Post by robfitzgerald on Apr 3, 2006 8:12:00 GMT
Confessions of an X10 owner ...
I need to start by admitting that when I saw the Pred was being made again (and in improved format) I just HAD to have one. I have been racing for years and can remember the very first time I saw one down at the Ashford club just before the car was released. I never seemed to be able to afford one back then (was spending too much money on motorbikes) so when the chance came up again I just had to have one. This is where the confession comes in - I actually never intended to race it - it was going to take pride of place in my office to be admired on a daily basis.
After a while I started to realise how wrong it was to have a race car that I didn't race - it's just wrong. I made the decision to enter some regionals this year and race it.
As the time got nearer I started to worry more and more - the Pred has a reputation for being weak and for being difficult to drive for less skilled drivers and I started to panic. When a Losi XX4 became available I bought one.
I kitted both cars out and ran the round in the back garden and decided that the XX4 was a lot more suited to me and the Pred was something of an unguided missile - FAST but slightly too much on the edge.
Yesterday was the first regional and I made sure I got there in plenty of time to try both cars - I had only greens for the X10 and greens and yellows for the Losi so I suppose I had already decided. I drove the Losi first and was suprised how good it was right away but lacked a bit of kick out of the corners and a little bit of steering but I thought I could fix that. I then ran the pred for what was to be a few laps just to say I had tried it ...
WOW ! - just how wrong can you be. Right off the car was miles better. Much faster, more steering and even more precise. It was easy to decide which car to race.
I actually found the car quite easy to drive even though it was fast - this really suprised me but in round one I dumped (old cells) and after a head on with a car who jumped the ropes I managed to break a front gearbox top (old type) - oh dear was this how it was going to be ?
I got a gearbox top but with only 45 minutes between heats didn't get it fixed in time for round 2 and had to run the Losi. Slower lap times, slower overall time and less consistent - the computer doesn't lie.
With the car rebuilt for round 3 and a few teaks to the front camber I set a better time. Round 4 saw me really needing a set of yellows I didn't have so I just started driving a bit more agressively and the car responded.
I qualified 9th but it was 8 car finals so that saw me in the B final. In the final itself I pulled out a good lead and started pushing and pushing. After a few minutes I had a good lead and backed off a tiny bit but not much. At 4 minutes a car was ever so slightly catching me and I wasn't sure he was on the same lap so I pushed again....
At 290 seconds I crossed the loop and the car died - no power everyone streamed past and did another lap - gutted.
I went to check the lap times and had a very nice suprise - at 290 seconds I was so far in front I still won the race
What a great car - sorry I ever doubted you Fred (now named 'Fred the Pred' by Dean Obon)
PS - Anyone want to buy a Losi XX4 ?
I need to start by admitting that when I saw the Pred was being made again (and in improved format) I just HAD to have one. I have been racing for years and can remember the very first time I saw one down at the Ashford club just before the car was released. I never seemed to be able to afford one back then (was spending too much money on motorbikes) so when the chance came up again I just had to have one. This is where the confession comes in - I actually never intended to race it - it was going to take pride of place in my office to be admired on a daily basis.
After a while I started to realise how wrong it was to have a race car that I didn't race - it's just wrong. I made the decision to enter some regionals this year and race it.
As the time got nearer I started to worry more and more - the Pred has a reputation for being weak and for being difficult to drive for less skilled drivers and I started to panic. When a Losi XX4 became available I bought one.
I kitted both cars out and ran the round in the back garden and decided that the XX4 was a lot more suited to me and the Pred was something of an unguided missile - FAST but slightly too much on the edge.
Yesterday was the first regional and I made sure I got there in plenty of time to try both cars - I had only greens for the X10 and greens and yellows for the Losi so I suppose I had already decided. I drove the Losi first and was suprised how good it was right away but lacked a bit of kick out of the corners and a little bit of steering but I thought I could fix that. I then ran the pred for what was to be a few laps just to say I had tried it ...
WOW ! - just how wrong can you be. Right off the car was miles better. Much faster, more steering and even more precise. It was easy to decide which car to race.
I actually found the car quite easy to drive even though it was fast - this really suprised me but in round one I dumped (old cells) and after a head on with a car who jumped the ropes I managed to break a front gearbox top (old type) - oh dear was this how it was going to be ?
I got a gearbox top but with only 45 minutes between heats didn't get it fixed in time for round 2 and had to run the Losi. Slower lap times, slower overall time and less consistent - the computer doesn't lie.
With the car rebuilt for round 3 and a few teaks to the front camber I set a better time. Round 4 saw me really needing a set of yellows I didn't have so I just started driving a bit more agressively and the car responded.
I qualified 9th but it was 8 car finals so that saw me in the B final. In the final itself I pulled out a good lead and started pushing and pushing. After a few minutes I had a good lead and backed off a tiny bit but not much. At 4 minutes a car was ever so slightly catching me and I wasn't sure he was on the same lap so I pushed again....
At 290 seconds I crossed the loop and the car died - no power everyone streamed past and did another lap - gutted.
I went to check the lap times and had a very nice suprise - at 290 seconds I was so far in front I still won the race
What a great car - sorry I ever doubted you Fred (now named 'Fred the Pred' by Dean Obon)
PS - Anyone want to buy a Losi XX4 ?
