2012

I wish all the best, a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year to all!

2012 is starting and new exciting projects are on my schedule (actually on my work bench).


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"A_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ X"

Greek National Cup - Orion R10Pro settings



TEAM ORION VORTEX R10PRO SETUP SHEET



KYOSHO Annual GRANDPRIX 2011

Every year KYOSHO organize their annual GrandPrix race at the BossSpeed race track in Japan.
As far as I know this track will be the host club for the 2013 IFMAR 1/8 Onroad World Championships.
Here are 2 videos showing in sequence the 20 minute main final in the 1/8th scale class.

and here is an older clip from the driver's stand showing the demanding layout of this technical track:

Sources: http://paintkura.blog85.fc2.com/

http://www.kyosho.com/

National CUP 2011 - Video

Here is a video edit from the first A-main of our National Cup. Track is pretty big and cars reach high speeds. In this Amain I suffered from cold tyres in the first few laps and had very little traction. Additionally my electronics had a conservative set up as I hadn't tested more boost and timing. I increased these two parameters for the 2nd Amain and car was much faster, improving by a considerable margin over the qualifying and first Amain runs.
Video recorded by friend, Chris Zotalis

National CUP 2011

A great action photo, shot by my friend Chris Zotalis.

So the final race of the year is now history and it went quite well for me since I won with some ease. Competition is not quite at the top level it used to be in this class as it has suffered a lot in the past few years with low number of entries and limited involvment from most hobby shops so it was expected that I would do well as I am one of the most experienced and involved in this class.

The positive part is that the race was nice and fun, the people participating enjoyed it and quite a few more have expressed their interest in competing in this class in 2012.  Should this be the case I am always more than willing to share my knowledge and assist any new or old racers to improve their performance.

Below is a series of photos from the car in its latest form in which I won the National Cup race for 2011 and at the end a .pdf file of my set up.

Set up sheet :

http://data7.blog.de/media/753/6069753_a49b1bf964_d.pdf

TF-6 body on

And final chapter for the TF-6, with the body installed. Certainly my toughest paintjob yet!

PICCO New Edo Mod Torque 2012

PICCO MICROMOTORI introduced their new line of high performance .21 engines for the 1/8 onroad class. All info is from their official website



Highlights:


• 7 ports + 2 bypass hard chromed liner
• CNC machined billet piston
• Balanced 14mm turbo cranckshaft with silicone insert
• Super aligned "Knife edged" aerodynamic connecting rod
• Separate large size finned turbo combustion chamber insert
• 14mm Swiss quality main bearing (ceramic bearings are available as optional)
• Bigger super lightweight cooling head
• Composite slide carburetor
• 8.0mm and 9.0mm venturi inserts

All available info here:TORQUE .21 2012 Spec EdoMod

ITALIAN CHAMPIONSHIP 2011 1/8 On road videos

I found two videos from the 3rd round of the Italian Championship in 1/8 onroad class. I think this is the country in which this class is most popular.

The track is at MELZO which I had visited in 2001 if I remember well.

1st video from Qualifying

2nd video showing Mr. Edoardo Picco of PICCO Micromotori preparing his brother's, Alberto, car. Interesting to see he is using the MRX-4 Mugen and not MRX-5.

Yokomo's Yatabe Arena video after ATS race

A nice video from YOKOMO at the great facility of Yatabe Arena.

2012 IFMAR 1/10 EP Touring & 1/12 World Championships

The organizers of the 2012 IFMAR World Championships for 1/10 and 1/12 electric powered cars have posted a great video

for more information visit the official website here:

2012 IFMAR 1/10 & 1/12 electric Worlds

HB TCX - New parts

I added a few more of the latest options available for the TCX.

First are the new longer POM solid axle cup joints. Due to longer length they allow the use of the 44 mm drive shafts, thus providing a wider range of choices.

For practice I have combined the DCJ (Double Cardan Joint) drive shaft with the long steel solid axle cup joint. I have already tried the POM cups I mention above and have not seen any wear at all after a few runs, so I'll save them for the next race meeting. In theory they should give just a little smoother action and maybe more turn-in compared to the steel axle cups.

