fidynutz70

Me and a couple buddies got the rc18t, a couple of us upgraded to brushless including me. At first all we did was run them up and down the street and had a little track set up in my garage, there was some pretty good races between us. But we wanted big jumps and such so we took them to our local rc shop where they have an indoor and outdoor dirt track for 1/8 scale gas buggies. They didn't care if we ran there, we ran there a couple times and the speeds on the straight away was comparable to the gas buggies but we could get them to jump consistently. So me and my one buddy set them aside and tried the whole gas buggy 1/8 scale thing. I decided it's not for me and I want to know can an 1/18 scale expect to pull consistent laps on an 1/8 scale track? Speed isn't so much an issue but weight or just the suspension seems to be.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, my friend kept his gas buggy and is buying a truggy and I would like to be able to show him that you don't need those to run a track like that. But maybe I'm wrong.

KRO

You gotta look at it in scale , the track your racing at was designed for 1/10 to 1/8 scale cars , all of the jumps and woops ect. are sooo much bigger to a 1/18 vehicle . Plus you have a brushless system in your car so the speeds are a lot faster too . Even weighted down with aluminum the suspension in my RC18 cant handle large bumps at speed .

Have you played around with different weight shock oils ? A stiffer weight oil might help if your car is too bouncy .

running_gag

roll the jumps. you'll survive a lot more and keep you advantage, which is power to weight. I don't know if you'll be competitive but it will give you a smoother lap.

Mr. Mugen

Blow their minds away and sell your 18t and get a KIMI ST in secret.....put the BL set up in it and show them a smokin lap with nice jumping capability and handling. Just a thought but they are designed to do more than the 18T's platform. IMO there is not enough travel in the susp. in the 18t series cars. Maybe try 1/10 scale rims and tires w/adapter and different oils and pistons, and springs. The 18t is a great onroar racer but when they hit the track they seem to lack all sorts of stuff. I am not bashing the 18t's trust me. I have all of them and they kick butt on carpet or aspgalt but jumps seem to be their weak point.

running_gag

What is a kimi st? I can't find it on tower or yahoo.

Mr. Mugen

It's a kyosho mini inferno. They are everywhere and have tons of aftermarket support. They are IMO the best mini for the buck other than the mini-t.

Mr. Mugen

Here is a pic of mine next to one of my 18t's. It is a 18t with a "da buggy" body on it.
LOL for got the pic the first time.

running_gag

I want the mini inferno LAV.

fidynutz70

So far everyone has been very helpful, can you tell me if there are any 1/10 scale tires that would work good on a dirt track besides mini pins my buddy ran a set of them at this track and they were bald by the time we left.

My biggest question is, Where does vehicle setup end and rider abillity take over? I know these jumps are to big for my 18th scale but I have seen them done with an 1/18 and landed just rough. But when I hit the jump my vehicle does a front flip and landed on the backside which broke my rear shock tower. Is it something I am doing like letting off the throttle or not, or is it my suspension(which I know need some attention). I bought the RTR version of the RC18T and the only thing I have changed is the motor and speed control and I put a set of RC18MT tires on it for more heigh. I went to a 50 weight oil to try to resist bottuming, but the springs remain the same stock blue ones. I also have problems with the front end pushing in the corners.

Just curious where the upgrades should go, and how much is driver vs setup.

Also KRO has your alluminum parts held up? My buddy bought an all aluminum Integy chassis with the carbon fiber pan(or whatever you call it) and on this track he had both front arms bent and the front bumper bent all during just his first battery out.