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July 30, 2014, 10:02 p.m.
7/31/2013
By Aaron Waldron
LiveRC.com
Whether it's wheel nuts, wings, tools, tracks, trinkets and/or anything in between, the LiveRC staff gives their testimonial and mini-review of each every Thursday morning!
There's definitely something to be said about doing things your own way rather than following trends, especially when you're able to make it work for yourself on the racetrack. SDRC employee Josh Setina had a chance to win yet another Stock Buggy main event last night but settled for an impressive third place after a crazy battle, and he did so with his rear-motor TLR 22 - and not even the 2.0.
I drove his car for about ten minutes after the mains had finished for the evening, and while I can certainly see how he's capable of turning class-leading fast laps with it, I felt like I was holding on for dear life through every section of the track. My track time with Josh's buggy only gave me more respect for how quick he's been driving lately! After my practice laps, we headed back to the pits and checked out what was underneath the Lexan on his TLR 22 1.0.
JConcepts 4mm Carbon Fiber Front Shock Tower: TLR22
#2266, $19
JConcepts fashioned this front shock tower for the TLR 22 buggies out of 4mm-thick carbon fiber, with reinforcement ribs strategically placed for maximum strength. All original geometry is maintained, yet the tower itself has a smaller profile. The shock tower includes mounting hardware.
Josh installed the tower after breaking a handful of TLR’s molded plastic units. Josh said, “I’ve had it on my car for the last year, playing out in the desert and racing regularly, and never had an issue. It’s lighter weight, more rigid, and I love it.” Josh did notice that the tower was thinner than the original tower, however, so he added 1mm shims behind the shock bushings to space them back into alignment with the front arms
Pros:
Lighter weight
Less flex
More durable
Looks cooler
Cons:
Found out he needed to add shims.
Conclusion:
A no-brainer addition to TLR’s 2WD buggies.
Beacon rating: 5/5
Peak Racing Pro 4000mAh 90C 7.4V Shorty LiPo
#PEK00575, $65
A hard-cased shorty pack measuring in at 95x46.8x24.8mm and weighing 208 grams, Peak’s shorty pack is made with cells that Peak Racing claims were produced specifically for RC racing, from a new factory making cells exclusively for Peak.
Josh liked his first Peak shorty pack so much that he bought a second one. “The first time I ran one of the batteries my car felt faster than with the packs I was using before,” said Josh. He said their performance has been consistent for quite a long time, with no sign of swelling or deterioration. While he doesn’t think that the “90C” rating makes it exponentially faster than batteries with smaller numbers, he can’t argue with the performance - especially since it’s a few grams lighter than packs of similar capacity.
Pros:
Great power
Good run time given the size
Cons:
None
Conclusion:
A solid battery choice, especially for stock racing.
Beacon rating: 4/5
Radiopost TRP mid-profile digital speed servo
#RPS1005M, $120
Radiopost uses “robot actuator technology” and 32-bit resolution for the ultimate in precision and hyper-fast response. This particular model has an aluminum center portion of the case to help dissipate heat, and a coreless motor spinning a titanium-hybrid geartrain. At 6.0v it’s rated for 138 oz.-in. of torque with a transit time of just .05 seconds. At 7.4v, however, those numbers jump to 165 oz.-in. and .04 seconds.
Josh got the servo on loan from SDRC owner Scott Bergen, and has been running it for a week. “It’s light-switch fast, almost too fast,” said Josh, who added that he likes his cars to feel twitchy and hadn’t played around with turning it down on his radio. Running the servo on a 7.4v BEC, Josh said it’s “very precise - the best servo I’ve run yet. I’m buying it from Scott this week.”
Pros:
Mid-profile frees up some room on the chassis
Incredibly fast
Feels really smooth
Cons:
Most drivers will find it to be overkill
Especially on 6.0v, it may not have enough torque for heavier vehicles, so its uses may be limited
Conclusion:
Want your car to turn now? Like, right now? This is the servo for you.
Beacon rating: 5/5
Tekin RSX sensored brushless ESC
#TT1158, $230
Tekin’s flagship modified-class speedo is based on the RS, but encased in aluminum with a diagonally-finned heatsink that’s ready to accept an optional fan shroud. The RSX is capable of data logging while racing, and the HotWire EZ Port makes for quick and easy tuning and data log access.
Josh admitted that the RSX was overkill for racing in the stock class most often, and was totally blown away to hear that Tekin had a smartphone app that provided the same features of the HotWire system that he thinks is a breeze to use. Always crazy for more steering, he really appreciated the 7.4v BEC and raved about the RSX’s driving feel. “It’s amazing. Super smooth, never gets hot even without a fan, and I could run it in just about anything 1/10-scale or smaller.”
Pros:
Everything
Cons:
Nope!
Conclusion:
If you’ve got modified class aspirations, this is the last speed control you’d need.
Beacon rating: 5/5
Central Air Conditioning
#DISCONTINUED, $59 (tune-up)
Working from home is great. Living in San Diego, where it’s summer nearly year-around, is awesome. A central air conditioner system that decides to stop working, leaving it 85 degrees in the house despite one’s best efforts to use windows and fans and curtains to create the coldest and darkest possible cave, is pretty miserable.
When that same system decides to begin working again mere hours before the appointment you’ve been anticipating for two days since calling that company with the incredibly, almost annoyingly, catchy tune in its commercials…well, I can’t help but think the house (or at least the incredibly cramped closet in which the control unit was installed) is haunted. And it was mocking me.
Pros:
Keeps the house at a comfortable temperature
Cons:
Causes electricity bill to skyrocket
Failure causes sheer panic
Conclusion:
I live in an old house, so the fact that I got away with a repair bill less than a couple hundred dollars felt like winning the lottery. I realize that I don’t live somewhere like Arizona, where A/C is not a luxury but an absolute necessity, and that those from areas of the globe that never get hot enough to need an A/C unit but are frozen for the half the year probably think I’m a total sissy, but those couple of days were pretty rough.
Beacon rating: 4/5
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