been competing at local club races for about 6 months now, not winning obviously but keeping up okay except i feel like in the longer straights guys are just pulling away from me in a way that doesnt seem like just skill difference. like on technical sections i can hang with most of the mid pack but then we hit an open section and im just watching everyone disappear.

running a 5 inch on 6s, 2306 motors around 2450kv, the usual gemfan 51466 props. tune is decent i think, not getting any propwash issues. auw is around 670g all up with a 1300 lipo. just not sure if its a power thing, a tune thing, or if i need to just fly better lines or what. probably a combination but curious if anyone has been in this situation

670g is on the heavier side for a 5inch race quad tbh. whats your frame and stack situation, like are you running a heavy FC stack or something chunky. some guys get way down to 580-610g with the same motor class and it makes a noticeable difference in acceleration which is really what matters on shorter straights more than top speed anyway.

also 2450kv on 6s is a bit on the lower end for pure racing, not saying its wrong but some guys are running 2600 or even 2700kv for more aggressive top end. depends what the track rewards. might be worth borrowing someones quad for a heat just to see if the gap closes, that'll tell you pretty quick if its the quad or the flying

honestly could just be lines and throttle management more than hardware. ive seen guys on pretty average setups beat people with expensive purpose built race quads just because they brake less and carry more speed into turns. the straight speed thing might actually be that you're losing momentum in the corners before the straight rather than actually being slower on the straight itself if that makes sense. video review of your own flights is kind of brutal but its the fastest way to figure it out