rpvpilot

Hi guys, it seems there are a lot of questions concerning R/C drifting, but not as many answers. I hope I can help. First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Ryan Barnes, I won the Yokomo/Super Street Drift Expo and I'm friends with all the guys that were there in the top 10 or so. You may have seen the event covered in R/C Driver last month, or pics and vid on the Yokomo site. I thought I would try to share my knowledge of R/C drifting with the new crowd that seems to be entering the scene. There are a whole lot of questions to be asked so fire away and I'll do my best to answer them according to my personal knowledge and experiences. I want to keep this thread active as a place where people can ask questions without the fear of getting flamed because they're new. So no flaming! I will post my setup and list the reasons why it works for me. Sometimes I experiment, so if I find anything new that works I'll post it up. This thread is just to ask questions on drifting and setups, so let's keep it on topic as best we can so people can come here for info. Thanks, Ryan



I choose the Losi XXX-S as my drift car. It has some advantages that I like for drifting. First, I like the sealed belt drive. It's very efficient and the maintenance is near zero.
One of the best features of the XXX-S for drifting is the ability to run a smaller pulley on the front diff than in the rear. (41T in front, 42T in the rear). The major advantage to this is that by causing the front tires to spin slightly faster than the rears, you get an overdriving effect that helps prevent spin outs and swapping ends of the car when making back-to-back weight-transfer turns. If you drive it both ways, you can tell the difference.
Camber settings are a debate when it comes to drifting. Some guys prefer to run up to 4 degrees of camber, some like 1 degree. I prefer to run 0-1 degree. I like my tires to wear flat, as I get the most life out of them. You will usually get more steering response with more camber, but I can get the response without the camber by overdriving the front end like I talked about.
Front toe is about 1/2 to 1 degree out, rear toe is 2 degrees in.
I run a Novak 5800 brush less system and Pro-Match 3300's.
I have Losi blue springs and 30W oil. Don't worry about springs and oil, what you have already will work just fine.
The gearing on my car is a 90T spur and 21 or 22T pinion with a 41T front diff pulley and 42T rear.
If there's anything I forgot just ask.

I hope this thread will be a sticky and can help others getting into the Drifting scene of R/C cars.

pputkowski

Listen to this guy people, he's an expert.

ICrashThings

You drift street cars? thats so 1 month ago, its all about ST's and Monster trucks now. [sm=bananahead.gif]

rpvpilot

Thanks for keeping it on topic. This thread is for those who need and want info on drifting. I want to keep it that way, so please don't clutter it up with posts about unrelated topics, thanks.

ICrashThings

Actually I was going to ask whats better for drifting, nitro or electric?

(i was too lazy to type it.)

rpvpilot

For the most part, electric is more popular, but not necessarily better. I used to drift my NTC3 all the time and I liked it a ton. It's easier to destroy a nitro motor though. With hardly any friction on the ground, you can rev the motor till the conrod lets go in about 2 feet or less. I'd suggest setting the endpoint a lot lower than normal. It takes a little diffent throtle control, and generally a nitro car is heavier so it'll drift farther than you expect and must be planned for ahead of time. If you have a nitro, try it, but if you're debating which to buy from scratch, I'd go electric.

ICrashThings

I was wondering because if i was going to get into it i want the best thing to last the longest. Thanks for help.

creyc

Hello Ryan! It seems you're quite an expert on this aspect of drifting RC cars from the looks of things, congratulations!


I'm just getting into RC drifting after driving mostly trucks so this is 100% different from what I'm used to. I have an old chassis but don't know what it could be. Maybe you have seen it before? [link=http://creyc.no-ip.com/images/unknown.jpg][/link]

It needs quite a bit of work so I'm thinking about buying an Associated TC3 kit, the cheapest one. According to the AE website the team version has these benefits: "The TC3 Team kit includes "Factory Team" blue titanium turnbuckles, PTFE-sealed and rubber-sealed ball bearings, blue-anodized aluminum-bodied VCS Macro Shocks, Kimbrough spur gears, and blue-anodized MIP CVD’s". Is that worth an extra $55 for the team version or would I not be able to tell a difference when drifting it?

Thanks for any help you can provide!

AceInHole

something that i was wondering:

what are you running for "tires"??
drift rings? PVC? ABS? tape?

rpvpilot

creyc - Man, you got me stumped on that chassis. The TC3, however I can help you with. If you have the extra pocket money, go with the Team Kit. The added benefits of the better components will pay off in the long run. You don't need them, but they're nice to have. Especially the macro shocks and the bearings. The bearings and the MIP CVD's will add up to longer run times, and that's always a good thing. Hope that helps make your decision easier.

