Ferruz

In my experience, the TS does fairly well on small to medium jumps, and doesn't nose-dive. That being said, I don't think it is able to handle huge jumps due to the limited front suspension travel and overall feel of the car. The nose diving of your TS could depend on many factors like driving style, speed, car/suspension setup, and the angle of the jump. If on a random playground, I would have guessed maybe it's hitting a bump with the rear wheels right before take off, but since you are on a proper astro track I doubt it's the case. Maybe try playing around with the suspensions. Are you using the original CVAs as shocks?

Great thread, some inspiring mods you did there! 👏 The buggy looks good with the stock TD2 body, but the Yoko one is menacing, and maybe better suited to the battles on the track?

Lately I've been experiencing issues with the Manta Ray not responding properly to my controls. Something was wrong with the setup of the electronics. Since I didn't really know where to start, yesterday I chose to just reset the ESC to factory settings and take it from there. Turned out to be a good decision: after that, it was simpler to setup the electronics to better suit the limited capabilities of my NiMh batteries. I only did basic things, dialled down the start punch a few notches, gave it a tad more drag break and tuned down the max breaking force. Upon testing it on a small public road, I was glad with the results. The buggy is now again responsive and manageable, all the way to the servo now being undoubtedly more responsive than before even though I haven't even touched it. Something must have been very wrong with some settings before, drawing way too much current from the battery. Maybe a few deep dives in water last year also contributed to the ESC not being at the top of its game anymore. In any case, a reset felt beneficial and the ESC now feels fully working again. Now starting to work on the Terra Scorcher body facelift, but I'm planning on a long run with the newlyfound Manta later on today.

Whooopz sorry @FWLBP for the misleading message and thank you @Re-Bugged for the clarification! My apologies, for a moment I confused the Buggy Champ for the Fighting Buggy also thinking it would use the same tires as Grasshopper and Sand Scorcher 😅 Glad it's sorted out.

It does seem like it @Re-Bugged, the track experience was something I really enjoyed! We'll see how it goes and how much time I can put into it... in any case, I'm now constantly on the look for closer spots where to run my C11! No luck so far, so the next trip to the RC track is likely to happen sooner rather than later. I can't stand to just see her sitting on the shelf!

Yes they'll fit, and will sure add to the experience. They are technically paddle tires, great on sand, snow and any loose surface. Once worn in a bit, they'll be alright on tarmac, or in any case better than the knobby tires. But beware, you'll traction roll very easily on asphalt when they are brand new! Have fun with the Hornet

Fantastic work on that Celica @Nicadraus, turned out lovely +1 for the Momo livery @Frankster, like others already said it's gonna look great.

Hornet looks sharp! Nice, you've got some sweet RC activity going on with your son!

They do pop un on the evil bay every now and then! I used to have an alert notification about them, and it would show stock every few months. Worth a look.

