Academy SB Sport 4WD buggy

[StevePond]

When it comes to off-road performance, 4WD blows the doors off everything else. And for maximum 4WD performance, nothing beats shaft driven cars. This April, MRC/Academy will release a new 4WD shaft-driven electric buggy kit. The 1/10 scale SB Sport comes stock with a light yet strong FRP chassis and upper deck and purple anodized aluminum center drive shaft. It’s loaded with ball bearings and 2 ball differentials for peak performance. This fast, rugged off-road buggy comes with oil-filled shocks and lexan undercover to keep dirt out of your radio compartment. Also comes with aluminum heat sink for the motor, and anti-vibration motor mount for a smoother ride. Academy’s experience with plastic molding shines in the stylish body that compliments the buggy’s high performance. Optional carbon graphite chassis and upper deck as well as other options are available, including all hop-ups previously available for the STR-4. At a great price compared to the competition, the SB Sport provides awesome 4WD fun this season.


4WD electric buggy kit
Shaft drive
Bearings
Oil filled shocks
FRP chassis and upper deck
2 ball differentials
Lexan undercover
Purple anodized aluminum center drive shaft
Purple anodized aluminum heat sink for motor
Front universal shafts
Anti-vibration die cast motor mount
Aluminum wheel hubs
Optional carbon graphite chassis and upper deck available
Many other options available

Specifications:
Length: 410mm (16.14 in)
Width: 249mm (9.80 in)
Wheelbase: 265mm (10.43 in)
Weight: 1480g (3.25 lbs.)
Height: 170mm (6.70 in)
Caster: 7 in, 9.5 in, 12 in
No electronics or motor included

http://www.rccaraction.com/pics/academy/academysbsport.jpg

http://www.rccaraction.com/pics/academy/asbs_1.jpg

http://www.rccaraction.com/pics/academy/asbs_2.jpg

http://www.rccaraction.com/pics/academy/asbs_3.jpg

http://www.rccaraction.com/pics/academy/asbs_4.jpg

http://www.rccaraction.com/pics/academy/asbs_5.jpg

[Beniscool6]

not bad at all!!! im still saving my money for a BJ4. im not uch of a fan for all the purple, it makes it look cheap

[howielong]

So MRC is putting a new car on the shelfs of hobby shops. Seems like a nice car that can compete with the Team Losi's car. I hope there custormer service will get some upgrading soon.

[TRF Drive Hard]

That actually looks nice...

[dynamic_e]

whoa...i'm curious to see how much it will cost.

[StevePond]

It's priced at $199 on the MRC website.

[Lapster]

200$

Steve, will MRC have factory drivers running this at offroad events?

[tallyrc]

can't wait to see the "pro" model. i guess this will have to suffice since associated can't hear us.. mrc does have factory drivers in europe running this car already. in fact there is a moderated forum with a rep from academy (the company that makes the car) on another forum...

[microrcdude]

i bet the pro model will just have graphite and carbon fiber components

[tallyrc]

have you ever seen the pro version of their street car that this is derived from.. more than just some eye candy. rcca loved it. full bearings and hard coated shocks will be just the beginning..

[Ferrari_Spyder]

is it just me or is it that ever since the hotbodies lightning series EVERYTHING seems to be purple. its not bad but i prefer metallic look anyways and no risk of scraping up anodizing and making it look bad

[Prelude14WRX]

Very, very cool. If i was into dirt racing, id get this :cool:

[Animeboy123]

That actually looks nice...

LOL, i said the same thing when i first saw it.

[mrkinigit]

thank you! MRC!

[Maxxcrazy]

This is very old news, about a month ago they releasesd pics with Japanese writing.

Anyway, The ground clearance looks kinda low, my Losi is way higher.

[muswagon]

Oh no! The ground clearance. Maybe anyone who buys this buggy will have to buy allen wrenches to move the shocks! Dang you MRC! :)

[synapse75]

i like it to, some nice ideas. If the quality is as nice as it looks I might end up in the 4wd class this year after-all haha

Isnt lower better.. I like mine to be as low as possibel while keeping the cvds straight.. Looking at the close-up of the hub i dont see any reason it should be lower than the avg. buggy. I think the sideshot the suspension must be compressed.

[Maxxcrazy]

No its not compressed, look at the car's shadow in the first pics, that shows the horrible ground clearance. It looks to be about 1in

Lower isn't better, especially since my XX4 is raced on a track mostly designed for 1/8th scale buggys, the extra height helps the suspension to have more travel, thus making it less likely to bottom out and handle bumps better.

[synapse75]

well lower is better unless there are extraordinary circumstances.

Looking at the hub and hub carrier, i dont believe the buggy could be any lower than your XX4.. Unless the wheels are not 2.2 or the suspension arms are curved.

[HotTrick]

I have to agree with synapse75, I am pretty sure it is compressed because it has all the running hardware in the car in all the photos which will make the car sag under the weight! Besides that most cars are set up with relatively low ground clearance, only allowing full extension when the car is in the air over a jump, allowing full dampening when the car lands. It does look good for the price, wonder how it will perform. A 4wd contender that costs the same or less than a 2wd!

[losiXXXman]

Ground clearance - Shmround clearance... Look how low all of the pro's cars run. Dog bones level or even below, so long as there are no monster jumps that don't have down slopes to land on. I've been die hard Losi for 12 years, but if I had a off-road track near me to race on anymore, rest assured I'd be running one of these. It really is starting to bother me that you have to buy a G-plus or Kinwald, nowadays. 330 for a 4WD electric buggy.... you could almost get a 1/8 buggy chassis for that. This thing looks hot....

[Lapster]

This thing does look awesome. I like it because I like to be the rebel at my track :p .... in a fun way.... everyone knows it is just for fun. But I dont want to run a xxx-4... and the Jconcepts doesnt look like it will come out soon. (I am number 75 on the list.) So this looks like the hot ticket.

Anyone know what kind of rims it can accept? Is it a xxx-4 rim... I am guessing it is a special MRC/Academy rim.

[mrkinigit]

I hope it uses 12mm hex adapters like standard touring car wheels and some types of truck wheels.

