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U.S. Vintage Trans-Am Racing

Old 03-23-2011, 08:59 PM
  #11011  
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Originally Posted by snoopyrc
On that BMI TC3 is Jason still making parts for those?
Nope. All he is making is pan cars. I would love to get my hands on a matte black BMI TC3 sometime. I loved mine when I had one.

I also think there is a rare car made by HPI for drifting that wasn't available in the US that would be a VTA killer, as it is a strange layout that balances the car perfectly and puts the battery in the middle of the car. I think it was called a Pro D or something similar. There was one in the classifieds here not too long ago, but it was incomplete—and the car was initially REALLY expensive for what it was, too.
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Old 03-23-2011, 09:21 PM
  #11012  
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I've got a VERY nice BMI TC3, but it's got a lot of nice upgrade bits...some of which are quite rare. I THOUGHT the rear diff was a BMI piece but after consulting with Jason (Mr. BMI) he thinks it is a IRS piece...aluminum. It has Niftech CVD's which are PERFECT for alloy outdrives, etc, and a "HD" (Yokomo) one-way assembly. Otherwise it's all FT TC3 (driveshaft, shocks, etc). Would sell it, but it wouldn't sell cheap.

A similar car is the Warpspeed. The interesting thing with the Warpspeed is that it swaps the sides for motor and battery. Don't know why, it just does. I don't think there's any advantage or disadvantage. Similar double-deck design to the BMI conversion. I've also got one of these, FT pieces throughout, would sell it too. Not as dear as the BMI, but still probably pretty darn expensive for "just a TC3".

I've also got a Warpspeed II, same as the regular Warpspeed but about a 1cm shorter wheelbase. I never drove this car, but wouldn't part with it...it's the only one of these I've ever seen or heard of. It will fit my Pegasus Z/28 PERFECTLY where standard TC chassis are just too long for the wheelwell cutouts.

Yet another TC3 I've got is I bought one from a guy who worked in a hobbyshop and was compiling the "ultimate" tubby TC3. Lots of high high-end parts, and the chassis was bottom-sanded, iir the "milling" process was done (to move the batteries inboard...certainly not as important in this era of LiPo's now) and the suspension arms have been fitted and move "like butta".

TC3's are the best. I LOVE 'em, but I HATE tuning on them. To me that's where the "advantage" of the newer TC chassis is in VTA, they are MUCH easier to adjust things like anti-squat, anti-dive, etc. Though once you've got a car pretty dialed-in you really don't do much (at least I don't) of that sort of adjusting to it.

And I DO believe the shafties have a bit of an advantage as far as not absorbing any of the limited power VTA cars have under the rules. Belts are just less "direct", and at these power levels the torque-effect just doesn't seem to be there.

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Old 03-23-2011, 09:29 PM
  #11013  
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I had a HPI Pro4 and never really took the time to get it sorted properly. That would be another killer, especially since you could use the updated suspension arms on the newer Cyclone cars.
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Old 03-23-2011, 10:50 PM
  #11014  
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A fellow here is MR. HPI, has been running HPI cars for years and years. He does Cyclones for TC but the latest version (don't know what it's called) he's found the front arms to be a bit brittle, they apparently have an extra shock mounting hole, but it's too close to an outside surface so they crack through. He's backdated now to an earlier Cyclone arm on the car.

I'm pretty sure his VTA car is a Pro4.
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Old 03-24-2011, 11:10 AM
  #11015  
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Originally Posted by Scottrik
A similar car is the Warpspeed. The interesting thing with the Warpspeed is that it swaps the sides for motor and battery. Don't know why, it just does. I don't think there's any advantage or disadvantage.
I've also got a Warpspeed II, same as the regular Warpspeed but about a 1cm shorter wheelbase. I never drove this car, but wouldn't part with it...it's the only one of these I've ever seen or heard of. It will fit my Pegasus Z/28 PERFECTLY where standard TC chassis are just too long for the wheelwell cutouts.
Never heard of it. Would love to see it. Sounds neat. As far as the weight transfer, I think it just made people feel better to move the weight around.


Originally Posted by Scottrik
TC3's are the best. I LOVE 'em, but I HATE tuning on them. To me that's where the "advantage" of the newer TC chassis is in VTA, they are MUCH easier to adjust things like anti-squat, anti-dive, etc. Though once you've got a car pretty dialed-in you really don't do much (at least I don't) of that sort of adjusting to it.
HUh! What are you talking about? I am from the (Buy it used from a fast guy and leave it alone) camp.

Originally Posted by Scottrik
And I DO believe the shafties have a bit of an advantage as far as not absorbing any of the limited power VTA cars have under the rules. Belts are just less "direct", and at these power levels the torque-effect just doesn't seem to be there.

Scottrik
Yeah thats what I was wondering when I asked the question. With the torque steer problem not manifesting itself and with less power required to roll the drivetrain, I thought that a good old shaft car might even have a slight advantage. Um in VTA conditions.

Although not shaft driven I have been thinking about the Ofna el cheapo TC. I think its called the JL-10. I think its drift weight distribution might fare well in VTA. Would be great as a loaner.
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Old 03-24-2011, 12:00 PM
  #11016  
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Originally Posted by snoopyrc
Although not shaft driven I have been thinking about the Ofna el cheapo TC. I think its called the JL-10. I think its drift weight distribution might fare well in VTA. Would be great as a loaner.
The Ofna JL10e is shaft driven. The JL10e drift is belt driven. They are two different cars. Be careful of the JL10e because it is a 200mm chassis. That means its going to be hard to fit a 200mm body on it using the 6 mm offset of the VTA spec tires in the rear. I learned this from someone that had one and intended to use if for VTA but had trouble with bodies. I don't know anything about the JL10e Drift.
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Old 03-24-2011, 12:18 PM
  #11017  
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Originally Posted by snoopyrc
Never heard of it. Would love to see it. Sounds neat.
Similar to the BMI in a lot of ways. There was a heavy rivalry in touring cars between those two products. IIRC, one of them worked for the other at some point, which is why there were so many similarities.

