jameyfoto

Hi, just picked up a hpi sprint 2 drift brushless car on eBay. Unfortunately shipping is being slow but i hope to have it by the end of the week. Also ordered an evoX body as the painting aspect is something I'm very interested in (its coming with a skyline shell as well).

I have a couple questions,:

1: are there any drift events or meets in the new England area?
2: does this car only run on lipo batteries or can I use other types as well
3: where can I get a decent, very cheap charger? I know you get what you pay for but after recent expenditures (I also just bought full coilovers for my real car and new summer tires so the wife isn't enthusiastic about my hobbies ATM) i need to keep costs down for a month or two, then i can come back and buy something fancier.

Thanks!

k_bojar

iTrader: (30)

hey there and welcome

I can't answer #1 since I don't live in your area, but here are the rest. remember, these are my opinions and you're bound to get a gazilion other opinions - so figure out what make most sense to you and go from there

#2 - yeah, the car can run on either lipo or nicd/nimh. however, that being said, you'll get the most run time from lipo - and pricing has gotten to the point where lipo and 'round cells' are similarly priced

for example - 5000mah 2s lipo - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXBAKN&P=ML
5000mah nimh - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXAAGH&P=7

granted, the lipo isn't considered to be top-of-the-line, but for drifting and occassional play, it'll work just perfect...the higher the mah number, the more runtime you'll (theroretically) get from the pack

#3 - I'd recommend either of these:

onxy 230 ac/dc - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXTCK1&P=ML -- i've personally use one of these and its a nice little charger.. its ac/dc so it means you can use it pretty much anywhere you got electric or hook it up to a power supply

onxy 235 - http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXAGUG&P=ML -- built-in balancer for your lipo packs

lipos need to be balanced in order to reduce the risk of them going boom or over charging/discharging a cell. the 230 needs an external balance (tower has them), and the 235 has one built in plus a usb port to charge a phone

you honestly won't need anything fancier, charger-wise, unless you plan to race (not drift) TC competitvely and i'm talk world championship kind of competition...for the average weekend racer, both of these will work fine - battery might want to be replaced as funds allow if you feel you're at a major disadvantage to your fellow drifters...but if that happens, at least this'll make a nice practice/spare pack

both chargers do just about everything the more expensive ones do. i used my 230 at the ROAR nationals last year, and didn't once feel like i was at a disadvantage on the track, power wise

just ask if you need any other questions

hope that helps

jameyfoto

That's great info, I appreciate it. I'm a bit bummed about the charger prices. I was hoping one of the $25 jobs off eBay would be ok.
I think eventually I'll look at a mod set of parts so I can TC it but for now I just want to familiarize myself with the hobby for the most part and i find the drifting very entertaining.

oceanhighz

iTrader: (49)

If you look carefully you can find something like this......

http://www.hobbypartz.com/thac6smbachw.html

I personally have one, and it charges fine. It's all you'd need to charge lipos for your purpose. I raced shortcourse while using mine. I upgraded when moving into racing more seriously, but it worked great for what I needed. I think over 45-50 shipping is free. I also have had decent luck with their lipo's. I prefer their gens ace, like this:
http://www.hobbypartz.com/98p-25c-40...se-direct.html

but their sky lipos aren't bad either, I know guys who use them. For drifting, they'll work just fine. For the price, if you got two and had them charged, they'd last you probably as long as you'd want to run it at once. PLus you could charge one while running the other.
http://www.hobbypartz.com/77p-sl4400...-hardcase.html


Not the highest quality, but will still work..... just an FYI, its the same charger as this, if you'd prefer to get it backed by a company like a-main.
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...rger-6S-5A-50W

and a similar lipo:
http://www.amainhobbies.com/product_...-ROAR-Approved

k_bojar

iTrader: (30)

not sure what $25 chargers you are referring to - but you need to make sure they do lipo, and are ac/dc. if they are dc only, then you'll need an external power supply and that will set you back anywhere from $50-$100 bucks

the sprint2 is a nice beginner's car - and may do fair in a mod TC kind of class, but that's not what its designed for. its designed for the VERY casual racer, and won't hold its own so well against the higher end xrays, tamiya, TOP cars that are out there...but the time you 'hop it up', you'll be dropping a ton of $$ into a chassis that will be marginally better...plus, by the time you add up all the cash you spent hopping it you, you'd be better of buying a 'pure race-bred' chassis, and you'll be happier too

FNG RIDER

You should do more research into drifting to understand you will be required to drift your car. I used to drift when it first started in the U.S., you will need a strong motor, batteries and drift specific tires. What I enjoyed most about rc drifting is most of the guys are into scale replica cars with deep plated rims, authentic team paint jobs and fast drifters.

That being said. the Sprint is a great beginners level car, you can always upgrade later as money will allow. Get a RTR it will have almost everything you need to get rolling fast.

jameyfoto

That's a large part of what attracted me to the drift cars, I already enjoy that myself in real life and I'm really getting into air brushing and have always enjoyed craft projects and tuning cars cosmetically so I have an evo shell already due in any day while the car itself isn't going to get here til Friday or Saturday!

jameyfoto

for those curious, I bought this one...

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140736538472

hopefully it functions!