.crispy

By the way, when I ordered my latest Spec-R, I ordered the Tamiya ball cups and this little gem of a tool:



OMG! Best tool ever.

FWIW, the stock Spec-R ball cups do NOT fit in it.

greenpea76

iTrader: (28)

This is so true.....I did some testing last night in preparation for the last points series race I'm participating in. It's really amazing that this one mount done this way can provide a ton of front grip, not steering, but overall grip!! I had to fine tune the whole chassis once again once I got used to it. It gave .3 second faster lap times once installed and once I got the chassis dialed in again on same spec tire, I was able to get another 0.3 consistent times off.

So for a total of .6 off my normal pace (same layout) on a low traction practice day, this floating integrated servo and steering rack mount is so worth the 26 bucks, whether it be a BD7 or a Spec-R. Like Christian said, it is RC's newest big secret...but on a budget!! Some parts are fragile, but not bad once you figure out what to do in terms of parts replacement. In my case, I've only upgraded the stock inner hinge pins. I'll get to replacing the outer ones before my race as insurance.

valk

iTrader: (13)

Are you guys trying kit setup, or copying your r1 setup over?
As for that tamiya tool.. who still uses the stock ballcups? Tamiya cups almost a requirement of the box.

.crispy

I figured with different parts, I'd start with the kit setup and go from there.

I did use the stock ball cups for the sway bars. Figured the overall length was important and I didn't want to do math...

Speaking of the R2 kit, why do you suppose they include aluminum spacers for everything up top, but still use the plastic spacers on the inner hinge pins?

Also, I really like that the plastic material used on the toe adapter inserts has changed. Much easier to swap in and out. Did not like the fact that I was missing a ... insert even before I opened the SEALED bag...

greenpea76

iTrader: (28)

This is my first Spec_R car, so I ran kit spec at first and it didn't have enough rear traction for me. The front suspension links are not far off from kit spec. The rest of the car has been tweaked to my driving for that layout.

I'm usually a Tamiya guy with a BD7 for outdoor beatings. I had lots of spare Tamiya ball cups and those went on right away as soon as I saw how easily the kit cups popped off and how much slop they had. Everything else is good on standard issue kit. Only upgrade so far are the hinge pins.

There is nothing wrong with the plastic spacers. They work and don't cost as much to replace should you break the suspension and lose them. I just use calipers to check and make sure they're correct sizes left and right, then sand or shim as necessary.

valk

iTrader: (13)

Thwy use them because they are already molded with the trees. But don't use any plastic shims included. Always buy additional aluminum ones.
Unfortunately I the people bagging the shit are less than consistant, but I'm glad they aren't as rediculous as xray.. I really don't care who bagged the shit and I don't want to have to recycle all their business cards heh. Already enough packing waste.
Someone did good by packaging their car in a plastic compartment container. Team magic or capricorn. Can't remember.

I dunno. Some people are about the build ect. I can put one of these together and race it in an evening or two. Its a tool to me heh.

.crispy

Interesting...

So I moved my aluminum center pulley over to my R2 from my S2. (They're out of stock at TQ.) I put the flat head screw with the red flat head washer on the "open" end of the center pulley shaft and "loosely tightened".

Well, due to the direction of the rotation of the center pulley, when you give it the gas, the screw tightens up and cinches the flat head washer up tight against the side of the bearing and the center pulley and locks up the entire works. Screeching halt..., literally! I don't know why it is working differently than with the plastic center pulley?

I fixed it by replacing with a button head screw with no washer. It only touches the inner race of the bearing. In fact, you can tighten it up all the way with no resulting rolling resistance.

.crispy

Also...,

They always say "it's not the car, it's the driver." But I wasn't buying it. A month or so ago, I picked up a used Yokomo BD-7 2013 and without even touching the setup on it, was running exactly the same lap times that I was running with my S2 that I had been tuning on for months. Screw this...

So I decided I'd try the new R2 when it came out. Built it last week and put the stock manual setup on it. Ran my S2 on Friday until I had the track down. Then put in a fresh battery and set my fast time. Went and got my brand spanking new R2 out and was .2 seconds a lap faster on my THIRD lap.

Made some modifications to the setup and was .4 seconds a lap faster. (8 second laps.) Now I'm running the same lap times as the fastest drivers at our track.

