topher drives a DR10 - No Prep
 

I bit the bullet and grabbed a DR10, after seeing the GNX body and watching some of the locals build these the bug bit me. The racing around here is pretty competitive, but a little more on that in the next post. First let’s talk about the DR10. All this no prep drag racing stuff is new to me, so take this with a grain of salt, but here are my thoughts as someone who likes the look but isn’t sure about utility.

First impressions the thing is pretty big. On paper it’s a nice package for $320. Fully RTR, comes with a brushless esc and 3300kv motor, 3S capable, aluminum shock bodies, decent looking body, and from what I know of it’s the only rtr that doesn’t need modifications to fit into the no prep rules.

Most no prep cars are converted 2wd short course trucks, team associated basically did the conversion for you and offers a good value rtr package. The rules get pretty specific but basically the tires need to tuck inside the body, wheelie bar has to be 10” or shorter, 2wd, and 2s for competing.

I digress, I started tinkering with the car. The first thing I did was add some decals. From the side stripes and the small door decal I think I’m probably closer to 3320kv now. After making it look faster I eventually put a battery in it and headed out for a test run.

I stuck a 2S battery in there so I’ll know what to expect if I race someone. And man, this thing is slow. The overall FDR was something over 12 (I think 12.566 if my math is right) so it is not really geared to be a drag racer out of the box. The best explanation I’ve read for this was that it was designed to be able to run a normal size 3S pack without stressing the electronics. In that regard, they were successful. But since this thing is made to go 132 feet at a time I had ordered up some different gearing options. I put gears in that were around a 6.7 FDR and it woke it up a good bit. Only mashed it a couple times with the new gearing before my pack died but it’s more fun now at least. I will also note that the motor screws were practically superglued, almost stripped them but the handy soldering iron and protek driver got them out and replaced. I’ve heard this is not uncommon and that I could run into similar issues elsewhere on the chassis.

So my plans at this point are to paint up the GNX body. I have some proline Hoosiers and plastic wheels to slap on as well. I’ll probably throw the 4600kv castle motor thats in my rally car into here instead and see how that goes. Other than that I’m not going to do much performance wise except tinker with gearing and maybe do another body down the road and some metal wheel hexes.

Thanks for reading along if you made it this far. Here are some pics.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

A little more on the local scene. I stopped by the races out here on Sunday to pick up the GNX body and some tires. While I was there I watched a couple races and chatted with some of the drivers. It was a pretty competitive atmosphere. Lots of people and tents, in the IKEA overflow lot. Maybe 35 people there, apparently I only took a pic from the road but the whole cluster there is the race area. As far as racing goes, there is a leaderboard that you had to qualify to even be on. They spent the first part of the races figuring out who could qualify this week to join the leaderboards. Only 2 new drivers were allowed so there was a bit of a bracket race to find them before the real racing started.

There were some really cool cars out there. Here are some pics of a few bodies Rocco at RC Bombshells has done. These things are just insane. I have a hard time contemplating how he gets some of these details in there.

There’s also a short clip of a race on the last slide of this Instagram post ( https://www.instagram.com/p/CBqm8BVD...=13gtorv3bm2b4 )I think I heard that the fellow in the closest lane was at the top of the leaderboard. These two are much faster than my DR10 is right now, and they launch well.

After watching all that I’m pretty sure I don’t want to race competitively, but there are enough people out here with them that I’ll be able to get the occasional weekend racing in the IKEA parking lot in. Will see where it goes from there.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

That Nova body is beautiful.

I'm still unsure if I want to pick up the DR10, or if I want to build one up from a Associated b5 chassis, or if I even want to bother at all. That Nova body makes it so hard to stay away though LOL!

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

These do look like fun though I think I'd come to the same conclusion about competing sapping the fun out of it.

I've got the Trophy Rat which is the same rig minus a few tiny tweaks and I've been thinking about converting it to play around with. I really like the scale aspect more than anything else.

