Sideways-King

Excellent write up Skip665 and a big well done for the good positions on your first outing. I bet your fit to burst having to wait 2 weeks for the next event! I've had a NIB Mini sitting on the shelf staring at me for 12 months and having seen the speed of these on YouTube I might give it a whirl at the club one night and pitch it against some of the others, as sadly there isn't a mini only race. Long may your delight continue as mine is doing. Hi dazaa - ours is £6.50 for members and £7.50 for non-members and I spoke to a chap yesterday in Aylesbury who's club nights are £5, so it would be interesting to know what others pay, or the average at least? People use everything and anything and also bring them in everything and anything. As mentioned in one of my reports there's one lad and his dad that use biscuit tins for the parts and carrier bags for the car and transmitter. Chris

Can't wait for your report and glad you had a good time

Nice bright colour Skip so you can spot it in the hustle. Good luck for tonight, if I wasn't half the country away I'd be with you, although the wife would take until next week to talk to me again for two nights on the trot of RC delights!. DONT be nervous, come tomorrow morning you'll be buzzing for next week to come around. There was another newbie there last night and now I'm slowly sinking into the furniture of the group with the banter and helping out setting up (I'm still the only other member other than the organisers to help do this!!), you would actually not know they are there as everyone is in their own 'zone'. So don't feel like everyone is watching as they're not. The only reason I spotted this lad was because it reminded me of my first night with an overly tight sounding pinion and spur gear and the driftesque style non tyre additive sliding - he was happy and nobody bats an eyelid. On a my note 5 weeks in, I've moved up a class with the 'life and soul' of the clubs members, had an absolute ball, my times remained consistent, I felt no pressure as I figured I would be coming in last anyway as theyre all brushless, lipo, superfly guys. Apart from burning my thumb on a hot motor (I sill don't learn and they had to pull my head out of the basketball hoop I jumped that high!!) after changing motors and esc and doing a full blown solder job at my own leisure I still managed two... yes two 2nd places and I'm on 19T brushed with Tazer esc and box standard car. If you'd have said 5 weeks ago I'd be changing parts and soldering in the pandamonium between races I would have laughed! Thing to remember is now I've been a newbie and watched a newbie I think what makes you come back again is to look around and get tips off everyone else and listening now to the stories they tell me of their first nights racing mine seems like a walk in the park even if I thought it was a nightmare. We all start somewhere Skipster....... remember even the superflys did ! Good luck

Put plenty of glue on both sides of the rim skip665. After my first attempt with no glue resulted in one flying off, since then there has been no issues with the early departure of rubber. However on the face of the rim I applied it all the way round but on the inner part of the rim I put it in patches, don't quite know why? So they came away again, hence this week I glued myself to everything in the hysteria !!

Thanks for that 94eg!. Alot of great tips in there. I hope to get the time to strip the car but as I've also got another 1.5 cars in bits for spares I may just build a second car out of it and learn the setup. Great bit of advice on the toe in and I will look at re-setting this, I assumed that there was a reason for this but to the un-professional (i.e me AKA Sideways-King) it looked more crocked than our politicians expense receipts! I will ad a photo of the car I've been using soon so as as everyone can get a jist of what I've been using. As always your comments and advice has been invaluable.

