Originally Posted by
waitwhat
My dad was always my mechanic when I was younger. He liked to drive rc cars too, but he let me have all the glory of racing. Long story short my XXX-T MF1.5 is one I had setup for him after I moved near him after the military so I could invite him to come race it and let me wrench on it (mostly) for him. He could "Arrive and Drive" in the Novice class and I ran the truck in 13.5 ST. I moved away from him a while ago and the truck ended up without shocks, sitting in a box for a few years until I recently decided to clean it up and get it in running condition. Hopefully this winter I can visit him and bring the truck so he can drive it. Running it is purely sentimental. Racing it is frustrating because the mid motor trucks are just that much faster. I raced it on a super high grip clay track and keeping the front wheels on the ground was an exercise in futility. I did win the 2wd truck class that day (against mid-motor stadium trucks and short course trucks). I had enough speed to stay out front. Others were faster and could catch me, but they couldn't set up a pass before they got nervous and made a mistake because I was making my truck as wide as possible. There are facebook groups for TLR and AE drivers. I don't do fb, but I do look at the 22 Empire fb group from time to time and it is quite active. TLR does long q&a videos with drivers and engineers. Good insight into what the team is trying in order to go faster. I knew one of my local TLR drivers was running the test version of the 5.0 Elite hubs before the Elite was announced, but that is because I was snooping around his pit. He told me what parts to get to replicate what he had, but I just waited for the Elite parts to drop. TLR, AE, Xray, Tekno and a few others have team drivers in my area, but with C19 who knows what will happen to team drivers.
That's really nice that it was a father and son thing. Not so sound whiney, but wish my dad would have been interested in my RC racing. To him it was just toys, which is what they are, but much more. At that time, I made it a rule that I will support every hobby my kids want to get into. It's not cheap to do, but I do the best I can to support them. My kids are starting to get as good as me. They definitely have quicker reflexes, which is really handy to have on smaller tracks. Mostly, I think they are getting better because I have them practice with 13.5T motors and they race with 17.5T motors. I'm too lazy to swap out my motors to race and practice. LOL...
I used to race at a track where a Kyosho sponsored driver races all the time. He's the one that got me into all three race classes. I can't remember his name, but I used to check out all the prototypes he would test. I really want to get into 4WD buggy, but they cost too much. My kids other hobby it riding dirt bikes and my done races in motocross. That gets pricey. have you had a chance to drive the Losi, Kyosho, and AE 4wd buggy side by side? I hear most people that do end up leaning towards the Losi 1st, then the Kyosho. Again, I may choose one of these due to the cost factor.
There are a ton of FB pages that are quite helpful, but I too am not a FB'er. I have an account, but it is a joint account with my wife and I don't remember the password to get into it.