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• Track'ster put to the test that it was built for: OCRC "Stock Nationals"

  

  Jimmy Wright on May 01, 2012
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  This past weekend the Track'ster was put to the test it was built for. The "Stock Nationals" at OCRC raceway in Huntington Beach California. 180 entries vying for the title of being a National Champion. The weekend started off well but being that my week previous had been so busy I had no time to freshen up either of my cars let alone try to get any practice with the 502x with a 17.5 in it. 

  I arrived at the track to my awaiting saved pit spot (Thank you Jake Thayer!) and quickly set up to get some track time. Two things I knew were going to be critical in making this a good weekend. A fast motor / gearing combo and the right tire / sauce combo. Yes, most tracks we run here in Southern Cal allow tire saucing and OCRC is one that must be done right. The Track'ster was shod with the new AKA Vektor tires in clay compound just as I had run for JBRL Rd 1. It took a few laps to get the lines down but once I did the Track'ster and I were in harmony and zipping by clicking off some great lap times.

     I put the Track'ster away to start working on the 502x and had some struggles. I was getting blown away by some of the guys that were in my class practicing. Come to find out we were allowed to run "open ESC's" for 4wd. ARGH! My GT 2.0 was programmed for blinky... Thanks to Ron Schuur he down loaded the proper software and I was back up to the correct speed.

     The first round for the Track'ster came up and I set the early TQ being in the first heat of the expert 2wd class. My 14 5:09 held through the second heat until the third heat of which Barry Baker, Steven Hartson and Josh Newman all went a bit faster relegating me to 4th quick. Unfortunately for me the track went away from my set up and I chased finding rear side bite. I slowed clear down to the B main after the 4th round where I didn't fair to well being both frustrated with the lack of rear grip of the 2wd and still chasing the right speed for 4wd.

      My B main started off great for about two turns and then it went down hill from there. From a 3rd turn punt into a pipe to later having my car fully stepped on not once but twice by the same marshal finally breaking the front shock tower and upper mount plate I pulled off. 

  The 4wd A main I qualified 4th and immediately took 3rd in the second corner. Knowing my ESC / gearing /boost-turbo was still not correct I took it very easy to see what would happen in our 7 minute main. When the leader and second tangled out of the whoop section I pounced and took the lead however giving it right back to them in the same whoop section where they crashed. I felt my set up fading from heat and had nothing for them for the final minute and cruised hoping for a mistake from either but both Jake and his rival were tearing up the track. When I crossed the line for 3rd I parked my 502x to watch the fight unfold to see Jake Thayer (TRF 502x) pass the leader on the last lap and take the win! I then finished out my final lap. :) 

  TRF 502x goes 1 & 3 at the Stock Nats ! 

   More on the Track'ster build as I promised coming this week with pictures.

• Track'ster build; The final stages.

  

  Jimmy Wright on Apr 22, 2012
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   Project Track'ster proved it's worth last night at SDRC by out qualifying the field taking TQ by nearly 15 seconds! The biggest improvement thus far has been the addition to our (Track Star R/C's) Ceramic transmission bearing kit, this along with our full trans service has transformed the Track'ster into a freewheeling machine!

   

  Another huge improvement has been our "direct drive" adapter. This allows you to gear a 17.5 motor to the moon with out the need of motor timing. This accomplishes many things in one. Being that you are not using so much timing the motor keeps it's torque low creating better acceleration. Also gearing the motor higher keeps the motor turning slower. This also allows for better out of the hole acceleration and better control of wheel spin. (Yes, 17.5 will wheel spin) With this combo I have found better run time. Who cares in 17.5 right? You should. 

  Consider this; The less you pull from the battery the longer it will stay charged. Therefor the voltage doesn't drop as fast equaling more punch throughout your 5 minute run. It would be the same as running a bigger mAh battery but without the weight which in turn makes the motor more efficient. Win-Win situation.

  The Track'ster 201 is getting a full rebuild this week in preparation for the Stock Nats at OCRC. I will document this rebuild with pictures to show you what has been done.

