Tommy R's RWD Drifter

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by BigChevyTruckin

And is he still doing this? I'd like to buy one from the states because I hate waiting for shipping!

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

Don't think so. He doesn't have any on ebay right now, but you could contact him through his youtube page and ask him. The benefit is definitely faster shipping, but the cost was about the same as buying from Broadtech directly.

[BigChevyTruckin]

Well that's it. Your videos and real world review of this car sold me on one. Should be here in two weeks, can't wait!

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

[BigChevyTruckin]

Is this your first rwd drifter? Did you find it easy to pick up?

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by BigChevyTruckin

Is this your first rwd drifter? Did you find it easy to pick up?

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

Yep, first RWD drifter and, yep, I did find it easy to pick up! I was actually very surprised to be honest. It simply "clicked" in my brain unlike any AWD drifter I'd ever driven. It's way more fun, way more realistic, and I'm having fun drifting for the first time ever.


I've got quite a few updates since the last one. First of all, I corner balanced the car. It makes no sense to me, but the LF and RR are the heaviest. I'm beginning to think I may have some tweak in the chassis because the LF corner should NOT be the heaviest, but it is. But I nonetheless balanced it the best I could. It's sitting right at 50/50 front/rear balance now. Side to side still needs work. I also installed a bunch of Associated rod ends and ball ends. That really freed up the suspension!

I also got frustrated with the stock Eagle shocks and even after working with them quite a bit, they just never felt smooth enough. I'd had a set of Tamiya TRFs in the past and they were super smooth so I picked up a set for this car. This time, however, I picked up the Flourine coated ones because their gun metal grey color would match better than the standard blue. I also picked up a set of soft springs from RC926 (32mm). Hoping the smoother damping and softer springs will result in some visible weight shift and body roll.

Here's a link to the springs I ordered: RC926Drift spring -32 [set a little soft] (each 2 pieces) - RC-ART ONLINE SHOPPING

Initially I went with 15WT and the softest springs for the rear. In the front I opted for 35WT and the stiffest springs, but it felt way too heavily damped. I tried a softer spring and a different shock angle and it helped, but not enough so I changed the fluid to 27.5WT. It feels better now, but I still think it's too stiff to see any body roll. I just don't think the polished concrete will yield enough lateral grip to induce body roll, but I should find out later today when I finally test it out.

The only issue I've got now is that the diameter of the new springs is a bit too large for the lower spring retainers on the TRF dampers. It doesn't take much effort for the springs to pop over the lower retainer. Maybe some different retainers are needed or maybe I need to make some modifications to get these to work better...

Anyway, here's a couple pics.

[BigChevyTruckin]

So awesome I can't wait!

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

[BigChevyTruckin]

As far as the tweaked chassis goes, one thing I've read is people will unbolt everything from the chassis, then tighten everything again, and it usually fixes the issue.

Any tips on carpet track setup? I have mst gold dots and the mst carpet specific tires on the way, but I'm not sure what to do with the front tires, or if they even matter that much.

Sent from my N9518 using Tapatalk

[Robbob]

Originally Posted by BigChevyTruckin

As far as the tweaked chassis goes, one thing I've read is people will unbolt everything from the chassis, then tighten everything again, and it usually fixes the issue.

I would just loosen the bulkheads and lower arms - take the shocks off and let them droop and retighten.

Also big culprit is gonna be those shock towers since the heads aren't countersunk. See it on my touring cars and others. Cars out of tweak or have to load a spring to much. We loosen the shock tower screws and you can literally see one side pop up or move quite a bit.


I don't know what drifters use for spring rates but you can always hunt the touring car sites like Reflex Racing or TQRacing and find soft springs that will fit those cups. Cant think asphalt is gonna generate much lateral grip with plastic tires lol. Its not a touring car race

[Robbob]

have you tried taking the center spine off the main chassis to improve traction? it would let the chassis move more.

[BigChevyTruckin]

Mine came in the mail yesterday and in psyched!






Any tips and tricks to starting off?

[Tommy R]

Hey y'all,

Sorry, I didn't get notifications on these recent replies!

I got rid of the tweak the same way I did with my touring cars. Pretty typical stuff like y'all mentioned. I loosened all the screws under the chassis, placed it upside down on a flat surface, and slowly re-tightened the screws. It's REALLY well balanced now (pics below).

For carpet, it really depends on the level of grip. Evidently, carpet is grippier than polished concrete (as you'd expect) so a harder tire is preferred. Initially we were running on carpet and the MST CS-R "Hard" was really good. The "Harder" compound was simply too hard and it would barely accelerate out of the corners! For the fronts I've been running the radius'd MST FR-F in the "Harder" compound and they've been great on concrete or carpet. So yeah, not nearly as critical, IMO.

BigChevy, the car looks great!

Robbob, the car is actually working really well right now. I don't want any more or less rear grip, to be honest. In fact, it works so well, that several local guys are now building and buying RWD cars since they've driven this one!


So updates! Since our last drift session I'd raised and centered the battery, installed the Tamiya TRF dampers and RC926 springs, and got the front weight bias to approx. 51-52%. It took a while to get the car working well again, but it got back into a groove and things were good. But it felt a bit too sluggish transitioning. It just took too long and scrubbed too much speed in the low speed hairpins. At the suggestion of one of our drift buddies who drifts real cars, I removed a bunch of weight off the back of the car....probably about 70g. The hope was that the car would be a bit snappier. And it was! It was carrying way more angle and was just a blast to drive!

I still don't think there's enough grip on polished concrete to generate any body roll, even with the battery mounted high, BUT I'm going to leave it because it's so much easier to access the battery now and the car balances so well! Below is a chassis shot as it sits right now.

LF: 405g RF: 409g
LF: 326g RR: 340g

Total weight is 1480g and the front bias is now up to 55%. I'll continue playing around with it, but it's really working so well right now that I don't know if I should!

[BigChevyTruckin]

I've gotten mine running and tuned to my liking in the past few sessions. What an amazing chassis! Im loving it so far.

[Tommy R]

A few pics from last night's carpet session...

[fullsizecrawler]

are you guy running gyros on the rwd cars ?

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by fullsizecrawler

are you guy running gyros on the rwd cars ?

Absolutely! I've tried running with it turned down a lot and it was still possible to drift it, but it was really notchy and not smooth. Haven't tried it (and likely won't) with it turned off.

[Tommy R]

Some pics from the other night...

[hbj069]

Hey Tommy r, you got a pic of your old Sakura? I think it landed in my lap

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by hbj069

Hey Tommy r, you got a pic of your old Sakura? I think it landed in my lap

Sure do! So what makes you think it was mine??

[Tommy R]

And here's some video footage from our test session the other night...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCaDsS7-e8Y

[hbj069]

Location, guy I gotta from just up the road from you, but that's not it.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

[Tommy R]

Originally Posted by hbj069

Location, guy I gotta from just up the road from you, but that's not it.

Sent from my HTC One M9 using Tapatalk

Ah, gotcha! Would've been a crazy coincidence!