I'm new to Rc Drifting and I was thinking about buying a D-Box for my Nitro 4-tec 3.3. Getting bored of the usual straight racing and drifting poped up in mind as an alternative. The retail for a D-Box is $90+shipping. I was wondering if anyone is getting a D-Box for a better price than the retail? Also if anyone has a used D-Box lying around, I wouldn't mind buying it.

My disclaimer to this post is that I'm fairly new to drifting too, and I really don't have any personal experience with a d-box. I'm sure people will have different opinions.

I know it's not what you're asking, but I would recommend learning to drift without the d-box. I drift a nitro too, and part of the fun is learning to control it. I suppose that's easy for me to say because I bought the HPI RS4 Nitro Drift RTR. The d-box really kind of drives the car for you a little. It's made to balance throttle and steering to keep you in a drift with less effort. It's definitely a faster way to a nice clean drift, but (personally) my favorite part is learning to balance that on my own. Of course...I probably crash a bit (lot) more than someone with a d-box, but it's all part of the fun for me!

I'm sure a d-box is nice to have, but I decided not to go that route.

I tried drifting on my Nitro 4tec 3.3 that I've recently bought on the stock tires a couple of times, but never really seem to be getting anywhere. From what I see most of the time, is that the back tires are always worn out faster because the power is transfered faster and the front wheels have less power. Most of the time it's doing burnouts or oversteering and spins instead. Maybe it's just me have a hard time handling it, but it's pretty hard to drift without the D-Box. Do actual drifting tires do a better job?

dbox is a waste of money. be your own dbox.

Someone's gotta make a decal out of that![8D]

Drift tires are a must. You can cut your own out of ABS or PVC, or you can buy 3 sets off of ebay for 10 Bucks; just search sushi drift and they'll pop up. You can't drift with soft rubber tires...it just isn't going to work. Get drift tires not a D-Box.

hey dude, thanks a lot for the info. Anyways, where can I get some ABS and PVC materials? Are they going to be cheaper than the Sushi ABS drift tires? And will these tires go on just with glue on the rims without needing any inserts?

Take one of your RC rims to Home Depot and find the ABS that fit's as snug as possible. Have them cut you a couple of feet and then just cut the ABS to the width of your rim and you should be good to go. If it is a little loose, wrap a layer of electrical tape around the rim and then put the ABS on and glue it. Always make sure you glue the ABS otherwise it will just come off of your rim and you'll ruin your rims. The sushi's a less of a hassle because they're pre cut and the edges are beveled not square. To me it's worth it to just buy the Sushi's.

Good luck!

The Sushi tires are a great deal. I was wondering about the HPI drifting tires, are those made of the same material? because one thing different i saw was that they were treaded like regular rubber tires. They're much more expensive like $10 for a pair without any inserts. Would you recommend HPI drifting tires?

I use HPI sometimes, and they are definitely a better tire. You only "need" inserts with the softer rubber or tires like the A-Types. My RS4 rips through the softer rubber like crazy so I don't use the softer A-Types although it's fun to go fast sometimes. I just learned to drift at lower RPM's using harder tires like ABS or HPI T-Types. The T-Types do not have treads and they are a harder plastic so they last a little longer. I have to say that the T-Types are a better tire than the sushi's, but it's hard to pass up the deal for the sushi's.

I 2nd the Drift Tires, that is key over the stock tires. I just got the Sushi tires, I LOVE THEM! $10shpd for 3 sets ( 12 tires ) Bargain and you can drift at slow speed controlled, no need to go real fast or full throttle like stock tires. I have pics of the SUSHI tires and stock ones here - good affordable tire and fits Great!

Good luck!

once you get it with the sushi tires step up to something like hpi t-drift which have more control over abs.

WERD![sm=shades_smile.gif]

hey, i was just wondering what kind of glue should i buy for the sushi tires? regular tire glue or is there anything else that will work from the stores, maybe thick superglue?

I've used super glue and it works, but tire glue will work also.

Some people have a lot against the D-box. It's not drifting for you 100% but it will compensate for over & understeer.

If you want to play around and have fun at home, by all means get it!
Just dont take it to the track or run it at events. A lot of guys have spent their time practicing and using a d-box is kind of an insult.
My experiance my differ from others, but I picked up drifting fairly easy with an electric car. I can bearly control a Nitro drift, but I'm also still learning.

I got a chance to try an employee's car at my local shop. It was a Tamiya TL-01. Had the D-box in it and I can say it WILL drift prety consistantly but It only did sweepers. I couldnt get it to fishtail, or even take a sharp drift into a tight corner. I guess you'll need to set that sort of stuff up.

So IMO what I'm trying to say is that drift a little without it. With the D-box you'll be held back. Its great for playing around with, but for 90 bucks I'd rather upgrade my car.

The guy is running nitro. You don't want to run ABS on a nitro car. Get a set of HPI Type-As for nitro drifting.

ABS on a Nitro is a recipe for a cooked engine... ABS is better for Electrics where there not affected with Heat as much...

The Type A's will allow the Nitro to slide yet let the Owner get some air flow over the motor to keep it from cooking..

i ran the a-type tires that came stock with the rs4 drift until they literally wore a whole in the rubber. so i figured i was good enough for the t-type tires. i took me a good 10 hours combined to control it. its that much more slick. it is really like driving on ice. if your stopped and give it full throttle real quick you will sit and spin for a second. i like it cause you can't go past half throttle before you spin out so it keeps you in the low rpm's. a-type is definitely the beginner tire and is good. but if you want to compete or show your friends how good you are. get some t-type and it gets real technical and looks way more sick! you can slide slow at big angles.

something i used to help me learn was get a friend or someone to set up a course with cones and practice it over and over till you get it down then run it backwards. keep having them change the course then you get a feel for how much steering/throttle gets you what angle and exit speed for the next corner. if you aren't trying to compete at any point, by all means take it out and have fun. but i have found this a very successful way to go.

david

i disagree with the whole "sushi is the best tire" thing...
i actually found that i drift much more controlled with my own cut abs tires as oppossed to the sushi tires.
not sure if its the beveled edges or it is the very narrow width of the tire.

anyhow, that was a lousy way to spend 10 bucks on those

Ummm...what? Sushi tires are definitely not the best thing in the world. Not to bust anyone's bubble, but $10 is a damn good deal for 3 full sets of tires. You definitely want the beveled edge, and if sushi's have too much tire on the ground for you...you need more power! Just for my time alone, three full sets of tires would cost a lot more than $10 to cut and bevel to the correct size. I'd rather spend the $10 bucks for someone else's time to make tires and spend my time learning how to drift. Just my opinion...

anyone tried the t-drift tread tires that look like the toyo, falken, advan etc. Just wondering how these are for nitros and if the different tread style from each manufacturer effects anything?? How do these compare to the plain t-drift slick tires??