RE-Xtreme RE-Location and REflection.

I'll be taking a break for a couple of weeks, so I won't be updating the site during that time. Re-locating is always tough, but when I come out the other side, there will be new RC tracks to explore and new directions to follow.

Looking forward to the change and challenge. Until I return, here's some photos I've taken at evens and places / cars that have influenced my directions. Who knows whats next.

Rally (especially tarmac) has been inside from an early age in escorts and peaking around the time when Makinen and McRae were battling on the tarmac. My WRX was a big impact on my life in many ways.

I think any car that I own, goes through some forest adventures during it's tuning phase. Whether a shopping trolley Civic or a fire breathing rotary nothing is left untouched.

I also enjoy getting caught up in "What if" scnario.

My contact with Japan and the drift world lasted a long time. 

I think I could definitely say, I've seen the drift scene evolve.

along with the capabilities of technology come power and style.

No car I have owned, has been exempt from the tuners wand. Some mild and useable.

Others a little more focussed and don't really belong on the street.

But there are those that love to push the limits and blur the lines of sanity and that drives us.

Drift has always been a mix of style and power. It has the different target over a pure speed focus.

and it always creates something special.

I think REaders of this site will notice I have a like for the Rotaries and Roadsters in any form. I think this beast has influenced a few people in it's time. What was that movie called? haha

They have been part of my life for a long time, and while they are special, I am not a one make man. I've owned 15 or so cars and while 7 of them have been Mazdas, there are others of all kinds.

Drift, Race, Drag anything and everything has impacted on me. You may notice that Kazama, Vertex, Weld , DS Like, RC926 and a lot of others have a similar interest in RC and Real Machines. Sometimes the interest goes both ways.

 Whether that comes from a business model or a sense of fun. RC is a fun thing to do. Yokomo has been synonymous with D1 for a long time. That's been a good thing for me. Helping join my hobbies together.

You can do both. Why not own an immaculate JZX worth $150000 and an RC car worth $1500. It is 1:10 scale after all.

 Power, Speed, Smoke, Whatever you like.

 Driving, Style and

 A little craziness.

Enjoy your car style. This one is a bit Sexy.

Russ.

You Tool!

What are some of the necessary pieces of the RC toolbox?

Having left a lot of my tools back in Japan. I've slowly been building a decent "Basic" tool set.

While I'd love to spend a few hundred dollars on a full TRF, HUDY or EDS alloy tool set, I'd rather add more parts to my chassis or bodies to my collection.

So I only have the basics.

When you first purchase an RC car, there is usually a few things in the box.

Tamiya  X wrench
This is still one of my most used items. There small size makes them useful for holding nuts while you attach a screw or bolt.

Chassis Height / Droop gauge
It takes a while for most people to learn what in hell this black stick is for.

Turnbuckle wrench.
I've since replaced the small hard to use kit version with the blue speed way pal item you see in the picture.
Very often used for small camber and toe adjustments.

Calipers
Also very useful for making sure one side of the car matches the other. Balance is key.

Camber gauge
Going for stance! You need one.

Then the basics.


Knifes
Always needed. I have 3 basic choices depending on the power or finesse required.

Pliers 
A good strong point nose set is essential.

Screw Drivers / Hex Drivers
As I have upgraded there have become less and less + head screws on my chassis and more hex screws
Over a long period of time, you tend to find one screw driver with the perfect head that wont damage the heads. I only need this one.
For the Hex screws, 1.5 and 2mm is about all you need.
I use them so often that I invested in a couple of decent quality items but I still use the original Allen wrench on any pinion. I get a better feel of how tight it is.

Cordless screwdriver.
If you are building a chassis, a cordless can save a lot of time and effort.
**Just remember to turn the torque to a low setting to prevent over-tightening. 


Thread Lock.
Always good to stop those CVD and Pinion headless screws from coming loose.
When using a lot of alloy components it becomes more necessary than plastic.
 
Wheel nuts.
If you pop wheels on and off as often as I do, the little Tamiya wrench starts to become tedious.
You will love the reduced effort required as finger power is replaced by forearm power.


Theres some other stuff I use but a handy tool is my Dremel. I thoroughly recommend one. you will be surprised how many uses you will find.

Have fun.

Wheels, Weights and Wheel Weights.

These are currently some of my favourite wheels. En Route WedsSport SA-55M
 

Available in only black or white, 6mm or 9mm they need a bit of TLC.

First I usually machine the support rings off on the lathe. While you can use O-rings with the support rings in place, I find it easier to mount tyres with the flat surface.

If I use paint. I always apply numerous coats of hard enamel.

The result with tyre is 28g.

The other day I tested the heavier alloy rims which  I found to be quite good. So I decided to use this flexible weak magnetic material with adhesive backing as a weight.

