JC8390

Rear motor or mid motor??

Sorry, this probably has been asked.. I did a quick search and didn't find what I was looking for.

Running an indoor clay track. Don't know a thing about setting one of these up, so I would be running it close to box stock I'm sure.

bubbaslash

iTrader: (1)

We race on indoor clay. Last time out, the grip was medium. One of the fastest SCT drivers brought his SC5M 17.5 truck and his SC10 mod truck. His lap times with the mid motor spec truck were over a second faster than his rear motor mod truck. I'm a believer

JC8390

I think mid motor would have to be better. One of the fastest guys at my local track recommended the rear motor. Said its easier to drive and setup.. but I've ran rear motor buggy and hated em. Id think on clay it would have to be better to run mid.

I'm going to run this in a stock class if that matters for anything.

bmag5000

Rear Motor= outdoor
MID Motor = indoor

Gear Diff outdoor
BALL DIFF indoor

bubbaslash

iTrader: (1)

The racer that I was speaking of is currently running the stock 4-gear trans but plans to upgrade to the 3-gear. If your track ranges from medium to high grip, the 3-gear will probably be better in a stock class truck. My youngest boy said his homebrew mid motor was hard to drive the first time out. But after watching the lines the 2wd buggies (mostly mid motor) took around the track, he learned how to drive it. It made him a better driver. He's learned to roll the corners, and the truck is much more stable in the air. Traction rolling is virtually a thing of the past. He was always much slower than his older brother until he went mid motor. Now their lap times are within a second of each other. Once you learn not to swap ends on the corners and roll into the throttle on exit, I think you'll like it. Keep anti-squat at about 1 degree and reduce drag brake from what you would run on a rear-motor. Please keep in mind that I'm not a driver, just a builder. I'm basing my opinion on what I see on the track, and the way the drivers are responding. The 3 fastest 17.5 drivers and the fastest mod driver at our track are recent converts to the SC5M.

thecman26

iTrader: (105)

I know a guy who has both, can run both equally well and is a bit faster with the old truck! He just prefers the mid motor, but when bite goes down the rear motor is better. If the track stays consistently higher bite I would get the MM but you can't go wrong either way!

BigReade

iTrader: (1)

Funny, I bought my SC5M for outdoor, and ran it with a ball diff, a 3 gear, and it worked beautifully. And the only time I ran gear diff is when I run indoors, at SRS, due to the extremely high bite...so there is nothing set in stone here.

thecman26

iTrader: (105)

I think we got one of those nitro guys in here!

bmag5000

True dat it's just a preference thing. I know people that run a ball diff outdoors as well.

Scooter79rs

iTrader: (9)

That's odd, I ran my SC5m on outdoor clay with a ball diff and came 3rd at the West Aussie state titles a fortnight ago.

I'd say it'll just come to down to the driver and the car setup.

JC8390

Keep in mind, I don't know a TON about setup so I need the truck to come out of the box pretty close.

I'm running the b5m in stock class on high grip clay. About the only thing I've changed is 3 hole pistons in the rear, dropped front and rear oil 1 weight (both of those were advice from a track buddy) and I changed from green to white springs in the rear to get the buggy a little quicker and to get some steering. I've also experimented with the front camber link as well. That's about the extent of my setup knowledge lol.

aeRayls

iTrader: (3)

The Sc5m is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor in every single category. It's far more durable, the shocks are better/more consistent. This truck can create just as much grip as the sc10. I was totally blown away at how this thing out of the box was better than all the time I spent tuning an sc10.

Get the sc5m build it and run it. Use square packs or shorties with 50grams of weight added back in. Buy a pair of gray front truck springs and GO
The only other option I highly recommend is the brass C block and the inserts that go with them.

There is no sense in buying the older model for any race conditions. Yes, this truck is that much better.

JC8390

All makes sense to me! Outdoor season is coming, and I'll be running e buggy but I could have this ready to go by the time its too hot to play outside.

loaba

iTrader: (1)

I run a SC10B FT on indoor clay with a gear diff. Still learning to drive, so from my POV rear or mid doesn't really matter. One thing I've learned in this hobby is that once a a new platform comes out, the old stuff gets left in the dirt. (heh)

I've compared my B5 to my T4.2 and the SCB and far as I can tell they 1.) narrowed the pan, 2.) strengthened the front bulkhead and top plate and 3.) generally bulked up the front and rear hubs. That's of course ignoring the obvious mid-motor/4-gear tranny arrangement.

I wish Associated would have gone the TLR route and made the new chassis design accept both motor placement options.

If you've just got have that new kit smell, you might as well go with the SC5M and learn how to drive mid. But if you're like me and you don't mind used, then you can get a SC10.2 FT on the cheap.

My vote is a nicely used (ha) SC10.2 FT.

JC8390

Well when the car uses both mid and rear motor compromises are made so that both can be possible. That's why TLR got away from that with the 3.0 buggy.