R/C car thread!

[Bdx]

Rc heads today have no idea what us in the early 80's and 90's went through so you all could have your brushless motors and lipo battery packs!

Favorite rc car of all time was my yokomo yz10 4wd. Back then when the most common racer at tracks was the original team losi with the 5 link rear end and rc10 the gold version! That yokomo was completely high tech compared to everything else imo.

 

[Shark33]

The beast:
Full Integy Novak Emaxx

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, Yesterday I made a thread asking about R/C monster trucks. Today...I've entirely changed my mind.

I'm looking at Kyosho Mini-Zs.

Why? Well, I thought about it, and...I don't have the space available to play with a big, 1/10th scale monster. I think I'd be happier playing with cars in the comfort of my own home, and I think I'd be more comfortable with something smaller that won't live as rough a life - otherwise, that $400 Clod might sit in my closet like a Ferrari, battery gone flat.

I do have an old Radioshack XMODS (gen1) R34 GT-R, but...Last time I tried to drive it, it wouldn't go. I might give it another shot, (it's been a few years,) but I think something in the electronics is fried. Besides, a Mini-Z's a step up from that. The price DOES reflect it.

The other thing I'm taking a look at is the Losi 1/24 short-course truck. It's a bit less expensive than a Mini-Z, (At least, from the factory website) and it's also small enough to drive around the house...even over carpet (though I realize that's not recommended) and has enough suspension travel to take outdoors.

So, that's what I'm considering getting now, as well as trying to figure out how to get the blasted XMODS car running.

 

[bevo]

Well, Yesterday I made a thread asking about R/C monster trucks. Today...I've entirely changed my mind.

I'm looking at Kyosho Mini-Zs.

Why? Well, I thought about it, and...I don't have the space available to play with a big, 1/10th scale monster. I think I'd be happier playing with cars in the comfort of my own home, and I think I'd be more comfortable with something smaller that won't live as rough a life - otherwise, that $400 Clod might sit in my closet like a Ferrari, battery gone flat.

I do have an old Radioshack XMODS (gen1) R34 GT-R, but...Last time I tried to drive it, it wouldn't go. I might give it another shot, (it's been a few years,) but I think something in the electronics is fried. Besides, a Mini-Z's a step up from that. The price DOES reflect it.

The other thing I'm taking a look at is the Losi 1/24 short-course truck. It's a bit less expensive than a Mini-Z, (At least, from the factory website) and it's also small enough to drive around the house...even over carpet (though I realize that's not recommended) and has enough suspension travel to take outdoors.

So, that's what I'm considering getting now, as well as trying to figure out how to get the blasted XMODS car running.

I got sucked into mini z's this year by some friends, and they are a blast. I also run 1/8 nitro buggy's, but the mini z's are just so much fun, because they are almost maintance free. If you are really thinking about getting into mini z you should try and get some RCP track if you have enough room for it. It's kind of expensive, but to really enjoy the mini z you need it. The MR03's are 2.4ghz too, so that means you will never have any radio problems at all. Just bind the car to the radio and never have to worry about any glitching or interference.

I also have one of the losi 1/24 short course trucks. I really don't like it at all. It's not very fast, unless you want to upgrade to lipo's, and it gets boring pretty quick unless you have a track made for it. The radio that comes with them are also very bad, and the batteries are expensive for how weak they are. It's AM and won't reach more then 20 feet or so. I really can't think of anything good at all to say about it. If they had one that was a bind and drive that you could use a 2.4ghz radio with it, then they might be decent. The radio is just so bad it takes all of the fun out of using it at all.

If the only thing you plan to do is drive it around the yard, or in the house then you would almost have to go with the losi. The mini z's are really meant to be raced and you need a really flat surface to run them on.

If you are going to go with the mini z, try and get a MM model. That's a mid motor mount. They handle so much better, and are much easier to learn to drive with. If you want to know some inexpensive upgrades for the mini z's that will really make them scream send me a PM and I'll give you a few links.
And as far as you xmod compared to the mini z. I have a friend tha came over with his xmod and ran on my track, and there's really no comparison. The mini z's are really amazing at how well the handle and how fast those little motors will make them go.

Here is a link to the RCP tracks. You would want to get the first one, a wide L. http://rcptracks.com/50cmtracksbuynow.html
I've ended up with 3 of those and an expansion pack to make some lanes wider. Between me and the other guys I race with I think we have 7 or 8 of the wide L's, a few expansion packs, and a few wide turns,a nd 45's.

If you can get a few friends to get into mini z racing with you, it's a blast, and you really don't need that much space to setup a decent track.

