We've been testing a NOVAK 17.5 motor while searching for a B/L motor to use with the 3200 Lipo Peak/Orion battery. Our tests show the 17.5 motor is just too hot to replace the current STOCK 4 cell class.
We held the 3rd event of the 07 SWTour Series Saturday at the newly reopened METRO R/C SPEEDWAY in Bakersfield CA. This 280 ft. HIGH Banked Concrete Tri-Oval is the only CAP tire short track in CALIF.
Test Pilot for todays run was JOSH SMITH - from Team KGB Racing.
Josh was put in the Stock Class for the first round of qualifying - although the motor looked really strong in the early practice runs.
In this first heat, with a calculation for gear ratio based on a number I created for this motor based on the known rollout for the 4300 times and gear ratio, Josh came out of the box with the following results.
56/5:02.54 Josh Smith
51/5:01.33 Tim Twyman
51/5:03.15 Dane Hopkins.
The 51 lap run of Tim Twyman was the actual stock TQ after the first run, and the 17.5 LIPO had it 5 laps down on it's maiden run.
Compare lap times (First 10 laps)
17.5 / STOCK
5.15 - 6.01
5.28 - 5.92
5.14 - 5.81
5.08 - 5.69
5.24 - 5.70
5.20 - 5.84
5.36 - 5.80
5.30 - 5.82
5.22 - 5.70
5.18 - 5.71
Last 5 laps
5.47 - 5.91
5.45 - 6.19
5.36 - 5.94
5.30 - 5.79
5.39 - 6.23
So it was obvious that the 17.5/LIPO was TOO HOT for Stock...once again. So we moved JOSH to the 4300 class in the same round of qualifying...
Josh simply recharged the LIPO pack and had the car ready for the 4300 heat...which he won with his 58/5.03:25 to John Miles 57/5:03.00. After the first round Josh with his 17.5/Lipo was faster than the 4300 class TQ - Scot Petitclerc (Our last test pilot) which ran a 58/5:05.26
Here are some sample lap times between Josh and Scot.
First 10 laps of their 1st runs.
17.5/4300
5.13 - 5.27
5.13 - 5.19
5.14 - 5.36
5.06 - 5.12
5.07 - 5.15
5.11 - 4.96
5.14 - 5.05
5.25 - 5.33
5.08 - 5.12
5.07 - 5.10
And the last 5 laps
5.33 - 5.10
5.39 - 5.20
5.35 - 5.15
5.27 - 5.16
5.34 - 5.60
In the second round, Josh and the test motor picked up to a 58/5:02.87, but smokin Gary Hamilton stepped up the 4300 TQ time running a 60/5:01.44. Hamilton spent most of the race running high 4.8's and low 4.9's, while Smith was able to run a few 4.9's but spent most of his time in the 5.0 - 5.1 range.
The third round times almost mirrored round two, Hamilton stepped the TQ to a 61 lap run going 61/5:03.
Josh would qualify 4th in the 12 car field while Hamilton took the TQ spot.
In the main Josh pulled the tallest gear of the day, his times dropped off from 5.0's in the early runs to a consistant 5.2 from Lap 2 to the final lap on 57 with a handful of high 5.1's in the mix.
Hamiltons car also dropped a little speed in the main running mostly 4.9's and 5.0's with a 8 car field.
Smith's steady hand and collision avoidance ability let him beat Hamilton who got collected in a crash on lap 9. The hard charging Hamilton was able to pull of a 2nd place finish just 2 seconds behind Smith.
NOTE: Gary Hamilton pretty much OWNS the METRO track in Bakersfield. He's been the dominant MODIFIED driver and set the bar pretty high for the 4300/10.5 class as well. He spend a lot of time refining his setup and gearing for the 4300. Smith came in Saturday morning - I handed him the motor and told him where I wanted him to start the gearing, which is where it stayed most of the day. Smiths car seemed to have a slight push through the corners and I feel if we could have resolved that we would have seen his times equal those of Hamiltons. (Maybe we'll get Hamilton to do the next TEST w/ this motor) Josh also mentioned the balance of the car with the lighter lipo never felt quite right...and since the lipo is about 2/3rds the weight of a 4 cell pack we may have simply needed to add a couple oz's of lead weight to the LH side.
We're looking forward to testing a NEW motor from NoVAK soon, but will continue to test this 17.5 as well. I think this motor will make a great cross over motor to mix with the 4 cell 4300 class to allow LIPO's to run in nearly perfect harmony.
