bando711

So Paulie, what do you think of the electric 1/8, did the Vorza hold up ok? If I could get mine to sound like a nitro I would never switch back.


Jason, my wife wants to race you for money......she says you suck.'''''''''''''''''''LOL

pgeldz

Well, at first I was a little chapped, because I got my D8 to run with all the Nitro folks, and by the time I actually got to really drive it, it seemed like a lot of folks shifted to electric. That's the reason I got the Vorza, but boy I'm glad I did.

I'm in love with electric 8th scale! Biggest boon for me is maintanance. I just got finished cleaning everything, and it took me 2 hours for the D8, and 20 minutes for the Vorza. That alone was worth it. I don't miss the sound of Nitro, but I do like the fact that I can go tank after tank with it, and not let it cool, not have to scrutinize battery/ESC/motor temps, etc.

Other than that, I think electric 8th scale is where it's at. I like the "plug and play" qualities.

As for the Vorza itself, after just going through it, nothing, absolutely nothing is broken, bent, nadda. It held up very well to my abuse, he he he. And the brakes? I don't see the big issue with ESC brakes compared to the Nitros. Sure you can set brake bias with the Nitros, but honestly, I liked the brakes on the Monster just the same, if not better. The Vorza felt very similar to my DB01 actually, with a hell of a lot more speed

Here's what I posted on RC Tech as compared to my D8:

I set both cars up the same (as my D8), but changed the diff fluid and rear shock oil on the Vorza.

The diff settings were 5/4/1 on the D8, and 5/5/2 on the Vorza. I can tell you I liked 5/5/2/ much better, and I’ll use that on the D8 next time out. It was just more tossable around the track, and suited my driving style much better (which is funny because I thought my D8 was pretty good before hand).

The Vorza was using 35wt shock oil up front, and 45wt out back. D8 was 35/40. 1.3 pistons for both cars. Each had 60mm Grey springs up front, 68mm Yellow springs out back. I set the Vorza with .5 higher oil in the rear because the Vorza feels slightly heavier. The weight didn’t matter though, as the Vorza was very drivable and felt much ligher than the D8 while driving (not that the D8 feels heavy mind you). I did get some chassis slap from both cars on our big triple, but more so with the Vorza. I think I either need to change the rear pistons to 1.2, or up the fluid to 50wt, or go up to the next heavier spring – or some sort of combination of that. I set the Vorza’s ride height rather high and although it drove very nice, it probably would have been even better at normal height.

As far as tires go, I had AKA City blocks on the front, and AKA I-beams on the rear of the Vorza (both soft compound). The D8 wore Proline Calibers in M2 compound. The calibers gripped way too much, and it was under steer city. The AKA combo was perfect, gripping where I needed it, and sliding where I wanted. I tried it on the D8 and felt equally good, although the Vorza was still better due to the 5/5/2 diff setting.

Ok, onto the power delivery. Ya’ll know what comes in the Vorza, a HPI branded CC Mamba Monster 2200kv combo. Batteries were 2x Zippy Flightmax 5000mah 30C hardcases. The ESC settings that matter were as follows:

Starting power - Low
Timing – Low
Punch – 30%
Brakes – 40%
Reverse power – 50%
Proportional w/ Reverse

I was expecting a rocket, and in reality, it was VERY, VERY drivable. Not that it was slow, but definitely not the rocket that my friends Caster Fusion was (I later found out that they were using the 2650kv motor). Still, a lot of folks make a big deal about the 2200kv being too much, and honestly, I thought the car could use even more power. I’d say the power was about even with just about all the Nitro’s out there that day (even my D8), and only got smoked by the 2650 Castor Fusions on the main straight (although they seeemed almost uncontrollable everywhere else). I was using a 16t pinion. It was weird, because the car had good top speed, but acceleration wasn’t as explosive as I thought it’d be. I mean, the way it is probably perfect for racing, but I just thought it would have been quicker off the line.

Temps with the 16t pinion were as follows:

Motor – 120F
Batteries – 110F
ESC - 105

Car was smooth as silk, and I didn’t experience any cogging whatsoever. To gain a little more oomph next time, I’m going to change the ESC settings to 25% reverse power (hopefully giving more headroom for forward power), and take off punch limiting altogether to make full use of it’s capabilities. Front tires were ballooning slightly on the main straight, so I may go up to 7k in the center diff, but I’ll see how it does with the ESC changes first.

Overall, I’m extremely impressed with the Vorza. Although I thought it could use a little more power, it’s definitely NOT slow by any means. It’s probably just me, as my D8 is using a EB Mods Fully Modded 5-port Go tech engine, which is no slouch by any means.

