#263 - BottleTree Park RC Track

I bought this TA05-IFS when I stopped playing RC. I couldn't
resist the Inboard Front Shocks.

My TA05-IFS resting on my very very old Yokomo car stand.
In the background is my Sanwa M8 bought in 1998(?). It was the
coolest radio back then. Now the battery is held in place by
2 rubber bands.

Good thing I brought my arsenal of 48pitch pinions.
I came with a 22T in my car, I ended up using 30T.

The other track in BottleTree Park for Offroad EP buggies.

I think I last held a transmitter in 2005. After that, I played

football, got operated on the right knee, paddled DragonBoat

and Outrigger Canoe for 3 years and been biking for the last

4 years. I have been RC free for the last 7 years.

 

... and I heard my fellow former RC addicts clap their hands.

 

However, Deck has been bitten by the RC bug again and he

was bitten very very hard this time. I think he has more cars

now than when we were still considered RC addicts. He even

has the holy grail of expensive RC Cars (i.e. 1/8 on-road).

 

Anyway, he's been bugging me to go with him to the RC car

heaven in Singapore which is BottleTree Park. In BottleTree

park, there is a track for on-road cars, another track for off-road

cars and lastly, the operator of the tracks, RaceWorks have their

hobby shop there.

 

Raceworks stock all kinds of car kits and of course, spare parts

for whatever stuff that you might break when you are playing

at the track. Nitro cars are not allowed and so there is electric

outlet for each pit table. The pits are also well lighted and

very airy due to the number of fans on site. You can even play

at night when the air is much cooler because the tracks are

well lighted.

 

Hence for those who are into RC, just pick your poison,

on-road or off-road and RaceWorks will make sure

you keep on running and that you'll enjoy your time there.

  

Anyway, I told Deck I will go provided that I will spend

very very little $$$ on this outing. Note that during the late

90's, Rio and I buy 250$ for 5 sets of tires for 1/8 on-road,

a gallon of fuel for 50$, glow plugs for 8$-10$ (?), set aside

a bit more money for spare parts (in case we crash hard), set

aside money for lunch and finally set aside taxi money to

and from the East Coast Track .... and that is only on a Saturday

practice!!!! What if we were racing on the next day???

 

So there, the condition was that I spend very little. My sub-C

NiMH are all dead and LiPo is now king. So I talked to old friend

Winnie from Swan Models in Orchard Plaza and she hooked me

up with a decent LiPo pack. I got just 1 pack because nowadays,

LiPos can be recharged once they cool down and they don't

loose their punch even on the 2nd charge (unlike NiCds and NiMHs).

Deck then lent me an iMax B6 LiPo charger which can balance

charge my batteries at 5.0A charge rate.

 

So, Boxing Day came and we took a cab to BottleTree Park

and when we got there .... ahhhh heaven :-) Our batteries were

already charged and so we went out and drove for our 1st pack.

 

While driving for the first time after 7 years of NOT driving RC

cars, two things came to me :

                                   1. I am undergeared and

                                   2. I don't have off power steering

   

Anyway, gearing was solved easily, throughout the afternoon

I kept going up by two teeth on the pinion while keeping the

spur 72T. I ended up using 30T (from 22T). I don't know my

final ratio as I forgot my internal ratio ... I also forgot how to

compute the final drive ratio ... errr whatever, from driving

the car, I can tell that I am geared correctly. I also brought a

temp gun (useful for taking engine temperature) and my black

can motor was coming off the track after 5 minutes of run at

71degrees Celsius. So there, I wasn't frying my motor.

 

As for my off power steering, I tried to increase the droop

on the rear of the car to create more power transfer ... but it

wasn't working. I tried to add 1mm and then finally 2mm of

droop BUT there was no effect whatsoever. So I just drove

my car with a terrible off power push. On power steering

was another story though. It was phenomenal. The car steers

on power like it was on rails (<== overused RC car cliche).

 

We got there at around 12+PM and decided to leave at 7PM.

I told myself while we were getting the taxi on the way home

to NOT enjoy this too much as this hobby is very expensive

.... now the only thing I know that can cure off-power push

is a front one-way hehehehehe ....