RC10Talk - The Net's Largest Vintage R/C Community

Just wondering if any of you have any input on the ideal weight and balance for an RC10?

I am supposing that the graphite chassis cars will be lighter with a different front to rear balance.

What is the ideal balance for either an aluminum tub (my current build up) or a graphite car.
My graphite car specs are:
10 oz. weight in each front tire
18 oz. weight in each rear tire
Total weight is 3.49 lbs.
*mods include; klein arms, brushless motor and esc, lipo and TLR22 steering rack

I have seen some guys at the track put weights on the front of their cars (like on the new Kyosho and B4). I do not have alot of experience racing an RC10 so I would really appreciate any input on this topic. Thanks guys!

It's such a peculiar car you have that no "optimal" (if there's such a thing) weight repartition data will ever apply to your ride (I personnally like that word). If I were you I'd be more concerned about tuning the front suspension first

The front weight on the modern cars is mostly to reduce the rearward pitch effect on throttle (and hence allow them to turn on throttle).

Keep us posted what you find out!

Paul

You could go buy 4 small cheap postal scales and put em under the wheels and play with the balance of the car ala NASCAR

328isjohn wrote:You could go buy 4 small cheap postal scales and put em under the wheels and play with the balance of the car ala NASCAR

from the figures he quotes he already does this Still it doesn't answer the question..

Paul

Judging by the weights posted this car has 64% of the weight on the rear (36/64). Most 2wd rear motor buggies have 67%-70%. I've measured many of them with 2 RC10's that I've weighed both coming in at 78% rear. I'm now sure why there is so much less on the rear of this car but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It must be due to that battery. Rear motor cars can easily shift some weight forward and still handle very well because of where the weight is. There is no one right weight balance. Typically the looser the track the further rearward weight needs to be shifted. My thought is that you should move weight forward until you can no longer get good forward traction during acceleration. That's when you know you've gone too far.

fredswain wrote:Judging by the weights posted this car has 64% of the weight on the rear (36/64). Most 2wd rear motor buggies have 67%-70%. I've measured many of them with 2 RC10's that I've weighed both coming in at 78% rear. I'm now sure why there is so much less on the rear of this car but it isn't necessarily a bad thing. It must be due to that battery. Rear motor cars can easily shift some weight forward and still handle very well because of where the weight is. There is no one right weight balance. Typically the looser the track the further rearward weight needs to be shifted. My thought is that you should move weight forward until you can no longer get good forward traction during acceleration. That's when you know you've gone too far.

Good forward traction on an RC car has many other factors other than static weight distribution.

I'm aware of that. I've got a huge tuning tech thread over at rctech.

Moving weight forward will increase your static traction on the front, but will increase the PERCENTAGE that one sees twards the rear under acceleration. I would have to look up my notes, but I am sure that mine are close to 33/67. I tune my cars for consistency, and accross the board they all come out similar. The way I see it, your car (with the SAME compound front and rear tire) SHOULD perform similarly through out the day. As the track changes, the car should get faster or slower depending on the track surface changes, but should not produce a over or under steer condition. I checked these weights against My FT b4.1 with various team setups, and they are very similar.

If the cars' weight distribution is off, as the surface changes, one will see either an oversteer or understeer condition based on the end of the car tha has the weight discrepency. If the track gets loose, and your car develops a push, then you need to add weigh to the front of the car (and vice versa). This can be a long process, as when you move weight to the front, you will now have a loose rear in higher bite conditions . This will necessitate a suspension change. Just take your time and spend time tuning, or start with a proper weight distribution and only change the suspension. -Jeff

on my mid motored oval cars and trucks i usually get 56-57% on the rear.

My shortcourse converted 10T is happy around 59% rear. My T2 pan buggy likes 65%. Its all driver preference. Dont worry about "normal". Run what works best for you. You can use other peoples setup as a starting point but in the end its what like best.

Nick