Pinpointing Progress

It's Tuesday, which means nothing, really.

But, like many, I am stuck on front of a computer, wondering, what do I buy to go faster?

It's sometimes hard to not get a new toy. RC racers are continually bombarded by the flavor of the month.

Some choose to bite, while others look further onto the forums, the setup guides and talk with others to achieve new results with a familiar chassis.

These new kits are released in an effort to supply.

Manufacturers have problems to solve. Some of those problems actually exist. Some don't.
That won't stop folks from wanting aluminium drivers for two "hard to reach" nuts:

Getting products into the hands of consumers is the name of the game. It is fantastic when the manufacturers are supplying answers to problems. It is another thing when we are asked to donate money to brands we like in the form of my least favorite word in the English language, "bling."

AE, for instance,  has cast a wide net these days. Rereleases, RTRs, and entirely new flagship models. All while keeping us up to date.

That wide of a net and somethings got to be spread thin.

No longer supporting LRP, AE has given new life into the Reedy/Hobbywing esc line and this will surely keep thing running in the right direction for Thunder Tiger.

Racers want nothing but the fastest. And when money is no object, one car comes to mind. Or better yet, awesome comes to mind. Behold, a small manufacturer, unchained to what a parent company wants:



And their floating front diff:




I'll let those videos resonate...


Awesomatix are bringing innovation and more importantly drama. Of course, some of the cost of the price goes to the song rights for their videos, but that was money well spent. Honestly, fantastic videos.

Perhaps the offroad scene has unfortunately come to expect some additional "play" and "make it as cheap as you can."

Onorad and offroad are two very different animals. So I should probably keep them separated in terms of quality and cost, but line are blurring. Gear diffs, hex hubs, open ball cups, belt drives... it's all cross pollinating. I love the technology, the new toys, the fresh parts.

It's a fun game to keep up with the jones', but not a game I'll be playing at the moment.

Until I can get around the track for 5 min without relying on a marshal, I'm going to save my money for the track.

See you tomorow,
-Tommy

Like Hot Cakes. But Racing.

The RC10B5 is out and racing. An inevitable decade long reign has begun!

The results are trickling in.

It's no surprise that this fan boy thinks it is looking bad ass.



They first release the rear motor with composite chassis, saving the mid motor/aluminium chassis for a month or two from now.

Sticks are for kids.

So, Associated is not chasing the mid motor trend. They are being honest and designing what they think is a great car.

Effing solid looking, especially for a non Factory Team kit. Where or why will we spend more? I'm sure that answer will come around summer time when the FT is the only thing to get you that bump out of the Stock D main.



Brent Thielke hits some softball questions from Jason Rouna out of the park. They clearly love it. This is the largest rc racing buggy manufacturer in the world, displaying their first new layout in over a decade, so it is a big deal.

The gist of this video, is damn, get a B5 now. Also... dial in that front trail for tight, indoor tracks.

One thing that still bothers me, the off center motor mount. I can't believe at 3:10 in the video they mention centering the receiver yet though the entire video, they offer no excuse for not centering the motor.

Do we just ignore the motor being off center and appreciate the car for what it is?

Totally normal.

Did they forget? Did the decide not to?  Is  the chassis optimized for 550 4 pole?????

I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!!

Whatever they are talking about, RedRC always puts on a good show. Thanks for the footage and interviews. I could watch their youtube channel all day, but I've got some things at work to catch up on.


It's Monday. There's a glimmer of hope for racing tomorrow. Racers are calling for a 17.5 only day. That could make fro a great day of racing in case the bad weather holds some folks up.

I've got a Mach 2 17.5 just waiting to be tossed back into the ole trusty B4....

Have a safe Monday, pay those bills, and get to the track!
-Tommy

VTA and TCS: Realism Talk

It's hard to beat seeing professionals drive the cars of our dreams.
Red RC brought us another display of what the classic RC10 cars can do. This time it was during the JConcepts Winter Indoor Nationals:



Cudos to to Jason Rouna for making this category seen by so many.


