When is a 4wd not a 4wd? . . . When it's a 2wd!

The hot topic trackside and the subject of much controversy just now is the conversion of 4wd drive cars into 2wd.

Indeed just such a car won the mid-south regional series in the very capable hands of Glen Westwood. Further examples could be found in at least one National 'A' final.

This is being done in several different ways depending on the car and/or driver.

Some are removing all front wheel drive parts including diff and forward drive shaft, others are merely removing the front drive shafts and leaving the front diff, and all drive thereto, in place.

Opinions vary as to whether there is an advantage to be had one way or the other and if so on what types of track.

The big question is however how would this work in the hands of the average racer.

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Durango DEX410V3 . . . A new car in my garage.

I loosened the strings on the Pipski purse this week.

Durango have reduced the price of the DEX410V3, probably because a new car is imminent.
Of course that doesn't make the current model a bad one, so I treated myself.

The V3 is a bargain at its current price and comes loaded with a raft of desirable features that can usually only be dreamed of at this price point.

I published a full build report on the DEX410R a while back, which can be found HERE, so I won't be doing another for this model as the build is essentially identical bar a few notable improvements.

TORCH Summer Series Round 4

The RC gods smiled upon us for once this summer and granted us a decent day on Sunday to go racing.

I took full advantage of this and headed off to TORCH for round 4 of their popular summer series.

The TORCH committee have worked hard over the last year or so to turn this venue into a top notch off road destination for southern buggy racers that now regularly attracts national and even international drivers to darkest Hampshire. This season they have already played hosts to a round of the 2wd drive mid south regionals with a round of 4wd scheduled in a couple of weeks. 

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As has become the norm these days there was a decent turnout for this event, I estimate around 70 drivers.

All were catered for with a wide range of ability across 2 and 4wd classes. There was also a juniors class who were to be rewarded with trophies for their efforts at the end of the day.

Spoilt for choice at SHRCCC

I have entered the MKGP which is being held at the home of  the Newbury RC club on 18/19th November.

This is to be an indoor 1/10 off-road event running mainly on carpet, more specifically the actual carpet from SHRCCC.

With this in mind last Thursday I made the trip to Farnham to have a run with some (all) of my cars in an effort to to establish some kind of battle plan with the aim of minimizing potential embarrassment come race day.

Dudders set up a great little track with a variety of obstacles including a cross over, a couple of table tops, one being on a corner and some slippy stuff. It was all crammed into a fairly small space but more than enough to test any car. 

Get a grip Pip!

I think I may have got a little carried away with my buggy fetish.

I am hoping this admission in front of my peers is the first step on the road to recovery.

It all started back in the Summer when I met, what seemed like, a nice guy. His name was Neil 'Dudders' Dudman and he was about to set up a new off road club SHRCCC.

I trusted him when he assured me what he was offering was just harmless fun and that I would meet, and enjoy the company of, other people just like me.

Little did I know then that it would lead to this.

Durango DEX410R . . . I sploshed some paint on!

Having managed to squeeze everything under the diminutive shell supplied with the 410 it was time to spill some paint all over it.

I decided to go for the 'team' look and try to create something similar to my Losi 22.

These are the results.

Durango DEX410R . . Electrics install.

I put my limited soldering skills to the test at the weekend when I decided to wire up the 410.

My electrics of choice comprised a Tekin 6.5t motor hooked up to an LRP Sphere competition speedo. When I say choice what I mean is 'that I managed to source used for a reasonable price'.

Due to the limited space I had to spring for a Spektrum micro rx.

The juice to power this little lot will be supplied by a pair of Intellect 5400mah 60c saddles that are a perfect fit.

It's a bit of a challenge getting everything just so in this car but I think I managed pretty well.

I went for the de rigeur all black wiring, perhaps not the wisest but possibly the coolest choice.

The respective lengths of the positive and negative wires ensure that once in place it is, thankfully, impossible to connect the cells back to front.

I am happy with the outcome.

 I have the heatsink for the speedo and am waiting for a thermal pad to arrive so I can fit it. I am hoping to get away without a fan if I can.

The final job will be to splash some paint on the bodyshell. I'll get the airbrush out tomorrow, pop back to see the result of my efforts.

I'm getting excited now!

Carlos Fandango Durango DEX410R . . Nearly ready to roll.

I have, at last, made time to wield the wrenches in the direction of my Durango DEX410. I picked this up recently at a good price and have been looking forward to putting it together.

Team Durango have just released the V3 version of this car which, I am pleased to report, seems to be an evolution of this platform rather than an entirely new model.

The car remains ostensibly the same with the addition of big bore shocks and a new hex fitting for the wheels, thus confirming my purchase as a wise one.  



Inside everything is as one would expect, mostly divided up into numbered bags that correspond with the build stages in the manual. The exception, and slight pain in the a*** is that the plastics are all in one big bag still attached to their sprues. I laid them out on the bench to make locating the correct part easier.



    



I couldn't resist it! (Part 2) . . . Durango DEX410R

Do you remember what I said about a good day at the track prompting exravagance?
Well I had better start having some bad days soon or I am going to be completely boracic!
(I didn't really mean that oh great gods of RC)

Anyway I blame Michael Ball at MB Models.

Michael has struck a deal with Durango meaning that right now he is doing a cracking price on the 410R.



Durango DEX210 2wd Buggy

I notice that Durango have just released their new 2wd buggy.

The following pics are from their website, more can be found at . . .

Team Durango DEX210 pics