New Edam Spirit 981 mini review:
04-08-2009, 03:37 AM
#1
New Edam Spirit 981 mini review:
Introduction:
Edam been around for few years specialized in 1/8 on-road racing. And they decided to enter the popular 1/10 nitro touring class with the Spirit 980 series. A lot of unique features are available to make this car one of the most adjustable car on the market to adopt to different track conditions.
Assembly:
The assembly is very straight forward as all parts (aluminum and nylon) fit nicely. The only area need some attention are the shocks as the plastic washes which the shock shaft pass through is a little tight and need a little work to get the shaft moving freely. I just enlarge the hole slightly with a reamer and everything work smoothly. Other than this issue all other parts fits very well and no hand fitting is required. And the quality of all nylon and metal parts are top grades. Kit included options like front one-way which can turn into solid axial, blade type adjustable front and rear anti roll bar, 3mm 7075 aluminum chassis with milled out edge for extra ground clearance and a very narrow profile, front and rear CV joints had of hardened steel, 3D clutch with lightened flywheel and hardened clutch bell, etc. The list just goes on and on and basically you do not need any options to be competitive with this chassis.
Adjustment:
The front end feature adjustable role center by placing spacer under the upper arm mount. And the camber rise can be adjusted by placing different insert in the upper arm mount. And the rear the wheel base can be adjusted by placing different insert inside the hub carrier. And all other adjustment like roll center, camber rise, up and down stop, anti roll bar hardness, etc, are all available out of the box. Makes this chassis very adaptable to any surface you wish to run on.
Test run:
The first test run was done on a high grip race track. The first things I notice is this car with the standard setup have a lot of rear end grip. So stable I would like to decrease rear traction to get faster cornering speed. I changed to 1.8 rear spring and 1.6 front spring it solve this issue. It is still very stable but the corner speed is a lot higher. I only have it on the track for 1 day so I am not sure able the durability on the parts. But so for I do not have any visible wear and no broken parts yet as I only had some light impacts.
Conclusion:
This is a very nice pro level 1/10 touring car. Novice may find this car have too much adjustment but follow the standard out of the box setting would get you a very stable machine. The quality is very good and the kit even include 6 different spur gears and 2 different drive pulley to set the gearing right. The only down side is it does not include any tools or spare screws but as most experienced driver would have these items anyway. And the shock washers needs a little hand fitting to get the shock to run smoothly.
+
Price
Build quality
No options necessary
Highly tunable for any track from dusty park lot to high grip race track
-
No spare screws and tools included
Shock need some hand fitting
Edam been around for few years specialized in 1/8 on-road racing. And they decided to enter the popular 1/10 nitro touring class with the Spirit 980 series. A lot of unique features are available to make this car one of the most adjustable car on the market to adopt to different track conditions.
Assembly:
The assembly is very straight forward as all parts (aluminum and nylon) fit nicely. The only area need some attention are the shocks as the plastic washes which the shock shaft pass through is a little tight and need a little work to get the shaft moving freely. I just enlarge the hole slightly with a reamer and everything work smoothly. Other than this issue all other parts fits very well and no hand fitting is required. And the quality of all nylon and metal parts are top grades. Kit included options like front one-way which can turn into solid axial, blade type adjustable front and rear anti roll bar, 3mm 7075 aluminum chassis with milled out edge for extra ground clearance and a very narrow profile, front and rear CV joints had of hardened steel, 3D clutch with lightened flywheel and hardened clutch bell, etc. The list just goes on and on and basically you do not need any options to be competitive with this chassis.
Adjustment:
The front end feature adjustable role center by placing spacer under the upper arm mount. And the camber rise can be adjusted by placing different insert in the upper arm mount. And the rear the wheel base can be adjusted by placing different insert inside the hub carrier. And all other adjustment like roll center, camber rise, up and down stop, anti roll bar hardness, etc, are all available out of the box. Makes this chassis very adaptable to any surface you wish to run on.
Test run:
The first test run was done on a high grip race track. The first things I notice is this car with the standard setup have a lot of rear end grip. So stable I would like to decrease rear traction to get faster cornering speed. I changed to 1.8 rear spring and 1.6 front spring it solve this issue. It is still very stable but the corner speed is a lot higher. I only have it on the track for 1 day so I am not sure able the durability on the parts. But so for I do not have any visible wear and no broken parts yet as I only had some light impacts.
