[Tamar]

Hello slot friends. As you may have noticed the posts in this thread are jumping up and down the sequential timeline of the GTE build.
Its a bit like watching a TV series that starts near the end of the story and then tries to explain to you how they got there via lots of confusing Flashbacks 
So tonight's episode will grab your attention, its like an end of season cliffhanger, one that ends with a Big Bang   


A Penultimate Test
In the last episode we had the roll-out of the car in "naked" GRP. As a function test it performed well, we identified some handling problems and other issues like a bend chassis. (on which I will post later).
Spend most of my free time last week addressing them because this Sunday we had an other test day ion Best.  
Based on the results of Sunday's test we would make the final decision on if there might still be a chance to run the M8 at Le Mans.
So by Sunday afternoon I placed the M8 on the track, her body now dressed in a nice clean and white test livery, her chassis straightened and reinforced.


The SV8GTE all dressed up for her penultimate test.

I even managed to install the headlights properly, added the head and taillight lenses and mounted the flexible rubber Wing supports...cause I needed to know, would they stay on the car or come off during running...or crashing.
By the way, that's the Prospeed Corvette C7R flashing by in the background. They to were shaking down their Le Mans cars, so both teams could compare where they were at..with the competition 
First laps with the M8 showed that the car was now stable and predictable. No more bottomming out on the high parts of the track, initial lapttimes were in the low 12's.
Lennard did some consecutive runs with both the M8 and the Ford which showed that the track was a bit slower than last time.
The Ford also had problems getting below the 12 seconds but did manage an 11,96. Prospeed C7R's average times were in the mid 12's with a best of 12.09.

We then started to fine tune the set-up of the M8, mainly playing with the front pod screw and minor adjustments to the diffuser grubscrews.
Slowly, but steadilly the laptimes on the M8 went down. Lennard setting an 11.93 as best M8 lap of the day.


The SV8GTE, Ford GT LM and the ProSpeed C7R  coming out of the 130R


With me and Steven being able to do low 12's and Lennard dipping into the 11's frequently we were pretty pleased with the M8...until it started to become a bit unstable again.
Upon inspection of the car we noticed that both front bodyscrewpost had sheered of in the body.
I sort of expected that this would/could happen as I had glued these into the body "rigidly" with cyanoacrylic glue (superglue) with a flexible glue on top.
The previous bodyposts I had glued completely with "flexible" Bison Tix or Bison Max repair.
What was unexpected was the apparent minor crash and force needed to break the bond of the Superglue, but on close inspection I noticed that the glue was still in place.
The post had seperated from the body by taking one layer of lamination with them.

The SV8GTE after I had reglued the most forward body screw posts with flexible glue (Bison Extreme repair) more on this in a later post.

Taking Stock, decision time.
With Steven and Lennard needing to leave, we took stock of the M8 situation and determined that we all would prefer to run the M8 instead of the Ford....
...That handling and speed wise they were alsmost on par and that with some more testing and development the M8 has the potential to become even better.
But given the uncertencies of the body posts, the fact that we would not have the first true 3DP race chassis from Shapeways before end of next week, which would require at least an other weekend of testing...
...and that we would still need to do the second body (lamination, paint and lights) ...with just 3 weekends till showtime...

We decided that it would be best to continue with the Ford and develop the M8 in the next race (most likely Rockingham this summer).
But....as this was supposed to be an M8 test, we did not leave it at that.

With the glue set enough to remove the body screws, we did another run with the M8 with the bodyscrews back in the original Carrera position (so glad I had left them in place in the body) to see if the car would be slower.
It was, by a tiny bit. Lennard now managing "just" a 11.96
End of the day, Lennard and Steven had left. I had one heavy last test to perform. I knew I had to do it, but kept postponing te inevitable...good thing I did.

I had noticed that the glue on the most frontal bodyposts had set...enough to re-mount the body on them and tighten the screws.
I then fiddled a bit more with the suspension travel, chassis float and increased the amount of pressure by which the body was leaning on the rear diffuser.
As I did this my laptimes with the M8 came down from the low 12.20's to low 12's and posted a best lap time of 11.96... and I'm usually at least 1 -2 tenths slower than Lennard.

So time for the last scene of this season finale


Crash test Dummies
When you're building a slot car with a laminated GRP body that you want to race in the DiSCA Le Mans 24hrs, the most tasking, demanding 1/32 digital endurance race in the world...
...How can you find out if its strong enough to survive a head on crash at full speed on the 16m long Mulsanne straight? 
Because these things can or beter will happen.

Well...you do a crash test...as this kind of knowledge...can only be acquired... the hard way!



Location: End of the Pit straight (6m long) 1/32nd Suzuka track, Src Eindhoven, Best, The Netherlands.
Test subject: 1/32nd SV8GTE GRP body 22 gr, total weight 76,2 gr
Crash test dummy: Our Scalex Nissan GTR "Safetycar", Injection moulded plastic body 35 gr, total weight 86gr

Here's the link to the you tube play list: SV8GTE Crash Testing
Note: Not for the fainthearted, no other slot cars besides the SV8GTE were hurt in these videos

to be continued.....

With kind regards
Tamar