[docman2]

So where can you buy MRC/Academy cars on the web Besides getting directly from MRC? I cant seem to find anyplace that actually sells their stuff, besides their chargers. Usually you can get a better price that way instead of buying direct. Plus I want to have easy access to parts support and hopups. Like I said I cant find anyplace that sells them.

[PhsykoManMKAO]

wow. nice looking car coming from academy, and that price is just where i like it :D .it looks as if it will b a brilliant performer and hopefully will give losi a challenge. how will this things shaft compare to losi's single belt design

[bsr241]

Talked to MRC a couple of days ago. They said they weren't getting the cars till end of April. Omni Models out of Illinois will be selling them. Also lots of good information on rcracechats boards about the cars. Seems the car has been in england for a little while and the drivers over there are impressed by them.

[Prelude14WRX]

wow. nice looking car coming from academy, and that price is just where i like it :D .it looks as if it will b a brilliant performer and hopefully will give losi a challenge. how will this things shaft compare to losi's single belt design

Its just like the tc3 and the losi xxxxxxx or whatever......they are both competive.

[dave g]

having driven the academy sb buggy at the nationals at the weekend im very impressed..handled very well with plenty of speed and no problems either.
we did have an issue with the front stub axles on the mip style uj..it was brittle on a few cars and sheared off at the axle wheel pin but that problem is being rectified as we speak..thats the only problem we have had,car has been brilliant.

dave

[windellmc]

If this car is competitive at $200 (probably less at mail order and some hobby shops) it could really help 4wd in the US by getting newer drivers into it. I'm sure when someone starts racing they see a XXX-4 G+ on the shelf at $330 and a BK2 next to it at $230 and make the choice to save $100. Hopefully a cheaper, competitive 4wd can bring the class turnout up.

[synapse75]

Does anybody know if either Great Planes or Horizon distributes MRC/Academy?

[NitroBoy24]

Dang that thing looks nice! I am a nitro r/c'er at heart but that cheap of a price tag is tempting..And I think it would be fun to show up all the xxx-4 racers at scottsdale rc speedway :D

[dave g]

you wont be dissapointed if you get one...the car has been brilliant,rides the bumps very well and ive never had a buggy that jumps so well as this one..and it responds nicely to throttle input whilst in the air too.
the drivetrain is extremely free and smooth.

dave

[Cain]

If I was going to run offroad this year this buggy would be top on my list!

A few minor upgrades such as turnbuckles and could be all set. I just hope MRC gets off there butt and really promote this vehicle. This could be the year of 4wd.

[docman2]

Yeah this could be a hot selling car if they would just promote it. Everyone wanted AE to turn the TC3 into a 4wd buggy, including myself even though I mainly run Losi, but thats not going to happen. I love the idea of a sealed diff/shaft drive car as opposed to the belt drive of the Losi. Heck, I sold my xxx4 and went back to running the XX4 because its sealed up better.
The biggest problem I see is nobody carries the MRC cars, just their chargers. I E-mailed MRC about that and their best reply was that they sell it direct. Talk about weak! They dont even list parts and hopups on their site. I think this is whats going to stop big sales of the buggy.

[scrubnick]

I've been very tempted to turn my STR-4 Pro into a buggy, but I don't think I'll have to now. I hope they get this thing out soon, I want to run it at the stock nats, I'm over my XXX4.

[Maxxcrazy]

Heck, I sold my xxx4 and went back to running the XX4 because its sealed up better.

Did you notice any difference in handling between the two? Which handles better? I've been told that the XX4 handles better and everyone at my LHS races XX4's(including me) because they handle better.

[docman2]

The XX4 handles way better than the XXX4. I race against my friend who has the graphite XXX4 and I can eat him up through the tight sections, mine jumps better. and I dont really see a difference on the open/high speed sections. I like it so much better that I picked up 3 more used XX4s.
I would still like to try the SB Sport though, just to see how/ if it will hang with the Losi's.

[Cain]

if you go to this site:

www.4wdrc.com

They are working on a conversion for the XX-4 to utilize a single belt drivetrain so you get the benefits of the XXX-4 with the handling of the XX-4. Its supposed to go for $169 for the conversion which I believe is the chassis and some other things, and you get a body designed by Cyrul.

For your guys who have Academy buggys, you should really post over there as the word that some have stated is that the buggy is not good and that it is not a competition level buggy unless you buy all the hopups, etc.

I don't believe this however as I have reports from drivers in Europe who say how good it is. But if MRC can't see they have a gold mine in that buggy and promote the thing they are going to lose out on a big opportunity.

[RichieRich]

I talked to the MRC dude at RCX. He said the sport version should be released at the end of April. (which is NOW) The "team" version isn't going to be released until the end of summer. The hopped-up version will come with aluminum shocks, turnbuckles and all the other goodies. I think I might have to get one.

[mrkinigit]

*twiddles fingers all evil like* I have plans for the this buggy,indeed I do.. Muwhaha..
Seriously though I've got some ideas. Since it uses standard hex's for wheel mounting, then theres a variety of truck wheels what will fit also. And from there the sky's the limit.

[Cain]

Wow, end of summer for the pro version huh?

Well, I hope they get some drivers to the worlds and run the buggy there. Would be funny if it placed somewhere reasonable or even won!

so technically I can buy it now. Maybe I will ;)

[Academy UK]

We have been running the SB in the UK now for about 2 months, and we have been impressed with the buggy.

We have a team of 4 drivers here in the UK using the SB who are sponsored by us www.evolutionracingproducts.net, we will be sending all four of our drivers to the Euro's and we are looking for some good results, we will then be sending a couple of drivers from the UK to the Worlds, were they will be using the SB, we are comitted to the future of this car in the UK, and we know everybody who has bought one is very pleased. I am sure it will be a great success in the US as well as the UK, as I know MRC are as keen on this car as we are in the UK.

So yes there will be SB's at the worlds....and who knows......

[adam lancia]

anyone know where i could get one of these buggys??? thanks,

adam

[docman2]

Thats what Im still waiting to find out. There has to be someplace out there that will actually be selling this buggy but I cant find it.

[dave g]

why not contact mrc and ask them??...i believe they are your distributors for the car in the usa yes?

dave

[tallyrc]

in order for it to be a success you better find a way to distribute it here so that folks that want one can actually get one.