Apologies for the blatant copy/paste from the general section, but I wantes this post to be part of the build thread as well. I went to an RC track facility for the first time! So this will be a blabber and photo heavy post. There is a big RC complex not too far away from me. While I have never been to a track, this place offers all you can think of in the matter. It boasts an on road track, an oval and a packed clay off road track, all of which is indoors. There is also a huge hobby shop and a snack bar, all under the same roof, and one more off road track right outside for the good season. It is a very similar situation to my go-to wintertime indoor skatepark, this setup is what's needed with the overly harsh climate we deal with. I've been contemplating going to check it out for well over three years, but I'd always end up talking myself out of it for all sort of reasons: I have no track experience, place looks way too pro for my tiny Tamiyas, my French is probably not good enough to discuss RC... and on and on. Last week I finished my Mercedes C11, and since then the itch to drive it has been increasing exponentially every day. Life, on the other hand, has been particularly challenging lately, which made me wanna treat myself to something good. These two factors made me summon up the courage to pack up a bunch of cars and go check out that place. Am I glad I did! I had a great time, and finally got to experience the feeling of a proper RC track, both on and off road, the pit lane, the people, the interaction, the overall vibe. Once arrived, I paid my entrance and went straight upstairs to the on road track. It was a quiet day with only about 10 people practicing. They all had 1/10 and 1/12 scale on road pan cars or touring cars, mostly Yokomo and similar brands, with the usual race blob for a body shell. Simple and effective machines, all tuned up time and again to suit that specific track. Their RC gear was all branded and neatly displayed. Than the doors opened, and a spaced out dude -me- showed up with some grocery bags overflowing with buggies and random tools, ahahah. My arrival didn't go unnoticed, but all I got was smiles and welcome words which was real nice of them. The best part of getting acquainted with the racers, was when I took out the C11 with the spanking new shell. It was like bringing a Dingo to a dog show, or something down that line. There were so many mixed feelings! Nobody could believe the foam tires, the chassis was regarded as simple but with respect given its age, I was warned right away to get rid of the toe in, and a few more things... but there really was a lot of awe for the body. Understandibly I guess, since these people are all about racing, so any scale oriented effort id likely to be noticed. People lined up to take pictures and videos, which made me proud but it also made me feel silly for being about to risk destroying it on track... but it's all part of the game isn't it. After chatting a bit, the on road guys got even more welcoming by encouraging me to use the track all by myself for the first few laps, in order to get acquainted with this platform I never drove before. Fast forward a few minutes and there I was, huge grin on my face and not a worry in the world. The car felt real good from the get to, so much more intuitive than I thought! A big reason for this is probably that the track surface was a foamy rubber: foam on foam made for more than enough stickiness, way too much of it actually, so the car felt as if it was on tracks. Within a few more laps I was already confident enough to hit the curbs on the turns, which enhanced the fun by a lot. Driving the C chassis on track felt extremely enjoyable, and yet I soon realized that my favourite part of this experience is really the visuals. I was delighted in seeing my C11 moving, zipping through the track just as much as slowly coasting through the pit lane, with the lights working and the Kenwood livery and the Good Year logos on the rotating tires... yeeeeah... that is what really ticked all the boxes. It also made me think of how cool it would be to have a whole bunch of group C cars all together on the track... Performance wise, I dare saying my Mercedes did ok, especially for a first timer. While being no match for the more experienced drivers with a top of the food chain chassis (especially the 1/12, which I have noticed being consistently faster and more agile than their 1/10 counterparts), she held her ground while on track with most of the other cars and drivers, even