Quick update......

So I have been saving for a couple new bits for my RR8 and they finally arrived today!

I was advised on getting the new V2 chassis which apparently not only looks a lot nicer than the old one but gives you a little more steering due to it being a little shorter. 

The quality of this chassis is outstanding! I really mean that as well. There is in my opinion only a couple of manufacture out there that consistently roll out quality chassis with a unreal level of kit quality. I now count Radiosistemi as one of them!

Anyways with the new chassis to hand I set about remounting the front, rear and diff back into the buggy.

Everything went back together like a glove. For someone as well who is a complete novice to 8th nitro too I found the manual (which is in Italian) still very easy to work out. The images and step by step guide is very clear and easy to follow. Even for a noob.

An other new item I received today was the Proline Trifecta spoiler. Something I had seen Ty Tessman use a lot in the states. I liked the idea of the addition gurney flap which can be installed as well as the lexan material which is considerably lighter than the standard solid plastic spoiler. 

Finally a fresh bodyshell and a new paint scheme for myself. Looks rather plain but it's easy to paint and stands out amongst the field of white (carnt be arsed) shells.

Very excited to get track side with this chassis and also race this class which I have only every raced virtually on VRC and loved every minute of it.

Big thanks to John at JC Racing for all his help and advice. Top customer service and a speedy delivery. Highly recommend! 

8th scale ?

So I have been wanting to try my hand at some off road 8th scale for some time now. 

I finally bit the bullet and got myself a radiosistemi RR8. The chassis arrived today and looks in very good condition if I am honest. Still don't have a clue what I'm doing with it yet so nothing better to do than strip it down and rebuild the lot again!

Wish me luck! 

The rebuild complete - SRX2 MM

So I have finally finished my rebuild of my serpent srx mm.

So what have I replaced? I have done the usual thing when I buy any used chassis, new bearings, driveshafts, gear diff, basically the whole drivetrain in a 2WD buggy. I feel a new drivetrain is always a safe option and a sensible one too.

Having a new smooth drivetrain always makes me feel more comfortable when hitting the track for the first time. Being able to trust everything is running smoothly makes it easier to get a feel for the chassis straight of the bat.

Any way onto the electric install. I chose to go with a transverse shorty layout with the lipo seated forward. The servo was a little challenging to install but managed to get my head around it soon enough. 

On the whole very happy with the quality of materials and the ease of workability.

Many thanks to Serpent UK once again and can't wait to get racing.

#RaceToWin

And the new chassis is...........

So the chassis I bought was the Serpent SRX2 MM. I have been reading up on this chassis for a while now and have been very impressed with a couple of things that I saw and read. First of all I love the sleek and streamline look of the chassis and for that matter the bodyshell design! Not only this but for some reason (I don't know why) it seemed to me to just look very high quality. After watching the chassis compete in the very capable hands of Hupo and Jörn at the ETS rounds and more recently the Worlds it confirmed to me that this chassis would also suit my style of driving. (Although the Pros do make it look effortless)

So it arrived the other day and as any used chassis I always start by taking it apart and doing a full rebuild. Not only to clean and prep the chassis but to also learn about it as well. Being a used chassis you never get the bonus of learning about how it all goes together properly. Here is my (very messy) work area at the moment. Front end being the end which I started with.

So with some new parts arriving very soon I should have it up and running by some point next week, fingers crossed.

I would like to though say a massive thank you to Tony at Serpent UK for giving me the opportunity to join the on road team for 2015/16 and for the support he has provided so far. 

#RaceToWin 

A new venture.

So recently I have been struggling to get back into racing as my local club closed down and the nearest track is some distance away. I have also had some ill health in my family which caused me to put racing on hold. 

With this being said I wanted to get back into racing so I decided to purchase a 2wd off road chassis as this is the only class I have ever properly enjoyed racing and found the most challenging at the same time. I contacted the UK distributor and was lucky enough to be offered a drive for the 2015/16 season. I'm very greatful for this opportunity and can't wait to get trackside. Images to follow tomorrow 😉

#RaceToWin #nevergivingup

Long time and no posts?!

Not posted in here for while so decided to give it a go again. Expect some exciting stuff soon! 

Xray T3'12 Returns To Action

Well I have made the desion to start using the Xray T3'12 again as I am trying to save my dry car (MI4CXL) for the National series. I am going to be honest as admit I have never really enjoyed driving the T3 as I could never be consistent or on the same pace my fellow T3 users at BRCCC.

This aside I told myself I will make this car work for me even if I am sill slower as long as I enjoy driving it changes can always be made from there to gain vital 10th's to get on the pace.

 

Niall Marshall

Xray T3'12

(GREEN BOARD)

 

So getting back to my problems with my T3, and one of them being the lack of rear end grip I always seem to experience. So to combat this I decided to put a small washer in the back of the car to add a little more toe in on the car.

