2010 VONATs Entry Suggestions

[vwjuice]

There's also the possibility of the Kyosho's. The old raider or outrage are entry level and are competitive with the right hop ups. I have an outrage and it uses all the same drivetrain and uspension as the ultima. The main differences are the chassis and the upper deck is a little bit longer. Same length as the later ultimas. I ran it against a few old rc10's and the only problem was I had terrible tires and the shocks were worn out. Replace the stock shocks with either rc10 shocks or the ultima pro shocks.

[civilguy]

Just curious how exactly we moved away from the intent?

I was not quoting anyone, but that was the overall theme. I think the conversation was more about the Fox and the Bearhawk. Brandon, we could give you a Nikko Rhino and you'd hook it up.
I think Raul's idea was more of keeping them entry level. The Fox was a competitor of the RC10 bitd... not a good one, but still.
My personal observation: maybe we could have a Tamiya class as they're all outclassed by the other brands anyway.

[tecnica2001]

Me personally, I would drive a Wild One if they weren't so darn expensive.

The Fox would be my next choice, followed closely by a Falcon.

The Frog is now retired. He did his job. Gave me a few fits the second go aroung, but got it all sorted out.

So no classics class for next year Brandon?? you gotta give me the re-match...

[MelvinsArmy]

Me personally, I would drive a Wild One if they weren't so darn expensive.

The Fox would be my next choice, followed closely by a Falcon.

The Frog is now retired. He did his job. Gave me a few fits the second go aroung, but got it all sorted out.

So no classics class for next year Brandon?? you gotta give me the re-match...

I think next year they could put the two of you in your own class, both racing Turbo Hoppers, one red, one black, and it would still be the most exciting race of the whole event.

[markt311]

Freddy's right behind Brandon! The Frog gets a little squirly coming onto the straight but Brandon gets it pointed straight just in time to win the drag race down the straightaway!!!!

That was the funnest battle to watch! I was yelling and cheering both of them on!! I think I'm going to find a Kingcab and race Heavy Metal next year.

[Brandon G]

Me personally, I would drive a Wild One if they weren't so darn expensive.

The Fox would be my next choice, followed closely by a Falcon.

The Frog is now retired. He did his job. Gave me a few fits the second go aroung, but got it all sorted out.

So no classics class for next year Brandon?? you gotta give me the re-match...

I didn't say I wasn't going to run in the classics class, I just wont be running the Frog..... I'm thinking Wildone (again) or maybe even a Buggy Champ with a Mr. Lexan body. I think that re-re would definetely qualify as a classic.

Yeah, the Kingcab (the red one, sorry Erich) was running really well. It would be a fun truck to race I think. I know where you can get a cheap one with a Toyota Ironman body on it Mark....

[tecnica2001]

Awesome,

Glad to see you're coming back to Classics...

[glowster21]

The Falcon that finished 3rd looked pretty good to me.

That Falcon has the coolest story behind it. Almost 3 years ago, I was driving up the road with my wife and kids and saw the yellow plastic on top of 1 of my neighbors garbage cans by the road. Of course I made the wife pull over so I could hang out the window and grab it off the trash! Tossed it in my RC room when we got home then forgot about it until about a week and a half before the VoNats. I wanted a 2nd class for Nicky to run, pulled the "Picked from the Trash" Falcon out and started to tear it apart. Amazingly enough, all I had to do was clean it, spend $20 on bearings, $3 on a pinion (that I drove 100 miles for round trip 2 days before the race), some old Kyosho wheel hex's to run Kyosho rear wheels, throw a brushed motor and esc in, and hack up an RC10 body since I could'nt score a Falcon body fast enough.
That thing ran like a champ! I was totally shocked, especially when my 10 year old actually listened to me and rolled the jumps. Of course it just hit me 2 days ago that if I added some weight to the car it would have handled even better .
Needless to say, it will reappear at next years VoNats. We're also going to run Heavy Metal (I bought Erich's King Cab before we left Sunday) with the King Cab and a Blackfoot.
I think I even scored my 4wd entry for next year too, the Yokomo was just too much of a tank to hang with the Kitty Cat
Bottom line Brandon and Freddy finished a foot apart with a great race until the very end, and if they crashed in the middle of the straight on the last lap Nicky was only a few seconds behind!

