OlivierWierda

■ 1/10 size 4WD touring car
■ Front and rear equal length 2 belt drive
■ FRP double-deck chassis
■ Front and rear universal shaft
■ Front and rear sealed gear differentials
■ 4-wheel independent double wishbone suspension
■ Vehicle height adjustable oil damper
■ Lightweight aluminum differential axle
■ Full ball bearing
◇ 48 pitch pinion gear (30T) and spur gear (86T) includedHigh quality drivetrain with ball bearings, universal shaft, and sealed gear differential.

Center motor drive with equal-length belts front and rear, and a well-balanced chassis configuration in all directions.

The suspension is supported by high-precision oil shocks to ensure high-speed cornering.

Tmarsh34

Thoughts on this car as an affordable way to get into on-road racing? I race 1/10 off-road but have no experience or knowledge with on-road. There’s an indoor black carpet track near me that races 17.5 1/12 open tire, 21.5 USGT on gravity tires, 17.5 Touring Car on jaco blue tires, and 25.5 F1 on pit shimizu / CRC. I don’t know anything about the tires but am guessing I could run this car in 21.5 USGT and maybe 17.5 TC too? Which of these 4 classes is best for a beginner? Can this platform be competitive out of the box and be upgraded, or will I save money in the long run by getting a higher-end used car? I have all the electronics (unless spec motors are required). Maybe this belongs in a different thread. Thanks for any help anyway.

gom

iTrader: (1)

There are way better value option out there. The bd12 is a good car. But not this. May be look into 3racing? Or Xpress? And yes, a used high end touring car would be better than this.

​​​​​​21.5 usgt is the class for beginner touring.

Tmarsh34

Thanks for the quick reply, you make it sound like it’s not something to get excited about for entry level racing. It’s brand new though right? So who is it aimed at if not new racers?

skypilot

iTrader: (14)

take a 21.5 touring car, put on crappy tires and a body that may or may not work, hardly a beginner class

DirkW

iTrader: (1)

For some people the slowest motor automatically makes a class the beginner class. (which is a major factor, but should never be the only one - see VTA)

OlivierWierda

I don't really get the dislike for this chassis, I think for the money, it offers a lot that can be of value for the beginner, sure it doensn't have the best upgrade path, but for 200$ NEW, I think it is a great value.
For 200$ you can get a somewhat older Xray T4 or one of the early X4's, but based from personal experience, it is a total gamble to buy a 2nd hand Xray, some will be pristine, with great maintainance, a decent setup and some spares, and some will be a total mess, where the car is "not acting right", and the original owner never managed to solve the issue: good luck finding it as a beginner.

Especially for Indoor I think this car will be good: with the fibreglass and composite parts instead of alu and carbon, the car will be lighter and more flexible than a "top-level" chassis, minimizing breakages and from what I can see from the pictures the parts look REALLY solid.

I have the BD12, and to be honest, if I ever need a 2nd spare car for rain or special conditions: I'd buy this one.

mr.rev

IMO the best option for a beginner is to run the chassis that is most used in your local track. Or at least pick one that has a large local user base.

Setting up, getting spare parts, overcoming strange behaviours and so on...will be so much easier.

disaster999

iTrader: (1)

Considering the 3racing Cero sport is just 100 bucks or less and can out perform cars 7 times its price in the right hands, this $200 Yokomo car is most certainly not a good value for beginners

Juan Aveytia

Bet Yokomo quality kills any 3 racing crap. This car will be solid for asphalt. Black carpet will struggle. And for a young kid or beginner. It’ll be a solid car.

OlivierWierda

I think at this price point, they have to cut corners somewhere. Consider things like composites used for the plastic parts, mould tolerances, material choices for high-wear parts like bearings, outdrives and drive shafts, manufacturer choices for things like the belts, spur gear.

The reason I like this car is that they saved 420€ kit price vs the BD12, without really cutting any corners. Sure you could argue 'the bulkheads are not alu', but the parts that actually wear or break are super tough (for example the width of the standard belt seems wider than normal), the outdrives and drive shafts are full metal.

With the fibreglass and the plastics comes less rigidity and more flex, so indeed, on carpet it might struggle for pace against the top dogs, but you will be laughing straight to the bank if one of the 'top' cars clips a corner or collects another car: the fibreglass and plastic will just flex in a collision without permanent deformation, while carbon and alu' would snap and bend.

Tmarsh34

How upgradable is this thing? I’m gathering that black carpet is high traction and stiffer is generally better on that surface. Does it share parts with other models?

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

For $200 new, there are better looking options.

This is probably competent but wouldn't be my first pick at that budget.

gom

iTrader: (1)

If you intend to buy this and plan to upgrade slowly into a bd12, the cost of upgrading will exceed the cost of a brand new bd12. It's better to just buy the bd12 instead.

The reason why I don't recommend this car as a budget touring is not because of this however. It is due to durability and consistency. Some key parts (eg. bulkheads, lower arm mounts, etc) in this chassis are made out of plastic, so it cannot with stand medium to hard collisions. As beginners, we want durability because we get hit a lot. When that happens, we need the car to not tweak. Motors are really powerful these days. Even a 21.5 goes really fast. It's not fun when you have a light to medium crash, and then the car runs inconsistently after. These plastic parts don't break per say. They might bend a little. Or the screw is stripped and it's hard to notice.

You'll notice that on the bd12, there are plastic pieces as well (C-hubs, steering arms, etc). Those parts are meant to break on collision. Taking the bulk of the damage so that the important parts don't break or tweak (they still do on very hard collisions however).

One of the best response so far on this forum is the one suggestion to buy the same car that most racers run on your local track. Buy a used version of that, then take it apart and rebuild it. They'll let you know which parts break the most so that you can stock up on those. They'll also be able to trouble shoot if something goes wrong.

Just to give some context here. I drive a bd12 myself. I also owned a BD7 RS long time ago (It's the plastic budget version of the BD7). Ran it in stock 17.5 for a season, and noticed the problems that I listed above. If I knew, I would have bought something else even at a higher price. That being said I don't know much about the 3racing or Xpress car. I cannot speak for their build quality. You are better off asking on those forums instead. However, if you really like to buy a Yokomo, then just buy the bd12. Or buy a bd11 new if you can still find one.

gigaplex

iTrader: (2)

Plastic works fine in those locations. It flexes whereas aluminium stays bent.