CondeAfonso

Just took the F103GT for another drive today... Amazing!! I could round and round the track without crashing or getting out of the line once! (witch of course did not happen but that's another story.. )

I did feel the car under steering. Not on the long fast turns, but on the slow tight ones, specially on full acceleration, when coming out, witch doesn't make much sense to me, but i always had so much trouble with the rear spinning that lack of front grip was new. I understood that the softer car was allowing more weight transfer to the rear, and this should be a natural cause. Should..

I had foams on the front (from some nitro cars i bought on the local shop) and on the back rubber. I then tried to change them to see what would happen (curiosity makes this things..) and the car was uncontrollable. The back would spin so much again that the car wouldn't move forward one full meter. And this time I knew it was not suspension anymore because the car handles like on rails. Sure it's weird to see the car 'floating', almost like a boat, all over the bumpy bad cemented and dusty track, but the rear never gets lost like before. I knew for sure it was the tires.
Yes, i'm using very good tires on the back (Sorex 28 with tamiya insert, witch i don't know the softness, but its the stock TT01 kit ones) but i never knew the foam ones were so bad, that i lost all the traction. I the used the foam rear wheel tires on the front (they are waaay wider) and the car got a little more grip. Tha was like for one lap until the battery was... puff!

Another problem i've been noticing is the motor getting very very very hot. I read before in this thread that others had this issue but i don't know until what point it is normal. The can is impossible to touch. I tried silver can.. ouch! black sport tuned.. Ouch! 24 pinion, 25 pinion.. all the same, the motor gets too much hot, and the car is also not noticeable faster or slower with any. I will try to change my speed controller for the tamiya one to see if that might be a problem. I have to put my throttle travel to 96% because above that the motor just stops. Maybe the speed controller is too much for this motors? It's a Modelsport Sniper RV-20.

Anyway, first thing to do: go online and order another Sorex 28 for the front

CondeAfonso

Something bad just happened... The car went over the corrector (the white/red thing on the side of the turns, but problem is the corrector is broken. It has a one meter hole in the middle of the turn. And it went just there. No need to say that it makes a 90 degree vertical and the car just went from reaaly fast (that's why it went so wide in the first place) into stopped in 0 seconds!

Result:


And this is half of it. The shock mount on the motor pod went oval, the motor plate also cracked, even the rear plate is cracked... And the front bumper is gone, and the bumper support is bent.. outch!



Good thing is... I managed to make a quick fix until new parts arrive. They are already ordered so it should take around 3 weeks. Apart from that this car keeps on getting better and better! I was running with a brushless system and it's just so damn fast.. And very controllable too. It's amazing how it could not drive straight with a silver can, and after changing the rear pillow ball mount to a normal o-ring one and taking the friction plates out it now drives insanely well.

And the quick fix.. lololol it actualy works.. go figure

howardcano

iTrader: (37)

Hi CondeAfonso!

The soft suspension does not substantially affect the weight transfer to the rear wheels under acceleration. This is determined only by the wheelbase of the car and the location of the center of gravity. The suspension will affect the weight transfer only if the ride height changes, which is possible due to anti-squat, etc. Reducing understeer when accelerating out of a corner is perhaps the holy grail of suspension design.

I guess I didn't read closely enough, and didn't realize you were running the F103GT. If using rubber tires, you'll probably want a harder compound on the front than the rear.

The fiberglass rear T-plate might be more rugged, as it doesn't have the area near the screw hole cut out.

mailboxck

iTrader: (9)

I run my F103GT with all foam or all rubber tires. Never mix.

My best set up for foam is 38 shore rear and 42 or 45 shore front.

With rubber, its Sorex 36 all around.

It's a really good car to drive. Plus, it's really gentle on the tires. After an hour worth of run time, my foam tires only decreased in diameter by less than 1mm.

badboy

iTrader: (14)

Hi.

Can I use the Tyrell 023 front wing with the Ferrari 643 body shell?

Thanks.

ouinon

Hi!
who as the science to say me the number item of front hard foam tires for F103.
I search HARD FRONT FOAM in tamiya or TRG or shimizu. I am lost.

Thanks from France.

Hawk6

iTrader: (52)

F1 stuff for sale:
http://www.rctech.net/forum/r-c-item...ngs-heads.html

Thanks.

whitrzac

iTrader: (97)

I just picked up a used f103 15th anniversary

I will be racing rubber tire/carpet.


Is there anything I need to upgrade?


How many different versions of the 103 are there? What parts are compatible?

terry.sc

It depends on what width you are running to. A lot of clubs are running at 180mm wide, which means you can use F104 wheels and the TCS tyres, but you will have to fit the whole F104 front end on your chassis to make it narrow enough to be legal. If you can run at 200mm then there's nothing you need to upgrade at all.
F103 - basic chassis supplied with body sets
F103RS - basic F103 supplied without a body set
F103RX - basic F103 with link front suspension
F103RM - basic F103 with ball pivot rear suspension
F103L - long wheelbase indycar chassis
F103LM - Le Mans version, basic F103 but with wider chassis plate
F103LM-TRF - Le Mans carbon chassis and deck, alloy motor mount, link front suspension, ball pivot rear suspension, oil damper
F103GT - redesigned to fit touring car wheels
F103R - 15th Anniversary kit. carbon chassis and long top deck, alloy motor mount, alloy servo mount and diff parts, oil damper

All parts are interchangeable between them, also compatible with the majority of F104 parts as well.

whitrzac

iTrader: (97)

Thanks...

What rubber tires are recommended for a carpet track?

terry.sc

As our rubber cars have to be 180mm wide my rubber F103 has the whole F104 front end on it and F104 size tyres, Pit Shimizu 571 and 574 fronts with 572 rears. These tyres won't fit F103 wheels and mounting them on a standard F103 will give you a 200mm wide front end and a 180mm rear.

I have never used F103 size rubber tyres as we can't run rubbers at the F103 width, but the F103 size tyres in the same compounds as the tyres I use are Pit Shimizu 541 and 544 fronts with 542 rears.

whitrzac

iTrader: (97)

What's the difference between the 571(f1) and 574(f3)?

terry.sc

Different rubber compounds. They don't feel any different in your hands but the 574/544 gives a little more front grip than 571/541 on carpet. I use whichever is more appropriate for the track, on low grip carpet 574 to get the front end to bite, on high grip carpet the 571 to balance the car.

liljohn1064

iTrader: (17)

It sure would be nice to find the 15th anniversary t-bar mount set easily. Looks like it's in parts bag A (MA 20 - 23 including the antenna mount) according the manual. These parts were never sold as a hop up item for those of us that still like the F103. I bought a couple sets of similar parts from D-Drive by other makers, but can't find them anywhere on the market now.

I might have to get the 3Racing battery mount set, but not sure if when mounted they provide enough space for a lipo. Any one have any experience with that part?

Pro10noob

iTrader: (13)

I know some one who is selling his 15th edition...Could give him a hauler if any one is interested??

Regards Roy

EDIT....Never mind, just found out it has been sold for just onder 125 dollars