Pangkor Trip (Dec'08) with BB Boys

Had a blast in Pangkor island with my high school mates... spent 2 full days of chilling and pigging out. Worst part was I was down with a cold so missed out the booze session with the guys. Nonetheless, it was one heck of a trip and a great gathering.

Projecto TRF416 World's Edition (Part 1)

Finally laid my hands on the TRF416 WE!





Had a very busy week while building the car. Preparing the carbon fiber parts is really a looong process but the end results is worthy. Assembly tolerance is really tight and ended up some parts binding especially on the lower arms but not a biggie with some sanding work.

Rear diff with JAAD ceramic balls, ceramic thrust bearings and diff covers


Front spool


Still work in progress...

Orca Lipo 4000mAh 20C (Stick Pack) Review

My VXR 3600mAh has bloated up a little and the charge is less than 60% of the pack. I should be disposing the pack now but stubbornly using it. I am storing and charging it in the LiPoSack.

After some research and comparison, I purchased the Orca 4000mAh 20C stick pack configuration for my M03. It comes with Tamiya plugs, 12 AWG wires and some Orca stickers. It is a soft pack but I was hoping it would be a hard lexan - I was wrong! The lipo is not packed to the brim with some air gap between the cells inside and the soft casing. I really doubt this is a 4000 pack. :(

If I have time, I will cycle it and give it a full charge to see its actual capacity. Testing will be done this Sunday at the track and will compare with my current Yeah 3200mAh 20C pack.

Here are some pictures of the Orca pack

Xray T2R gone...

Finally sold my Xray T2R after posting it up for months. Out goes the old and still waiting for the new! Jeez... the wait is terrible!

M03 Setup Guide

Excellent guide for setting up a M03.

Now I feel like ripping up my M03 and rebuilding it...

TRF416 World's Edition

I want it!! Badly!!!! Supposedly available in my LHS in 2wks but I still doubt his words. Hehe~~



Marc Rheinard's winning TRF416



Source: Redrc.net (where else? :))

M03 Swift

I think I got my M03 setup nicely now. It has stopped traction rolling and I feel more confident thru the corners now.

Things that I have done to make it handle better and faster:
1) universal joints - the car is much smoother and faster thru the corners
2) ball diff - felt more traction and acceleration exiting corner
3) heat sink - thanks my Adrian bro who CNC-ed a anodized blue heat sink! Well, I dont think it helps much in heat dissipation. But, hell yeah it does looks cooler!
4) TRF shocks - good shock travel length thanks to Ben
5) Weights - tonnes of it! Car stopped traction rolling mainly due to added weights.

However, Swift still rolls a lot thru corners due to a lot of droop. Next hop up will be short springs which I tried and it works to great effect of reducing droop and roll.

Marc Rheinard World Champion!

Hacker Motor update

Geared that bugger at 5.3 FDR with temp max at 140F after 8mins run. Still not up to speed as my buddy on Speedpassion. All this was done with 0 timing on the Tekin RS Pro. I just had the Hotwire hooked up and set the timing at 100%. Will see how it goes this weekend...

Lexma 2.4G Nano Laser Mouse Review

My reliable and faithful Logitech optical mouse has decided to be unreliable and unfaithful one day giving me non-stop glitches which irritates the crap hell of me. So I have thrown it aside since then until I finally decided to forked out some dough from my RC trust fund to purchase Lexma 2.4G Nano Laser mouse. Due to the RC trust fund is a negative ROI fund, I decided not to buy Logitech since it is more expensive for the same spec I get with the Lexma.

Quick run down on the Lexma mouse. It is 2.4G wireless, laser, DPI settings from 1000 to 2000dpi and nanoguard technology which supposedly anti bacteria up to 99.9% efficiency. Maybe it is good for people who dont wash their hands after using the toilet. All marketing cock and bull to me.

The overall ergo or feel of the mouse is not too bad for its price. Connectivity and binding between the USB receiver to the mouse is straightforward. The receiver 'stores' itself by sliding onto the mouse externally. The mouse uses 2 AA batteries so it does not have any more room to fit the receiver inside as opposed to
some Logitech models.

The mouse wheel is 4-way. The wheel scroll can be wacky at times where it is not that sensitive. I do not use much of the left and right scroll but it would be nice to have them programable to be Back and Forward buttons when surfing the web.

The mouse glitches sometimes which puzzled me since it is using 2.4G band. Perhaps it is not using Futaba FASST or Spektrum DSM! Lol! I hate it when the bloody thing glitces!

I have yet to verify the battery consumption of the mouse as I have been using it for less than a month. The mouse goes into standby mode after a few minutes to save battery.

Overall, if you can live with the occasional insensitivity or glitch then this may be ok for you. If you have the extra dough get a better mouse such a Logitech. Well, I guess it sums up you pay what you get.

Hacker Brushless Motor

Ordered the Hacker Brushless motor from US. I was really excited after following the thread in RCTech. As soon as I saw the packaging, I was quite disappointed as it didnt look very presentable. The packaging was made from cheap cardboard material and just a sticker stating Hacker motor. I was having high hopes that this motor was made in US or Germany. I was dead wrong! LoL!!


