Ditto with me too - I probably won't be able to get trackside till the end of January due to work. But I'm sure we'll be fine.

As they say, when you gotta race, you gotta race!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year SHRCCC!

Treated the VBC to some TLC today. Battery moved to rearward position to make room for the ESC and Receiver, which weren't happy in the longitudinal battery position.

New Futaba servo (metal gears etc) picked up brand new/ unused off ebay for £25-ish installed. Also treated it to another tooth on the pinion and fixed the rear suspension damage from the last time out.

Will be interesting to see whether I have less steering now the battery position has been changed, though I have reduced some of the toe-in (a lot) I was running at the front and lowered the car a little.

Looking forward to the next practice evening, which I guess may be Tuesday 3rd January?

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Yep, practice is on for Tuesday 3rd January 😀👍🏻

Top man, thanks Dobber - I shall see you all there!

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.

In the wet you need Ballistic buggy green rears and either Schumacher cut stagger silvers for the front or slim dart silvers. I'd try the silver cut staggers first.

Thanks Dobber...

Ordered some new tyres, some stiffer springs and a couple of alloy steering parts and some carbon servo spacers (hopefully room to run the battery lengthways).

No harm is having more set up options. I seem to be chasing my tail a bit by buying the options after they could be tried. Now the pit box is starting to fill up!

Hi chaps - Long time no post!

Had to finish a work contract, get over some man flu and move house!

Car still in pieces but will be back together this week.

The SHRCCC website seems to be down (for me) - when is the next practice?

Practice is on the 11th April.

Thanks Dobber!

Actually think I can't do next Tuesday... Hmmm...

Will see how it pans out - really want to get back out there, especially with the weather so good!

If you can, why not come down on a Thursday, where the real fun is....Racing 😎

Seeing as my drinking night appears to be Tuesday next week... I might just do that.

Car has definitely taken a back seat during the house move but I want to get it out regularly this year.

Also had to get my full size 'toy' back rolling on new suspension etc prior to going to paint before the move, so it was out of the way. It has been hectic!