HPI FD3s Drift Video

Went out in the sun for a test. Check it out. I'll try out the other rims somewhere smoother than my front footpath.

New ESC works well. Happy! I have reverse again! Woohoo.

http://vimeo.com/8961353

FD3s and wheels.

Hpi 200mm FD3s and Hpi Rays Volk Racing RE30 +3F +6R

zoom in for Bling

Yokomo WORK CRKai.

Yokomo RAYS Volk Racing CE28N

Advan RS

TE37

Rays GTV

And finally

Work XC8

Size Matters

Here is a demo of the difference between HPI and yokomo drift rims.

The standard 1/10 RC rim gives the impression of 17" or sometimes 18.

But the HPI size seems like 19 or 20.

So lets call them 17.5 and 19.5

This really could be a real drift style. Grip on the front and slide on the rear.

Cool.

BUT

The problem with the Hpi 200mm body is that the front is less than 200. 195ish. The rear is 200mm.

So when I chose the 6mm offsets for the car. I assumed they's fit the front and the back. It's setup for different offsets.

Ohwell.

Just have to purchase more rims... hehe.! Perfect fit is about 6mm rear 3mm front.

Hpi FD almost ready

RE-Xtreme RC Hpi 200 FD. Coming together. Lights are in

HPI 200mm FD - Sneak Peek.

YAAAA! Awesome. Getting there.

Finally got around to painting up the Shell.

A splash of translucent Silver and then White. Makes a nice pearl.

Black Panda bonnet.
I blacked out underneath for a strong finish. Forgot to do the rear buckets in my rush. doh!

But I salvaged that.

Light buckets are looking cool!.

Here's some tips.

1. HPI Stupidly put the protective film on the wrong side of the rear wing.
Lucky I'm not going to use it, but I painted it anyway. Be careful. I should have checked

2. For masking. Photocopy the decals then cut them out of the remaining window mask film. Small front lights and rear lights can be masked easily.

Yokomo @ Tokyo Auto Salon

RE-Amemiya D1 M7 with Toyo Tyres.

Needs hedlight cups.

Side is OK, but I'm an FD purist so this is just OK for me.

On the awesome scale though is the new BN sports D1 FC.

Although it's painted too dark of a shade of blue it still looks good.

ESC Install and Setup

Got around to installing the Yokomo ESC today. I finally have reverse. It was too cold to go outside to test, so I'll do that soon. But for now it's looking pretty.

I had to adjust my friend's translation slightly, from "hold" to "press" in some situations. It's all good.

I'll check it again later under real test mode.

Yokomo SCR-6708T ESC Manual

Yokomo SCR-6708T ESC English Manual

No resource on the web for this, so I hit up my friend for a translation.

Setup Manual.

Nuetral and Max Value settings.
1. Make sure Propo Handset throttle EPA is at Max setting.
2. Propo Handset Throttle to Neutral.
3. Hold ESC button
-> Green LED Flashing
-> Let go
4. Push Propo Handset Throttle to MAX
-> Red LED Flashing
5. Push Propo Handset Throttle to MAX BRAKE
-> Red and Green Flashing
[Optional ABS]
Return Propo Handset Throttle to MAX Once within 3 seconds.
-> Red LED Flashing Again
6.Return Propo Handset Throttle to Neutral
-> Green LED Flashing
SETUP COMPLETE.

Time Delay Traction Control
1. Hold ESC button for 3 seconds.
-> Red LED Flashing
Then
2. Release ESC button
after Red LED flashes 1Time
   3. Push ESC Button
-> Minimum Traction Control set.
after Red LED flashes 2Times
   3. Push ESC Button
-> Medium Traction Control set.
after Red LED flashes 3Times
   3. Push ESC Button
-> Maximum Traction Control set.

Battery Type Selection

1. Hold ESC button for 5 seconds.
-> Red and Green LED Flashing
Then
2. Release ESC button
after Red and Green LED flashes 1Time (1 Second)
   3. Push ESC Button
-> Lipo set.
after Red and Green LED flashes 2Times (2 Seconds or More)
   3. Push ESC Button
-> Nicad/Nimh set.

Reverse Delay equipped.
You can't turn this off.
to operate.
Neutral then Back.

I take no responsibility for mis-information... But it's what Im going to try.
Any revisions, I'll post up later.

Russ.

Tanjyobi Project

"Tanjyobi" means Birthday in Japanese so as you may expect this is my birthday project.

Time to update my RC and bring it back to life.

I got this yokomo JZX100 rear wing. The DoLuck style wing should look good drooped over the end of the FD body shell I got.

