ozysnake

hi guys,
i have been running the car for 6 months now with out a good result . had a lot of d.n.f with stuff like clucth brearings failling and camber links letting go broke a sevo saver at last years australia titles and had no parts as i was the only one running a hpi r40 . but not to give up this years another year so with a bit of help from you guys i will sort this car out and hopefully put it up the pointy end of the field as i ran 5th at the Qld state titles with a v one r .
Cheers ozysnake

hpi r40
n.s.3 jp black
team lauterbacher Australia (1/5th scale )

smz

I've lost 3 bearings all on the clutch side. first it was B019, then B018, now the thrust bearings blew up. I dont know what i'm doing wrong, maybe someone can shed some light over here.

Fatboy Joe

Hi Rookie,
thanks for the tip I'll be getting me some 4 gear diffs for the back. Does the mugen gears fit? Thanks

jay272

Does anyone know how the R40 compares to the Serpent 710? I'm in the market for a nitro sedan, and so far I'm considering the 710, R40, LD3 (hong nor) and the 2 new kyoshos. I just don't wanna fall into the "hop-up trap" . Why spend $200 on hop-ups, when I can get the serpent 710 for $100 more? But, if the R40 will offer "serpent performance" for less $$, I'm all for it. Thanks in advance for your replies fellas!

Solara

iTrader: (17)

Hee hee, you just started another SERPENT vs HPI challenge (or G4/MTX3/710/R40)...........In fact, I am working on both of the car right now (time by time) and I can give a little input for those who still haven't decided what to get....

Before you guys heard about 710 is so good and so this and that...make sure you have the money to afford this car first, PARTS are expensive (they just had a price raise about 14% for everything....) 710 is definitely a better construction car (I am just being honest) over R40....again, the whole car's construction, better material, more adjustment and probably a FASTER car....probably.....however, 710 is no more Serpent Impulse,Pro or 705........Michael Salven took almost 2 full days to fine tune his 710 on Winter National to the way that he like....if he need 2 days to do the work, guess how many years that will take us....

When I build the 710, it is no HPI, you have to be very knowledgable about RC to get that car build right...again, Serpent expect all 710 owner are in the RC for some time before getting one....on the other word, no really a PLUG and PLAY thing. The 710 Setup book is like 38 pages.....that is just for STANDARD setting and a basic knowledge about 710...you MUST read thru it and know about every singel function of each nuts and bolts.........talk about HIGH TECH.

I haven't had chance to run the car, but from 710 ppl said, the stock setting of 710 is good enough to race very nicely.....and 710 can provide quite a lot more different setting and conditoin to fullfill your local track in different condition and driving style....but again, you MUST know how to do that...

Overall, 710 is around $360...car doesn't need carbon this and titanium that....car is optionless (3racing made tons of option for 710, but almost NONE of them are usefull....all eye candy), but parts can cause you arms and legs, and if you are LHS shopper for parts, make sure they carry Serpent....

HPI R40.......much easier to UNDERSTAND and construct......not sure how durable about the whole car, but seems like it is a little stronger then their previous RS4 series, all the adjustment on the R40 are very typical....very straight forward. Car is also race ready out of the box...........price is around $250....but options might required in order to IMPROVE the cars (ie, shocks, springs, carbon tower, light wieght gear box, clutch....etc)....so there are some money spending issue followed on this car if you are getting better and trying to catch those big boys......

Parts are cheaper and easier to get then Serpent......car is no RS4, doesn't need to have 80% of parts upgraded. Aftermarket parts are there (plenty)........setup can be find everywhere, and adjustment can be done very fast at track and result is quite obvious.......

However, the real testing is the one that I have to do......right now, I am leaning toward R40, cause 710 still took me quite alot of time to setup to the way that I like, and by touching the 710, I still do think that is what I like............on the other hand, R40 does not have that much option, which can be a good thing, by using stock setting, car can be very easy to drive and fast.

So, if I use the same engine/pipe elect and stuff, on both cars in stock form, I will say 710 will be a faster and better car...........BUT (again, please).....that is only apply to those really know what they are doing, for me..........I rather have a easy to tune car (R40) then a 710 that might need a lot of time invested to setup....I might not be able to beat the 710, but I will have fun all the time.

Again, that is my opinion only.................this applied to be cause my friend and I just made the exact same decision (between 710 and R40) and he decided to sell his brand new 710 and get the R40 with me....

Also....when we all concentrating between 710 and R40..........don't forget about the MTX3.....did you guys know that MUGEN just shut the worlds up (in all classes including the odd ball 235mm class which should be dominated by Serpent) at Winter National....? And that was not including those Mugen Japan Team driver....

rod_b

Please don't interpret what I'm about to say as a flame or insult...

IMHO, if you have to ask, you're not ready for the 710. I know some very experienced local racers that say the 710 is an amazing car but it takes quite a bit of knowledge to fine tune it. The stock setting is a "good" starting point but it doesn't make the 710 stand out in a crowd. What makes the 710 "supposedly" better is the ability to fine tune it to your heart's content. To do so requires a vast knowledge of what different adjustments will do, why you would/should choose one adjustment over another, as well as a huge comfort zone with your own driving style. My LHS owner called it "the Veteq of sedans" because of it's frustratingly multiple setup options.

Now with that said, I personally don't have the car or have ever run one. I do know that I'm not hardcore enough to even want to tinker with setups all day long. When I get to the point to where I can run a 30+ min main without a bobble and still lose, then I'll consider the fact that I may need more car.

If you want a top of line car so your ego will not wonder if you have enough car, go for an MTX3 or V1RR Evo. If your ego makes you want to prove an HPI car belongs on the same list as the "better" cars, go for the r40.

