Originally Posted by
valk
its quite a long thread so summary view would be nice lol. i think its all the excitment of somthing new with the new car and parts. i just got these 411's so ill probably leave them alone this year. certainly wasnt the car slowing me down. driving style probably had a lot more to do with it as both cars were very well stuck to the ground on the carpet. excited to get them outside as i upped my personal best by two whole laps with the serpents indoors.
It is kind of nice this car has been around for a while now though and it hasn't fundamentally changed much. unlike some other big names in the game. i mean. sure its changed, but nice you dont have to drop $250 on it per year to keep up.
As Gary mentioned, to make the current car's competitive really only needs a few choice upgrades. In my experience, a TE only really needs the following;
Front DCJ's
One-piece motor mount
Hard suspension plastics
1.5 suspension block on the FR position
Extra delrin shims for the shocks (for the single o-ring, but you could use normal shims for this too)
For older cars, I'd add the V2 steering rack to that list, and that's it. Both types of shocks work fine, my TE has RCM's and my other car the RCXX's... can't tell much difference!
That's it, not really a lot of parts. Yes I have a few custom bits and extras on my TE (steering mod, top deck with a front brace, home made servo mount, VBC plastic gears in the diff), but they aren't necessarily must haves, just things I've worked on. Oh, and I don't use Serpent springs, but Ride and HPI's, but that's a personal preference thing.
So certainly can be competitive with the old car... and the fact the new parts will fit to the old relatively easy is a bonus. I do intend to make a test when my new vehicle arrives, and test out old vs new, and if possible, try the old (long) shocks on the new car, and see what the difference is... if I get the time that is!
Ed