Who else is getting ready for this years racing season?

[Janus]

I've always felt that on 'loose' tracks rear motor is easier to drive as the weight transfer hooks the weight more over the rear wheels? Or is your clay track high grip? I must admit I find driving rear motor car feels more 'natural' somehow

Ours is lowgrip aswell, the setting comination of your transmission height, wheelbase & antisquat is really important on low grip to get the balance in the car you want / need.

I personally use
- 2mm antisquat
- 1,5 ~ 2,5 mm transmission height
- rear wheelbase extra short (cutting a bit off the hub)
- front wheelbase long + inlines ( http://www.oople.com/forums/showpost.php?p=557038&postcount=23 + http://www.oople.com/forums/showpost.php?p=557521&postcount=26)

The CR2 is only designed for astro, and it's an awesome car on those tracks. But it needs very specific setups when taken to dirt, esp. since it's a vey stiff car.

[soniccj5]

This past weekend I entered a race at my local track. The first time I got to drive a B4 .




Did not do too bad for the first time out. I did not place well, but I managed to keep it between the pipes for the most part. Wish i bought a protector for the bottom, but it is a runner, and scratches are part of the game..

I really enjoy driving my vintage RC-10, but it is reassuring to know if I break something on the B4, I can buy it in the shop the same day.

ED

[GreenHell]

Looks good!

[GJW]

your one hardcore racer darryn, impressive!! hey been going through many dirt & track mag's over the last month are you in there any where out of interest?

[Brandon G]

I run a Losi 22 in the 10.5 class and recently bought a XXX-SCB. I have had the short course trucks in the past years but started getting a little bored with them. The SCB is based on the trucks and has the realistic look but handles much better. I always get lookers checking out the buggy when I bring it to the track and most say the buggy looks much better than what they see in the magazines. I agreewith them on that. Looks even better full tilt on the track!

I used to run the nitro 1/8th scale, but the only close outdoor track we had closed. Can't say I miss the mess of nitro, definetely not fun cleaning up one of those after a 30 minute main.

[RETRO R/C]

Yeah - I hear you on the 8th scale Brandon - no fun cleaning them - then again - take the radio box and the motor/exhaust off the chassis, spray the whole thing with simple green and blast it with the compressor!! Gets rid of most of the muck, and if you are careful about where you point the compressed air - doesn't hurt the bearings. Then just hit the plastic parts with Pledge, give it a final brush off and hit it with a bit more Pledge - then the compressor again and it looks like new. Still a PITA - however they are tough and can take this hardcore cleaning if careful.

Gary - I am in a few of them over time, however most of my racing was done in the A.C.T and S.A. As the mag was pretty much focused on NSW and a bit of Vic and QLD - I didnt hit the pages much!! (thank god - didn't look any better back then either!!). Seems I am getting more attention, (not really "wanted"- but its happening anyway), in the "twighlight" years of my racing than when my reactions were young and nimble.

I have pretty much finished the 1/8th DNX408, such a different buggy to all the others... I am working on a new engine deal at the moment which should work out nicely.

Looking forward to building the DEX210 - really looks to be a very nice car - drove a very early production kit a while ago and it was on freaking "rails" - so much traction for a 2wd.

Cheers

Darryn

[Charlie don't surf]

Jeff Harris was saying the same thing about the 210. I just traded an RC10 for a new 210

[RETRO R/C]

Yep - it just seems to generate TONNES of mechanical grip.

Best thing about the kit is that it comes with EVERYTHING you need - inserts for suspension etc etc - no need to go out and buy different blocks etc.

The initial car that I drove was VERY early "production" . I have since driven a team car and it was sublime to drive. That's what pushed me over the edge to go the full Durango drive as opposed to being with both Losi and Durango. I really liked the 22 and the 8ight - however the 210 is just far to good to miss out on driving. Jury is out on the DNX408, its a very interesting car and seems to be like its electric 1/10th brother in that it likes to driven VERY hard.

The harder you push the 1/10th buggies - the better they perform. Corner speed in the electric Durango's is second to none at the moment, they have their geometry well and truly sorted (well for our tracks it would seem anyway). Having said that - The Reedy race was just won by Durango's - so they must be ok over there as well!

