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Old 10-12-2011, 05:10 AM
  #6546  
crashingbird
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Originally Posted by E-clip
The RC hobby is all about spending lots of money if you can't afford it maybe you should take up Knitting or Cross word puzzles.
that's (partially) bullshit

Let me tell something about expensive R/C, Tamiya F1, 103/104...

racing on a tight budget isn't easy, but spend your money on usefull things, not the 'bling things', but some needed spares, and tires !!!!

...and don't believe that hop-ups will bring your laptimes down, some parts are usefull, but there's so much (expensive stuff) just for the looks ......and of course every company just want to sell ....that's business

expensive you said ?

-> we started r/c a couple of years ago in 10th offroad -> finding a good setup isn't easy, and damn, those things eat tires....but we're still into offroad (became frustrated for a thousand reasons, swapped the local real old scool 'stock27t' club with it's strange rules, for the Belgian/Dutch nationals now), because there it's real fun, and there are so much nice and helpfull people competing in it !

also went a bit into 12th, (wintertime!) tires coming loose at the edges, wich results in tire-chunking, not to mention all those different compounds needed (f/r) to find the right balance to be competitive.... that's expensive ...real fun to drive, but it's a really sensitive car to adjust, not the thing if you don't have time to go testing...
And in my country, it was a spec class (10.5), hate that, because you need the best esc/batt's (that's expensive) and newest software...to be the fastest on the straight..

also tried 1/10 touring with some 'old' cars, (some time ago, when there were only Tamiya touring and no F1-races in my country) but didn't had the knowledge nor the time how to properly setup such a car

than F1 became a bit popular again, forgot about that rather complex and time consuming touring stuff
I had a real old second hand 103 lying around, bought it on ebay (before the reeditions and 15th ann. came out) and let my son drive this fantastic machine on a local (a bit bumpy though!) carpet track (with foams) and from time to time a Tamiya race : no hassle with setups or adjustments -> just make sure to use tire traction on the rears for half an hour, wipe it off, make a donut, drive 1 or better, 2 calm outlaps (because the tires are at first a bit slippery, and than.....let it rock !!!!!!!!
I even find those Tamiya foams good tires (on carpet, we have almost no experience on tarmac)
These cars are fun !
People at the track (touring guys) allways ask me, what car that is, if it's still available...and that they see that it drives great !

Got 3 of them right now(all second hand) and 1 new F104 (the F60) , never even changed a t-bar, just changed them to all have the adjustable height rear pod,and alu motor plate.
Now my two younger sons (9 & 11) also drive the 103, and like it so much more than their TT01's !
Only negative point is that it (unlike the 104) lacks the ability to adjust the front ride height !
And we must admit, for driving, these good ol' 103's we like them more than the F104, who is a fantastic scale looking car, but where the scale dimensions from my view, don't make it such a stable and easy to drive car as the 103's
(didn't they all drove the 104W at the tamiya Euro's, from what I've heard ...back to basic's, 200mm and F103 front suspension rulezzzz )

-> the 103 'camel' lotus and 104W McLaren are on my wishlist !

I'm sure the 104W is a good car too !

Who needs all those bling parts ?
Or even the carbon pro version....unless your name is Marc Reinhardt, and you're going to the worlds with it, and know all about setting up a carbon car, than it can give you a couple of tenth's advantage, but most hobby drivers will be better off with a standard glassfiber version !
-> a glassfiber chassis flexes, and a flexing chassis is what gives you grip !!

Never really understood why those touringcars became so popular, t-bar F1 cars are so much more fun !

Just my vision on r/c racing and Tamiya F1's

Kurt,
Belgium

Last edited by crashingbird; 10-12-2011 at 05:23 AM.
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