 

[Jim Prower]

Heh...I think the kitchen floor might do good to start out with, but, yeah, a Mini-Z sounds like the way to go. I noted there's no way to change the motor on the Losi without getting into the plastic, so...yeah. I do have a spare room to set up a track on, and I might be able to even find a local RC track to play on If I could.

and on the XMODS GT-R? I threw some fresh batteries in the car and, well, the front wheels went to "attention." Need a 9V to test the controller and all the car's functions. That might prove a fun little basher if it all checks out.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

(deleted by member)

 

[bevo]

Heh...I think the kitchen floor might do good to start out with, but, yeah, a Mini-Z sounds like the way to go. I noted there's no way to change the motor on the Losi without getting into the plastic, so...yeah. I do have a spare room to set up a track on, and I might be able to even find a local RC track to play on If I could.

and on the XMODS GT-R? I threw some fresh batteries in the car and, well, the front wheels went to "attention." Need a 9V to test the controller and all the car's functions. That might prove a fun little basher if it all checks out.

There is actually a few mini z clubs in your state. Look here and one of them might be close enough to go check out. http://mini-zracer.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

[Jim Prower]

I'm likely going to get the MR-03 Blue Fairlady Z, though the MR-02 Calsonic GT-R is tempting.

 

[bevo]

I'm likely going to get the MR-03 Blue Fairlady Z, though the MR-02 Calsonic GT-R is tempting.

I've got the calsonic GT-R, and it's a great body. You can get just the MR03 with just the car, and then just order the GT-R body. I actually have 3 of those bodies. 2 red, and a blue. One good thing about the MR03 is that all of the MR02 bodies will fit on it. You just have to make sure that it is a MM body.

I'll post you a link of what I started out with.
Here is the car. http://www.reflexracing.net/proddetail.asp?prod=32700&cat=47
Here's the body. http://www.reflexracing.net/proddetail.asp?prod=MZP214XN-B It's a very neutral body. Not to much over or understeer, and is probabaly the best I have tried out so far.

Here is a very aggresive body with a narrower wheel base. http://www.reflexracing.net/proddetail.asp?prod=MZX203P-B
The mclaren bodies are very agile and quick, but that isn't always a good thing. They are a good bit harder to drive and tend to have oversteer or push without the right setup on it.

Here is a great starter charger, it's the one I have been using, but it can be had cheaper on other sites. http://www.kenonhobby.com/MAHAPowerex-MH-C9000-WizardOne-Charger-Analyzer-for-4-AA-AAA_p_42153.html

good batteries. http://www.kenonhobby.com/Peak-Racing-900HV-AAA-Ni-MH-Battery_p_42211.html

Really though you can get, orion, trp, etc. There are 5 or 6 good brands of batteries to choose from.

Here is the cheapest radio but it works fine. http://www.kenonhobby.com/Kyosho-PERFEX-KT-18-2ch-24GHz-Transmitter_p_42010.html I have upgraded mine, but it's really not much better. This can also be had about 15$ cheaper if you look around some.

If you get one, and want to make it go faster and handle better, let me know and I'll show you some easy hop up parts to put on it.

One trouble i have had with both of mine was that the stock motor mount caused my motor to overheat. I got an aluminum one that has more room for the motor to breath and got a different stock class motor and haven't had any troubles since.

If you are wanting to pick out a body just let me know which ones they are, and I'll tell you if they will fit your car or not.

If you can't tell, I am ate up with these RC cars. Ever since I started racing them, I bet I haven't played 10 hours worth of racing games in the last year. There so much better then any SIM racer out there. They're still not the real thing, but they are much more real then video games.

 

[diabolicwyvern]

Something else was here.

Nikko Road Shredder

Tyco Rip Tide

 

[bevo]

Here's a video of my rc8. This was one of the first times I got to run it on a track. If you go to the end of the video, you can see me actually ramp clear over the wall and off the track on the back doubles.

 

[J-PaP]

The RC8 is a nice buggy! Had bought one a while ago but it had to be returned as it was faulty. I decided to just stick with electric after that.

Here is my newest car I just built. M05 pro the blue limited edition one but I replaced the blue parts with black ones and fitted a few hopups including trf shocks and a ball diff. Gave it its first run last week which I was happy with. Need to soften the rear suspension though as it is a bit too loose in the rear.

Also I picked up a car I had been wanting from a good 10 years ago but never got a chance to get. Nice little F201. Here is what it looks like at the moment though....

