What did you get for a mid buggy?

Nick

I got a XXX based Atomic Carbon CR2. I've been looking at the X-6, Cougar SV, and the 22 but this one popped up in the for sale section for a good price that I could probably resell it for if I don't like it so I figured what the heck.

so far im up to page 8 and my head is like this now.....http://smiliesftw.com/x/confused_dazed_insane_big.png

ill just print everything at work and highlight the most important info :lol::lol:

thanks for sharing all this overwhelming info guys :D

Very true....I just wonder if that extra second is me or a result of poor tuning?

nah had to work again.

This thread should be a must read for new racers that are serious about getting better. Thanks to all for taking the time.

I do not fully understand droop. In the one of the links posted it said more droop is better for rough tracks. Wouldnt more droop mean a lower ride hight? I always thought I would want a higher ride hight for rough tracks. Also on my 8 scale buggies they have what I believe are droop screws? Should I adjust droop with these screws? How does droop diffrer from ride height and what does it affect. Last question: How do I know when to start tuning with diff oil compared to suspension set up?

Pick your car up by the chassis. Let your wheels and suspension just hang down in mid air. How far they hang down in relation to the chassis is the droop. The farther down your wheels are, the more droop you have.

Your ride height is determined when the car is on the ground. A level ride height is the arms being parallel to the ground when the car is sitting still with nothing touching it. Your actual ride height is the distance between the chassis and the ground.

Droop is the ammount the arms/wheels hang down when the vehicle is in the air. Your ride height is set at a desired height(usually with axles level depending on track conditions) somewhere between full droop and full compression. More droop usually is good for rough tracks and less for smooth tracks. Droop screws can be a useful tuning tool instead of having to put travel limiting spacers inside your shocks to acheive the same purpose.

In regard to diff oil setup, what vehicle do you have? I like to tune my diffs on outdoor loose tracks as it gives a better feel as to what the cars turning characteristics are.
Once you have your suspension dialed pretty close then mess with your diff fluids. Start off light(5k front, 5k center, 3k rear ) and go up in weight in the center first until it feels like the car doesn't rotate in turns well, then back it down to where it felt best. Next, go up in the front which will affect how much pull the front has coming out of turns at the expense of on-throttle push. Finally, tune the rear last (you won't go up much in oil wt. here, as the rearend will break loose easier with heavier oil)to help minimize diffing out.

I have a Hyper 7 that I have been messing with but I just got an RC8. In my Hyper 7 I had 5,10,3 which felt pretty good. Thicker center diff oil takes away rotation in the corners?

You are correct. On my slash 4x4, (which uses heavier diff oil weights) 100k fluid(which comes stock in the centerdiff) rotates too slow. 50k works much better, where 30k was too light. Personal preference, driving style, and track conditions play into this. I run 30/50/10. Your rc8 is probably going to use similar weight oils to your hyper 7, but you need to try different wt oil to find out what works best. You can also ask around to find out a general consensus and tune from there.
This is another part of tuning that taking the time to tune it right makes a big difference in handling. Start with light oil in your diffs (as this will put power to the wheel with least traction and minimize any pushing or breaking loose)and tune the suspension first before changing/increasing diff weights.

fred after reading some of this and some of josh i took every thing apart and started fresh then ended up with this.

+ YouTube Video

after looking at it and dropping it about 20 times it seemed as the back end was a little bouncy.

went to the middle hole on the shock tower, outer on the arm and changed the spring front soft to medium. i think its better, but not quiet so i made the front a little "faster" which now seems just about equal.

The first 2 drops look decent but the last one is clearly porpoising. You don't need to drop it from that high. Even a couple of inches is enough. Try holding the car down on the table all the way so the chassis is flat to the table. Then let go of both ends at the same time. See which end rises faster, if one does at all. Sometimes this is easier to see. It's a bit tough at the height you are dropping it from and I suspect you are getting some rebound off the table which is throwing some things off visually.

first time i dropped in on the tile from about a foot and i thought i broke the tile :lol::lol:

ok, yeah i put it flat on the table then let go and the back was the fastest to come up. Now its all back together with 27.5 in the rear which seems fine, but the front seems as if filled the shock with sand :lol: (#5 pistons which are the biggest) with 30 oil up front. you think 27.5 should do the trick?

edit im dropping it from almost 2 feet and its barely bottoming out

Don't do that test with oil in the shocks. The equalization test is done with empty shocks. You are only watching springs. Depending on the shock oil you use you may get a slightly different result. It sounds weird I know.

i didnt. the video is without oils and fully loaded. after i got it "balanced" so i think i added the oils, but i think the front is too stiff compared to before when i had 25 in it and soft springs :confused:

btw, i did the chocks according to adam drakes video full rebound

You should be narrowing down your oil selection by actually driving the car. Start with a certain known weight and drive it. If it's too soft increase the weight all around. If it's still too soft increase it again. Repeat as often as necessary. Keep in mind that one end may be fine while the other still wants to be stiffer. That's ok. Keep increasing the weight at that end until it's where you want it.

You may also find during this process that you don't like your spring rate. It may need to be stiffer or softer. If that's the case then change the rate but change both ends and maintain balance. Then start the oil cycle again. It's not a quick process and it can get repetitive. Nevertheless it's a process that works by narrowing one thing down at a time. At this point in the game you still don't care about corning ability so don't judge your springs or oil weight based on that. Only pay attention to how it handles bumps and landings from jumps right now.