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First exact lap timing results
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Speed Chart Summer through Winter 2000/2001 First exact lap timing results
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The day of truth finally arrived - the endless lapping alone finally has a new purpose: now I can explore the limit with exact 1/1000th second accuracy timing. After months of research over the winter, I purchased the BEPFE Club 4-lane slot timing system with additional trap speed sensors (still to be tested on a faster track). Finally, 25 years after borrowing my father's first digital watch with stop watch function, I finally get accurate timing for each lap and can see if what I always thought to be a fast driving style is really was faster than a different approach to racing these slot cars around the corners. Just a few hundred laps into testing and two things became obvious: the timing system is bulletproof and accurate, and my original driving style was the right way to go fast. It really helps to get instant lap time feedback when you want to know if just a little more gas in once section is faster or slower. The accuracy of the timing system is extremely impressive, and purchasing the system with 1/1000th second resolution has proven to be the a good choice - on shorter tracks cars run lap times that are very close to each other! The software saves every lap time to file for later analysis, while providing the option to have huge letters on the screen for quick visibility while running hotlaps. The next step after getting used to the new timing system was to find out which of my cars was the fastest on the current rather technical and tight track. For those Uni fans who actually have the track pieces to build the above track (note, the two chicane track pieces have been replaced with two regular straight track pieces for a better flow) and possibly want to compare their driving to my laptimes, here are a few more details: I run everything with the standard Carrera controllers with brake (not the more expensive Carrera 124 ceramic resistor type - those are slower!), and my power supply is a Hewlett-Packard Lab quality 0-20 Volts DC, 10amp unit. I have it set to 20V, and use the small 3 amp front power terminal in the device (no reason to use 10 amp, when cars use only 0.7 amps each). All lap times below are run at 20 Volts. All cars have standard Carrera Universal motors (even the converted Fly cars use these motors, see the other pages on this site for details). There also is one additional power feed about 5 meters away from the main power feed to keep the power at an even level around the 11.8 meter lap. Another finding was that tires are the most important element to fast laps, although there are some exceptions to the rule (see the Panoz on 25 year old original Carrera rubber almost taking the top spot! I will test that car on repro tires soon). Still, each car needs to be perfectly clean, lubed, and adjusted. Some of the slower cars exhibited some problems with power pickup, tire rub, axle hop, etc - there is plenty of work for me in the winter to get these cars to their maximum performance levels which may cause a shift in the ranking below if I don't change my track). After the long introduction, below finally the lap times from day one of practice on lane 1. Note, I assign a driver name to all my cars - a practice I started 25 years ago when I first raced with some of my neighbors - each major racing session became a virtual race of the cars matched against each other, not of us against each other. We just were the drivers, who on occasion drove cars our friends owned. It helps to identify cars much faster than to say "the blue Porsche 908 with starting number 1 and the replaced driver helmet...). Just say "I am diving Jo Siffert" today. I guess you had ot be there. Names assigned to the cars below follow as closely as possible our childhood hero choices in the late '70s. Duplicate cars I now own and cars we never owned in the "old days" are named at random with period names, or with whatever else came to mind.
To find more about Carrera Universal, visit some of these fine web sites: |
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©2001 Peter Burke
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