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.

Hobao Hyper H2 . . A morning at TORCH

Upon awakening I was initially frightened by the huge fireball in the sky, I quickly realised however that it was my long lost friend the sun.

Without further ado I packed up the Hobao along with the rest of my kit and set off for TORCH.

It was a low key morning club meeting so not likely to be overly busy, the perfect opportunity to give the H2 a shakedown.
 The upside of these meetings is that there is plenty of track time, usually 5 heats and a final, the downside is that there is very little time to make changes to the car, in fact there is barely time to charge cells.

I was going to enjoy myself nevertheless.

I had kind of guessed at a set up and knew I would have no opportunity to make drastic changes.

It turned out I wasn't a million miles away as the car felt pretty good from the off.

Hobao Hyper H2 . . Electrics Install

For the electrics in the H2 I resorted to some familiar components.

The Hobbywing V2 speedo is a great favourite of mine, HW have been really good at updating the software for this unit so it remains competitive and is easy peasy to programme track-side via the digital program box.

Sweet!

I am using a full size 2s pack in the H2 so there is no choice in mounting location, it goes on the hinged battery plate. I was a little worried that with the fan fitted it might foul the body shell. I needn't have as there is plenty of room.

Depending on the brand stubby users may be able to squeeze in the esc on the chassis behind the servo. 

I used some snazzy blue wire to hook this up to an LRP X12 8.5t motor which, with modern software, should suffice for most tracks. It's a clear run so was quite straightforward.

Hobao Hyper H2 Build . . Part 2

So I am back in the shed to complete the build. it's bloomin' freezing so my little fan heater is working overtime!

The H2 comes with all the parts to build the car in mid or rear motor formats, I have chosen to build my car as mid motor as I will be racing primarily on astro. 

(If you decide on the rear motor configuration some of the following will still apply but keep an eye on the manual.)

At this point the H2 offers something a little different from the norm in the shape of a hinged battery retaining system. 

Tip: It is possible to use either full size or stubby type cells in the car, the small L shaped retaining piece can be fitted to the forward or rearward pair of holes in the top plate depending on your choice.

The hinged top plate also acts as the mounting plate for the electrics, this can be seen in the electrics install blog post.

I assembled mine to accept a full size 2s pack.

From this point onwards a little 'interpretation' of the manual is required, hopefully the following will help with  your build decisions.