T
Came with soo many spares and includes almost every upgrade you can get. I purchased this one almost purely because it had the alloy arms. They are impossible to find anywhere and the alloy hubs aren't too easy to find either. Tore it down to see what the repair bill is like as I wasn't happy with how it was rolling. New prop shafts, rebuild the diffs and I'm going to fit the tamiya shocks instead of the 3racing ones it included. I might replace the gearbox case as well while I'm at it as it is the only plastic parts on the whole car fairly much and they looked a bit worse for wear. I think there is close to enough spares to build a 2nd car so I'm going to look into that. Pretty sure if anything is missing it is part of the drivetrain anyway so I could at least build a shelf queen.

 

[MD6]

We're racing Saturday, weather permitting. Come out and have some fun!


R/C RACING - WINFIELD, IL 2011

Location: The Winfield Methodist Church Parking Lot

Date: The first race will be Sat., May 14. The other race dates are June 18, July 16, Aug. 13, & Sept. 17.

Time: Racing begins at 11:00 AM. The track will be open at 10:00 AM.

Classes: These races are for electric cars only, The classes will be stock touring, Tamiya Mini, SC Trucks, Off Road, GT3 and others if we have at least three cars.

Cost: $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for racers 12 and under. This price is for any number classes. If you race 10 classes it only costs you $10. All the money taken in will go to the church.

Facilities: We will be using an AMBrc scoring system. Electricity and washrooms will be available. There is a MacDonald's and Burger King close by.

Details: This is a fundraiser for Winfield Community United Methodist Church. The church is trying this as part of their outreach programs. There may be no drivers' stand. You may want to bring something to stand on if you need it. There will be a door prize drawing for the drivers at no charge. Everyone had a very good time last year. The address is 0S347 Jefferson Street, Winfield, IL 60190-1406.
This great place for new drivers to get started and for racers looking to have fun!

Directions: Take Rt. 38/ Roosevelt road to County Farm Rd and turn north. There's a MacDonald's at that intersection. Go north to Manchester Rd. and turn left or west on Manchester. Take Manchester to Jefferson St. and turn right or north and go about a block and you'll see the church on the right side.

Take Rt. 64/North Ave. to County Farm Rd. and turn south. There's a Honda motorcycle dealer at the intersection. Take County Farm Rd. to Manchester Rd. Turn right or west on to Manchester Rd. Take Manchester to Jefferson and turn right on Jefferson. Go about a block and you'll see the church on the right.

 

[MD6]

No Races in Winfield, IL today.With the high percentage of the chances for rain and the colder, windy weather I am canceling the race. May be next month.

 

[Jim Prower]

Well, the new hobby came in a cardboard box this week...and what's more, the old "toy" still works!

There she is, the day after I got her. Kyosho Mini-Z MR-02, with the Calsonic body, and, fortunately, a Perfex KT-5 controller. Why? because the KT-18 I had bought seperately...wouldn't work with it. X3

Ah, well, they're inexpensive enough that I could get that Devil-Z MR-03 chassis, too.

Taken today, after I went out to get the groceries, and a 9V battery. Turns out the old XMODS R34 still works. I did that sticker job when it was new, by the by. I now have both a racer and an onroad basher.

Comparing the chassis is interesting. The XMODS car is a bit more sophisticated appearing, with a chassis-mounted motor and independent suspension front, swing axle rear, and quite a bit more suspension travel...though it sits lower than the Kyosho and high-centers a bit more easily over bumps like the ones between the types of floors in my apartment. Why it has so much travel, I don't know. It looks a bit like a 2WD version of Kyosho's 4WD Mini-Zs - in fact, they sold a 4WD kit for that chassis. The Kyosho is wider and has almost no front suspension travel at all, which boggles me why they even put front springs on it. Rear articulation is very good, though the entire motor/rear axle unit is unsprung weight. All this said...the XMODS car has a HORRIBLE turning radius.

The Kyosho has much better turning radius, but on hard floors, the stock tires have next to no grip. Given this, it runs INCREDIBLY well on the low-pile carpet in my apartment. I get the feeling that if I sweep the back room very well I can race about back there with few problems. Otherwise, I might try to swap the XMODS tires on, which have MUCH more grip on the hard floors...and still grip just as well on carpet.

The Kyosho is also overall much lighter than the XMODS, both in chassis mass and body mass. I have wondered if later XMODS cars had lighter bodies, particularly if they were one-piece instead of the "tunable" bodies the cars had. There's even a part of me which wonders if there's clear Lexan bodies in this size class.

So...now...where in Peoria or Bloomington/Normal do they have a club...That, and...I'm wondering about getting a Civic body, a 4WD kit...and disconnecting the rear wheels on the XMODS chassis. ooooh, FWD touring car?

 

[vfrmaverick]

FWD wont work well, ask me how i know.

