old carpet rcr

Is anyone going to run the new tapered pistons on high bite clay? Also, how would they help?

skyler hays

iTrader: (12)

Curious if anyone runs the nitro car too? I have the E now I ordered the nitro version. I run 553 in my E just curious how it would act in the nitro.

drepus

If you like 553 in the ebuggy you would probably like it in nitro too. If the track is higher bite than many like 5/7/3 in both vehicles.

JasonR/C

iTrader: (9)

I'm currently running 5/7/5 inside on high bite clay.
I run 5/7/3 or 5/5/3 outside

akshayp14

outside medium-low bite track
i first tried 5/7/3 then went to 7/7/3 and now im on 7/7/2 and i quite like it

bluegroovelosi

After chit chatting with some of the competition last week, I decided to try the 'battery forward' position with the SPC short packs this week.

With one of the Losi 1/4" foam blocks up front, and two layers of the extra long foam blocks in the back, the battery pack is now firmly squooshed in place and held down with one velcro strap. The other velcro strap is holding the back foam blocks in place.

This puts the battery dead center in line with the diff. Should increase steering and also reduce the 'wheelie' effect I was having when the battery was all the way back.

Diffs are still 5/5/5. 15/43 gearing on a Viper VF8 2100 motor. Stock springs/pistons/fluids in the back. Stock springs and pistons in the front with 40 weight oil.

Let's go racin'!

Robert Conner
Omaha, Nebraska

old carpet rcr

I've been running my 4s pack all the way forward, I'm almost at 50/50 balance slightly more to the rear. How do you like the SMC shorties? Was going to pick a couple up soon. I was planning on running one foam in the front also, whatever gets my balance back. What kind of track are you running on. Blue groove, like the name suggests?

bluegroovelosi

The surface at HobbyPLEX here in Omaha varies from tacky to dry as a bone. You can check out the J Concepts National event videos HERE.

I'm newly back to this hobby after about a decade break. I used to own the local indoor off road facility but gave it up for various other business pursuits. Several of the "kids" who raced at my track are still in fine form - including the race director at the HobbyPLEX, Alex Sturgeon, who is currently at the Reedy Race in California.

The SPC packs have all the punch and capacity I need for normal 6 minute qualifiers and 10 minute mains, with a weight savings of over 6 ounces. At my age and skill level, I need all the advantage a bottomless checkbook can offer. LOL! The HobbyPLEX track blue grooves up very quickly and we're using worn out Handlebars with virtually no center tread by the end of the rounds.

After 4 months of weekly driving, I'm just now getting the hang of it again. I'd rather be consistently a bit slower than constantly being in 'crash and recover' mode. Our monthly Winter Series for 1/8th scale is next weekend, so we'll see how these changes work out.

Robert Conner
Omaha, Nebraska

GrimReminder

This is why I can't figure why in the end they decided to run the tray behind the esc! Same issue here and with some other racers. Like you said for some its an issue and with me it is. So next week im gonna move the tray forward and mount the esc back behind the battery.

You cant throw a hammer backwards and expect it to fly that, the more weight you have in front the better. Ill post pictures when im done.

bluegroovelosi

The battery tray and velcro strap are reversible...sort of.

The plastic battery tray has cutouts/reliefs on the left side of the tray where the tray screws also hold down the plastic chassis trim. With a little dremeling, I can create the same reliefs on both sides of the battery tray. The plastic side loops which hold the velcro straps are perfectly positioned to avoid the center diff gear, too.

All four corner screws are correctly positioned, but the two center screws are slightly out of position to allow a perfect 'flip fit'. At first, I thought that the two center screws would line up, but they don't. So you give up a a little security of having the battery tray screwed down in six places to have two straps up front.

I think I'll just stick to the single strap and foam block method to keep it wedged in place and up front...with all six screws connecting the battery tray to the chassis. The battery is far more likely to slam forward during a crash and one strap should hold it in place. Or I could just stop crashing. LOL!

Robert Conner
Omaha, Nebraska

akshayp14

just TQ'd and won A-main with my 3.0e first race.

im beginning to think its actually unfair how good this car is!!

old carpet rcr

Most people seem happy with the SMC batteries. Our track is the same, tacky to dry. I've been using the ions soft compound. I have handle bars in super soft, and wishbones in clay. My wishbones are almost bald in the middle, and handle bars are almost new. Last time out my back end was washing out easily after landing a jump and going into a turn. Someone suggested moving my pack back a pad or 2 but I think my roll center is too loose. My rear tires are wearing more to the outside. All my proline tires been doing this on both my 3.0 buggies. Adam Drake said try more camber but I'm already at -2. Going to run my AKA tires and see what happens. I've been out of this hobby for 26yrs, I ran 12th scale mod on carpet. I remember being better, guess my reflexes are slower. Which reminds me about some posts a few pages back. This buggy is pretty durable, I've spent more time on the body than the wheels than I'd like to admit but I haven't broken one wing!

bluegroovelosi

On our dry and smooth track, I took the advice of the local hotshot and increased the camber to -3.5, as well as a ride height tweak and front droop adjustment to help keep the rear end on the ground. There were times, especially after a tight corner, that the rear end would just loop around like it was on ice.

Increasing the negative camber with the low profile tires keeps more of the center contact patch on the ground. If you're wearing out the outside edges, then you're getting too much tire roll on the wheel - the side walls are flexing and raising the bead off the ground as they roll up.

Lowering the rear ride height from 29 to 27, plus decreasing the front droop (raising the arms with the droop screws), decreases the weight transfer during hard acceleration or when the chassis is being side loaded under tight 180 degree corners.

Or so I was told. LOL! Worked great!

Robert Conner
Omaha, Nebraska

old carpet rcr

I appreciate your help, thank you. My rear tires are wearing in between the middle and outer edge. I am going to try and increase the negative camber. Wouldn't having a lower rear ride height make it easier for rear weight transfer?

bluegroovelosi

From what I was told, decreasing the front droop (raising the arms) slows down the weight transfer under acceleration.

According to the Hudy setup book:

Less front droop decreases front chassis upward travel on throttle; less rearward weight transfer; less responsive but more stable. Decreasing the rear ride height increases overall rear grip.

Combining the three (2mm less front droop plus 2mm decreased rear ride height plus -3.5 on the rear camber) made my car nice and tight. The rear end wasn't dancing around anymore and it went straight where I pointed it without a lot of rear end skitter.

Lessons learned...

Robert Conner
Omaha, Nebraska