driftmeister8

Thanks so much for your advice.

Since im still very new to Sakura products...just gonna test diff oil variation until it break then would buy the solid axle for the front. The track where i usually go to has both touring and buggy (mostly Nitro 1/8) courses. Their main product they stock are Mugen Seiki, are their suspension & diff oil good?

BCZero

iTrader: (2)

The best weight oil I used when I ran a front gear diff was 300k weight, basically worked like a fixed axle, just heavier...

Can't comment on Mugen seiki oils in particular haven't used them. The weight rating "should" be pretty much universal though.

6376vette

I locked my front gear diff with plumbers putty. Love the way the car pulls out of the turns. Shaved .2 seconds a lap on a track that averages 12.5 seconds a lap.

Zarkon

iTrader: (2)

Does anyone here have experience with both the Sakura Zero S and the Xpress Roadrunner Pro (new old stock)? I am looking to get into TC racing with either of these kits. Any help would be appreciated.

FauxMako

I assume that "new old stock" means it's out of production and no longer supported. Given that, I'd go with the kit that is in production and supported over the kit that is out of production and not supported. Unless you know of a reliable supply of spare parts for the Xpress I'd steer away from it.

ElliotCanada

Lou's Speedway near London Ontario Canada is now handling the ZERO S and all the parts and hop ups. Adam Hutchinson who won VTA at the Halloween Classic and the Cleveland US Indoor Champs is building a ZERO S for CANADIAN VTA 21.5. Adam helps out at Lou's. Three cars were purchased for CVTA Class Racing.

SteveM

iTrader: (165)

I ran my Sakura Zero S tonight in practice for a club race tomorrow in Ottawa and it was brilliant. It was a bit loose in the rear but some minor tweaks had it tracking much better. Should be very interesting to see how it does in race conditions. I can't believe this sedan works this well for the price.

driftmeister8

Thanks for the great advice...put 300k gear oil for the front, it felt like an FWD car. No oil leaks whatsoever since it's so thick. I notice the stock 2000 diff oil is totally drain out. Not surprise the rear has none inside too. What do you reckon the rear diff oil weight should be to balance off some of the FWD effect.

Btw my stock Tamiya semi-slick are totally gone after the wonderful drive. If the effect is like an Front Drive, should I buy different tyre soft/hard for front & back combo?

Pro10noob

iTrader: (13)

I don't know what you guys doing "wrong" but in my Sakura i had 900 oil in the rear and it worked perfectly.
Had to refill it once every 2 races but after a replacement of the o-rings in the dif by a softer type i had no leakage at all

regards Roy

competionpark

iTrader: (10)

hey guys, my brother and I have purchased these kits as our first touring car kits and put them together this weekend. we are really excited about making some right turns as we have been racing oval cars for the last twelve years. there are a few questions that may have already been covered.
1. what is a ballpark fdr for 25.5 vta on large outdoor tracks
2. as far as weight added, how much lead are people adding to balance the lars l/r and where
3. not being used to tc's we didn't really have much of an idea as to what servo to use for steering. his car has a spektrum z590 in it that we had laying around, but what are optimum specs? I figured someting around a 90oz with a .13-.15 would work, but any suggestions?

looking forward to making some laps and getting involved in tc's

thanks in advance

jdeadman

iTrader: (41)

for VTA (25.5) I would start at about 4.0 FDR but it all depends on the track our indoor track is very tight so we run about 4.5-4.8 FDR

For Servo do with .08 to .1 speed and anything over 75oz

1101

Avoid the Xpress,
Ancient design, possibly too fragile as well.

6376vette

+1 on the FDR and servo. Most of our racers are around 3.7 to 3.8 but get a cooling fan first. As far as weight the car will probably be left side heavy. I would suggest you put as much as will fit in front of the battery. If you need to add more place it behind or on top of the battery. Balance the car 50/50 left to right and as close to 50/50 front to rear as you can get it. Set your ride height then place the car on 4 scales to adjust the pressure applied to each tire. Try to get the fronts to be even then get the rears even. Then add the diagonal weights together and the totals should be close to even. This will make a huge difference in handling.
As far as how much weight to add.....depends on how much aluminium you have. If I remember correctly my box stock zero s needed 70 grams to make 1550. My sons almost stock zero s with the narrow chassis needed 100 grams. My almost full zero needs around 50 grams.

SteveM

iTrader: (165)

I have now run my Sakura in a club race ahe my impression of the Sakura is that it's a decent sedan and in the hands of a better driver it can be a contender for club events. It is not a high quality kit like the 417X, T3, 411, etc, so don't expect miracles. The stock setup worked well for me and if I had to pick one thing to fix it would definitely be the alloy motor mount. Access to the rear motor screw is a PITA and if you want access to the screw you must use the kit spur. You have to pass your wrench through the holes in the spur to reach the screw to adjust gear mesh. If you use a different spur (like I did) then there is no access to the rear screw. I have the optional vertical alloy motor mount on order and holefully this will resolve this design flaw.

The plastic parts seemed brittle during assembly and threading the bolts into parts was tough. I was worried that they would not hold up to racing but despite my off-track fun (I hit a few boards) nothing broke. The car took the punishment without a problem. My ride height was 6.5mm and I need to get that down. The clip shocks are not ideal but proved reliable and smooth. Associated 40wt oil and kit springs seemed to work well. The instructions give droop screw settings but you really need to double check with a gauge. I used my Associated droop gauge to ensure left to righ were equal.

I added one 0.3mm shim to the plastic steering belcrank as there was too much slop for my liking. This tightened the steering and helped the car track better. The stock servo saver was used which seems to be a direct copy of the Tamiya HD version and I had no issues. There was too much over stear with the stock setup and the rear was sliding out a bit too much. I moved the top of each rear shock in two holes and this resolved the problem. I didn't use the kit tires and rims replacing these with a new set of pre-glued Sorex 24Rs. I used Simple Green to clean the tires after each run and once dry, I applied a full coat of traction compound.

The rear shock tower bolts to the back of the rear bulkheads which places the rear body posts quite far back on the body. This made things tricky when trying to put the body clips on and I had to use pliers as room near the rear wing is tight. More of a pain than anything else. Fat fingers perhaps. I'm loving the stock gear diffs. No leaks and they still feel butter smooth after the weekend of racing. One less thing to worry about or fix.

I chipped a tooth on my 64P spur in the last qualifier and my repair wasn't quite right. I still managed to qualify 7th overall and made my club's GT2 A-main. Other than this glitch the car was a joy to drive.

redbarton

iTrader: (3)

I ran my Zero S for the second time this last Saturday in our local club 17.5 (Blinky) class. I qualified last for the A-Main, but managed to move my way up and finish a very solid 3rd. I was one lap up on 4th, but two laps down from the leaders. (9.5 to 10.5 avg fast laps in A-main) I felt this was a great result since the top two guys are definitely veteran racers with years of experience and I've only been racing TC's off and on for about 2 years.

At the club level, this chassis is definitely more than capable. The stock set up is pretty decent for carpet. I moved my front shocks in one hole and the rear shocks out to free up the back end a little and to gain more steering on our very tight track. I also added about 2 oz. of weight to the battery side to balance things out. I might reduce that a little though.

One thing I don't like is the rear droop situation. It seems the rear shocks are too short to let the rear arms drop down in the proper range. I might switch out to a longer shock end to help out with this. The fronts are okay though. I also need to find a slightly thinner shock spacer. I go from 6.5mm to 4mm ride height with the stock stuff. I need to be at 5. Maybe new shocks and the +4mm towers are my next upgrade?