R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

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You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

IOwnCalculus posted:

Sticks to control cars?

Careful there, British RC racers will get upset with you

# ¿ Apr 20, 2018 02:43

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 16:47

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

InitialDave posted:

Pretty much. I never realised people saw anything odd about it.

There's a couple of British ex-pats at my club and whenever one of the Aussie drivers pass them their throttle and wheel controller to test out the car, you could see the Brit drivers almost having a fit.

# ¿ Apr 23, 2018 03:04

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

I have no particular love of the TC4. The tub just doesn't keep it's shape well when traction is so high that you're fighting rollovers even with VTA tires. I was doing some research on TC4 setups, and I found a race winning car, that the driver had knocked 3mm off the edges of the tub, and cut out the arms off the corner support brackets. My brain screamed "Whaaaa?"

Why do you think the TC4's drivetrain is heavy, or draggy? It's got a ball diff out back, and a spool up front. Both of those are going to have a smaller moment of inertia, and total weight than any modern gear diff. The driveshaft isn't as light as a belt, but it's small diameter, and spools up with very very little energy. I believe Awesomatix still sells a gear drive car, and Tamiya is also right up there. Oh yeah, take a look at this thing: https://kfrusa.com/products/kaizen-tc4-conversion-kit A "modern carbon chassis" for the TC4 drivetrain.

The TC4 even has less bearings on in the drivetrain. My TA07 has four large bearings, and eight small bearings. About half of the small bearings are guides, and may, or may not contact the belt all the time, but when they do, they're spinning ~really damned fast~ due to belt surface speeds. At least when compared to shaft support bearings. Most belt drive cars, have one extra belt interface too.

There's a lot of reasons that modern belt drive cars "are the thing". I don't think drivetrain weight is a big matter. And in the case of my TA07, and TC4, I don't have DCJ's on the front end.

Speaking of belt drive cars. My buddy and I did some digging, and found the OEM for the softer, kevlar and polyurethane belts. A set for my TA07 is waiting for me, as soon as I can be bothered to drive up and pick them up from Misumi. That reminds me.. i'm supposed to try to find some left hand thread forming taps.

I've been accepted by the locals. It was hinted that there may be an X-ray showing up for me, at a very very favorable price. We shall see how that turns out. :-)

Shaft drive RC cars usually have more friction in the drivetrain compared to belt cars due to the extra gears and also the weight of the shaft. However they are more efficient with getting power down compared to belts, as they don't have the drivetrain slack that the belts give you.

You have to remember the TC4 is well over 10 years old and RC chassis engineering has changed hugely since then. Back then you wanted the chassis as stiff as possible, these days people want chassis to be softer and allow flex.

I have just brought a new Xray T4 2018 TC as Mini has died in the arse at my track. Xray in Australia has great support from the distributor and their drivers, which is bizarre for a supplier, as most of them don't give a poo poo unless the driver themselves are importing the brand.

# ¿ May 16, 2018 01:44

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

As you mentioned Nerobro, there has been big changes to suspension over the past 10 years, including smaller shocks for lower cg, huge amount of work into chassis tuning through flex. I race primarily asphalt outdoors, there aren't many indoor tracks in Australia, and there's only one big international event a year in Australia where there's a chance of carpet racing. On asphalt, flex is everything. There's a driver at my track who runs his own carbon fibre engineering business ( http://bezerk.com.au/shop/ ) who is manufacturing vertical top decks to get adjustable flex for outdoor on road racers. Steering setups have changed a bit over the years, companies using floating servo holders, some using full floating steering setups.
Smaller shocks seem to rule most touring cars these days, with the exception of companies like Awesomatix and Serpent. Just check out the arrangement they have for shocks, it is a engineers wet dream.

Drive trains themselves have changed a bit, including the use of DCJ axles on the front of the car instead of universals so you don't get the axle chatter with a spool and also get the benefit of more steering. Diffs have gone in and out of fashion. When I started most touring cars were using front one way diffs (and on some chassis centre one ways for the front pulley) and ball diffs at the rear. These days spools seem to rule the front (with some exceptions like Mini or some people using putty filled oil gear diffs) with oil filled gear diffs ruling the rear.