getting to overtake some of the fæncier platforms (thank you postal racing for the basics, ahah). The motor got hot after 3/4 of a battery pack, which I expected given the too much traction of the foam tires. In the future I will look for rubber ones, and I can always chuck a fan on the motor if needed. Speaking of tires, believe it or not I have traction rolled the car thrice towards the end of the day. It looked very dramatic from the distance, and very much like the end of my new Kenwood liveried shell. While I was getting faster and bolder with my driving, the foams were getting stickier and stickier and so it just happened. One time especially, the car was quite fast and I turned too quick: it tumbled for at least 20 meters, repeatedly hitting the floor and the barriers in the process. All I could think of was "I'm glad I at least took some good pictures before thrashing this shell like an idiot". But Lo! My boldness was somehow rewarded, and the car came back in one piece with pretty much no damage at all. I am unable to explain how on earth the shell didn't shatter or al least crack all over, but that's it. Even the fragile wing was unbothered by the tumble. I only lost the front tow ring, easily found and reinstalled, and got what looked like nasty black scuff marks all over the car, which proved to be just rubber, removable with a single wipe of poly cleaner. Lucky me. By the way, those superficial scuffs looked the part, they felt so "there" that I was tempted to leave some on for extra realism when the time came to clean up the car. My track experience was far from over with the C11, in fact there was also the buggy track that needed to be checked out. I set up the Manta Ray and went downstairs, but once I got there I realized it was far more intense than it seemed at a distance. The clay there is packed down to tarmac hardness -they wet it for events, I was told- and most of the jumps are just way too severe and high for an old tamiya platform (And maybe for a 1/10 buggy altogether, seeming way more suitable for 1/8 scale). Upon further thinking, it didn't seem a good enough reason not to send Slippery Sam through his paces, you know, when in Rome... so off we went anyway. It felt a bit like bringing a knife to a gun fight, meaning I had to drive the car at full speed just to get her through the jumps the way it was supposed to, but if was fun to see her fly. There were a few times when the car seemed to slam so hard upon landing, I was blown away when it just kept on going instead of falling to pieces. Also, from the start the servo seemed to not respond too well, and the 13.5 bluebottle was just way too power hungry for whatever battery I had left for it. With all of this considered, I only did a few laps on the demanding buggy track, and decided to go back to the on road one upstairs for one more stint with the C11 before finally heading home. Look at what I guess is a rookie mistake: I kneeled down once on the on road track, and then my boots and shoes looked like this 😳 The cars picked out for the adventure were these four, though only the C11 and the Manta Ray got to see real action In total, I think I ran three or four battery packs with the C11, and loved every bit of it. The overall feeling by the work tables and pit lane was good, the smell of tires and electronics and the people bent in to work on their vehicles... I took it all in with pleasure. It reminded me of when I used to race Tamiya Mini 4WD back in the day: smaller scale, same exact vibe! I got to talk RC in person and have real interaction finally, ahah. I felt welcome and more than tolerated by the other people, which I appreciate and didn't take for granted at all. On the contrary, I know how delicate it can be on both sides when a new entity joins a well established group that has been doing their own thing for a while. I didn't feel in their way at all, or loather at or stared at, if anything I got a lot of praise for the shell which again was nice, coming from guys that live the dynamic side of the hobby so much more than the scale one. Thanks strangers for being nice and welcoming to the new guy. I will definitely go back someday, probably soon. Just not sure whether it will be to actually get better at driving, or just to enjoy seeing the car in action again... Probably a bit of both. In any case, it will be a good idea to look for a beater shell in order to keep my Kenwood one in good shape for the time being. All in all, I had a very positive and good first track experience.

