HarKonnenD

iTrader: (23)

Broke two 35+'s already? WTH?

Talk about bad luck or something is seriously wrong here....and to think those things just came out. I'm stayin with my TOP engine for now and or maybe invest in a new piston/sleeve.

Grinder

iTrader: (2)

I think it is mostly bad luck. The first broke from a direct impact on the engine at 60 mph. The crash broke one piece engine mount, chassis, rear blade sway bar, engine, and a lot of plastic. The second was not a very hard hit, but it was 48 degrees F outside and I think the cold contributed to the case breaking in half. The 60 mph hit did less damage to the engine than the slow hit. Not sure yet if there is less case material due to the larger rear bearing, but I will have to check that out. I will say that this is the first time this has ever happened to me. I have seen other engines do the same thing though.

HarKonnenD

iTrader: (23)

Makes me wonder if this would happen to me now that I'm going to race 8th onroad. I wonder how good the OS VZR would do on a nice medium track.

Grinder

iTrader: (2)

The VZR is pretty good unless the track is huge. Several people at my local track run the Murnan Modified version, and it is fast. Just lacks a lot of the top speed of the Novas. The engine is a screamer with a very linear powerband. Again it is fast, just not the fastest. The Novarossi 2015 pipe with the short conical header really wakes the engine up.

HarKonnenD

iTrader: (23)

Sounds good

jdesoto

Phillip Abed TQ'd & Won at the Florida State Series race at Kissimmee RC this weekend. Heavy competition but Phillip with MRX4R, Enneti tires and NR power came out on top!

1-8th Open A Main Round# 5,
Race# 11

________________________Driver___Car#____Laps____R aceTime____Fast
Lap___Behind_
Philip Abed #6 103 30:02.239
16.368
Chuck Moon #8 101 30:14.857
16.911
Ashton Brinson #3 101 30:17.622
17.114 2.765
Paolo Morganti #4 98 30:01.254
16.215
Randy Colvin #10 95 30:05.458
17.353
Jim Sowa #9 95 30:17.066
17.731 11.608
Joaquin DeSoto #1 87 30:00.684
16.639
D.J. Apalaro #2 67 21:31.593
16.770
Ben Griffin #5 43 15:17.057
17.658
Scotty Gray #7 10 2:47.830
16.701

Speedypeterb

iTrader: (16)

you also forgot to mention Maxy's fuel

jdesoto

Yes and Maxy's fuel. I think atleast half the A-main was running Maxy.

ROBBIE C

WinterNats 2006 results
ROBERT CARR (KR) 24.2.2006 at 03:10
If you look at the results overall, I think Serpent did amazingly well, especially with a brand new car. Let's do a little numbers game. First, there are 22 A-main positions in both 1/10th and 1/8th classes. Serpent held 10 of them. Which means the rest had to be held by Kyosho, Mugen, and Sheppard. So if all cars and drivers were even, Serpent would have, at best, held 5-6 A-main positions (4 x 5.5 = 22). Serpent grabbed 10. That's double.

Next, in 1/8th Serpent came in with 4 cars, Kyosho 3, Mugen 2, Sheppard 1. So the 960 had a 40 percent chance of winning which in itself is quite an accomplishment. Next, you have 2 Mugen but one of them is driven by Mike Swauger, a 2-time winner of the WinterNats. Swauger losing at the WinNats is like Salven losing at Heemstede. I don't even think Collari could beat Swauger at Fort Meyers. So, without Swauger, you had ONE MRX-4. Imagine Serpent sponsoring a race and only one Serpent ends up in the top 10. I mean it'd be nice to see a 960 on the podium but when I saw 4 in the top 10 I thought, hey, this car can give a pro driver a real shot at the A-main. In this case, at the Fort, a 40 percent chance. Any driver in the A-main can win. If Swauger had been taken out in an accident with Shimo or Campbell, Barry and/or Steven had not used aluminium screws, or Scotty's servo arm had held, how different the results would have been. How many times has Collari started in 7th or 8th at the Worlds and ended up in the number 1 spot?

I'm not saying the Team couldn't have done better in 1/8th. Winning helps, at least psychology. I think there is a saying that says you can't throw a rose on a pile of shit and call it art. Salven admited to some dumb mistakes (rushing the break-in, running out of fuel) while younger drivers use of aluminium screws turned out to be costly for them. Scotty breaking losing a servo level? Is anyone immune from bad luck? What happened to Mike Swauger tat the Worlds? Or Bertin at the WinterNats? Bad luck happens for everyone. But overall, I think Serpent did great.

Lets face it, even if Mugen wins the WinNats or Kyosho takes the Worlds they can't sell the MRX-4 or Evolva for $1000. The market price is $600 or less for a 1/8th car. Sure people like winners but they won't pay a huge premium for an RC race car because everyone knows that it's the driver/mechanic who plays the critical role in getting the car across the line first. I owned an MRX-4 and I won 0 races with it. Instead I got Japlish style instructions and no support from Mugen. My Mugen dominated team members had plenty of time to help me before and after a race but no time during a race. So, I sold it on Ebay and bought a 960. At least I can manage that car myself when I want to not when someone has time to help on race day. I mean if Mike Swauger came with every kit I suppose I could stick with the MRX4. With the 960 I got a book to read on setup. With the MRX-4? I got a sheet of paper. Is that helpful?! Buyers want good clear instructions, a well constructed, quality kit, a way to get help during construction, and support after it's built. AND, they want it at the lowest possible price too. I think the 960 is such a car and Serpent should point that out. Excellent value for the money, clear English instructions, setup book, support site, quality build, etc.

Winning WinterNats would have been nice but it isn't everything. Good luck at your next race and please DON'T RUSH THAT BREAK-IN!

Rob

P.S. Did you look at all the other mains? How many were won by 960's and 710's? Not many can win an A-main race at the WinterNats but how many can win a C, D, E, or F main? If I win a D-main with a 960 do I throw it out and buy an MRX4-R because Swauger won the A-main or do I stick with it because I like winning and believe I can get to the A with my winning car?


MICHAEL SALVEN (NL) 24.2.2006 at 09:07
Hi Rob

thank you really much about your comments. It's true that I was disappointed, but that is not because we did not win, but more that we made so little out of the opportunities. Having 4 cars in the final and ending up with the last 4 places is a disappointment. I probably should have put that aside and see the excellent result in 1/10 scale.
I totally agree with your view, hopefully everybody looks at it like that. I probably also got carried away by the (quite emotional) reaction of Paolo, who is, off course, our distributor, but also a racer who hates to loose...;-).
Again, thanks for the comments, I really appreciate and I will pass it through to evrybody in the company.

Michael

P.S. Next time I will use engines that have been running before...;-)

ROBBIE C

I posted the above on this thread simply because you can reply and make comments on this thread un-like MYTSERPENTN........................
Very one sided story I'm very disappointed in what I read and how that race was protrade.

Carl Giordano

iTrader: (32)

I thought this race was over?

ROBBIE C

Hello Carl just pointing out something that was braught to my attention.

ROBBIE C

Jpilone

i don't understand... Explain this further dude...

ROBBIE C

self explanatory