February 16, 2007

Mugen releases for February

Mugen Ride Height Gauge

Mugen have released loads of new products, specifically for their 1/10th 200mm MTX4, off road 1/8th scale MBX5 and MBX5-T as well as this nice ride height gauge above for all their on road cars. For the MTX4, they have released an adjustable rear anti roll bar as well as a new rear upper camber link mount with a number of mounting holes to allow you to adjust the cars roll center. Whilst for the Mugen off road guys there is a new teflon coated servo saver tower as well as new wheels in white and yellow to fit Proline rubber, new rear spoiler and 3 new complete sets of shock springs in blue grey and white.

Click more to see images of all the new products… content


February 16, 2007

Serpent release brake pulley one-way set

Serpent release brake pulley one-way set

Serpent have announced the release of this great add on for your Serpent 720 that puts a one way bearing on the brake pulley on the cars 2 speed axle. This set, which allows your car to run as normal, comes into play when the rear tires start to wear more than the fronts which in normal cases where permanent 4wd is in place can cause the car to be unstable under braking in long runs. This optional set allows the front wheels to rotate independantly from the rear wheels when off throttle which means when you have uneven tire wear you dont get the rear end of the car trying to pass out the front under braking. Neat.

Source: Serpent [serpent.com]


February 16, 2007

Markus Eirenschmalz win Flawil Indoor race

Flawil Indoor race

Xray have a article on their site from Swiss Xray rider Robin Frischkopf who reports on the Indoor Race Flawil which attracted over 100 entries from Germany and Switzerland. The race took place on an old indoor horse riding arena which made it very tight and seemed to cause some problems for Robin, who eventually ended up in the quarter finals after qualfiying but managed to bump in race day to the semis and then into the Main final where he finished in 2nd position behind eventual winner Markus Eirenschmalz, also driving Xray.

However, German driver Markus Eirenschmalz (also driving an XRAY XB8TQ) was a little bit faster than me. We battled for a long time and were only seconds apart. Nearing the end of the final I was again in some traffic and got crashed into, so he was half a lap ahead of me. For the last part of the final I tried to catch up but I couldn’t quite make it. In the end there was still only half a lap between us so I settled for a good second place.

You can read the full report here.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]


February 16, 2007

2007 Winternats, Florida – Thursday Day 5

Paolo Morganti - Image by Mike Myers

Well the rain came and interrupted play today on the last day of qualifiers for this years Florida Winternats. With the 1/8th scale class not managing to complete a full round of qualifying without the rain stopping proceedings, the results from Wednesday will stand, which means Kyosho racer Josh Cyrul will start on pole position for Saturdays A-main race. In 2nd position is Chris Tosolini driving another Kyosho Evolva, with reigning champion Mike Swauger driving his MRT Ninja powered Mugen MRX4-R lining up just behind him. Vincent Jackson, also driving for Mugen, looks like the danger man in this race, the relative unknown lines up 4th and could produce the surprise of the day. In 5th sits former multiple winner, and highest qualifying Serpent, Michael Salven from Germany just ahead of team mate Paolo Morganti, both drivers with something to prove after showing top pace in the heats but just not being able to pull it together when it mattered.

In 1/10th scale its all change, with the organisers managing to get in one of the final 2 rounds of qualifying for this class run, in between the showers. Serpent 720 driver Paolo Morganti pulled out a stunning drive in cold conditions to go 9 seconds quicker than he previously managed, to take the pole position from top Xray driver and overnight pole man Ralph Burch. Jilles Groskamp who moved to using a Mega MF motor for his final qualifying runs, managed to get 3rd fastest qualifying time but was disqualified for his car being underweight after the lead weight in his car fell out, which meant that 3rd position went to Kyosho racer Josh Cyrul. In 4th position was Danny Horta, driving a Serpent 720 who managed to move himself up the order and finish ahead of hot shot Xray driver Paul LeMieux who ended qualifying a very respectable 5th for his first nitro race.

The lower finals take place today, Friday, and if there is no rain delay, the A, B and C-mains will take place on Saturday. The top 11 fastest qualify directly into the A-main in all classes with the winner of the B-main bumping up to make it 12 starting in the A-main.

Not so many pictures today but the ones we have you can see below along with the final top A-main standings… content


February 15, 2007

Hirosaka prototype Kyosho Stallion TF-5

Hirosaka prototype Kyosho Stallion TF-5

We’ve written briefly about Masaaki Hirosaka, father of multiple World Champion Masami and top RC mechanic, before and the fact that he makes some pretty cool well thought out products. Well here is his take on the Kyosho Stallion TF-5 which takes a different approach to that used by Josh Cyrul who’s car we saw at the Snowbirds. As you can see from the pictures, the batteries have been set further back than normal and where the top deck connects with the front bulk head is pretty unique too, although i cant tell you exactly why. Also note that the rear body mount is bolted directly to the bulkhead which means the downforce generated by the body shell is pushed straight down onto the chassis, its mounting position also protecting it from crashes.

Masaaki has also created patent pending one touch total length adjustment shock absorbers. I cant tell how they work either but i have included pictures of them below.

Click more to check out more pictures of the car and shocks… content


February 15, 2007

Pro-Line Hole Shot for 1/8th buggy

Pro Line Hole Shot

Pro-Line have released some new 1/8th scale buggy tyres based on the Hole Shot MTR that debuted at last years US truck Nationals and took home the win. Available in Pro-Line’s competitive M2 and M3 compounds the new tyre sports oversized inner ribs for anti-tire ballooning under acceleration and features a small pin design for use on hard-packed tracks.

Source: Pro-Line [prolineracing.com]


February 15, 2007

Adam Drake Interviewed

Adam Drake Interviewed

Our partners down under, RubeDude, have a real nice interview with Mr. gas off road ‘The Drake’. In the interview Adam answers all sorts of questions from how he begun racing, to what his routine is in the build up to his race, to his favourite type of track and class of racing.

I always try and watch the races leading up to my race. It gets me pumped up and it’s a great chance to see if the track has change or if another drive has found a better line around the track. I always like to walk the track in the morning and before a main event. It’s kind of my time to get away and get into race mode.

You can read the full interview here.

Source: Rube Dude [rubeduderc.com] Image: Greg Rojna [gregrojna.com]


February 15, 2007

Robitronic Scalpel full option

Robitronic Scalpel full option

The Robitronic Scalpel has to be one of my favourite cars to have been released in the last year, not only does it look great but it goes like a rocket too. Now the good people over at Robitronic have released details on all the options you can get for the car to make it handle, perform and look even better. And it seems that apart from the actual carbon chassis, you can replace almost everything on the car with a new, and most of the time red anodized, optional part. Robitronic have also released information on the optionals available for the Avid and Protos.

You can find the options pages here (Scalpel), here (Avid) and here (Protos).

Source: Robitronic [robitronic-usa.com]