rcfoolz

iTrader: (22)

Shhhh.....don't tell anyone

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

For those guys that are running the Stratus 3.1...

Are you finding that you have to compensate for understeer with either a front diff or solid on tracks with medium traction? How about when moving from a medium to higher traction track?

Thanks!

mtveten

iTrader: (29)

If you are talking about an increase in understeer on corner entry then yes, but in my experience it has not been limited to the stratus body and is not difficult to cure. First off I have never gotten the spool to go faster than either the 1-way or diff. Personally I find the spool more difficult to turn consistent fast laps with, smoother is better for me. With the front diff the key to steering into the corner has been soft oil (same as rear) coupled with a low front roll center and super narrow track width (195-196 range).

The car tends to carry more corner speed without the sway bars on low to med grip conditions. It still amazes me that nearly every time I pull the bars off I gain 2-3 tenths.

With a good setup understeer isn't a problem with the car, at our season championship my car had so much high speed turn in coming off the straight I was able to pass the 2nd place car in the braking zone by not.

Mark

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

Thanks Mark. Those are some very good tips.

Interesting to hear that the car has understeer with other bodies. I usually run the Mazda 6, but since the Team guys seem to like the Stratus, I thought I would give it a try when I run the car for the first time next weekend.

mtveten

iTrader: (29)

Make sure you cut your wing down to ROAR specs, unlike the mazda the stratus works better with a legal wing.

On lower speed technical tracks the mazda body can be an advantage when running the full sized wing. Without the higher speed sections the reduction in rear stability doesn't carry the same penalty and it does have more on-power steering though infield sections.

Mark

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

Did everyone else's NIB (factory sealed) kit chassis come pre-scratched, nicked and smudged like mine?

http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/bottom01.jpg
http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/bottom02.jpg
http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/bottom03.jpg

The bottom of my chassis usually looks like this after I run the car - not before I build the kit.

http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/top01.jpg
http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/top02.jpg
http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/top03.jpg

The documentation came with some nice kinks in it as well.

http://www.nitrokb.com/nt1/kit/documentation_bag.jpg

Not a very good first impression...

wallyedmonds

that chassis looks better than ones iv seen here.

brianhatesnitro

iTrader: (1)

My chassis was also scratched like that, no worse than what I did to it on the first run on a bumpy track though.

typer

iTrader: (1)

lets face it...this rc thing is a big business. They need to earn more to pay for sponsored drivers and for r&d stuff. For me, adding optional parts is just for making the car nice to look at. Durability..well some parts should add to it. But if look at the world championship races, their cars were mostly stock. They didn't add any bling bling stuff.

typer

iTrader: (1)

Your right bro! noticed that too.

brianhatesnitro

iTrader: (1)

the cvd's are not bling bling stuff when all of the team drivers run them and most racers can not get the stock dogbones to remain in the car. point being, they should have just been in the kit like the other manufacturers but instead they decided to pry a few extra dollars out of people. nice job honestly.

rcfoolz

iTrader: (22)

just curious, what manufacturers have cvd's in the standard kit?..........I've only bought mugen before, and they didn't have them in it.

wallyedmonds

ya only pro or R kits have cvd's in them
i had to buy my mugen cvd's,no biggy but for 60.00 i got 2 not 1
oh wait they where only 46.00.

brianhatesnitro

iTrader: (1)

I kind of assumed the NT1 was a pro level kit. Keep in mind that Mario has mentioned on their forums that they are not considering releasing another kit for quite some time.

"The pure racing design and premium luxury quality with highest performance create the most sophisticated nitro touring car. "

V1-RRR EVO WC - $475, f/r cvd's, metal spool, hollow center shaft, blade swaybar, one piece engine mount, light 1st gear housing, aluminum shocks
Serpent 720 '07 - $430, front cvds, aluminum pivot balls, aluminum hexes, aluminum shocks
MTX4R - $399, front cvds, mounted grp tires, aluminum shocks
G4S - $375 at racedayhobbies, front cvds, aluminum spool, one piece mount, ufo clutch, rear blade sway bar, aluminum hexes, aluminum shocks

NT1 - $415 ($460 at rcmart)

I couldn't find prices on the non premium kits from kyosho, mugen or serpent because it doesn't seem like you can buy them easily anywhere but most of these prices came from rc-mushroom and could vary plus or minus $50 but this is really just to show you that Xray is in the ballpark as far as pricing goes with the pro kits.

Keep in mind that I love this car and just find Xray's sales tactics amusing. As well as the 4 page articles for each part that Team Magic/KFactory releases on how the color of the aluminum will put you in the winners circle.

rmdhawaii

iTrader: (4)

I had a chance to spend a few hours working on the car tonight and it really is quite easy to assemble (as many have said) and the fit is very solid. The diff o-rings did seem a tiny bit too small when sitting inside one half of the housing - but as I previously mentioned, I was willing to give them a try.

It's interesting to note the differences in design between the NT1, RRR and MTX-4 once you're actually building the car. For certain design elements, it seems pretty clear as to why the NT1 is better. In some cases, I wish I understood the engineering behind why he chose to design a part a certain way - in comparison to how Kyosho and Mugen designed it.

I'll have a full review up in a few weeks. I feel like I'm being over critical of everything, which I'm sure will be reflected in my review. I guess that's what happens when you have very high expectations.