AceInHole - My "tires" are constructed of ABS. I take a regular touring car wheel and slip on a section of 2" ABS pipe. Then over that I put on a 2" ABS pipe coupler. I have a jig that I place the wheel in in my lathe and turn it nice and round. I hope to have a photo how-to up in the future. The "tires" come out beautiful. ABS is the only way to go for me.

AceInHole

cool. i've been using ABS as well, but haven't ever tried tape, PVC, or "drift rings". was just wondering if i was missing out on something......

the ABS coupler idea is cool. i've actually been meaning to do that myself (more for aesthetic reasons) since i'm running 200mm bodies on a 190mm TC3. i've got a lot of extra overhang on the "tires" to make a deep dish... but there's no "meat" on the "tires" so I think it looks funny. the nice thing is that i might be able to get a little more "traction" out of having the wider "tires", since as it is, ABS slides too well even on carpet (where i've found it easiest to control). it'd be nice to compare a wider "tire" to a flush one to see if I really do have any advantage, but so far I'm the only one R/C drifting around here.....

calis

Cant wait for the how-to DriftMaster, a quick query, do you use abs front and rear or simply rear? Im not sure if thats a silly question, being new to on road rc I think most pros will think my questions might be a tad silly : )

xxxsbl

Ryan,

I just purchased a xxx-s g+ and a 5800 bl. I havent drifted it yet, but I want to know where I can buy the 90t spur and the 21 or 22t pinion and the 41t front and 42t rear differiential pulleys?

rpvpilot

Calis - Definately use the ABS front and rear. You get much more consistent drifting.

xxxsbl - All the parts should be availible through you local hobby shop, if not in stock already. The Losi 90T spur is part # LOSA3946 (48pitch) the pinion is LOS4121 (21T) or LOS4122 (22T) but any other 48pitch 21 or 22 tooth pinion will work as well. The pulley set is part # 3211.
You don't need to swap out your spur gear, I mainly did just to get the perfect gear ratio for grip racing. For drifting it won't be a problem. Just run a 21 or 22 pinion and you'll be fine. The pulley set comes with (2) 42 tooth pulleys and (1) 41 tooth pulley, you only need to change out the front one to the 41T. The back is 42T stock.

Spur:

Pinion:

Pulley set:

Dissonance

I have an old nitro HPI RS4 (the first version) with an HPI .12 that I haven't used in a couple of years. After my LHS shut down their on-road track to concentrate on off-road, I switched to planes and helis. I'm finaly going to bite the bullet an get an off-roader, but in researching those, I pulled my RS4 off the shelf and was debating what to do with it. My first thought was to make it a rally car, but the idea of dirt and an unsealed belt drive sounded less then fun. Then I spotted this forum and the wheels started sliding...I mean spinning.

So... would this make a decent drifter. I can see where electrics would be better, but I'm just trying to think up something fun to try with the old RS4.

Thanks!

rpvpilot

There's no reason why it shouldn't. Remember to turn your throtle down, you won't ever need full. Also check your wheel bearings and make sure they're all smooth, that'll wreak havok trying to drift with a bad bearing, nitro or electric. You may also want to cut additional holes for cooling, like the windows, and richen your motor up slightly. You want to make sure the motor stays cool, since while drifting you won't be getting as much airflow over the motor cause you're going slower.

PM427

hey ryan i was debating wether or not to get a tc3 kit or a xxx-s but i think i might go with the xxx-s i always seemed to like it better.....anyways what do you think would be better to get the xxx-s kit or the xx-s rtr......i am not new to anything but i dont have spare electronics and what not so i was thinking i would go with rtr cause it comes with some great electronics gm v-12 i think is in there cant remember and we got a jr radio so anyways which kit would be better out of the xxx-s?? also can i get a link to the video you were talking about in your first post?

rpvpilot

The video is here: [link=http://www.yokomousa.com/newproducts/movies/RC_DRIFT_EXPO2004.mpg]VIDEO[/link]

My car is the root beer colored 240 in the end running tandem with the Apexi RX7.
The XXX-S comes with better electronics, however the 19 turn motor and the V3 ESC aren't the greatest. You'll want to replace them. The ESC doesn't have a reverse disable, and if you hit the brakes while drifting it goes into reverse immediately. I suppose you could disable reverse completely by turning your reverse endpoint to 0 on your Tx, but you'd have no brakes either. Do some looking around, Losi had an Almost Ready to Run kit that came assembled without electronics, you may be able to find it cheap enough ($125?) to buy your electronics of choice.