More on Kinwald's RC10 Classic(Worlds) and his B5 cars here. The things just look awesome. But this whole "throw back" is getting silly with all the B5RM's out there. We understand, AE needs to pay the bills until the mm or a conversion comes out.
My guess is RTRs are all rm and the conversion is available after that. Time will tell.

Seeing Kinwald today is not unlike Walter Rohl and his cars these days




I do hope that these rereleases turn into something to run at bigger events. For the debate about 17.5 motors, just put them in cars designed before 2000 or with drivers born after 2000 and call it good.


VTA or Vintage Trans Am is a class of touring car racing that has become hugely popular, though it did just get dropped from  Electric Onroad carpet nats. Bummer. I think the category is fantastic.

It uses slower motors, spec tires and requires no huge financial resources to get started. Most VTA vets will persuade the noobs to run those shaft drive TC3's they've got lying around.

I'm not a huge fan of calling any brushless motors "stock" because they are all fast. But there is a world out there still using brushed, closed end ball silver cans for competition. No, I'm not talking about box stock Slash classes, I'm talking about the big Mr. T.

Tamiya to most.

The Tamiya TCS is one of my favorite categories of on road. Sure they govern the rules with an iron fist, but you know if someone cheats in TCS, they are border line geniuses that came up with the loop holes.

In TCS, GT Spec is my favorite. Grab a shaft drive TT-02 or similar car and use the supplied 540 motor , ESC and kit tires and you're racing for under $150!!!!!!!!!!! Crazy in today's high cost world.


Tamiya will have you rolling for $155 with esc, body, motor and tires

Fred Medel talks about the awesome world of TCS.





Others taking the Tamiya kits to new "endurance" events

And how it looks at the track:



Amazing.

There are a million ways to determin who is fastest, but we have chosen to drive little cars while standing on the drivers stand and shouting "GO!"

The debates about cheater motors, chassis design and company politics will always be around. I just like that we have so many choices to how we go about deciding what cars, motors and tracks we want to use. The only thing that needs to be remembered is to keep race entries up, the companies will follow. 

Thanks!

-Tommy

Every Second Counts

Right now it's snowing in Portland. And although the rest of the country may start the car a few minutes a head of time to get the defrost going, here in Portland, it means the city shuts down. Even the "worst day of the year" bike ride is canceled. Nature is calling us out.

I'm at home today plotting my blog driven world domination.  While catching up to what youtube has to offer.




Driving home from work yesterday in my 2wd pickup as the snow really began to come down, I felt I had more "fun"with traction than I normally get in the dry. The 100 or so horse power that the old carberated 4 banger produces simply does not encourage the type of driving I normally do while living the dream once a week at the track.

Those first practice laps, tires still dripping with sauce and myself wondering why I didnt just take a second to sweep, or check my ride height, are always the roughest. My head fills with doubt. Is the diff any good, is the slipper too tight, are my tires wearing in the right direction in the right part of the tire?

While driving the pickup truck home yesterday, I felt I could have made some fine tuning. Added some balast over the drive tires, dropped some psi, geared up while driving, eeeeasy on the brakes and down shifts... not unlike controlling an RC car.

Years ago, after a Saturday of racing touring cars (HPI RS4's with the latest stock motors) A friend of mine and I had been entering the freeway and his jeep started oversteering in the rain. We were both new to driving and oversteer was a new sensation to us. He counter steered and stayed calm. Executing a perfect drift, through the onramp and seamlessly we were up to speed and driving along normally.

We both went silent with awesome and finally broke the silence with huge laughter. He told me that was exactly what he would have done if racing his rc car. We concluded that rc was teaching us to stay calm and find control.

Driving home yestery was awesome. Tons of fun in the snow while driving my truck.

Today, I'll be spending quality time training my cat to glue tires and blog.  Maybe build a snowman. Maybe go for a mountain bike ride. But I will definitely not be at work.

Out on the forums, folks are still finding ways to engineer the perfect car and promote their genius while making sure to belittle any opposing views. It is great to know the hobby is full of idea people, just in case the educated, paid, professional engineers are kidnapped while trying to go see their favorite events in Sochi.

