Post race maintenance

After each race I waste no time to sit down and disassemble the car in order to make a thorough investigation on each part to check for any wear, breakage or any other reason that replacement is required.

Here are some random photos of my car after the parts have been cleaned and I start to re-assemble.

I really do not like the scratches and signs of usage shown on the aluminum chassis. This was a prototype batch an the anodizing was quite shallow, only a few microns.
In any case the important thing is that the car works great with it and after a decent amount of running it still sits flat on a glass surface.

Front spool and rear gear diff. This is the latest edition of the gear diff and it works perfectly smooth (Xray internal gears), perfectly sealed and zero reliability issues.

Front double joint axle. Absolutely bullet proof, perfectly smooth, ultra precise and very well engineered.

Floating servo mount with Ko Propo servo and Ko Propo carbon servo horn.

Team Orion powerhouse for round 2 National Champs

New chassis A700 EXL first test

On Sunday afternoon, right after some family & social obligations I drove to the track and managed some valuable practice time. It was my first run with the new car, which I had assembled with a new set up as well as many different parts vs the old chassis.
Additionally I had re-installed my electronics in a new configuration.

The first 'shakedown' run was ok, the car felt quite a bit loose, but I knew I was running on very old tyres and I needed to make some droop and steering travel adjustments.
On the 2nd run I did the small changes required and the car felt very good right away.
On the 3rd run I used new tyres. To my pleasant surprise the change did not effect the car's behavior other than just have overall more grip. The laptimes look very promising so I am looking forward to the race this coming weekend.

Here is a vid of my last run of the day. I am a bit down on power which I think it is due to a bad lipo pack as my previous runs were averaging 0.5sec faster times:

Viewing tip, full screen and 720p or higher. (1:28 - 1:29 I call this power slap!)



and some highlights of the run in slow motion. (its a bit crappy but at some points still fun to watch /0:47-0:50 power slap in slowmo)

Working on something new..

Haven't had the chance to report on my second Nats race, but I will do so shortly. In the meantime I am working on a new kit with some modified parts

New Team Orion VST2 installed

Car is now ready to hit the track. Hopefully will do so soon and may even manage some video from the runs and few pictures.

 

 

TEAM ORION VST2 PRO MOTOR

TEAM ORION recently introduced their new motor, the 2nd edition of the VST Pro line.
Although it retains the name, in principal it is a completely new motor. Entering a new racing season and with so many new motors in the market the VST Pro had to be replaced with something substantially better in order to keep the brand on top and from the first impression it looks like TEAM ORION have delivered a great new design.
The aesthetics are much improved dropping the dull looking mat look to a new nice shiny finish. A new aluminum endbell with double sensor plugs, clear timing markings and sensor plug covers are some of the new features but the most eye catching are the new solder tabs. The new design provides sufficient area to solder the motor wires and be able to apply some pressure thus achieving perfect contact between wire and tab.

The packaging is also very nice, using nice robust and soft materials, as if opening a box of expensive perfume. Very nice touch.

Once retrieved from the package its nice design and great finish is immediately observed. Through the motors I've used I always liked the design of the LRP X20 and lately the built quality of the ADVANCED ELECTRONICS motor I've been using with much success, but this seems to bring a new level in design and quality.

The package I received is final pre-production version and it included a magnet (armature) remover, solder tab cover and sensor plug covers.

 

 

Finally the inside detail of the endbell. Everything very neatly made.  I expect to test the motor in a few weeks if weather and time allow me to do so.