rayhuang

iTrader: (5)

Michael Bruces pack was matched at 35 ampsby SMC and thats why the voltage looks low. Its actually about a 1.177 to 1.182 pack at 30 amps-which you can buy off the shelf at anystore that sells SMC.

AdrianM

iTrader: (4)

Bruce and Burch run SMC cells. They are matched at 35A. As a result their voltage and run time numbers appear lower...however...they are not lower at all. SMC sponsored drivers at the worlds were not at all down on power or run time.

From where I was it seemed that everyone has pretty much equal run time and power. Guys that dumped either had poor car setups (inefficient/too much traction) or drove too hard and dumped. Most sorted this all out in practice.

The most impressive thing about the Worlds was seeing that the top drivers were not running flat out punched 100% of the time. They drove within the limits of the batteries. They would roll the throttle and coast through sections of the track if they were in the lead or not getting pressured. They would sit in their position until the right time then pour the coals on to make a pass or take the lead in the last 2 minutes of a run. The A mains were very tactical. Their level of control was phenomenal.

RC Scoring Pro

The reason Easton was moved to the #5 spot at the start of the mains was because they caught a scoring error. There was a tie in round 2 between Easton and Surikarn. They both should have been awarded the same number of points, but Billy was awarded 1 less point by the software. So when they manually added the point, Billy moved into the #5 spot.

DerekB

It's really not feasible to compare numbers between brands. You can only really look at the number for that company only. There are no standard methods of charging or discharging. While I'm sure there are some proven ways to spike cells the reality is, it's more of a marketing tool. Since all the cells come from the same place it's hard to say that any company gets a better batch.

Truth is that the bigger companies get more cells and have a higher chance of getting a REALLY good cell. It's a numbers game. If 1 in 100 cells is above average or super you just have to buy a lot.

I also remember a while back when it was "the in thing" to have all the numbers read 0.00. Mind games are great.

futureal

Years ago, the first time I ever asked a pro driver why his cells were blacked out, he said "it's just a mind f*** for everybody else."

Tim Johnson

And for some this works. The fun thing is to repaint your springs, and change the color dots on your foam tires....lol

SRS

What tire traction compound was used at the worlds?

POOKYT

Brant

johnbull

WORLDS UPS AND DOWNS.

Some team results were in accordance with expectations. Some were above. But somewere way below.

Here's my verdict. How about yours!

TAMIYA. Everybody knew Mark R is quick but I don't think anybody expected him to be that quick and that consistant. I don't think many people thought he'd beat Surikarn. Verdict - UP.

HPI. Hara is reputed to be the quickest thing after Michael Schumacher. He lived up to his reputation, but he was harried all the way by team mate Diasuke. Let's be honest, how many of us would have put bets on Diasuke making the A. Second and third at the worlds has definately got to be - UP.

YOKOMO. Yoke only had 2 official works drivers at the Worlds and they both finished in the A. Masami is brilliant - everybody knows that. Easton was the best number 2 you could have. They ran consistantly in the top 10 all week. Very impressive for a relatively small team. Verdict - UP.

ASSOCIATED. AE expected better things from their "works" drivers but if you look closely you will see that they certainly had the speed - just lacked in driver consistancy. Nevertheless young Yuho proved that the new TC4 is certainly a force to be reckoned with, making a brilliant 5th overall. Verdict - UP.

LOSI. Losi rounded off the 5 manufacturers who got cars in the A. In fact they had 2 of their new twin belt cars up their, with Matt F showing well all week. Verdict - UP.

X RAY. Big team. Big effort. Good drivers. But not one single car in the A. What a disappointment that must have been for the team with the best publicity machine in the business. There were plenty of X Rays in the B but that's not where anybody expected them to be, is it? Verdict - DOWN.

SCHUMACHER. Granted that they are a small team compared to the RC giants, but at home in Florida alot was expected from them. I really thought Teemu would make the A and Paul W would be up front somewhere too. Verdict - DOWN.

CORALLY. A good effort for a small team. To be fair nobody really expected them to light up the worlds, and they didn't. However they ran well and impressed. Verdict - UP.

BARRACUDA. After X Ray, reputedly the biggest works team at the Worlds. Somesaid the new car was the best thing since sliced bread. I'm not too sure they even managed to get a car in the C, let alone the A. Verdict - DOWN.

I don't think I've left anybody out. If I have please go ahead and fill in the blanks.

MattH

c

J.Filipow

iTrader: (15)

Any general thoughts on why the Euro and Asian drivers dominated this event? Only two Americans in the top ten, and both of them, reputable 'off roaders' interestingly enough. I am simply wondering if there is something to the style of tracks or driving that is common in the US (versus Europe or Asia) that might have left the Americans less prepared...

RC Scoring Pro

I was told Paul LeMieux was on some very fast runs (top 5 of the round) and had mechanical problems. So the new Losi looks like it will be good.

Bob Barry

iTrader: (22)

to be honest with you I put more value on how a car finishes at Cleveland than how it does at the worlds.....for 99.9% of the people out there if you can make the car work on high bite carpet you can make it work outside. Also here in the NJ area no one really runs rubber tires outdoors. Everyone runs Foam outside. But all in all I would tend to agree with the assessments you made on the manufacturers and how they ran.

Jpilone

After close review of the photos of Rheinard's car.. including some that I shot post-qualifying (I shot them in a mini-studio I made, which are for a magazine shot so I can't post them) show the car missing something..

A PERSONAL TRANSPONDER!!

I checked the timing system and Rheinard was using a PT for the event. So that's one-up on confirming he had a mock "photo car" prepared.

Though I am boggled, because I asked him 3 times to take pics of his car and he would ask a japanese mechanic, who said "no" and then he would tell me "maybe later".

If they had a photo car prepped, what's the difference?

the world may never know....

f1larry

iTrader: (22)

With all the secretcy at this event with not letting people take pictures of their real car in the pits, blacking out cell voltage and run times, and all the misinformation sounds like this was a F1 Event rather than a RC Car event.

Anyway I want to thank all that worked so hard to bring us what information they could and all the great pictures.

I especially want to thank Shane for this incredible site. Can't wait for the DVD.