SPICE Has a Drift Chassis!

I really like SPICE. They are literally the spice in our RC food. The part that makes things yummy. Now they're doing something else yummy. They have a drift car. Guess where the motor is. Yup you're right. It's in front. I can't complain because SPICE is the RAUH Welt Begriff of RC. Ok I would like to be the RWB of RC so maybe they can be the Tra-Kyoto those guys are cooler anyway.

Spice Mitsubishi Starion Body Is AWESOME

I was digging for info for what will become tomorrow's article when I found this. OMG love, rainbows, unicorns, and ice cream! A Mitsubishi Starion Body. To put this in 80's nostalgia terms, this is the SDF-1; A giant alien space fortress that does everything awesome and a couple super awesome things. If you don't know what a Mitsubishi Starion is look at this then get all kinds of excited. Where can you get it? Japan. How much? Your first born. Seriously though, you are going to have to look for it until I can get my hands on some.

Tamiya's Latest Drifter

People love RC drifting. I think RC drifting is the most popular segment of RC touring cars. You don't need the latest and greatest equipment. You can build your cars to look more realistic. RC drifting can be done anywhere you find a patch of pavement. I've been offroading lately, YEEHAW (RIP Vance Duke), so I don't really have a bunch of RC drifting under my belt. I do have a lot of cheeseburgers touring car stuff under my belt so I know a good chassis when I see one. This one right here is a sweet one.

HPI AE86 Corolla Coupe

The Hatchi-Roku. That's Japanese for eight six. Eight six means AE86. AE86 is the chassis code for a certain 1983-1987 Toyota Corolla. Toyota made many different Corolla models back then but the most important one was the AE86. That little car was an economy car and didn't try to hide it. It also had the soul of a squirrel. Tough, quick, agile, and fun on top of fun with a little fun on the side. It came in hatchback or coupe version and two trim levels over here in the U.S.A., standard SR-5, and hopped up GT-S. The GT-S had better brakes, interior, engine, suspension, and other stuff. It was by far the better of the two but the SR-5 still had the undeniable charm that was built into the Hatchi's DNA.

Enroute Has a Drifter With a Familiar Setup

So 1/10 scale chassis designers are looking at touring cars and thinking, "If I put and old school high spur gear 2 belt drivetrain on here, backwards, I can make this a front motor drifter!" I have a cool pic of a NEO T21 that somebody started to convert. That inspired me to attept this with an HPI RS4. Then I realized I needed to machine a new bulkhead for the motor mount/spur gear and changed my mind. Maybe some other chassis will inspire me to finish the idea. Or I can just buy one of the multitudes that are hitting the market.

HPI's New Drifter

I really liked Hot Bodies back in the day. They did the standard touring car stuff (stratus, accord) but they also made bodies likes the Mazda Millenia. My NSX body I had from them was one of the nicest non-JGTC NSX bodies out there. HPI noticed their style too, and bought them. I don't like how HPI uses them as their "lower" product line. That moves Hot Bodies closer to Duratrax than the World Champions they are.

VIP RC

VIP styling is the application of certain performance aspects to a big luxury sedan. Most VIP cars have large wide wheels and lowered suspensions. Some have engine upgrades like intakes and exhausts. Since we can't actually get in our RC cars VIP styling isn't that big, they're all touring cars under the body. The look, however, is unique and can be pretty awesome.

HPI TVs Nurnberg 2011 Exclusive Video

You guys may have noticed I have been moving slow with my own RC projects. Crazy hours at work and a new lady have absorbed nearly all of my time. I am not complaining though, it's a million times better than being broke and lonely. My RC's however probably see things differently. The spring will unlock some free time and allow me to do more write ups and build more cars.

This video is pretty cool. Ok the video itself isn't special but they are showing off some of HPI's new 2011 products. Check it out.

