Correcting steering slop

Last week I brought out the S1 after an absence of about a month. On arriving at the track I noticed a bit of slop in the steering, and compared it with my son's S1. Mine definitely had too much, and this became apparent during the course of the night.

The track had a straight with a sweeper and two hairpins, followed by a quick left then right  hairpin, which if taken properly could be taken quicky as a chicane.  The chicane was where the slop let the car down and I had to back off a little to make sure I got through without any mishaps. This affected my lap times and consequently I didn't achieve the number of  laps I would have liked, although I did manage to win my three heats.

On returning home after racing, I stripped down the steering for closer inspection. This revealed no damage or wear, so I decided to shim the front section of the steering rack. When I originally built the car, the advice on the forums was to shim the steering rack which I did, but only the rear section.  This shimming is for the front part as this is where the slop has crept in over time.

A single 0.3mm shim was added but when re-built it wasn't enough to remove the slop. The addition of a second 0.3mm shim sorted this out.

 

Picture of the shims in place prior to re-building


Spec R make an upgrade which is standard on the R1 and PRO versions of the car.  Part SPR-R1A120 Aluminium Steering Rack pictured below is a direct replacement for the plastic part on the S1 car. This is on my wishlist for improving the car as the alloy parts remove the flexibility which is associated with the plastic parts, and also removes the problem of slop in the steering.

Spec-R S1 Endurance Race at Racework Hobbies in Singapore

RaceWorks Hobbies in Singapore organized its first on-road endurance on 2 November 2013.  A total of 9 teams took part in the event, run over 4 hours. Each team, consisting of 3-4 drivers, ran the Spec-R S1 Sports Edition 1/10th Touring Car powered by 17.5T motors with ESCs in “Blinky” mode. Teams were required to rotate their drivers every 40mins.

The drivers and cars who took part in the race.

S1 cars are ready!

Despite a thunderstorm that stopped just 45mins before flag-off, the race was able to proceed as planned with only a 15 min delay. Just 2mins into the race, Team Quantum climbed up to the top with very consistent laps. They remained in 1st position throughout the first 2 hours, but mechanical problems in the 3rd hour resulting in several pit stops, allowing the 2nd place car of Team Trident to close up the gap and eventually overtaking Team Quantum for the lead.

With just 40mins to the end of the race, both teams were on the same lap, with Team Trident having a 6 sec advantage over Team Quantum. However, at the very last minute, Team Quantum crashed, losing momentum as a result. With the heat off, Team Trident opened up the gap and finally took the checkered flag completing 606 laps, 2 laps ahead of Team Quantum.

It was worthwhile noting that all 9 teams were still running at the end of 4 hours. A great testament to the Spec-R chassis as well as the preparations all teams had made for this event.

RaceWorks Hobbies would like to thank all participants and race sponsors (Spec-R Racing, Overtake RC and Quantum Racing) for making the race possible.

Results for the race are as follows:

The Champion - Team Trident! Congrats drivers!

The 1st runner up - Team Quantum

The 2nd runner up - Team JonHo

 

Reported by Racework Hobbies - Singapore

 

(Courtesy of www.spec-r.com the official Spec R website)

 

 

As a club racer of the Spec R S1, along with my son who races the same car, we can speak for the reliability and durability of the S1 car.

 

 

I hope to report on more successes of the Spec R cars in future issues of the Spec R Racer blog.

Spec-R R1 Team Driver T. Kueng Wins Annual Championship at Team Power Club in Hong Kong

The Team Powers Club was held on 03 November 2013 in Hong Kong. Spec-R R1 driver C. Keung was the Annual Champion!

Congrats to C.Keung!
(Courtesy of www.spec-r.com - the official Spec-R website)

Review of Spec R Aluminium Servo Mount

Last Thursday night I tried the Spec R Aluminium Servo Mount for the first time on my Spec R S1 touring car.  I had ordered it directly from the Spec R website, and it arrived in about a week.  The part is a direct replacement for the two servo mounting posts, so I removed the old servo mounts and screwed the servo to the mounting holes on the new mount, before fixing the mount to the chassis using the two screw holes below the top plate.

I then took the car to the track in anticipation.  Immediately, the car felt more responsive which is due to the added flex.  The car felt like it changed direction quicker and felt more planted through what was a tight, twisty, slalom style infield, which was also quite a quick track.  The correct line through the infield was important to get a quick, smooth lap, and the new servo mount provided the flex and responsiveness to be able to do just that.

