Mike - me likey the new chassis

It was incredible - even with the lipo, the car felt balanced and weighted perfectly...the last mRS4 chassis I ran with lipo made the car feel "floaty" on carpet - but not the Exo3...

If we didn't get rained out from racing today, I would be singing more praises of it

Tomorrow we'll be doing all the "on-road" classes, so I'll give it a "competition" test/approval tomorrow

Very cool. What motor were you running? What pinion?

Tekin Mini-Rage w/6800kv motor...

As far a a pinion, I got an 8t on there - I wanna go smaller, but don't have a 7t (nor do I think they make one for the micro )

Roy - here are some (soggy) Day 1 shots so you can get an idea of the track http://www.hpiracing.com/news/2008033101/

Good info. I'm trying to decide 5400k or 6800k motor. Maybe the 5400k will be better so I can gear down far enough. How did you setup the chassis? Stock or any tricks? I just ordered the remaining parts and shoud be up and running for next weekends race. What tires did you run?

Cool pictures too. I saw those late last night. Looks like a good turnout.

Yeah, I think the 5400 would be the better motor

I'll post some pics and stuff of my set-up later Monday after I get them off my camera

As far as tires, I couldn't find the "perfect" combo at all During morning practice, I ran HPI Soft Rears and GQ 45 foams in the front - AND THE CAR WAS HOOKED UP!!!!!!!! but then came the 1st Qualifier and it was pure crap - traction rolling and everything...Basically I chased tires all day...HPI stocks wouldn't work - GQ foams were closer but not perfect...I finally ended up with GQ 45F and 25R - and I was VERY good, but get the slightest bit aggressive and I would traction roll

If I could have got something together with tires, I would have been unstoppable - the car was that good, when I didn't roll it I would say I was running faster than Pro TC Even with the traction rolling, if I stayed smooth enough in the turns, I was outta this world quick - but if I did anything, I was rolling...

I did a couple of tricks and I'll post all that later...

BUt I have to say - this chassis/combo/whatever-you-wanna-call-it has to be THE BEST WEIGHTED CHASSIS FOR THE mRS4 and LIPO ever....if you hold a 6cell chassis and this chassis together, they feel just about the same...Like I said to all the guys I was talking too, the last time I ran BL and Lipo in my mRS4, the car never felt planted - this was perfect!! Mike really did his homework on weighting and balancing...Never once did I feel like I wasn't 100% stuck to the ground...I cannot even think of more words to explain how good this was...

But I'm babbling and I need to get in bed...

K_bojar you were fast, just wait until we get our new Ratzas chassis'. It was nice meeting you. we might go to 301.

you too, Marvet...its a shame the set-up that I had on the car Sunday morning didn't hold all day NOW THAT WAS PLANTED!!!! I couldn't do anything wrong with that car - stupid heat had to come up and kill me "pefect" set-up

Definitely shoot me a PM or email or something about the 301 race...I'm interested in going (as long as the weekend is clear of family obligations) - and if you all are gonna go, then I'll bring mine with me...If not, I'll just be running nitro and TC

What kind of new stuff are you doing with the Ratzas??

Hehe, well glad you like the chassis. Did you try and glue the sidewalls of the front tires? We usually do that for traction rolling on carpet.

yup...Glued the front and rear sidewalls...turned down the dual rate to about 50% and the Expotential down to -75%...what I really needed was an only set of TRC Purple fronts that were stale and like a hockey puck that would have cured my problems...

When all was said and done, I did manage to qualify 3rd and finish 3rd - not where I think the car belonged, but driver error cost the TQ and/or the win

I know how you feel. I finished 2nd in the last race cause I choked. Did you try inserting an O ring on the front shock shaft to stiffen up the front? After I did that, the traction rolling as gone. It seemed to balance out the tire selection front to back.

yup...About the only thing I didn't try was to go with the softest side springs I had...It might have helped if I had a set of the green HPI front springs - the hardest fronts I had were not where near as hard as the HPI greens

we may make some thinner rear pods and move the batteries more forward.

I'll be finished putting my EXO3 together tonight and have a quick question. How easily does your rear pod pivot left to right? That center pivot is really tight. I have worked it and used a bit of graphite in the ball cup, but its not as free as I would like it.

It should be very free. Without the side links attached does it move more freely?

No it binds in the cup. Should I chuck the ball in my dremel a spin it? Or is there a better way to free it up?