The sensor wires does not have shrink tube or the wire coil similar to Novak.


The PCB board has a flash on top which is not appealing.


Well, lets see how this motor performs in the next few weeks...

When It Falls Apart

KM Racing Carbon Tools

KM Racing (km-rc.com) recently released these new hex drivers with awesome looking carbon fiber handles! More excuses to change to a new set of tools~~



Source: km-rc.com, redrc.net

Rain!

Damn... I hate it when it rains in the weekend. No chance to test my new ESC settings.

Well, I like when it rains since it cools down the weather but not rain on a weekend...

Team Tekin RS Pro ESC

Got myself a brand new Tekin RS Pro esc. Its runs both sensored and sensorless modes which Tekin calls it Hybrid mode. It has smaller footprint and no heatsink. I bought the Hotwire also but have yet to install and tune the esc.


This is the comparison of the footprint between RS Pro vs my old (now ex) Novak GTB.


The current layout of my electronics with the Spektrum Micro RX and RS Pro. I added a fan directed to the solder posts of the esc for cooling.

Spektrum Micro Receiver

Just got my hands on the Spektrum micro receiver. I made a comparison here to see how small it is compared to the Pro version. Now, this will help me to save space in my electronics layout :) Binding is piece of cake with the micro bind plug.

Australia and NZ Trip

Went to Melbourne and NZ for 2 wks and took quite a lof of pics esp in NZ. Wish I had a DSLR with me! Most of the pics are not with me because I dont have my camera (had a old skool cam though). Anyway, here are some pics I took with my K800i.

It was almost 5 yrs since I had my last Krispy Kreme donuts. Finally got hold of some while in Melb. Krispy Kreme beats both JCo and Big Apple donuts anytime!




Speight's Ale - amazing ale from NZ!!

Quit RC Drifting

I have stop drifting many months now and finally decided to sell off the TT01D. Figured out that drifting is really not my cup of tea... speed is the way to go!!

Dusk

Here is a picture I took from E&O Hotel towards Gurney area. Took the picture using my trusty Sony Ericson K800i.

Speedpassion 11.5R BL motor (1st run)

I was lucky to buy a 2nd Speedpassion 11.5R brushless motor for a reasonably cheap price. The 11.5R is equivalent to a 23T brushed stock motor.

Installed it last week but the supplied sensor cable was too short! I had no choice but to buy a new longer SP sensor cable.

Tested the motor this morning in a small and tight track designed for Minis. The motor is really good and better than I expected. I changed the Xray multidiff from solid spool to solid one-way and I can feel the smoothness when the car off throttle and enter the corner. Run time has increased compared to the Novak 4.5R. Motor runs much cooler too with a 5.5 FDR. Overall, I am happy with it and I am thinking twice before running mod.

However, more improvements are required from grip, ESC setup, FDR and car setup.

Cant wait to get my hands on the Speedpassion GT ver1.1 ESC...

V6 cannot start

Yesterday after work, my V6 cant start. Turned the ignition and not even a sound came up. Then, alarm went cranky! So, I thought it was my old battery which finally went dead. Luckily, I have a brand new Bosch maintainence free batt which I bought from my bro. So, installed the new batt while office people were passing by. :( Ironically, I still cant start with the new batt. So, after calling Kev's mech and troubleshooting thru the phone I managed to get it started. Could be the alarm system needs to be reset... not too sure what happened there. Well, so far so good now...

Thinking of buying a new car to replace the 4-yr old V6. Would really really love to own the Impreza WRX, most prob not a STi cos I simply cant afford it. Th3 BMW E46 is another option. Tough contenders... Also, Kevin has a good deal on the E36 M3. That I can afford but have to think about the maintainance. Anyway, most prob will forego the E36 as it may have conflict interest with my bro since he is dying to own that piece of ultimate driving machine. Only thing which stands in his way is financial backing...

Nagoya Motor Show 2007

On my last biz trip to Japan, I took additional one day off to drop by the Nagoya 2007 Motor Show. It was a rare chance and by luck that the show coincide with my travelling dates. This motor show is the smaller version of the Tokyo Motor show.

I was contemplating whether to attend the motor show since I have to settle my accomodation in Japan which is expensive. Well, the main reason I went to the show is because the new GTR was just launched recently and I could not miss this chance! So below are some of the pics of the Beast itself...



nice cross-section view of the car. Looks like camera trick eh?


The drivetrain. Check out the CF prop shaft! There are 2 shafts there - the CF is the main drive shaft while the other one drives the front wheels if necessary.


so damn close to the GTR but yet so far! Some lucky guys were able to get into the cockpit and I think its by special invitation.




Impreza ver10 WRX rally car. I am just going to show the front. For the rear, you can have a look at the Harrier. I was disappointed with the whole Ver10 design from the hatch back design to the rear lights. But then, Imprezas is not about beauty, it is whats underneath the hood and its performance. Anyhow, I am still eyeing on the Ver8 and 9.


