JudbboyUK

Hi Billy,

what would you recommend instead of the Sport 3 (cost wise) for someone wanting to do a bit of racing?

Thanks

wareagle84

I'm not exactly sure what rules and restrictions there are concerning your competition class (I'm not a TC racer), but replacing the dogbones with CVD's is a must to 100% guarantee the issue is resolved. The only other solutions are to go with a slightly longer dogbone or add o-rings or springs to the diff cup to take out the slop, but CVD's are much better. I honestly don't understand why anyone would use dogbones when CVD's are available unless they had to. To my understanding, HPI now provides a slightly longer dogbone for the fronts of the RS4 Sport 3, but I don't think it's a solid solution as CVD's are still superior. You would also need to swap out the non-adjustable links for adjustable turnbuckles. The fact HPI released the RS4 Sport 3 in 2015 with non-adjustable is mind boggling. It had to be purely a cost decision, but even the base model Sprint chassis had adjustable out of the box.
The Sprint 2 chassis is a very old and dated chassis. It's not great for TC competition, and never was out of the box, even when new. However, with some tweaks and upgrades (mostly to the steering and suspension) it can still compete. Although HPI has discontinued virtually all option parts for the Sprint 2 chassis, every upgrade you could want or need is available from Exotek or Yeah Racing.
Honestly, if you're looking to consistently win in TC meets, I'd go with something like Tamiya or Associated.

Just my 2 cents.

JudbboyUK

thanks for input.

I'm certainly not looking to consistently win anything, just keep up!

DirkW

iTrader: (1)

Personally, I would look into something different for 13.5T touring car racing than either the sport or the sprint. Something like a Sakura XI Sport or the Sakura Zero S (now available as Turnigy TD 10 from Hobbyking) or see if you can get a good deal on a Durango DETC410 or something like that. IMHO you'll have more fun in racing one of these in the long term.

RS4 Guy

Anyone know where to find a spur gear for this car? HPI just sent me a motor mount set because the gear keeps slipping and now the hex nut is nearly stripped from trying to adjust it. They are back ordered on spur gears so they can't even send me one. No matter what I do it always slips unless I move the spur gear really close and tighten it down which in that case it's too close and sounds terrible like it's grinding and really stressing the motor. So it's either slipping or grinding and I'm hoping installing a new spur gear and motor mount with some lock tight will solve this issue. I can post pictures if it would help. I'd really appreciate any help troubleshooting this thing.

So far this car has been nothing but trouble. I'm about to box it up and send it to HPI but even then they don't even have the parts to fix it!!
Since I've run it about a month ago I've gone through a motor, motor mount kit, dogbones (finally bough some Tamiya 44mm CVD's) and now it's looking like a spur gear. SMH...

JudbboyUK

cheers mate, I'll take a look at those cars you've mentioned

wareagle84

You should be able to run pretty much any 48p spur (pretty sure that's what HPI uses) with the same or closest tooth count to the stock one as you can get. Just search spur gears on Google, eBay or online rc stores and make sure the pitch matches stock and whatever tooth size you need.

fyrstormer

iTrader: (1)

Take a look at the HPI Sprint 2.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Team Associated Apex touring for an RTR. Or TC4 for kit. Third would be the Vaterra V-100.
I drive my Apex more then anything I own. 140 runs since June. Keep mine in basically out the box form for 2yrs before changing motor this summer. Thing just runs.
Tc4. Been around forever. Ball diffs can take little getting used to for maintance. But it's a solid vehicle.
Vaterra v-100. It's a tank. Price little high for it new. But I've bought 3 used.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Team Associated Apex touring for an RTR. Or TC4 for kit. Third would be the Vaterra V-100.
I drive my Apex more then anything I own. 140 runs since June. Keep mine in basically out the box form for 2yrs before changing motor this summer. Thing just runs.
Tc4. Been around forever. Ball diffs can take little getting used to for maintance. But it's a solid vehicle.
Vaterra v-100. It's a tank. Price little high for it new. But I've bought 3 used.
For racing the TC4. I've never run at a track. But I know there are classes it can run. Plus it's lighter then the others I mentioned. I've got 2 vehicles from Sakura. But not the one you asked about. Been impressed by the two I have.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Deleted. Accdenly triple posted.

Lone Drifter

If racing is what you are after just go ahead and buy a Xray or Associated. You will wind up there anyway

Camzie

Will a 50mm shock like Yeah Racing Shock-Gear 50mm Damper Set for 1/10 RC Touring Car Blue #DSG-0050BU fit the sport 3 well? is that the right size? if not can someone link me to something that will work well for drifting on that car?

wareagle84

I have the Yeah Racing dampers on my Sprint 2 setup for drift and combined with MST drift springs work quite well, especially for the price. I have the 55mm on the S2...not sure what length the stock RS4 S3 are though. Tamiya TRF's with drift springs are a popular choice also, but are about 2-3x more than the YR.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Can't go wrong with either. But that a lot of cash got someone just trying racing out. I love how smooth my XRay drives. Bought to see how different it was compared to other touring cars. But I know mine will probably never run on a track.
I got a really good deal on a used. But to most what I paid for used, they wouldn't pay for a brand new vehicle.