Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

My wife has given me the go ahead to purchase a D3 as my Christmas present and I know that I need a few upgrades out of the box to make it work the way it should. I have the front one way, the alloy spur adapter, the wide angle cvd's and the belt tensioner coming for it already. My question is when I disassemble the front to install the one way, do I need to take the small pulleys off of the layshaft or can they stay on (to avoid having to fight with the pins)? If they do have to come off I may order the aluminum pulleys to replace the stockers so that I don't have to mess with those pins. BTW the car she got is the preassembled model so I'm not building this from a kit. Also, I have a few packs already that I can use, but I cant seem to find a straight answer online as to the dimensions of the battery tray. What are you guys running for a battery in your D3? Any other tips and tricks that you have discovered along the way would be helpful!

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

The upgrades you have coming are going to make the out of the box car work really well all by itself. I ran mine for over a year with those upgrades and it worked great. I added added the CF chassis and Aluminum lower arms last Spring. Truth is the car works great out of the box. Those pulley pins can be replaced with a small screw if you want but the pins push out pretty easily.

I've got over two hundred hours of run time on mine and all the belts and pulleys are original. It's a very good value and very durable.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I'm running a 2650 mah 2S with a 8.5 turn BL motor I have enough battery to power the car for over a hour I have larger batteries but I don't like the extra weight cuts down the drift angle to much. Besides after an hour of driving I need a break anyway.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

Im watching a zippy 2650 40c pack right now; not bad specs for a $23 battery. I have some spare axial 3mm screw pins that I may try in the stock pulleys to begin with and if that doesn't work or is a pain in the rectumus-maximus I can always switch to aluminum pulleys later. I'm going to be using a 60a/4600kv combo in mine and I already have a complete selection of pinions to mess around with. I have a large textured concrete driveway to run on and I currently run HPI Falken Azenis T-Drifts on my 50/50 cars with pretty good results. Any suggestions for a cs car on that surface?

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

Sounds like your on your way to another RC addiction. That driveway will make a perfect practice area it's really surprising how little space you need for a good practice spot. I've really enjoyed learning the drift car and it's so much fun to drive.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I've got four other cars set up for 50/50 (TL01, TA02, TT01D and an electric 4tec) and I'm really excited to try CS. After I get used to driving the d3 I would like to try my hand at rwd. I have seen some videos online and it looks like a challenge that I'd like to try

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I got the Speed Passion Reventon combo coming tomorrow. I saw that the esc is bluetooth capable with the module add-on but it only works with Android 2.2-3.0. That's a bummer since my Galaxy Mega runs 4.4.2 so I don't think that's going to work. I've got the programming box so I'm not concerned about it too much but I am curious as to how the bluetooth works on this esc. Does anyone use (or have any experience with) this feature?

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

Got the car together and ran it for the first time yesterday and was amazed at how much I dont know about driving CS. I started out slow doing donuts and figure 8's and feeling things out. I had a hard time getting any opposite steering angle without the car changing directions and going which ever direction the front tires are pointing. Any tips on what I am missing here?

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I've moved on from this car, but I think it's a great platform. I think 2.0 CS is a little much for the amount of steering throw it has. Try toning the CS down and I think you'll be much happier with the car. I know I was. I tihnk I moved from a 22 to a 17 tooth pulley and it made a world of difference.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

Thanks evol, I'll give it a try and see if I can make it work. Is the issue the lack of steering throw that is causing the problem? If so maybe I can do some clearancing and get more range there. My end points are turned way down to keep the servo from straining so I know that there is more angle to be had. I've also got the wide angle cvd's installed up front so that should help too. I'll pick up the pulley on the next order from ebay and give it a shot.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I'm going to do some Dremel work this evening to try and gain a few more degrees of steering. I assume that the 17t pulley is for the rear layshaft in place of the 22t that is there now? I'm going to order the pulley soon and want to make sure I get the correct one. Also, are there any tips for removing the pins that hold the stock pulleys on? Thanks in advance!

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I just installed the 17t rear layshaft pulley and now the belt is too loose to touch the diff. Is there a way to tighten the belt without an external tensioner or do I need another tensioner? Do I need a shorter rear belt now?

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

Update:
I took the rear tensioner off of the bottom deck and moved it to the rear shock tower. It was not reaching the belt before and adding washers below it to raise it was not really an option so I drilled a hole near the shock mount on the passenger side and mounted it there horizontally. Now the belt is snug and it is much easier to adjust.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I tried running the car again today with the new rear pulley and it is as bad as it was before. If you breathe on the throttle it spins. if you try to countersteer, it spins. If you fart, it spins. if you throw the transmitter into oncoming traffic, it spins. It hooks so bad that it is undrivable. I have raised the front ride height by 3mm to keep the nose from bottoming out as much and I have added camber at all four corners. What can I do to actually drive this car? Could the tires be too soft? Would switching to a pvc or abs pipe tire help? I am currently running HPI Falken Azenis T-Drifts which in the few minutes that I have ran the car are nearly worn to the rim. Any setup help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead but i got the car back out today and gave it another try. The handling is just as bad as ever but the major issue today was the battery. The zippy 2200 2s pack is too thin for the o-ring hold downs to reach and it has a bad habit of leaving the party early. I checked through a few drift forums and didn't see what i was looking for and a google search really didn't turn up anything either. Any ideas on how i can remedy this? This car has been pretty frustrating since day one and at this point i want to either get it running correctly or sell it.

As far as the handling goes, would adding some camber to the front and reducing the camber in the rear help? I have switched to a harder compound tire and that helped, but only just. The car still spins with the least amount of steering input and if you do get it sideways and try to countersteer it spins the other way. I am at a loss as to what to do here as my 50/50 cars don't behave this way. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

You need to slow down the counter steer ratio to something manageable.....
i run 2 13t pullys in the front
a 14t rear center pulley
and a 20t rear
that will put the counter steer ratio at about 70%

stock they come 114% counter steer....


a oneway may help you out a bit also.......

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I've already gone down to a 17t rear pulley with little to no results so I guess I'll pick up some more pulleys soon. I already have a FOW so that's already taken care of.

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

gyro. ???

Re: Sakura D3 FOW and Battery
 

I would like to get the chassis sorted out before resorting to a gyro. If i have to use one i can pick one up later but i need to sort the chassis issues first and fix the battery tray before i run the car again anyway so i have my work cut out for me. Its a little frustrating to me since it seems that any changes i make don't affect the car in any way.