If you're a fan of debating or if you know you're going to buy the latest kit available by your favorite brand or drivin by your favorite racer, there's really no reason to be negative on the forums. Chances are, if you have to start a reply with "Not meant to be a personal attack..." you are personally attacking someone. And that sucks. Save your breath for your right to see men's figure skating. Nothing is more badass than doing something that you're not supposed to, the way you want to, and then receiving a gold fucking medal for it.

Geeezus:




Haters gonna hate. Let's see those rear motor, standard measurement cars kick some ass.

Run what you brung, stay positive, and rebuild that diff already!
-Tommy

Cross Training/ Information Recovery

Within our hobby are some great debates still happening. The kind of debating that comes down to taste and opinion, which we are all entitled to. Merica. Whether indoor off road should have synthetic surface or is ball differentials should use carbon ball bearings, everyone comes from a different background to a conclusion that is "right" for them.

I certainly have my own opinions, but I don't think the world is ready for them. Plus track builders have yet to figure out alligator pits between jumps.

So, when the authorities are arguing, I listen close for nuggets of wisdom and discard the rest. When the debate train looks like the next stop is nowheresville, where one color wheel really is fastest, I turn to more light hearted entertainment.

One thing we can all agree on is that RC cars and awesome go hand and hand.

LiveRC had a great article Wednesday that reminded me of some positive cross over between other activities and rc cars.

Brain turned off. Just a bunch of fun found while cruising the boob tube...



Tebo and some sketchy ramps:

Around 2 min Kerry cruises to Bam's:





Real talk. With Mark Weir:




Whoa. Safety first.

RC Racers are coming from all walks of life. For someone like me who comes from probably different background, it's great to get together with folks at the races and see fun is our common denominator.


Getting closer to the weekend!!!!!!
Burrr,
-Tommy

1/10 Gas Trucks- Mid Motor Zombies

I can't shake it, I'm a dreamer. With every winter I start to imagine the world outside the office, the garage, and the indoor tracks. The world that I can run free, sans rain boots and umbrellas. A world where the tracks are groomed and lit up late into the night for summer racing. A world not unlike the one we saw at The Dirt Nitro Challenge this past year.





If there's an RC bucket list. And I had one. I'd put that on it. Along with an RC surfboard. Meanwhile, I'm gonna bookmark that youtube page and look forward to coverage of both the E and nitro 1/8 buggy races coming up on Feb. 23rd.


Nitro rc cars and trucks are nothing new to the hobby. But they have always remained fringe, no matter how "ready to run" they are sold as. It sems to be a basic fact, ask any adolescent(or adolescent at heart) what they're prefer, the gas powered or the electric?

And so goes that power lusting consumer. Down the path of hard to tune high speed needles, poorly charged receiver packs and glow ingnitors, and into their new life with a funny diesel smell in the corner of their garage.


I think this is where the racer splits off from the hobbyist.

The racer knows that with maintenance comes lower lap times and thus, a rewarding experience at the track.

The hobbyist, on the other hand is a tinkerer playing a god. They understand that this insane orchestra of gas, electronics and control over the infernal beast is the satisfaction. Getting around the track -at all- is enough to warrant a standing applause, and thus a rewarding experience at the track.

Zeus! No talking on the driver's stand.

There is a rare time that the hobbyist will survive the nitro hangover and become a racer, but when it happens, when they decide to play as mortal, they bring with them the nitro thirst.

Events like the Dirt Nitro Challenge and the Silver State and ROAR Nats and IFMAR Worlds keep off road nitro alive. These events are mostly buggy(and, ahem, truggy), but there was time when the little scale that could, tenth scale, showed up because it had something to say.

The conversation to bring those "little guys" back has sprung again in this LiveRC Talk It Up article.

Bringing a dead category like 1/10 Gas Truck back to life in RC sounds tough, but I'm all for it. The Nitro SC10GT short course from AE was a huge spark, but I dont think it really caught on. They made videos and had some real drivers show everyone the possibilities.  Sure, they're a little clumsy, and probably slow compared to everything else... but they're nitro!!!