And don't get me started on moving from NIMH batteries and brushed motors to Lipo batteries and brushless motors.

# ¿ May 17, 2018 00:13

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Ran my Xray T4 2018 touring car for the first time last night.

Dumb poo poo mistakes came out of the shakedown during the first race - some wires coming unsoldered from the ESC, motor fan dying, missed tightening up some screws which lead to the car become a FWD TC. Over the next couple of rounds I was able to fix most of the issues other than the motor fan. The last race I finished second, mainly due to attrition.

Getting used to tourers after running Mini for nearly two years has been a bit of brain re-wiring with my driving, but hopefully will get some consistency next week.

# ¿ May 24, 2018 00:57

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

Unsoldered? Would you be willing to post pictures of your solder joints? A good solder joint should break the wire or PCB rather than the solder. Maybe I can help you with that.

I can solder good, the rest of the connections were fine, just this one came off. Got it all good and working again, had no issues in the races I ran it in

# ¿ May 26, 2018 04:51

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

A second hand Xray, at least in Australia, is a good buy since they have a ton of support here. Not sure about the US. Of course in Europe they are huge.

I'll be racing at a major RC event at the start of next month (https://www.aocrc.com) and the top factory drivers from Xray will be racing there.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2018 06:40

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

I don't think i'm anywhere near the limit of the TC4 yet. However, it appears that TA is going to, or had already, discontinued the TC4. With their parts supply issues, it doesn't leave me feeling great driving it.

I've got a TA07 that might do better. But we'll see what else ends up in my lap. I'm looking.. X-Ray is very common in my area, and a 15 or 16 x-ray can be pretty cheap. My racing buddy has a TC 7.1. Keeping with my current stock of parts, Tamiya would be the easiest step up. But, realistically, there's no way to really win at WCRC unless you're running a Awesomatix. I'm not buying a $1000 car. :-)

No way anyone is winning big championships with Awesomatix. Infinity is the big brand these days with the huge factory driver team they have, followed by Yokomo and Xray.

I only know of two drivers who I know do well for Awesomatix, and one of those is the main importer for the brand in Australia.

# ¿ Jun 13, 2018 00:43

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

It's kinda sad how AE has dropped the ball with the TC 6.x and 7.x series. The 3s and 4s were great cars.

Awesomatix are very sensitive to tweak and suspension changes. I see the people who use that brand pretty much having to re-setup their car before each run. And you need specialised tools to do things like shock repair and diff work, unlike with other TC brands where you could use the same drivers (except for some of the early AE stuff that was in imperial).

At the Asian On Road champs a couple of weekends ago in the Phillipines, the top ten included Xray (team driver won it), Yokomo and Infinity. However that was on outdoor asphalt. The next AOC race is in Australia which will be on ETS Black carpet. My first time for racing on carpet

# ¿ Jun 18, 2018 02:07

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

Tell me your opinion about the TC7, and that sort of thing. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

We're waiting for the TC8 or whatever to drop.

The awesomatix are "hard" to setup. But i don't see people tweaking them to much run to run. That said, the guys running them aren't hitting boards much. :-)

I am doing a roundup of all the cheap chassis. Say, sub $200 touring cars. I intend on buying most of them... and getting them tested, handed out, and eventually given away.

I have no opinion of the TC7 as no one runs them in Australia. There is an importer for them in Australia, and their off road stuff is supposed to be really good, but the on road chassis seems to be at the bottom of most people's lists.

What I have seen from people racing the Awesomatix is that you really need to be on top of suspension maintenance for them. A slight tweak which could be ignored in most other brands will cause issues with the Awesomatix. That said, the engineering behind that car, and the Serpent, is amazing.

Tamiya's cheap chassises are always great, and can be giant killers in the right hands. Plus the aftermarket hop up parts for them from brands like 3 Racing and Yeah Racing is extensive.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2018 01:35

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Usually steel screws are the best for reliability/not stripping their heads. Go for hex head screws over phillips/slot heads. Only use aluminium or titanium screws if you want to reduce weight or bling factor.

