Long-term Review: F1: Part 1: Shakedown

Started testing tonight with the Carbon Limited Edition F1. I ran it box stock at Kenon tonight to get an impression of any improvements over the bone stock original.

Initial reports are mixed. I'll get more in depth later, but here are a quick 20 questions.

1) Is it better than the bone stock car? Yes.

2) Is that because of the upgrade parts? No.

3) Does the car come tweaked like the clear chassis sometimes would? No.

4) Is the grey chassis stiffer? Yes.

5) Does it drive differently? Yes.

6) Is the grey bumper stronger than the clear one? Yes.

7) Does the grey bumper have good ground clearance without modifications? Yes.

8) Is it the bumper I would race with? No.

9) Do the plastic knuckles still stick with the stainless kingpins? Yes.

10) Is the plate damper system good? Yes.

11) Is it enough to plant the rear end? No.

12) Am I happy with the upgrades that came on the car? Yes.

13) Am I happy with the way the car drives out of the box? No.

14) Is the car competitive out of the box? No.

15) Am I disappointed? No.

16) Am I planning on modifying the car? Yes.

17) Am I planning on adding upgrade parts to the car? Yes.

18) Will they be expensive? No.

19) Is this car the best way toward a competitive F1? Yes.

20) Will Crotty beat me this year with a near-bone-stock car? Man, I hope not... :d

All in all, it was a frustrating but valuable test session. The car needs some lovin. I'm tempted to just throw my old setup on it and be happy, but I know that the competition has definitely caught up in the last year or so. That plus the transition to mod motors means it's time for a clean sheet approach.

-jc