Suzuki Hayabusa. Bad ass bike...


Audi really scored big time with their new LED light design. Like the simple yet aggresive front spoilers with the huge ducts. Perhaps they figured out its time to mount some challenge to BMW's infamous angel eyes.


I wonder why there is no S2000 is Msia. All I see nowadays are RX8s on the roads. Amazing roadster. Wish this could be my project car.


Supra replacement model. I think its called LH-S. Very futuristic and edgy design - not sure whether the real car will incorporate this or not. I foresee it will give the GTR a challenge.


One of the best wheel design I have seen. Very nice spokes and there are CF all over the wheel. Nice! It may help if the calipers and rotors are much larger.

TheSPfiles

I was introduced by a buddy of mine YW to this blog - theSPfiles.blogspot.com. It was a blog to capture all the mods by this local Penang guy, Andrew Saw on his Putra (he has sold off his Putra). I was reading thru his archive postings and was completely blown away by his level of mods. The effort, time, money and 'detail-ness' was top notch! He took into account the technical aspects of most of his mods and unlike some ppl who just dump in a massive turbocharger without considering the optimization portion of the mod.

So far, I was really impressed with his carbon fiber hood. It was a DIY project and only succeeded on the 3rd time which met his expectation.

Need to continue to keep reading~~~

VXR 3600 LiPo

I jumped into the LiPo bandwagon after tired of maintaining NiMh packs. So after much research on LiPo, I got the VXR 3600mAh rated at 20C. Its a pretty good deal and thin (15mm) so it can fit into my T2R without any modification. Currently, I have modified the VXR pack to fit into the Mini. T2R is using the MaxAmps 5000 *grin*


The VXR pack has decent power maybe due to the 3600mAh which lacks more amp output. About the 20C rating - not too sure how true is that. Read a lot forums saying that the C rating is more of a marketing gimmick and there is no actual standardize method to test or rate it.


So far, the VXR pack held up pretty good and quite balance thus, I only balance it once in a while. It is really light about 170g. I have shown some mods to the pack to fit int the Mini and also added about 120g. The Mini has better balance and traction rolling was reduced. Well slightly reduced due to the fact that I am using 26mm (1/10) Sorex tires and also my driving is not smooth.

Here are some mods I did to the pack to fit into the Mini...

Added 120g of weights to the top and bottom of the pack. I was very lucky to get steel weights and there are thin ones from the tire shop. Usually weights are made of lead. After adding the weights and foam tape, I shrink wrap it.



The double-sided foam tape fills in the gap between the edges of the pack and the rounded battery slot of the Mini. Also, absorb some impact since the Mini undergoes heavy impact. :-) The modded pack fits like a glove! Hehe... happy with the end result!


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Black Swift

Some pics of my Tamiya Mini M03-M Swift. Again, it is very very beaten up now due to accidents and countless traction rolling... :( :(

One of the reason I got hooked to RC...

is because of this video by Singaporean drifters. Saw it few years ago and it I was amazed with their drifting skills + the whole choreography of the video.

checkout soundtrack too!

Tamiya TT01-D Silvia

Here are some of the pics of the Silvia... wayyyy back before I thrashed this car with my amateur control skillz :)

Setting the TT01

Set the TT01 to have larger downstop now to have smaller droop. Even with the high downstop, the droop is still a lot. Also, the ride height was lowered by 1mm. Will see how it goes this Thurs night when I try the new settings.

I was quite happy on the previous setting. Significant difference was felt afetr adjusting the droop, height and spring settings. No more oversteering in the mid corners! However, need more improvement. Silvia still understeers in tight corners and in S- turns.

2 more days for RC drifting!!!

Obsession...

Always wanted radio control or RC cars since I was young. Thus, when I had the chance to go Japan, I got my 1st RC kit - a Tamiya TT01-D Silvia for drifting! I love S15 Silvias!!

Its been almost a yr now and tonnes of money spent but its damn satisfying! I love cars but cant afford to buy and fully mod a real car. Also, how fast can a modded car go in Msia roads??? As for RC, I have tune different settings and use different parts to change the handling characteristics of the car. Its really great fun to have the car run the way you intend it to be.

My collection has grown from the TT01-D drift car to Xray T2R and Tamiya M03M Swift. The Swift is the cheapest and most fun to drive esp. with a group of friends. The T2R is fast and can be much faster but my skills is the limit. Needs more practice. I am eyeing a new car which is the Tamiya 416 - target to get it by end of this year.

As for real car, it have to wait... quite happy with my V6. A year to go before complete my loan. The itch is always there to get a new car. Would love the BMW E46 325i or the Scooby WRX or a Evo 8. Damn! Well, will review my options again when the loan finishes...

Virgin post!

1st post on my blog! Hopefully I will be able to keep updating this blog with my jottings on life, my new found obsession - RC cars, real cars as well as gadgets...