Team Losi JRXS Type-R
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (315)
R/C Tech Elite Member
iTrader: (315)
Super Moderator
iTrader: (239)
Hi all.
Ancient thread I know, but hopefully someone finds my following ramble interesting. I've now read through every post in the old JRX-S and this Type-R thread and wanted to finally contribute something myself!
Used to race back in the very early 2000's as a teen, was always a huge Losi fan for their uniqueness and rarity here in the UK. I can now honestly say (with my latest purchase, below) that I've owned every Losi on-road car over the years... I guess you could say at this point I'm a fan boy. I've also raced the other 'big' kits back in the day too (Schumy's, AE FT TC3, Yokomo MR4) but I always came back to a Losi, and today they are the only chassis I'm interested in, as they are still unique!
Just before I originally gave up racing (and got 1:1) I bought a JRX-S, built it, boxed it and it never saw the track. Back in August last year I decided to have another go at racing, see if I still had the skills and see if I found it a fun hobby again - I sure did! You should have seen the surprise on people faces when I turned up to a club with a brand new car from 2004! I had the bug again. I have spent the last near year collecting parts, re-learning everything, developing my own set up and figuring out how to move into the new era of brushless. What you see below is my collection today:
The chassis on the left is/was the original box fresh kit. I completed 2 seasons over the winter at my local club, the first finding the ropes again and the second one I won the 17.5 class championship... with a car from 2004 and Novak Cyclone and brushed motor set up! (I did add a shorty lipo with custom made battery tray and I geared and trimmed the car so the speed was identical to a brushless car of the class) Had some great racing along the way and made some great friends (while also confounding a few people!) and I am truly hooked again. While it hasn't seen the track yet, I have now built a 2nd (essentially brand new from my parts collection) competition ready brushless JRX-S which I plan to use in a national carpet series which should hopefully start towards the end of the year:
I recently completed the set when a JRXS-R finally came up for sale on eBay in the UK (I've literally been checking every day for about 7 months) and while in bad shape, I have a good few spares to get it back in a half decent condition again so it can see some track action soon. I have zero intention of picking up anything modern, all these carbon copy cars are completely dull in my eyes and I have no interest in them. The Losi's however are interesting, different and present interesting handling dynamics which you just can't get with a modern chassis - especially the JRXS, with the mid motor and a shorty pack close behind it is very weight dense right in the middle of the chassis. All the more interesting is the current trend towards 'mid' (lol) motor mount TC's and more people using shortys - this chassis still presents something different which can have its advantages. I am eager to see how well I can do with it in a real competition setting now.
So that's my story. I will maybe post a few updates here as I go if anything interesting comes of my venture. I'd love to get the old girl somewhere up the leader board but we'll see.
If you have any Type-R parts sitting around in your collection that aren't being used then HMU. I'll pay good prices for arms/diff parts/driveshafts and may be interested in complete kits if you would like them to go to a good caring home! If you've got this far, then thanks for reading.
Ancient thread I know, but hopefully someone finds my following ramble interesting. I've now read through every post in the old JRX-S and this Type-R thread and wanted to finally contribute something myself!
Used to race back in the very early 2000's as a teen, was always a huge Losi fan for their uniqueness and rarity here in the UK. I can now honestly say (with my latest purchase, below) that I've owned every Losi on-road car over the years... I guess you could say at this point I'm a fan boy. I've also raced the other 'big' kits back in the day too (Schumy's, AE FT TC3, Yokomo MR4) but I always came back to a Losi, and today they are the only chassis I'm interested in, as they are still unique!
Just before I originally gave up racing (and got 1:1) I bought a JRX-S, built it, boxed it and it never saw the track. Back in August last year I decided to have another go at racing, see if I still had the skills and see if I found it a fun hobby again - I sure did! You should have seen the surprise on people faces when I turned up to a club with a brand new car from 2004! I had the bug again. I have spent the last near year collecting parts, re-learning everything, developing my own set up and figuring out how to move into the new era of brushless. What you see below is my collection today:
The chassis on the left is/was the original box fresh kit. I completed 2 seasons over the winter at my local club, the first finding the ropes again and the second one I won the 17.5 class championship... with a car from 2004 and Novak Cyclone and brushed motor set up! (I did add a shorty lipo with custom made battery tray and I geared and trimmed the car so the speed was identical to a brushless car of the class) Had some great racing along the way and made some great friends (while also confounding a few people!) and I am truly hooked again. While it hasn't seen the track yet, I have now built a 2nd (essentially brand new from my parts collection) competition ready brushless JRX-S which I plan to use in a national carpet series which should hopefully start towards the end of the year:
I recently completed the set when a JRXS-R finally came up for sale on eBay in the UK (I've literally been checking every day for about 7 months) and while in bad shape, I have a good few spares to get it back in a half decent condition again so it can see some track action soon. I have zero intention of picking up anything modern, all these carbon copy cars are completely dull in my eyes and I have no interest in them. The Losi's however are interesting, different and present interesting handling dynamics which you just can't get with a modern chassis - especially the JRXS, with the mid motor and a shorty pack close behind it is very weight dense right in the middle of the chassis. All the more interesting is the current trend towards 'mid' (lol) motor mount TC's and more people using shortys - this chassis still presents something different which can have its advantages. I am eager to see how well I can do with it in a real competition setting now.
So that's my story. I will maybe post a few updates here as I go if anything interesting comes of my venture. I'd love to get the old girl somewhere up the leader board but we'll see.
If you have any Type-R parts sitting around in your collection that aren't being used then HMU. I'll pay good prices for arms/diff parts/driveshafts and may be interested in complete kits if you would like them to go to a good caring home! If you've got this far, then thanks for reading.
