Originally Posted by
avink007
1) I never said I agree with it, someone just asked why it would make 1/12 more accessible.
2) I never mentioned cost, I just said it simplifies things, and it does. No booster/receiver pack is one less part to put on the car. You aren't going to attract new racers by telling them that they can use this speed control but need to add this or that to make it work. Simplicity is key when trying to attract new people.
3) Since you bring up cost... how often do we all buy a new spec motor anyway? Or new batteries? Most competitive spec racers buy the latest and greatest when it comes out. The cost argument is funny. Finish the season on the stuff we have now, buy new stuff for next season anyway. Just next season it's a 2s battery and a 21.5 or 25.5 or whatever motor, maybe a new speed control.
4) Have you tried a 2s in your car? I have, and I agree that 2s 17.5 is way too fast for spec. The F1 cars run 2s 25.5 and aren't too fast.
5) This is an IFMAR rule. ROAR hasn't changed their rules on this, so for the forseable future we are still on 1s.
We agree that simplicity is key to attracting new faces. Where we differ is where that lack of simplicity is occurring. I contend that a booster or separate RX pack is a minimal bother compared with the thought of potentially needing three different compounds of foam tires front and rear to get a fast combination depending on track conditions, dealing with potentially replacing a set of tires every race night at a cost of $20 - $30 and the need for a tire truer which could be an expensive investment only used for this one class.
As strictly a local-level club racer (people like me make up the majority of the "competitive" hobbyist - not the guys competing on a regional, national or international level with partial or full sponsorship) I have personally used the same ESC for the past four years, the same 17.5 motor for the past two years and the same battery pack for the past two years. I just spent $40 on a new 1s SMC pack as my old one was puffing so badly that it was difficult to fit under the center shock on my XTi WC. I would say this behavior is normal at my track for the class of 15 or so racers we have in 1/12th scale. Many guys are using cars that are 4-5 years old as well.
I have not tried a 2s in my 1/12th scale. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't F1 failing miserably as a class? Didn't they move F1 from 21.5 to 25.5? What are lap times and cornering speeds of 2s 25.5 F1 like compared to 1s 17.5 1/12th scale? Let's also look at touring car. What are lap times and cornering speeds like for 17.5 2s touring car compared to 1/12th scale? Stock 1/12th scale is still faster right? And yet you have classes like VTA and USGT slowing the touring cars down with 21.5 and 25.5 motors and non-optimal tires and these classes seem to be doing very well in this country, attracting guys that wouldn't otherwise run touring cars because of the speeds... Speeds which are already slower than 1s 17.5 1/12th scale to begin with. And now we might be interested in speeding up the entry level 1/12th scale class by making it 2s.
I get that ROAR hasn't jumped on board yet, but it sounds like the rest of the World is and it's silly to think we won't be far behind.