June 28, 2010

New in the pits – Part 1

LRP Pulsar Touch competition

Walking around the pits here in Burgdorf there are a number of new products to be seen. As shown in our news yesterday LRP are here with their new charger, the awesome looking Pulsar Touch competition. This glossy blue charger sports a touch screen with graphic user interface as well as integrated high performance LiPo/LiFe balancer that detects differences in cells and automatically starts balancing and is in use by all their team drivers here.

Xenon Spur

New from Japanese company Xenon is their all new 1/12th scale spur gears. Featuring octagonal holes the new shape helps capture grease and therefore keep the balls lubricated at all times resulting in a better functioning and longer lasting differential. Available in 64P they come in a wide range of versions and are made to incredibly high tolerances. Xenon are also debuting their new ride height gauge with integrated camber gauge. This gauge has a huge number of steps with every 1/10th of a millimetre between 2mm to 8mm available. The ride height gauge also doubles as a quick check camber gauge with 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 & 3.5 degrees all possible.

Black Art Carbon chassis

French company Black Art are here using their updated carbon chassis for the CRC 1/12th scale. Featuring some refinements to the front of the molded tub chassis, it uses a special kind of short fibre carbon that prevents shock from being transferred throughout the chassis in the event of an impact. Black Art, who are best known for their body shells, will release the chassis in late September along with conversion kits to allow it to be used with a wide range of other manufacturers cars.

Serpent 120 Link

Serpent team driver Markus Mobers is racing here with the updated S120 Link chassis. Changes include a new rear end that sees the motor moved more to the right side for better balance. Other differences include the new central stabilising rods that replace the cars previously used floating monoshock, something that was necessary when the car went from a NiMh to a LiPo chassis. The car also sports a new flat mounted steering servo plus other little tweaks, but with the car still in the prototyping phase, no date was given for the release.

View our event image gallery here.

January 10, 2010

New in the Pits – Part 2

New in the Pits - Part 2

Seen for the first time in International competition, this pre-production version of the all new Kyosho Touring car is being raced at this year’s DHI Cup by European Championship finalist Christopher Krapp, who tells us that the new car is much better balanced for use with LiPos. Developed by Shin Adachi, it features bigger bore shocks, which are also longer, new shock towers front and rear, new rear hubs, new stabilizer points front and rear and a higher top deck for accommodating LiPo packs, such as the latest Team Orion version installed in his car. The motor mount is also new and brings the motor 1mm closer to the centre line for better weight distribution.

New in the Pits - Part 2

A creative feature of this new car is the drive shaft system, which utilises a cluster of balls to connect the diff or spool to the CVD drive shaft. Due to grooves in the spool or diff drive cup, power delivery remains the same, however it’s when the suspension is under load that this system comes into its own. Conventional drive pin systems have a tendency to bind the suspension and so oil or grease is used, but it never provides truly smooth shaft travel. Thanks to the use of balls, this system glides in and out, even when under load, meaning no binding and better suspension operation.

Christopher tells us that the belt configuration of the new car is still being tested and that he uses the tradition belt layout, but that in Japan they are still doing back to back tests with the belts switched from left to right which allows the electrics to be mounted closer to the centre line of the car.

New in the Pits - Part 2

After extensive testing by former European Champion Jonas Kaerup, local company RGP have released a new diff grease here at the DHI Cup. The high quality silicone grease, which is extremely resistant to heat, is being used by a number of the top drivers here including Marc Rheinard, Viktor Wilck, Yannic Prumper and Steen Graversen because of it makes for a very smooth differential action. Available in 11 or 30 gram tubs.

View our event image gallery here.

January 8, 2010

New in the Pits – Part 1

New in the Pits - Part 1

As mentioned in an earlier report, racers at this year’s DHI Cup are using the new LRP VTEC CPX control tire. Specifically design for carpet racing, this pre glued tire features a low profile design aimed at preventing traction roll on medium to high grip tracks. Another neat feature is that because the supplied rim is semi transparent, the scrutineers here who are checking the cars after the runs can easily see if any illegal or treated inserts are being used. To spice up the look of the wheel, LRP also offer decals in two different styles, giving them a BBS or spoked wheel finish.

New in the Pits - Part 1

Also new from LRP in the pits is the SXX Stock Spec speedo, which is so new that the examples that the drivers are using here are still prototype versions making this the debut race for this ESC. Being used by Alexander Stocker, Thomas Larsen, Carsten Madsen and Henry Salmen, the Stock Spec has been created specifically for this class and features dual ADPCmax Software that allows the driver independent adjustment of the feel and power delivery from the speedo. There are also some optional capacitors available for the SXX, which offer lower resistance resulting in more power.

View our event image gallery here.

November 21, 2009

New in the Pits – Overview

New in the Pits - Overview

With a break in the action following qualifying we have a collection of new products showing up at the Offroad Meeting in Italy. First up from our sponsors Fast Race is a new range of optional chassis plates for the Associated RC8, Xray XB808 and Mugen MBX-6. Made from 4mm thick high quality aluminium, they are heavily and strategically machined to be lightweight yet retain their strength and stiffness. Another nice feature is that the plates feature a groove below the front and rear differential casing that can be fitted with an o-ring to retain the transmissions grease as well as keep dirt out. Another nice feature is the use of small steel balls under the downstop screws, that protect the chassis and over time offer a more consistent setting, due to the prevention on wear in this area.