The result is a 7 gram gain. not too much, After I check clearance I may add another layer for a 14g gain.

By the way. If you want to add weights to your body or chassis. Instead of buying Kazama, Wrap Up Next or other brands, Just go yo your local tyre dealer and get some of these adhesive lead weights for Apply Wheel application. Usually they will give them to you free of charge.

If you spend a bit more you can get the carbon print versions etc.

They are all separate, in 5g and 10g sections. Just cut the backing tape where desired and apply.

Have fun with weight tuning.

RE-Xtreme RE-DP Typhoon Spec "R"

 OK. Time to checkpoint this plastic bucket of RWD. I call it Spec "R"

I guess there have been a few modifications during the build of this machine.

 So I guess I'll start at the front.

Lower Arm replaced with Wrap up next Y arm TN Racing Extension and Traxxas ball joint.
Upper Arm replaced with TN Racing mount, Custom Upper and Traxxas ball joint
C Hub replaced  with Kazama DRB knuckle (modified)
Kazama Knuckle Kingpin position
   Upper : Inner position 5 
   Lower :  Outer position 2
Dog bones removed.
One way removed.
Gear case modified.
Team Suzuki Type 2 Belcrank steering arms extended with Team Suzuki Damper mounts
Custom Ackerman bar with + 2mm wider mounting point.
Overdose Servo Saver for Tamiya.
SSG Shock Tower.
Aluminium Shock Mount
TN racing Lower shock mount extension
Yokomo SS length Shock
Oil 600
Active Hobby Slow rebound piston
RC 926 hybrid spring.1.3 Soft / Med
RC 926 3mm hub with Alloy Wheel (+15g each) offset +11 (effectively +9)

Front Carpet Tyre Spice HDPE.
Front weight ZERO

Sanwa SRG-BL Brushless Servo 0.8s

Keyence Tachyon ESC with Silver 14G wire.Keyence Luxon KG 7.5T "Street Jam Version" with Active Alloy endbell
HPI Spur 86T
Yokomo Pinion 20T


Short Battery Pack
Side Weight 60g

Yokomo motor mount, modified for spur clearance
Yokomo 4wd input shaft shortened.
Yokomo Strong Solid Axle with Steel End caps and alloy centre.
Yokomo Standard plastic gear set.
Overdose 44/2 rear drive shaft

Active Hobby Link Suspension (including Alloy lower arm)
Yokomo DRB rear knuckle (requires shimming)

SSG Shock Tower.
Aluminium Shock Mount
Lower Ball Joint Shock Mount
Yokomo SS length Shock
Oil 200
Normal Yokomo 3 hole piston
RC 926 hybrid spring.1.3 Soft / Super Soft
RC 926 3mm hub with Alloy Wheel (+15g each) offset +11 (effectively +9)

Rear Carpet Tyre: En Route

Rear Weight 250g
Street Jam OTAR31 Rear Diffuser.

I'm debating a carbon chassis at the moment but I'm actually pretty happy with how this plastic bucket functions. To upgrade the remaining plastic components would cost about $620. I think that's a bit much.
Total spend to date has been around $300 for the rolling chassis only. Most upgrade parts were already purchased on a second hand chassis.

So I guess this is the final spec for a while. It's functional.

the 2 main things for Rear Wheel drive are front steering speed and rear traction.

As you can see, the steering angle is ... enough.

In both directions.

Steering speed is very fast. It is hard to be pin point accurate with out a gyro. This is the main reason I will install a gyro in the future. It will make it smoother.

As you'd expect with ball joints on upper and lower arms, geometry isn't exactly perfect. There is a lot of play in the setup.

Castor is around 8~10 degrees.
Camber is around 10 degrees when running straight. These Spice tyres accept generous camber.
Toe is close to Zero.

Rear Link suspension creates less camber under squat conditions and tries to take advantage of chassis roll.
Keeping the tyres flatter on the contact patch.

These En Route tyres have a flatter contact patch and I run around 5 degrees rear camber that negates to around 3 degrees under compression.

I try to keep around 5mm ride height to allow the chassis to pitch and roll for smoother weight transfer on carpet and more traction under accelleration.

Here is the body for my Rear Wheel Drive project. 

Clearance is NOT an issue.

I think I have around 1mm clearance without any scrubbing.

Front width is around 205mm. but camber adds more or less as stance is selected.

I've mounted the FD further forward on the chassis by 3mm then covered this by positioning the fenders rearward. This helps the diffuser line up 

The wheels are effectively only at maximum angle for short periods of time. But you can certainly notice when they are.

 You can get some serious angle.

But normal corners still look the same.

 Thanks for reading.

Russ.

ps. Small upgrade... front turnbuckle.