Next new part is the new front steering block (upright or spindle) which now features three holes for the steering link. I understand that this should provide a bit more consistant feel. I did not get the chance to test it back to back with the old style, two hole steering block, so I cannot comment.

A close up of the 24k gold plated Qteq Banana connectors soldered to the Team Orion R10Pro speed control wires.

A shot of the chassis (sans shock absorbers) ready for the next race meeting.

RB C10 Tuned NDS Tech for sale

RB C10 tuned by NDS TECH is up for sale.
Motor as you may see in the pictures is in excellent condition. It was raced only once, that is no more than 20 tanks (including break-in procedure) i.e. 2.5 litres.
Performance was excellent and earned me second place at the 2010 Nationals.
Only reason I am selling is that I am no longer running in this class due to limited available time.

Engine has been serviced and has a new middle bearing as a precaution.

I managed to find this new neat banana connectors which should decrease any power loss to a minimum. They are from MULTIVERSE JP, called Qteq Power Banana, and claim to be coated with 24k gold plating of connector grade.

O.S. Speed 21XZ-R Tuned - MMM - part 2

O.S. Speed 21XZ-R Tuned - MMM - part 1

MMM = Murnan Modified Motors

KYOSHO TF6 1/10 EP TOURING CAR - Built report

I was presented with the opportunity to assemble a KYOSHO TF6 1/10 electric touring car, following the kind gesture of the Greece/Cyprus/Turkey KYOSHO distributor.  It was a proposal I accepted with pleasure since I've been keen to have a close look at the TF6 as it features some nice design elements and of course Kyosho quality.
I started the assembly and my intention was to progress slowly, each step at a time, day by day.  Little did I know that I would have the kit finished in almost one day, within a total of about 7 hours from the moment I opened the box.  That is a testimony of how well and easily the kit is put together and how much I enjoyed it.

Next step is the completion of the transmission.  The kit comes with a front spool with plastic outdrives and rear ball diff with aluminum outdrives. The ball diff is similar in design to that of other popular makers, but it provides one of the smoothest actions I've ever seen. I consider the Team XRAY ball diff to be the best in the business and I think this is of equal quality.  It remains to be tested in action to confirm whether this smooth operation translates into consistent and long-lasting performance. The spool is nicely red anodized and comes with plastic outdrives which provide an even smoother operation.

The absolute jewel of the car's transmission is the design of the driveshafts which feature the Ball Connect System (BCS). What this means is that instead of the common use of small pins at the edge of the driveshaft, giving a shape of dogbone, the TF-6's driveshafts have 6 small balls which in turn fit perfectly in the housing of the diff and spool outdrives. This design ensures constant proportioned power delivery from the drive shaft at any angle during suspension movement to the diff or spool outdrive. The fit and finish is spot-on and the result is silky smooth operation.  It also significantly reduces the well known vibration 'chattering effect' of the front wheels on touring cars with spools up front when wheels are at full steering lock.

The transmission installed

TF-6 Shock absorbers.
Another nice surprise. The shocks of the TF-6 follow in principle the design of most popular shocks in the market such as HB, TAMIYA, XRAY, YOKOMO etc.. but also have some unique features.
The parts are the following:

The pistons have 3 holes, which is the most common choice. The only drawback is that pistons were attached to a 'tree' and had to be cut off, compromising their roundness.
The nicest feature of the shocks are the two clear o-rings, which are uniquely shaped and provide a better seal than common o-rings with less friction on the shock shaft.

The main body. The body is aluminum hard coated anodized providing a smooth action of the piston inside. A nice feature is the fact that there is an o-ring at lower end, providing perfect seal for the lower cap.

 The shock assembled:

and installed on the car:

 I now have installed the new narrow LiPo chassis, the thinner upper deck, the gear diff and aluminum turnbuckles up front

 The gear diff is of premium quality with aluminum gears and uses two o-rings to seal securely the oil internally.  Being brand new, it needs some broken-in to run smoothly. I chose to run it at first with just one o-ring per side in order to free-it up a little as it was a bit too tight for my liking. Testing will show whether this choice is reliable enough without any leaks.

 The electronic equipment fits nicely and the NOSRAM speedo is a perfect match to the color of the chassis. KO Propo servo used with Team Orion LiPo pack and 4.5T motor.