Idea Stealing #3 Diff Locking w/o JBWeld

Ok in the RC drift scene locking your diff usually consists of jamming your differential full of JBWeld and making it a heavy rock like item. Great way to waste power and make things hotter. I have researching mods and upgrades for my Tamiya CC-01 and discovered the scaler crowd have found a much better way of locking their diffs. I haven't tried it yet but I'm willing to bet this will work in just about any gear diffs with three spider gears. Look and learn.

Tamiya Builds Puff Daddy's RC Drifter

Tamiya has always had some flair with their products, this one has bling! The new VDF Gold Edition looks gorgeous with the gold alloy contrasting with the carbon fiber. This is a beautiful chassis. I don't know about the other places in the world but we really need some sort of chassis concourse to show off sweet looking cars like this. You can go to my garage and see a car I built with lots of gold aluminum, it's not VDF but IMO it's better.

TA05-VDF Drift Chassis Kit (Gold Edition) Item No. 84188

This special version of the TA05-VDF comes with gold-colored anodized aluminum parts for a stunning visual highlight. The TA05-VDF features the carbon fiber Vertical Double Frame which provides optimum weight distribution and balance. Parallel geometry steering provides superior control during drifting.

Tech Racing Has A Drifter Too

An awesome person who goes by the name scootr117 at RCTech forums sent me the parts I needed to build a pretty awesome little car. It will be a combination of about four or five of my fetishes so I am beyond excited. There are a few hiccups though. Vintage RC extortioners want $20 for a $3 part that I need. The wheelbase is too short and the front width is too wide. I don't want to drill new holes in the chassis because of the apparent value but it will solve the dimension issues. By the end of today I will probably order the parts and drill the holes so I should stop whining.

Yokomo's New Drifter the DRB

Yesterday I decided to take the Redcat RS10 out for some snow bashing. I also decided to video it for today's post, completely ignoring the fact that I have no clue how to edit video. Nor do I own any video editing software. My friends the pirates took care of the software problem, and I am at work not doing my job but figuring out my new pirated software. Ok this is turning into an epic fail. I accidentally allowed it to check online and now it knows it's pirated. OK we'll try again for tomorrow. In the meantime look at this.

Yokomo Drift Package DRB

Drift machine finally put the 2-belt drive and know-how gained over many years of racing experience! A focus on well-honed driving circuit, the ultimate high-end machine the drift DRB!

Weight distribution and low center of gravity that works best in high speed range, the steering wheel turning angle to achieve an overwhelming drift angle (45 degrees) runs counter to the full support! RC feeling to finish a new era of drift.

Major features:

• 2-belt drive boasts best experience
• Front midship motor layout
• Ackerman ratio for full counter drift
• 45-degree steering angle
• Super-low center of gravity design that improves kinematic performance
• Double- deck chassis pure carbon
• Front and rear damper stay pure carbon
• Titanium Turnbuckle Tie Rod
• Precision aluminum front and rear bulkheads
• Precision Aluminum motor mount
• Colored Aluminum Precision Upper Bridge
• Battery Holder for all types of batteries
• Aluminum standard oil

ABC Hobby Loves The Unloved

Americans hated the Infiniti M30. I think it's a nice car but it wasn't fantastic. Main problem, it was built on the z31 300zx chassis. That chassis was amazing when it was introduced in 1984 but by the early nineties it was flimsy and underpowered. The car can be upgraded to be the car it was born to be but most are languishing on craigslist for sub $1000 prices. Of course when the drift dreamers see this body they will be inspired to buy these cars, gut the interiors, realize they don't have the money/skills to build it, and put it back on craigslist in worse shape for the same price. Ahh, the cycle of life.

In Japan this car was called the Nissan Leopard. It was available with a turbo. This is a beautiful body, which is par for the course for ABC Hobby. My only issue with them is how much these things cost. I just can't pay $50-$70 for a lexan body that is at some point going to be sliding down the street upside down at 30mph. Ok my silvercan touring cars don't do 30mph and don't crash that bad, but I'm still cheap.