Race Night 4 – A Sticky Situation…. As promised my final installment into my first months club racing initiation, which I hope will spur others on to go and give it a go. Firstly the night nearly didn’t happen as my wife had a candle party (yes that’s right a party about candles!) and when I said that I’d get my mum to come and baby sit our little man I got that look! This was before the weekend and come Monday I got the guilt trip again about why I still had to go out when I should be staying at home and having a boys night in………. ‘Oh no’ I thought ‘has it taken over and I am now neglecting everything around me?’ I did feel suitably guilty and planned an evening of riotous entertainment with my boy when on the way home last night I got the call….. “Hiya darling – It’s been called off tonight so you can go racing if you want” “Oh…. Oh dear, that’s a shame, are you sure?” In the back of my mind I was thinking ‘YES, YES, YES’, foot down (within the speed limits your honour) and I was on it. As always it was an eventful fun packed night. I got to the venue nice and early knowing that tonight I had over stayed my welcome as a guest and had to become a fully fledged member of the club and BRCCA for which I made the stop at the cash dispenser on my way home from work. Trouble was I’d left my wallet back at home ‘blast’. So I did ‘blast’ back home, as although some of the guys had offered to pool the membership money together and pay them back next week, I prefer to pay my way . A quick sprint back and when I arrived my new friend Trevor had set me up a table and kindly looked after my kit – Top Man! I hastily set about laying out the track with the other regulars. Heat 1 My aim this week as you recall was to start and finish every race. The lack of published race results from last week meant I didn’t know how I’d improved overall or where I stood. When I went over to sign in and now become a ‘Regular Member’ the results from the previous week were up. I was chuffed. The second week I went was the beginning of a new 9 week season and I was at the end of the night 28th out of 32 drivers. The standings on the wall from last week, with the same drivers all but one new comer, I had shot up to 15th place out of now 33 drivers. I soon felt the green mist descending! Would I throw away my goal of 4 starts and 4 finishes and try and get better times? Or would I be sensible? The first heat got underway where I started off 2nd and in truth I think I’ve reached the ‘in the zone’ feeling as I blocked out everything and finished 2nd and I set my benchmark best lap time of 15.11 sec which I was happy with straight out. Heat 2 This is where I began to feel my feet with the new pistol grip as reported last week. I now love this new controller and would you believe I got my best lap of 13.62. OK the best group of 5 gents do laps of between 10 and 12 seconds which is a country mile away from my time but for my 4th go I was thrilled with that. I had another ‘moment’ towards the end with detaching a tie rod but considering how hard I bounced, rolled and danced my way across half the track this Schumacher (sorry not Tamiya at club level at the moment) is made of tough stuff, certainly better than the hop up stuff I put on the TT-01 in my first report. Heat 3 Here’s where I get into my usual excitable flap. Until now I’d been cool and calm and now took time out to begin delving into the setup of the car and fiddling around. I’d noticed the tyres had become unglued in places so I removed them and placed another set on from my ample collection while I glue the set taken off ready for next week. I’d taken off the rear wheels when I realized something wasn’t right. The hex adapter was spinning on the axle? I looked at the other rear and the same again?? On inspection there were no pins in the axles to the hex effectively making the car front wheel drive, Doh! Now I don’t think I’d done this as the adapters have never come off since I’ve had it so I was sure this would make a lot of difference. I sorted this out, fixed the tie-rod on the front and also adjusted the rear ones as the wheels looked like Simon Cowells Pigeon feet thus straightening them out. I looked at the race control screen and saw another 5 minutes until the next race which I would be marshalling so I begun gluing the tyres down. Then the club secretary shouted over “Chris, position one, no transponder one but for the final you are transponder 10 so your pole position in your next race” Mid flight doing my preparations and adjustments all I heard was “ Chris……number one ….. scaramoosh, scaramoosh do the fandango….. transponder 10…… thunder bolt and lightning very, very frightening ….. next race….. Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Figero……. Pole Position …… MAGNIFICOOOOOOOOOO …… Next race” Sweating like a boil in the bag kipper I hastly put the car back together legged it across to the pick up the transponder when the club secretary said “ No not this actual final the next final” HA! Walking back to the pit table I felt the skin on my hands (both of them) begin to tighten up ‘Oh ****’…… you’ve guessed it I’d super glued myself to the car AND the transmitter! If it wasn’t for them being heavier bulkier items I think they would have stayed with me all night, if it was the flimsy lexan bodyshell then I would have been in trouble. I gave a wince as I parted company with my new friends and left a bit of flesh on the hand grip and underside of the chassis What a doofus! Anyway final 1 itself – I started in Pole and finished in 2nd after a lot of flying cars T-Boning me from all angles, however myself and the 2nd placed driver had a great duel for the full duration so much so that I now set my best lap time of 12.68…. 12.68!..... that’s 12.68!! Over THE moon. The car went like a rocket so I can only assume that for the last 3 weeks of use on this car it has been front wheel drive!!! Heat 4 Transponder change, wheels and glue had now fallen into a distant memory and I was now cool and collected again. I started in pole and after being punted off and waiting for what seemed like 30 laps for a Marshall to rescue me as there was nobody on that post – I can see where people get excited about car recovery now! – I finished 3rd. The car was cutting out momentarily as well and judging by the smell during the end of heat 3 the esc or motor were beginning to overheat, it had had some stick though ! I like the smell of hot electrics it reminds me of slot cars and model railways as a kid. I also got into a conversation with the Marshall right below the stand and that set my concentration level to -10. He pointed out that the steering seemed too sharp and jittery and before I knew it I’d lost my rhythm and noticed the twitchiness of the car. He talked about dialing in this and adjusting that but my handset is a cheapo thing I got bundled with the car so I will look at upgrading in a month or so’s time if I still enjoy all this – which it shows no signs of wavering. Then before I new it I’d done my goal, totally unawares, 4 starts and 4 finishes, with some excellent times (for me at least)! Result!! So that’s it a month in the life of a newbie racer, I won’t bore the pants off you guys anymore and I like to say a big thank you to all that have read and replied to this thread. I’ve got bodyshells to paint and new gear to look forward to buying and I’ve really enjoyed it, both the racing and meeting like minded people. I must stress to everyone who wants to go but doesn’t know whether too that I was extremely nervous, worried, shy, possibly embarrassed if I hadn’t got the right gear, but I went armed with a listening ear a watchful eye and a mouth to ask questions. Get there early on the first night, scope the place out and get ready for a great night out. I spotted a new guy last night, stood in the same places I was 4 weeks ago, same body language as I did, same look on his face as I probably did “Evening mate, you alright?” I said “ Yeah thanks, I was wondering about what I need to come along?” he said “Well” I smiled, “Walk this way my friend……………………………..”