The Nitro Truck was alive at an unfortunate time. Those days were before youtube and during the peak of the rap/rock genre of music existed. As this archaeological discovery shows here:







1/10 scale nitro truck would be an awesome zombie to resurrect. Not very difficult to find an RC10gt or gt2 rtr on Craigslist for about a $100 and you can hawk all that rtr electronics to a crawler(crawlers are always looking for new controllers for some reason. Perhaps the controller wheel offers good rock grip?)

The sun seems to be showing itself a little more every day here. Now, is right about the time of year when I should be squirling away funds for outdoor offroad wheels and tires for my buggy. But I have a feeling I'll decide against doing that rational, and reasonavble task and instead get the old RC10GT back together for backyard summer action. We'll see if that after run oil put in a decade ago did it's job.

Craigslist RC Roulette: Buyer Be Stoked

We made it through Monday. Here's your virtual pat on the back.

It's a race night for me. So I'm trying to get work done with gear loaded in the car, one foot out the door and my eyes on all ways to go faster.

While checking LiveRC for a live feed of my local track to see if my favorite pit table got gobbled up, I came across some of their "breaking news."  As reported by Liverc, Kyosho is set to release the highly anticipated SC6.

Summed up and Taking IiveRC's report completely out of context, In breaking news fashion LiveRC has reported that Kyosho anounced that no details are available. Fortunately LiveRC assumes: "it will follow in the footsteps of the RT6 and include many of the same features and geometry."

In rc, we need to know more! But I can handle it. LiveRC continues to provide great content and maybe the best product placement stickers on rc cars world wide. The beacon.

The Swoosh of the RC world

Being a mostly indoor, dirt off road dude, I dont often see the "behind the scenes' when it comes to carpet off road track building. Here's a quick look at what the time and labor required to setup what looks like an awesome track in France:

RC racing is effing addicting. And Like most addictions, I want it cheap and fast. Fortunately, for addicts like myself, there's Craigslist.

Yup, Craigslist. The website that let's you trade your old kitchen cabinets for some dude's old bathroom tile. Win, win for cheapskates all around.

Normally, I can be found trolling for couches to drive from the apartments to the nice areas of town and leaving on corners. But every other Friday, I like play Craigslist RC Roulette. This is a leisurely game I like to play in which I type in "RC" in the for sale section and max it out at my entire paycheck.

Sorted my by price,high to low, this caught my imagination recently:

Rc surfer board shark dude - $175 

Rare rc surfer
Rtr
Charger
Battery remote
Used but in excellent condition

SAY WHAT!

Immediately, thoughts of spring break go into my head. And naturally.. I gotta get this action packed shred machine racing around drunken college kids on personal water craft in Lake Havasu.. STAT!

Marshall!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whoa. Surely, these are similar thoughts as to when someone first sees a short course truck or any rc driver with a smile on their face. Dreams of racing a truck racing down the coast line in the Baja 1000

SC Trucks headed south

So, I snap out of my dream weaving and study the ad a little more. The keen observer may notice some linkage at the feet and the words "Self-Righting". This could be that there is some tech in this toy.  And if we use that controller to determine scale... could this be in the 1/5th scale neighborhood?


And 5th scale and beaches go together like sand and electronics.

Holding the transmitter switch stance

I know, I too thought the price was crazy. $175 in craigslist currency?? (which really means "$80 , If you can get here on my lunch break.")


$80 for a action packed beach party shred machine seems like a solid deal.


But, I had to know more. And YouTube delivered

This kind of awesome stopped all my momentum in the roulette i was currently in. This was now honest stoke.

In one brief video clip, I remembered all that is rc racing. I saw the light. I remembered why folks show up to the track with nothing but a charger and a battery. They are pumped to get out and make it happen.


Gonna try and bring that kind of stoke to the track tonight.  The stoke alone has yet to get me to the top of the podium, but it might be enough to remind me to take a deep breathe, relax a little, and try and remember: It was me that rolled my car over and that marshal is probably texting someone important.


The way I look at it, tomorrow's hump day.

We got this.

Thanks for reading

-Tommy