astgerma52sp

iTrader: (19)

I did mount the tapered spring with the wide side on but it looked weird and I was worried I might get unpredictable function so I took it off. I'll give it a try to see how it works out on the track.

ByteStream

iTrader: (2)

You can use CRC, AE, TOP or any other 1/12 kit manufacturers spring retainers. I have a set of the exotek ones and don't really recommend them as the springs fit pretty loose on them.

Texas.john

I'm new into f1 and am wondering why most suggest going with a softer tire up front than the rear. I currently run soft front and rear and if I sauce more than half of the front it over steers badly. At the same time I have a under steer issue when on power. I run pits 571 fronts and 579 rears. All the settings are as the book suggest for the 2016. I thought going to a harder tire in the rear would cause it to oversteer even more than it does now. Any help would be apreciated.

racenut123

iTrader: (32)

Pit tires are not the same compounds front to rear. 572 are hard but in reality in comparison to the fronts this compound is more balanced when run with a 571. The 574/575 combo is a soft/soft combo that I use on carpet. 574 fronts is way softer then 571 fronts but both are called soft. But a 572 rear is harder then a 575, hence why the 575 is more balanced with the 574 front.

scirocco14

iTrader: (5)

The 579 compound is the R3-Soft compound. It is similar to the 575 compound which is the R1-Soft rear tire.

The 579 designed to work w/o tire sauce, like the 574 R3-soft front tire.

Your 571/579 will tend to understeer under power because of the grip provided by the softer rear tire. If you switch to a 571/572 combo the car will probably be more balanced.

If you ever make it to The RUG in King, NC, look me up. I'll be more than happy to help with setup & tire questions. We're having a big race this Saturday, already 11 F1 cars are signed up. Come on up and check it out!

Hope this helps,

Mark

Mark

illmatic94

iTrader: (12)

Where do you guys get tired for f1 kits? Foam or rubber?

Texas.john

Thanks for all the tire help guys. Next time out I will try the 571/572 combo.

Illmatic94----- I get most of my tires from TQRacing.com. They ship fast and are reasonable on pricing.

astgerma52sp

iTrader: (19)

Same here. I have gotten them from RCMART and BorderRC also. Border RC has Pit 571/572 pre-glued.

darkblood

I just ordered an x1. I will be taking peoples advice on here to set it up. I picked the x1 over the f113 because its difficult to get parts at the local track for 3racing. Does anyone here have experience using both chassis ? if so, which one do you prefer, pros and cons ? I ask because if I come across a used f113, I wouldnt mind having it as a backup f1.

Any thoughts ?

ta04evah

iTrader: (2)

I have both an X1, and the F113, and can honestly tell you that the X1 is a much better car than the F113.
The thing that lets the F113 down is it's front suspsension, it may seem like a good idea, but sadly the build quality isn't there to ensure that both sides of the front suspension on the F113 is smooth & equal from side to side.

The only time I have had most success with the F113 is when I used a different front suspension on the front, either a Tamiya F103, or F104 front suspension. With the F104 front suspension on the F113, it is an easy, if somewhat boring car to drive.

Out of the box the X1 impressed me with the build quality & performance, had to do some changes to the X1 from kit spec's, but you'll find that with any F1 car out there.

Another downside to having the X1 & F113, is that the X1 uses "F104" size rims & tires, and the F114 uses "F103" size rims & tires so you have to have 2 different sizes of rims & tires, and some are not inter-changable between the 2 different cars.

If you're going to use the X1 as your main car, and looking for a "spare car", then I'd look at the following, not in any order of preference:

Serpent F110 Sf2
VBC Lightning FX
Tamiya F104 Pro

There's more out there, which others on here may reccomend too.

astgerma52sp

iTrader: (19)

This a Quote from RobK. He does not mention the F113 but talks about the X1.

"F1 Flow Chart:

TCS racing?
If yes, see below, If no skip directly to "Buy XRAY"

Do You race on carpet? If no skip directly to "Buy TRF102"

If yes, this is where things start getting interesting.

F104 t bar cars - you need to really look at the F104X1 (or a car optioned to the same spec) or the F104W GP. The X1 has fiberglass chassis parts which actually can be a good thing. It makes a little more traction and has a little more weight down low, which again is not all bad. I have witnessed several brutal beatdowns on high grip carpet with this car. Pretty well optioned if you can get a kit/car. Really the only things you may want are the carbon axle, and clamping hub.