Darkseid

iTrader: (9)

Now thats a sweet statement there!!!

CraigH

I looked at it from the money stand point:
2-R40=520 2-710=720
extraparts=150 300
670 1020

Thats a difference of $350 dollars.But the parts for the R40 are much cheaper.
The reason for 2 cars and parts is because I would like to race some big races and like having everypart just in case.

jay272

Thanks for the replies Rookie & Rod

Im not insulted in the least bit Rod. I've been racing an X-ray (the most adjustable Electric TC) for the last 2 years, and I'm quite proffecient with setting up a car to my liking. I just want to hear "from the horses mouth" about how the 2 cars Im most interested in, compare to one another. I kinda considered the MTX-3, but being that Im such an Xray fan, I'm leaning more towards the serpent.

BTW, people I race with said the same thing about the Xray when I was shopping for an electric TC(about how expensive everything is) and I listenened and bought a TC3 FT, what a mistake!! Then came the Pro 3, which required about 200$ in parts and chassis upgrades to be competitive. After splurging on the Xray evo 2, I've yet to break the car and it handles better than any other electric I've ever owned. My point is that I should've bought the best car from the beggining, and I would've saved money.

You guys see where I'm coming from?

R40 racers......

Have you guys started noticing any weird "wear-n-tear" problems with your R40s?

Solara

iTrader: (17)

We are all here to help each other out...including making the car decision.....and not saying 710 is the best or MTX3 is the best....when I was racing my Serpent Impulse back 5 years ago, the fastest guy at our track was running a nicely setup and hopped up HPI RS4 and not one of us can catch him, including those mugen and yokomo.....

If you have the X-ray back ground.....then I will say you can consider 710......again, I still believe BOTH car are about the same at the track (I am assuming both are driven and tuned by experienced driver....) R40 is a little LESS about fine tunning, but that also means you don't have to worry about all those little things.....710 has a MILES of setting for you to choose, but the worst thing is....it is way too many different setting and combination for you to choose from, sometime, you just want to ask Serpent....."why all these luxury....."

I can only speak for Serpent, Serpent rarely has WEAR and TEAR issue.....things like pulley, belts and plastic seems only getting better and better when you run the car more...(kinda like the whole car need a break in period...).....if you want to know how good is Serpent parts, you can ask yourself that question....how good is X-rays parts....

But also, R40 is no RS4.....from all the friend I knew that own the R40....car is very strong and parts are unexpectedly durible....

P.S.....when ppl said 710 is the TC version of Veteq 1 and 2.....that is NOT a understatment at all....but just hope the 710 is not another over-engineering products.

rodrigo1508

So what would be the difference between a solid rear axel and a rear 4 gear diff

InitialD

Expensive? It may be more expensive than the R40 parts but from where I come from, the 710 parts are about the same price as the MTX-3.

Where did you read this? You must realise that driving 2 different cars in different categories and having very limited time for practise on the track makes 2 days look very short !

The contents of the book are actually condensed knowledge of car setup that you probably must go through hundreds of RCTech pages to be able to understand what the available settings does to a car's handling. 38 pages is not much actually and mostly in easy to digest point form and diagrams. Most of it also are Serpent 710 specific while the other stuff are general information on car setup like shocks, sway bars, ride height, droop, trackwidth etc. I think anybody would be overjoyed to see all these information stuck in one book. You do not have to buy the 710 to get a copy of this book. Just go to the mytsn site (only for registered uses) and you can download it for free.

Any car needs to be set correctly. Setting the car correct will reward you greatly. That said, the stock setting is adequate for a relatively new benginner to drive the car around the track with a one way front ! But however, it is definitely not suited for race level. A little bit understeer out of the box, you can do some adjustments to get more steering.

For a beginner, you can leave all the advance setup features of the 710 aside and play with just the conventional stuff like sway bar, tires, droop, shocks angles and shock springs etc. Like any car, it's pretty straight forward I think too... But still, the stock setup of the 710 is very easy on the driver. Too easy I think. I have no experience with the R40 and therefore I cannot comment.

Rookie, I have seen a few R40 kits at my local track. In the hands of a newbie, the car will behave no different then when a newbie would get himself a 710. Both cars will remain undriveable. Period.

In any case, please do not take my comments negatively and take it in a bad light that I'm bashing the R40. I would respect any car you choose as every car would have pros and cons. These are just some of my views.

InitialD

I agree with you there. Only if you're going serious on racing of course...

InitialD

Rod_b, yes, there are multitude of settings that you can do and experiment with the 710. Like I mentioned, the stock setup would work well with a little adjustments here and there would be good for most people but for advance hardcore racers, having the ability to change a lot of other things is great. That said, it is not like the car is undriveable at stock settings. Without touching the advance settings of the car, you can actually make the car drive very nicely to your liking. This is what a lot of people are doing at our track.

Anyway, there's always the setup book that you can follow. What is advised for racers is to use the stock setup, see what inadequacies or what is lacking in the car (steering, traction etc) and use the table in the last page of the setup book provided to fine tune.

InitialD

Of course, it's always about the driver !

Some corections here... The 710 is not of the old days of the Serpent Impulse / 705. You do not need to "break-in" the parts before assembly or break-in the car at the track to get everything loose.

In any case, I can honestly say that the 710 parts while generally being cheaper than the older 705 parts, they are not as strong as the older Serpent 705 parts. I'm referring to arms, bulkheads etc. However, their drive train parts are excellent. Better than the 705.

If you read the 710 forum on mytsn or at rctech, you will notice a lot of people have improved their lap times at their local track by just driving the 710.

By all means if parts availability and support from the LHS is non existant, go with the car that has most support.

Apologies for the little digress. Anyway, lets get back to R40 discussions.