# ¿ Jul 3, 2018 01:10

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Did a four(!) day event, the AOC - Asian OnRoad Series. This round was hosted in my home town of Melbourne for the Australian round.

Managed to get second outright in my finals (not in the class in total, just in that particular group) which was great due to the lack of touring car driving I have done, the first big event for my Xray and the first time in my RC life that I have driven on carpet. It was great fun, and a very well run event, even if one round ran for nearly four hours.

Here's a pic of my car, the shell was painted by a very skilled friend of mine:

The signatures on the body are of the top drivers at that event.

# ¿ Jul 8, 2018 12:52

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

Awesome! What did you think of the carpet? Black or grey?

I went racing this weekend too. I wasn't ever last, but my consistency sucks. And my TC4 just isn't competitive.

It was black ETS carpet. It was a little slippery at first as it was brand new, took a day or so for all the additive from the tyres to build up in it. Once a driving line had appeared on the track, it was great. Go anywhere off that line and you spent a lap getting the tyres clean again.

Looks like the club is going to sell off the carpet, as they worry that putting it into storage for a year with no use will probably end up with garbage carpet when they pull it out.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2018 10:22

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

I used to use Spektrum controllers, but paid the big bucks for the top of the line (at that time) Sanwa M12S and holy poo poo that's a nice controller. So easy to work out what you are actually doing on the controller end. The M17 looks a bit garbage though, with the touch screen interface.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2018 01:22

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

The story gets better. The Xpress XQ1s arrived. And it came completely without driveshafts, or the dogbone blades. And it came with 4 3x6x2.5mm bearings, when I needed 4 5x8.5x2.5mm bearings for the steering rack.

.... *shakes head*

Don't worry, I dropped close to $250 on a new servo only to find out it is the wrong one and won't fit in my Xray

# ¿ Aug 9, 2018 09:10

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

I had been spoiled by Tamiya, Team Associated, and Kyosho. I still, really, dislike Traxxas.

I... want to hear more about that story. What servo? what chassis?

MSK standard size servo, the front of the servo jammed hard against the steering posts in my Xray T4 2018. I was supposed to buy the MSK short servo. Ah well, the standard one will be put into one of the Minis instead.

# ¿ Aug 10, 2018 01:50

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nah, I pulled it out and put my old trusty Futaba 9551 back in. drat thing has been in near constant use since my Tamiya TRF 415

# ¿ Aug 10, 2018 07:09

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Let's see...

2x Tamiya TRF 415 MSXs in a box
1x early 80s Tamiya Sand Scorcher
1x reissue Tamiya Sand Scorcher unbuilt in a box
1x reissue Tamiya Rough Rider
1x Team Associated SC10 4x4
2x Tamiya M03
1x Tamiya M05
1x Tamiya M07
1x Xray T4 2018

# ¿ Aug 15, 2018 12:12

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Congrats on Xray taking out the 1/12th, F1 and ITSC 1/10th electric on road world titles in South Africa over the past week and weekend.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2018 23:49

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

So... I went racing saturday. And the results were pretty good. I won one heat race. And I (should have) won the B-main in VTA.

... the timing system f'd up royally for the B-Main, and I think I lost a lap. I still finished only 2 seconds behind first.

Congratulations!

I got BQ'd (top spot in B Finals, unlike TQing

) at a big touring car champs a couple of weekends ago, and finished second as the car felt like poo poo halfway through each final run.

# ¿ Oct 27, 2018 07:09

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Cockmaster posted:

Now I'm looking for a large R/C truck for a robotics project, but I'd rather not spend the money on a new one. Is there anything in particular I should know about buying used R/C vehicles off of eBay or Craigslist? Like, for those listings throwing in batteries, is it particularly risky to buy someone's used LiPo packs if there are otherwise no red flags?

RC Tech is a good site with a big For Sales sub forum

# ¿ Nov 2, 2018 08:34

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Which chassis were you running?

