Originally Posted by redbarton

I ran my Zero S for the second time this last Saturday in our local club 17.5 (Blinky) class. I qualified last for the A-Main, but managed to move my way up and finish a very solid 3rd. I was one lap up on 4th, but two laps down from the leaders. (9.5 to 10.5 avg fast laps in A-main) I felt this was a great result since the top two guys are definitely veteran racers with years of experience and I've only been racing TC's off and on for about 2 years.

At the club level, this chassis is definitely more than capable. The stock set up is pretty decent for carpet. I moved my front shocks in one hole and the rear shocks out to free up the back end a little and to gain more steering on our very tight track. I also added about 2 oz. of weight to the battery side to balance things out. I might reduce that a little though.

One thing I don't like is the rear droop situation. It seems the rear shocks are too short to let the rear arms drop down in the proper range. I might switch out to a longer shock end to help out with this. The fronts are okay though. I also need to find a slightly thinner shock spacer. I go from 6.5mm to 4mm ride height with the stock stuff. I need to be at 5. Maybe new shocks and the +4mm towers are my next upgrade?

Originally Posted by 6376vette

Nice reviews guys. I have been racing the sakura for a while now. I have to disagree with your opinion about the quality of the car and its not fair to compare the s model to the x Ray 417 tc 6 etc. They are in two different classes. I must also add that I beat many a high und chassis with a stock zero s. Now my s is more of a full zero than a s model. Almost every option has been added because I wanted to not because I needed it to keep up. Any given race day you can flip a coin between any of the sakuras that run at our track against any associated or x Ray. They are just ad good as any other tc chassis and the parts are cheaper.

Originally Posted by Bappe

is there a list somewhere where i can see the sakura spring rates? would be nice to be able to compare the springs with for example tamiya springs

Originally Posted by SteveM

I did a short kit review and race report of the Sakura Zero S for my club's web pages and you can check it out here;

http://www.rcottawa.com

Originally Posted by 6376vette

Excellent write up. I think you are spot on in everything you said.

By the way, the vertical mount makes things much easier and the belts will loosen quickly. I have had mine for about 6 months and race it almost every weekend. I run a very loose belt to cut down on friction and I am currently about half way through the tension adjustment on both the front and rear diffs. No signs that the belts skip or that they are so stretched that they won't mesh the gears properly.

When you install the vertical mount you have to flip the belts to their opposite sides. You will have to grind the top deck a little and you will need to grind the rear inboard battery retainer. It will not clear the belt or allow easy access to the lower motor mount screw. You also need to remove the center inboard battery retainer. I replaced mine with a nyloc nut just for extra insurance that the battery will not hit the belt.

As a side note if you upgrade to the carbon chassis you lose the battery retainers. You have to tape the battery in.

Originally Posted by SteveM

I have the graphite upper deck on the way along with the vertical motor mount and I understand that this deck does not need grinding. The stock Zero S chassis will need a little though to clear the gear diff pulley from what I've read but thats not a problem. Have Dremel - will grind.

I wasn't aware that the diff bearing holder cam needs to be modified. Would you have any pics to show what you did?

I plan to keep the stock FRP chassis as I hate using tape. I always manage to end up with a ball of messy sticky tape so I'll keep the velcro strap as long as I can. I figured the L-shaped battery retainer near the pinion might need some work but that is no problem.

Originally Posted by cannon fodder

As I was assembling mine last night I kept looking for the diff to rub the chassis but my kit doesn't seem to suffer from this. I will look again to make sure but the only thing I seen that would maybe rub was the front drive belt where it drops into the chassis to loop around the front diff. I do have the vert. mount, alum spur gear mount, 19T pulleys and shaft setup but I didn't think they would have much effect though.

Originally Posted by 6376vette

You don't have to modify the bearing holder at all. Just the upper deck (carbon upper deck does not need modifications) and the battery holders on the inside of the chassis.

To use the vertical mount both belts need to swap sides to clear the upper arm of the mount. No big deal just pull them and turn them around so the pulley is on the other side. When you get your parts you will see exactly what needs to be done.

Originally Posted by goldsworthy1

I just cut down the battery tray holders so they dont get in the way of the belt...

Ill try and post some pics when i get home, but i think there may be some others posted much earlier.