RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

Well it's true I am going from Radio Shack special to an 1/8 Ofna buggy!
I am pretty handy with this little POS Radio Shack ones.
I want some Do's and Don't's as far as driving these buggy's.

1. Don't try this at home
2. Leave the driving to professionals

I am looking for more than the two example's that I have already given


Were would be the best place to break-in a new engine? Grass , Baseball Field, Paved Road?

Also This will be my first Pistol Grip Transmitter anything I should expect?

Jarret

Depends on what buggy you get.

Some have more power than others, some have better handling, some have different engines.

Post what buggy you are getting and you will get more help from people.

RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

1/8 9.5 Violator RTR w/ .26 Force

Jarret

Do break in the engine either by the instructions or with advice from people on these forums.

Do know that the Radio Shack cars don't even come close to comparing with a buggy!

Don't drive the buggy in water! LOL

Grass would be good or a paved road for breaking in the engine.

A baseball field would be to hard to control the power of the buggy.

Make sure that you turn on the radio first then the radio in the car.

Don't keep driving if you see smoke coming from the engine.

It shouldn't be too hard to get used to the pistol grip radio, as I assume that you fly planes according to your signature. The only hard part is learning how to turn when the car is coming at you.

Nitroaddict

rc bozo - im sure the above statement is meant as a joke, but just so u dont get confused - u DO WANT to see plenty of smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. no smoke equals blown engine.

RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks, Jarret

I was hoping that this buggy would be everything that those Radio Shack ones are not!

I do fly airplanes and I am not sure what type of smoke you are talking about, how can you tell if it's exhaust or not?

So I should not try to jump Water filled ditches?

RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

Thanks Nitro your fingers are faster than mine. I realize that smoke is your freind!

Jarret

Smoke coming from the exhaust pipe is good but not from the engine like I said.

It was part joke but also meant it.

You can try to jump water filled ditches but if you happen to land in the water and ruin your electronics it isn't my fault.

dagass

DO! jump water filled ditches and hay bails and full size family cars and all of your kids little friends that you have lying down at the bottom of the ramp so you can see exactly how many you can clear. You know you're getting good when you can clear 20 or so 3rd graders

Yes, I'm joking!

RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

Yeah I was kidding about the ditch too! So the baseball field will be too small? I was really looking forward to messing that up!

I am going to have 40 deg. F here on Saturday should I have any concerns breaking in that engine?

Will my manual have operating temperatures for break - in, and after for normal operation??

Jarret

You can drive on the baseball field but just don't hit the dirt because you will lose traction most likely.

I don't know if the manual for your buggy will say it, but if it doesn't somebody here will tell you.

RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

But that is so fun trying to control something that is uncontrollable! Traction that is.

dagass

see below

Jarret

Yes but when you run into something and break it, it isn't fun.

Although most likely nothing will break on a buggy if you run into something.

dagass

Driving on the dirt on the baseball field is the same as driving at a construction site. I highly recomend it. You cannot be considered to be in control of your RC until you know how to drive it in the dirt. A baseball field is no exception. As a matter of fact, if you really want learn to control your buggy, try and "round the bases" carrying as much speed as you can. You will learn the limits of your buggy all while learning how to control it on a surface with less than perfect traction.

The only concern you should have about the weather is getting the engine up to operating temperature. Aim for 210 - 230 and you will be fine. Most engines run their best in the 260-270 range but you will sacrfice longevity by doing so. My PBS runs hard at 230-240. Your manual should have all the pertinent information in it regarding needle settings and operating temps. If you can't find something, shoot us a question and somebody will get you all squared away.

As for the do's and dont's, the most important don't there is, is not to run your buggy around kids and animals. You will be amazed at how quickly things happen to an 8 pound buggy hurling down the street at 45 mph. I guarantee you that you will not see the kid or the animal until you hit them. Most dogs first reaction is to chase the RC. As for kids, they are so consumed with wanting to see the RC that they will do almost anything to get a look. I almost smoked my 4 year old when I was tuning my top end. I was watching the buggy coming at me and I didn't realize he had wandered into the driveway. I missed him by a few feet and I didn't see him until the buggy was passing him. That was the first and last time I will drive my buggy around him.

RCBOZO

My Feedback: (1)

Were should you aim for engine temperature? Top of the head , Bottom of the head, inside the head beside the glow plug?

On a new engine do you idle a tank through before you actually drive it? When should you take the temp? Every couple of minutes, for a new engine that is?

dagass

With the Raytek unit, I believe you point it right down the chute at the glow plug. The heatsink's job is to disapate heat, pointing it at the side of the head will not give you an accurate temp. The two best places to check for temp is either pointed at the glow plug or at 90 degrees to the exhaust port on the engine case. That's where you will get the most accurate temps.

As for breaking in the engine, there many schools of thought on this topic. The idea for the break in is to "heat cycle" the engine. You want to get it up to operating temperature and then shut it off and let it get back to room temperature. This allows the internals to mate correctly. I personally don't believe that just idling through a tank gets the engine hot enough to do any real good. I fire it up and put it on the ground and "blip" the throttle while driving it in figure eights. This will allow you to get the engine hot enough to actually do some good. I run 3 tanks like that and then start introducing more extended periods of throttle. I NEVER give it full throttle though until I'm at 7 or 8 tanks. Maybe a little cautious, but safe nevertheless. If you shoot for the 220-240 range in temps, you will get good performance and long life from your engine.

bigjdubb

I dont suggest breaking in your engine in the grass. Typically grass is about the toughest surface on an engine, especially with the short ground clearance of the buggy. We have had good luck with engines by idleing the first three tanks through and then spending the next 2 tanks putting around with blips of the throttle and then starting to tune a bit. I leave mine rich for the first 10 tanks or so and then start to lean it out for max performance. Personally I use proper break in more for performance than engine life. Maintianing tight tolerances and good compression through proper break in is key to solid performance. Tuning by temps can be a pain in the arse, each engine has its own preference on where it wants to run. The P4 in my ofna buggy runs best around 250-260 degrees. Some engines run better at lower temps.