   

  As always if you have any questions about the Track'ster or any Tamiya R/C cars or products you can email me at racecrafter@gmail.com

• Lee Martin Wins 2 & 4wd at BRCA Nationals!

  

  Jimmy Wright on Apr 16, 2012
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  Round one of the BRCA Nationals took place this weekend where Lee Martin takes a double TQ and double victory in 2wd and 4wd! (More details to come)

  

  (Photo skived from Lee's facebook :)

• "Time" and the ability to use it right. (aka: Perfect practice makes perfect)

  

  Jimmy Wright on Apr 13, 2012
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      Quite a few things have been happening in the R/C industry these past few months. New tracks springing up, tons of new products and a few cars. Most manufacturers I have noticed tend to throw new parts at cars that have only been out a while yet have claimed that they spent "years" developing that particular car or the aftermarket companies immediately drop a new product on a new car. Makes me think how much time did they really test that part or product and how much does it really benefit the driver and their overall experience with their R/C?

       Recently I had a young man email me about how he was struggling with his new 201. He drove a couple of other brands and was a solid A-B main driver. Yet when he switched he no longer could keep up. I offered to help him in anyway I could to help with his 201 setup. I received an email back just this morning saying that he is doing better with his 201 and at the last event made the A. 

   

      Have you the reader put those last two paragraphs in perspective? They are about "time". More exact, track time and experience with your car(s). We have fallen into the "internet knows all" quick answer generation. Some search their favorite forum to find "THE" setup for the car they own, install it and expect to blow away the competition at the next event. When they don't most blame the car as the example above. 

    Wednesday night I was approached by a fairly new racer who said he researched for months before making the decision to purchase all of the top equipment that he owned and is now racing. He stated that he was sent to me for the final pieces of his plan to dominate, set up knowledge and driver tutoring. I was as shocked as I was pleasantly surprised. He took the time not only to research his decisions on equipment, but also understands that it will take even more time to learn what he needs to do to use all of that equipment and how to drive it properly.

      When you find a set up sheet for your particular car most will go right to the top driver for that brand and type of car. What intrigues me the most is that most all drivers think that they can drive a top pro's set up. In most cases a top pro's set up is going to be unruly and on the edge especially not knowing what the setups are for the radio and the ESC (for EP cars) 

      The thing that ALL drivers should be doing is practicing. Don't go to the track with your buddies and bash around and play follow the leader. Go and practice to improve, to learn, to set up your car and try things. Change one thing every time you run your car to feel the difference. If you are even somewhat serious about your racing you will keep a written log on what changes did what and on what type of surface. Practice doesn't make perfect only perfect practice makes perfect. Spend the time to get to know your car and what it does, you will enjoy it more with out spending more.

   

  Questions about this article or any of Tamiya's R/C car products can be forwarded to me at: Racecrafter@gmail.com

   

• Track'ster makes the A at April Fools Series Rd #1

  

  Jimmy Wright on Apr 03, 2012
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       Having spent the whole day this past Saturday completely going through the Track'ster before the first round of the April Fools Series at WCRC it gave me time to really focus on some parts to make sure they were going to be worthy of a "product".  Only having a few hand built parts for testing I contemplated if I should leave them on and keep running them. I chose to give them a shot at the real competition that I would have the next day and for one reason only I'm glad I did. That reason was that I was able to share what I had done with a well known industry manufacturer that could (and has in the past) make a couple of the parts I had done and make them a reality. I was assured that I was going in the right direction. We should see those parts in the next few months.

  Now back to racing.... :) Having a new set up on the car, a brand new chassis (+6mm) and a couple other things different I didn't know what to expect. The Track'ster project is at 90% of how I really perceived it to be at this time and the result I achieved with it this past Sunday was positive.  Having a couple of good qualifiers I was fighting a bit of an over steer that I nailed down to my front tire choice. The tires I wanted to run were on my Mod car and I didn't have time to change them as I was already back to back.  Though I still made the A and qualified 4th on the grid I was still leaving quite a bit on the table in handling to the front runners. I ended up 4th in the A after a really bad 2nd to last lap and fought my way back to that 4th spot right at the line.