Lets have some pics of your finished weapon. Hope you enjoy buddy.

Thats it skip665 go along, even without any cars, and watch others and chat whilst they set up you'll love it. Please be the first one to delve into it off this thread as you can see by the other gents comments on this thread who know their stuff, they'll all help. Keep us informed my friend.

I have looked at this 2.4ghz frequencie as there seems to be alot more packages available kit wise. I thought about this one Pistol Controller as a starter to kick things off without going to overboard. Mind you I should put in photos of the very first night as per the details in this threads very first post to show the banana'd axle cups - Thats a winner surely!!

It's funny really. I've used sticks for so long and they seemed perfect but I don't know if it's because it's a wide open space and your generally hooling around, but then I guess even with drifting which is more precise it feels much better with sticks. I then felt at the club meets like I was correcting myself to much when going in a straight line which then ended up zig zagging all over the place! I never have had any problems with car control i.e. coming towards you so left is now right etc., but it felt like 20 years of doing it went out the window in a more precise environment. The wheel, even though I've hated using it in the past feels superb. As they say I took to it like a duck to water...... and I do like my ducks - in plum suace or peking style!

Nice analogy, I like that!

Race Night 3 – The Crystal Capers…. My third of four installments into my first month of RC racing. Having arrived nice and early to help the guys set up and get myself organized and composed for the nights fun it soon fell into another full on heart pounding sweat fest. New additions tonight included new wheels and tyres(glued this time!) and plenty of carpet gripper. After signing on I was called back to the registration desk to see if I could swap crystals as there was a lot of drivers running 27mhz tonight, not a problem as I bought a complete set off Ebay as in the first post. This was a big mistake!. I swiftly changed band and nothing…… not even any interference? Mmmm, I went through another set… nothing, then another, and another. They we’re all dud! Well one set may have worked if I hadn’t lost it through the slot in the transmitter where you place the crystal and was for the rest of the night rattling around in the handset like a lost screw. I put in some of my old crystals they worked fine, then another set, they too worked fine? Problem was other drivers we’re on them in the races. Time was now ticking towards the first race when the computer system piped up in his finest Steven Hawkins voice “4 minutes until the first race” ‘Oh ****’ I thought as I now begun to sweat like a monkey and dance around in a flapping panic. To no avail I could find any, or anyone, to help so I walked over to the race control and said I’d have to quit before I begun and am going home. Then a head peered up from behind a pit box, as the club runners and top drivers also pit around the race control, “here you go mate try these” as a neatly packed box pirouetted through the air towards me. Shocked, it was my ‘friend’ whom the last two weeks had used the abusive language! I said I would bring them back at the end of the night, but he didn’t want them? I offered him money, but again he didn’t want them? He explained he’d been on 40mhz for years and couldn’t remember the last time he used them and was again swapping channels next week so the 40’s wouldn’t become redundant too. I swiftly, well if you call a 15 stone screaming banshee running towards his table with a ‘woo, woo, who’s got the crystals….come on!’ looks swift, and began installing them. “YES… get in there” it worked……. Heat 1 (all that and I hadn’t even started yet!) It was well over half way into the race but I jumped in just to get some track time and see if this pistol style grip would suit me better. I’d used the ‘sticks’ for over 20 years and have become a staple part of my RC lifestyle, I’d tried the pistol types when I’d got them bundled in with a nitro car and a 1/18th truggy I had but didn’t like them and dismissed them after about 5 