 

 



 

 

Xray T3'12

Extra Washers

 

So with these washers added I instantly achieved my much wanted rear end grip. But at a massive cost of massively increased tyre wear, and less initial steering.

 

A few more changes to the camber, roll centres and rear shock positions. The tyre wear still progressed until I eventually removed the washers at the rear. Danny Holmes also kindly lent me some ECS drivshafts and with all this and some slightly better tyres my times began to progress to become more competitive.

 

Tyre Wear

(With Washers)

 

 

Times Improving

(Sorry About The Blur)

 

10th Quicker Best Lap

 

Qualify 3rd

Finished 1st

 

Still the slowest best lap ?  

12.99 ??

Well this evening started off with some rather weird antics. Andy Murray had seemed to be hanging his car from what only could be described as a washing line. Honestly see for yourself,

 

Andy Murray

(Aka Magic Murray)

 

Else where my Schumacher was amazing to drive as usual but I was a little confused to my times after each qualifying heat as the only fastest lap I could produce was a 12.99 which was weird as there was either a glitch with the timing system or I was just driving super consistent. Here are the times and have a look for yourself,

 

 

 

 

Niall Marshall

Qualifying Times

 

The car I have came to the conclusion need more initial turn in to be able to achieve the faster qualifying time like the xray can at my track. Over the next few weeks I will try and achieve this very goal.

 

Else where in the pit area the ever more popular mardave/super stox class saw some close action with John's super stox looking very neat both on the circuit and also in his wiring and general car prep.

 

 

 

John

Schumacher Super Stox

 

The promise for this class and the affordability makes for a exciting future for both the drivers and the spectators as there is guaranteed close racing at a low cost.

A Few New Cars At The Club

There are a few new cars at the club the other night besides my MI4CXL. Arran Turner and Andy Murray were both happy recipients of new cars. Here firstly is Andy's HotBodies TCX which he is testing with before his new TCXX's come out of pre build mode into race ready.

Anyway here is his new TCX looking rather nice in race trim.

 

 

 

 

Andy Murray

HotBodies TCX

 

Though out the evening Andy's TCX looked really quick and consistent. The other new car would also be a TCX but this time Arran turner swapping his Xray T3 for what seems to be a more popular car. Here are a few shots of his car in a (very rare) clean pit area. Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arran Turner

TCX

 

Both cars were electronically wired nicely and looked new and ready to perform at the highest level. I believe Andy's TCX made 2nd in he A final with a very quick time, where as Arrans TCX never saw the start of the final due to a non charged lipo. Two very different results for very similar cars both still look very promising and looking forward to see how both car progress in different hands.

 

 

 

Andy Murray

TCX

New Tyer's At BRCCC

There were some new tyres at Blackpool RC Club this week in both the Schumacher Super Stox class and also 12th scale class.

The ever so popular Super Stox class offers drivers the super close racing at a fraction of the cost of other class's such as 12th or 10th scale. But don't have this class underestimated as the competitiveness of the racing and tuning in the pits is ever more apparent, especially with Contact's new release of dual compound tyres. Peter Ashurst was test these very tyres at the meeting the other night.

 

Contact

Dual Compound Tyres

 

As you can see the clear darker thinner edge to the tyre which is the different compound to the larger lighter side of the tyre. With this new tyre from Contact drivers will be able to fine tune there set up further more to have a dialled car to any track they race at.

 

Here are a few images of the tyres and the groovy colours they come in.

 

 

 

 

I think these tyres will be a big hit with the drivers for two reasons, tune ability and appearance.

The other tyre that was being tested was the new Mobgums for 12th scale racing. Danny Holmes (V-Design Team Driver) was testing them on his V-Design chassis for the evening. He thougth's were that not only can you see the tyre with them being a day glow yellow colour but also they felt rather nice and competitive. His car though out the evening looked dialled as usual and consistently leading the way with Andy Murray.

  

 

Here are a couple of images of the new Mobgums mounted onto Danny's V-Design.

 

 

 

So the tyre round up of the week. I will be blogging about these tyres at a later date with more opinions from the selected drivers about what they think to the tyres.

Schumacher MI4CXL

Well the other night started off with a shock rebuild on my MI4CXL after I noticed that one of the rear shocks had about 90% air and 10% shock oil left in it. So I took the opportunity to rebuild all four shocks which I may add is not one of my favourite jobs.

 

MI4CXL

Shock Re-Build Process

 

As you can see from the image above I always like a clean and clear work station so that nothing gets lost but more importantly everything end's up nice and clean. The build took a couple of minutes and with a slight problem with a O ring fixed during the build the shocks were successfully complete and feeling super nice and air free.

