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Where Would You Run What? (The "Suitable" Chassis)

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I was told the other day that the Lancia Rally is "not meant for that kind of driving." The context was a photo of my example splashing through a puddle. The commenter's logic was that the O.R.V. is an open chassis; therefore it was unsuitable for use in certain environments such as in the wet.

No offence was taken, obviously, but it did get me thinking: would you consider certain chassis to be inherently unsuitable in different environments? Or, given enough preparation, would you consider any car to be run anywhere? Is it a question of what the car is apparently designed for, or what you are willing to do to make it go there?

Granted, areas with high salt content (i.e.: treated winter roads or salt-water beaches) are generally bad ideas; nonetheless with sufficient effort put into preparing a car for its location (such as a chassis cover for DF-03Ras or TB/TA-01s/02s, or even ball joint covers for an Avante), I figured that the right car could be run anywhere, especially if any real-life basis went out to battle the same elements.

For me it appears to be a little complex, since I do not run my Striker (with its semi-exposed battery pack) through any standing water but will do so in snow (with its enclosed chassis), whereas I care less with my Lancia Rally. Rudimentary waterproofing efforts for the even more vulnerable battery have me running through all kinds of weather, even if I no longer tackle standing water with the same fervour as I do with my Buggy Champ. Design does have a factor in where and when I run my cars, but only my Astute (the only non-weatherproofed buggy I have) is completely bound by this. Knowing that the real-life Lancia Rally ran in rain and snow has inspired me to do the same, while the Buggy Champ's design has me taking mine beyond the sand and into everything else. My choices are otherwise determined by what I feel like running and what is currently operational :P

So: given a bashing ground, would you run a specific car for a specific weather condition, or would your choice for the day be independent of it? Would you consider any typical setting for RC cars to be a poor one for a specific chassis? (I recall the Frog's promotional videos were run on sand, where an open design was either really great or terrible)

This question probably is more about the extent to which one believes chassis may become unsuitable, as I would imagine nobody would go rock-crawling with their F104...

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With a couple of balloons, and a dab of grease around the servo outputs, there's no reason an ORV chassis (or just about anything else) can't be run in the wet. Besides, it's yours; it's up to you to decide what "suitable" conditions are.

My biggest worry is getting rocks caught in things. My side yard where I do most of my off-road running is mostly gravel, and certain designs (Optima Mid comes to mind) tend to pick up stones and lodge them in bad places. In this case, I try to keep my gravel running to either a fully open design (Blackfoot) or a fully enclosed one (RC10 or Hotshot).

But then there are cars like the Clodbuster, Grasshopper, or Traxxas Stampede which I will run anytime, anywhere, without regard to terrain or weather conditions.

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This is why I usually stick to monster trucks.

But were I to get a "not meant for that kind of driving" comment, I'd be hard pressed to avoid responding without a lot of asterisks

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Frankly, I'll run what I want, where I want. That person sounds likes a nosy busybody.

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This is why I usually stick to monster trucks.

But were I to get a "not meant for that kind of driving" comment, I'd be hard pressed to avoid responding without a lot of asterisks

Frankly, I'll run what I want, where I want. That person sounds likes a nosy busybody.

Well, it was clear that the person was not attempting to rile me up; he happened to be a friend of mine. From him, it was really an observation that he saw instead of, say, the person who allegedly holds the largest collection of Wild Willys putting other people down. Hence, no offence taken - he was not telling me that I should not run my car through puddles, but said that he thought it was unsuitable for puddles and wet weather.

He commended me for taking my Lancia Rally out in that kind of weather regardless, so definitely no hard feelings!

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When I first tried it I was shocked at how rubbish 2wd off-road buggies were at tackling grass any longer than about an inch. They just get constantly stuck! The 4wd buggies make mincemeat of grass (even wet grass) with the exception of the TT01/2 derived buggies which lack the ground clearance (and I therefore used to recommend a DT02 over a DF02, longer run times, better clearance and as such only as likely to get stuck).

Amongst my collection is an F103GT - the ground clearance is incredibly low and I've always found the hardly to be very "snatchy" so combining that with anything but a soooper smooth surface makes it quite hard to drive and corner quickly.

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I found my 6s brushless hyper 7 monsters any surface.

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When it just won't go anymore and the wheels are just spinning like mad or the ESC goes up in smoke or just dies, then you know that chassis was probably not the best choice for that terrain/condition.

Otherwise, its yours and so long as you and the car are both happy - hammer down.

I used to worry that running buggies on the street was mangling the tires and the rough tarmac was just awful on street tires, chassis and bodies for the touring cars, but ... that was all I had for places to run. I just stocked up on tires and bought a new body shell or wing as needed and let it ride. The chassis' very quickly looked like I took an angle grinder to them but that was just the price I had to pay. The alternative was (1) buy different models or (2) don't drive them.

To be honest I did find trucks much easier for most conditions though. CC-01, Twin Detonator, Clod Buster, TXT-1 - these go just about anywhere. The only thing that I really never found an alternative for was drifting. For me it is the tennis court or nothing because there just aren't any parking lots or streets smooth enough where I live. So if the courts are busy with tennis players I'm just out of luck.

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My bad, didn't quite understand the context of the message. I do try too keep my cars on a somewhat suitable surface, but I have driven off-road with on road cars and even jumped them. ;-)

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90% of Tamiya's promotional videos are on the beach...

"Yes Sir, Mr Tamiya!" :D

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I tend to tailor my RC bashing to the condition of the ground and how much cleaning afterwards will result. For instance, if the ground is quite wet then I'll go for a monster truck or similar. If it's bone dry then an on road or rally car. Snow will definitely be my Clod IF we get any where I live this year.

I did enjoy running my Blackfoot through the crisp dry leaves in the park last weekend though!

http://youtu.be/aMOP3xPrImY

Edit: Fixed Video

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When I had my monster beetle, it stayed in the trunk of my Oldsmobile. See a fun place? Stop, charge, play.

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I'll let the pictures do the talking:

img33435_01072011015110_3.jpg

img33435_24082011000903_1.jpg

img33435_24082011000903_8.jpg

The only waterproofing the tank got was to put the RX in the top of the turret, waterproof speedo's, and sealed up the battery with silicone sealer.

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I am fortunate to have a good selection of runners, so for me it is a case of choosing the model according to the conditions. However before my fleet grew to its current size, there was one model that I drove pretty much everywhere: my WR01 Twin Detonator with 4WS.

The 4WS means that it turns tightly enough to drive indoors, the high ground clearance and 4WD gives good offroad performance, and once the spikes wear off the tyres, the grooved tread grips well on a wide variety of surfaces.

However there is also a lot be said for modding a car to go where the designer never intended. I had a lot of fun modding a TT01 into a capable rally chassis, and hopping up my CC01 to keep up with my mate's SCX10. It may not be cheap or easy, but it is very satisfying if you succeed.

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Absolutely. My fleet of "almost done" vehicles is growing, and part of it is to always have something to drive.

And I totally agree with the joy in making a car or truck do something it was never meant to do

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