minutes use, never to see them again. As I’ve found out that racing is nothing like bashing I thought I’d try this style again as it came with the 2nd hand car I’ve just bought. W H A T A D I F F E R E N C E ! I’m still in awe at how I’ve chucked these to one side for so long and within seconds I was on it, and by far this has been the single biggest improvement for me in the three weeks of racing. I started 8th and finished 6th, but as there was 2 none finishers I was still effectively last, but put in some personal best lap times. During the heats I went to thank my ‘Crystal’ comrade. And it all clicks into place now, it all makes sense finally. Behind the ‘sticks’ with eyes on the cars people become transfixed, demented, dare I say it ‘**** mental’ even! When there little piece of grand prix action is over everyone calms down and all is cool. He’s actually a polite chap whom after a good chat we found common ground and understood my logic from my reactions the last couple of weeks. Either that or nobody has stood up to him before. All is great. Heat 2 As the crystal panic was over and I began to relax again I was enjoying it. I mean I was enjoying it anyway but the heart pounding panic I went through you’d think I’d just lost my son in the Supermarket! God knows what I’d be like if I had, there’d be no one on their feet with me wading though :lol:LOL ! The pistol grip was now becoming more precise for my driving, albeit with a lost rattling crystal somewhere inside!?!?! I’d started 6th and finished 2nd, lapping, even double lapping some of the other drivers, consistency I have now found is the key to winning. There’s no point in gunning it and over shooting and crashing into every corner I come across, I’m happy to let others have a dog fight for now and take each other on as I’m beating them in the long run anyway undertaking there over shoots. That said the biggest cheer of the night came from my flying Schuey again! On the last lap it gripped that much into one corner it bit down and began to barrel roll violently, then end over end, still at racing speeds, where upon it hit the wall that hard with all 4 wheels flatly hitting the wall perfectly and the chassis making a loud whip cracking ‘THWACK’ as that too followed through. I was still full bore on the throttle and I swear it accelerated 12 inches or so UP the wall. Thank heavens there wasn’t a marshall there! As it limped back round I thought ‘that’s it, no more spares tonight you best get packing up.’ Another marshall ushered the car towards him where upon he picked it up, fiddled for a bit and put it down. To my amazement it was fine and all that had happened was the steering arm had come off the ball joint…. locate – snap – sorted! Heat 3 (final 1) I started 2nd and after the first lap was done I was in the lead bringing it home in first. The only drama I felt was my new bunch of racing friends shouting ‘he’s leading’ and ‘keep it up’, ‘slow in to that corner’, bringing me out in a cold sweat. I bet Lewis Hamilton feels proper chuffed if I’m getting a buzz out of this. I got the fastest lap and my personal best of 14.05 seconds but more importantly to me was my average time of 15.56 seconds so I felt pretty consistent. Heat 4 (final 2) As previous I began 2nd and soon got into 1st place to bring home another win which I am suitable proud of. Once more the times were similar and my new found friend in the pistol grip will now become my new regular. I would like to swap to different frequencies 40mhz, 2.4ghz etc., when I can get my head around it as there appears to be more gear out there available. It all felt a little twitchy at times and I put down to interference, so if anyone has any guidance or recommendations it would be greatly received. My target for my final installment is to start and finish every race, regardless of where I come position wise. All in All another great night. Oh and does anyone recommend a decent pit hauler box, there appears to be lots of styles and designs but I can’t find a range of them anywhere on the internet. I have for years used a Stanley roller tool box job from B&Q, which is OK and other people have them but it gets all my kit in and not the spares which I have to carry in a separate bag