Tech Elite
iTrader: (9)
How difficult has it been to get a modern lipo in/out of the car?
I've had to make my own battery tray for the S, with locators for fore/aft and some side/side location on the chassis. Its not terribly difficult, but definitely needs some custom creation and tools. With the availability of shorty packs you have good choice, and you can get about 4000mah height packs under the deck. I'm currently using a 3200 which is just about enough for 17.5 and still has a lot of extra room (this one measures 18mm high, max available height is 26mm). You will not fit a modern full sized battery into the space available - there was even difficulty fitting some sub-C packs in there at the time.
In the R, from what I can tell, modern full size lipos will be a challenge both in length and width. I'm planning to use a shorty again so I can get the centre of mass as forward as possible, by battery taping to the routed carbon battery tray, using the cell holes as slots to strap through. The shortys I already have are too wide to fit in the plastic tray. I may in the future make another bespoke carbon tray for the specific batts but the shape is a little more complex. Not too sure yet.
In the R, from what I can tell, modern full size lipos will be a challenge both in length and width. I'm planning to use a shorty again so I can get the centre of mass as forward as possible, by battery taping to the routed carbon battery tray, using the cell holes as slots to strap through. The shortys I already have are too wide to fit in the plastic tray. I may in the future make another bespoke carbon tray for the specific batts but the shape is a little more complex. Not too sure yet.
Last edited by Andy_F; 06-10-2020 at 11:26 PM.
what about the lcg lipos ?
The few that I've looked at still appear to be too long. Granted I have not looked at too many of them as a shorty still seems to be the easiest way to go in my opinion.
in the S the limitations are about 23mm high x 110mm long (at this length you'll need a new way to retain the battery tray) x 48mm wide. You'll still then need to consider keeping clear of the pulleys and belts and having room for connectors - I use 90 degree eyelets to get the connector as flush as possible with the top of the battery, and the battery will need recessed holes even with this method if you get near the max available height. I get significant front weight bias (probably 60/40) with my 3200 shorty but it works for me, overall weight is about 1200g before ballast with perfect R/L balance.
In the R the limitations are about 26mm high x 135mm long x 49mm wide. Same limitations with battery plugs, also at extreme length and width you'll run into the rear bulkheads and pulleys. Again, shortys just make things easier and also give better flexibility of weight distribution, else it'll be significantly rear heavy. With my 3200 shorty pack all the way forward overall weight is aboit 1120g with circa 51/49 front bias.
in the S the limitations are about 23mm high x 110mm long (at this length you'll need a new way to retain the battery tray) x 48mm wide. You'll still then need to consider keeping clear of the pulleys and belts and having room for connectors - I use 90 degree eyelets to get the connector as flush as possible with the top of the battery, and the battery will need recessed holes even with this method if you get near the max available height. I get significant front weight bias (probably 60/40) with my 3200 shorty but it works for me, overall weight is about 1200g before ballast with perfect R/L balance.
In the R the limitations are about 26mm high x 135mm long x 49mm wide. Same limitations with battery plugs, also at extreme length and width you'll run into the rear bulkheads and pulleys. Again, shortys just make things easier and also give better flexibility of weight distribution, else it'll be significantly rear heavy. With my 3200 shorty pack all the way forward overall weight is aboit 1120g with circa 51/49 front bias.
Last edited by Andy_F; 06-15-2020 at 12:52 AM.
Both ready to go once carpet season starts up again. Really pleased with them now.
I'm still on the lookout for Type R parts. Message me if you have anything you would like to sell on.
I'm still on the lookout for Type R parts. Message me if you have anything you would like to sell on.
Tech Rookie
I have a complete car with a box of parts ... I dont run in a league but I like to play and race friends in a parking lot ... I cant find parts easily and I blew a belt and burnt out the front center pulley... so I may sell it all
Tech Regular
iTrader: (4)
So I guess no way around using the rear ball diff. Such a shame this car design ended. I really liked my Losi back in the day. Pretty damn fast.
Tech Champion
iTrader: (264)
Old thread but, I am in the search for a Type-r of anyone has a nice one lying around let me know!
Bit of an update to my ongoing journey with my Type R in the modern world.
Thanks to some other wonderful members of this forum I now have enough parts supply to run the car basically forever. I also have the ability to build up whole spare cars, which I may do for some outdoor running in the future. Currently I'm focussing on indoor carpet as that plays to its strengths of very high rigidity.
Overall response feels very good, especially in direction change. I feel like there's a lot of potential I'm not fully tapped into yet, but its getting there. Right now my fastest lap times are up there with the top 10% of my current club and occasionally slightly faster. However, it seems like although the pace is still ultimately good, I'm having to work a lot harder to get there than the modern chassis crowd, which is leading to inconsistencies and silly mistakes. This may just be a function of the set up path I'm going down at the moment (or the limits of my ability!) but overall I'm massively enjoying the car and the challenge, as well as the confused looks on peoples faces!
Thanks to some other wonderful members of this forum I now have enough parts supply to run the car basically forever. I also have the ability to build up whole spare cars, which I may do for some outdoor running in the future. Currently I'm focussing on indoor carpet as that plays to its strengths of very high rigidity.
Overall response feels very good, especially in direction change. I feel like there's a lot of potential I'm not fully tapped into yet, but its getting there. Right now my fastest lap times are up there with the top 10% of my current club and occasionally slightly faster. However, it seems like although the pace is still ultimately good, I'm having to work a lot harder to get there than the modern chassis crowd, which is leading to inconsistencies and silly mistakes. This may just be a function of the set up path I'm going down at the moment (or the limits of my ability!) but overall I'm massively enjoying the car and the challenge, as well as the confused looks on peoples faces!