[dave g]

i dont have any connections with mrc sorry,i drive for academy in europe,mrc is the usa distributor for academy,all i can sugest is phone mrc and ask them when it will be available to the public..i do hope they do get it stocked tho.

dave

[docman2]

As I said earlier Ive already contacted MRC to find out which hobby shops etc carry their stuff. They didnt have an answer except that you can buy directly from them. I think thats pretty weak! They cant get anybody to carry their cars??? I want to get it from a normal online hobby shop, like Tower, Stormer etc, and be able to have parts support. If you have seen MRC's web site they dont even list parts or hopups. Im not going to buy a buggy that is a hassle to get parts for. Its sad really because I want the buggy but If the only way to get it is directly from MRC I think its going to prevent people from buying it.

[Stunts]

Hi guys,
read your posts with interest. I've just ordered a new SB Sport from a shop in Milton Keynes in the UK (where I am). I went for this on the strength of the cars' showing at one of the regionals in the UK. It will be one of the ones with the re-designed stub axles, so hopefully no breakages.... Question for Dave: I spoke to the lady at Evolution and she said the only mod you did to the car was to use different shocks - is this true and if so, which were they - Losi Threaded? If you could let me know I'd be grateful. Maybe early next year you will have an SB to race against at DMS racings' indoor track that you visited this year for the BRCA meet...? All the best
Stunts :)

[dave g]

well im running kit shocks but with schumacher springs on them..you have to open up the top of the spring where its joined with paint,i sliced the joint with a blade then put a taperd piece of wood(paint brush handle) in the end and twisted it till the end of he spring opened up a little.

i know david snee runs threaded losi shocks on his car.

cheers
dave

[Stunts]

Cheers Dave - good info.
Thanks
Stunts

[Cain]

I am watching this buggy closely as compared to the current crop of 4wd buggies this one seems to have all I want in it for a very reasonable price, even when I upgrade it some :D

I got a parts list from MRC, I hope the manual looks better than the list.

I will be giving MRC a call sometime next week and hope to hear a more definitive answer on where I can buy this buggy other than directly through them.

If anyone else is interested in this, try and get some of your friends interested as well and speak with your LHS to setup something to carry the parts. If say 4 to 5 of you buy the buggy and commit to running it at your LHS, they most likely will carry the parts.

Right now I don't have a place to race offroad so that point is mute. But for those who can and have a 4wd class, would be a good place to start.

[docman2]

Thats the problem for some of us, we dont have a LHS. I run at a private track with no hobby shop. We do have a deal to buy stuff through another track but that has to come through Horizon. Since they dont carry MRC cars I need another place on the Net to buy from.
I just cant believe that MRC cant get any of the big boys to carry their cars. Its pretty sad. I dont know how they actually expect to sell anything. I sent them another Email asking for Anybody on the Net who sells there stuff. If they cant give me a better answer than the last time then I guess I will just give up on this buggy.

[tallyrc]

funny that everybody sells their chargers, but nobody sells their cars. i even looked for their street car and found none.....

[docman2]

I agree. It seems that everybody has the chargers but not the cars. I guess that is because the actual MRC cars they did carry didnt sell well so they dont want to stock them anymore. I think the Academy cars are more race worthy and these places should give them a chance. I just have my doubts about how hard MRC is pushing people to carry their cars.
Like I said before, Its kind of hard to sell them if no one will carry them.

[Cain]

True. I think academy should take a look and thing outside the box, the box being Europe and really push MRC.

[PhsykoManMKAO]

didnt feel like reading whole thread so im not sure if this was posted b4 or not.

since its shaft drive the engine is mounted inline with the chassis rather than perpendicular. how well will it react to throttle and brake input while in the air. i guess 1/8th nitros do just fine with inline engines but will it be the same with elecs? i guess the gyro effect comes from the wheels and not actually the motor now that i think about it...

[Academy UK]

I just thought I would keep you all upto date with our progress in the UK. We are the UK distributer and we have a team in the UK at the moment.

Yesterday we ran 3 SB buggies, at 3 different meetings the results are as follows:- 2 A final wins, and one C final win.

If you have any questions with regard to set-up and race ability please dont hesitate to contact us.

Many thanks

Nick

sales@evolutionracingproducts.net

[Cain]

Can you provide me with the name of the races or were these more club level? Also, any notables there as well as the vehicles they raced, where they have placed in previous major events, etc? I want to post this on variou boards that discussion this vehicle or the resergence of 4wd in the states.

So far from my side of things I am really leaning hard on getting this vehicle if I can race offroad this summer. Looks like a possibility. The X-5 also looks like an option, though I am not so sure about the 4 x 2 cell configuration.

How was the durability of the vehicle at those races? anything particular broke?

[Cain]

Any news?

I will be giving MRC a call this week about the buggy.

[dave g]

cain
we ran at the 4wd nationals at the weekend and made a b final,c final and e final with the cars..1 of them just missed out on an a final and having a 6th in round...we really got the cars sorted for the last leg of the rounds and the finals,breakages were 1 rear wishbone bracket and 1 front c hub...thats from 6 cars each having 7, 5 minute runs so no probs with reliabilitys..there were 100 drivers present.

dave

[Cain]

wow, that sounds great. I think i will look into those particular parts and get some spares.

[Cain]

Someone earlier said that Omni Models will be carrying the vehicle. Anyone know for sure that it is in stock and ready to ship. MRC direct is close by and I could just buy the buggy from them but I don't mind saving alittle on cost if I can get it from Omni Models or someone equivalent.

Any word on the rims that the vehicle uses? Is it interchangible with other brands like Losi?

[docman2]

Omni dosnt even list MRC cars. Basically if Tower dosnt have it you wont see it on Omni.

I sent another Email to MRC about a week ago asking who sells their stuff. Still no reply! Yeah, this really makes me want to buy direct from them.

[dave g]

why not pick up the phone and call them???...the problem with emails is that with the amount of spam floating about and junk email that you get in your email box every morning,its quite possible that emails are getting lost in the spam filters etc as everyone is turning them up a notch,give them a call,takes 2 mins and you wont have to wait a week for an answer.

dave

[Cain]

I will be calling them tommorrow, both Omni and MRC. I don't see anywhere that has the MRC cars, did MRC have a 1/12 scale at one time? I think that was the last MRC car I ever saw listed. Omni and tower carry the models.