I'm really greatful to the seasoned veterans terry.sc, 94eg!, Mr.Ed with their contributions to this thread. I think it's great that your knowledge is being added to this in the same essence of going along to a club night for the first time and getting help. I won't do a running report every week as I don't want to kill off the excitement of being a newbie for others and I still hope that by doing this it will encourage people to go along and have a dabble. I will do another two then it's more like a month in the life of a newcomer. Anyway back on track (pardon the pun!) I sat down and changed all my connectors to Corally on Friday night in preparation for tomorrow nights meeting. Our little boy was in bed, me and my wife we're in the study, me of course with the RC stuff laid out everywhere and a haze of solder smoke and my better half learning the marvels of EBay. This was 9pm, after a peck on the cheek an hour or so later and a "don't stay up too late, we've got Mother's Day shoppping tomorrow" I then collected all may batteries up and sat on the bedroom floor with the heat shrink cut to length with Laura's hairdryer humming away to finish off the job. " What the devil are you doing?" looking very pleased with myself and my new found modification techniques I began to say " I'm just heating up this......." "I know what your ******** doing but is 2am!" Oh no, it's begining to take over my life...... I mean is that bad that i had to get away from my mothers, then hurry up the roast dinner I made for Laura on Mother's Day just so I could charge up my batteries! I've got the bug!

Nice one I like it! You were right that you learn more in such a short space of time by going along and the mix of people is what makes it fun. Theres the bunch of guys that are happy to stick the tyre additive on sit back and have a pint, then theres others in a cloud of smoke soldering motor wires and the funny bit there isn't that much difference between them

Well put Paul and as you said it is forgotten about 5 mins later and it is the RED MIST. My problem is I go out of my way to be friendly and expect the same courtesey, but when you give an inch and someone takes a mile, I prefer to nip things in the bud to start with. But hey ho thats forgotten now and I'm enjoying it bucket loads. Mr. ED great advice and one which I hope to take note of.

Ha, Ha..... Never ever my friend. I just can't justify spending money on a TRF at the moment, even second hand. I'd sooner have more fun with modded Grasshoppers and Boomerangs