 

 

MI4CXL

Back On Charge Race Ready

(Arran wishing he had a MI4CXL)

 

So shocks completed it was now ready for the qualification rounds and my car was feeling very quick. As always a joy to drive and after the second round of qualifying my times were looking respectable considering I had only had the car for little over a week now.

 

 

Times After Round 2 Of Qualifying

 

The night progressed and I managed to qualify 4th on he grid which was a true reflection of my pace this particular night. I was rather surprised at the start of the final that I was able to keep on terms with the other drivers (Andy Murray, Aiden Ripley) but after a few laps of following a early turn in and bot dot would see me drop back a few car lenghts and for the rest of the final trail the other drivers.

 

Aiden retired out of the final gifting me 3rd which I was happy with as the car felt amazing as usual.

 

 

 

MI4CXL

Viper RC Solution's

 

Looking forward to driving this car more and more as its a true pleasure to own.

Schumacher MI4CXL

My new dry car this year will be the Schumacher MI4CXL. My Xray T3 will be my mainly indoor and wet car so it has at the moment taken a back seat.

My MI4CXL has been expertly assembled mainly by Andy Murray (as well as my T3 I may add) and on my first few runs with the MI4CXL indoors at BRCCC (Blackpool Radio Controlled Car Club) I was blown away! The stability and ease of which the car corners and generally grips is just mind blowing.

Schumacher MI4CXL

Protoform LTC-R

 

Its always nice to have a new shell and this gift of my brother arrived a couple of days after receiving my MI4CXL so I had a new shell for the new car. The LTC-R provided the essential steering needed of any TC on a tight indoor carpet track. All cut out to BRCA regulations. As well as a LTC-R I also had a Mazda Speed 6 Protoform lightweight shell to test. I instantly noticed the reduced levels or steering but the more consistent lap times with a more stable feeling car.

 

 

 

The car went on though the day to produce some very consistent lap times with regardless of shell. On the new layout at the BRCCC I know a quick time in a Xray T3 is a 12.70ish if i recall correctly, so I had my work cut out trying to chase that rather quick time on my first day with the car. I did manage though with the LTC-R shell to put in a 13.14 which I was happy with considering I know the T3 suits tighter carpet tracks more than my MI4CXL.

 

Here are some images of my new MI4CXL, enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 Tight Fit with all the electronics in but all nice and snug when finished.

Long Time, Many Changes.

Well its been some time since I have been blogging,  and in that time many things have changed for the better and worse.

Firstly I am very happy to announce that for 2013 I will be using Viper RC Solutions speed controllers and motors.

 

Viper RC Solutions

Speed Controller: VTX10R

Motor VST 10.5

 

My first few runs with this new combination and I was super impressed. The power is unbelievable! One other well respected Team Driver had this to say after a few laps with my car, "The power delivery felt rather powerful and almost similar to a 4.5 mod!" and he was not lieing. Not only the powerful nature of the car but also the smoothness as well provided consistent throttle control and drivablity.

 

 

 

Viper RC Solutions

VST 10.5

 



 

I have at the moment a Hobbywing speed controller soldered in as I wanted to show a true test of the motor by using a speed controller I am rather familiar with in both the way it delivers the timing with other motors and also the firmware set up. I went straight to using the factory 30 degree's of time on the motor combined with 25 degree's of boost timing and 5 degree's of turbo timing which for a basic set up was like I have stated above frighteningly fast!

 



 

Viper RC Solutions

VST 10.5

(End bell Timing)

 

As you can see from the above image the VST 10.5 motor comes with a total of 45 degree's end bell adjustable timing. Not only does this motor provide excellent performance straight out of the box but also with the setting stated above the motor temperatures were only hitting a max of 55 degree's which isn't very much. Yet again an other impressive feature of this incredible motor.

 

 

 

Viper RC Solutions

VTX-VST

 

Some technical specifications for you to look though. On the box for the speed controller it states that it is 100% waterproof. Now this is one feature I will be putting to the test and blogging about in time to come as if the statement is true then this would be the ultimate wet car speed controller due to its amazingly silky smooth timing and power delivery.

 

 

 

Viper RC Solutions

ProGauge

 

The Viper RC Solutions ProGauge is very similar to many programme box's such as the Hobbywing,orion etc. Its menu system is very clear and precise and easy to navigate (even for the simple minded like myself). With fully adjustable profiles, brake, smart brake system, and the usual throttle, timing and other area's of tuning the ProGauge provides the professional racer with all the tools in a (very small pocket) size box giving you that ultimate spectrum of tuning you car to the specific track.

 

 

Viper RC Solutions

VTX10R

 

The build quality of both the motor and speed controller are outstanding. The pre soldered factory wires are the neatest job I have ever seen on a speed controller. (sorry richard but you are going up against a purpose built soldering robot).  

 

 

Well that is all the Viper Related News for now, expect testing reviews and various other products from the up and coming Viper RC Solutions.