So, no doubt everyone enjoyed last weekend’s ETS ! Amazing guys … wow !

In our little vintage and troubled RC world, we struggled to get the TL01 behaving somewhat normally again. It went through a nightmare phase (mostly due to neglected wear and tear of tyres and overall settings).

Tonight, after a few horrible sessions, we managed to keep it on the track for 18laps (possibly over draining our Lipo a little bit) and the best lap was number 17

It’s not a new record for the TL01 but it’s very close.

Time to splash out on some Setup Kit and try to log down what works and what doesn’t work. So far it’s been a guessing game (which is part of the fun for us) but a little “science” could probably help.

For those of you who are worried about the T3R, don’t worry, she’s hurt but she’ll be fine once we get her a new rear-belt (second snap of the season already)

all the best, take care and see you at the track

Astoria.

So, how’s it going in the RC scene ? Here at Team Vebra we’re trying to make the most of these new rainy days to catch up with some needed maintenance.

The T3R has had:

• New set of tyres fitted – 34 shore – Kindly obtained by a fellow driver at the track and for a bargain price. Thank you again!
• The rear gear-diff has been stripped, cleaned and fitted with 1000 oil, a new silicone ring has been fitted and will hopefully keep it “oil-proof” from now on.
• The rear suspension arms have also had their lower ball-joints replaced (xray original replacement parts bought from http://www.jmt-rc-shop.lu/)
• The two worn out ball-joints have been improvised as lipo battery backstops to keep the battery pack from sliding inwards towards the front-belt (underneath the top-deck. A surprisingly good fit!

The next opportunity with a dry and clean track will hopefully yield some good track times. Although, all things considered, we’re pretty pleased with the recent lap times. 26 laps with an average speed of under 24seconds.

Strangely enough, the best lap has not been beaten since April 27th (21.871seconds)

See you at the track everyone and thanks for reading us, as usual.

Astoria

Ahead of this weekend’s first round of Championship (at LMCC.lu) we just have a quick and selfish post about our latest Best Lap with our 15year old Tamiya TL-01.

Under 24 seconds is not a record we thought we’d manage but it’s there and we’d like to think we could even improve it somewhat !

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend (we’re not, of course!) See you there for a beer and a hotdog or two ! (fingers crossed it won’t rain too much)

Astoria

Today’s Lap sessions felt … well … good. The weather improved throughout the day and by the time we hit the track it had had the time to dry off in the evening sunshine. The grip was good, the car behaved well… the driver… did “ok”

A little improvement in what was the TL01 best lap to date. Considering how much easier it felt driving it, we’re somewhat disappointed to see nothing more than a 0.1 seconds improvement but, never mind, that’s what the next session is for.

Now, here’s an improvised list of things that could help the TL01 get some better lap times:

• Get a better driver to drive it round the track for us (?)
• Increase the ‘fix’ in the front diff.
• Steady the ESC within the chassis
• Review ESC settings:
  • Try more drag brake with less braking power.
  • Try less drag brake with more braking power.
  • Play around with punch control.
• Review the oil situation in the shocks
• Try stiffer springs (F/R)
• Re-install anti-roll bar at the front
• Try anti-roll bar at the rear (low expectations)

So, as usual, stay tuned (or keep stumbling on this blog, by mistake as you might have done today) for some more RC News !

Astoria

First of all,  a Big Thank You to all those who went to help clean up the LMCC Track this weekend. Alas, the Team Vebra members were caught up in other activities and only, cheekily, took advantage of the results late on Sunday afternoon (about 2 hour ago)

With the new track conditions the grip was improved considerably and our New Best Lap is now, finally, under 22 seconds

 This lap of 21.871 was the second of two laps under 22 so we want to think there is some consistency building up and not just pure luck.

Some minor mods are still required and some new parts will need to be sought … wish us luck !

Thanks for reading us, as usual, if you do

Astoria

These new tyres really made a big difference ! Check out these new BEST OF Laps.