[docman2]

A friend of mine talked to MRC today. The guy from MRC said that he is working on getting a "Pro" version produced in the next couple of months. He is even sending a list of all the hopup parts for it. Sounds great except he still didnt tell about any other place to buy them except direct from them. I just dont get it.

[crono man]

does it have a slipper?

[Academy UK]

Here in the UK we have set up a VIP area, this is open to all owners of Academy cars world wide, here we ca trade advice and setups for all the Academy cars.

The site is at www.raceacademy.net it is in the process of being set up, but please feel free to log in and have a look.

To join register at the above adress, then send a message to Academy UK saying you want to join the VIP area, the car you use and were you purchased it.

Many thanks

[Cain]

Thats great about the VIP area. I will post the info on the various boards that I frequent.

Omni for now will not carry the vehicle. Maybe in the future they said in an email to me.

MRC advised me that they don't have anymore of the SB Sport Buggy in stock and the next batch will be coming in June. They also told me to call Bruchner hobbies to see if they had it in stock but when I did they didn't carrry it. I wish they would just have known who actually carries it instead of telling me someone who doesn't :mad:

If this is the type of service we can expect from MRC, if I was academy I would be alittle ticked off. Got a vehicle here that could do great but MRC seems to be dropping the ball.

A review is available in RC Driver magazine, july issue of the Buggy. Haven't read it but I was told it was in there. May have to go to the mall and give it a browse. would be cool if Academy would post the review on there site.

I also now know of someone who has the academy buggy in the US and we are checking to see what his thoughts are on it. So far it sounds good, though full bearings should have been included as the plan XXX-4 has them and is now being priced very close to the Academy buggy, though this is comparing MRC direct prices versus online shop prices. Probably be cheaper if you can get it from an online shop.

About the Pro model, I would like to know what seems to be shaping up for the parts that will be on the pro? Any heads up you can give us?

I also hope you go with titanium turnbuckles instead of aluminum as I heard that aluminum is in consideration.

[docman2]

Well I finally got a reply back to my Email. In my Email I clearly stated I knew I could buy directly from MRC but I wanted the name of a online Hobby Shop that carried their stuff. Well they must not actually read their Emails.
The response was " Sorry for the late reply. We will have them in June and they list for $199."

What???
Im sorry but how hard is it to give a name of a Hobby Shop? Well with their wonderful customer service I think I see now why they cant get anyone to carry their stuff. Even though I think this could be a good buggy , and I would like one, I just cant see actually getty one. I wish Academy would go with someone who actually wanted to sell their cars. I guess this explains why MRC has basically vanished from the RC scene.

[cunroe]

Docman2
The same thing happened to me. about few weeks ago I emailed and it took about a week for them to respond. as soon as their email arrived I emailed back right back hopeing I would get a quick responce asking for a place that sales parts, when it would be available, and a upgrade parts list or a link on their site showing extra parts. Well finally this morning (2 weeks later) I recieved a email back saying that they will be available in june with a retail of $199. Your right i don't think they read the e-mails.
I like the buggy alot really like the shaft drive but If the cust. service stinks and I can't find parts when they break what good is the buggy.
Hopefully someone will start selling the stuff when it hits the market in the US. So it looks like I might just have to go with a different elec 4WD buggy.

Chris

[Cain]

Academy I hope you guys are listening to this.

Stuff like this should not be going on from a company that WANTS to sell a vehicle. How hard it is to take two seconds and READ an email and reply. I basically got the same kind of treatment on the phone, when I ask you WHO carries the vehicle, that doesn't mean you tell me some random shop and that you are not sure carries it. Its probably NOT THAT HARD to look in your records and see where you have shipped the vehicles to.

The only reason I can see them doing this if they are at all competent is that they WANT you to buy from them direct for mark up purposes and then don't give you the info you want on purpose.

I will try again today and see if I can get a better answer from MRC, but this is starting to sour me on the buggy which is a shame as I was thinking of picking up both the buggy and the sedan, one for summer, 1 for winter. thats a good amount of money the would lose out on, also the fact that when people see the vehicle drive well, they get interested.

[Cain]

Well, I am an academy owner!

I called MRC and the people were still out there but I didn't take no for an answer and I managed to get the name of some shops that they sent kits to and one of them was old faithful, Ultimate Hobbies!!

I gave them a call, two were in stock. My wife gave me an early father's day present with the purchase of the kit. I tell you right now, the PRICE IS DEAD ON. Forget $199! I got it for $145 SHIPPED!!!!!!

Should be here next week. I don't have an official track to run at yet, but, I will get plenty of bashing time in.

[Academy UK]

If anybody has a review of the buggy I would greatly appreciate it if you could forward a link for it.

Believe me the buggy is well worth having, we will be sending 12 UK drivers to the Euros with them. And then the worlds......

Many thanks

[dave g]

the parts look identical but obviously one of them is weak..if it breaks then i would suggest its the old part,contact your supplier for a new part or ask mrc.

dave

[Cain]

What turnbuckles can I get that will fit the Buggy? I would prefer to buy a full set made for another kit ( like the B4 or B3 ) as that is cheaper for me than getting the turnbuckles seperate.

I am also going to mount Dirt Hawg Tires front and rear for my bashing excursions until I get some more rims to mount the racing rubber.

[Cain]

I found out some more info of some common hopups you can buy:

1. B3 Turnbuckle set ( put bigger turnbuckles on camber links )
2. Ball bearings 4 5x10x4mm , 4 of 10x15x4mm

[Woody0371]

Ultimate Hobbies is out. Hobby Hut has 1 left. Call Steve (610) 635-1062 Nice guy and is expecting more tomorrow..... www.hobbyhut.com

Shawn

[Kden46]

This car definately looks good! And the price makes it even better! I don't know if they have a 4wd class here but I hope they start one now!

[Cain]

Woody, do you know if Hobby Hut has spares in stock? I may just give them a call. Looking to pickup a few extras, namely the rims.

