11.26.23 360v2 – Eclipse5i

Continuing with my write ups for the inline kits but this time its the Eclispe5i kit. I played a solo run down to 360v2 this past Sunday. Jealous of the big dogs running Cleveland for the weekend I thought it would be a great time to try some things.

Two weeks prior I spent the weekend wrenching on the X12 inline kit and bouncing some runs with the Eclipse5i. I didnt put too much into the car for tuning but had enough that I was comfortable dropping it for a virgin race day. Half way to the track my brain reminded me I forgot my main box of tires. Strike one for being prepared. Being a hour drive I notched it up to track support and getting tires there. Always support your track first – and when you forget stuff an hour away.

Setup my pit and started charging. Went through my mental checklist of things with the car and sauced the tires. After the first pack warmed my dry tires up I went out with the second pack and some throttle. Having the same Orca 17.5 motor in my Eclipse5i as I did in my X12 I had ideas of lap times. The Schumacher picked right up with laps like my Xray, mid to low 11’s. I can work with that was my thinking.

17.5 is more my interest for a few personal reasons. I feel like 17.5 is a fast class where setup is more important then motors. Kind of like the old stock class before brushless. A good setup made the worse motor fast but a fast motor could never make a bad car handle. So for me the 17.5 is more of a Tuners class. Im not saying 13.5 is easier at all but you got a little more motor to make up for track errors.

But 17.5 isnt really the popular class at 360 and its understandable. The track size and bite level make 13.5 easy to handle. They seem to run it when enough drivers show up and 13.5 is the popular choice. Original thought was just run the 17.5 Orca with the Spec tires and work on the clock. The thought didnt last long as I went in the hobby shot and grabbed a 13.5 motor. No favorites but they did have the new Motiv MC5 and Ive always been a fan of their quality. From the shop to the car it went and got some gearing ideas from another fast driver.

The goal for the day – Keep the car in one piece and make notes of what not to do. All goals accomplished and very impressed with how it handled. Still sticking on the purple stripe spec tires it was time to qualify.

So first round I went out with what I feel is a soft setup. Silver front springs, 10k side dampers, Gold bump spring and opted to use the A12 0.6 side springs. I put a set on the Xray for its first run and felt I liked them. The A12 springs are taller then the stock Schumacher and Xray springs and non progressive. The non progressive to me feels smoother and more consistent. Also being a little taller I feel it smoothens out the side to side. Only catch is you will need the A12 spring holders or you can use the Xray ones, I prefered the X12 because of the longer grub screws.

First qualifier I was feeling out my throttle and battery situation. Kept the car in the line around the track and push on it every now and then. Just getting my toes wet with what the car was gonna do. Easy to drive and I had steam left in the tank since my gearing was off.

Second qualifier I went up a tooth and made some suspension changes. Thats where I started moving away from the track. My thinking was track bite is coming up so lets work at stepping springs up. I stepped my fronts up to Golds and can say the car felt unchanged. Still easy to drive and the gear up brought some speed up for me. Was my best feeling qualifier out of 3.

Now third round was where I sent the car out of any setup window. Leaving the gold fronts in place I next tried changing my gold bump spring to the nickle. In my head I was believing track bite is coming up so if I step up my springs the track will provide the bite. The learning part of that for me was the rear bite comes in faster and I developed a push. This caused me to add dual rate which then in turn causes me to scrub corner speed.

After 3rd round I noticed I was rolling the chassis and rubbing the carpet. I wasnt doing this all day and I was on bigger tires this time. I created my problem. My theory is my car gained rear bite faster then its front and I was fighting the carpet for traction. I was removing traction in the car instead of letting it use what was available.

Over all in 13.5 for my first time running it with this kit I was super pleased. Even with being on spec striped tires I dont feel like they held me back yet. They will be getting some better foams but not just yet.

I was able to attach video of my Q2 run. Its always great to watch old runs and just see where mistakes were made. Im also attaching my setup sheet for this weekend. Next visit will be in 2 weeks with just a side spring change. I do want to step down to the A12 silver side springs as my only change.

For now heres some video to watch – no fancy paint, just a yellow body that leads the field off to start.

And heres a setup sheet that could help.