Agree.
You have a good range of pipes. The 2013 for low end, the 9901 for smoothness and the 086 for top end ( that would be my choice). And yes, sometimes the knock offs are not quite as good as the originals, the the Dynomite/Ofnas are pretty close...

So I can add a bit here

the Dynamite 086 is fairly close, pipe to pipe there are variations..and the OFNA is a whole other pipe altogether....

Been out of nitro for the last 5 years running ebuggy I got bit by the nitro bug again and need help picking out a motor. I have been looking at the Elite OFF5 , P5XLT and now the Paloma .21 Limited. I almost 100% club race just for fun, in Ebuggy I am usually Mid-bottom of the A out of 25-30 buggys. I guess where I am going is I don’t feel I need a $300 motor to be completive. So I am looking a motor that is reliable and makes good usable power. In the summer our track gets dry and slick. Thinking about picking up a new Losi buggy to put it in.

Thanks for any advice!

look at the elite 5, neal(maximo) has a pretty good price on some slightly tuned versions

O'Donnell plugs work good just replace them often

Elite 5 is hard to beat for the money imho. You can get the engine, pipe, manifold all for around $200 at Nova Direct.

Best mileage?
 

Of the selection on Novadirect is there a hands down winner on fuel mileage?

Same question but for all-out power among the 21's...

Header Thoughts
 

I have an elite8 in truggy. Currently using 9853 and 41001. Also have a 41021 and 41032 header. Thinking about trading the 41032 header for a 41005. Is that a good idea?

Can I change the flat head screws on engine out for hex screws?

if your looking to detune the power then yes...a 41005 will make less power everywhere as compared to the 41032..but what you might see is better part throttle feel at lower RPMs..... If I remember right the Elite 8 likes the 41021 better then most so you should also give that a try

Thanks. Does it like the 41021 better than the 41001?

Anyone tried the Novarossi 4 shoe clutch? Any opinions on it would be greatly appreciated.

Guys are any of you aware if Avid makes engine bearings for the Legend 4? Thanks.

if i were to run 20% nitro would i be safe too pull the thinest head shim for a little more compression? elevation is 720meters if that matters

I have a nova plus 4....What would be a good pipe/mainifold combo for it? It's going in a NB48.3 if it makes a difference.

(And yes, I'm a nitro newb)

As far as I know Avid doesn't have them but TKO does. http://tkocompetitiondev.com/product...ialkeep-off-4/

Just got the Mito 4 for buggy. I have a 9901/41021 combo on it.. I want a lil more top. Do I need another pipe or header? I've heard the 9886 works pretty good.

Tuning question
 

I'm running the elite8 with 41001 and 9856. When I do a high speed pass or get so good speed and stop, the engine immediately comes down. However, if i gas it and let it coast, the engine gradually comes down...like its matching the speed of the car instead of immediately dropping. Is that what it is supposed to do or am I lean some where?

Doesn't sound like a tuning issue (from what you are describing). Sounds more like your clutch is slow to disengage or is hanging up.

When you hit the brakes, its slowing the bell/clutch/flywheel enough to disengage the shoes....

Mito run time
 

I'm having difficulty finding any sort of decent fuel mileage out of my mito 4. The engine itself runs awesome and has good power and everything, however, the mileage is poor. With the 6.5mm Venturi I'm getting around 8 minutes. This weekend I had a short 15 minute race and pitted at 7:30. By the end of the race my tank had nothing left in it. This is coming from a guy who was running a clio p5 which got around 10 minutes. The pipe/header is 9901/41021.

It depends on racer throttle control to have decent mileage. Me myself only get 8+ minutes with 4btt engine so to get that extra minute would be a myth

Is your clutch slipping a lot?

So we get over 10 minutes with my modified version being driven by some seriously fast racers..

my advice is as follows... 9886ss/41001 7.5 mm insert, even a 41001 on your 9901 will help, remove 0.1 -0.2 mm head shim from the engine... all these will improve efficiency but at a loss of smoothness as this setup will make a pile more power.. use a #6 plug if you remove 0.1 mm shim and if you remove a 0.2 mm then you can a 6 or even a 7 plug

I always thought that the bent headers were less efficient than the smooth headers. As well as the the larger Venturi. I guess if the engine makes more power, I won't be full throttle as often. In terms of the head shims, if I remove remove the smallest one, would I be able to run 30% nitro? I usually run 25% anyways but just wondering if it would still be safe.