How much is Hobby Hut selling them for?

Will check out today the reviews of the vehicle in the two magazines that have it.

[cunroe]

I just picked up the July issue of R/C Car they have a review of the buggy. They tested it with a SC-1 ESC, Reedy NiMH matched pack, and Team Orion Orbital 2R 14 turn triple. It got a really good review the lows that were listed were easy things to fix like the kit shock pistons and oil was to lite. needs wheel axel bearings but does have bearings everywhere else and the motor cam style adjustment was a bit difficult to set gear mesh.
They said it held up to brutal punishment and can hold its own on the track which is what we heard from the Euro drivers.
Now if I can just find it in stock for about $150 I'll have me a buggy!!

Chris

[RichieRich]

I want one!!! Maybe I'll drop by Ultimate Hobbies and place one on order.

[crono man]

ill ask again

DOES IT COME WITH A SLIPPER!?

thank you :)

[cunroe]

No where in the article did I see that it said it had a slipper. It said that the drivetrain was almost unchanged from the STR-4 sedan so if the sedan has one then the buggy might also. It does appear from a pic that you might be able to mod a center diff or slipper assembly into it somehow. I don't know if this helps but the front and rear diffs are adjustable ball diffs. There are several factory option not sure what a few of these are but they might do something similar to a slipper. front and rear pro damper cylinder, and a center oneway joint cup. I hope that helps!

Chris

[Cain]

To the guys who are Academy sponsored or would know, I got a report that the diffs have bushings in them. Is this similar to the TC3 where the bushings should be used instead of bearings do to the force on the bearing for that location? Other than that the guy who has the vehicle ( check out www.rctech.net in the offroad section ) really likes it.

Man, wish I could see the article as I no where around me sells RC Car magazine.

[cunroe]

Cain,
Looking at pics in the article the driveline rides on bearings. outdrives, shafts, spur gear all of it. only the wheel axel carriers thingys have bearings. Walmart usually has 2 or 3 diferent RC car mags. I have even seen them a few times on the shelf at the convient store.
Chris

[Cain]

my walmarts and hobbyshops plus barnes and nobles stocks mainly RC car action and xtreme rc cars, but no rc car magazine. Maybe Academy will get permission to post the review somewhere like other companies have done. Would love to see it since I don't have access.

[Cain]

I also have the parts list, and looking at the page description, it appears that if you buy the diff gear kit, you get the diff and an inner bushing. though the bushing looks similar in thickness to how the AE TC3 diff bushing was and maybe that is a necessary item just like on the tc3 diffs that require the bushing and its not recommended to switch to a bearing ( got this from AE direct ).

[Stunts]

Hi all,
I can confirm that the SB Sport does not come with a slipper clutch - but one is available as an option part - Part number SB-019. I'm guessing a bit but it should be around 20 bucks for you guys. I ran mine at the weekend and it is more than competitive. I had a good race day and the car has massive amounts of grip. I have ordered some Lunsford turnbuckles for it: 2" x 4, 1 3/4" x 2 and 1 3/8" x 2. I upgraded the bearings in the hubs and I'm in the process of buying a set of UJ's for the rear. The stock shocks are OK but the Associated B4 shocks are a direct replacement. I shall be getting a set of these. I am really happy with the car and feeling just a little smug that I came 2nd on the day at a small local meet the first time the car came out of the box. I was only beaten by a B4 2wd. :D

[Lapster]

Where can I buy replacement oarts, especially wheels. I have it narrowed down to this or the Yok. MR4BC.

[Woody0371]

Cain,

my bad, sorry it took so long to reply, I guess by reading your post on RCtech that you already have one on order.... No parts at Hobby hut yet..... MRC just priced the parts today and will be shipping them in the next couple of days..... I'm getting to know the people at MRC on a first name basis.....

Shawn

[docman2]

Hey Shawn, I meant to call you today. Did you get yours together yet? If so when are you taking it to Scotts for a trial run? Im off Friday thru Tuesday so let me know. We also need to do some flying since I missed out last weekend.

[Cain]

Stunts - great job! How was durability around the track?

Shawn - Can you post the prices that MRC gave you for the parts you ordered? I am going to call my LHS again and see if they got in touch with MRC. How much was shipping for you direct from MRC?

My former LHS is having a blowout on parts, 50% off everything. What all exactly is needed to mount the B4 shocks? Do you just need the shock bushings so the for the top mount or is it more than that? ( screws, etc )

[Cain]

My kit came in yesterday! the packaging looks pretty nice, both the box and the bagging of parts. I haven't got a chance other than looking to start any building as I am still waiting on my bearings, but it should be fun. I am still looking to get info on the differential bearing sizes confirmed. I hope to post that soon.

[Cain]

hey guys,

just to give you a quick update.

the assemble went pretty well overall. Decent fit for the parts, make sure you have a dremel handy just in case. I was really suprised to see how beefy the parts are compared to so a TC3 hub vs an Academy Hub. The parts do have alittle flex in them, but nothing rediculous.

I did change a few things during assembly, I went ahead for the phillips screws that are on the shock tower to diff case assembly I used allens as they seem to be easier to turn in that area.

I also removed the battery tray they provide as with my GP3300s in side x side configuration they just don't fit the tray. I am going to rebuild the packs as the current build leaves something to be desired but they won't fit the mounts. My 3000s and 2400s fit great though. Anyone sporting around will love the mounting system.

As for the shocks, I will be definitely looking into some B4 shocks, but I think they will get the job done ok. If you plan to run the kit shocks with the AE springs, you will need to use different bottom cups, RPM ones will fit the shocks fine. AE springs also don't bind on the kit shocks.

Also, I noticed when installing the front diff with the recommended spacers / shims, it seemed to bind with the bevel gear for the drive cup, but when I fully assembled it it when away. I had to learn this the hard way as I tried to be cute and during initial install fiddled with the shims, had to tear it down to get back there and reset them. I will say though getting to the diff wasn't that hard, easier I think than my TC3.

as for the driveshaft, I thought it could have been alittle longer or MRC / Academy should have included two sets of those springs as this would have captured the driveshaft better. I used some rubber O-Rings ( 2 ) in the cup and that took up the slop there, alittle play still there just in case but I think it will work well.