Cheers

Darryn

[Lonestar]

Hardcore racer here too - although I'm not spending as much time as I'd like to... thank my 2 kids, wife, job, and commuting time for that

In the winter, I run our local offroad and onroad series, all on non-permanent tracks - unfortunately this is my only driving in the winter, we have 8 races in 6 mths and alternate between both categories.

For offroad 2WD I have a B4.1, I was using a B4 till the 4.1 came out. I recently put the +8 chassis on it but frankly the difference is less than obvious... I'm still battling with the same guys despite the third of an additional inch to the wheelbase Car has a 10.5 Orion in it, HW xTreme stock speedo, 1251MG savox servo, and a variety of Lipo's.

For offroad 4WD I drive a B44.1, I started using it this season to maximize driving time. Problem is, we race both 2wd and 4wd the same day and alternate series, so it all messes my driving up as 2wd and 4wd require very different driving techniques! I am mostly a 2wd guy to be honest, the 4wd "brutality" doesnt excite me, 2wd is so much more subtle and "on the edge"... Gear is HW Xerun120A V2.1, Orion 4500 molecular lipos, Ace 1013 servo, Team Powers 8.5T.

Here are my 2 offroad babies in their racing livery,



had to crop that one from a group shot




For onroad, I use my trustworthy xray T3 2010... it can keep up the pace with the more modern cars, although I could maybe pocket a tenth or two with a more flexible, fuller chassis. Esc is a TeamWave RB50 with RBS software, this is basically the first speedo that came out with variable timing and a programming card, before the HW ones, it still holds its own nicely against anything on the market. This season the spec motor is the TOP 13.5 (Orion is the series sponsor), spec tires is MM32, I run the same KO 2365 servo that I bought, what, 6 yrs ago, and Orion 4500 Molecular lipos. Sorry no pic I'll try to get one later... the car is honestly up to the business, and it's refreshing to see that design has kinda stalled since 2008/2009 I'd say.

Paul

[Lonestar]

I also started racing 8th scale offroad when our indoor onroad track closed (until then I was a DTM driver only... at least since 2002, before then it was a bit more complex). I had purchased an MBX6 to start running with the local offroad track, what I found out is these cars require a TON of maintenance to remain at their peak, even though the MBX6 is probably the least maintenance intensive of them all. Every hour of runtime requires one hour of cleaning, one or two hours of diff rebuilding (oil goes poof), one hour of overall motor/cluch maintenance, it's a PITA, even though it's extremely satisfying when it works! I've gone through a few mills, but came back to the OS V-spec last year after I found out that nothing beats OS reliability and ease of tune, which is a key factor for me, scarce driver. I have won my share of local races with this buggy, including a 4hr "classic" enduro race where we took the top rank in our first participation with my buddy Didier, also coming from the electric world, where rigor means something

I sold it a month ago... I kept an engine just in case I changed my mind but now on my workbench sits a brand spanking new MBX6 eco, which I just received a few days ago! I will start wrenching on it this week I think! Electronics are HW SCT120A, Leopard sensored 1800kv, and DesirePower 5200mah 40C lipos. The servo is yet undecided, I am thinking about a way to use some HV servos I had just bought last year for my nitro car and that have been barely run, otherwise KO2174 or Sanwa ERG-VB (workhorse, low consumption).

For all my racecars I still use my Helios FM, I have a handful of 302F rx'es so no will to change at all

Paul

[LowClassCC]

well i finally started building the buggy i will be running this year. still have a bit more to do but i am very pleased with how it is coming along.

[Charlie don't surf]

Was that the prototype car reanodized?

[THEYTOOKMYTHUMB]

well i finally started building the buggy i will be running this year. still have a bit more to do but i am very pleased with how it is coming along.

Hot Tamale! Green is literally my favorite color and that shade is absolutely perfect!

The use of a green smiley was not intended as sarcasm. I'm seriously in love with that shade.

[LowClassCC]

Was that the prototype car reanodized?

yes. that is the 2005 durango slim b4 prototype chassis i sent off to be anodized. just got it back in the mail yesterday.

Hot Tamale! Green is literally my favorite color and that shade is absolutely perfect!

The use of a green smiley was not intended as sarcasm. I'm seriously in love with that shade.

ya i had a hard time deciding what color to go with but decided on the green at the last minute. but to fill the minimum batch i also sent in the case to my power supply, and the alloy handles from my tools. i am very proud of how well everything turned out.

[Lonestar]

holy moly! where's this one sourced from???

awesome!

Paul