Race Night 2 Much better this week. After absorbing everyone's advice at the last meeting, this week again was no different. During the break I stumbled across a cheap Schumacher Mission (swearing I know on the Tamiyaclub site! ) with spares, extra batteries etc., for cheap and boy is it a difference. I went armed with the tyre additive and I had a blast. Heat 1 - Started at the back of a 5 grid delayed start line up and came 2nd! The most shocking thing was I was 1st for 90% of the race until the last lap saw a flying Mardave Maurader skip half the track and T-Bone me bringing me in 2nd. The new Schumacher has a 19T motor, Tazer ESC and apart from what looks like standard Carbon bits and bobs is pretty much stock... I felt really proud of myself. And 'No' they weren't all blind and 3 years old. During the other races I learnt more invaluable stuff, one of which is to keep buying 2nd hand to start. A young chap sat next to me and had boxes and boxes of stuff for sale, there must have been at least 50 complete sets of wheels and tyres, which looked mint to me(I'd get at least another 7 years use out of them) for £3 a set! I overheard him saying he has tyre sponsorship and seeing the gear he had, not only car wise but the clothes he was wearing with sponsorship everywhere, he obviously is on the pro circuit. I duly bought a servo for £1 and a virtually spanking 19T motor for £5 which he had just skimmed, right before my very eyes. Heat 2 - I started second and ended up not finishing as a battery wire came out of the Tamiya connector, which has never happened before but I put down to my new super light speed driving. I had already got down to 15.1 second laps on only my second outing, which compared to the pro classes 10 second laps is lame but seeing as theres only about 5 of them the other 20 or so gents were doing between 14 and 21 second laps, so again I feel quite proud. Heat 3 - After learning off other guys that I should get shot of some of the wiring by soldering the motor directly to the ESC and to swap from Tamiya connectors to Corally it also went well. I started 3rd and finished 2nd. I also had noticed another gent there, whom I thought I recognised from the past, and went over to him. We had worked together for several years and I'd last saw him 5/6 years ago. He was a regular member going with his son and after exchanging some light hearted banter about hair loss and extra pounds gained we we're right back into the swing of things - Good times! Heat 4 - A model shop owner had set up a stall in the corner selling bits and bobs and I'd taken the time to go over now and have a mooch around. I came away with a Mazda 6 body set I can now put my own livery on.... and I do like painting bodyshells, so I'll put my business name over it all I think! I have a 1:1 Mazda 6 anyway so I thought I'd keep it in the family - Rude not to!. I started 2nd and finished 2nd although I didn't finish within time. I'd lapped a few of the cars going round so by the end of the session I'd still come home 2nd. I hadn't crossed the finish because all of a sudden I could see this shadow of mess dragging behind the car? Puzzled - It still went quick enough so I carried on gunning it. Every Marshall it went passed waived frantically and shouted something but I carried on as by now I was in the 'Zone'! The back end then began to drag, like having the handbrake on, and then I realized all of the inside of the car i.e. ESC, Receiver and wiring, was now on the outside of the car and being dragged behind it LOL! It was like an injured soldier with it's guts hanging out. All in all another fabulous night with lots of tips and info and I have now talked and mingled with everyone. Like starting anything new you might not have the right gear or the best gear and I've realized It doesn't matter. Everyone is so eager to be tinkering with their own cars there not interested in looking at what you've got in terms of quality or quantity but are interested to come and give you pointers. Two guys showed me on their little lathes how to skim the motors, others showed me there preferences on wiring and batteries it's great fun. There is however one point that I deliberately omitted last time, as I am writing this to be positive and share my experience and hopefully get others into it, that may otherwise be shy yet inspiring folk . And that is certain individuals over enthusiasm, or attitude if you want to call it, which comes across as aggressive and I'm sure this must happen everywhere. One of the guys who appears to be the club runner uses colourful language, but in an aggressive manner when things aren't going quite right. He is a superb driver, 1st class in-fact, yet it is 'F' this and 'F' that on every other bend he clips wrong and when he crashed on my first nights racing at my feet, it took me 0.05 seconds to react and 0.05 seconds to get it going in the right direction for which I was called a "F+++in Idiot!, can't you be any F+++ing slower!!" ... 'mmm' I thought as I looked up. After the race, I was slightly embarrassed walking towards the pit tables wondering if anyone had or hadn't seen this and thought 'whether I'm enjoying this or not I don't like rudeness like that .......' then made a detour right back towards the offending individual and I said this: "Whether we're all serious here or not it's my first night and although learning the ropes I think I've supported, listened and helped accordingly. There is only two opportunities you get to speak to me like that, the first one I offer free of charge... the second one will cost you and I don't offer refunds!" I got an apology as I walked away. On this second race night there was another new young man, about 15ish, with either his older brother and girlfriend or a young looking mum & dad. He was visually very nervous but I could tell he too was enjoying himself. When he got the verbal wrath of this chap again, I couldn't help but have another word afterwards, though not so hush, hush. Call me old fashioned but I can turn the air blue when I want to, and I probably did at 15 with my mates, indeed the young man probably does too, but it was too much intimidation for me to standby and say nothing. Again I got an apology out of him for the young lad. On sitting down behind my new trusty stede to begin packing him away, everyone passed me by with a wink, a pat on the back and "we've all told him at some point, but you'll fit in here nicely new boy" Enjoy, mingle and communicate! I hope these experiences helps others to go and enjoy and learn by my mistakes and for those veterans who are reading this and laugh at me finding new connectors(other than our beloved Tamiya!) I hope I'm not boring you too much. I mean why would you solder you motor to the esc when there's a perfectly good Tamiya connector to them both LOL! :D