Yokomo Mazdaspeed style mirrors and Yokomo light cups will be installed. They will be customised a little though.

because they don't fit my 200mm HPI FD Rx7. I wanted the D-Stage parts. But they have been discontinued along with the 190mm body.

Think white and low.

Under Yokomo Control

I've been without reverse for a while. So .....

The Yokomo SCR-6708T was purchased as a result of my investigations in to Brushed Vs Brushless and Lipo/Nimh.

I decided to stay with Brushed and Nimh. They are cheap and quite frankly un-needed for Drift.

Maybe some on-road extreme turn use would definately require the upgrade.

I was involved in 1/12 RC with a Delta, Team Associated RC12E, and Schmacher gear. I was under 16 years old at that stage of often made the A-main in Australia. My father owned a hobby store. So I know about weight, gearing, voltage, tyre size, body performance.

These days I can't possibly make a decision. There's simply too much confusion and choice out there.

For Drift. Go cheap. I've seen reviews in the latest RC World in Japan and one of the drivers in the top 4, still runs Brushed and a near stock Drift Package. His competition runs fancy mix of chassis with lipo and non lipo setups.

therefore Not required.

This ESC was 50% off at RC-Champ.

It will match my heat sink and look cool.

Thats it.

RE-30 Install

WOW! The inch up or two look unbelievable. Sticking to 26mm Yokomo rims seems a bit old school.

Look at the size of these things. FLUSH! I could probably run these on Yokomo at +6mm, but other ideas are in store.

.

The true 190mm of my ABC is a bit mexi on these. Ain't going to happen here.

But some +3 will be on the cards also.

RAYS Volk Racing RE30

Volk Racing RE30 +6mm RE-11 with T-Drift 32mm by HPI-Racing

Why HPI?

Because these look like 19" or 20" rims on a 1/10 chassis.

+6 mm offset with 32mm is great for a 200mm body. This will be an awesome setup for future products.

You can get a few variations. +3 and 28mm, +6mm 32mm and +9mm and 35mm. I stuck with nothing too radical. Tyres available in Neova and I chose Bridgesone Potenza RE-11 T-Drift and Semi-Soft and Racing versions.

Russ.

Angry Nuts

Red nuts to match my red Volk GT-V wheels. Look good with the FD Apexi beast.

NiMh Vs LiPo Batteries

Should I stick to cheap NiMh or go for Lithium Polymer LiPo or Li-Poly batteries (LiFePo4)

LiPo batteries have evolved from Lion technology, with the electrolyte held in a solid polymer composite, eliminating the need for a metal casing; replacing it with a flexible polymer foil casing, resulting in a lighter battery, that can be shaped. Lipo technology offers the advantages of reduced cost of production, 20% increased energy density over Lion, and increased resistance to physical damage - i.e they are more robust.

Less Weight = Speed.  Go Go Lipo...

But I've read unless you treat them well.  Li-po = Fire?

Some reading here  http://daringrey.com/lipo_nimh_nicd_battery_maintenance.htm

Extract... "Why do some people hate them. Well they can catch on fire if they discharge too low and they can catch on fire if over charged. So if you do not have the correct chargers with lipo balancers, then I encourage you to stick with NiMh or NiCd batteries."

Some needed products... Yikes??? http://www.redrc.net/2009/03/team-orion-battery-safe/




Well, without having to pay more cash again for a new charging system to overcome the above issues and battery packs around double the price, it's pretty expensive transition.

And with already (what I consider) pretty good performance from Orion Sport Power 3300 7.2V NiMH  for $20 each. Should I invest? I don't use my car that regularly anyway ...

So for me let's stick with NiMh for the time being.

Brushed Vs Brushless Motors.

My head is spinning faster than these motors.

I don't understand. ?!?!?!?!?

Maybe I'll just stick to brushed. They are super cheap these days! Who cares about changing the brushes and maybe the whole engine when they cost $15 in Japan. Who bothers to cut the commutator? Not me anymore.


But New tech is good. so let's GO GO Brushless!

From what I can gather. I should just consider the new technology and forget trying to campare to what I have. Brushless have different RPM and torque and therefore need different gearing for similar performance. They also can be changed by a controller in terms of Torque @ specific RPM if you have sensored versions.

What does this mean for me?

I need a range of Pinion and Spur gears as well as the Motor and ESC which are already quite expensive.

1. New Motor.

Engine Turns.
   Lower Turn = Higher Top End/Less Torque

   Higher Turn = Lower Top End/More Torque
   This is basically irrellevant on its own because now the world adds kV as a measure also

Race classes.
   Stock (27 Turn Brushed) ---> (17.5T Brushless)
   19T Spec (19 Turn Brushed) ---> (10.5T or 13.5T Brushless)

   Unlimited (Any amount of turns)
  Who knows??