ADDED: I almost forgot - The TQ for the STOCK Class, set by DANE HOPKINS a 52/5:02.62 with lap times mostly in the 5.6 range.
We held the 3rd event of the 07 SWTour Series Saturday at the newly reopened METRO R/C SPEEDWAY in Bakersfield CA. This 280 ft. HIGH Banked Concrete Tri-Oval is the only CAP tire short track in CALIF.
Test Pilot for todays run was JOSH SMITH - from Team KGB Racing.
Josh was put in the Stock Class for the first round of qualifying - although the motor looked really strong in the early practice runs.
In this first heat, with a calculation for gear ratio based on a number I created for this motor based on the known rollout for the 4300 times and gear ratio, Josh came out of the box with the following results.
56/5:02.54 Josh Smith
51/5:01.33 Tim Twyman
51/5:03.15 Dane Hopkins.
The 51 lap run of Tim Twyman was the actual stock TQ after the first run, and the 17.5 LIPO had it 5 laps down on it's maiden run.
Compare lap times (First 10 laps)
17.5 / STOCK
5.15 - 6.01
5.28 - 5.92
5.14 - 5.81
5.08 - 5.69
5.24 - 5.70
5.20 - 5.84
5.36 - 5.80
5.30 - 5.82
5.22 - 5.70
5.18 - 5.71
Last 5 laps
5.47 - 5.91
5.45 - 6.19
5.36 - 5.94
5.30 - 5.79
5.39 - 6.23
So it was obvious that the 17.5/LIPO was TOO HOT for Stock...once again. So we moved JOSH to the 4300 class in the same round of qualifying...
Josh simply recharged the LIPO pack and had the car ready for the 4300 heat...which he won with his 58/5.03:25 to John Miles 57/5:03.00. After the first round Josh with his 17.5/Lipo was faster than the 4300 class TQ - Scot Petitclerc (Our last test pilot) which ran a 58/5:05.26
Here are some sample lap times between Josh and Scot.
First 10 laps of their 1st runs.
17.5/4300
5.13 - 5.27
5.13 - 5.19
5.14 - 5.36
5.06 - 5.12
5.07 - 5.15
5.11 - 4.96
5.14 - 5.05
5.25 - 5.33
5.08 - 5.12
5.07 - 5.10
And the last 5 laps
5.33 - 5.10
5.39 - 5.20
5.35 - 5.15
5.27 - 5.16
5.34 - 5.60
In the second round, Josh and the test motor picked up to a 58/5:02.87, but smokin Gary Hamilton stepped up the 4300 TQ time running a 60/5:01.44. Hamilton spent most of the race running high 4.8's and low 4.9's, while Smith was able to run a few 4.9's but spent most of his time in the 5.0 - 5.1 range.
The third round times almost mirrored round two, Hamilton stepped the TQ to a 61 lap run going 61/5:03.
Josh would qualify 4th in the 12 car field while Hamilton took the TQ spot.
In the main Josh pulled the tallest gear of the day, his times dropped off from 5.0's in the early runs to a consistant 5.2 from Lap 2 to the final lap on 57 with a handful of high 5.1's in the mix.
Hamiltons car also dropped a little speed in the main running mostly 4.9's and 5.0's with a 8 car field.
Smith's steady hand and collision avoidance ability let him beat Hamilton who got collected in a crash on lap 9. The hard charging Hamilton was able to pull of a 2nd place finish just 2 seconds behind Smith.
NOTE: Gary Hamilton pretty much OWNS the METRO track in Bakersfield. He's been the dominant MODIFIED driver and set the bar pretty high for the 4300/10.5 class as well. He spend a lot of time refining his setup and gearing for the 4300. Smith came in Saturday morning - I handed him the motor and told him where I wanted him to start the gearing, which is where it stayed most of the day. Smiths car seemed to have a slight push through the corners and I feel if we could have resolved that we would have seen his times equal those of Hamiltons. (Maybe we'll get Hamilton to do the next TEST w/ this motor) Josh also mentioned the balance of the car with the lighter lipo never felt quite right...and since the lipo is about 2/3rds the weight of a 4 cell pack we may have simply needed to add a couple oz's of lead weight to the LH side.
We're looking forward to testing a NEW motor from NoVAK soon, but will continue to test this 17.5 as well. I think this motor will make a great cross over motor to mix with the 4 cell 4300 class to allow LIPO's to run in nearly perfect harmony.
ADDED: I almost forgot - The TQ for the STOCK Class, set by DANE HOPKINS a 52/5:02.62 with lap times mostly in the 5.6 range.