I owned both at one point, and the machining and fit quality on the BMI car made the Warpspeed look like junk in comparison. The Warpspeed chassis conversion for the TC3 was a nice car, but paled in quality to the BMI, even back then.



Yeah thats what I was wondering when I asked the question. With the torque steer problem not manifesting itself and with less power required to roll the drivetrain, I thought that a good old shaft car might even have a slight advantage. Um in VTA conditions.
I think they are still a wash. What a shaft drive car has in low resistance drivetrain, the belt drive cars make up for in fewer and lighter moving parts in the drivetrain. I believe that you still see them winning in VTA because they are not inherently suffering the ills that originally made them disappear from mainstream racing. Still great cars for VTA, which is one of the original points of the class.

I don't think that they are better or worse for this class, per se, just a different way of attacking the task. I have driven both styles of cars, and they just feel different in your hands on the track. Not better or worse, just different.
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Old 03-24-2011, 12:54 PM
  #11018  
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You can pass on the outside Cole. You can do it because you have special tires.
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Old 03-24-2011, 01:19 PM
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Originally Posted by squarehead
Similar to the BMI in a lot of ways. There was a heavy rivalry in touring cars between those two products. IIRC, one of them worked for the other at some point, which is why there were so many similarities.

I owned both at one point, and the machining and fit quality on the BMI car made the Warpspeed look like junk in comparison. The Warpspeed chassis conversion for the TC3 was a nice car, but paled in quality to the BMI, even back then.
Supposedly BMI cut the parts for the Warpspeed kits at first, but there was a falling out. Then the BMI kit came out. I guess the Warpspeed dude was on his own for machining services, so no surprise the quality fell off.
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Old 03-24-2011, 01:32 PM
  #11020  
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Smile TC3/TC4 upgrade

What about the Diggety designs upgrade kit, It looks very interesting, but alum. arms still available??? I still see it new on Flebay??????

BE
T
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Old 03-24-2011, 01:39 PM
  #11021  
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Originally Posted by squarehead
Similar to the BMI in a lot of ways. There was a heavy rivalry in touring cars between those two products. IIRC, one of them worked for the other at some point, which is why there were so many similarities.

I owned both at one point, and the machining and fit quality on the BMI car made the Warpspeed look like junk in comparison. The Warpspeed chassis conversion for the TC3 was a nice car, but paled in quality to the BMI, even back then.
don't forget to add in the IRS TC3 conversion chassis that was available...IRS made a lot of nice parts for the TC3 and still have them listed on his site - just not sure what Dave (mr. IRS) still has in stock though
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Old 03-24-2011, 04:55 PM
  #11022  
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Originally Posted by THEBIGBULL
What about the Diggety designs upgrade kit, It looks very interesting, but alum. arms still available??? I still see it new on Flebay??????

BE
T
Not surprisingly, I've got one of THESE too...complete with extra arms, bumper, bushings, etc. It's a neat piece, if you look at it you'd think it's what a shaft-drive X-ray would look like if X-ray got around to making a shafty.

The only POTENTIAL problem is that it's set up for 4X2 round cell saddle. Could PROBABLY make a LiPo saddle pack work, MIGHT be able to make a regular 2s LiPo go with a little judicious dremel work. I THINK the early Diggities were all batts on one side.

Originally Posted by robk
Supposedly BMI cut the parts for the Warpspeed kits at first, but there was a falling out. Then the BMI kit came out. I guess the Warpspeed dude was on his own for machining services, so no surprise the quality fell off.
I've no idea if my Warpspeeds are "early" or not...the parts quality seems fine. The thing I didn't like about it was that you had to (as far as I was ever able to) pull the screws from the rear of the spine plate to get the motor/pinion changed. Kind of a PITA.

Originally Posted by k_bojar
don't forget to add in the IRS TC3 conversion chassis that was available...IRS made a lot of nice parts for the TC3 and still have them listed on his site - just not sure what Dave (mr. IRS) still has in stock though
I think the ONE conversion I never got one of. The "rail" around the chassis was an interesting way to create stiffness. Plus you KNOW if Dave did it it's a quality piece.

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Old 03-24-2011, 06:00 PM
  #11023  
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Originally Posted by THEBIGBULL
What about the Diggety designs upgrade kit, It looks very interesting, but alum. arms still available???
This is the one that I had seen but could not remember. Seems like you could convert a TC4 with it also. Aluminum arms sure are pretty, but I think that they bend and leave you with a tweak that you cant find.
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Old 03-24-2011, 06:26 PM
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Exclamation Re....Diggity

The XLR8V2 is (optimized) for lipo.... Motor on the left, Battery on the right. I may just have to buy one, It looks so Damn UGH!!!!! more to hide from the accountant..... But hey the left over TC3 parts can go back into the box!!!!!!) HHHMMM whats my PayPal password....
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Old 03-24-2011, 06:44 PM
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Originally Posted by THEBIGBULL
HHHMMM whats my PayPal password....
Dont ask! Someone might know.
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