SyCo_VeNoM

Wow whats wrong with OFNA? I've never had any issues with them(own 3), or read anyone with issues. In al honesty I find them extremely durable, simple to work on, and not require stuff like RPM makes (WAY more than I can say about traxxas's, and I own 3 of them too)

Buggies don't need a 2 speed to blow a revo away

378

My Feedback: (4)

Find parts locally for it.

And with a two speed you could get a speeding ticket on the freeway with one. Or, you could use a smaller/milder/restricted engine, maintain the same top speed and acceleration, and get better fuel mileage.

stoya789

its the cool factor that I like, hearing it automatically shift. Also having options such as close and wide ratios is nice. I seen a video of this one guy put a 3 speed in the revo, hearing it shift twice is awesome.

Their customer and parts support isn't as good as other brands. Their product quality is not as good as other (from what I hear), also from reviews Ihave read in RCCA. The places I buy from don't even carry ofna. Also, my local shop has no ofna parts but has tons of losi and traxxas parts.

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

Worst reasoning to do anything in RC ever.

SyCo_VeNoM

I have actually
Had to replace my Jammin x1 CRT's arm(bought it used could tell the last owner royally beat on it), and my LHS had 4 sets in stock, among a fair amount of other parts for it.
I also sat a pile of CR parts when I was looking, never needed those though.

stoya789 you heard wrong would recommend reading something other than an ad driven magazine. Its like reading reviews by the RCU reviewers the places that have banners being displayed always have great RC's even if the videos show them break a couple parts within the 1st 4 minutes into the trial run(there was one last year was rated an extremely good RC in the review...) Reason is if say RCCA calls a traxxas a piece of crap they lose A LOT of their revenue for the magazine, if they say its a beautiful RC, and best they ever driven high chance traxxas will continue business with them.

As far as parts support if you can't find it at your LHS (which most don't stock much for anything outside the flavor of the month) most can order it, or you can go to ofnas store and order it yourself. Sounds a lot like what I have to do with my HPI's, and certain traxxas parts [X(]

378

My Feedback: (4)

What I would love to see is someone try to shrink a band-type planetary automatic gearbox. Three to five speeds possible, simple, fairly reliable if machined right, a matching torque converter would be a god-send for bashers, and it would allow a .12 to heft a 15 pound MT around without too much trouble. Reverse would also be pretty trivial to get right.

stoya789

since when is rcca a circus? yeah they have ads, every magazine does. yeah traxxas pays big bucks for ads, because they can. They are making big buccks because they have good products that they advertise. I dont think rcca favors traxxas, this wouldn't be fair to their other advertisers.

Also, just because your have a lot of forum posts dont mean jack, it doesnt make your opinion worth more than anybody else.

I've been reading rcca since 1996, and they have always had a lot of ads, even before traxxas blew up with the t-maxx. I think the magazine is decent, and I like the ads because they are relevant to my interests.

378

My Feedback: (4)

...July 2011 issue was so full of ads I've sworn off the mag. I'm not going to spend six bucks to get six articles and 80+ pages of ads for crap I don't want or care about. The six one-page articles contained within the 100+ page mag were all newbie stuff, too. Like how to properly set up a clutch. I already know how to do that, I've done it a few times before. How about instead showing us how to build something that's actually difficult to build. Or some more detail on that AT-AT shell one guy put on an Axial crawler of some sort. [>:]

ThunderbirdJunkie

My Feedback: (3)

If Traxxas staff were not on the staff of RCCA then it would not be so obvious..
You're right, but this isn't prison where you target the biggest dog in the yard to take down and make an example out of them and come off as the tough guy. Chances are pretty good they're a respected member of the community and you'll just make yourself look like an idiot.

stoya789

ya that would be just awesome. I remember back in the day when a 2 speed was exotic, nowadays it seems every nitro has one. I wonder if the same thing will happen with 3 speed.

Another thing Ireally like the idea of is liquid cooling. It would allow the use of higher %nitro and also allow the nitro engine to lay on its side, lowering cg considerably. I hope in the future that liquid cooling becomes more commonplace.

