jiml

iTrader: (3)

Team drivers get that stuff first so they can test it! That's the purpose of team drivers! You don't want to release something that you find out later doesn't work.

pakk

iTrader: (80)

bracket racing is the answer

Wild Cherry

Having "Team" drivers racing stock makes me want to throw up ...

tc3team

Just throw equipment out there manufactured for stock racing that's never been tested then...

Francis M.

iTrader: (2)

The cost of stock has gotten really expensive due to the turn around in technology.... I went from LRP TC for one year, SPX, KO, and Tekin in a span of 1.5 years +6 or so motors..... I'm hoping Tekin will be competitive for at least a year....

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

Of course you would expect them to test it - but they are also competing with it as well.

redbones

Tekin opened pandora's box with its speed and FREE updates. They set a new standard for other manufactures to follow. This upset the whole industry and led to people ranting and raving about it. Just wait it out through this transition phase.

And beta testing the new stuff. That's what factory/team drivers are there for, to test the latest and greatest before rolling it out as a PRODUCT. You can sit all day in a lab theorizing what it CAN do, but you need guys to test it out in real world situations. This means to go out to the track, and race it against other people to test what it WILL do. Only after that, you can see its advantages/flaws, tweak it, and a product is born. Of course, advertising/marketing is involved too. From a business point of view, it makes sense to me.

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

That's what I would like to know. How long can Tekin's firmware upgrades keep the RS competitive before they have to upgrade the hardware? If the Black Diamond has some type of hardware trick up it's sleeve in addition to firmware upgrades, will Tekin have to reengineer the RS or just revise the firmware?

Francis M.

iTrader: (2)

I guess my mistake was buying non upgradable ESC early on.... I don't mind being behind for a month or two.... It's another thing when you buy the latest speedo and find out it is out dated in 2-3 months.....

I'm staying with KO, and Tekin from now on and just wait for updates!

As for the nitro comparison... I do buy decent motors but those same motors are competitive for at least 2 years given you keep your motor fresh.....
$350.00 for something that will last you 2 years.... HMM not even close...

niznai

Tekin was very upfront about it. If you follow the Tekin thread you will find that Randy is quite open about when they test new software and the fact that their drivers have it and when and where it is going to be raced. And they don't even have to do it, so that's more reason to deserve our respect. I would like to see another company that did that (nitro or electric).

As for racing mod, some tracks simply don't lend themselves to it. At our club nobody races mod because the speed would be the same as with the 13.5 motors we have now (this is our "superstock" class).

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

Yes, I know that Randy was very upfront about 199. I have been reading, but I'm only up to page 525 (started at page 1 ... OMG, only 300+ pages to go ).

It doesn't really matter. It's just another point to add to the discussion. When people someone voices their opinion that BD wasn't being fair because of availability - and Tino's point about Team drivers, the situation with 199 came to mind - and as you may recall, some racers felt they were shorted because they were not able to get 199.

nu-flyer

well, imo, it boils down to just two kinds of racers.. those who wants to race competitively and those who just want to have fun. obviously, those who run competitively will be buying the l33t stuffs (new tech, fresh tires every race, etc) , while the other will have to be contented with what he is running atm.

there is nothing really wrong here until the causal racers would want to have a few wins of their own, and that's where the problem starts and becomes expensive (for the casual racer).

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

I don't think you made a mistake...

When you compare Tekin firmware 180 with the 203, it's like night and day. Fortunately for everyone that has the RS, Tekin engineered it's hardware properly to get to where it is today. Can you imagine what would have happened if Tekin had to release a new hardware to get to 203? Or if an unforseen firmware bug fried everyone's motor?

I think it's hard to make decision in light of how things are changing. Who knows? Maybe a better ESC by LRP, SP or someone else is just around the corner...

Morbo

and to touch on Tekin 199, there was a known radio calibration issue and the 'team' was testing things probably to get baseline setups and so ordinary joes wouldn't blow their stuff up (as much). Want to get all the latest software? Get good and join the team!

tc3team

I was with Tekin right up until December last year, for 3.5 years. (It was mostly family commitments made me step down, I needed time with them more than racing).

I don't think anyone needs to know the hours of track testing that got put in since v180 up to v203 prior to it being used in a RACE situation (and neither do I have any stat's), but you can imagine it. It's been A LOT!

Once you are part of the team, you are testing it not only for yourself, but for everyone else in the team, and then the public. If something wasnt working right, every bit of car data would be shared, and an answer would be found - working as a team to make sure it's right for you guys out there!

And then you can imagine the different levels of sponsorship and possibly who will be trying the newer versions first.... And rightly so.



There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff the average Joe won't ever know about, that is called sponsorship...