The WGP car is very similar, however you will need to buy the standard F104 front end plastic parts and shorter turnbuckles as the car is an older "wide" 200mm car with the included F103 front end parts. That being said, it is the most well optioned F104 in my opinion. All pod parts are aluminum, chassis is graphite, it includes the aluminum front knuckles, and the t plate I like better. The t plate has a different flex point which I think makes a little more traction. You may also fit any of the other F104 t bars as well, noting that the standard F104 cars cannot use the WGP's tbar due to the larger chassis opening required. Last time I checked you can still find this car for under $200 USD at rc-art online from Japan.

These cars don't turn in quite as hard as a TRF102, which has a much thinner chassis and flexes more in general. That's not always a bad thing, but I have always found that you need to keep a good balance in the car's handling to make it driveable. The car will feel either a little dead off the center of the wheel or it will get a little unstable if you want a steering machine. This is not a concern if you are only racing other Tamiya cars but you will be off the pace vs. Xrays or cars with a similar layout. (off topic excursion coming...) In my experience, and that of even other guys who I feel are better drivers than I am, you won't get the ultimate pace of the other brand chassis. I have been to non TCS races where we threw the kitchen sink at it and in the end you just make the car hard to drive trying to keep up.

The TRF101 has some nice features, including the ability to move the links around and has a little more flexible chassis than the F104V2. Oddly enough, I always had the feeling that it accelerated much better than the other cars in the series, why I don't know. I haven't tried to measue the pod or anything to see if there is some difference, but whatever.

I really don't care for the front end. There is little adjustment and the design is less than optimal to use what should be good features. If you let the upper arm flex too much, the kingpins can pop out. Ride height can be hard to set where you want it. No caster adjustment, like the normal F104 front end ( well not really true since you get more caster the less camber you run). It actually would have been super simple to add to the design via a couple extra holes in the upper arm, but that's neither here nor there. It's simple, and camber is easy to adjust to the 2 positions offered, but on carpet you wind up searching for steering most of the time. At least the F104 front end lets you have 6 camber settings and the ability to add dynamic caster like a 1/12 car with different height ball studs. The more stable handling has seemed to work for some on asphalt. Trying a set of the normal F104 upper arm parts might make this car a little better, but I have always liked the feel of the t bar's more stable launch out of a corner vs Tamiya's link cars.

Getting to the TRF102, the biggest flaw is the chassis if you are going to race carpet. I have gotten this car to within a couple tenths of my Xray car on carpet, which is pretty good since I feel like the Tamiya front end does not produce the steering of the Xray. You need to strap the battery to the chassis and also use double sided tape to make the battery a "stressed member" to help stiffen the car up for carpet. Otherwise, every corner is an adventure if traction is up. For non TCS racing you could fashion an upper deck from scratch or cut up F104 parts, as the holes line up. This is semi effective, but you will get crushed by Xrays and their clones anyway. The other problem is that a lot of the steering is actually produced by chassis flex just behind the servo, so you can't just make it a tank."

I think the TRF102 is probably going to work out for carpet if you use the battery to get the car stiffer. It does have a good amount of steering that just needs to be tamed. Work still needs to be done to get it 100% dialed for carpet, in my opinion. Otherwise, I would go with an F104WGP, which just has a different feel, and can be really fast as well, and has a lot of good setup knowledge out there.

darkblood

thank you guys, thats pretty much what I was looking for. the f113, to me looks like its front suspension ( although theoretically better ) I think it weighs the front end down. I have an fgx, and the main issues Im having with that car, is weight. I cannot keep up with other f1s. And thats my worry with the f113. But, I can see what you mean by build quality. Keeping both front wheels to behave the same with shocks/springs on a light vehicle might be tough.

I also looked into the trf102, and trf101w.

Ill try and post some pics of the xray if I do anything special to it.

PHI2

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys. I justgot the new front moulded wing(ets) for my x1. What size bolts did you use to mount it?
Thanks

border r/c

The 571 & 572 preglued are great, they are glued on Tuning Haus wheels (which I personally like very much) and the Shimizu rubber is simply the best on the market.

The 571 & 572 are great for indoors and the 573 and 575 for outdoors.
The 573 & 575 will also work indoors, but only on high grip carpet tracks.

NutDriver

iTrader: (30)

The 574/575 combo can be good on carpet, but it is gives VERY aggressive steering.