I didn't realize the limit the battery to 2S, seems a bit low.

EDIT: that Nova is nice, seems like one of the few thats trying to look like a stock body.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Looks cool TB! Looks like a great RTR package to get your feet wet in drag racing!

I agree with everybody, that Nova looks sweet! I've been seeing the RC Bombshells on FB and they make paint some beautiful bodies.

The No Prep drag racing looks like it is pretty big deal out west. I just recently found out that there is a group of guys in my area that have started a drag racing comp. I think they are running 3S and are not really following the No Prep 2S rule.

I did recently picked up a worn out and abused 2WD Slash and have been slowly rebuilding it into a drag car. Not sure if it will be done this year, but may try it out next year if I can get it done.

Looking forward to seeing the new GNX body and seeing some running footage of your DR10!

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Here's Amain's take on the DR10: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MwnjfG9omA

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Thanks all! Same page with everyone about the Nova body. It’s a beaut. I agree with Casey that the overall size and look of it feel closer to stock than some of the other options. Might be the second body I do.


Mike, that’s a great video. Agree with pretty much everything he said and learned a couple things. I forgot to mention about the slipper, but the slipper on mine was pretty loose. It slipped a lot of 2s. I cranked it down a good bit when I changed the gearing. Thanks for sharing!

It would be cool to see some other drag builds from the peeps around here, some potential for cool builds with the talent on here.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Here's one, a couple threads below yours: http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/non-c...liminator.html

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

The no prep RC drag racing scene is exploding around here too. I had an old Slash roller chassis collecting dust so I dug it out and built a no prep car using Bandit arms and that same Nova body. I still have a long way to go with this but I think it turned out nice looking. I have a Mamba X and a 2280 brushless motor on 3s which is ok for scale 1/8 mile (66ft) hits but just is not up to the gearing required for 1/4 mile (132ft). I have a bunch of parts ordered to go through the trans and diff as well as a 5700kv CC motor coming. Some of the regular competitors around here are waaaay above my performance level. I'm with TB I think I will forgo the competition side for now and just run for fun.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Man she looks good all in white! Mean stance too. Nice build GS "thumbsup"

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Thanks TB! I hate painting so I tend to keep it as simple as possible. Let us know how the DR10 works once you get it dialed in a bit more. This whole NP RC drag racing looks like it's going to be fun. Might be worth starting a new section to share info. I'm still struggling to find the popular sources of RC drag parts and since I don't do Fakebook it takes a bit more research.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

I built this back in 2016 .... http://www.rccrawler.com/forum/non-c...ve-robber.html

<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/dr_frankenstyle/p/ed9d066b-58f7-4f0b-bd91-2b7747f4c760" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Tow%20Toy%202%20171_zpsav4c3ejk.jpg" border="0" alt="Tow Toy 2 171_zpsav4c3ejk"/></a>

Not sure if it qualifies as "no-prep". I just wanted a street truck to put in front of my boat and trailer, so I converted my old Associated RC-12e (with a LOT of mod's) and covered it with a Vaterra drift body. :)

<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/dr_frankenstyle/p/e37ee62c-3b2f-448d-bf58-3dfa3ae12b14" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Tow%20Toy%20072_zpstkxn1sdm.jpg" border="0" alt="Tow Toy 072_zpstkxn1sdm"/></a>

But once the build got rollin' :roll: it kinda grew a second personality ....