The TL01 has had its front diff. blocked with blue-tack- a friendly tip gathered at the track – and it really has improved the car stability, especially when braking at the end of the  long straights. Corner exits can still be a bit tricky with some under-steering and the ride settings (ride height, camber and toe-in) could do with some tweaking but, all in all, we’re looking MUCH better than before.

The T3R has given us Team Vebra’s fastest lap to date: 22.554

Yes Yes Yes … We know that there are those who average a better time than this but we’re pleased

Thanks for reading us and stay tuned for more Spring-Time-RC-News!

Astoria

hope you all enjoyed the easter weekend and got some great times at the track. We were away and/or busy this past long-weekend so we only got to try the new tyres today !

Remember the previous post in which we moaned about being stuck in the 30s ?  well…

We’re BACK IN BUSINESS!   <– click to go to mylaps website

• The TL01 staggered us with a great 24.508
• The T3R did a slightly below-par 24.159 but it’s been having some electronic-hiccups which we hope to have solved this evening. (we’ll let you know soon)

So stay tuned as the weather-forecasters hopefully lied to us all and we get more dry time at the LMCC.lu

Thanks for reading us,

Astoria

]]> https://vebra.lu/gripgrip/feed/ 0 https://vebra.lu/stuck-in-the-30s/ https://vebra.lu/stuck-in-the-30s/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2014 21:33:04 +0000 http://vebra.lu/?p=688 Hello fellow RC enthusiasts, (assuming you all are still)

No, the title of this post doesn’t want to refer to that difficult time in life that some of us are in; it sadly hints at the recent Lap Times of Team Vebra.

A more suitable title could have been “Injury List” and this is why:

• The M03L flew off the last straight’s rumble strip and landed casually near the pit lane; after some further checks, the Servo had gotten stuck – Result = Dead Servo.
• The T3R had a bad encounter with the pit lane wall and broke a front universal joint – still waiting on new parts to arrive from Hong Kong –  Result = Undriveable 2wd touring car made only slightly better once turned into a 2Fwd (as opposed to a 2Rwd)
• The upper desk of the T3R underwent some major “workshop-mishap” and ended up having one of its “rear-tails” snapped off. Result = unbalanced Flex; and the Xray 301190 upper deck doesn’t seem to be stocked by anybody (anymore)
• The TL01 has been a constant under/over-steering machine ever since last season; recent attempts based on tips gathered from fellow drivers at the LMCC have seen us trying to block the front differential but limited improvements were seen. Result =  a touring car that feels and looks more like a part time drifter.
• The M03s which until recently was our entry level pride and joy has mysteriously decided to join the over-steering club. Result = a nervous little devil whose 15T brushed motor has quite frankly seen better days, slow in the straights and no longer predictable in the slower sections.

The sum of the above “results” has seen us “stuck” around the 29.8 or 31.2 seconds per lap; not quite what we’d gotten used after installing our MyLaps RC4 transponders but ….. folks …… the season has only just begun and our Bold (very very Bold) predictions want to be:

1. the T3R will do a lap under 23″
2. the TL01 will do a lap under 25″
3. the M03L will go under 28″
4. the M03s (brushed) will once again happily cruise around the track with an average lap time per session of under 31″

so, stay tuned and be ready to make fun of us come October time when the season will be over and we won’t have achieved anything apart from having had some fun.

Thanks for reading us !

Astoria

 Editor’s note on April 23rd 2014, Goals 1 and 2 have already been achieved ! :) 

At the time the T3R was in top shape. We wish we could say the same about it now but it has unfortunately undergone a series of tiny little FAILS…. (caused by Astoria)

Very exciting days for TeamVebra indeed. The Xray T3R has had its rear gear differential serviced and it’s proven VERY good. On a less positive note; the saddle Lipo we’d purchased together with the T3R – the second-hand-bargaintastic-purchase made by Ka – has given up on us last time we took it for a spin. Nevertheless, the fastest lap to date was achieved with one of our standard Lipo batteries that we usually run in our M03′s and in the TL01.

We thought of making a little Best Of Table with the quickest lap to date and per car.

It would be fair to say that… well… We’re pleased with it but we know there’s a long way to go still….

Thanks for reading us and stay tuned!

Astoria