All in all, a worth while addition to the car and I look forward to trying out more upgrades in the future.

R1 S1 PRO Comparison

After checking out the new Spec R R1 PRO kit, I decided to do a comparison between this and the existing R1 and S1 kits.  Below is a table which compares the S1 and R1, with the new parts on the R1 PRO kit below.

Differences are highlighted in bold

R1

S1

- High strength and high precision anodized alloy parts for added durability and style - Ultra narrow chassis design with high quality Carbon Graphite 2.5mm main chassis; 2.0mm upper deck and 3.0mm shock towers. - Slimmer transmission/motor mount components and design for improved handling and smoothness - Dual bellcrank steering for precise cornering performance - Front/Rear Suspension Arm mounts are adjustable for a variety of fine tunings for different track conditions - Lightweight and smooth rear gear differential is included - Enhanced acceleration from the use of lightest transmission components - Front/Rear Suspension system with carbon reinforced plastic parts - Improved material and stronger plastic parts(with carbon) - Lightweight and anodized alloy turnbuckles and ball studs - Full metal oil shocks for best performance   - Balanced chassis design - Internal gear ratio 1:1.9

- High strength and high precision anodized alloy parts for added durability and style - Narrow chassis design with high quality fibre 2.5mm main chassis; 2.0mm upper deck and 3.0mm shock towers. - Slimmer transmission/motor mount components and design for improved handling and smoothness - Dual bellcrank steering for precise cornering performance     - Lightweight and smooth rear gear differential is included - Enhanced acceleration from the use of lightest transmission components     - Improved material and stronger plastic parts(with carbon)     - Metal oil shocks parts with plastic shock body for best performance - Balanced chassis design - Internal gear ratio 1:1.9

What's new on R1 PRO SPEC?

    - 2.25mm USA High Quality Graphite Classis
    - 2.00mm USA High Quality Graphite New Style Upper Deck
    - 3.00mm USA High Quality Graphite F/R Shock Towers
    - Alu. Central Servo Mount
    - Alu. Fan Mount
    - Soft Shock O-ring

So, with the new parts on the R1 PRO kit, where does that leave the R1 kit ?  There's not much of a price difference, although the PRO kit doesn't include the new motor mount which in my opinion it should.  Will racers continue to buy the R1, or go for the R1 PRO kit ?

I emailed Spec R this week and asked about the possibility of a Conversion kit for those who have the S1 or R1 kits and don't want to have to buy a full PRO kit.  You may remember amongst others, Kyosho released a SHIN conversion kit for the Stallion which upgraded the car.  The reply from Spec R was that they don't have the conversion kit, but they "will consider it".

So, there may be a conversion kit in future, so watch this space !!

BRCA R/C Touring Car Championships - Round 5 Mendip

See video streaming of the BRCA Touring Car Championships - round 5 from the Mendip circuit.

http://rcracingtv.net/2013/09/brca-electric-touring-car-championships-round-5-mendip-live/

Unfortunately - No Spec R Team !!

Visit to Cheshire Cats Car Club

Last Sunday, my son and I visited the Cheshire Cats Car Club which is in Congleton in Cheshire. The track size is larger than our club, and what was most noticeable was the carpet had much more grip.  At our club, quite a few of us use Schumacher Wet tyres which offer more grip than the usual Sorex 28's, but at Congleton, the Sorex 28's went back on the cars.  As the day went on and the grip got better, my sons car also ran with no tyre additive, and he still had more than enough grip.

There were 3 heats, my son went in the race with the kids, and I went in with the fast lads, which probably wasn't the best idea !  I finished forth but the car held up well against a Schumacher Mi4LX and a Tamiya 417v5, and may have finished closer but for driver error and inconsistency. The other 3 drivers ran quicker motors and / or boost against my 17.5 turn Yeah Racing Hakamoto.  I was slower down the straight, but was able to keep up through the infield which is a real credit to the much cheaper Spec R S1 car. I find the car is excellent through a tight infield, is able to change direction quickly, and gives superb turn-in on a tight track.

Below is some video footage of one of the races.  Mine is the predominantly white looking car with the coloured sides.

 

I find the handling of the car very good, and consistent, and as my confidence in the car grows I am able to set faster and more consistent lap times.  My set up hasn't changed apart from using Sorex 28 tyres on this occasion on a more grippy carpet against my usual Schumacher Wet tyres. The set up can be found here.