# ¿ Nov 11, 2018 23:47

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Nerobro posted:

You're allowed two 30mm fans on 1/10 scale race cars. This is something people usually interpret as two computer style muffin fans.

your'e also allowed one 60mm hole in the body, for cooling. That is 60mm in any dimension.

I can buy 30mm EDF's, that have 120g of thrust. Two of those, 60mm hole... 240g of thrust.

On as little as a 1100g car.

This.... could cause new rules to be written. I'm going to cause the ROAR rulebook to be re-written. *burries face in hands*

You're allowed two 40mm fans in Australia, but no cooling holes cut in the shell (unless it is nitro/gas cars for air intake). Fan shrouds were banned in Australia for a while a very small number of people were putting dry ice in the shroud to cool the motors better. However the rule has been changed for this year.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2019 22:50

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

During my last run in touring cars you definitely noticed the difference between different TC shells. Not only for straight line speed, but in cornering. You could feel the steering "dull" with some of them, whereas others were nice and sharp.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2019 00:26

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

I still have the old Tandy Porsche 935 that my parents got me back in the early 80s. And a Tamiya Sand Scorcher from the same era

# ¿ Aug 21, 2019 23:51

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

I have a Honda NSX Mini-Z that I think I used twice and spends most of its time in a box. Cool little things, it is insane how much engineering they can fit in them. Sadly there's no scene for them in Australia

# ¿ Sep 3, 2019 23:49

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Meskhenet posted:

How good are the smaller cars at going over grassed areas?

Pretty much the car wont get used too much. It would be every few weekends now that it's spring/summer.

I dont want something too fast, but something upgradable would be good (if its just a change of battery)

More of an excuse to get my some to head out to a park when i go walking.

If the .au is any indication, are you an Aussie? If so, find a local hobby shop and work something out with them.

In Melbourne I recommend Metro Hobbies, RAB Hobbies, The Hobbyman and Hearn's Hobbies

# ¿ Sep 30, 2019 23:54

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Meskhenet posted:

very correct.

And the funny thing is, the best sites im seeing are melbourne, but im in sydney :/

Northern Beaches Hobby Store is a good place in Sydney. Not sure about other places in Sydney

# ¿ Oct 1, 2019 23:56

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Running 3S in my short course truck was a gently caress load of fun, but it did suffer from overheating (fixed with zip tying a fan near the motor) and just being completely bonkers

# ¿ Apr 8, 2020 01:10

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Savox do nice cheap but well built servos

# ¿ May 7, 2020 23:54

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

A bloke I used to race RC with has made up his own 1/10th mid 60s F1 RC car model. It looks brilliant and will be on sale from the start of next year:

https://grandprix3d.store

# ¿ Nov 30, 2020 00:13

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Somewhat Heroic posted:

This is going to be awesome.

So this week my Sand Scorcher arrived which is excellent. I will start building it this week probably. The body will take the longest time, and it will be my first hard body. So far the plan is to go with a Gulf livery. This has been a dream kit to have - for some reason I have always found a reason to not buy one. I will be using a shorty lipo battery pack, a 17.5T sensored motor and a cheap Hobbywing sensored ESC. I understand that this will probably be too much power for the car, but who cares because it will be driven only at the sand dunes and I have a 17.5 motor in hand.

the box art and packaging are excellent. It has been a while since I have assembled a Made in Japan kit and this is not going to disappoint. Might do some live building on my works Facebook page.

I still have one of those re-issue Sand Scorchers in a box. I recommend just sticking with the silver can motor, as it is all sealed together in the gear box, and the 17.5 motor might overheat

# ¿ Feb 5, 2021 00:35

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Hmmm, a 1/8th scale Sand Scorcher. Nice

# ¿ Feb 27, 2021 23:14

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

They are cool, I have a Honda NSX on the MR-02 platform. It is insane how they can have 4WD these days

# ¿ Jun 28, 2021 23:41

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 16:47

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

There is a good chance there are aftermarket oil filled diffs for that chassis. Yeah Racing does cheap upgrades for most Tamiya chassis. You can put heavier oil into oil diffs, allowing you to balance how much slip you want.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2024 09:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Automotive Insanity > R/C cars: try not to say the words "scale speed"

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