THe only major issue I had and the reason I said make sure you have access to a dremel is that my drive pins for the axles were too long for the wheel hexes. they hexes were dead on 10mm, but the pins were like 10.10mm using my caliper. I filed them down till they cleared.

A minor issue was looking at the current travel in the front shocks ( I took care of that rear dogbone slop with a spacer in the diff drive cup ) is that the CVAs seem to be hanging out to there limits. similar to how the B3 had that issue in the rear. I may look into adding a spacer or two to the inside of the shock to limit down travel a bit.

All in all, I am happy with how the build went. I just need to finish some more mounting tommorrow and I will be all set.

Anyone know what some good starting points are for a 19T motor and a 10 turn motor?

Oh, I also got a little bonus from Academy in the kit, included was 5 of the bigger wheel sized bearings. Not sure why but they were there. Should make good spares.

[Beniscool6]

does anyone know if losi xxx shocks will work?

[docman2]

Yeah the Losi's will fit. Also the Kyosho Twin caps will work.

Just spent the afternoon watching Shawn(Woody) run his Sport against a XXX4. It was fairly close. In all fairness the Losi is a full graphite with a good setup. Really the only thing holding the Sport back is the setup. With the right springs/oil, and camber link adjustments it would be even.
The Sport has its bad points. The motor mount just sucks. The motor is a pain to get lined up right for proper gear mesh and a hard crash lets the motor slide completely out. A normal solid mount or one like the XX4's would fix this. The shocks are a bit weak but changing the oil/springs could fix that. Also the tire foam is to soft. Other than that the car is tuff. It took a lot of abuse, wrecks, flips etc etc and kept on kicking. Some of the things that happened to it would have destroyed a xxx4 and stopped a xx4 for repairs(and Im a Losi man). This car has serious potential!

[Cain]

Here is a bit of what shawn posted about his experiences:

"Initial testing: (this was totally, unformal, at a freinds track that was pretty wet, and pretty rocky from recent thunderstorms.)

I had a 12t with a 20 tooth pinion and a 70 tooth spur. As per the instructions this gives you a 9.62:1 drive ratio.
The car was fast as hell. Bottom end a little weak, and the motor was getting hot fast. Changed to a 18t pinion and what little was left of the battery pack seemed to cool the motor alot and gave it alot of punch.

The track I was on has one Large jump (about 25ft from start of front jump to the end of the landing ramp) And the SB cleared it easily, I tried to set up the gearing with the 18t really close to my XX4 and the SB was jumping just as far as my XX on perfect track conditions on this track. And this thing is "Flyable". After driving 1/8 scale OFNA's and B4's, some XXX4's I guage all cars in flight abilities by my XX4. I can come off a big jump and be totally out of shape, and land my XX4 perfect everytime. With the SB there was some question about having the motor mounted parallel with the drivetrain if this would affect "in air" performance. NOT IN THE LEAST. This is the only other car I can fly as well as my XX4.

In the turns it was tight, I could take the turns faster than my buddy and his XXX4 does under good conditions. Like I said the track was beyond damp, and rocky in the faster turns.

However on the whoops the car seems a nose heavy. (I'm running stock shocks and springs). I think this can be tuned out with some simple adjustments.

All in all, I flipped the car, rolled the car, and all but bashed it on the first battery pack and it held up well. I think with some fine tuning and tweaks here and there the car can be a winner. Remember this, it's always easier to tune out steering than to try to get it when you can't. I'm impressed!!!"

i will say the motor mount leaves alot to be desired, they should take a look at how BMI does it for the TC3, works great. Maybe I should contact BMI and see how much it would for them to fabricate a graphite chassis and upper decks?

As for the shocks, they definitely need another setup for racing but i think for the basher they should be ok. I will be doing some bashing with it today hopefully so I will let you know how it goes.

docman2: Was shawn running with a GP3300 side x side pack? If so was he able to put it in using the mounts its comes with? My packs are assembled kind of crappy so I plan to redue them but I wanted to know if anyone did get the GP3300s to fit the mounts, My 3000s and 2400s fit great.

[Academy UK]

We have a lot of setups for this car now, if you email us we can tell you the best way we have found to set this car up.

[Cain]

Academy UK: Thanks for the info and the help. It still get strange behavior on the VIP website as it doesn't remember my login settings and I can't login from certain machines. Not sure if you deal with this at all.

How are you guys doing with the current motor mount? I have looked into thread locking the screw so it stick better when clampin down, seems to work as when running it again the car ran great and the motor didn't pop out at all.

Are you guys running GP3300s at all? if so are they fitting the mounts?

[docman2]

Cain, yeah he was using the GPs with no problems. The only thing he had to do was change the jumper wire since the packs are 3x3 for the xx4. We solder the wire directly to the end of the cell which was in the way of the drive shaft. Simple fix. Just use Deans bars on the ends(bent in a L) so it moved the wire on top of the cells out of the way. Most peole do this anyway but I like to solder directly to the end to get rid of the extra solder joint.
With the 3000/3300s being slightly larger than 2400s you need to have the packs neat and tightly soldered together to fit in a lot of cars. The Sport had no problems fitting the packs.

[tallyrc]

you solder directly to the end of the cell every time? that can't be good for the cell to be heated that much...

[Cain]

Thanks for the info. If you can or have woody do it post this info on RCtech. There was some question to this.

I will look into installing my side trays again and will be rebuilding the packs shortly. Probably run it again tommorrow or the day after.

[Academy UK]

Dave G has a fix for the motor mount he came up with it about 6 weeks ago. If you PM him I am sure he will share it with you.

[Cain]

Can you see if Dave G will post it here?

Also, if you can pass the info along on the motor mount fix to academy directly would be a great hopup.

Do you know if any aftermarket parts are in the works over in the UK that we could look into getting here? Aluminum steering would be great as well as a revised motor mount.

[docman2]

you solder directly to the end of the cell every time? that can't be good for the cell to be heated that much...

I didnt meen for hard wiring packs in but the wires running to the Deans plug. Some people use L shaped bars on the ends of the batts and then connect the wires to the plug to them. This gets the wire on top of the batt and gives more clearance on the sides of the pack.

