RsA89

iTrader: (2)

Has anyone tried this engine? Haven't seen many reviews. Price is fair and if its easy to tune, be a plus .

Roelof

Ah, that Alpha engine with only a different cooling head.....

Wow, what a story to introduce a simple OEM engine....

splitoris

So a new alpha? Or rebranded dragon?

Roelof

I can not tell what original engine but it is a 3 port:
Red RC » Racetec 3P .21 3 Port Race Spec Engine

The crankcase has the nice Alpha style diagonal slots on the mounting tabs and the sleeve has the recognising V shape cut under the main port.
I can imagine they did work on some timings but I doubt any true designing and development than only the cooling head which they also sell for OS engines.

So yes, it is another Alpha engine

silence360

Regardless if it's another Alpha engine, if Tony supports the engine platform like he does his other products, it's another win for the RC community. I do think the whole 100 years of combined bla bla is a bit overkill haha, however Tony has always provided outstanding support for the products he sells, and in the end that's what is most important. Let's not forget this is simply a budget minded engine, it's not going to reinvent the wheel, nor is it going to be a gamechanger however it adds another affordable engine to the mix. As we have discussed before, timing changes can make a difference. I purchased the Ultimate M3X engine which is based on the b2101 square stroke, rebranded as well, and I was sooo happy with it I ended up buying an OS B2101, and B2102 assuming that it would be just as fast, however to my surprised the M3X is faster everywhere. After taking it apart, and everything from what I can see with by eye is the same, so I can only assume it is timing. I have not had a chance to put it on the timing setup you helped me with yet, but it goes to show a rebranded engine with a few tweaks on the crank can outperform the original. So who knows, this Racetec engine might be better than the engine it's based on. Again as long as the support is there, another affordable engine in the mix doesn't hurt the community. I hope I can modify the b2101 and B2102 to perform as well as the M3X it is based on, cause I am extremely disappointed that it doesn't have the same power in both low, and high. Hopefully once I put it on the timing jig it will answer some questions as to why the m3x is faster than the engines it is based on.

Roelof

Who do you want to fool with such an advertising?
I know American people are very sensitive for "American made/designed/developed" products but come on, work on an own design and do not use any stock designs of the manufacturer.... I have seen plenty of OS engines from several brands, most of them have the same timed parts as OS can provide. Then there are some who grind off some DLC coating only to give the impression it is hand tuned but has almost no timing change and indeed several brands did add some degrees crank timing.
But so far I know the 3 port engines from Alpha are mainly the lower budget engines like the Trackstar engines you can find for about 100 bucks. To be competive some timing changes are needed but then again a crank from a competition engine can do so much good for most of the times..

But as you say, it is good to have a good product and its support on American ground.

silence360

Funny, I ended up ordering 2 of those Trackstar engines, and it got lost in the mail! It ended up in Europe, luckily Amazon gave me a refund. I was actually looking forward to giving those a try for kicks.

kgombe

iTrader: (13)

The 2102 has a different carb than the 2101 power delivery will be different, I think the crank shaft has a different bore as well.. not to sure about that. but that engine was under powered and a pain to tune and only lasted as long as the produced batch can be sold

I think the main difference between that MX engines and the b2101 is the Case. not the sleeve or crank.

silence360

I have not had issues with tuning, they were very easy to tune, however power wise it was apparent that the square stroke MX-series was more powerful than both of them throughout the entire rpm range. Luckily I got them for really cheap so no harm done, I will look into further when I have time as I am very curious as to why the MX series is just soo much better. Run time is good, just down on power. I will check the timing, and inspect everything once I have some time to investigate. I've just been too busy to really break them all down, and really look into it. Thanks for the info.

kgombe

iTrader: (13)

What pipe was use??

lm curious to know what you find are the differences between both .. the 2102 had totally different carb which had a 7mm bore compared to the normal 9mm bore

Tony Newland

iTrader: (53)

Hello All! Man I haven't been on rctech in years, took a bit to get my password figured out and logged in lol I guess it doesn't work on mobile any longer so thats unfortunate.

So first off it is in fact an Alpha case, P/S/R and Carb. The rest we make! The crankshaft, boost and ported rear cover, head button and cooling head. So hardly a rebagged off the shelf Alpha. We spent last year developing these parts as there is alot to test to maximize power and reliability. The reference to over 100 years of collective nitro racing experience is the years all 3 of us have combined. I wanted to make a sub $350 engine that was fast and reliable. That was the only goal. This category had really been left behind for some reason. So that's what we did. We tested pipes the few months and found the Hipex was the best, we have those available also. The last 3 months we were able to do alot of testing with the production parts and in the process we won the Nevada state champs in Vegas and finishedd 4th in pro truggy at the US Open in Arizona behind Maifield and Rivkin so the power, runtime and reliability has been great! We're not making any unrealistic claims or sales pitch. Just a great engine for a great price.

Feel free to ask me any questions

Roelof we go back many years! I'm a bit disappointed you would be so negative towards my project

silence360

You definitely don't post as much as you use to, which is understandable. Atleast you took the time to post, and make things crystal clear. Hope all is well.

"kgombe" I used the Ultimate Racing 2141 pipe, same as I used on my Ultimate Racing. I will pm you once I have a chance to take them apart. Our track is closed due to layout change so I might have an oppotuntiy to measure the timing, and investigate in the next couple weeks. Again, I'll shoot you a pm so this thread doesn't get side tracked.

RsA89

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I have the Hipex 2135 pipe already, did you test this pipe with the engine?

Tony Newland

iTrader: (53)

We did, it did not produce the power we wanted.

We tested 27 pipes combinations and found the 2146 EVO and L50 header the clear winner of power and mileage

Tcaputo

I have been looking for an engine in this price range. Just like was mentioned there are NOT many options anymore which is sad for guys like me. I am looking at the Nova, Reds 521 and now add this to my list.

I hope someone will do a breakdown on youtube or something so I can see a bit more info on it and see how it tunes (i need as easy as possible)