billysss

is there a web site for these wolfpax

JLock

iTrader: (4)

Clegg,

You said that people that knock the car need to get real. Well, being a big HPI fan, I was. Look at the dollars that you have to invest in order to make the car competitive to hang with the Mugens, Serpents, and NTC3s. In fact, lets throw in the R40 in that mix. You could use that money to buy the R40, upgrade a couple of performance parts, then kick tail at the track. I have been to two HPI Challenges and one HPI Worlds and will tell you that the Racer 2 faired better than any of the RS4-3s that ran. In fact, there was not a RS4-3 in the A-mains at the HPI Worlds in Vegas last October and of the two A-mains that I made at the two challenge races I attended, only two out of twenty cars in the combined A-mains were RS4-3s. If you like to sink monies in a car that will not come close to the competition at the big races and barely hang with them at the club races, that's your prerogative. What I was saying earlier was if HPI wanted to do that car right, they should have fixed the flaws from the Nitro MT before shifting it to car form.

Clegg

iTrader: (9)

the money sunk into this RS4-3SS is less than someone would drop on a Kyosho or Mugen to get some of the same benifits that some of the changes had for this car. I mean look at teh pricing difference. 104$ for an upgrade chassis for a Kyosho, 45$ for an HPI, etc... etc...

HPI parts are cheap, widely available, and fairly sturdy. If you want to get into a cost benifit comparison I am pretty sure that the RS4-3SS is not that far off from most of the other cars. And much lighter than the R40

The only purchase I made for this car that wouldnt ever need to be purchased for a R40 or others, is teh 2 speed setup for 70$ (which was a complete replacement W/ larger stronger one way than any factory stock 2 speed out there sans 1/8th scale setups).

Everything else is the type of thing ANY racer would replace, or upgrade on a car they were racing every weekend for 2 years like I have with the RS4-3SS.

But even I know the car is limited, thats why I have a Kyosho now. But the RS43-SS is a solid and good car for club racing and bashing in parking lots, but lacks the tuneability on the ass end to make it that solid for racing in the long run.

rs4lola

excellent reply clegg!!!
I too have sunk a lot of $$$ into the rs4-3ss to make it a short track parking lot racer. I will be racing this next spring and I think it will be very competative with the other "pro" cars out there. But for longer ROAR spec type races, we also have a Kyosho V-One RR Evo.
Modding this car has cost me a lot of money but I now know every square inch of the car.
Clegg, I noticed in one of your previous comments that the rear alum hub carriers were from GPM. That maybe your problem with them. Nearly every part that I have bought from GPM has something wrong with the design. The quality is very bad even though it maybe cheaper. I bought the HPI 2deg alum rear hub carriers (more $$$) and they seem much stronger and a true 2 degrees. They also come with set screw to tighten them to the hinge pins. Excellent so far.
Did you also try changing the rear roll center by changing the angle of the rear camber links?? Once I adjusted mine, I can tame the rear end much better. Very little oversteer. I also modified an XRay T1 rear sway-bar kit to fit it to the front. Have not tested but seems very effective with the stiff proceed springs I am running up front.
Once HPI releases a rs4-4ss, then I will upgrade this car!!!

Clegg

iTrader: (9)

Heheh, yes I did mess with teh ass end of the car quite a bit. Because the track conditions changed week to week (welcome to outdoor nitro racing in WI) A setting one week didnt affect the next week. The car was NOT easy to tune or tweak at all in the ass end. No incremental toe in (2Deg was too much some days and 1Deg was too little others, since rear toe has such a massive impact on the car you would think a more incremental change would be better. ) Yes the GPM hubs were a BAD buy. I thought I was gettign HPI ones but when they got here they were GPM. They were "2 deg" but really were 1 Deg when I put them on a setup board. They were quite sturdy though.

The Kyosho looks even sturdier than the HPI which is a good sign

JLock

iTrader: (4)

It is a shame that you guys want to keep sinking monies into a lackluster car and had to buy another car for ROAR racing. For the monies and mods you keep doing to the RS4-3, you could have bought a R40 and a HPI .12XS motor and saved yourself a lot of money. The R40, which I do have, is a good basher, club racer, and highly competitive ROAR racer when set up properly. But, as many of you have pointed out, it is your money and you spend it as you wish. HPI, past and present, makes good products and I have been a die-hard fan of their products for many years (Electric Sport, Nitro RS4, Racer 2, Electric Sport 2, Pro 3, Pro 4, R40, Electric Mini, Super Nitro, Nitro MT). I have or currently own many of their products but I am not blind to the fact that the first generation Nitro MT/Super Nitro Rally/RS4-3 have been a failed bit for them. It was a quick rush to try to compete with the shaft-driven NTC3 (RS4-3) but has been failing miserably. All of this has been my $0.02 and I respect your comments defending the car. I just see that a wiser investment would have been a R40, good engine, and a lot less headaches.

Clegg

iTrader: (9)

Hate to break it to you, but R/C in general is a bad "investment" no matter what car you own.

rs4lola

HPI parts are excellent for the rs4-3ss except the sway bars. tranny and ball diffs. My NovaRossi RR12L3 ate thru the gears of the (rear )ball diff in 2 seconds!!! Ball diff was still good but the final gear was shredded. I think they are made out of alum or very cheap steel. I just got a heavy duty one-way from HotBodies and I am trying to convert it to a ball diff. Crazy?? Yep but I love modding this car. I think i am addicted. I also asked wolfgang at WPR to make me as solid front diff. When I locked up the front ball diffs, the car pulled thru corners much quicker but had a little more understeer. This should be a good setup for tight parking lot.
What type of track did you race your car at???

2ffu

i really need the wpr tanny.

JLock

iTrader: (4)

Hey, it is a better investment than the liquor/beer consumption and/or strip clubs. At least this way, you have something to show for your investment. Oh, and at least your wife/girlfriend knows where to find you.

Clegg

iTrader: (9)

Hey I enjoy my beer hobby!

Threads

I also want to discuss ways on improving the RS4-3SS. I am getting mine in thursday and I can't wait to put it together.

I am planning to get the Graphite Upper Frame and the Performance Filter very soon. I would think after exhaust, suspension would be the way to go.

Hope we can start a big thread on this car, even though it isn't the newest.

rs4lola

The first upgrade should be the hpi threaded aluminum shocks. These work great as the handling change is night and day. Get different spings and shock oil and experiment. Next get some good foam tires if you want to race. I an assuming that the main reason to upgrade is to eventually race this car. If no intentions of racing, then upgrading this car can get pretty expensive as the list of upgrade parts is basically EVERY part on the car!!! Once you have gotten the shocks/foams (and learn how to setup your suspension) get the hpi super chassis. Its 3mm thick and 7075 alum which is much stronger than 6061. Stay away from any chassis that is NOT 7075 alum. Once you feel comfotable with this setup (recommend lots of practice especially changing shock springs and shock oil) get ALL the carbon suspension parts:
upper deck, f&r shock towers, steering knuckle/c-hubs and suspension arms. To fine tune and strengthen the suspension further, get titanium turnbuckles and put ball bearings in the steering arms. All these upgrades I consider stage one for a typical racing setup. Stage two would be to strengthen the drivetrain and finally stage 3 would be a high performance racing engine(hint: italian made!!!). Lots of stuff but only if you want to race or have deep pockets for modding. Hopefully we can keep this thread going for all the rs4-3ss car owners out there.

Rapid Roy

As for the threaded shocks, you could use the HPI threaded composite shock bodies for the pro3. Much cheaper and they work really well. I have them on my racer2.

billysss