grumpygramps

Being the jammy git to win the Stampede VXL on here a week or so ago, and having given the beast a very thorough weekend of blasting around Brighton, I thought it was about time to give it a little review. So, here it is! After ditching the installed 19t pinion gear in favour of the larger 25t gear (suplied with model), soldering on some 4mm gold plated connections and sticking in a 20c 2 cell LiPo battery I was off... Very quickly indeed! The sheer speed of this thing is quite incredible, its also remarkably stable (which I wasn't expecting at all) and the only times it toppled over cornering was when it hit something going sideways! The suspension handled every surface I ran it on very well, from tarmac and muddy rutted fields to the pebbles on Brighton beach. Its also very easy to clean, being waterproof, I just stuck it in the shower and it was good as new. Best of all is the fun factor,- me and my friends (most of whom had never driven an r/c car before, which is where the 1/2 speed training mode came in handy!) just didn't stop grinning from the moment I turned it on until way past when the second battery pack had run out each time we took it for a spin! The speed, acceleration and almost limitless wheelies (even at ~40mph with a 20c LiPo), coupled to the handling and ease of use make it an absolute joy. I did manage to have a slight accident unfortunately, which ended up with the truck cartwheeling through the air into post in the park, so need to get myself a new rear shock tower and front steering blocks... I take it that the RPM tower would be a good choice and the Traxxas Aluminium blocks? (any advice would be appreciated..) Many thanks once again to Modelsport for the amazing prize, only prob is I want all my cars to be electric/brushless now as I can see its full potential for the first time! Cheers, Lawrence

Cheers all, and sorry for being such a jammy git to everyone else who wanted it!!!! Counting down the seconds until Mondays post arrives... Unless it arrives tomorrow... Oh the excitement!

Cheers guys, I still can't quite believe it! Thought it was another one of those "congrats, your the 999.999th person to log on" type things for a while... Only when I spoke to the shop did I take it seriously and it still hasn't quite sunk in. I never win anything normally!!

You know when you're having one of those days... Its all grey outside, you're trying to get stuff done but nothings really working out and you just want to go back to bed? Well, today is not one of those days thanks to Modelsport!! Somehow I managed to win a brand spanking new Traxxas Stampede VXL this morning in a prize draw courtesy of Modelsport and the forum, hooray!!!! Been checking it out and it looks great, just hope I can manage to control all that power (despite being a Monster it looks like the power/weight ratio will be very high..) and after watching some Rustlers with brushless systems last weekend I know its going to be fast! Will report back in full when I've taken it out for a good spin.. Can't wait as I'll actually be able to do some off-road bashing where I live now without annoying the whole village! Thank you Modelsport, you've made someone very happy indeed. Lawrence

MMmmmmmmm! Looking good.. Maybe one for the shelf and one for the track?!?

Brilliant! Cheers for all the advice guys. Think that I'll be going down the Fusion route then for now then anyway. Ta, Lawrence.

Fusion and Orion do them at around

Hi people. I'm after a brushless system with 13.5T motor for a TC5 that I'm just about to get for indoor carpet racing. I only really want to spend about

Both the Hong Nor shocks and HoBao's own big bores(which are on offer at the mo, so cheaper than the Hong Nor's) http://www.modelsport.co.uk/?CallFunction=ShowSpecification&ItemID=32823 will give you more adjustability as they are threaded, are much stronger than the standard Hyper 7 shocks and will give the car better handling once you've got them set up properly, which should make navigating it round a track and getting better lap times an easier job for you! The Hyper 7 is a great entry level car and will be more than capable of getting around Slough. I must add I've never been there though... But, as long as you take it easy to begin with, get to know the track and don't go too mad I'm sure the car will be fine.

PM'd!

Thanks Garry, didn't think I could be doing anything that wrong! Hopefully all that we're going to be doing will be very positive, good for the sport, introduce it to many new faces and provide our local area with a fresh, much needed set of leisure activities and new community to be part of. Cheers, Lawrence.

Hi folks! We have just opened a new forum for Cambs R/C Racing Centre.- http://cambsrcracing.freeforums.org/ The Centre will provide a completely unique set of facilities for the R/C enthusiast and to those who are completely new to the sport. Come along and have a look! Cheers, Lawrence. Ps- Website soon to follow.

Hi folks, Cambs R/C Racing Centre is starting indoor carpet racing at a venue in Cambridge. The hall we will be using is in Citylife House, Sturton St, just behind Rigeons/Discount Autoparts off Newmarket Rd. We'll be racing a number of different classes, from 1/10 Touring down to 1/14 scale and welcome all standards of drivers. For more info about the carpet racing and other R/C facilities come along to our newly opened forum:- http://cambsrcracing.freeforums.org/ Cheers, Lawrence.

Okay. Latest update! After being knocked back from 2 sites which would have been perfect for the club, and getting very frustrated with the whole thing, I have managed to find a temporary site for the club until a more permanent one becomes available. This'll mean that we can open within a few weeks for people to use the facility, and start forming the beginings of an established club. The site will allow us a great area of land size wise, so a full sized 1/8 to large scale race track to BRCA standards, and a "bashing arena" of the same dimensions (25m by 75m) for drivers of all standards to practice on and have abit more fun outside the confines of a track. We'll be able to mark out tracks for smaller scale vehicles as well. A website will be in place within the next week, for now though if you want more details please contact me at:- [email protected] Cheers, Lawrence.