[Academy UK]

To be honest the motor mount is ok, we have had no problems with it, the purple one ST-P08 is a good upgrade and does look nice on the car.

The carbon top deck does make a difference on some tracks, quite allot in fact, if you want to email me, I will explane in more detail.

The front one way layshaft ST-T55 also works very well giving more steering to the car, we also tried ST-T39 but is made the car quite agressive. So I would stick to the one way layshaft.

Aluminium steering arms are something we are working on at the moment, the car out of the box is excellant and there are no upgrades that are desperately needed.

We have allot of tuning ideas that are working well in the UK, but it is never a good move to post them on a forum.

Have MRC got any good set-ups for the cars yet? as it would be good to share ideas. What results have you had with the SB in your country?

[Cain]

Academy_UK: Thanks for the responses. As I have said before my main issue was primarily a fit issue with the drivepins and the dogbones in the rear should advise to use some form of a spacer.

My motor mount only fell out that one time with my 10T motor, I went nose first into a curb and I didn't really crank down the screw or loctite the screw so it may have vibrated loose.

As my use will be primarily bashing until I get a chance to attend a racetrack ( my wife currently works the dates that the races are held and I have to watch my daughter ) .

There are other people who however have the kit and should be racing it soon. MRC though isn't really posting anything about racing. I think academy may have to do more than let MRC be the direct contact on this aspect. As long as those guys can get me the parts and the kits out there, I can find what I need here.

[tallyrc]

hands down, the single most important thing academy/mrc can do for the success of this vehicle (and possible all their vehicles) is to do a much better job of getting them and their parts to more major online shops such as towerhobbies.

[Milesdavis314]

hey guys... I've been wanting to get into 4wd offroad electric for a while but i cont get myself to drop $270 on a xxx-4. I wanna build so taht rules out getting an old xx or anything used. I saw this come up in rccaraction magazine. So I've been reading all the posts and i have two questions before i get the car. First, in the event that i break somethign will i be able to buy a replacement (long ordering and shipping periods are ok)? secondly, wher cna i get one and how much should i pay for this car?

thanks

jim

[Cain]

Miles: Where do you live? Are you in the UK or are you in the US? I am going to assume you are in the US. All parts can be ordered direct from MRC, you probably can get your local hobby shop to get the parts for you from them as well as the kit. For the cheapest place I have found, give ultimate hobbies a call. I got mine from them for $145 shipped. I would look into buying some bearings to fully equip the vehicle. here are the sizes:

4 total: 5x10x4mm , 4 total: 10x15x4mm, 4 total: 4 x 8 x 3mm FLANGED

you can get these really cheap from RC Boyz for about $1.20 a bearing. I would also recommend getting a set of B3 titanium turnbuckles, the lunsford or associated brands will work, RC Boyz sells these for around $20.

You can also check and see what Ultimate hobbies sells these for.

The vehicle so far is proving to be quite durable, just make sure that you tighten down the motor clamp and put thread lock on the clamp screw, it should hold it in great.

I think for the money the car is a great buy compared to the XXX-4.

[Cain]

I just got off the phone with Tim at MRC. He says they have everything in stock, so just get your hobbyshop to give them a call and you will be all set.

[dave56bug]

I got mine in the mail last week, got it all assembled, its a great kit! Needs a slipper clutch though.

Dave.

[RichieRich]

Cain - excellent information there in your post. Now I have a reference when I get the kit.

[Cain]

no problem guys. Helping each other out on the boards is what we all should be doing.

Don't be suprised if you find some extra bearings in your kit. I got like 5 extra of the bigger diff / hub bearings. not sure why but I may just keep them as spares for the diffs.

If you do go with the lunsfords, try the RPM ball cups. you may have to shave them down alittle in certain areas, but its easier to thread lunsfords on them than it is to use the stock cups. With the Team AE turnbuckles, the kit ones will work great as well. I just like lunsfords warrantly and how meaty they look.

Shawn ordered the slipper clutch from MRC, will post what he finds if he doesn't. Also he is going to give duratrax threaded aluminum shocks a try from the BX and see if they fit right and work. Could be a cheap replacement for the kit shocks.

I also have the complete parts list including current prices direct from MRC if anyone is interested. Just post here that you want it and a place to send it to ( its PDF format ).

[Cain]

If any of the guys in the US have race reports with there vehicles, please post as well and I will pass this along to other boards and the VIP section if you are unable to get in and have some setup questions.

[dave56bug]

Hey, could you email me that parts list? dave56bug@aol.com

Thanks.

Took my SB out for its second run last night, its geared a little high, but my 15turn Titanite seems like a really good match for the car. I think i'll wait until I get a slipper clutch, before i try one of my 10turn P94's tho.

Dave.

[Cain]

Hey all. I got to run my vehicle on a very tight indoor track. Really need to work on the setup as it is too soft but it was fun. I did manage to break some things. Basically what happened is I caught a glitch that sent me FULL SPEED into the concrete wall after a jump. With a 19T motor, this was pretty fast. I hit the wall, spun around, and hit the other wall and it was going full throttle against it until we managed to shut it off. Was really strange.

I managed to bend the front hingpin closest to the chassis, break the arm at the point where the pin goes through ( barely broke, it was actually still runnable if the pin didn't bend ) and I bent the rear shock shaft. All in all I was really impressed with the toughness as earlier someone snapped a T4 chassis in half and we know how 4wd vehicles can be less than durable.

I got a report from an austrailian racer that KOSE is coming out with some hopups for the SB Sport, namely a much better motor mount that looks like it doesn't use the camm, similar to how the BMI TC3 has its motor mount.

[sLiTcH]

looks good to me, is there an online shop that supports MRC in parts and by selling their car, I'd like to gte one.

FRP chassis and upper deck .... what is FRP

[Cain]

Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic I believe. I could be wrong though.

Ultimate hobbies has the vehicles, just not listed on the site. Give them a call, seem to have the best price.

MRC is more than willing to ship the parts to your LHS based on the response I got so parts shouldn't be an issue. If I experience any hiccups I will post right away.

[Milesdavis314]

thanks cain!!

[Cain]

No problem guys. Just trying to keep everyone up to date with the info that people find out.