378

My Feedback: (4)

I've heard some cars with three speeds shifting. It sounds wonderful...well it does when the shift points are right. I've heard a few Savages with mis-adjusted three speeds...50/50 shot they either grab second right after the clutch engages or they wind first gear out till the rod about breaks before finally going into second.



to be fair adjusting the 1-2 shift in a 3-speed savage does involve splitting the gearbox...but if one's going to upgrade to a three speed set the two speed right beforehand?

Four stroke multi-cylinder engines, actually. Honestly I think part of the reason four strokes are so damn rare in ground use is cooling. They have no trouble competing with two strokes in the aircraft world where keeping them cool is trivial. After all they do tend to have a fan bolted to the front. If we're able to get reliable liquid cooling into ground RCs we may just see thumpers come back.


I especially see them muscling two strokes out of the bashing market. More torque, better fuel economy, quieter, easier starting, more reliable, these are traits bashers like myself would gladly pay a premium for. Racers may not take too kindly to the drop in RPMs, as a comparable two stroke revs 10-15 thousand RPM higher(OS FS26C was around 22K, most small blocks at the time 30-40K) and the corresponding drop in HP, seeing as HP is a calculated figure based on RPM, but it would certainly find a niche. There may be a few racers that run them anyways, making up in 20 minute runs per tank what they lose not revving to the moon and back.

Foxy

I was only pulling your leg. I see the value of reverse, but I don't see the value of putting it on a nitro or gas car particularly, it's a weighty unit usually, and ultimately, not necessary.

Foxy

Buggies don't need a two-speed period. It necessitates removal of the center differential, which makes the car then corner like crap.

Foxy

Firstly, the fact that 1/8th buggies and truggies do not have a 2 speed is what makes them better. Instead they have a center differential, which controls/limits power delivery, and makes the car handle much, much better. 2 speeds do exist for buggies and truggies, but as you have observed, nobody uses them, because they effectively 'ruin' the car. A monster truck with a center diff would also handle better than a monster truck with a 2 speed.

Also, why o why do people believe that a 2-speed makes cars faster. IT DOESN'T. It improves acceleration, not top speed. If you have 2 identical cars, one with a 2 speed which is 14/28+15/24, and the other single speed 15/24. Which one is going to be faster? Neither, all things being equal they will do the same speed. The truck with the 2 speed will get there faster though.

Also, regarding the Losi/Ofna comparison. That's not really fair now is it. Comparing an entry level basher/semi racer buggy (the Ofna cars, with the exception of the Jammin) with a race car nearly twice the price. In actual fact, for someone looking to start in buggies, the Ofna cars are a great choice. The Violators and Dominators and Hypers etc won't win you an amain, but you can take them out on the track, and they will be cheap and durable tanks.

Also, when it was released, the Hyper 7 was a top level competitive racing car. The fact that it is STILL on the market some 10 years later virtually unchanged is testament to its quality and reliability. And peope are still buying them. The Jammin is an Ofna product, great cars. Finally, Ofna isn't actually the OEM of these cars. In fact, Ofna cars are made by 2 quality Chinese (Taiwanese) brands; The Hyper series by Ho-Bao, and the Jammin stuff by Hong-Nor.

If you really want to chuck in a quality buggy brand, mention Mugen or Xray, make the Losi look like a toy. Losi haven't been in the 1/8th sector long, they are still learning. Mugen is the multiple time world champion for the last decade.


Regarding liquid cooling and variable transmissions... liquid cooling...never gonna happen, ever. The key word here is liquid. Liquid is heavy. Also, raising the nitro content of a fuel doesn't overheat the engine, the stronger explosion strains the conrod. Correctly tuned, there is no discernible difference in the running temp of a nitro engine between 10% and 40%, due to the cooling properties of nitromethane itself.

Variable transmissions would be epic though. I hear there are some companies experimenting with them.

cumquat

bcuz da traxxis jatoo an fo-tec haz a 2sped an day dew 70 mph!!!!!11!!


im sorry, i had to

for the record, cen and Schumacher are actually making the fastest rtr's with quoted speeds in access of 80mph.

stoya789

how heavy? using a micro radiator similar to the TCS-124, a 50cc resevoir, and a perry pump, it would probably only add 250-300 grams. it would be worth it for the cool factor and you would have lower engine temperature allowing for slightly leaner mixture.