Conclusion:
This is a very nice pro level 1/10 touring car. Novice may find this car have too much adjustment but follow the standard out of the box setting would get you a very stable machine. The quality is very good and the kit even include 6 different spur gears and 2 different drive pulley to set the gearing right. The only down side is it does not include any tools or spare screws but as most experienced driver would have these items anyway. And the shock washers needs a little hand fitting to get the shock to run smoothly.
+
Price
Build quality
No options necessary
Highly tunable for any track from dusty park lot to high grip race track
-
No spare screws and tools included
Shock need some hand fitting
04-08-2009, 04:41 AM
#2
Nice review!! Thank you for your time.
A few questions: how is parts support on this car? How about distribution? How about professional reviews from magazines; which magazines have done reviews on this car so I may see how they built, setup, and drove the car? I usually don't pay attention to the rating systems as they are usually 8's - 10's unless it is a new brand name in the market to which they would love executing 2's or 8's.
A few questions: how is parts support on this car? How about distribution? How about professional reviews from magazines; which magazines have done reviews on this car so I may see how they built, setup, and drove the car? I usually don't pay attention to the rating systems as they are usually 8's - 10's unless it is a new brand name in the market to which they would love executing 2's or 8's.
04-08-2009, 08:27 PM
#3
Thank you for your reply!! We have few parts in stock now. For the next shippment (in around 2.5-3 weeks) we will have all the parts in stock. I found the setup very similar to my RRR setting. The only different is as the rear end seems to have a lot more grip so I am running a little thicker diff oil and spring at the back. I am not done testing yet but will try to post my setup for the local track (a mid size high grip track).
04-15-2009, 01:02 AM
#5
a quick video for the Spirit with STS S12X5 engine
Sorry can't post a link yet. Just go to youtube and search user name gpmparts.
Sorry can't post a link yet. Just go to youtube and search user name gpmparts.
04-23-2009, 09:56 PM
#6
parts are stock now. Please let us know if you have any questions.
05-09-2009, 02:46 PM
#8
My LHS is selling these cars as a kit. With it you get an RB matrix motor for around the $850AUD mark. They look nice and i can't wait to see how they perform on the track, i don't think duribility will be a problem, just check the thickness of the spurs in the third shot, good luck stripping one of those
05-11-2009, 02:40 AM
#9
Ya, up to now I had not strip any spur gear yet after around one month of testing (twice per week) and one race. And I had a run away once as the plug for my receiver battery came off. The car end up flying about 6 feets into the air and I did not break anything (I think I am very lucky). And the chassis is still flat as I took everything apart and check everything is ok. And the other time I forget to charge the receiver battery and it went 1/2 speed into the wall. The only thing I broke was front arm, rear hub, etc..... everything else is ok. I will say it is a very solid car and I love it. 
I think I finally get it dial in now as the car have a lot more front and rear grip compare to the video and I reduce the lap time by 2 second already.
I think I finally get it dial in now as the car have a lot more front and rear grip compare to the video and I reduce the lap time by 2 second already.
05-11-2009, 05:16 AM
#10
Ya, up to now I had not strip any spur gear yet after around one month of testing (twice per week) and one race. And I had a run away once as the plug for my receiver battery came off. The car end up flying about 6 feets into the air and I did not break anything (I think I am very lucky). And the chassis is still flat as I took everything apart and check everything is ok. And the other time I forget to charge the receiver battery and it went 1/2 speed into the wall. The only thing I broke was front arm, rear hub, etc..... everything else is ok. I will say it is a very solid car and I love it. I think I finally get it dial in now as the car have a lot more front and rear grip compare to the video and I reduce the lap time by 2 second already.
I think I finally get it dial in now as the car have a lot more front and rear grip compare to the video and I reduce the lap time by 2 second already.I received mine safely today... thank you to you and your company for quick service. UPS on the other hand
Back to the build!
05-13-2009, 10:48 AM
#11
nitro
good kit
05-14-2009, 02:38 AM
#12
this is one of my early setup. I am not very happy with this setup as I wants a little more grip. Since then I change to x-ray blue springs front and rear, soft anti roll bar. 35 front and 37 rear tires and now my car have a lot more grip and very happy with the setup now. The youtube video is one of my early run with the old setup. Happy Racing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_LgQcn5RXI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_LgQcn5RXI
05-14-2009, 02:56 PM
#13
this is one of my early setup. I am not very happy with this setup as I wants a little more grip. Since then I change to x-ray blue springs front and rear, soft anti roll bar. 35 front and 37 rear tires and now my car have a lot more grip and very happy with the setup now. The youtube video is one of my early run with the old setup. Happy Racing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_LgQcn5RXI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_LgQcn5RXI
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