I went to an RC track facility for the first time. Warning: this will be a blabber heavy post. There is an RC complex not too far away from me. While I have never been to a track, this place offers all you can think of in the matter. It boasts an on road track, an oval and a packed clay off road track, all of which is indoors. There is also a huge hobby shop and a snack bar, all under the same roof, and one more off road track right outside for the good season. It is a very similar situation to my go-to wintertime indoor skatepark, this setup is what's needed with the overly harsh climate we deal with. I've been contemplating going to check it out for well over three years, but I'd always end up talking myself out of it for all sort of reasons: I have no track experience, place looks way too pro for my tiny Tamiyas, my French is probably not good enough to discuss RC... and on and on. Last week I finished my Mercedes C11, and since then the itch to drive it has been increasing exponentially every day. Life, on the other hand, has been particularly challenging lately, which made me wanna treat myself to something good. These two factors made me summon up the courage to pack up a bunch of cars and go check out that place. Am I glad I did! I had a great time, and finally got to experience the feeling of a proper RC track, both on and off road, the pit lane, the people, the interaction, the overall vibe. Once arrived, I paid my entrance and went straight upstairs to the on road track. It was a quiet day with only about 10 people practicing. They all had 1/10 and 1/12 scale on road pan cars or touring cars, mostly Yokomo and similar brands, with the usual race blob for a body shell. Simple and effective machines, all tuned up time and again to suit that specific track. Their RC gear was all branded and neatly displayed. Than the doors opened, and a spaced out dude -me- showed up with some grocery bags overflowing with buggies and random tools, ahahah. My arrival didn't go unnoticed, but all I got was smiles and welcome words which was real nice of them. The best part of getting acquainted with the racers, was when I took out the C11 with the spanking new shell. It was like bringing a Dingo to a dog show, or something down that line. There were so many mixed feelings! Nobody could believe the foam tires, the chassis was regarded as simple but with respect given its age, I was warned right away to get rid of the toe in, and a few more things... but there really was a lot of awe for the body. Understandibly I guess, since these people are all about racing, so any scale oriented effort id likely to be noticed. People lined up to take pictures and videos, which made me proud but it also made me feel silly for being about to risk destroying it on track... but it's all part of the game isn't it. After chatting a bit, the on road guys got even more welcoming by encouraging me to use the track all by myself for the first few laps, in order to get acquainted with this platform I never drove before. Fast forward a few minutes and there I was, huge grin on my face and not a worry in the world. The car felt real good from the get to, so much more intuitive than I thought! A big reason for this is probably that the track surface was a foamy rubber: foam on foam made for more than enough stickiness, way too much of it actually, so the car felt as if it was on tracks. Within a few more laps I was already confident enough to hit the curbs on the turns, which enhanced the fun by a lot. Driving the C chassis on track felt extremely enjoyable, and yet I soon realized that my favourite part of this experience is really the visuals. I was delighted in seeing my C11 moving, zipping through the track just as much as slowly coasting through the pit lane, with the lights working and the Kenwood livery and the Good Year logos on the rotating tires... yeeeeah... that is what really ticked all the boxes. It also made me think of how cool it would be to have a whole bunch of group C cars all together on the track... Performance wise, I dare saying my Mercedes did ok, especially for a first timer. While being no match for the more experienced drivers with a top of the food chain chassis (especially the 1/12, which I have noticed being consistently faster and more agile than their 1/10 counterparts), she held her ground while on track with most of the other cars and drivers, even getting to overtake some of the fæncier platforms (thank you postal racing for the basics, ahah). The motor got hot after 3/4 of a battery pack, which I expected given the too much traction of the foam tires. In the future I will look for rubber ones, and I can always chuck a fan on the motor if needed. Speaking of tires, believe it or not I have traction rolled the car thrice towards the end of the day. It looked very dramatic from the distance, and very much like the end of my new Kenwood liveried shell. While I was getting faster and bolder with my driving, the foams were getting stickier and stickier and so it just happened. One time especially, the car was quite fast and I turned too quick: it tumbled for at least 20 meters, repeatedly hitting the floor and the barriers in the process. All I could think of was "I'm glad I at least took some good pictures before thrashing this shell like an idiot". But Lo! My boldness was somehow rewarded, and the car came back in one piece with pretty much no damage at all. I am unable to explain how on earth the shell didn't shatter or al least crack all over, but that's it. Even the fragile wing was unbothered by the tumble. I only lost the front tow ring, easily found and reinstalled, and got what looked like nasty black scuff marks all over the car, which proved to be just rubber, removable with a single wipe of poly cleaner. Lucky me. By the way, those superficial scuffs looked the part, they felt so "there" that I was tempted to leave some on for extra realism when the time came to clean up the car. My track experience was far from over with the C11, in fact there was also the buggy track that needed to be checked out. I set up the Manta Ray and went downstairs, but once I got there I realized it was far more intense than it seemed at a distance. The clay there is packed down to tarmac hardness -they wet it for events, I was told- and most of the jumps are just way too severe and high for an old tamiya platform (And maybe for a 1/10 buggy altogether, seeming way more suitable for 1/8 scale). Upon further thinking, it didn't seem a good enough reason not to send Slippery Sam through his paces, you know, when in Rome... so off we went anyway. It felt a bit like bringing a knife to a gun fight, meaning I had to drive the car at full speed just to get her through the jumps the way it was supposed to, but if was fun to see her fly. There were a few times when the car seemed to slam so hard upon landing, I was blown away when it just kept on going instead of falling to pieces. Also, from the start the servo seemed to not respond too well, and the 13.5 bluebottle was just way too power hungry for whatever battery I had left for it. With all of this considered, I only did a few laps on the demanding buggy track, and decided to go back to the on road one upstairs for one more stint with the C11 before finally heading home. Look at what I guess is a rookie mistake: I kneeled down once on the on road track, and then my boots and shoes looked like this 😳 The cars picked out for the adventure were these four, though only the C11 and the Manta Ray got to see real action In total, I think I ran three or four battery packs with the C11, and loved every bit of it. The overall feeling by the work tables and pit lane was good, the smell of tires and electronics and the people bent in to work on their vehicles... I took it all in with pleasure. It reminded me of when I used to race Tamiya Mini 4WD back in the day: smaller scale, same exact vibe! I got to talk RC in person and have real interaction finally, ahah. I felt welcome and more than tolerated by the other people, which I appreciate and didn't take for granted at all. On the contrary, I know how delicate it can be on both sides when a new entity joins a well established group that has been doing their own thing for a while. I didn't feel in their way at all, or loather at or stared at, if anything I got a lot of praise for the shell which again was nice, coming from guys that live the dynamic side of the hobby so much more than the scale one. Thanks strangers for being nice and welcoming to the new guy. I will definitely go back someday, probably soon. Just not sure whether it will be to actually get better at driving, or just to enjoy seeing the car in action again... Probably a bit of both. In any case, it will be a good idea to look for a beater shell in order to keep my Kenwood one in good shape for the time being. All in all, I had a very positive and good experience.

