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 3

All roads led to TORCH last weekend for Round 3 of their great summer series.
The weatherman said it was going to be a scorcher so t-shirts and high factor sun cream were essential to ensure a full days fun without lobster tinged regret on Monday morning.

It must be have been warm as sandal wearing Clarkie had even removed his socks.

(Click on any pic for gallery view)

The good weather ensured a decent turnout with most of the usual suspects in attendance as well as a few faces that hadn't been seen in a while blowing away the RC cobwebs,.

Stotfold 2wd Mid South Regional . . . Round 4

When the alarm sounded at stupid-o-clock on Sunday morning my woe was tempered by the fact that my destination for the day was to be Stotfold for the latest round of the BRCA Mid South Regional series.

I have read a lot recently about the improvements the club have made to the venue so was excited to visit and see for myself.
On arrival it was clear that all the hard work had been worthwhile as the track looked great.
The layout had been tweaked since my previous visit and much of the astro has been replaced with some nice new bright green stuff giving the whole place a fresh new feel.

(Click on any pic for gallery view) 

It might look nice but don't be fooled into thinking this is an easy track, it's very '3D' and tricky to learn, it took me both of the practice heats just to remember where to turn left and right let alone where the bumps were! I knew it would be a tough day for me.

Schumacher Cougar SV2 . . . Which shocks?

Over the last few weeks I have been testing the various different shock options available for the SV2.
I am an average driver but have noticed some differences . . .

I have tried std big bores, bleeder cap big bores (with and without bladders) and bleeder cap small bores with big bore springs (with and without bladders).

My unscientific testing has taken place at TORCH which is a reasonably smooth, high traction, astro track with a few smaller jumps but no big silly stuff. 

This is what I think:

Standard big bores: Reliable and predictable, reasonably easy to build but sometimes tricky to achieve even rebound across a set.

Bleeder cap big bores (emulsion): Plush feeling shocks that work well. Easy to build but need regular rebuilds to maintain consistency.

Bleeder cap big bores (bladder): I prefer these without the bleed screws fitted. They are a piece of cake to build with repeatable results every time. The result is a very consistent predictable shock that feels nice to drive.

Bleeder cap small bores (emulsion): Same maintenance issues as big bore emulsion shocks. They felt a bit too feisty for me but would probably work well on tight smooth tracks, indoor carpet perhaps? The good guys could probably get the best out of them.

Bleeder cap small bores (bladder): Again I preferred these without the bleed screw which makes them a little calmer and easy to maintain.

If you look at the last couple of pics you will see which are my favourites.

For the remainder of the outdoor season I will be bouncing along on the big bore shocks fitted with bleeder caps and bladders but no bleed screws, on Core RC springs. 

These seem to suit my (dubious!) driving style and allow me to drive relatively error free runs at a reasonable pace.

I can see why the better drivers use the small bores as they do appear to make the buggy more nimble but  feel a little edgy for me. I will probably give them another go when we go indoors for the winter.

So there you go, I can conclude that . . . I'm not so much better with any of them, what a surprise!

TORCH Summer Series Round 2

The guys at TORCH know how to put on a great meeting so I knew I was in for a fun day when I made the, now familiar, trip to Titchfield at the weekend for Rnd 2 of the Summer series.
Plenty of track time was guaranteed as the Summer Series meetings usually comprise 4 rounds of qualifying followed by 3 finals for all, not to mention the hour or so of pre-race open practice.

Al was trying to nobble Dan before the day had even started.

Over the last few weeks the venue has been treated to a couple of work parties and the hard graft of Dan and his merry band certainly shows. 

The track has been tweaked slightly and is better than ever, I just wish I could get round it a little quicker. The surrounding fence is creeping around and is getting ever closer to enclosing the entire track.

TORCH is already hosting some big events and must now be very close to being a national standard venue.

Say cheese!

Only around 40 drivers turned out for the event which was disappointing as the venue and organisation deserve much more. Nevertheless the atmosphere was made great by the lads, and the odd lady supporter, that did turn up.

I was swapping between the SVR and the SV2 (Don't ask me why) and thought I was doing ok until I looked at the final qualifying standings and found I had only managed to achieve B4. 

Either the standard is getting higher or I'm getting worse, I'd like to think it's the former but fear it's the latter.

This is the timing sheet from my last, and fastest, qualifier with the SV2. (He says with a sigh!)

I managed to put that crushing disappointment behind me and had a couple of fun races in the finals, ending up where I started, just off the box in P4.

Another day of ups and downs really.

When it's good it's great but . . . . . . . . 

When it's bad it's terrible!

I still went home with a smile on my face, albeit a slightly frustrated one, and am already looking forward to the next round, where I am determined to do better. 

Maybe if I just do the usual and just throw some more money at it?

The usual suspects where found ripping round at the front joined by a couple of worthy visitors in the shape of  Matt Owen from the Silverstone club and James White, perhaps getting in some sneaky practice for the 2wd regional.

For those to whom these things matter the full results from the day can be found HERE.

If you haven't made it along to a TORCH event yet you are certainly missing out.
Get along to Rnd 3 on July 7th, put it in your diary now.
Oh, and bring some Yellow Minispikes.

A big thanks to Lionel Croucher who was wielding his new Nikon D90 for this article, click on any pic for the full size version.

TORCH Mid South 4wd Regional

If you thought TORCH was already a good place to go 1/10 buggy racing then you would be correct. Not a club to rest on its laurels however the Hampshire massive have been busy over the last few weeks moving things on to another level.

Plenty of good work has gone into improving the parking and pitting areas and money has been spent upgrading the timing system. This all adds to the professional feeling of the venue but, not to do things by halves, there has also been a complete revamp of the track.

(Click on any pic for gallery view) 

Schumacher Big Bore Vented Shock Caps.

Ok, so in my ongoing, and thus far fruitless, quest to be a  little less rubbish I've thrown yet more money at my Cougar SV2.

This time my hard earned cash has been wasted invested in the latest hop up from the Northampton massive, a set of vented bleeder shock caps for my big bore shocks.

Here they are.
Nicely machined little beauties aren't they.

These shock caps come with a set of bladders and a set of o-rings, thus enabling the user to build the shocks bladder free.

Team Xtreme Vega RB5 . . . Don't mind if I do.

Well I couldn't resit it.
It's a Team Xtreme Kyosho RB5 based Vega.

I have lusted after one of these for some time and when this little beauty cropped up for sale recently my heart got the better of my head, not to mention my wallet.

For those that don't know, the Vega is a  kit, comprising a number of tasty carbon and machined alloy parts to convert the rear motored Kyosho RB5 into a mid motored weapon capable, in the right hands, of running right at the sharp end.