Money does buy speed.

valk

iTrader: (13)

you guys are wetting my pallet pretty good.. still waiting for it to arrive, but i might not even have time to build it for a week or two after it arrives! trying to get my engine swap completed. bolting the thing in tommorrow hopefully then i have to finish reassembling the rest of the car, paint doors/fenders ect.. part out the donor car.. then my daughters birthday is next week, so ill be busy with that.. all the while, the r2 will be sitting there, mocking me for my attention.. maybe ill race it in.. april.. should be interesting though. the club senior im racing now runs and s2 at club racing and easily dominates.
un and comers run yokomo and awsomatix. they quite fast. im typically p1-p3 with my R1PRO.
im not expecting the R2 to be a night and day difference, but it seems the subtle changes make all the difference... if i can make it corner like that awesomatix, ill be happy. i haven't seen anything else that can turn as beautifully as that.

ps, .4 of a second is a HUGE thing to make up.. id put both cars on the stands and measure the difference, then apply the difference to the s2. the s2 has a TON of flex though and is quite narrow. you can make lots of traction with it, but i find it scrubs a lot with that much flex.. your r2 might be more rigid and thus reacts faster to inputs ect ect ect.

ill definitely compare to my r1. maybe s2 if i have all the parts to put it back together. I donate a lot of spec r stuff within the club.

.crispy

I was always .2 to .3 off the fast guys. Had to make up for that by running a clean race and getting through traffic. But I was maxxed out. Now with the R2, I am the fast guy. Driver didn't change. The speed increase is definitely all corner speed, I am zipping through the twisty bits.

I am having one problem with it. It seems that the motor is moving forward much more easily than with any of the other models. I got stuffed straight into the wall in the main and my pinion wasn't even touching the spur afterwards. When I got back to the pit, the motor screws seemed tight. But still it moved...

Looking for some 3mm star washers now.

valk

iTrader: (13)

one of the downsides to the newer xray style mounts for sure.. ive never had this problem with the old style mount. i use .5 flat washers on the screw head side of the motor which seems to help a little bit.
one element im going to incorporate on my solidworks model is a static motor position with adjustable layshaft instead.

DBM

Interesting idea. How will you deal with the change in belt lengths?
You can put a kit togetger in an evening. ...just stay up late one night and put it together.

.crispy

The problem with washers on the R2, is that the motor mount has a little channel that the button head screws sit in. the channel is not much wider than the button head itself.

I'm trying to source some star head 3mm washers for this very reason. Don't know if these will work or not?

http://www.amain.com/team-associated...her-20/p260838

greenpea76

iTrader: (28)

My R2 from yesterday's final winter points series race. This car is very consistent! Running 17.5 sportsman sedan with this and got TQ along with win for the points. Last few laps I had a damaged wheel hex after contact with a rail and limped it along as I didn't have much steering left in the car with the wheel nut backing off from the impact. When it was pulled off the carpet, I couldn't see anything broken initially in the suspension, but finally saw the wheel was canted and the nut still had some pressure on it and allowed me to finish the race! Talk about luck!

As far as the motors moving, I haven't had any isues in 13.5 testing and 17.5 racing. What motors are you guys using that are causing them to shift in the mount? I use thread lock on my motor screws, nothing seems to have moved. Gear mesh remains consistent and driveline is super smooth.

I've uploaded a basic setup sheet (from TQ and winning setup) to use with the spec tire's we're using at TQRC on ozite carpet. I've run this setup with RIDE REX30 (26032) also. The Ride tires have a bit more side bite than the SWEEP QTS and gluing sidewalls is also recommended up front or you can increase front camber a bit to scrub off some corner speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDT8TTBeySA

A vid link of the race in SoCal heat...The start of the race seems to have been cutoff and the pileup was missed from the race start. I ended tagging the end of the straight going into the sweeper because the racer next to me kept moving up and blocked my view, which caused the wheel hex damage and I had to limp the car the last few laps as I lost steering. I had to tell him to keep moving back the last few minutes of the run.

valk

iTrader: (13)

I'd use automatic belt tensioners with beefy dampers to prevent tooth skip. Only need 7mm of movment from the layshaft. Most of our belts can deflect way more when set to the loose setting.
I'm working on a 3 belter though. Weird.. I know.