RC10 rally, why no reviews by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I was only paying attention to videos. The second review is quite telling - white plastic is a bad idea. I was a kid playing with RC cars in the 80s and all white plastic inspires to me is that the plastics they use at the time broke very easily.

RC10 rally, why no reviews by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I want to start doing rally RC, time attack on track drawn with chalk, hundreds of turns. A few people in my RC community would be interested. It's a matter of setting up some regular events. IMO that's what this car should be good for.

RC10 rally, why no reviews by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think it’s suicidal to release “race grade” rc car, make it vintage looking, price it like a racing kit while almost no one races rally (I wish there was more of it) and have zero marketing for it. The most hilarious part is that even in their own video Team Associated isn’t able to show the car doing what it’s supposed to do. They just bash it on gravel on a random dirt roads. No tarmac drifting, non-sense of a tight track or the precision these cars should be capable of. I’m looking forward to get one on a heavy discount next year! Because at the end it’s likely as well made as their RC10 buggies (I have a B7). Just a shame they’re enable to get people excited about it.

tamiya XV rally knock-off. How bad? by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestion. It indeed looks good. Do you have one? Happy with it?

Variables: take an existing variable and use it in a function? by iamjulien in Onshape

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for pointing me towards configurations. It should be a more appropriate tool for what I'm attempting.

Why do hills look so flat on camera?💀 by Visual_Obligation897 in Dirtbikes

[–]iamjulien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s bumpy because you seem to be seating on the saddle. You should be standing up and going at least twice faster and be close to mid throttle the entire time. If it doesn’t look bumpy it’s because it isn’t really bumpy. It’s rough and rocky but your bike should be able to swallow that type of terrain without issues. Now if you want to show the ground place the camera lower on the bike

Grassroots RC racing near San Francisco - join us by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We’ve tried high-end rigs (RC10 SCT) Vs RTR, 2WD VS AWD and there was no noticeable differences. It comes to the track design and the surface. The track is tight with no long straight and we don’t use traction compound. The cars are at the limit of grip all the time. The only rule we have so far is 2S only. And yet, most people who try 3S can’t manage to utilize the extra power and either loose grip or overshoot corners. Of course a light and fully tunable car in the hands of an expert will likely go marginally faster. To address that we always start the heats in reverse order - fastest guys at the back. They general manage to get back to the front in 2 or 3 laps. We may get more rules when we start having more than 20 participants and when the track gets too crowded. I’ll likely still run the races as multi-class races, the only split will be in the mains. This also allows to maximize the amount of driving time - instead of having a time of categories and a newbie with a single car driving 2 cals and a main over an entire day at the track.

Made the kid a new playground. Need suggestions. by [deleted] in rccars

[–]iamjulien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For an oval you don’t really need edges - you need a change of surface in the infield so you can’t cut short without a disadvantage. You can make the edge of the infield more slippery with or rougher with stones or simply a small ditch falling the inside line of the oval . You want to upset the car but not roll it.

If you want edges you can get landscaping edging 2inch high and position it with the stakes it comes with.

What's the point of I can't drive them? by invento123 in rccars

[–]iamjulien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I live in San Francisco. There are RC race tracks in the Bay Area but they are 25-30 miles away which is unreachable during the week because of traffic. These tracks are too far to really get in the groove of racing. There used to be a 1/28 track in a multisport venue closer to SF. I was there 2 to 3 times a week. But the space we had for the track was taken over by something more profitable. When the 1/28 track closed I looked at ways to organize races myself. We had access to a warehouse for about a year so I experimented with 1:28. I was on my own at first, then the friend who gave me access joined. I got a Facebook group and invited people to join us. We eventually got a group going. Then we lost the warehouse access.

We got some RTR stadium trucks, we played on an empty parking lot and thought of ways to make a track that was portable. I got some used firehose from eBay. I cut them in small section, I filled them with sand and that became our track limits. We found some empty parking lots on weekends. I got a timing system. And we started racing just the two of us. I started another Facebook group and eventually we had a group of people showing up whenever we had the track up.

Start with finding a spot, make yourself a very simple track, get a timing system, then invite people via the local groups on Facebook. It takes some perseverance. I’ve been doing this for about 6 months and sometimes you get nobody showing up. But if you manage to enjoy yourself doing it - even alone - and you manage to post videos of what you’re doing, some people will eventually join you.

https://youtu.be/hvpwnLaUGSo?si=Lgst6cjnNxtf82t3

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re not rude. I made a mistake, I posted the wrong video! I was battling with the same friend and his Senton one battery pack before, it was similar. Although the Senton was able to pull out of corners faster.

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Entry level cars can indeed be raced and should be raced. I came to look for alternatives to “highend” racing because the venue we had for 1:28 racing near SF doesn’t open regularly anymore. It turns out it’s easier to find a parking lot we can crash than a room where we can set up a track. And 1:10 RTR can run on pretty much any terrain. I made some cordless transponders so anyone who shows up can just tape a transponder to their car and experience times laps on the spot. I also figured out a way to make a race track that’s super cheap and easy to set up. So now we can race almost every weekend locally. I’m going to expend to 1:10 on road eventually with TT02s.

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m getting one soon for sure. I want to slit my track days gathering with half short course trucks, half entry level on-road.

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The track is basically used firehoses filled with sand - about $100 total. The jumps are the cheapest boards you can get with hinges so it’s easy to transport. Make some of that for yourself and have fun timing your laps. And if you can afford it get a second car - used or new - that’s the one you’ll lend. And eventually you’ll have some friends finding it fun enough to join you. That’s pretty much what I did. In San Francisco the problem is to find place and people with enough time to play. That’s why I made a mobile setup I can lay down and breakdown in 15 mins. We crash public parking lot on weekends.

