Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Got another run in tonight. Larger parking lot. After 3 hard runs tires are about done. I will run them as long as can. Next set I'll try to drive better with.
I did have a scare with it tonight. Tires picked up a piece of metal,broken paper clip maybe. It wedged in by battery and sparked against the balance plug. Never had this happen. Melted balance plug wire, battery is done. No damage to vehicle.
May have to come up with a cover for battery tray. Maybe a piece of lexan could make a shield, keep debris from rear tires landing on battery.
Going though video shot tonight.

Twisted_Metal

FG Supply is your best bet...

And no problem Billy Kelly

Twisted_Metal

Damn that's really no good is it because the batteries sit so low. I though they were locked into a cradle or something. Hmm, if you can post a pic.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA3mP42iinE

Cudacharger

iTrader: (4)

A very large Losi box was waiting on the porch when I returned home last night . I have yet to select my battery combination for this car so in the meantime i'm installing some custom 5D tight weave semi gloss carbon fiber wrap over the entire front splitter, rear diffuser & the (2) metal rear wing support arms including under the backside of the wing to help offset the matt black body and just finish it off correclty so the car is going to be apart for a short time..... so no driving until then .

First impressions, the car really needs to be seen up close and in person the pic's on the web don't do it justice. I'm looking forward to getting this on the road very soon.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Gonna be good to read another's opinions. Tires arrived at hobby store yesterday. Replacement battery should be here today, tracking says it's on schedule.
Looks like holiday weekend running. And I'll try to get a video of how batteries were when I had the problem. Not running it till sure not gonna happen again.

Cudacharger

iTrader: (4)

I would be very interested to hear the results BK on the battery issue. Glad to hear the car wasn't damaged. Your LHS got those replacement tires in quickly.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

[QUOTE=Cudacharger;14170467]I would be very interested to hear the results BK on the battery issue. Glad to hear the car wasn't damaged. Your LHS got those replacement tires in quickly.[/QUOTE

Thought tires might make it before holiday. Good thing that Horizon Is only 150 miles south of me.
Battery came in around noon today.

JLock

iTrader: (4)

Seen the car close up on display at Leisure Hours hobby shop yesterday. In my opinion, it is ok but not worth the $1000+ they are asking. I can see where the battery doors at the bottom can become an issue, especially if the twist locks vibrate open during speed runs. Should have designed this like the XO-1, flat chassis with no openings, mounting the batteries to the top of the chassis. Like the body (since I am an Audi R8 fan). The motor/ESC looks very stout. Could have come with better tires.

RepEvox

iTrader: (14)

Considering the X01 isn't $1000 anymore, I don't see what this is competing with. The X01 is certainly smaller, but I would rather buy an X01 roller and put 8s+ capable electronics in it for much less than what the Audi costs. If only the battery doors weren't there and it cost $400 less, I would consider it.

Cudacharger

iTrader: (4)

In the Losi production video they explain why the battery doors were a bottom loading design. Losi states that the hassle of taking a large scale body on and off was something they wanted to eliminate. They body posts on the car are very sturdy and the 8 screws to undo take some time to pull the body on/off and would become a pain if the battery placement was from the top. A zeus fasteners system could of solved this but IMO the bottom loading design is pretty cool and simple which makes it easy for the end user. The car has been put through some extreme testing by Losi so until we get some long term test's saying something different i'm sold on the design they have come up with.

The cost of tooling alone to bring a new car to market is very expensive which I'm sure comes into play when setting a market price on a product. For an on-road RTR I see how this could steer away potential US buyers from this car but compared to the Losi 5t and the cost to play in the 1/5 scale off-road is way above this on-road car considering the mods a majority of people make once making the 5T race worthy. That may not be a fair comparison since this car is in a class all it's own but comes from the Losi product line.

My thought's is Losi target market is not in the US, one look at the box clearly indicates the Audi R8's major focus was over-sea's to begin with, which still is going to be much more expensive then here in the US.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

So I figured out why battery shorted. Driver error,more a bad decision on my part. I was in a rush to drive. Just put battery in without thinking. Balance plug wire was just in bad place and a piece of metal got wedged in the battery door hold down.
If I had installed battery with wires to front of vehicle, it never would have happened. Had a good run today at the school parking lot. Much bigger place to really open it up.
Haven't picked up new tires yet, couldn't get to store. About worn through tires to the foams.
I did turn the AVC to about 1/2. Didn't really want to use it but just to try to extend tire life I'll try next set this way.
Hopefully one of the tires manufactures will get something out with in the year.

Goatjacket

Hopefully it won't be long for tire options. In the meantime, replacement parts and tires seem available? Last I want to do is buy a new product only to find limited replacement options. Hoping one of my shops gets this thing in so I can see first hand!

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Hobby store checked when I picked mine up. All parts where avaliable at release date.
I'm hoping within a year somebody else makes tires. But since they would be only for this vehicle I'm not sure. I've been waiting for 2 years for somebody to make a tire for the XO-1.

Cudacharger

iTrader: (4)

I was going thru the manual and curious Billy if you set the Spectrum DX2E Transmitter to the factory specs when performing the 160A ESC set-up procedure or did you do a custom calibration.

Billy Kelly

iTrader: (9)

Honestly I just plugged batteries in and drove. I just made sure trim setting knobs were set straight. And AVC dial was centered. Maybe I've been lucky but I've never had problem.