[tecnica2001]

Awesome story there Joe, Nicky did run a good race, I was behind him for a while, and he was taking some good clean lines, I only passed him on a turn that he made a bit too wide, but overall, he's a clean driver, he'll be a force to be recon with in a year or two.

I'm planning on getting another Blitzer/Bearhawk Chassis for Kelly and run it with the ABS Bearhawk body.

She came in 7th with Jay's busted up Hornet, and finished all of her races. She had a blast racing side by side with daddy, everytime she crashed I could hear her say "Oh Man", or if I would bump her while trying to pass her, she would say, "it's Ok" how many times do you hear that from other drivers???....

[soniccj5]

I am going to try and rebuild my original Frog for next year. I thought about bringing a Wild Willy for heavy metal, but I am sure my body would get destroyed.Maybe I could enter the SCX10 I won

ED

[kaybo19114]

That Falcon has the coolest story behind it. Almost 3 years ago, I was driving up the road with my wife and kids and saw the yellow plastic on top of 1 of my neighbors garbage cans by the road. Of course I made the wife pull over so I could hang out the window and grab it off the trash! Tossed it in my RC room when we got home then forgot about it until about a week and a half before the VoNats. I wanted a 2nd class for Nicky to run, pulled the "Picked from the Trash" Falcon out and started to tear it apart. Amazingly enough, all I had to do was clean it, spend $20 on bearings, $3 on a pinion (that I drove 100 miles for round trip 2 days before the race), some old Kyosho wheel hex's to run Kyosho rear wheels, throw a brushed motor and esc in, and hack up an RC10 body since I could'nt score a Falcon body fast enough.
That thing ran like a champ! I was totally shocked, especially when my 10 year old actually listened to me and rolled the jumps. Of course it just hit me 2 days ago that if I added some weight to the car it would have handled even better .
Needless to say, it will reappear at next years VoNats. We're also going to run Heavy Metal (I bought Erich's King Cab before we left Sunday) with the King Cab and a Blackfoot.
I think I even scored my 4wd entry for next year too, the Yokomo was just too much of a tank to hang with the Kitty Cat
Bottom line Brandon and Freddy finished a foot apart with a great race until the very end, and if they crashed in the middle of the straight on the last lap Nicky was only a few seconds behind!

hey joe - do you have any pictures of the falcon that you ran?? I got one sitting in my attic waiting to be restored for the VONATs (one year) and was trying to get some ideas about how you got that one setup...I believe i saw a pic of it with the shell on, and was curious about underneath

thanks!

[dldiaz]

Not sure if this thread has died for good...

Any pics of the VONATS-prepped Tamiya Falcon, as mentioned above???
I would really like to see some upgrades that would make a Falcon more race-ready!

[Brandon G]

One of my racing buddies that is planning on making the trip this year has a Falcon ready to go. Basically he is using 2.2" wheels off of a Desert Gator (the same grey solid wheels I had on my 08 Frog). HPI hex adapter in the rear allows the use of these wheels. You would have to change the pistons out in the shocks as well. The stock pistons have such big holes in them. He used 10000 wt (yes 10K) diff oil in one of the fronts with the stock piston. The other one he replaced with a newer piston with 2 small holes and used 30 wt. You could hardly tell the difference between the two. Also, Losi springs will work with the stock shocks to get the spring rates a little closer for a race setup.

He tried out the car the other day in the driveway. Ran it up the hill and back and the thing traction rolled on the cement. Broke one of the rear shock towers and a front c hub. Durability will be an issue, but I think the rear can be strengthened no problem. I think the front c hub will be a hard one to strenghten, maybe it was just bad luck with the crash on concrete. Definetely use the CRP dogbones and front chassis stiffener. Keep close eye on the downtravel in the rear, they like to spit out dogbones if there is not a travel limiting spacer in the shock.

I will have to get him on here to share some pics.