I always though higher nitro meant more heat, the rc boat usually run 40 or 50% nitro. I thought the reason they can do this is because they are watercooled.

William5

I am looking for a 1/10 or 1/8 scale buggy or truggy to run on the 1-3 inch tall grass and sometimes 4 inch deep potholes (of course not from a standstill, more of a requirement that the machine doesn't break when it hits them rather than being able to run smoothly over it.), I would like to be able to get parts and upgrades for it easily on the web (no LHS out here, no requirement for local parts.), I would also like it to either be brushless or be upgradeable to brushless in the future.

cumquat

sorta. the duratrax evader ext2 can do all of that (within reason) and a cheap 60 amp hobbywing brushless system will keep it entertaining later on. aluminum upgrades are disappearing but the stock parts are strong enough that they arent needed. it has a 1 year parts guarantee for broken parts, i dont think any other company has that kind of faith in durability. you can easily bolt on some larger tires if you find it lacking in traction and/or ride hight.
http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...I=LXAAMW**&P=0
http://www.ultimatehobbies.com/store...VADER+EXT2+RTR

lez1troubles

2nd hand KYOSHO MP7.5 INFERNO or MP777 should be round the 200$ mark.

ZeroKelvin

Not the best example as it's a little misleading with respect to the gearing of a 2 speed. I've had quite a bit of experience with 2 speeds and rarely if ever is the 2nd gear a similar gearing to a single speed as you used in your example. On the majority of 2 speeds out there (every one I have seen) the 2nd gear is one that would be way too high for a single speed, would kill acceleration bigtime. Also, the clutch bells can be separated by 4 teeth or more. A truggy I had: 12/65 + 17/60. Had awesome off the line acceleration and top speed was insane. Same truggy with a single speed wouldn't be able to have a 17/60 because it would take forever to accelerate off the line, totally impractical. Sure, you'll get to that top speed......in a week or two. So bottom line, for a basher who wants the best of both worlds (best possible acceleration + best possible top speed), a multispeed transmission will be superior to a single speed.

lez1troubles

If your using a single speed tranny and need more acceleration off the line you can of course tune your clutch so that it opens later so as to give more revs before engaging, just using heavier springs would help alot.

stoya789

This is what I'm talking about. Thats what i like about the wide-ratio 2 speed. It has expplosive acceleration for the 1st gear and top end speed for the 2nd. Like you said, it has the best of both worlds. This is why 1/8 scale on road cars (probably the fastest class of r/c right behind dragsters) use them.

Tony Iannucelli

My Feedback: (193)

For a beginner, there's only one. Traxxas Rustler.

Foxy

I hate to be pedantic about this, but I'm afraid my phrasing of this is 'accurate', while yours is 'misleading'.

A 2 speed does not make a car faster. PERIOD. Lets simplify the example even more. You have 2 identical cars, one with a 2 speed with 15/24 on the second gear, the other a single speed with 16/22 gearing. Which is faster? The single speed. End. Of. Conversation.

What the 2 speed does do, is allow you to gear for a lower final drive without losing the bottom end acceleration.

Once again, my apologies for sounding pedantic about this, but it's been a pet hate of mine since 2 speeds first appeared. People saying things like "my car has a 2 speed so it's faster", etc. In my opinion, it's better to educate people with the correct understanding, rather than support the dumbed down statement that a 2 speed makes a car faster, it's simply not true.

And Stoya, Stoya, Stoya...

1/8th nitro racers 'probably the fastest RC cars apart from dragsters'. WHAT?? If this thread has taught us anything, it's that a car is not fast, its gear ratios and powerplant make it fast or slow (comparatively). There are electric 1/18th micros that SMOKE a 1/8th nitro in a straight line, and by the way, they have single speeds . 1/8th nitro on roads do not have 2 speeds for top speed, they have 2 speeds to allow them to reach higher speeds WITHOUT SACRIFICING BOTTOM END ACCELERATION. Also, they have so much grip they don't need centre differentials. Their turn in and power out is handled by one-way (or solid) front differentials.

Please, let me state again for the record. 2 speeds make your car accelerate faster, not have a higher top speed. That is their purpose.

cumquat

so you admit single speeds are faster? i havent done a whole lot of research into rc drag racing but all of the ones i have seen are single speed direct drives.