 

Tidying up the wiring

I had installed a new ESC which comes with a capacitor and switch, and I stuck them all in with some servo tape, and cable ties for the wires.  The wiring was a bit long, so was coiled up and held in with cable ties.  The finished wiring wasn't very tidy so needed to be tidied up.

 

I decided to tidy it all up by shortening the wires using this kit :-

I also removed the sticky pads, and the glue it leaves behind and re-installed them using some clear silicone sealant which will keep everything in place without moving, and doesn't have a dirty sticky pad showing underneath.  I started by sticking the switch and capacitor in place using the silicone.

Check out the finished work :-

 

After a nights racing, the switch and capacitor remained securely in place.  The wiring may still be visible, mainly due to the multi-coloured wiring used by servo and ESC manufacturers, but at least the wires are short and relatively tidy. 

The receiver and ESC will be given the same silicone treatment.

Another car was given similar silicone treatment :-

Bolink Beetle body

I picked up a Bolink VW Beetle body from a club member and thought it might be a bit of fun to run it on the Spec R S1 touring car.  I painted it up to match the touring car body I'm currently running, and installed a HPI wing on the roof for a bit of rear end down force. This was the only mounting position as the rear of the shell doesn't have enough space to add a wing.  Here is the Beetle beside the touring car shell :-

Appearance wise, the shell got a lot of positive comments, and it does look great on the track.  Surprisingly, in-spite of negative comments from clubmates, the Beetle body handled very well, and resulted in a car with quite a bit of turn-in, and good rear end grip.  I ran three heats with the shell, and won all three races. For the last heat, I changed back to the touring car body for a comparison, but unfortunately I wasn't able to compare much as I had a couple of technical problems with the car.  However, fastest lap times were only a difference of 0.05sec in favour of the touring car shell.  So all in all, I'm quite happy with the Beetle shell and will run it more in future.

Improving the car

The Spec R S1 is great out of the box, but like any other car, can be improved.  Here are some of the improvements which I have made to the car.

 

Shocks

 

I have replaced the kit shocks with Tamiya TRF shocks in both cars.  These are reputed to be the best in the business, and so far have provided great, reliable performance.  The front shocks have Kyosho 350wt oil in, which is equivalent to 35wt for other manufacturers, and the rear shocks have Kyosho 250wt, which is 25wt.

 

Springs

 

The kit springs have been replaced by XRay springs, using silver on the front, and gold on the rear.  The suspension needs to be quite soft for a low grip carpet surface using rubber tyres.  My current set up can be viewed here

 

Gear Diff

 

Both myself and my son found difficulty with the front spool.  Our club has a small, technical track with tight turns and corners, therefore a gear diff is a better option.  We also found that front UJ's were breaking on small impacts.  We believe that the lack of "give" in the spool can be quite unforgiving, but as soon as we installed a gear diff, we have had no more breakages.  The car also handles a lot better with the gear diff.  The diff has 300,000 diff oil which is quite stiff, but allows a small amount of diff movement.

Wheel hexes

Kit plastic ones need to be replaced by aluminium clamping ones which are available from Spec R or other manufacturers. The aluminium is more solid and gives better support to the wheel.

Shims

Replace plastic shims with metal ones from Spec R or other manufacturers.  The plastic ones aren't as solid as the metal ones and may not stay solid and keep their shape.

Servo Saver

The kit one is quite poor and has been replaced with a Kimbrough one.
 

That's pretty much it, set up tips have been found on RcTech.net, and I've settled on my own set up which I've posted here.  I've used roll bars on both front and rear, and up front on its own, but removed them and now run without.

Spec R R1 wins at City Cup, Bangkok

 

The City Cup 4" was held on 10 August at RC CITY, Bangkok, and Spec-R driver Tee Sutthiprawat took TQ and won the A Final driving a Spec R R1.

http://www.spec-r.com/default/index.php?main_page=news

   

(Pictures from Spec R website www.spec-r.com)

 



 

Hello, and welcome to my new blog, which is about the Spec R S1 1/10th scale R/C Touring Car.  There are two versions of this touring car, the full race version R1, and the more budget, "club" version, the S1.  This is the version of the car which I will be focussing on, as both my son and I race this car. We bought this car as it is a very competitively priced car and ideal for club racing.
 



 

Here is a link to the Spec R website where you can find out more about the car, and the range of parts from Spec R.

 

http://www.spec-r.com/default/

 

There is also a forum on the Spec R car on the RCTech site :-

 

http://www.rctech.net/forum/electric-road/661953-spec-r-r1.html

Thank you for visiting.  Future blogs will include race and set-up information, plus more information about the car.