Will leave that one for the time being then, maybe come back to it when other things are sorted.. Any more takers for supporting the track by sending your details to the e.mail above would still be greatly appreciated by the way... Come on, don't be shy! Cheers, Lawrence

Yes I did get your reply thank you Ashley. Really sorry I didn't acknowledge it, I've been sending out little messages of thanks when I've recieved peoples details but somehow missed you out... Sorry! I've seen people flying model planes there as well but not for years, maybe when I meet up with the landowners they'll know who they are.. My Mum knows one of the brothers who own/manage the land anyway and he lives very locally, the other one lives in Eltisley. I don't know how well they usually mix, but maybe the new club could include R/C model airplanes and helicopters as well if it ends up on the airfield, being such an ideal place for them..? Cheers, Lawrence

HELLO! Anybody..? Would be very nice if you could voice your support by sending your details to the above e.mail address.. I'll be seeing the people who own the land around the airfield next weekend, and it would be good if I could present them with a big list of potential track users to make the proposal as attractive to them as possible. So... If you could take the time to do it I'd be a very happy man indeed! Thanks, Lawrence.

Hi guys, I had noticed that Herts looks to be bigger than many of the tracks I've seen pics of but hadn't considered it to be too big. Practically I guess for the people controlling the cars its easier if they are within a certain range visually, which is something I'll certainly take into consideration. Hopefully I will get a chance to visit the tracks you mention in the near future and get more of an idea as to what an "ideal" track layout might be.. I'm going to have a look at the prices of astro turf to see if would be a financially viable option, as it does seem to be a surface that would be good for a number of reasons and quite popular with racers (maybe there might be football pitches or the like selling some when its reached the end of its usable life or something??). My only slight concern about it is that in areas where there is lots of pressure put on it, it will end up going bald.. Is this a usual problem does anyone know? Also has the BRCA got any rules about using it that I haven't seen? Many thanks, Lawrence PS,- OI! Get your details sent to the address I've set up, please

Hi folks! Hope alls well. Since I've last posted there's been some developments which I thought I'd keep you updated with, also a little favour that I'd like to ask of any interested parties... Firstly after a brief chat to the landowner of the proposed site, who is currently very busy indeed as one of his daughters is getting married next weekend (apart from being the father he's also the Vicar that'll be doing the ceremony!) it was suggested that as well as seeking planning permission for the site on his farm, that I approach some other local landowners who own all the land surrounding Bourn Airfield. This area has industry and alot of activity taking place there as it is, and also has many other benefits. These include much easier access, parking facilities already in place and the possibility of having an "on-road" track as well using a section of the airstrip. I have draughted out a proposal to give to them, but am waiting until after the weekend, as I'm paying a visit to the Herts club on sunday, which may well give me some more information that I can use. Now, to the favour! I am trying to get a database of potential track users/club members together, which will function as a means to get updated news about the track etc out to people as well as being something that I can present to the landowners to show that there is genuine interest in the project, which will help alot. I would realy appreciate it, if you are interested in using/supporting the new track, if you could send an e.mail in the format set out below to this e.mail address:- [email protected] Please set out the e.mail like this:- 1. Full name. 2. E.mail address that you would like news updates etc sent to. 3. R/C Models that you own (to give us an idea of what needs potential users may have). 4. County/area that you live in. Many thanks in advance, Lawrence.

Well, there seems to be plenty of helpful people about... Maybe you could try making one as well!

Hi Neil, Thanks ever so much for your offer of help, interest and ideas, greatly appreciated and I'll keep you posted when we start getting on with things on a more practical level, or when we're going to meet up. Unfortunately on the 13th I'm going to Herts for a race meet there, to meet up with some of the track/club organisers and check out there set up. I'm up for coming to Coventry on another day though, will check out their site and see when another good day would be for a visit. Thanks again, take care, Lawrence

No worries about that "Badger", we should happily be able to satisfy your needs (as it were..).

Thanks Garry, will check that out now. I did try and register to their forums a few days ago but have still not had the message back from them so I can post or even look at much of the stuff on their forums it seems... Abit weird.. Maybe they're on holiday or something?!

Cheers for the replies guys, have sent you PMs. Ta, Lawrence

Firstly I guess I should say hi, as I've not been on here before... So, hello, hope you're all well! As the title of the topic suggests I'm looking into the possibility/feasibility of building a new off-road track near to Cambridge (where I've just moved back to after living in Sussex for the last 12 years). There are none in the area, yet the local Hobbystores shop tells me that 80% of their sales are either Nitro Buggies, Truggies or Trucks, so there are obviously a reasonably large number of people in the vicinity without a proper place to use/race their vehicles. Apparently there were also a number of racers in the area who have given up because there is nowhere around to practice nearby as well.... So, after abit of thinking I put the idea to a local farmer who I'm good friends with, who's arable land actually makes a loss each year and is looking at ways to cut the losses. The outcome is that there is potentially a great spot in rural Cambridgeshire, not far from the City, to build a new track. There is even the manpower (though maybe more needed..) and machinery available to go about building it properly. What I could really use at this stage is some other R/C enthusiasts to become involved with the project, especially with the design of the track as its not something that I'm confident about enough to set out and do on my own. Hobbystores were very helpful and said they would be able to support the project by helping to advertise and offer other possibilities when the track is up and running, but until then I'm on my own, which is proving very dawnting indeed! If anybody has any helpful suggestions as to how I can progress with this exciting new project, or even become involved in some way then I would love to hear from you. Thanks for your time and I look forward to hearing back from any of you. Cheers, Lawrence