FREAKAH

I also ran my Pro on track for the first time today. My first impression was the car is alot more nervous than my 103. The car is also jittery over small bumps, kinda like it's skipping over them. Did some changes to calm things down a bit but I think I gotta do a test & tune on an off day at the track to sort things out. A friend's F60 aint nearly as jittery as mine, so maybe the fiberglass chassis/brace absorbs alot of the shock. As for traction it was pretty good front and rear although it could use a stiffer front spring to cure a hook on some turns.

My car is just a basic F104 Pro upgraded with a soft T-Plate, Tamiya aluminum pod plates, and a Tamiya aluminum pivot post with a stick-on 1/4 weight so I can get more weight toward the back. I also have the offset steering knuckles which really helped to calm the steering at high speed. For tires I ran F60 kit front rubbers and option soft rear rubbers. Motor is a silver-can.


Upcoming changes:

More weight out back. My 4000 lipo is way lighter than a nicd/nimh stick pack.
Might cut away front portion of upper brace for more flex.
F60 kit rears(for longer wear)
Reduce bump-steer
Thicker shock oil, or thinner oil(shock might be packing)


Anyways, I had a fun first race with my Pro but some of the problems made me miss my 103 lol. I'll still keep plugging away with the 104 however as i'm sure i'll eventually figure things out.

j.d.roost

iTrader: (32)

One thing I noticed with the longer plates and the new battery location is the car had both some push and would snap spin at the same time.(if you pushed it on corner exit).

With the standard 103 chassis it would be twitchy but not spin out.Sort of did the 103 "dance" in a the fast sweepers.
I could never get push with the 103 and could use rocks as front tires and still have too much steering.

fullout

Has anyone tried running them minus the inserts?

I'm hoping the added side wall flex will be a little more forgiving when applying throttle.

Please post feedback is you have tried this already.

inconceivable

iTrader: (3)

They fit ..... BUT ..... not well. The F104 rim is just a hair off which causes the HPI tire to be higher on the side walls than the center of the tire. I mounted some of these up and for the rears, after several runs, I've only worn the outer edges of the tire, like 20% of the tire. The fronts eventually ground down to even wear, however developed a wicked pinch groove on the inner edge. That said, even with the above problems, these tires were much better than the Tamiya kits or softs at my particular track (high bite asphalt). I've since ordered the Ride F104 rims and am going to mount another set of these HPI's to those. It's my understanding that the Ride F104 and HPI rubber tires are actually the same ?

Barry White

New T bar at 1m59 mark:

+ YouTube Video

Similar as the Squat one for the F103:

MikeR

iTrader: (15)

Badly needed for the F104 Should help out for medium/low grip tracks.

FREAKAH

Good eyes. Had to pause it perfectly to see the cut in the T-plate. That should really help the 104's handling. I wonder if that T-plate is Tamiya's response to handlling complaints or if it was already in the pipeline at the 104's release. In any case I will get one when it's released.

However, i'm starting to think that the Pro's 3mm carbon chassis and 2mm upper plate is just too darn stiff. Like I said in an earlier post, a friend's F60 F104 looks fine on the track without skipping and jiggling over the bumps and he's running the stock stiff black T-plate. My cars rear traction is OK but it does hook on some turns. I just might chop the front portion of the upper plate and see how that goes.

Sydewynder

MikeR

Making anything for the F104?

F N CUDA

iTrader: (34)

You might try unbolting the front of the upper plate, let it slide around before cuttin one up?

Seen it done on the F103 before.

I just built my F60, my swag for winnin the TCS Regional (I know,still blowin my own horn ).
Guess I'm gonna have my hands full gettin it dialed but at least I have the TQ guy in my corner givin me tips on F104 rubber setups.
As a matter of fact, he listed his whole setup on the TCS thread and it's pretty thorough.
Look up RtypeC over there, he was fast with his.

By the way, what's up with the F104 in the video above using the F103 front end and wheels/tires?
It shows the F104 tag below the car.
That setup has to be the hot ticket but kinda blows the whole scale, car of right now thing don't cha think?
Is that the new Wolf release or will that one have even fatter tires all around? (yeh, diggin those fatties of the old days!)

Barry White

Man, I wanted to bring out the same T bar as this 4 months ago. Bummer, Tamiya will walk away with my money. Still now we can use it in TCS.

cheROK1212

iTrader: (13)

I was wondering with the Wolf release will you be able to run a 103 hybrid @ TCS?

RC MARKET

iTrader: (12)

Yes more soft for low grip track or carpet !

fullout

You mention the TCS thread, where do i find that? i tried searching this sight and nothing came up. I've been trying to setup my f104 with rubber for tcs also, but i find as soon as you apply throttle she spins. I glued up a set of optional rubbers without the insert, to test, i'm hoping the added flex in the sidewall will help with throttle induced oversteer.

F N CUDA

iTrader: (34)

Here ya go, scroll down this page and you'll find it.

http://www.rctech.net/forum/racing-f...eries-894.html

fullout

Thanks for that F N CUDA