           I don't yet want to "detail" what exactly I have done to the Track'ster, but I will leave this with you to try. Take the first 1/3 off of the front of the wing.  Roughly cut 1 inch (25mm) and move it forward just before it touches the shocks and remount it. If you do not like steering I suggest you don't do this. In the main I did put a full size wing back on to quell some of the over steer I had. My problem was again more tire related. Also a Titanium screw kit! If you run long packs in 17.5 you will find some great use for these (part#84126) to help pull the weight down. The Ti screw kit took 19.1g of weight off of the 201 and the wing mod I just described took 4.2g off! (and that is weight that is up high!) also for the Track'ster I am using the Speed Passion 17.5MMM. this motor is 5g lighter than most other 17.5's on the market and is plenty fast!

   

  Until next time! :)

• TRF 201 "Track'ster" takes top honors in first race out.

  

  Jimmy Wright on Mar 25, 2012
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  3/24/12 - SDRC San Diego California

   

           Team mate and good friend Pres Ilog and I decided to take a trip down to SDRC in San Diego yesterday to race some 1/10 off road as well as get some track time to test some new tires for AKA. We both signed up for 2wd Mod pending a possible good turn out to run 4wd Mod as well but the later did not pan out. 

         Testing went good during practice and I felt my Mod buggy was 85% as I was fighting front grip consistency issues. Pres was pretty happy with his set up at the time as we ran out of test/practice it was time to start racing. Seeing that there was 12 heats I wondered if I should also run Stock 17.5..... so I signed up. 

        Not having the Track'ster ready yet I missed the first round of qualifying and my first heat of Mod 2wd didn't go too well as I broke an axle on the second lap landing off of an easy double. We had a short break in between rounds of qualifying and I reassembled what I needed to get the Track'ster on the track and ready. The 17.5 class came up and I put down a solid run winning my heat but missing TQ by 1.7 seconds. In Mod I had to make up some time on this run to secure a top spot on the grid and I accomplished this by taking TQ and setting the track lap record in the process! 

      We go the call for the 17.5 main yet before hand I made a few changes to the Track'ster and when I went out for warm up it was a bit of a handful but was manageable. Still coping with the changes I took it easy for the first 3-4 laps until I got use to how direct the steering now was. Getting use to it more I pulled better lap times from there to the finish winning the main by over 7 seconds! Top of the podium for the race debut of the Track'ster!

     The 2wd Mod main was an epic battle between myself and Team Kyosho driver Lucas Sanford. At the tone Lucas and I pulled a 2 second lead over 3rd and freight trained our way to almost an 8 second lead battling back and forth fighting for every corner. With less than a minute to go I flubbed a jump and Lucas' car landed on top of my car and flipped over. I waited for him to get marshaled and we set back out this now being our final lap. Using my advantage of Speed Passion horsepower I pulled out a 5 car lead by the back straightaway but lost 4 of those by driving in too deep into the first corner and Lucas was right there! The last corner is a 30 degree right turn-jump and Lucas just nudged me and over I went. Lucas stopped so I could get gathered up and we had a drag race to the finish with 3rd now rounding the final corner...... I took the win with Lucas just edging out Eli Westrup for 2nd!

   

      There is much more work to be done and tested on the Track'ster so stay tuned to the TEAMTRF.com blogs as more will be posted soon.

   

  (The "Track'ster" is a Tamiya 201 that is an on going project through Track Star R/C being built specifically for 17.5 non timing 2wd buggy class. It's big debut will be at the "Stock Nationals" in late April at OCRC raceway in Huntington Beach California.)

  As always if you have any questions regarding the Track'ster or about any other Tamiya R/C car product please feel free to contact me at racecrafter@gmail.com

• 17.5/ STOCK CLASS 201 build Part 2 (Code name: "Track'ster")

  

  Jimmy Wright on Mar 22, 2012
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  Part two of my 17.5 build will entail two things that have tested thus far. Those being extended vs stock chassis and battery placements within those two configurations.

   

  A recent trek out to WCRC in La Mirada Ca, I had the opportunity to have an all day test session before the racing started that night. I started the test with the standard chassis with everything else being stock right out of the kit minus the spring choices. I opted for my small shock set up with yellow 4wd front springs and yellow rear springs.