 

[deejayy2k]

my t-maxx.

in the middle of breaking this in

my TT-01d xb

pretty much stock other than a venom fireball 19d motor

drifting vid the evo is my brothers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATIuPRM35UU

 

[Jim Prower]

FWD wont work well, ask me how i know.

According to most people (and if I could find traction with the Kyosho, I'd be inclined to agree) the first-gen XMODS car doesn't work well, so it wouldn't be a huge issue. XD

Besides, that's kind of the point of a basher - it's not for serious competition, just for playing around with. I mean...hell, when a guy makes a car out of spare parts, a wood chassis, and no driven wheels...



((BTW, I am definitely not Jang...but, eh, I figure it makes the point.))

 

[vfrmaverick]

Im just saying because I used to be a huge XMODS head and did it myself. Even with the ball diff there wasnt enough weight to keep the tires from spinning.

 

[hightyme]

Love my HPI RS4 Nitro RTR

 

[vfrmaverick]

Love my HPI RS4 Nitro RTR

This^^ Mines somewhere in this past couple of pages. Was racing my brother yesterday and he wrecked me hard and broke my exhaust tip holder so I got to build a new one.

 

[Jim Prower]

Im just saying because I used to be a huge XMODS head and did it myself. Even with the ball diff there wasnt enough weight to keep the tires from spinning.

Fine with me...I'll just have to find really hard rear tires, then. XD

I don't expect to win races, just expect to see what it does is all.

Hey, look buddy, I'm an engineer. That means I solve problems. Problems like "How do I solve understeer issues with a somewhat low-quality FWD almost-hobby-grade RC?"

EDIT: Just figured out how to add a millimeter to the travel of the Mini-Z - shorter bump stops. It now has more front and rear travel than the XMODS car (though that car has more upward suspension travel, the chassis hits the ground way too soon.)

 

[J-PaP]

Update time!

So after scavanging the internet I ordered all this:

After some assembly we have this:

I've tried to get everything I could for it. Some of the harder to get stuff was:

FPM alloy arms
FPM carbon brace kit (which I haven't used all of as I can't work out where some of the pieces go since I don't have the instructions)
3racing alloy uprights
Tobee threaded shocks (I didn't fit them in the end as I didn't like the amount of shaft play in it)
Tobee spur adaptor (I've fitted a 21.5 d3 in it and the 49t spur is a bit too small to get the ratio I want. I'll have to find myself some spurs (50t-53t) before I fit it)

It has been raining though since I finished so I haven't been able to drive it anywhere outside of the garage. I'm still working on the body though so will post pictures of that when it is done.

I was surprised it was only 30g heavier than my xray t3 '11 without a battery. But with a battery because it can't fit square packs and I have to use the batteries from my mini it ends up being 40-50g lighter in the end.

Also I bought an active a210ss. I just couldn't resist when I saw the lotus body on it.

 

[vfrmaverick]

Fine with me...I'll just have to find really hard rear tires, then. XD

I don't expect to win races, just expect to see what it does is all.

Hey, look buddy, I'm an engineer. That means I solve problems. Problems like "How do I solve understeer issues with a somewhat low-quality FWD almost-hobby-grade RC?"

EDIT: Just figured out how to add a millimeter to the travel of the Mini-Z - shorter bump stops. It now has more front and rear travel than the XMODS car (though that car has more upward suspension travel, the chassis hits the ground way too soon.)

Then again Mine ran the 6 cell mod. I ended up runing with the batteries stashed as far forwards as possible, but by that time i had an evo so I moved on. The gen1 was a very flawed design in the rear.


EDIT: Nice F201! Im gonna pick myself up an F104 this summer.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Fine with me...I'll just have to find really hard rear tires, then. XD

I don't expect to win races, just expect to see what it does is all.

I had converted an X-Mods Acura RSX to FWD and it did ok on concrete, but on smooth tile flooring it had some issues getting going. Weight in the front would certainly help.

 

[J-PaP]

Finished the bodies! Thought I should post them up before I begin to destroy them.

 

[XPOWER180]

A couple of photos of my Tamiya TAO5-R chassis fitted with a 6R4 bodyshell.

 

[J-PaP]

Looks good! The ta05r is a pretty good car. Used to have one of them.

 

[XPOWER180]

Looks good! The ta05r is a pretty good car. Used to have one of them.

Cheers! Yeah i think it's a great chassis. It's only downside is accesing the ball-diffs' can be a pain. I've added a few hop-ups to it such as the GRP chassis, digital servo, titanium screw kit and various other bits. It's very fast and can hold off some of my mates nitro cars! I never run it with the 6R4 bodyshell though, i always use a BMW WTCC bodyshell (the Tamiya Muller version)

 

[MD6]

Who makes the 6R4 shell?