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.

August 2, 2009

New in the Pits – Part 2

Shown to us earlier in the week by Oscar Jansen of Team Orion, but asked not to publish it until today, is the company’s all new brushless competition motor called the Vortex Race 2010. Starting with a clean sheet of paper the new motor sports a shorter can than the previous version and is now made from a much thicker material allowing for better heat dissipation. Other new features include high speed, small diameter, bearings that along with a new smaller diameter rotor shaft ensures higher RPM. The sensor unit has also been changed with the connector for the cable moved to the centre of the motor, which not only keeps the wire away from getting caught while on track, but allows a simple and wide adjustment of the timing. The changes don’t stop there, with an extra thick wire connector ring and solder tabs for getting the power from the ESC to the motor with less resistance, and the solder tabs are now also open ended for easier soldering of the wires to the motor.

Also new in the pitlane is the latest version of the Robitronic Avid touring car which is due for general release later this year. The car which is still in development is almost completely new with new chassis plate, top deck, front and rear bulkheads and the car is now much lower than the previous version for better centre of gravity.

View our event image gallery here.

July 30, 2009

New in the Pits – Part 1

Seen for the first time at the Euro Touring Series race in Andernach, 2 weeks ago, the new Speedpassion Competition 3.0 motor is making its public debut at this race. Tested by a number of the Speedpassion team drivers, the new motor features a shorter can that sees the cables from the speed controller connected to the motor using 3 plugs that are plugged directly into the rear of the motor. This is said to be more efficient as it connects directly to the internal wires and not through a circuit that brings the power to the conventional tabs on one side of the motor. Drivers who have used the new motor say that it gives a much smoother power delivery than the current motor. Expect it to be released at the end of August.

View our event image gallery here.

July 25, 2009

New in the Pits – Part 3

After qualifying ended we sat down with Engine tuning guru Mario Rossi to discuss his latest venture Reds Racing. The name comes from Mario’s second name which translates to the english word Red and is the result of his collaboration with Salvatore Schepis of SM Models that we announced back in April. Using the BOSS engine as a base, Mario will tune the unfinished parts that he receives from LM, who currently manufacturer these engines. Together with his son Marco, who brings his engineering skills to the project, the two will work on creating the new line of motors.

Expected to be available in September, there will be 2 types of engines to choose from, a hand modified top of the line motor with ceramic bearings and aluminium carburettor and a standard version that has steel bearings and a plastic carburettor. The two are easily differentiated by their case colour which is grey for the modified version and silver for the standard. Available in .12 and .21 versions, Schepis Models will handle the worldwide sales through their network of BOSS engine distributors.

View more photos of this new engine here.