Woo hoo!! Fingers crossed!

For anyone running the hobbyking turnigy 21.5 motor, are you modifying the endbell/timing ring to get into the 40-50 deg timing range, like other brands? Or are you just gearing higher to compensate for only having 20 deg timing max?

Just gearing higher.

Cool. To keep the costs down, I'm gonna start out with that motor, until the car is dialed in enough. How far off the pace is the hobbyking motor, compared to an R1, Team Scream, or D4?

A guy in our club with the TrackStar just whooped my ass yesterday, and I'm running a Fantom ION4 with certified stator and certified extra high torque rotor. I couldn't pull on him no matter what gearing I tried, but we had a technical track layout. Last year a TrackStar was in the top 3 at all our races, in the end it's about the setup and driving clean.

I ground my trackstar to get a few more degrees of timing, it seemed to really come into its peak. You cannot beat that motor for the price.

Would grinding to get more timing be considered illegally modifying the motor? Do the USGT rules permit this?

Not a personal attack, just curious about what is considered 'stock' in the USGT rules. Would that violate the "ROAR" approval?

Thanks,

Mark

I cannot speak on the behalf of the USGT Org, but my personal opinion is that motors have such a wide range of internal and adjustable timing that giving a motor that doesnt have a lot isnt against the "spirit of usgt".

Glad to hear that you have looked into it!!!

The rear quarter panels might not be so bad given they dont hang down so far. They would almost be like a Tamiya NSX body...

http://cdn.rcmart.com/images/tam_58254_2.jpg

I really don't like the idea of grinding on motors but the Trackstar does have a weirdly short range of adjustment. It really is just leveling the timing abilities with the other motors.

Thanks for the clarification Rob.

But that does allow the camel's nose under the tent. My NOVAK 21.5 ROAR approved motor only comes with a 12.3mm rotor but other motors have 12.5mm rotors. So, if I put in a 12.5mm rotor, isn't that just leveling the playing field? Ditto for a 'low resistance' stator.

Where do you draw the line?

Mark

That's kind of apples and pianos. Shaving the timing lock is not a separate $30-40 part.

But again, this is why I don't like this sort of thing.

Understood! Thanks for wading in...

Mark

Yes, thanks for the clarification on the trackstar motor. I won't feel guilty about shaving the timing ring/endbell to get more timing.

Slightly OT, but what about running the trackstar 17.5 in 1/12th or WGT? Anyone have experience or race someone who's running one? Worried that the higer level of 'magnetic drag' that the trackstar motors have might be an issue in those classes.

I've been running the 13.5 (not 17.5) in my 1/12 scale. The low timing on the motor requires that it be geared pretty tall, so there's no issue with more drag when coasting. If anything, it seems to coast a little more!