Vibe TC Challenge – R4 Report with James Herring

The Vibe Challenge has officially reached its halfway point, with Round 4 placing the Schumacher Vibe Touring Car in the hands of our newest — and currently fastest — SRC team member, James Herring. Fresh from winning the FPL 7 Elite title, James stepped up for his turn behind the wheel. If you’ve ever seen someone casually carrying carpets on their shoulder around the club… yes, that’s James.

About the Challenge

Thanks to the support of Schumacher RC, the club has a brand‑new Schumacher Vibe Touring Car to test over five consecutive rounds at our Killamarsh track. Each week, a different SRC driver takes the wheel, pushing the car to its limits and reporting back on performance, handling, and durability.

Chassis Report

The early verdict on the Vibe chassis is extremely positive:

• Zero failures

• No breakages

• Unanimously praised for ease of maintenance

Everyone who has worked on the car so far has commented on how straightforward it is to strip, adjust, and rebuild. Full credit to Schumacher for a clean, thoughtful design.

James’ Meeting – Fast, Focused, and Frustrating

James hit the ground running. From the first qualifier, the Vibe looked sharp, stable, and quick. His fastest lap was just 0.5 seconds off pace‑setter Matt Hipwell, placing him 8th overall out of nearly 40 racers.

As the track gripped up, however, the Justock electronics reached their ceiling. The car simply couldn’t match the top-end pace of the front runners, and James slipped back as the quicker drivers came through. Even so, he wrapped up qualifying in 11th overall, securing P2 in the B Final.

The Final – Bitter and Sweet

The start was flawless. James immediately applied pressure to Ben Gosling for the lead while holding off a charging Lewis Wardle. Midway through the race he made a strong move on Gosling — but chaos has a way of biting back.

During the battling, the small piece of foam James had used to wedge the battery in place worked loose. The car kept going… until it didn’t. With five laps remaining, the battery came free and exited the chassis, ending his race on the spot.

A gutting end to what had been an excellent performance.

Driver Feedback

Once James had cooled off, we asked him the standard Vibe Challenge questions:

How was the meeting for you?

The meeting was a lot of fun, it was difficult qualifying in the fast group as I lost a lot of time moving out of the way, but I think I extracted everything I could out of the car.

Strengths & weaknesses of the Vibe?

The vibe is very easy to work on and set up, it's resilient with no breakages and can put in respectable times considering how cheap the setup was. The only weakness I saw was the lack of roll bars, in fast changes of direction the car felt a little boat-like. 

How does it compare to your current car?

Compared with my Awesomatix the vibe is certainly steadier to drive. It would be well suited to a new driver. However it lacks the edge to gain those last few tenths through off power rotation and it may struggle with very high grip with the flexible chassis.

What would you do differently?

I can't say that I noticed anywhere that I could alter the car to make it quicker. I would try an even softer front spring and possibly softer damping but more out of interest as I don't think it would drop the lap times any further.

How do you think the others will find it?

I think the lack of punch would be most noticeable to the others, we're all very used to the power houses that are new 17.5s. Otherwise I think they will find it comfortable to drive but they may come unstuck if they try anything too outlandish with the setup. The balance was nice but it looked like it was at its limit.

Member Ratings

Our members once again cast their votes on James’ performance. Here are the averaged scores:

Member Comments

• “Schoolboy error with the battery fixing. Other than that it looked great.”

• “James had the car dialled in and handling really well. He was just unfortunate whilst leading in the B Final.”

• “Thought James drove extremely well. Very consistent, hitting every apex… just unlucky in the final.”

Next Up – Round 5 with Tom Berry

Round 5 sees Tom Berry take control of the Vibe. Tom is the only racer currently running a Schumacher car — though his is a vintage Axis from 2001. It’ll be fascinating to see how he adapts to the modern Vibe platform.

Want to Own the Club Vibe?

After the FPL Championship, the club’s Vibe car will be available for purchase:

• 5 meetings old

• Fully repaired and refreshed

• Includes all setups used by the five team drivers

• £150 for chassis and body

A great opportunity for anyone wanting a well‑sorted, race‑proven touring car with real club history behind it.