ChitownRC

07/03/05:

Took a couple pictures of the Mayhem, it was running sweet yesterday. The new exhaust system really made a big difference.

Looks fast & fun. I've always been somewhat interested in the 1/8 buggys. We have a local kid, still in school, who runs professionally. His dad is a couple yrs. younger than me & been into R/C's for probably at least 15 yrs.. He is in Panther Tire ads in the magazines. For a young dude he is an awesome driver, with a lifetime of experience. I hope my kids can someday race him, & of course beat him too !

Nice Mayhem Dad, What spings are those in the front?

I put some RCRaven dual rate springs in the front. I like a stiff suspension.

You'll eventually find out that a soft suspension seems to work better. I used to run "stiff suspensions" also. lol

It's fun until you try to race it.

Really? The buggy seemed to bottom out way to easy. I want to get some different tires, these street tires get very little traction, even in the street.

Bottoming out isnta bad thing

rocco79 Wrote:Bottoming out isnta bad thing

+1


All my stuff usually bottoms out pretty easy

The mayhem does bottom heavyer than other buggies even with stiffer springs. Maybe try some mugen shock pistons?

Quote:The buggy seemed to bottom out way to easy. I want to get some different tires, these street tires get very little traction, even in the street

There are a couple things to keep in mind.

A 1/8 scale buggy weighs in around 7.5-9 lbs generally, the RC Raven dual rate springs have a Max spring rate of 7 lbs. This doesn't leave much area for dampening from the shocks.

Stiffer suspension may keep the car from bottoming out easier, which will help keep the chassis from getting scratched a little, but it also puts ALL the load from a landing on the arms. When you allow the buggy/truck/car to actually bottom out, it allows the chassis to absorb a lot of the impact from a rough landing. The Aluminum chassis will take a lot more stress than the plastic arms.

Also, with running a softer suspension, you allow the shocks to do what they are intended to do, Absorb bumps, which will result in better traction. If the suspension is too stiff, when you run over a small bump (on a track) or a pebble, or crack in the road (on street), the force of the bump causes the wheels to leave the ground, resulting in loss of traction, with a softer suspension, the shocks absorb that impact, and keep the tires on the groound better.

Also, under hard acceleration (Full throttle start) the torque of the motor will push the rear of the buggy down, causing the rear to stick better, giving better acceleration. This is easier to see on a truck rather than a car/buggy, but it holds true for them all. To see this, take the wifes or kids pede (Not the brushless one), put STIFF springs on the back, and accelerate hard... the front wants to pull up. Now try with softer spings in the back. This time, the rear of the truck squats, putting more traction to the back, resulting in a better launch..

Wow, very interesting. Isin't it bad on everything though when the chassis slams down like that?

Yes and no... If you are launching 30 ft air off a skatepark ramp, landing on concrete/asphault, yes, it is can be VERY disasterous. Under normal conditions, the jumps you encounter at a track, it is not quite as damaging as it may seem. Again, keep in mind, a buggy is under 10 lbs, so the force isn't as bad as a 14 lb MT. Another thing to keep in mind, is if you watch the better racers, they adjust their speed when aproaching a jump, so when they land, they are coming down on the downslope of the landing jump. This keeps you from bottoming out as bad, and is also faster. When you land on the downslope, you can get on the throttle sooner, getting to the next section of track faster. If you overshoot the jump, and land on the flat spot beyond the landing, the car may rebound a bit. If you get on the throttle too fast, and it is not settled right, sometimes it can get a little squirelly...

Another thing I forgot to mention about the suspension. With a stiffer suspension, when turning, it will tend to lift the inside wheel off the ground, losing traction. with a softer suspension, it helps keep all 4 wheels down raising traction through the turn.

I wonder if I'll have an easier time getting around the track with the Mayhem? The pede flipped so easily. Well maybe the pede would be better on the track now since its completely different.

Hopefully I'll make it out there soon.

Leisure hours has closed their track due to less people making it out through the summer, but they are building a BIGGER, BETTER indoor/outdoor/offroad/on-road track, which hopefully will be ready to go around aug. (At least from what I last heard from Bernie)

So both tracks are closed? And the off-road track in Tinley is permanently closed.

yes, yes, and yes....unfortunetly....

Hardesty's is about 1hr from you in Knox, IN...By Plymouth, IN....Good track, they have an indoor clay and outdoor dirt track. Very nice spot.