We officially started sugared track season. I found out the light weight car I built before I bought my Lite is lighter than my Lite. Its 1425 grams with a 3250 pack.....and with an Orion 4500 pack its 1470. If I want to run in the JBRL I will have to add some weight.
When I built my Lite I tried a bunch of new stuff. 1) Imbue brass shock pistons. I give those a fail. I can't quite explain why, but they make the car feel weird...maybe too much pack even when I lighten up the oil. 2) Proline VTRs.....also a fail. The rears are starting to tear. They don't last long and its not because the tread wears out, rather, its because the sidewall is coming apart. 3) I bought a Hobbywing Bandit 17.5 non ROAR legal stock motor. I give the motor a big thumbs up. There is no faster 17.5. Its just plain wrong. If your track has loose rules its the way to go. It is a torque monster and feels like a stout 13.5. I have it geared 35/69 and I just ordered a 36 pinion. I might even try 36/66. The magnets are so strong that you can barely turn the motor over by hand. If you're going to run a cheater motor these are half the price of a certified big blue. Mine hasn't got over 140 and Hobbywing says they are rated to a conservative 212.
Last, I have a question. I'm running white/white springs with b5 arms fr/rr and it seems like I could use just a hair more steering. I'm runnning pretty much the [Lite] box setup down to the oil. Since the track is sugared, traction is as good as it gets. Anybody run green springs up front? For my RB6 I'd stiffen the rear first but I know the b5m is definitely different in that respect. I also tried to run a heavier lipo and that didn't change the cars feel much so I'm out of ideas.