New in the Pits - Overview

Fast Race also showed us the new range of Alpha engines that they have the exclusive distribution for in Italy. Available in a 5 port and two 7 port versions, they are a good quality and high performance engine. As seen in Austria Fast Race also have new wheels, which are now finally in production and available for sale in both white and fluorescent yellow.

New in the Pits - Overview

Kyosho are present with the first batch of newly arrived Inferno conversion kits to turn the regular MP9 into the MP9e. The cars did very well on their debut, taking 2nd and 3rd in the Brushless buggy final last night. Also seen on these and the gas powered Kyoshos are the new light blue springs that fit between the current blue and lime versions and new light green springs that fit between the current lime and purple springs.

New in the Pits - Overview

Bitty Design have a big presence here at the event. The Rabitti brothers are showing off their new range of Fighter buggy bodies that we wrote about a few days ago as well as their new range of BD branded clothing. The body painting specialists also have a great selection approximately 100 pre painted bodies, all featuring a unique design.

New in the Pits - Overview

New brand EZ Power from Italy are showing off their wares including this Novarossi made XS engine, a 5 port motor that features their own internal specifications. EZ Power also have a complete range of exhaust systems in the works to go with their new motors as well, with a range of manifolds, fuel tubing and air filters also available. For electric racing, with whom they supply Fabrizio Teghesi, there is a complete and extensive line of LiPo packs, from RX versions all the way up to competition packs for touring cars as well as brushless powered 1/8th scale buggies. They are currently looking for worldwide distributors.

New in the Pits - Overview

Hobao driver Jon Howell is here with a lot of prototype parts on his Hyper 9. New straight front and rear lower wishbones, as well as new front upper wishbones and steering knuckles, currently in plastic, all help to to reduce low speed turn in and increase high speed turn in by giving the car more caster. Other new parts include new diff casings with extra mounts for attaching rubber boots on the driveshafts, new rear shock tower, new rear uprights and new one piece aluminium shock tops.

View our event image gallery here.

August 19, 2009

New in the pits – Part 2

Continuing on from yesterday’s ‘New in the pits’ comes some more new items including this 966 floating rear end from Serpent. Similar to a system used by Mugen’s Robert Pietsch, but implemented differently, it detaches the rear of the radio plate from the radio plate mounting block. No longer using the top 2 screws to mount the two together, it allows the rear of the car to flex along the width of the chassis but thanks to some cleverly mounted track rods under the radio plate, that are connected to the centre block, it cant flex along the length of the chassis. This is said to improve the steering of the car on corner entry, while at the same time making it more stable under acceleration. In addition most of the Serpent drivers are running the front upper wishbone bracket at an angle which further improves the stability out of the corner by giving the car less caster on power. There are no firm plans to release this update, with testing still going on to decide the feasibility and implementation.

We first covered the new line of engines from Reds Racing back in July when we attended the European Championships for 1/10th scale in Gubbio, Italy. At that time there was only a .12 engine available but here in Lostallo, the Mario Rossi brand are debuting their prototype .21 engine. Using a Boss engine for the purpose of testing the internal developments, the final motor will have a silver coated crankcase for the standard version and a black casing for the modified version, with the modified version also featuring ceramic bearings and some other additions. Currently running the prototype engine, Rick V and Walter Salemi are now sitting in 17th and 28th respectively.

View more photos of the new products in our event image gallery here.

August 18, 2009

New in the Pits – Part 1

There seems to be plenty of new items in the pit lane and we will start with the new parts from Team Shepherd. The German company is debuting a wide range of new products for the Velox V8 including these new lightweight wheel axles. Machined from high quality aluminium, they are super light but strong enough to cope with the stresses of this class. Both front and rear axles are available, to be used with CVD axles and to this end, there is new rear CVD axles.

Other new parts include a full set of new harder plastics which come in medium and hard versions and which work great in hot weather conditions such as those seen here. The harder plastic prevents the transmission from binding up, which prevents damage to the transmission as well as making the car handle better. Currently Patrick Schaefer is running the extra hard plastic, while Oliver Mack has opted for the medium hardness plastic. The car has also received a new pulley system, which sees modifications made to the actual pulleys, with holes on the side of the teeth to allow dirt to escape and also the front belt pulleys have been made larger in diameter and receive a new belt for freer rotation of the belt and pulleys. Finally a new carbon brace across the rear gearbox axle blocks help stiffen up this area and prevent binding in the axle bearings. All parts will be available directly after the World Championships.

Team Titan, makers of the popular Blitz body shells, are here and with them are these new front wheel axle nuts. Made from aluminium, they sport 2 o-rings to prevent them from coming loose and the flats of the nuts have been milled out to further lighten them.

View more photos of the new products in our event image gallery here.