More Wagon Love

There seems to be a trend. that trend is the end of 1/10 scale wagon bodies. Apparently ABC Hobby took this body off their site so maybe they're stopping production? I don't know for sure but if you want one you should get one while they are still around. I've liked the Legacy Wagon for a while now. I had a wicked hybrid one that I built for Gran Turismo's 1,2,3 (I'm still having trouble hybridding on GT4). I also had an experience driving one at triple digit speeds in the rain. However I still can't see myself owning one, well maybe a real one because this RC version looks killer!

Includes:- Masking Decals and decals
Body Data:- Length:- 450mm
Width:- 195mm
Wheelbase:- 260mm
requires painting

Skyline Wagon

Need I say anymore? sky-line-wa-gon So full of win it should be on a Wheaties box. This body will apparently be a limited production item, which kinda sucks. It sucks because if you get one it will be nearly impossible to replace so you can't drive like an arse nor can you screw up the paint job. What would I do with it? I'd get a bunch of crawler accessories and make it a sweet looking shelf queen. If you want one you will need to contact Banzai Hobbies.

R31 World R31 House R31 Skyline Wagon

Yokomo Gets Fancy With The NATS Aristo

Maybe I'm weird but I find it odd that HPI, Tamiya and now Yokomo make Lexus GS300 (Toyota Aristo) bodies. I have an HPI one, it looks good. I would imagine the Tamiya has more detail and this Yokomo appears to have more pizazz (been dying to use that word). I'm a little disappointed that its not the new 3rd gen. but this is still a sweet looker.

It also seems to be sponsored by a strip club.

Rc Drifting in Japan

Today is the final day of Super Dorifto Video Week. I've had a great time previewing videos and picking the best ones for the site. I was so inspired that my personal drift project has been pushed to the forefront. RC drifting may be on the decline, since I don't like to be trendy that is a good thing. These two videos are top notch and show off some awesome builds and drifting. Enjoy.

RC Drift City Redux

Two, yes two videos for you today. As you may have noticed this is drift video week. I have ordered the final pieces for my drifter. As soon as it's finished I will be doing a feature on it. Don't worry it will get bumped to the top of the list. I also have a surprise coming from China. It's a brand new clone of a new chassis. I want to reveal more but just in case it's lousy I will keep the details to myself until it arrives.

Dorifto City! This is another one. This terrible weather we are having is making me think an indoor drift city is the way to go. Now it's time to calculate the square footage of a drift city and drivers stand. I don't know why I want this but I do. watch the videos and you will too.

Another Amazing Drift City

This video showcases another drift city. I want to build one sooo bad! Maybe put a rock crawling hill on it too. to quote my sister, "I am sooped!". Unfortunately I am also poor so building it out of pocket ain't happening. Well at least the property rental would be too much I could easily see myself spending way too much on scale ARMCO barriers and such.

My Favorite RC Drift Video

This video inspired me to begin building my drift car. Its a very lightly used Tamiya TA03F Running a Sport Tuned motor and a Tamiya IS300 body. I have some Yokomo light buckets for it also. I haven't chosen the wheels and tires or gearing for it. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have ball bearing either. That does not matter because this will be my first drifter. I think after an afternoon of practice I will be at least as good as Nobuteru Taniguchi. Probably not.

Yesterday I won a NIB OS12LD engine for my Kyosho Superten FW04. That puppy has many many upgrades and has been NIB for a few years now. I think that is the last piece I need. I still want a viscous coupler for it because I like saying viscous coupler. That car will be a shelf queen forever. Sorry, I have no intentions of even putting fuel in it.

Yesterday's video has me thinking. What about an abandoned mini-golf course as the setting for a mini drift scene? I know finding one and convincing the owner to let me build it into a mini drift town for free is nearly impossible but every good idea started out as an impossibility.

Back to the video. These cars are drifting so fast that you can't help but get excited for RC drifting. My first experience wih RC drifting was at a D1 demo. I think it was sponsered by Yokomo. Those car were slow and pretty useless. I was bored within minutes. This video showed me that those drifters were pansies.