I thought that may be the case. I was using the 4 shoe losi clutch with 2 aluminum and 2 composite shoes with all green springs. I recently switched to the aluminum prebuilt losi clutch, same shoes except the aluminum springs have one step stiffer springs. Could not tell any difference in fuel mileage

I know assumptions can easily cause misunderstandings, but usually people with this kind of extreme mileage issue, will have a very fat bottom end tune, which causes them to be on the throttle much more than they should. This lowers runtime significantly.

Check that all your exhaust seals are good, then make a new attempt at tuning it, with the goal of having a crisp, clean bottom end. An excessively lean top end can mask a fat bottom end. So before you tune the bottom end, open up the top 1/4 turn (or more if needed!).

The seals are good and the tune seems good as well. However, I'm still gonna take your advice and check seals and retune it to see if there is anything left in the bottom to lean out.

I'm not experienced with the losi clutch.

However, I would look at a softer spring for the 4 port motor over the 5 port. This should also help with mileage, though it isn't going to be some miracle that'll give you an extra 2 minutes.

Truth be told, there's no single miracle cure. It's in car setup, throttle control, track size, and then it will fall back on mechanical things.

Personally? I'd be happy with 7-8 minutes. 1 less pit stop is only advantageous if you never crash. A single crash and you've lost your advantage.

I realize that there is not going to be any miracle that is going to make my engine 20% more efficient, there is just no way that's possible. However, any advantage I can gain with fuel efficiency would be nice. Just the peace of mind if being able to pit at 8 minutes without sweating would be nice.

How much fuel through the motor? My novarossi's got much better fuel mileage around the 3 gallon mark if I did the break in myself. After that, I refused to break a motor in and just send it to rcrenew and have it lapped and then broke in.

Engine has just over 2 gallons. But you are right about the 3 gallon mark. Happened with my p5.

turns out this motor is the old max power max racer .21 3 port

well your following the conventional wisdom with your current setup and its giving you terrible mileage and probably less then stellar performance !

And yes you can remove 0.2 mm from a stock Nova and still run 30% fuel...just run a colder plug like a C7TGC

Pipe/header/Venturi are on there way. I'm excited to try your recommended setup. I have a ton of c6tgc plugs, so if I remove .1mm I would still be able to use the c6?

Yes the #6 will work

Also venturi will be something to play with some...there is a ideal balance between its size and the size of the track... I know my largest Mizer insert makes nearly the same power as a 8 mm , better runtime , but narrower tuning window and a loss of trigger smoothness....

So you're saying on Nova like my P5-based Maxy Cinco I can remove 0.2mm of shims and run a C7TGC on 30% with a good tune, good fuel and I won't have detonation?

Easy ! just have to be sure engine is loosened up

Nova's have the biggest shim stack of all the engines...average being 0.7 mm between piston and button....a stock XZB Sopeed has 0.4 mm between piston and button ( And can run a P3 )

Very good to know! Engine's got about 4 gallons so it's good to go. I've been looking for more top-end so I just got a 9886 per your recommendation and I'm going to throw a 41019 on it too. Should be a screamer. Thanks for the info Sir.

that is the main reason why OS Speeds are so fast compared to most others...having the head tight like that makes a massive difference in performance.. An engine can have the best port timing, the fanciest crankshaft, all the bells and whistles and if the head isn't tight enough it will all add up to nothing...Its amazing having a dyno and being able to see how much effect the shims have on power...egnines that are known to be mild can simply be over shimmed and can turn into total beasts just by lowering the button by a shim or two.... conversely add 0.3 mm of shims to a OS Speed and watch what happens to it ! will go from wild to mild instantly......

also to add here...when you do drop shims you must be careful not to run it too lean...use the glowplug as your canary in the mine and if you see any distortion in the coils its not happy..either fatten it up, run a cooler plug or add a 0.1 mm back to it....They can run really good this way but have less tolerance for being lean, thats when they will start to detonate....