GCRC Tues Play #2 and MAS-X-Drift Preview

GCRC Raceway... Transforms in the night.

The recent addition of lighting adds a 15~30 minute session of night time running at the end of the evening.

But I definitely recommend adding some lights on your own car... Even if it is just so others can see you.

The lights on my 86 had fallen out, adding a cool exhaust flame effect,

Check the night time proximity!!!!

So awesome to have these shots...  Driftline Chassis Version1.0 and my Drift Master Weight Shift running very well.

What an awesome session.

@ GCRC RC Raceway!

MAS - X - DRIFT is next week...22 Dec 2015 5pm ~ 9pm ish  Hope to see you at the RC Xmas Party.

DoRi PaKe SeTo

What Chassis is that? Drift Package?  not really... Well, they used to be....

Underneath this one, WAS the cream of the early series drift package machines from 2006. Drift Package Drift Master Version. "MR-4TC SD LCG Drift" Mid-Rear motor, 4Wheel Drive Touring Car Shaft Drive Layered Carbon Graphite Chassis for Drift.  But only the main chassis and bulkheads remain.

Under this one is is a variation of the Drift Package MR-4TC SD CGM with some Type C and now probably falls into the Type C Plus category with some allow parts. The CGM version is a carbon graphite re-inforced plastic tub. Much stronger and more rigid than the plastic version. Now with some MSt and Yokomo RWD components. It's the least customized of the two.

more on drift package versions here..

So why can't you just use a normal Drift Package for RWD. The simple answer is the basic chassis does not have enough STEERING LOCK. How much do you need.? Plenty.

By plenty... this is what I mean by plenty. When the car is sliding at 90 degrees and past on a huge entry. Replicating a real D1 car's steering angle is fun. While you don't need this much all the time. It's good to have when you need it.

This plastic tub uses the long wipers from the Drift Package Rear drive conversion set purchased separately. Then I used MST plastic hubs and lower Y arms. This is THE CHEAPEST way to get the 4wd drift package to RWD. Note... The Type C is still the better base car as you can get away with only the wipers.

Ignore the blue supports and it's actually pretty stock.

Setting up a car like this takes patience to get the ackerman rod position and the length of the tie rods correct. But the wiper from Yokomo is so much easier to setup than a slide rack. The moving arc of the wiper creates clearance at the hub and the long throw gives more flexbility in setting.

I will still need to adjust slightly from here one it hits the track.

Don't forget to slow your return steering a little. Because if you can turn the wheels to this position too quickly. You will basically create a plough. Now that's a bit stupid to look at.

Here is a heavily modified Drift Master. I've used DRb and custom components, moved all the electrics to the rear and modified the front mounting points.... but... lower arms and knuckles are drift package  RWD conversion components and Slide rack is the Active Hobby style.

The rubber bands prevent the moving arc of knuckles passing the working linear range of the slide rack. there is no recovery from that. Using the mono shock creates space for the wheels to reach their full range without touching shocks. This is also a roll center modification.

Because I have not used standard components, it's become a little complicated. the position of the slide rack was not forward enough for correct ackerman. so extending the extensions was required. A Slide rack is not the worlds best option, it's just a different option. It was introduced to cs cars as a means to reduce play from steering components. But in fact, this rack has more play than the Drift Package Wipers. You may also get more bump steer with a slide rack also as the linear motion doesn't work well with large suspension travel.

If you run less than this angle you can still get reasonably good drift, but running more steering angle gives you the abilty to save a spin. Turning more means you will wash off speed, but allow the steering to catch the spin before returning to something more reasonable around 45 degrees and continuing on.

Remember, you can't run a constant radius corner with this much angle, you wont get anywhere near the forward drive you need but running fast into a massive angle entry, you will get the rewards.

So...

These chassis started as Yokomo Drift Package chassis and there are 9 million parts out there to modify a drift package into something bespoke. Almost every RC drifter in Japan would have started with one and that's why they are the mainstay of Drift Conversions for RWD. After more than 10 years of production, Yokomo's new RWD components means that there is a lot more life left in the doripake.

