February 9, 2014

Chassis Focus – Brent Thielke

Sun-BTB5-14

Car: Team Associated RC10 B5
Motor: Reedy Sonic Mach2 8.0
ESC: Reedy prototype
Batteries: Reedy 5800 65C SQ
Radio/Servo: Airtronics

Associated team manager Brent Thielke is running the all new B5 in rear motor configuration here in St Louis. Having only run the car for a limited time before coming to the JConcepts Winter Indoor Nationals he is still learning how to get the most from this all new platform but compared to his B4 he says it feels more solid on track with the car more responsive to the drivers input. BT is also running a number of soon to be released Factory Team option parts on his car including blue anodised aluminium rear hubs which are more durable and offer finer roll centre adjustment through the use of a vertical ball stud. Other optional parts include an aluminium steering set, aluminium rear arm mounts, aluminium front pin brace and graphite battery strap.

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February 9, 2014

Chassis Focus – Kinwald RC10 Classic & B5

Brian Kinwald

With the Team Associated B5 making its race debut here in at the JConcepts Winter Indoor Nationals in St Louis we took a look at Associated’s latest offering alongside a replica of its 1994 offering to see how the cars have progressed over the past 20 years. What better person to do this with than 2-time World Champion Brian Kinwald who is running both cars this weekend. Talking with the Dirtinator, who managed to turn the same fastest lap with both cars, he says the biggest difference over the two decades have been electronics but in terms of chassis the main change has been suspension with the modern cars better able to cope with bumps. With the on track performance not noticeably different between both cars on this small tight smooth track, putting them together on a larger track with bigger jumps would greater expose the Classic’s weaknesses with its modern counterpart able to jump, land and corner at high speeds better, all incremental improvements that would add up to a faster lap time. But in general however the fundamentals of both cars are the same with 20 years of evolution, as well as better materials and electronics, giving us a lower, lighter faster machine that can better cope with today’s more challenging tracks which have also evolved into the well groomed & sculpted facilities that we run on today.

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January 26, 2014

Chassis Focus – Ty Tessmann

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Car: Hot Bodies D413
Motor: Orion 5.5
ESC: Orion
Batteries: Orion
Radio/Servo: Airtronics/Savox

Hot Bodies sole representative here at OCRC Raceway, Ty Tessmann is running a car that sports a couple of interesting items over the car that Ty used at the Worlds back in November, such as one piece machined shock caps to help with the ease of building the buggy’s suspension and a prototype rear inner-link plate both made by Pro-Line with latter possibly becoming an option part from HB when the car is finally released. According to the Canadian, with the track being very demanding in terms of steering due to the abundance of 180° corners and sharp turns, he has changed the wheelbase on his D413 making it shorter, and played with the camber link to create more steering.

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January 25, 2014

Chassis Focus – Lee Martin

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Car: Yokomo B-Max2 MR “WC”
Motor: Yokomo 6.5
ESC: Viper
Batteries: Protek Rc
Radio/Servo: Sanwa/Xpert

Racing at only his second international race since joining Yokomo, following his debut in Berlin on EOS’s carpet track, the British ace has adapted well to his new Japanese mid-motored buggy. Choosing a “shortie” battery pack instead of the saddle pack he uses when traction is high, he said he has only needed to tweak the shocks setup, going for lighter oil and springs, combined with small changes to the camber links. In terms of aerodynamics he has chosen for the new “Avior” wing produced by his own LMR brand.

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January 25, 2014

Chassis Focus – Ryan Cavalieri

cavCF

Car: Associated B4.2 with Centro C4.2 conversion
Motor: Orion 6.5
ESC: Orion
Batteries: Orion
Radio/Servo: Airtronics

With the recently announced B5 still not available, even for team drivers, Associated’s Ryan Cavalieri is still running the traditional “Centro” C4.2 conversion on his B4.2. Very happy with his car, Ryan told us that he is running his basic setup for this track apart from the use of a low profile servo and a front roll center adjustment, with the aim of getting the car to sit more on the front in the corners and give a more precise feeling on the steering wheel.

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January 25, 2014

Chassis Focus – Dustin Evans

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Car: TLR 22-4
Motor: Orion 5.5
ESC: Orion
Batteries: Orion
Radio/Servo: Spektrum

Former Reedy Race of Champions winner Dustin Evans is running a fresh 22-4 from the first production batch. Only receiving and building it last week it sports a development after market cab forward body which he says is more aggressive and gives plenty of steering at low speeds. In terms of setup he has been trying a lot of different things to try and improve the balance of the car, which is a compromise between improving steering while trying to maintain rear traction.

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