Thanks Terry.sc, this is it i didn't know. I'd looked on RC Mart or Dinball, and some of them in the car category were rated in amps like this one http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-brushed-r...ml?cPath=293_51 and this one http://www.rcmart.com/catalog/rc-brushed-j...ml?cPath=293_51

Hi Guys, What motor turns can speed controllers handle when they are rated in amps? I see there are lots of ESC on Ebay but they are rated in forward amps and reverse amps, maximum pulse current, maximum continuous current? I'm a simple man and want to know what turns they can handle or if there is a chart out there detailing it? Thanks in advance

hedge, terry.sc, 94eg!, TA-Mark, thanks for the info on the batteries guys, I'll still stay with the NiMH for a while yet before I go down the Lipo route but it does sound interesting. As I missed last weeks meeting, tonight I'll get to try out some more gear I've been buying over the last two weeks since the first session. As I've stripped the car down since it's fatal wounding it appears that the drive shaft cups, or more to the point the threaded ends that the wheels go onto are the offending items. As the standard ones are steel moulded into the plastic cups these are much stronger than the so called hop up version, as these are aluminium they are simply as strong as chocolate, so avoid these. I'm going armed with my tyre additive so it's gonna be a good one! I'll let you now how it goes. Thanks Leethal it's a hoot.

One thing that concerns me with Lipo's is that I've seen these little metallic bags for use when charging incase of fire or explosion?!?!?!?! Although I'd say 80% of the guys at the club had these Lipo's and we're happily charging them and going about there business this concerns me. Does anyone know of any cases of these batteries catching fire?

I hear what your saying, I've got boxes of old t-shirts in the garage I use as rags when working on bikes and cars so theres plenty to keep me going with that.

Thanks for the tips 94eg! keep them coming! I've noticed alot of the guys had Mazda 6 bodyshells and I thought it would be a good excuse to have one as I've got a new Sport version in 1:1 anyway - I still love painting bodyshells! Also with the traction compound I was told about applying and scrubbing off, some of the guys simply put it on the carpet (not the track carpet) and held the spoilers whilst they span up the tyres. Can't wait to go back again, I missed what would have been my second night last night as it was my father-in-laws birthday. Still it has given me more time to buy some bits You'll love it, do a quick recce if your unsure then go the following week. It's a corker!

There were some rules but as my car was well within these guidelines I didn't take too much notice of them. I think they went down to 10 turned motors and equivalent brushless systems but I can't fully remember. I was in class 1, this being the lowest of the low but had there been a -10 I think I would of happily ticked the box! It was actually club finals night and it was a bigger turnout than normal apparently so in my particular heats there were some of the fast drivers - which explains why they did 3 laps to my 1!

Thanks peetbee. I'm going again tomorrow night and will take another TT01 with more standard plastic parts on, hopefully with more flex in it so I can bounce of the sides better!