Grasshopper re-release refresh

[markbt73]

I've had a re-release Grasshopper for about 5 years now, and it has been through you-know-where and back. Bashed, jumped, chased by dogs, taken apart and put back togther many times, but still ticking. And it occurred to me that it was following the life of my original Grasshopper pretty closely. So when the time came to find the old girl a new body shell and clean her up, there was only one way to go.

My original Grasshopper became gradually and vaguely Hornet-ized, as I'm sure many of them did. I replaced the broken Grasshopper body with a more durable Hornet one, and added the relevant D-parts to mount the body. I painted it one color, Pactra blue, and forgot to paint the wing before I put the paint away, so the wing remained clear for the remainder of the car's life. I also replaced the worn-out rear tires with Wild One rear tires and wheels, but left the small front wheels in place. (One front wheel was an original painted black, and the other was a chrome Parma one, owing to an incident involving a flowerpot.) Power came from a Kyosho LeMans 600E, and later a Twister 17 turn modified, as the neighborhood horsepower wars escalated.

This modern iteration has a similar surplus of power, courtesy of a Leopard 12 turn brushless motor. Believe me, if this system had been available in 1987, I would have found a way to afford one. I used HPI 5 spoke wheels and Pro-Line tires as stand-ins for the Wild One wheels; they're the right size and color, anyway. It's not an exact replica, but more of an homage.

Now I just have to cover it in stickers, and beat the stuffing out of it all over again.

[markbt73]

Dug through my old stock of decals and found some almost-period-appropriate ones... too bad I don't still have an Autographics Pepsi sheet.

[shenlonco]

NICE HORNET!!

And Rosey a draq race hugh.... don't under estamate a hornet with the same motor as your hot shot you may be prepaired to get stung!!

May even beat it with the stock 540 the hornet comes with!

[TA-Mark]

On a smooth surface in a straight line with the same motor I'd put my money on the Hornet. I've had these two side by side before and the Hornet is much faster in a straight line. Hornet is very light with not much driveline drag.

Change the surface to bumpy, or add corners, then you'll be flatout keeping the Hornet pointed the right direction.

[shenlonco]

On a smooth surface in a straight line with the same motor I'd put my money on the Hornet. I've had these two side by side before and the Hornet is much faster in a straight line. Hornet is very light with not much driveline drag.

Change the surface to bumpy, or add corners, then you'll be flatout keeping the Hornet pointed the right direction.

Yep the hornet is light in fact the other day i weighed it and it was 990 something grams!! that was ready to run but no battery in it.

[MadInventor]

Yes you are right guys, i agree with you and my money would be on the Hornet too. As you have pointed out, it's lighter, simpler and has much less mechanical friction. However, the Silver 540 motor i got with my Hotshot was something else. I raced Grasshoppers (one with a 540 motor and i still beat it), a Fox, Frog, Boomerang, Pajero, off the top of my head, my Hotshot was an absolute beast. I did nothing to it aside from full ball bearings and it beat everything i raced

Also, power is nothiing without control.

The hotshot can put all the power to floor without getting wheelspin, whilst the hornet is busily wearing the spikes off 1 tyre. (Due to a lack of weight on the drive wheels). By the time the hornet gets moving the hotshot is way out front. Don't forget these were the days of the 3 speed MSC, which more often than not was more like a fwd/rev on off switch . When my hornet got grip on the back wheels from a standing start the first reaction was to pick the front wheels off the ground

[markbt73]

So apparently one thing hasn't changed... Bench-racing is still as popular as ever.

[MadInventor]

So apparently one thing hasn't changed... Bench-racing is still as popular as ever.

I'd have no chance with bench racing. I've got 200kg of milling machine attached to mine. Might be alright as a crawler.......

[markbt73]

Well, I just took it for its maiden voyage with the new powerplant... yeah, brushless is a bit much for a Hornet. But in a good way. In pavement, it does wheelstands off the line; those big Pro-Line tires just won't spin. So it stands up on the wing and makes a horrible scraping noise against the concrete. Roll on the power, and it takes off like a shot. I'll have to find a bigger paved area to really see what it can do; my driveway is only 40 feet long.

Off road, well, imagine a cross between a chainsaw and a small angry animal. It takes a steady hand, and then, once you get past the cogging (the one fault of these cheap Leopard systems), it barely touches the yard at all. It actually bounced itself into a somersault a couple of times, landed back on the wheels, and kept going. I switched back to standard Hornet spikes for off-roading, and they were pulling weeds out of the yard! Dust and grass clippings flying everywhere... it actually scared my dog. She usually likes to chase the cars, but this one made her go back in the house.

Fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. I wish I'd had this setup when I was 15; the neighbor with the Turbo Optima wouldn't have stood a chance.

[mr crispy]

Im lovin this, just like the old days of "my dads better than your dad".

Think what we need here peeps is to inject a little 21st Century technology into the mix. Why dont you guys each measure out a striaght line set distance of say about 100 yards and mark out and start and finish line (no cheating). Then get together on Skype and have a live drag race?

This idea could really take off! We could have heats all over the globe, sort of an international run what you brung event.

We might need a new forum section

[TA-Mark]

Well, I just took it for its maiden voyage with the new powerplant... yeah, brushless is a bit much for a Hornet. But in a good way. In pavement, it does wheelstands off the line; those big Pro-Line tires just won't spin. So it stands up on the wing and makes a horrible scraping noise against the concrete. Roll on the power, and it takes off like a shot. I'll have to find a bigger paved area to really see what it can do; my driveway is only 40 feet long.

The Lunchbox/Pumpkin wheelie bar is a direct fit to the back of the gearbox and might save that wing a bit. I fitted one to mine after the 4600Kv Mamba went in as it would wheelstand anywhere you could get traction.

Using the Lunchbox 10 tooth pinion and motor mount will take care of some of the nasty cogging of having the gearbox way overgeared with the 18 tooth pinion.