New XV-01 owner, and new member

[Pilotguy604 3]

Hey all. New member here. Getting back into RC cars after about 30 years after my youngest son expressed an interest. A couple weeks back we built up a CC-01 chassis together with a Landfreeder shell and the bug bit me hard.  A week later I laid out for an XV-01 kit with the Lancia body, which I am in the process of building now. I plan on driving it on mixed surfaces, tarmac and gravel and a bit of dirt/turf. No racing (yet?), mainly some fun bashing in the 'hood.

Having been so far removed from the hobby for so long, the learning curve on new tech has been steep but lots of research has helped.

For my XV-01:

- I plan on running the silver can (Johnson it came with) with a Hobbywing 1060 ESC... for now, until I learn the car's driving quirks/style. Any suggestions on motor/esc upgrades appreciated!

- I got a 4200mah 2s LiPo as a gas tank.

- After some research I decided to order the aluminum suspension mounts and a reinforced drive belt (which is currently holding up the build as I wait for their arrival). I am holding off on the slipper clutch as reviews seem to be mixed on whether it's worth the cost for my application, but I'm open to persuasion. I am building and prepping as many parts as I can while I wait for the package.

A couple questions then:

1. Gear diff oil. I just put the 900# damper oil in both diffs as per the instructions but after some reading, realize that this may not be the best choice. I'm still early in the build so I could make a correction if anyone has suggestions? Or am I overthinking this for my intended driving?

2. As mentioned above, any suggestions for a motor/esc upgrade? Pinion size to go with that? Slipper needed?

3. Ok, super noob Q here as well but can't find an answer on the web: The foam inserts for the tires came in strips. The instructions say to glue them with rubber contact cement. I need some guidance here. Do I glue the two ends together to make a ring and stuff them into the tire or do you glue them into the tires? Or both? Also would the rubber cement you get at the craft store (Elmer's or the like) be sufficient?  Sorry for the lame Q.

Ok, I think that's it for now. Reading the posts here as a lurker for the past while it seems this is a great community and resource. Glad to be here. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Cheers

[DeadMeat666 1675]

Welcome to the forum.

I'll volunteer to answer the super noob question: The manual says to glue both ends of the insert together to form a ring, and then you simply push the ring into the tire. To be honest, I never glue the ends myself as I find them to be a very tight fit inside the tire and pretty unlikely for them to shift around with use.

As for question number 2: If you want to keep costs under control and be able to reuse the 1060 esc, a sport-tuned motor is a cheap upgrade that you'll definitely feel the difference with. If you want to go even faster without have to worry about constantly replacing brushes (and also keep costs under control more or less), I'd recommend you switch to a brushless setup like the SkyRC Cheetah motor/esc/programming card combo for example.

Hope that helped.

[Nicadraus 6198]

Welcome to TC! 

The aluminum suspension mounts are important upgrades as well as CVD (universal shafts) for the front. To keep the cost down, Yeah Racing (brand) products is a good alternative.

[FuzzyFlynn 75]

Nice to have another XV-01 owner around!

My attempt to answer you questions:

1. I used the kit-supplied 900 oil at first but found the diffs to be leaking soon. I then switched to the red seals (Tamiya 42259), used Team Associated Green Slime on them and switched to 2000 oil for the rear and 5000 for the front. I have no leaking issues since. Setup-wise I like the stiffer diffs better but I drive my XV-01 solely on tarmac (sometimes dirty with sandy patches) but no gravel or dirt. As you already built them, I would suggest you test them first before making any changes.
2. With the silver can, I do not see any need for the slipper clutch. With a stronger motor, I guess it depends on how you drive (e.g. jumps). I use a KV3300 sensorless brushless combo from Hobbywing in mine with 23T pinion. I do not care too much about top speed but I like being able to make the car loose grip and slide any time you want just by pulling the gas lever. :-)
3. Ignore the manual and simply do not glue the inserts.

Generally, do no worry too much about upgrades for now. The XV-01 is a really nice car out of the box. Enjoy the build and drive it. I am sure you will add upgrades later but after having driven the stock setup first, you will be better able to appreciate the differences (or sometimes come to he conclusion that you cannot notice any difference at all). :-)

The fist upgrades I added were the Tamiya high-torque servo saver and CVDs so I could remove the steering angle limiters.

[Pilotguy604 3]

Thanks for the replies guys, great info. Really looking forward to getting this thing built.

I did pop by the hobby shop this am and they had the hi-torque servo saver hanging on a rack so I picked it up. Quick job to install. As mentioned waiting for the alu suspension bits and drive belt to arrive (sitting in a sorting facility in HK right now...) but I'm trying to get as many parts ready to assemble as I can right now.