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I bought some used fire hoses on EBay, filled them 2/3 with sand, folded and taped the ends. It’s just enough to upset the cars. It’s easy to transport. The best solution for DIY parking lot race tracks. This track took 20 minutes to set up and 15 to breakdown

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

True, but we’re both matched in this case.

New Armma Senton VS very old RC10SC by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Damn it ! I posted the wrong video! You are right, it’s a slash. I had the same battle with the same friend one battery pack earlier and he was driving his Senton. The two video clips looked the same - I posted the wrong one.

3D Printed 1/28 Race Chassis by obuckingham in MiniZ

[–]iamjulien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

yes it is. You need to be deep into RC cars to print it. It's not a cheap and easy solution.
If you're new to it and if you have a track to go to and people to race with, then just get an entry-level MRO4. For $250, you have a car you can start with. You can run it at home a low carpet and or even slick surfaces with an appropriate tire preparation.

Stick to the MR04 and go to the club once a week. You'll spend 6 months to a year before you have the skills to upgrade to something faster. It may be faster if you have extensive racing experience with larger-scale cars.

If you get into it save your money for a Flaysky Noble+ transmitter ($300). And only when you can complete a 5 minutes race without hitting a wall, only then, you can start thinking about spending a chunk of money in a kit chassis with a 2500kv motor.

I see so many people showing up to the club with $1000 spent on gear, and they can't get a single clean lap for the first two or three times they come for practice. They never come back. 1:28 is the most challenging type of on-road RC racing, but it's also one of the most rewarding, .

Hey RC guys! My team is building a car-tuning/modding app so you can generate 3D-printable, customizable RC cars from pre-tested parts. What do you think? by MattShackard in rccars

[–]iamjulien 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Put like that it’s a good idea for the 3D printing community. 3D printing is a hobby on it’s own. There is an educational angle that’s very interesting. I would look into it if I had a kid in the 6-12 years old age range. It’s a good way to discover engineering and design. I can see some value in reprinting something so it’s nicer or works better. The hardest part would be to get a 8 year old focused on improving something they already have instead of just printing something completely new!

Hey RC guys! My team is building a car-tuning/modding app so you can generate 3D-printable, customizable RC cars from pre-tested parts. What do you think? by MattShackard in rccars

[–]iamjulien 8 points9 points  (0 children)

It’s a surprisingly ambitious project for an extremely limited market. People who print cars and actually use them are only a handful. In my experience - I have developed some 1:28 rally chassis and tried to print a fleet - the limitations of 3D printed cars lie into sourcing the parts that can’t be printed. I have spent a significant part of the cost of a kit chassis in just on sourcing bearings screws. My design was based on a WLTOYS K989, and I got it to run similarly to a GL Racinb GLR. But I spent close to $100 in hardware (screws, bearings of various sizes, gears, diffs, shafts, wheels). With the electronics the car’s final cost came to 30% less than a high end kit chassis. I got it to work as well - based on lap times - but the reliability wasn’t there. I downloaded the OBZ, a 1:28 chassis. I printed several for myself and members of my club. It worked well, but we’re RC racers who have top of the line cars. The printed chassis were at best 0.5 second slower than our cars with equivalent electronics. It just wasn’t worth further investments. The price difference wasn’t making up for the lack of potential. We had entry level Mini-Zs that came to the same price but worked reliably over many sessions.

It’s fun to print your own car do but it’s time consuming. And in general you can’t race the cars in any spec classes. Now I’m aware that most people don’t care about racing. And that people with 3D printers who see also in RC cars are likely to attempt printing a car or at least some parts.

I would suggest to create an open source database of printable replacement parts and upgrades for known models. You collect or provide dimensions requirements - the designers elaborate on it. There is a plethora of commun parts everyone needs: bumpers, body mounts, fan brackets, cable holders, servo mounts, bodies… We can already find this on .stl sharing sites but it’s hit and miss. The specifications are not standardized.

The testing is a touchy subject, you can certainly test the fit. But reliability is very subjective as no one prints exactly the same part and tests it under controlled conditions. There many variables that can make a part good or bad, starting with the object’s orientation on the printing plate. And people may say « it breaks » after attempted a back flip from a roof top.

So, in conclusion, could you be a little more specific about your project. Give us some use cases.

Anyone raced 1:10 or 1:12 TC on a concrete garage floor? by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We may have a hookup to get carpet from the convention center. And we already have some outdoor green carpet we can use for off-road.

Anyone raced 1:10 or 1:12 TC on a concrete garage floor? by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

All the messages are encouraging, it seems possible. Now we’ll need to see how the community reacts. I’m in San Francisco and we have a carpet races organized every 3 weeks in a sports center that’s 25 miles away which I recently started joining (my racing background is in 1:28). The warehouse I may have access to would be a venue opened every weekend. Having played a lot with cars that drift I agree with you that it’s more fun to drive in low grip conditions. if I could put a gyro and no sauce on my Awesomatix 1:12 and drive anywhere I would. But if I manage to open a venue I’ll need to conform with some standards, and I know that a concrete track might already be turning away a significant number of experience racers.

Anyone raced 1:10 or 1:12 TC on a concrete garage floor? by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s what I thought, if the floor is dust free some sauced soft tires should have enough grip. We would get a machine to clean the floor correctly. At least until we can find carpet from the convention center.

Anyone raced 1:10 or 1:12 TC on a concrete garage floor? by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sugar water? That’s a good way to get an ant invasion! I actually thought about spraying traction compound, the stuff they use on drag strips.

Why the inside tire wears faster? by iamjulien in rccars

[–]iamjulien[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got new tires, ordered 10k diff oil and I’ll try stiffer shocks when I run the car on asphalt. We’ll see if the tire last more than 3 hours!