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This past Sunday, I made the trek out to the RC Rally de Portugal event held at Crest Community Church in Riverside CA. I brought out a few Rally projects I’ve been working on and, thankfully, the turnout was actually quite good – 12 in the Open Class, 11 in Spec, 7 in Mini, 4 in Dakar T1 Ultimate and 4 in the Baja 1800 (Grom) class. The weather was nice (mid-80’s) and the track, well, dusty and bumpy with plenty of weeds surrounding the drive line. Careful car control (and throttle control) was going to be needed to put in a fast lap – perfect for the tests I had in store.
The first car up was my AR10 from AutoRC. This car has been getting better and better with each run and today I thought I’d try it with the new 3D-printed inner fenders and side skirts. Installation is pretty straightforward and the 3D-printed parts are nice and thick so, unless you have a MAJOR mishap, they should hold up well to most crashes. In addition to helping keep alot of the larger debris out of the chassis, they do add a bit of weight to the car (more on the exact figures soon). In most cases I’d not want that, but the added weight seemed to plant the car better in the corners. Unfortunately, since I only ran the car 2 times in practice, I never set an official times, but my fastest time on the track was with the AR10 – a 1:31.
The Rally Car I actually raced was the new Xpress AT1SR kit. I recently finished building it complete with a Hitec servo, Hobbywing ESC, a Reedy 25.5T motor, Jetko Avantgarde Rally Tires and that hot Tamiya Subaru body set. Although I had to make a few modifications before running it (review video dropping soon), this car has some serious potential right out of the box. It’s very smooth and, at the end of the day, was only 5 seconds off my fastest-ever run on the track with a 1:36. A little more tuning (and a few less mistakes) and I’m confident this car could post a leaderboard-leading time!
Moving on to the Mini class, I’ve been running the XM-01 with much success. This car is a miniature version of Tamiya’s XV-02 – centralized gearbox and motor with the servo and battery on the opposite side. While you can’t use 1/10 scale tires on this (like you could with the MF-01X), the kit tires (and stellar 4WD system) combine to make a great handling platform. The only downside is the battery box – it’s and odd design that makes installing a shotgun-style pack a bit difficult. To fix that, I had a buddy of mine design and 3D-print these doors to hold a shorty pack in place – and they worked great! We’ll be selling these (and a bunch of additional 3D-printed parts) soon, so keep an eye out for them.
Finally, I took the Project BT-01R out for its maiden run. If you have one of these, you know that the car has some issues with wandering and crab walking, making it a difficult car to drive. However, with my very easy fix, I’ve basically turned this wobbly mess into quite the performer, so much in fact that my fastest time on the Rally course was a 1:43!!!! Yes, that’s only 7 seconds slower than the Xpress car – and I’m just starting out the changes. Next up is a new front diff and I think this could be a real beasty! Look for a full rundown on this car in the near future as well.
So, that’s what’s going on in the Rally sector of CompetitionX. If you’re interested in more info on RC Rally, check out the SoCal RC Rally Runners info and come join us – it’s a TON of fun!
SoCal RC Rally Runners
Website: socalrcrallyrunners.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/610762142448176