Even if yours was probably a typo, it's a fantastic name! After the Saint Dragon, Tamiya should totally come up with the Satan Dragon for it to battle with! Ahahah + 1 about the Manta Ray rears, they'll fit.

Personally, I think this buggy is very interesting and it also looks great. I would keep it as is. But since this is about you, it's you and only you that will decide. So I would just simply sit on it for as long as needed. Eventually, if not your mind your guts will tell you what to do. The "adult thing" is perhaps not as important as doing the "right thing".

Glad to see that my little Manta is still hip and active enough to bear the DF-01 flagship I have no experience whatsoever with the Hot Shot/Boomerang chassis, but I'll be happy to share my impression on the other two. I should start by pointing out that I use them in very different ways, almost as different as the platforms are from each other. The Manta Ray, while being my most hopped up car, also gets the roughest treatment of all, no doubt. Only the Hornet can rival her on that. I took the Manta to BMX tracks and repeatedly jumped her as high as 5-6 feet (with mixed results when it comes to landing, ahah). On snow, I'm pretty sure I flew her even higher than that. Don't worry, nothing silly or destructive à la Kevin Talbot, but all in good fun and full respect of the car. If I had to hit an off road track for modern buggies with my tame old vintage oriented fleet, it's the Manta that I would pick. You get the idea. Given the intense use, the car held up pretty well so far hence why not, I do see her running into the next century That being said, in time I did experience almost all of the issues brough up by @Saito2, except for the front gearbox cracking. Especially since I switched to a 13.5 brushless, I had to reinforce the rear gearbox in many different ways, and same goes for the front. I now use screws twice as long as the stock ones and also devised a metal skid plate which doubles up as a structural reinforcement because yes, the front tends to just split away with intense use. I also literally lost count of how many pinions and plastic gearbox sets I went through, also for some reason the servos seem to be put to the test by this platform, as I went through a few while never needing to replace one on any other car. Guess I can summarize the above blah blah with this: Manta Ray -> intense and frequent use -> lots of maintenance required, but still all within reasonable expectations. My Terra Scorcher, on the other hand, gets treated a little better. I only jump her high when on snow or grass, and I tend to be a little more careful with her overall. This car is my go to weapon for the Postal Racing activities, and that's the environment in which she sees most of her action. I went through many many sets of tires, but that's perfectly normal while running fast on tarmac. Other than that, I only had to replace the wheel hubs with metal ones, but that's my fault cause I dropped the car, so nothing that can be blaimed on the platform itself. Now that I think about it, I literally don't have any spares for my TS as she never needed any! That chassis feels fantastic to me: capable enough, well engineered and thought out, and relatively tough. The only sheer limitation I see there is for high jumps, something it was probably never meant to deal with anyway. Terra Scorcher -> frequent, albeit way less intense use -> zero issues ever. You can draw your own conclusions on this. I personally find both platforms very good, and very different from each other. If I ever get a HS chassis to do the comparison, I hope it will be a Super Sabre. I find the looks of that car to be nothing short of lovely.

That is a great idea @Pylon80! Glad that the car had no damage. Thank you folks for the kind words, I am glad you like the car! I took it for another slow indoor spin, just to see it move. Maybe it's the old battery, but it seems docile enough when just inching forward and barely moving. It is silent, too. I wonder if it stays that way once you speed up

Thank you @GeeWings! Glad you like the livery. It took a long time to get to this point but yes, I'm super happy with the result now that I see it done

I hope it worked this time around. Are the photos visible?

Thank you guys, I'm glad you like the car. Sorry @TurnipJF that you can't see the photos. I'll try posting them again in smaller clusters, hopefully this time it will work. @Pylon80 I'm aware of the adjustable ride height (I've learned a lot about it reading through your group C thread ), but the issue remains. Roads and parking lots are always in bad shape around here, it's not easy to find a spot free from cracks, gravel, bumps or debris, and gets even harder if a bigger area is needed. It's no coincidence I run mostly offroaders 😅 The C chassis is adjustable but it doesn't have the setup and the suspensions of a touring car. I think that if the C11 was to hit a pebble at the speeds you are warning me about, no amount of ground clearance would save her from doom I don't wanna risk too much for now, the chassis is completely new to me and I need to learn howto drive it, so I don't mind putting in the time to find a good playground before I hit the throttle. I think I'll start with exploring different areas such as tennis courts and running tracks, along with inquiring at a local RC drift club which,if I remember correctly, has a nice flat practice track that I could maybe try out. About the tires being grippy and relatively durable, that is really good news! Photos

Thanks for letting me know @TurnipJF and @Elbowloh sorry about that I find postimage to be dependable usually, but who knows. I wonder if it's because I put a whole lot of photos in one post? I will reupload a few, hopefully you can see them now. Apologies for the double pics to who saw them already