Moment with Mike: "The Road to Onroad" - Part 2

0 June 28, 2013, 8:49 a.m.

Main Photo: Moment with Mike: "The Road to Onroad" - Part 2

7/1/2013

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

It has been a couple of weeks since I started the Moment with Mike adventure, "The Road to Onroad," and the journey has officially began. With the help of Serpent USA, I have gotten underway with building my first ever competition touring car.

The car is near completion, however, along the way I have quickly learned some major differences between onroad and offroad race cars.

I have put together a list of my top 10 differences and comparisons between the two different forms of cars from which I learned during the build.

Offroad vehicles are typically boxed up in enormous boxes which include 25+ kit bags inside. An onroad car is neatly packed in a tiny box which includes a total of 7 bags inside.
Offroad vehicle builds often start off with something like a steering rack or servo saver assembly in Step 1. An onroad vehicle build starts off with assembling the entire rear end in Step 1.
Offroad 1:10 4wd vehicles most often feature ball differentials in both the front and rear. Onroad 1:10 4wd vehicles feature a simple-to-build rear gear differential and front spool. (Still unsure what exactly a spool is, what it does, and/or how it works.)
When building an offroad car, shims are measured by .5mm, 1mm, and 2mm. When building an onroad car, shims are measured by .3mm, .5mm, .7mm, 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm, and 3mm.
Screws on an offroad car should be chosen wisely, but a little too long or short doesn't usually matter. Screws on an onroad car MUST be chosen wisely, as a little too long or short means 3 hours of dis-assembly to find the right size screw.
In offroad there are a few carbon fiber parts here and there. In onroad there are a few parts that aren't carbon fiber here and there.
Cutting out an offroad body requires household scissors and 5-10 minutes of your time to hack it out. Cutting out an onroad body requires sharp scissors, precision sanding, and twice as long as actually building the car to still hack it out.
Big bore offroad shocks take a lot of oil, so take the cap off and dump it in. Onroad shocks take slightly less oil, and taking the cap off to dump it in results in a very large mess.
When I first started building an offroad car I bought a pair of digital calipers, which never got used. When I first started building an onroad car I opened them, and have been through two batteries since.
After removing the drivetrain parts from Bag 3 when building an offroad car, I simply throw the bag away. After removing the drivetrain parts from Bag 3 when building an onroad car, I simply throw the bag away. Later I must dig it back out of the trash as I find out those were NOT fancy rubber bands holding the bag together, but instead belts that drive the car.

Without ever driving the car, I can already tell you ladies and gentleman that there are some MAJOR differences between offroad and onroad racing. The Serpent "Road to Onroad" 411 2.0 touring car is near completion, and with the help of JConcepts, Horizon Hobby, Spektrum, Novak Electronics, and Venom Batteries, we are almost all geared up and ready to hit the carpet for the first time ever. The local track owner has agreed to allow us a private practice session, as he feels that will be the best option to ensure the safety and well-being of his existing onroad racers for the time being.

Get ready as we get set to hit the track in "The Road to Onroad" - Part 3...COMING SOON!