HPI R40 Nitro Car Forum
Tech Master
Nice car bodies!! I hope they look that good after the race.
ProE, How'd the race go for you?
ProE, how’d the race go for you?
I was seeded in the first group of 200mm nitro (Total of 4 groups). I was seeded with all the other new drivers from all over the country (MTX-4, 720 and another late R40 entry). I started the race in fourth position, got whacked at the first corner, and ended up right at the back of the field. I fought my way back through the field and ended in second position. I was quite happy with that result.
The second race started of very well. It is my home track, and it’s got a lot of traction. The other guys were still trying to get their clutches to work on their cars. My R40 with the grey mugen clutch shoe had so much punch of the line, by the time be got around first corner, I was about 5 car lengths ahead of the next guy.(good thing we R40 guys learned the hard way to get a clutch to work )
I finished the heat in first place. I broke my personal lap record by 1.4 seconds, and also set my best time (number of laps) in a heat. The remaining 2 heats were very similar. Finished first in them as well.
So after the first days racing I was ranked 16th overall. I was very happy as it was only my 3rd race. I also new that I could be allot better as I just needed to be more constant.
I must say that I was very nervous through out the last couple of heats. We had 3 guys in the same group that has never raced before, and to be honest, they should never race again. They just could not keep their cars on the road and keep their cars going in the right direction. One of them was going in the wrong direction on the back straight. I barely mist him. The guy behind me didn't. This guy's 720 were converted back into kit form. It was just parts every where. A couple of heavy words were being exchanged on the driver stand, if you know what I mean.)
That night I checked every thing on my car. Replace all the seals in my engine.
The next morning started the engine and the engine was revving up and up slowly. I thought I had damage an o-ring or shim some where, and replace all of them again. It still did the same. So I turn the idling screw out, as well as the low and high speed needle. We had a 10min practice session in the morning and I only focused on getting my setup correct for the race. I never checked the temperature or my runtime the morning. My modified OS motor was keeping up with the other fast motors, so assumed that it was fine.
Now I was grouped with faster guys (B-main 30min final). I started in 5th position and after 4 laps I was up to 3rd. I stayed in that position for about 4 and a half minutes. Then my car just stopped. My pit guy got my car back and it ran out of fuel. He filled it up and I rejoined the race. So 4 and a half minutes later the same thing happened. So I said to him call me in at 4 and a half minutes, instead of the 5 min that we've previously arranged. Then 10 minutes from the end the one guy whacks me from the side. He hit me so hard that my whole exhaust header came off. So it was back to the pits again. The pipe was put back on and I was back racing again. Must thank my pit guys as they did a very good job. I went through the field and finished the 30min race in 6th position.
When the race was over my engine was only running at 88dec Celsius and I normally run it at about 105-110. That explained why I was running out of fuel. My engine was running way to rich. When I saw this I was really impressed that I could keep up with the other guys in the race with such a rich engine.
I've learned allot from this experience. The guy that was sitting across me in the pits help me allot and explained allot of the details of setting up a car. He is the mugen distributor and helped me a lot. (He did however tell me a couple of times to buy a MTX-4 from him).
I've seen on other forums that the R40 is being discontinued. Do you guys know about this? Is this the normal R40 kit or the hara kit as well?
The most amazing thing that I saw at the event was the fact that some of these guys buy a car just before the event and only race it at the event. After the event they sell the car or strip it for spares.
I've had my hara kit for almost 9 month now and only replaced damaged parts. These guys got through a kit every 3 months. Is that normal? Are there any R40 guys that do this?
Tech Apprentice
Hey PRoE glad to hear your race experience.
I too run the R40 ever since it came out. I never changed my KIT's. I do hear of some pro drivers that only use new KITS for main races and I can understand.. but to buy a new KIT every three months, that is crazy. I would need to be sponsored, and race everyweekend. My car pretty much sees the track 6 times a season, and few times for practice. For me it's still a hobby.
All I do is fix broken parts and add an upgrade here and there. Right now it's almost a Hara version and hope to continue at least one more race season with the car. I am used to the cars handling.
The Hara KIT is the latest that HPI is supporting so expect a lot of the old hop ups to be discontinued for the original kit. If you are going to buy a HARA kit, then keep the old R40 for parts or a back up. I hear a lot of good things about the HARA version.
I too run the R40 ever since it came out. I never changed my KIT's. I do hear of some pro drivers that only use new KITS for main races and I can understand.. but to buy a new KIT every three months, that is crazy. I would need to be sponsored, and race everyweekend. My car pretty much sees the track 6 times a season, and few times for practice. For me it's still a hobby.
All I do is fix broken parts and add an upgrade here and there. Right now it's almost a Hara version and hope to continue at least one more race season with the car. I am used to the cars handling.
The Hara KIT is the latest that HPI is supporting so expect a lot of the old hop ups to be discontinued for the original kit. If you are going to buy a HARA kit, then keep the old R40 for parts or a back up. I hear a lot of good things about the HARA version.
Tech Regular
I want to give a shout-out to FastHarry for the sale of his new non-Hara super chassis. He sold it to me for a fair price and he shipped it immediately. I would not hesitate to buy additional stuff from him. Here are two pics taken during the install. I'm also installing the graphite towers and mid brace.
Tech Elite
iTrader: (4)
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Louisville, KY!.. USA!! ....Home of http://www.fastharry.com
Posts: 2,847
Trader Rating: 4 (100%+)
your rear camber needs adjusting.....