  Having put on the normal set up for tires that I usually run I set out to get acquainted with this car and drove it for 2 full packs (roughly 30 minutes). Comfortable,I set out to really get a feel for what it would do. The stock set up with the previously mentioned set up felt "pushy" .  It was safe to drive fast but actually too safe. The next run I opted for a short pack (4200 / 60C) positioned right in the middle of where the long (standard) battery would reside. I had the same handling effect though the car jumped and accelerated better. Quite better actually. I pulled in and moved the battery all the way forward and set back out. This yielded a much better turn in and mid corner speed but wanted to keep rotating on the nose and made it difficult to finish the corner especially at higher speed. I placed the battery back about 6mm and set out again. This was the best feeling the car had been even after moving the battery all the way back and going from there.

  On to the extended chassis. This unit was built to a 6mm longer spec. I have built and raced extended chassis 201s from 6-10mm in Mod and I prefer the 8mm all around as an easier car to drive even outdoors but, the 6mm gives it an edge that I like when I do a suspension Mod that I will get into later. Changing out the chassis went quickly and I was back on the track within 30 minutes. (just in time to get two runs in before they watered the track) Again the battery placement ended up identical at 6mm back from full forward. The handing now was such that it had more corner speed, was easier to make subtle steering corrections and was more apt to accept hard punches to the throttle in areas that were not doable before. (In case you were wondering I picked up an average of .355 seconds a lap with just a chassis change) Pretty comparable to the .6xx that I picked up in mod when doing the same chassis change.

  The final test was to see the difference it would make to put the ESC behind the battery.  I run this configuration in Mod and really like it.  So I moved it over and took out a little wire (lighter weight) and set out again. The lap times were comparably the same however I did notice a much easier time getting through the chicane in the center of the track and it felt more level when the car got light over some of the corner jumps and rises. I think I will keep it in this position.

  Next part of the "Track'ster build I will be lightening the car up with some off of the shelf parts from Tamiya and Track Star R/C and taking it back to the track with a possible body test. Stock vs. Zahhak vs. cab forward.

   

  If you have any questions about this article or questions pertaining to any of the Tamiya R/C products please contact me at racecrafter@gmail.com

• Building a TRF 201 for 17.5/ Stock Class racing.

  

  Jimmy Wright on Mar 16, 2012
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  In the next couple of weeks I will be building a 201 specifically for 17.5/Stock class racing. During this build I will document and report the steps I take to prepare my cars not only in general but the different steps I take to build a 201 for maximum speed, lightweight and efficiency for the 17.5/stock class. 

  During this time of build I will be doing some back to back tests and compare laps times against things like, longer chassis vs. stock, big bore springs on stock shocks vs. stock springs, big bore shocks vs. standard shocks as well as known weight placements vs no weight as well as shorty packs vs. standard length and the placement of it in the chassis (with a few surprises as well).

   

  Stay tuned.........

• 801x build tips #3 Engine Mounts

  

  Jimmy Wright on Mar 16, 2012
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  I'll make this as short and to the point as possible. :)

  When building your kit you will come across the step to install your engine. I suggest taking the motor mounts out of the chassis and fitting them to your engine before going any further.  Paying close attention to the area where the mount meets the engine case in the "corners" of the tabs of the engine where it meets the engine case. 

  With some brands of engines this area on the motor mount needs to be chamfered for clearance. You may not see it right away but if you hand tighten the screws when mounting them to the engine you will see if they sit flat as they should or just start to touch the case. 

  Making sure that you have proper clearance here will spare you the headache of not only a broken/cracked engine case but also that dreaded tuning issue if the case does simply fracture and open under operating temp and you never find it...... :-/

   

  As always if you need help with tuning or set up with any of your Tamiya R/C cars I can be reached at:  racecrafter@gmail.com

• Lee Martin takes 2wd EOS Belgium!

  

  Jimmy Wright on Mar 11, 2012
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  Having TQ'd the event Lee Martin convincingly takes round two of the European Offroad Series in Belgium with his Tamiya 201.