Finally got this car back out to the track today. No race today but it was good to have hardly anyone out there and be able to spend some quality time doing setup work. I spent about 6 hours trying all kinds of setup changes. I started the day with the stock setup and running laps about 1 to 1.25 seconds off of my best laps with my old car. By the end of the day I had it pretty well dialed. I ran 3 consecutive laps .3 to .5 seconds faster than my previous all time fastest single lap on this layout. This was on an ungroomed dry track with pretty worn practice tires that I had been running all day. When this track gets swept and watered and I get a fresh set of tires on it Im betting I get at least another half second or more off that time. With my old car I was about a full second faster when it was swept and watered vs dry and loose. Looking forward to next weekends race now!!

Changes I made:

• down to 5K oil in center diff (5/5/3)
• Up just a little in the shock oil 37.5 F and 32.5 R
• No center chassis brace.
• dot down on the anti squat (flatter rear arms)
• Shortest wheel base (rear hubs all the way forward)
• Short rear upper link - inner hole on hub / center inner hole on tower
• Rear sway bar thicker to 2.6mm
• Ride height - 28mm front, 29mm rear
• Front droop screw 1.25 full turns from max, rear droop max

Now the car really hooks up well accelerating out of the corner but still rotates well into and mid corner. The rear end slide is really controllable mid corner and as you get into the gas at corner exit the rear end locks in very nice.

Things I want to try next are:

• bigger/fewer hole shock pistons. Maybe 1.3x8 or 1.5x6 hole pistons. The stock pistons have a little too much pack for the rough bumpy track and it gets tossed a little bit while accelerating in the rough spots.
• Possibly try 1 spring stiffer all around to try to get a little more lift on the jumps but its pretty good now. It jumps flat with just a little nose down tendency which is perfect. I'd just like to get a little more carry for some of the bigger jumps with short run up.
• Maybe go up in the rear diff oil just a little bit (4K?) to try and get the rear end to hook up even more on corner exit.

Also, everything seems very durable so far. Took some pretty heavy hits and tumbles on many crashes trying different lines and getting to aggressive. Came away after a full day of practice with no broken parts and running my fastest laps ever. Cant ask for more than that!!

Got mine mostly done. Sneak Peak







Yes, I'm a Gator fan!

Mine needed 7, I had an extra from the diff housings.

Day three with Eby. Went to a special Labor Day race a couple hours away in Wisconsin. They ran nitro and electric together like they did in the "old days". There were 47 entries in buggy. I qualified 15th overall, and finished fourth in the B. That is very good for me. This track was tight, super bumpy, and very fluffy off line. It was my first time running here in the last two years, but I out-qualified many very fast drivers.
I think I'm in love now. The infatuation has blossomed!
The buggy is still better than I am, but I'm getting there.
Took out more anti-squat (to the minimum) and it helped in bumpy corners.

The diffs are 7-5-3.
Longest rear camber link, with inner hole in the lowest position.
37.5f, 32.5r
The rest of the front is stock setup
105mm f, 124mm rear for droop.
27mm f, 28mm rear ride height
2.4 bar in front, 2.3 in rear.

The biggest change was remembering that I had drag brake in my speedo. It was there to help my ECO get into corners. This buggy doesn't need any help there.
Got the current limiter down to 50%, and the brakes at 35%. The funny thing is, this buggy seems just as fast, if not faster, than my ECO!!!

Boy am I having fun with this work of art of a buggy!

getting it dialed in, just wondering has anyone tried the kyosho springs?

My Airtronics servo also needed to be extended a bunch.... also for guys using Airtronics brand servos: I needed to do some dremeling to the bottom of the plastic servo mount section of the car to get the servo to mount flush..(an exacto blade would also have worked just as well.... Just a quick 2 minute mod

Boo Gators & Go Noles! Boo AT&T U-Verse TV (I had a horrible experience with U-Verse).....nice job with your buggie.

Where did you go?

Down to king hobbies.

All of the servos I used also didn't reach, but I was doing a Y adapter with my BEC (putting the BEC on ONLY the servo), so the distance worked out well.

I used a AE DS-1015 and the servo lead was the perfect length.

I ordered 4 of the Nanotech 2s/4200 shorty packs to try out today. I won't be racing again until the 22nd, but I'll post a review when I get a chance to run them. We've been running 8 minute heats and 10 minute mains. I'm using around 350mA per minute so I think they will be perfect. They will shave 7oz off the buggy. I'm at 7lb 10oz using 2 Nanotech 2s/5600 packs.

SAVOX 1258 servo lead is plenty long. bought an extension just incase but had plenty left over.

I've been wanting to put in a parts order to have spares because the local hobby shop doesn't carry tekno parts. I wanted to see which parts I might break so I drove is pretty hard and at time wrecklessly during my practice and testing sessions, but everything held up. Car is durable

Seems like everyone replaces the servo horn, and all I've been able to do is chip a tooth on the plastic spur.

Anyways, big race is coming up and I want to be prepared. So which parts have you guys broken while driving hard (not while bashing or during the crash of the century)? I don't really want to spend $$$ on spare parts that I may never use, and as some have pointed out, buying a whole new kit may be more economical than buying a ton of spare parts.

It doesn't sound like anyone has really broken this car yet except for the epic crashes. At this point Id say the list of spares would contain the normal items that most cars require.

I'd get:
a spare plastic spur gear (personal experience),
rod ends for the upper arm links,
lower arms all around,
set of hinge pins,
rear hubs,
front knuckles and caster blocks,
some sort of CVD repair kit (a bone and the barrel and pins),
shock ends
shock shafts,
the steel bushings for the front steering setup (all it takes if for a screw to fall out and you loose the bushing and your day is done).


Anyway, that would be my short list.


Its really impressive that there has been next to no breakage reported on this car at all.

Grab a set of hinge pin inserts also. You take out a hinge pin and the insert goes with it. Im not only the bent hinge pin president but Im also a client.