Menace, there are tons of hop up parts you might consider. The 08 car comes with the CVDs so that's a good part to start with. If you're going for weight reduction in the drive train, try the light mid-shaft, the light flywheel, the light 2-speed transmission, light brake pulley, light clutch bell. I've got the Xray multidiff on my car and it's a fantastic piece of engineering since it's lightweight and I can set it in 1 of 3 modes, one-way, locked one-way, on-power locked+off-power one-way. If you want stiffness, try the carbon fiber battery tray, carbon fiber upper bumper plate, and one-piece engine mount (which you can adjust the stiffness of). For durability, try the aluminum wheel hexs and mid-pulley bearing holder.

On makers, for parts like the bumper plate, engine mount, wheel hexs, and battery tray I went 3Racing. The plate, mount, and tray are fine but I'm already having problems with one of the wheel hexs. The head on the screw is starting to strip. Looks like I'll have to swap it for XRay. For the multidiff light clutchbell, flywheel, and brake pulley I went Xray. The mid-shaft, YBSlow. For me, for critical drive train parts, I'd stick with Xray. The same for the chassis too. I'm not saying other makers don't make good parts but, at least with 3Racing, part quality has varied from fine to awful. Not enough consistency for me to trust it for critical parts.

For myself the one part I did not consider was the aluminum bulkhead stiffener, made by 3Racing. I've never seen this part made from aluminum before on any car. I would image the reason is that while carbon fiber (which is common for this part) flexes, aluminum will bend. This could introduce tweek into a car. Since I've never tried it I can't say that would happen with this part but the NT1 is built so well and drives great, even if the part had no issues, I find the car doesn't need it.

Good luck.

Rob

If it isn't Xray, its nothing at all:lol:

Again. Great information Mark. It's sometimes hard to say no to upgrades. Especially when they offer the bling factor... but when your racing, you want stuff that improves the handling, speed (Corner speed or acceleration/deceleration) or durability of the car.

So thanks for the information on all that.

Interesting to hear about the plastic verses the aluminium shocks. I like the idea of the Aluminium and also the adjustability (1-4 holes!!) but as you and others have stated. It's probably only an improvement over the plastic ones as so far as durability.
And how many plastic shocks can you get for the price of the Aluminium ones...??

Good to see the car is so good without having to spend hundreds of $ on upgrades to make the car competative!

I think the lightweight drive train parts are a good way to go though......if they do indeed offer weight savings worth the money spent.


Thanks Rob.
Good info' again.

Like most cars and as Mark pointed out. You have to be careful you don't spend money on parts and upgrades that are not going to give you what you want.........talking of racing here.
Also. I have experience buying lightweight parts for my G4 and found it hard, in the end to get the car to legal weight???!

Are there good area's on the car to place weight(s) to bring a light car up to 1725g?
It sounds as though the car is a little light in stock condition. So if quite a few of the lightweight drive train parts are added, I may have to add a considerable amount of weight to get the car to 1725g (again.....lol!!!)


Mark.

Do you use the lightweight drive train parts on your car? Do you feel these give you an increase on performance?

Thanks all for the valuable info'. Changing "make" of car is always a hard decision I think. More so cause I've ran basically the same chassis for 7 years!!......lol

Regards,

British Menace

BM,

The only lightweight part on my car is the receiver pack and I only did that to lower the fuel tank.

I view the lightweight drive train parts as bling since they offer marginal savings at a high cost. With the overpowered engines we run these days I just don't see a few grams off the drive train making a visible difference. $10 worth of clutch shims to get that perfect engagement would go further than $200 worth of lightweight parts to improving acceleration.

The only option parts I use are the front CVDs that now come std in the 08 kit and the yellow clutch shoe(for longevity).

For Tuning parts I use:

• Tuning springs in 20-35lb range, I typically run 22.5-28lb
• Extra rear diff with 40K oil (kit diffs w/ 60K)
• Multi-diff for tracks that favor a 1-way
• 1deg steering blocks for smaller technical tracks that favor a diff.
• pr of -.75 hexes to allow for even narrow front width when needed
• Pinions & spurs to fit any track I will be racing

Mark

Hopups
 

Menace, my attitude toward hopups is basically they are part of the hobby and part of the fun. It's not only RC cars but just about anything from real cars, sports equipment, to interior decorating, to whatever, everyone basically gets bored of the same old thing no matter how good that thing is. Anyone who makes something for living knows to keep people interested in the product, you've got to keep it looking new. Once you can't do that, you come out with a new model or go out business.

In general there isn't any harm in hoping up your car although some hopups are crap and will unbalance your car so be careful. Don't add on every hopup you can buy on day 1. Start with a couple, drive for a while, then add on a few more and see what it does to the car. Starting with the car as close to base is a good idea I think but I certainly add on as I got more familiar with the car and how it drives. Even the bling parts aren't frivolous. They are a mark of personal style. It's your car. Do what you want to it. I've got alu wheel hexes. They don't improve lap times at all. They just look cool and cost about $10. I can afford $10 to make the car look good to me and it doesn't hurt my lap times.

If you don't already have one, my number one suggestion is to get a personal transponder if you run on a track with a lap timing system. That's my top choice. It turns the subjective (e.g. "feels better", "smoother", "jumpy", etc) into the objective (lap times).

Practise is what you need the most to be successful with the NT1. The transponder will tell you whether what you've done to your car is making it go faster or not.

Rob

It's quality stuff for sure!!:nod::nod:

hey guys, I recently received a spare NT1 clutch to try out and noticed that people use an array of clutch springs. I have mostly seen msr springs and orion. I am gonna try out the MSR spring since i have a few laying around from my 1/8th scale days. So what tension should i use?
Hey BM!!!

Steve

MSR spring fits too tight around the flywheel nut...

Does anyone do anything special to prevent front CVD's from breaking? Other than not hitting walls. They just tend to snap sometimes without hitting anything.

ohh, should i stick with the orion spring then? or??

Steve I use the orion spring and yellow shoe almost all of the time.

Are you using the spool ? Ever since I switched over to using a spool for all tracks, I notice I was going through front uni's alot more than if I were to use my one-way.

I am using a spool. I've always used a spool and decided to try the kyosho uprights and cvd's because they are a little more sturdy. However, they have been snapping too!

Are you using an after market spool (metal)? Or the stock plastic one? I use the standard stock plastic ones. If I tag the wall to hard I will actually "strip" the plastic front spool. I carry a few extra plastic stock spools. I would rather strip a $3.50 part then snap a $15-$20 part.

When you hit a wall one wheel may abruptly "stop" something and when this happens something is likely to break.

The Orion is good. I prefer the JP Hard though. Definitely the yellow shoe unless traction is WAY down.