I found this juicy comparo chart that totally contradicts this..

Castle Creations CM36
brushless / brushed equivelent:

S7700 (7,700kV) = 6-turn
S6900 (6,900kV) = 8-turn
S5700 (5,700kV) = 10-turn
S4600 (4,600kV) = 16-turn

LRP Vector
brushless / brushed equivelent:
X-11 3.0 (11,400kV) = 3-turn
X-11 3.5 (9,800kV) = 3-turn
X-11 4.0 (8,600kV) = 4-turn
X-11 4.5 (7,800kV) = 5-turn
X-11 5.5 (8,100kV) = 7-turn
X-11 6.5 (6,900kV) = 9-turn
X-11 7.5 (5,900kV) = 11-turn
X-11 13.5 (3,350kV) = stock 27-turn

Novak SS/EX/Velociti
brushless / brushed equivelent:
3.5R (10,500kV) = 3-turn
4.5R (9,000kV) = 5-turn
5.5R (7,400kV) = 7-turn
6.5R (6,400kV) = 9-turn
7.5R (5,800kV) = 11-turn
8.5 / SS5800 (5,000kV) = 13-turn
10.5 / SS4300 (4,200kV) = 19-turn
13.5 (3,300kV) = stock 27-turn

Reedy Neo-One
brushless / brushed equivelent:
4-Star (7,400kV) = 7-turn
3-Star (6,400kV) = 9-turn
2-Star (5,800kV) = 11-turn
1-Star (5,000kV) = 13-turn

Yokomo Sensored Range 6600yen
Zero 6.5T (7400kV)
Zero 7.5T (6100kV)
Zero 8.5T (5600kV)
Zero 10.5T (4500kV)
Zero 13.5T (3500kV) = Stock
Zero 15.5T (3100 kV)



Why the confusion about what translates. Well thats because the RPM, TORQUE delivery and max power can be varied.

2. New Electronic Speed Controller.
(My reverse is not working anyway.)
Brushed -> Brussless ESCs are not compatible, so you need a new one. But
Some Brushless to Brushed ESCs are compatible. so if you want to go back you can just change engine. Maybe. These are usually the more expensive PRO models.

It also should be noted that unless you are a smooth driver, like me. You need to get used to being more controlled with trottle application.

An ESC's specification is the lowest number of turns that it can handle. So a 8.5T ESC can be used from 17.t to 8.5T brushless motors.

Because of all this custom specification in engine braking and accelleration and off throttle zone and reverse. It gets quite difficult for a beginner to work it all out.

So lets look at the Yokomo Brushless starter combo.
I'll probably end up with this Yokomo setup for Drift Meeting.

A Yokomo Zero 13.5T Brushless (stock 27T equivillant engine) and the BL-SP which is capable of an 8.5T brushless motor in the future.
It only has control over Max power setting, Brake and neutral range settings which is a good thing for a beginner at new tech.

3. New Gearing

According to this cobmo chart you should be able to work out new gear ratios.
I've highlighted stock settings for Drift Package.

Yokomo Brushless engines (as above)

Zero 6.5T (7400kV)
Zero 7.5T (6100kV)
Zero 8.5T (5600kV)
Zero 10.5T (4500kV)
Zero 13.5T (3500kV)
Zero 15.5T (3100 kV)

Motor 1/10Touring    1/10Off     2WD 1/10 Off    4WD Drift

6.5T         1:8.5            1:10.0             1:10.5              -
7.5T         1:8.0            1:9.5               1:10.0              -
8.5T         1:7.5            1:9.0               1:9.5                -
10.5T       1:7.0            1:8.5               1:9.0              1:6.5
13.5T       1:6.5            1:8.0               1:8.5            1:6.0
15.5T       1:6.0            1:7.5               1:8.0              1:5.5

So what pinion and spur is that? I need a calculator. Arrrgh!

Can I still use my Nicads. Yes. Maybe won't last long though.

D-Max

I guess I won't bother tuning my Original Drift Package. Because now almost all the componets are obsolete.

Not really, this car basically does the same as changing your rear diff ratio. More RWD. More Drift.

Yokomo have released the D-Max Special in a search for true balance. Adjustable centre clutch is the main feature for adjustable 50%~0% front drive. Battery and engine layout is also changed.

I will probably just get one and at the same time go 2.4ghz brushless and lipo in order to be up to date with technology. There goes $1000. NOT!

Check out a video here.

Rally Tracks

This is the most funnest thing I've seen in a while. Check out these guys chasing their RC cars through their 1/10 rally course.