<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/dr_frankenstyle/p/94b98ea0-5026-4084-a457-5042086291b4" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Tow%20Toy%202%20175_zps1915gkbh.jpg" border="0" alt="Tow Toy 2 175_zps1915gkbh"/></a>
<a href="https://app.photobucket.com/u/dr_frankenstyle/p/c8e6a1d0-9f0d-496c-8ada-b20a4b2d5d46" target="_blank"><img src="https://hosting.photobucket.com/albums/t599/dr_frankenstyle/Lapse%20Launches%20157_zpstbdsepui.jpg" border="0" alt="Lapse Launches 157_zpstbdsepui"/></a>

.... and drag-bars and a 'chute .... and other goodies. It turned into more of a Pro-Streeter/tow-rig, I guess, but it's fun to drive. The adjustable TSM makes it a pretty good drifter too. I even bought a DTS-1 and spent a few afternoons sharpening my "tree" timing and "quarter-mile" ... but there's nobody nearby to race, and they "chip-n-sealed" the hiway by the house so it's like trying to race on baseballs now. It just sits on a shelf in front of the boat ... the DTS is in it's box in the spare bedroom. I've considered gettin' a new no-prepper, but I can only drive one at a time. :lmao:
All the rides here look really good! I'll be following along to see how you guys like 'em as you go. ;-)


8) jim

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Wow that’s a great looking truck Jim! Beautiful. That’s cool you came up with that and pulled it off so well. Thanks for sharing it!

I hope others that have these types of builds share them here too.


I’m hoping to get out and do a few just for fun races this weekend with a couple friends. I got some new wheels and tars, second time ever gluing tires and that sucked, but it’s ready for some action.

If we get enough interest for a sub forum that would be cool. I’m thinking we’ll see a couple more of these pop up too.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Man, that looks awesome![emoji106]

Great use of a classic winning carpet car! Great job on the body!

I’ve got an RC12L from back in the late 80’s that I used to race collecting dust! I may have to rethink its purpose!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Hey dudes. Got around to throwing some paint on the GNX body. Pics below.

I forgot to line up the flame and the turbo on the passenger side after mirroring the image for the masks, and the turbo 6 on top looks like a 9 depending on where you’re standing but I’ll pretty happy with it overall.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Well I ended up getting out and actually doing some casual racing with a friend. We found an empty parking lot out here, posted up, and let them rip about a dozen times.

I brought my temp gun, it was a chilly 103 degrees out at 3:30 yesterday when we went out so I was worried about temps, but neither rig got over 120 on the electronics. Thinking 2S helps this, but we also didn’t hot lap them and would do a couple runs then let them chill.

Both were on stock electronics, homie’s was stock gearing and my gearing has been changed to a much more top end ratio. It was cool to see this in action as he’d pull on me a little off the line but towards the end mine would keep accelerating. Going to drop a couple pinion teeth to try and get the top end to peak during the “1/4 mile”. We did pop a 3s in for one run and woowee they scoot on 3S even stock. If one isn’t stuck to the 2S rules these things are plenty fast on stock electronics with a 3s battery.

Overall it was a surprisingly good time, this definitely had a lot to do with having someone to race against. Something I’m going to try and do more frequently through the summer while it’s so hot.

Also went ahead and ordered a cheap-ish brushless esc and motor to see what it’d be like with a higher kv motor. Anyone have experience with Ruddog motors?

Few more pics... body still fresh just a little dirty. Hadn’t thought about this before but these bodies should last a while. Didn’t come close to any collision or contact while we were out. On that note, I already have a Nova on the way "thumbsup"

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Lots of peeps here in Spain have ruddog combos in their Firestorms ....all very happy.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

I've been using a 6t and a 5t Ruddog in my 6.1 drag car. Both work great. I'm building a Traxxas based car now, will run the 6t to get the suspension dialed in. I'd like to eventually get one of the high dollar Fantom motors to see if they are $70 better. One of the locals just put a built 4.5t in...it absolutely hauls butt. It makes a pretty distinctive sound compared to other motors.

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

Nice thanks for the feedback. Good to know. I went with a 8.5t ruddog and a hobbywing xr10. Figured that should get it scootin well enough on 2s

Re: topher drives a DR10 - No Prep GNX
 

I'm diggin' the BBBBBAD Buick!:)

Glad to see you got it out for some test runs!