If you are to scared to run your buggy (or MT) in the dirt for fear of crashing then you prolly should get an on-road car. I love to tear up the ball feild near my house, and yes rounding the bases is a blast. Sometimes I even go through the trouble of setting up a little track on the infield and a portion of the outfeild just to practice slide control. It is actually a softball feild so the infeild is all dirt, makes for allot of fun.

Here is a list:
DO- break in properly
DO- have a blast with the buggy
DO- get involved with organized racing if it is in your area
DO- have the cajones to jump a ditch (it's a hobby have fun)

DON'T- drive into water filled ditches (make sure you clear the ditch ok)
DON'T- drive the buggy near kids or any group of people (it hurts adults too)
DON'T- be afraid of breaking it, these things are tough as nails
DON'T- freak out about temps unless you get it crazy hot

The main thing is to remember to have fun with it. If you worry to much about breaking or smoking the engine you won't have fun. Parts are fairly cheap and simple to replace so have fun with it. Just don't hit someone because if they don't know you they may seek compensation (lawsuits!![:'(])

fastfred

My Feedback: (4)

Somewhat new here to gas as well, these things run very fast, and like dagass said, things happen VERY quickly. Look away, however briefly, and you're in trouble. I tried my Storm on the street in front of my place once. Just too fast for a traveled public area.

I really _REALLY_ like the idea of learning on a baseball diamond. Going to try that this weekend. Running on a track is fun, but sometimes running on just flat dirt is a challenge.

ff

dagass

For me, outside of jumping, the most fun you can have with a buggy is on a wide open, slightly bumpy field with loose dirt on the top. It's a rush making turns at WOT and doing power-slides while the buggy searches for traction. Having the bumps in there makes things a little tougher because it makes you work to keep the buggy pointed in the direction you want it to go. To me, that is the epitome of bashing!!!

studysession

Very sweet.

Chrisblkz

hmmm i am not sure if you got your buggy yet but you might want to find one with a .21 engine so you can race. anything bigger than a .21 is not legal to race.

rx7_ragtop

Ok... I'm a NOOB too... and here are some things I learned the hard way. (I've drivent my buggy ONCE... with the help of a friend that bounces back and forth between cleaning house in sportsman and getting his butt kicked in expert) (Note that at THIS track running Expert MEANS YOU ARE REALLY FAST- it is Mike Battaile's "home" track! Yes, the guy who is national champion in trucks... I hope I spelled his name right... and he doesn't always win in buggies at that track, although he runs all 4 classes.)

1) An RTR buggy isn't... I got a 9.5 RTR Ravager that was just broken in from a guy... absolutely stock out of the box. My buddy could barely drive it, for several reasons...
a) It comes with grease in the diffs- that HAS to change. It just won't put power to the ground in a controllable manner. You HAVE to put diff fluid in there to make it driveable.
b) The stock servos are crap. Not enough torque to work the steering and brakes properly, and not at all durable. He drove it first... the first thing out of his mouth was " ____ this thing is fast oh ___ NO BRAKES!!!!"
c) The chassis is set up pretty lame. No significant toe, camber settings not very consistant and too much camber.


I managed to fry both servos the first day. Interestingly it was the throttle servo that died first. I replaced it with a much better servo (over 2x the torque and much faster) and the brakes actually worked then. When the steering servo died we called it a day (after about 4 tanks) and I ordered a better servo for that, waiting for it to come in.

My friend said this is THE "loosest" car he's ever driven, it was like driving on ice. Hit the throttle hard at all and it would simply swap ends. GOBS of power, but couldn't put it to the ground, and just uncontrollable in general. He could barely make a lap driving conservatively... I couldn't keep it on the track at all.

So we discussed what to do about it... my friend suggested sorting out the toe and camber settings... Mike Battaile said the MOST IMPORTANT CHANGE is the diff fluids. We've now done both, waiting on my steering servo so we can drive it- they both expect it to be a completely different car.

I took Steven Nguyen's (Team OFNA) setup sheet for the 9.5 and went just a little more conservative than he runs (more rear toe, camber and front toe the same, slightly different diff fluids) so I should be close to having a well-set-up car now. (I went 5k-7k-5k to keep the car "friendly" to drive, not worried about agressive cornering ability, etc right now... but the 7k in the center should keep power distribution to both ends pretty even to keep it forgiving.)

I understand that more toe on the rear makes the car harder to "catch" if it starts to spin out... but at my current level of skill ( NONE ) that doesn't matter... what does matter is that it stays "stuck" better. I also understand that the heavier diff fluid in the rear slows cornering... but once again... it keeps the traction more even, so it should be more forgiving.

Of course there are a lot of experts in here who can give you better specifics... just telling you what I experienced.

Brad

Da Smak

*****,I did a whole frateraty last night

PillowPants

I bet you did