Obsession With Driving Fast..?

[hedge]

That was point I was making, you are getting these speeds on 6.0v, what happens if you take the system way out of spec and plug the 4s to it. Brushless rpm is almost proportional to voltage (minus a few losses to other energies). The potential is there, just you know better than to do it.

Ahhhh OK sorry mis-communication, I believe with 3-4s LiPo and Brushless a modified Schumacher Mi3 has done 130mph+ on a drag strip...

YouTube it

Here's an interesting link

http://fastestrc.blogspot.com/2008/08/nics...treamliner.html

Paul

[terry.sc]

The front and rear diffs are the same thrust plates in the DF-03 MS. No plastic like the base DF-03. I was pleased to see this when I built my MS as I knew it was a weak spot from my base DF-03

Ooh, never knew that.

I must say the cars I bash the most aren't the fastest ones, my Bush Devil uses a stock 540 can and my Optima and Ultima run 17 turn motors.

[HereBeMonsters]

I've seen it here a few times now, new driver, brushless advice, then it's put into the gutter first few squirts and destroyed the new car.

Totally agree. I couldn't resist hopping up the TT-01 with a nice shiney EZRun, but there's no way I'm racing it until I can keep up with the rest of the field in the stock Mini class. Goes like a bat out of badword on a flat car park though... very very fun.

[TA-Mark]

I must say the cars I bash the most aren't the fastest ones, my Bush Devil uses a stock 540 can and my Optima and Ultima run 17 turn motors.

I'm the same most times. Kit silvercan and TEU-101BK 3 or 4 times a day for practice in whatever chassis. I don't pull out the big guns unless someone wants to play ball. They simply cost too much to run in every respect when compared to stock motor/ESC.

[yamita]

From my experience, good ESC's bring the most out of high turns or stock motors. With a decent esc like KO VFS, even 27t or 19t can be very fast. I used to waste money on various motors, while running on a cheap escs. Little did I know.. My all time favorite bassher is my ta03r with orion 19t and KO vfs powered by cheap 3200 LIPO. Even without brushless, efficiency is up and runtime and punch is much improved over NIMH batteries. Even with fairly tall gearing(~5.5), the motor does not get hot and acceleration is brisk. Carbon race cars dont work too well on unprepped street surface. Rubbery ta03 suspension is perfect for bashing.

[markbt73]

exactly! A VLB with a 23T can be a lot more fun than a full blown racer that can handle a lot of power....

Try a 19T in a grasshopper with a lipo, you'll see what i mean!

Paul

The saying that comes to mind is "It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than it is to drive a fast car slow." As anyone who has ever explored the limits of an MG Midget knows.

Personally, I think the Grasshopper is fine with just a 380... and cellophane tape over the rear tires.

[taliesin]

It really is true about driving a slow car fast being loads of fun.

I think TA-Mark would agree one of the funnest cars to drive is a slightly faster grasshopper. Just add a 540 silver can and its just a hoot to drive. Or you can do like Mark did and stuff an Mamba Max in it.

The suspension is laughable but the gearbox is strong. Lots of fun and it seems like you're going much faster than you actually are since the car is always on the ragged edge.

Same with a lot of vintage Tamiyas. Even the Lunchbox - my favorite quote is that the VLB is "comically useless". I love it. You don't have to go fast enough to melt all the plastic parts to have lots of fun.

Personally, I like to give the curbs and secret lamp-posts plenty of time to get out my way.

[TA-Mark]

Personally, I think the Grasshopper is fine with just a 380... and cellophane tape over the rear tires.

I'll agree with that! The 380 is plenty of punch (bit slow in a straight line) for the standard chassis and suspension. The swap to a 540 makes it almost undriveable without first upgrading it to atleast Hornet suspension spec.

