The Ofroad Saga, Truck v 4wd

[nexxus]

Ok here's the deal, I have a fairly adequate Duratraxx ST, decent speedy, motor etc but as a novice I am finding I am uncompetitive and rather frustrated as I don't have the practice or skills. Should I try to learn on a 4wd buggy for a while and can the ST? I am not too fussed either way on the looks, and want to know what is better suited for drivability to keep my interest up. The main downside is a buggy won't have the free parts replacement, but my contention is, if I can control it, I am less likely to break it? Any thoughts guys?

[nexxus]

PS Yes I know this is a blatent "don't blame the driver blame the car" but a 4wd just seems so much easier for a novice??

[azzachaz]

The problem I have is i'm used to bashing in unconfined spaces (street, on the oval)

You need to practice somewhere that you can mark out a circuit and stick to it so you are forced to slow down and take corners properly

[Bowling Ball]

Saga?

Stay with what you have and practise practise practise. Go down to rypers and hire the track as much as you can. Practise figure 8's under speed, make up a practise track in a car park. Go run the truck everywhere.

The more time behind the controller the better. You not going to become world class over night either.

[Matt]

bowling ball is spot on. practice. ive noticed that you come to ryper on sundays and just watch. this wont get you any better, you need to be on the track. the best arent the best just because theyre born with the skills, i promise you its becuase of practice.

i'll say it again: dont come to the track and just watch, get in there and get on the track.

[James]

I second what BB has said. you dont live far from ryper, get there ANY CHANCE you can, you dont need to just go on race days, go ANY DAY. hell, I nip down after work some days around 4pm and practice...

concentrate on throttle control.. learn to drive the track without mistakes first, do it slowly if need be, then you will work out which sections you can apply more throttle.

if you get a 4wd buggy with your current skills it will cost you a fortune in replacement parts. This isnt having a go at you, it's reality, 4wd parts are expensive, and very easy to break. I broke my 4wd on a marshall's LEG last sunday!

and there's all kinds of ways to improve your skills.. like practicing with a mod motor, then racing with a stock one, or practicing with more worn tyres than you would race with.

Back to what BB said -again-, practice is the ONLY thing that will get you there. When I got back into r/c about 12 months ago, I sucked badly, almost never finished a race.. I attended a fair amount of club race days, but never really got to a track for actual practice, on my own. Since then I've gained some more skills, learned a lot about vehicle control and also tips/tricks from experienced racers (car and driving tips).

most of all, do not be afraid to get information out of other racers... a lot of racers wont give you anything. I just annoy the sh1t out of them until they cough up.. be careful of bad information too.. ;) hahaha

practice jumps too..

for example, I had a lot of trouble with the four 'whoop's on the new ryper track, so I'd spend an few cell' packs worth of time driving just those whoops. (come down the straight, turn, do whoops, then head back to the straight to do it again, and again)

the more you practice at the track, the more you will come to understand the maintenance requirements of your truck too. (motor rebuilding, cleaning, suspension tuning, etc)

dont think about it. make it happen. get good at truck and no doubt you'll kill 4wd....

I will openly and honestly say that I HATE (with a passion) marshalling the truck class at Ryper, all the guys that race truck there have no respect for their equipment (or other peoples), no idea when to get off the throttle, treat the jumps like stunt ramps, feed off spectator's cheering and laughing at their crap driving... where do I stop. it's just dangerous.

Last sun, one driver (who is only just getting back into r/c after many years) gently drove around the track (also having one of the quickest motors there) and won every race, by a mile, was very consistant, and smooth.

I guess it depends what you want. do you like r/c coz you can beat the sh1t out of your (and others) equipment and that's really funny? or do you want to race, get good, make good laptimes, and understand you vehicle?

this post is too long. I'm going to go grab a coke.

[nexxus]

I noticed that actually, personally silly jumps and stuff don't interest me, I want good clean laps out of myself, and yeah I will take a jump, but not in a silly way. I'm used to racing, I raced a 4 cyl CAMS class 2 yrs ago, it just cost too much! Until then, being one of these "Truck" drivers, maybe I need to pad my car in bubble wrap :P

[James]

it costs me more to race r/c than when I was racing my car in autokhana's at the airport... haha..

[nexxus]

Lol I know! I raced my Magna in 4cyl non turbo and I'd win against most Lancers etc by a mile, only cost fuel really, no real maintenance issues. My RC, well, thats another story! But it will work out cheaper, eventually..... I hope!

[James]

fuel, brakes (expensive willwoods), r-compound tyres, fluids, suspension parts, rah rah. it still cost me a fair bit to race. a set of r-comp tyres cost about $2080..

[nexxus]

Ouch! I ran standard brakes / tyres, although I had a bit of fade and went through pads every 4-5 months. In hindsight it was pretty dicey doing that! Only safety mods I had was a fire extinguisher to get them off my case!

[Matt]

keeping on topic, when are you heading to ryper for a practise? hows wednesday night sound?

[James]

do it!