Quick improvements for a Comical Hornet? And a transmitter question.

[Bwaaatch 528]

Of to get one tomorrow!

A few questions to make sure I don’t leave the shop with the wrong stuff 😊

Aside from bearings, what can I do to make this thing even more fun? I’m keen to avoid Lipo, but considering a brushless combo. I’m worried that a sport tuned motor won’t feel like a sizeable change in pace (compared to my existing stock comical hopper), but love to hear your experiences of that kind of dilemma.

if I did up my motor game, is it a given that I switch the pinion?

Finally, I find it hard to compare transmitters. Can’t find a good site that shows feature comparison. Any tips on that? I’m after a wheel type set up with multi model, end point adjustment and cheap extra receivers. Not really interested in spending more than £70, but could consider. Anyone got a setup like that and happy with it?

As usual, i’m super grateful for all the expertise shared on here. Lovely community.

[ThunderDragonCy 7886]

Super fun, especially on grass. This is my build thread 

It's now running 21t brushed and 20t pinion and it's plenty for a bit of fun. It's super easy to tip over cornering on tarmac, but on grass it is great. 

Radio? Flysky GT3C. 

[Bwaaatch 528]

He he

44 minutes ago, ThunderDragonCy said:

Super fun, especially on grass. This is my build thread 

It's now running 21t brushed and 20t pinion and it's plenty for a bit of fun. It's super easy to tip over cornering on tarmac, but on grass it is great. 

Radio? Flysky GT3C. 

He he! Was just checking your thread 😆. Sweet work on that one. Blue looks good.

Have heard good things about the GT3C, so that’s probably what i’ll go with. 

What motor exactly are you running? I’m being super paranoid about this build, so if something is working for you, I’ll probably just copy it 😁

 

 

[ThunderDragonCy 7886]

9 hours ago, Bwaaatch said:

He he

He he! Was just checking your thread 😆. Sweet work on that one. Blue looks good.

Have heard good things about the GT3C, so that’s probably what i’ll go with. 

What motor exactly are you running? I’m being super paranoid about this build, so if something is working for you, I’ll probably just copy it 😁

 

 

I started with 3300kv brushless but it didn't seem a deal different in performance from the 21t brushed i am running now. I just searched 21t brushed motor on ebay a got one of the black can with bronze coloured ends. There are a bunch of brands all the same motor - austar, surpass etc.

These buggies are so low geared that brushless doesn't make much difference unless you put crazy power in, and then it will just be too fast. I am using a 1060 ESC.

I think it would probably stand a little more pep if you wanted. The same type of motor is available in 17t. They are under a tenner. 

 

[waterbok 1282]

Different tires will bring the biggest improvement on speed. I like the look of the comical tires and rims but zero grip. I run a combination of WW rims rear and TLT front and have the softer dump truck spiked tires on the rear rims.

[Bwaaatch 528]

Thanks for all the input, guys.

bought my bits yesterday and will end up with something very similar to @ThunderDragonCy‘s Hornet. I’m on a deadline for a family holiday, so no time to mess about, gotta have something that is proven to work.

interesting to hear about tires from @waterbok. With my regular Comical Grasshopper, i’ve found the lack of grip quite useful on grass to prevent rolling over. On tarmac, I tipped over a lot by grip rolling. So not sure if more grip is good for me 😁. Will post pics when done.

[Mokei Kagaku 2706]

On ‎7‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 10:33 AM, waterbok said:

Different tires will bring the biggest improvement on speed. I like the look of the comical tires and rims but zero grip. I run a combination of WW rims rear and TLT front and have the softer dump truck spiked tires on the rear rims.

Have you tried the soft hop-up versions of the original tires?  I've bought a couple of sets, but haven't tried them yet, so I'm curious to learn whether they are a real improvement or not.

[waterbok 1282]

Didn't know there is a softer version of the comical tires, would have to look into that.

[toyolien 4682]

Anyone try the 'soft' option tires yet? I have some on their way to try.

[Rainman 23]

I built 2 of these kits (my build thread to come).

One is painted the same colour as ThunderdragonCY's, I hope he doesn't mind.

We run Nimh for safety, and with a 4400 in (helps with wheelies being heavy), it will run for like an hour and will wheelie from a standstill right up until the battery dies. I can't imagine wanting more horsepower as I'd find longer wheelies frustrating. My recommendation is run with standard until you get bored. I haven't got bored of 'borrowing' the transmitter yet.

I wound out the steering tie rods to 37mm each side, maybe could do more. Built as instructed the car has quite a lot of toe out, and I am not sure if that is worse for traction rolling on tarmac due to the increased 'turn in' effect toe out tends to have.

I can't imagine softer tyres would help with this, I'd be more inclined to try adding inserts to the harder tyres?

They still traction roll if you corner full lock hard on power on sandpaper like concrete at home. I find if you back off and roll through the turn they don't roll. I think that they 'trip' over the front tyre in the first instance.

We run steering dual rate at 50%, less twitchy, less likely to roll over (but still do as above), still a tight turning circle off power (like 1 metre on the concrete).

I will detail in the build thread when I get there, but I remembered a trick from my racing days in the 2000's and added a grub screw in the antennae holders, it was getting frustrating with them falling out. None have come out again, although we have lost most of the flags (sniff sniff, I love them and would love to get more, Tamiya should make full sheets of them!).

Never had a problem with grip in the grass, though the lawn is mown short. Actually, I bought these in large part because I knew the tyres would last an age. I remember wistful sadness as the spikes wore down on my falcon tyres on the hard.

I'm looking forward to having a go with these on a dirt and a carpet track. Could take me 6 months, but I will report back.

Good luck and enjoy!

Absolute no regrets with the purchase, the kids adore them and hoon them everywhere. With the big front bumper, long lasting tyres, goofy driving, oil shocks they are the perfect charge and go vehicles for them to learn and bash around with.

[Rainman 23]

Oh, Radio we use for the kids is GT2e. Single model.

I had to get a dad's radio of course! And I got a GT5. I'm impressed. When I raced I spent $700 on an Airtronics M8 and each receiver was like $150. This thing does everything that radio could, and receivers (FS-A3 binds perfectly) are like $10. I was looking at the GT3, but I think the GT5 looks a little more sturdy.

[ThunderDragonCy 7886]

@Rainman Sounds perfect, and pretty much exactly what i have found. I'm stoked you used blue! I like it when cars go away from box art. I found puttung the rear shocks on the outermost hole on the rear arms helps the handling, and i agree about the tyres, although i am yet to try some inserts in the fronts as i don't have any spare that are large enough. If you try it i would be keen to hear. Buggy foams are too small, but truck foams would probably do it.