Put some real suspension on the front that removes all the bump steer and the 540 will be boring. It handles far too good for the speeds offered. What I did is definately overkill, I rarely get more than 2/3 throttle. The gearbox is very strong and it takes nothing to make the chassis move. I get runtimes ~ 1 hour on a 4600 pack and driving between 1/4 and 2/3rd throttle the whole time with spectacular roosts as most would have seen from all of my GH action photos. I am using the VLB motor mount and 11T VLB pinion in it to get the gearing right (again gearing not for this car that fits and makes it suitable for brushless). There is no visible wear on any of the gears after so many runs I've lost count. Only damage I've noticed is worn paddle tyres on the rear (wore less than I thought they would for how much they spin) and slight scuff marks on the front smoothies from a small amount of tarmac driving. Grasshopper IS the best Tamiya I've ever fitted the Mamba to (looking from the viewpoint of system temps, wear, and runtime).

**EDIT: When it all boils down... You only ever need to fit a motor that is just faster than your driving skill can handle in any given chassis. This keeps the car a challenge to drive and your driving ability grows. Too slow will be boring before the pack is flat and too fast will see you in a gutter broken and not running packs at all until parts get there (2 weeks or more). Those you see with 1/2 the car scattered up the road on it's first drive lied to themselves about their driving ability and fitted a motor way out of their league.

[taliesin]

I've got 2 hoppers: one w/ stock 380 and box art - what a little beauty; and one ugly as sin with a 540 and I love them both.

The 540 I drive very fast on dirt, but pretty carefully on tarmac. Hey, I don't want to trash even the ugly one by grinding it on the tarmac unnecessarily. The 380 is suitable for either dirt or tarmac since I make every attempt to not tip it over at all.

Either way the car is just great fun and I really do think the 380 is fast enough for the car to be enjoyable. I like the fact that the 380 doesn't destroy bodies and tires.

The 540 hopper is chewing up the hornet style rears pretty fast though.

[highflyer]

Why do we do it..? Why do we just not stick to the standard kit motors etc and be done there, but no...we have this obsession with getting our cars/buggies modified so much that anything in the drive-train becomes a consumable. Well it does if your are like me and you've hop'd up a 20 year old car and now your starting to see the limitations - soon all ill have left is my powerful 12t motor i bought on Ebay and 4 wheels.

Now I need those little metal bars that hold the wheel axle in place and I dont know what they are called, the day before that it was a drive shaft, before that a gearbox...........bottom line mixing new technology with old isnt always good.....for a few short runs its great, than my car dies and something else has been stripped, worn or broken.......back to ebay - again.

Anyone else suffering from this.........anyone..?

Umm, no.. I would suggest getting a new chassis like the DB01 Durga for that type of power, it cost about the same as a re-re Hotshot! 20 year old car with powerful motors spells trouble.

[GGtrialer]

That is common to shear off the outdrive splines on the ball diffs. It's only a very short spline and the outdrive can work it's way out just enough for it to start the process while the dogbone is still in place. CVD or Universal shafts make this problem worse. I put the bearing on first, then loctite the outdrives into the diff, never had another shear off since.

I will be building this same truck when it gets here from scollins (Thanks Mate), it's straight away getting a 4600Kv and a very similar setup to my DF-01 ex-racer.

Check for a crack in the main gear casing beside the bevel gear that goes to the front diff. If the screw hole is split the gearbox will click. Similar with the hole on the other side between the layshaft and the idler gear shaft, it the cover cracks the idler gear lifts and clicks.

you will love your truck when it gets to you! thanks for the advice on the clicking, but there are no cracks and all is tight, id still be racing it, in front wheel drive, if i could fix the clicking. i found that my spur gear is a bit worn in places and i think my plate cover on the back is starting to wear on the inside since the spur gets stuck up there when the cover is taken off.

id love to put brushless in it or my stadium truck. be and insane rallyer with brushless and my stadium truck would jump like no other with that too. ultimately id like to get 3 brushless ESCs, a brushless motor, and a standard sized motor mount for my 1/18 scale car then run brushless in all of them! thats insanity at its best!! little children stay away! hehehe