With MST pushing the other manufacturers, the rwd scene is expanding.

More are coming.

Rocket Bunny RX-7 Battles.

Click below to check out the video.



RBRX7BAttles from RE-Xtreme on Vimeo.

GCRC Battle Games

Rainy Saturday... No problem. Light em up!

These are full evolution Drift Package Conversion Chassis. Hikotech Bianca under the black beast and Custom Drift Master under the White beast.  

Bodies are Tamiya FD3s RX7 + Demi Works Aero + P!PES / Rare Labs Cut Vinyl stickers and masks 

The double wing on the FD makes a huge difference to handling.

Diffuser... not so much so. The Stance on my FD3s is somewhat LOW!

This V8 Supercar vs FD3s battle was awesome as we tried some new courses in this CS vs RWD battle..

C. Lownes = "Clownsey"

Red Bull + Camera HOG

As if these awesome tandems weren't enough.

JXR Twins.

Just one Inch. not inches.

CS Style.

DIB 275 + Mark X... Stylish.

A fantastic session!

Halloween Jokers

High Speed, High intensity.. no... just Fun.

It's been almost 4 years since I built this FC3s https://vimeo.com/40145729 but it felt like just yesterday.

Borrowing a set of driver's hands for the shoot. I'm glad I still have this body. 

But underneath... that's a different story.

Because the RWD machines have taken hold. This is my Drift Package Drift Master.

 Lined up beside a body I sold a while back, It was awesome to have a FC vs FD battle. Flat out D1 Style.

 FXX-D S Still pumping out lap after lap.

Pandora + HPI + ABC + Yokomo + Custom merged body.

Many hours in paint and mask went into the Yokomo Street Spec FC. 

May thy battle be close and fun.

Yokomo Custom Chop Shop

The long road to RWD development and a bit of CS on the side.

At the moment, I feel I can say that I've tried a lot in the RC drift scene. At times you lose motivation and search for new directions. RWD has been one. Running on different surfaces is always fun too.


Has it come full circle? The plastic Drift package with a few mods proves the point that you can still have cheap fun. I remember my first RWD chassis was gyro less and was a good starting point. But it soon evolved in the search for THE setting. Trying all sorts of combos before embracing the electronic steering rack. aka Gyro.

I still have 2 Drift package chassis. There is simply soo much development in these things they can't be ignored in the drift scene.

The RWD Drift Master version of the drift package has been a benchmark for me. Capable but still not absolutely perfect. But it too has been a development chassis and still is.


I've been through about 10x 4wd chassis, from super high Counter Steer Ratios, Low counter Fast chassis, Slow Chassis, Flickable, Stable, whatever. Each has had it's own style while still evolving through the available parts catalog.

But what happens when the parts catalog doesn't have what you want.
 

You have to build. these days we have the means to do most things we want. 3d printers and 5-axis machine tools. but as hobbyists, we can rarely afford the cost of setup for small production. So I though a lot about what might be possible with evolution and not outright replacement. As I have a heavy investment in Yokomo machines, I couldn't really justify replacing them all.

So evolution is the key. Rear-drive Evolution Weight-shift.

I am so far very very pleased with result of the DRB-REW prototype. I had so much fun driving it, I forget that I'm supposed to be testing stuff. 

Small companies, like Guild n One, TN Racing, Overdose, RC-926 and others inspire and all play their role in creating something special. 
 

 So while I am only making the chassis plates, every resulting chassis will be very bespoke as hobbyists like ourselves use their current pride and joy chassis and evolve it into something else.

While the original machine is hardly recognizable to a stranger, we still can take pride in opening that original box and knowing that we have evolved the chassis into something bespoke.

The builder of this black machine was the one who got me thinking more about chassis evolution. It was a MUST HAVE purchase that encapsulated so many of the ideas that I already wanted to evolve into my own DRBs.

To say I was inspired is an understatement. it totally changed the way I thought about tuning. So I've taken this concept and evolved again with many more modern influences while keeping true to Yokomo's image.

So the next time you see this black Ninja... it will have evolved again into my REW prototype config.

Is it still Yokomo? Well 30% maybe.