Next time out with the Vorza, besides the ESC changes, I’ll experiment with the suspension a little more, trying different spring combos and also the optional 112mm rear shocks.

Hope you guys enjoyed my initial impression review.



- Paulie

Murdadock

iTrader: (2)

I'll take that bet on a Slash bash at Blues Bay

bando711

........she was really impressed with your prowless with the DB-01. Just kiddin we had a good time on Saturday!!

bando711

Robert, if you are looking at this while out of town. Do you have a POC we can talk to about the drivers stand? Rumor has it that it is complete and just needs to be moved and setup. If this is the case we would like to get it moved ASAP so we can press forward with plans for an EVENT. Can't start planning and set a day and then not have the stand. Thanks

Murdadock

iTrader: (2)

If I could keep the damn thing working so I could get in some good practice laps................

YDBD

iTrader: (3)

trying to figure out where on the track the Caster Fusions were uncontrollable...

pgeldz

Please don't read into this Jon. I actually like the Castors a lot. What I actually said though is that they SEEMED uncontrolable.

Let me rephrase...what I should have said, is that with all that power on tap, I think they would seem uncontrollable in the tight sections of the course if I were driving one. Again, if I were driving one. You and Ken do very well with all that power.

- Paulie

bando711

Well i was not happy with what mine was doing on Sat. So last nite I put it on the computer, I had intended to set the punch control to 100% to see how it responded, as it turns out the Punch control was disabled (0%). That would explain why it had so much jump off the line....actually more than I wanted. That would also explain the balloning and worn spots on down the center of the front tires. I set it 80% and went to 10k in the center diff and see what that does....should be able to get good even throttle response without the massive power surge, it is really tough in the technical section, I felt I was just trying to hang on and hoped the brakes would slow me down before the corner. Looks like a lot of rain this week.

bando711

You hit it right on the head. I felt I had to baby mine so much on the tight sections that I was really slow there. But I found what I think is the problem. For whatever reason the punch control was not where I wanted it(senior moment). I think it will work out ok. All that speed only really helps on the straight, if it's not controllable, overall it will be slower.

pgeldz

Copy that. So you had that 2650kv on full power with no punch limiting? No wonder why, he he he.

I still think I could have used a little more power though just about everywhere, so I'll change my punch limiting from 30% to 0 to see if that helps.

My front tires were ballooning a little bit on the main straight too, but Jon brought up a good point - My ride height was rather high and during acceleration it may have been squating way too much in the rear which may explain why.

Before I up the center diff, I'll experiment with stiffining up the rear suspension to set it up at the proper ride height to see how it does. If the fronts still balloon down the main straight, I'll up the center diff to 7k.



- Paulie

YDBD

iTrader: (3)

Just teasin' Paulie!! Yes they can be abit outta control out there, but like we talked about there are places where it pays to be EP and places for GP on the track.

Anthony can we get a go ahead on the timing system? or do we need a test day?

I will be picking up genny today for a slight tightening and tune up...so no power probably till Saturday afternoon.

Ok, I found out a few things:

The ackerman was rubbing on the steering lobe causing some friction AND at full jounce the CVD's bind some of the steering...so solutions were to dremel the lobe and reduce droop. I probably just overheated the servo...

Had some glitching between Castle Link software versions (have 3.12 at school (can't upgrade without admin rights) and 3.16 at home) the set up seemed to reverse my motor direction for some weird reason, but I caught it before running on the track.

Tires and punch control are going to be the ticket on the big track.

Here's a question, when I hit the brakes, coast and the brakes again do I go into reverse as I did not go forward yet?

The Fusion build starts tomorrow!!!

bando711

Jon's question "Here's a question, when I hit the brakes, coast and the brakes again do I go into reverse as I did not go forward yet?"

Here is a statement out of the users guide

"Reverse or forward is accessible at any time after the ESC brakes to zero motor RPM"

So it should not go into reverse unless the motor has stopped turning, so, if you lock up the brakes and then let off as soon as you roll forward the ESC will sense RPM's and will not go into reverse on the next brake input.

pgeldz

Hmm, I remember reading somewhere that the ESC needs to see 2 sec of neutral throttle and then the next time you hit the brakes, you will actually reverse.

crymynal

Well...what is the collective response on the timing software? What about the hardware?






No replies?????




That's probably because I only had 3 cars on the track with transponders and we had erroneous laps register. I'm not convinced that we can run a race yet. Is any one else? I would like to have a day that we set up some mini races..two to three heats with a main....and run this 2-3 times. This would give us a better understanding of the software and ensure the hardware works correctly. My thinking is we use the slashes or the 1/8 Buggies (nitro and electric) and run 5min or less heats and main. Any suggestion on dates?