Looks like he is converting it to a front wheel drive
That car looks a bit under the legal weight limit
Tech Regular
An unexpected feature of this chassis is that I am able to see the bottom of the rear bump stops screws while I am adjusting them for minimum ride height. I can see them through the cutouts in the rear of the chassis. I was unable to see this with the stock chassis.
Tech Champion
iTrader: (8)
I bought a Japanese Edition from Fastharry, and yes, he is great to deal with, will do it again.
When I saw the chassis that came with my kit it made me almost not want to run it, its one of the nicest chassis I have ever seen.
When I saw the chassis that came with my kit it made me almost not want to run it, its one of the nicest chassis I have ever seen.
Hey guys I'm totally new to the RC world and just purchased a new r40 from my lhs. I'm pretty happy with the car but I guess I should've researched more into it and bought the hara edition...My question is, is it worth upgrading it?? and where can I get parts...
Tech Elite
iTrader: (17)
Just to let you guys know. Iam selling 2 full hara edition kits and 1 2004 edition kit.
The hara kits are the US Hara edition kits , with the pretty boxes.
1. Hara Kit #1 (box was opened to check contents) - $350
2. Hara Kit #2 (kit was halfway assembled , bonus comes with 2 s3003 servos and cheap futaba am radio with rx , along with ib1200mah 2/3A cell batteries) - $400
Boxes , manuals etc etc all come with these kits. They look as if theyve never been opened. The kit assembly on the one hara is clean and leaves simple small things to do to finalize the kit. Good for begginer , as these kits dont come in rtr form.
2004 japanese edition kit
3. The 2004 kit is pretty well hopped up from what I remember. Good condition , tight car. I believe will come with a flat pack venom 1200 battery. It has some odds and ends throughout - $250
I accept paypal or money order , just pm me. Also if your looking for a motor to go with these cars. Ill cut you one heck of a deal on it and any cvec or skyline pipes. Anything you want added to your kit I have at a good price.
The hara kits are the US Hara edition kits , with the pretty boxes.
1. Hara Kit #1 (box was opened to check contents) - $350
2. Hara Kit #2 (kit was halfway assembled , bonus comes with 2 s3003 servos and cheap futaba am radio with rx , along with ib1200mah 2/3A cell batteries) - $400
Boxes , manuals etc etc all come with these kits. They look as if theyve never been opened. The kit assembly on the one hara is clean and leaves simple small things to do to finalize the kit. Good for begginer , as these kits dont come in rtr form.
2004 japanese edition kit
3. The 2004 kit is pretty well hopped up from what I remember. Good condition , tight car. I believe will come with a flat pack venom 1200 battery. It has some odds and ends throughout - $250
I accept paypal or money order , just pm me. Also if your looking for a motor to go with these cars. Ill cut you one heck of a deal on it and any cvec or skyline pipes. Anything you want added to your kit I have at a good price.
Hey all. I just bought a r40 from a guy that comes into my hobbytown. He had it built and spent tons of cash on it. He had it broke in by the store. He then put a few tanks through it only to figure out he doesn't care for onroad. I picked it up for a sweet price of 325.00. This car isn't a hara but it has a few upgrades on it. The upgrades he had put on it are: Hara shocks, CF top plate, front and rear shock tower, and a front one way. The motor is a o.s. tz 5 port with a outlaw pipe on it. Well now that I owe it and its my first nitro onroad. I took it apart and Cleaned everything. I'm going to rebuild the shocks and rebuild the diffs. I suck at driving as of now. I'm used to driving a stock class FT TC4. I have to get used to the speed of this car. I don't drive at a prepared track. I'll be driving it at a parkinglot track starting next spring. I know people on here think it's a waste to have a r40 for bash racing like that.It was a great deal so I didn't want to pass it up.
Now my questions to all.
1. I'm switching over to the 4 bevel gear sets. Is 30,000 weight oil heavy enuff or should I go higher?
2. What other upgrades would you do to the car to make it a little stonger and handle better?
3. How are the 3R racing parts that are made for the R40?
4. Finally... What parts should I stock up on?
Thanks to all that help. I look forward to chat with everyone here. It seams like there is alot of knowledgable drivers here.
Now my questions to all.
1. I'm switching over to the 4 bevel gear sets. Is 30,000 weight oil heavy enuff or should I go higher?
2. What other upgrades would you do to the car to make it a little stonger and handle better?
3. How are the 3R racing parts that are made for the R40?
4. Finally... What parts should I stock up on?
Thanks to all that help. I look forward to chat with everyone here. It seams like there is alot of knowledgable drivers here.
Tech Elite
iTrader: (17)
Ouch. Thats a high price for a near stock r40 roller? The cf upper deck is stock on the r40. Sounds like you also probably just have the regular r40 with the aluminum hpi shocks.
That kit is probably worth $200 on a good day. Unless you got the motor with it. Which thats a good deal then.
Run 10k in the rear.
Upgrades: Buy the actual hara parts from horizon hobby. Your car should drive more balanced , have more and consistent front grip in the corners.
Dont stock up on any parts....figure it out through what brakes most. I havent had anything that needs stocking up on the r40. In p-lot racing if its cones you probably wont need any spares unless you hit something.
That kit is probably worth $200 on a good day. Unless you got the motor with it. Which thats a good deal then.
Run 10k in the rear.
Upgrades: Buy the actual hara parts from horizon hobby. Your car should drive more balanced , have more and consistent front grip in the corners.
Dont stock up on any parts....figure it out through what brakes most. I havent had anything that needs stocking up on the r40. In p-lot racing if its cones you probably wont need any spares unless you hit something.
Yes the motor came with it. It also came with a starter box and a FM Futaba radio. Thanks for the tip on the oil.