lcpvcce]

Here,s my Grayseal thanks for looking ...............

[Chrissy Boy]

That is such a gorgeous looking car, the question is how does it go, anyone seen one at any sort of level or is it essentially just a shelf queen?

[PredaTom]

Hi all!

Thanks for the interest and for the PM's

of course it’s not a shelf queen.

The car goes very (very!) well. I've tested it at an indoor dirt track we have near Paris and also on AstroTurf at the Kampenhout Belgium GP.

The car is awesome on both tracks. I’m the first surprised, as looking at the layout of the car, I really didn't know what expecting of such a curious thing

On the slippery dirt track, it handles better than my 511. The front end is really really ace and the rear end is locked on the track.
Compared to the 511, I feel as well the more weight at the rear, but the car is not unbalanced for all that. I just have to drive smoother than the 511 as the front end gives much more corner in/mid and out.
The adjustment of the front camber links affect a lot the handling of the car and is critical for fast lap times.
The rear end oil has to be harder than a B44 + shocks slightly more angled.
The other setups are quite similar.

On astro at Kampenhout, I had a great car too.
I suffered of too much corner in at the beginning, with many rolls in turns.
I put AKA inserts in the front minispikes instead of the tubbies, cut some spike rows and that was perfect.
My result was a bit disappointing for me as I’m not familiar with astro, and I suffered of a little slower car in the last qualifying rounds compared to the astro experts who know very well the changing track conditions (drier and drier) and how to adapt the cars in consequence.
But in my bests qualifying heats (2 and 3), without one mistake, I would have expected some 10th-12th places, which is very promising for the future.

The overall weight is also incredibly low. I was at 1525g with Schum minispikes + the undertray and had to put 65g of lead to reach the limit allowed.

To end with this little feedback, I would say that Team Azarashi have taken a great direction with this layout as we see the other manufacturers are following quite the same way (Kyosho, HB, ….)

+ my Kampenhout setup sheet.