I really hope that I can get that Kose motor mount, looks like it will work great as the current mount the wires are always in wrong spot, not on the top but off to the side. With the Kose mount, looks like it will fix this issue. I think Academy should look into a mounting system similar to that. Less parts needed so it will cut down on weight.

Academy does have a new slipper in the works, should be out in a couple of weeks from what I was told.

If you guys have any race reports from your usage please post and include what you setups were. I would like to get a feel of what users are setting there cars up as.

[dave56bug]

www.kose-rc.com has slipper clutches and aluminum upgrades!

Dave.

[Cain]

where to order in the US? I am working on a ebay company that says they may beable to get the parts. I will let you know what they say.

Can one of you guys post the part numbers and description for the kose parts?

[Woody0371]

Just spent 1/2 hour writing you guys an update and lost it...... So here's short and Sweet.

Slipper for STR-4, NO!! You lose the third bearing and I don't like that. Wait for Academy to come out with car specific slipper.

Oneway (st-t10/st-t55) Great!!!! Car handles great, steers great, and takes the load off of the drivetrain when nosing in from a jump. Car still fly's really well and is controllable with the break (almost) as well as without the oneway.

Duratrax shocks, Great (basically same design as Losi) B4 springs won't work (diameter to small, SB springs work) My setup right now is Duratrax white front springs, SB stock rear springs. seems to settle the car in nicely and greatly improved the jump characteristics on whoops. I'm running #30 shock oil in both, but could use some tunning in dampening, with oil or dampers.

Dave56bug, Is there a dealer in the states for Kose?

AcademyUK, can you send me the setups that you have for this buggy or any other pertinate infomation that I may be interested in. I'm all about this buggy and seeing it be successful for Academy and give Losi a run for their money. woody0371@mindspring.com

Sorry this is the abridged version but I can't rewrite all that I had down a minute ago.
Any questions just let me know and I'll pass along anything I can.

Shawn

[Cain]

Hey Shawn,

Glad to hear about how the kit is working out for you. I am looking to see if the shocks for the BX front and rear work as I think you ordered the ST Rears and the BX Fronts? From what I understand these can use losi springs?

How necessary do you think the 1 way is? If you got more pics of your vehicle with the new stuff and how you mount your motor would love to see that.

[Woody0371]

I'd guess Cain, if you are used to 4wheel brakes, and the insistant 4wd push in the corners then the one way isn't necessary. But, I being used to my XX4 with the clicker front end. I love the one way. I'm pretty sure the Losi springs will work. Just make sure you get the long (truck) rear springs.

Shawn

[Woody0371]

'nother tid bit of info. The RG-T001 is the slipper for their 4wd truck. (not the STR-4) In talking to Tim this afternoon, he told me this slipper will work perfectly and will still use the 3rd bearing in the motor mount. So my slipper is back to MRC and he will send me the right one. We'll see how this one fits.

Shawn

[mrkinigit]

How tuff is the driveline.. Can it handle a brushless? Somthing a little more powerfull than a novak but still only 6cells..

[Cain]

When I ran it with a 10T , the drivetrain handled it like a champ, no problems at all. I believe you should be ok. If you mount the receiver on the upper deck, you will have a whole bunch of room on the chassis to put your ESC, I easilly could fit a super rooster in there.

[dave56bug]

Sorry for the garbage pic, battery in the camera died before i could snap anymore, i'll get more tonight.

Pic is my SB Sport, bone stock, running: a 15t Titanite, Futaba mc600, and hite 605 servo, Other car is a Hotbodies Lighting, with a Picco .26 engine.

Thought someone might be interested in seeing the size difference between 1/10 and 1/8 buggies.

http://www.fototime.com/7D75B0B976C43BF/standard.jpg

Dave.

[Lapster]

Hey guys, I am about 1 second away from buying this car... but I still dont know where to buy parts. I like the design, and overall the car (and price ;) ... but who doesnt?)... but what have ou guys found out? And I have called ultimate hobbies about 3 times with busy signals every time. What the heck????!!!! :D

Thanks guys.

[dave56bug]

I bought mine directly from the MRC/Academy website.

http://www.modelrec.com/products/rcCarsBoats/product.asp?ID=1370&Subcategory=RC%20Vehicles

Dave.

[Lapster]

But what about replacement parts?

[mrkinigit]

thanx cain
I'm going to have to leave the reciver in its normal place and mount the esc on the upper deck. I plan on getting a schultz and most of their esc's are not boxed, as far as motor i'm looking into a lehner 5300

[Cain]

You LHS should be able to order the parts for your from MRC. Mine hasn't had any problems at all. As for online ordering, ultimate may be carrying the parts, I may try calling them today and find out for sure. I have also emailed them to see about putting the vehicle on there website as they have put up some of the newer ones but they haven't put this one yet on the site. I think us Academy drivers should all send ultimate hobbies an email asking them to add it to there website which will generate more interest and drivers in 4wd class.

on the www.rctech.net website in the Academy thread there, a driver out of australia has posted a powerpoint slide that shows the design for an upperdeck that goes all the way across to the gear box I believe, which he has adviced took out the flex on the front. I think you can also still run the lower brace as well with this design. That should really stiffen up the vehicle.

I do hope that ultimate hobbies carries the hop up parts, especially the graphite stuff as they are about 27% less than retail for the kit, if its the same for the parts that would be really nice.

[Cain]

I will probably be redo my electronics today as I need longer positive wires to the motor and I may just mount the receiver on the servo or stand it up as with everything on the chassis it is pretty tight and I am wondering if that caused my glitch.

[Cain]

Just got word that if you use the graphite smaller upper brace ( the one in the front ), it actually makes the car too stiff.

I think I may just go with AE shocks all around. The duratrax shocks look nice, but the springs are alittle pricey.

[Woody0371]

Losi Truck rear springs aren't longer than the buggy rears?

Shawn

[sLiTcH]

Cain. I tried but I really couldn't find the thingy you are talking about. I would like to get, if possible a URL directly too what you are talking about.

Guys, I am one step away of buying a new car. I hesitate between the mini-t RTR and the SB sport buggy.

[docman2]

Nope, they are the same springs. Just take off the threaded collar and use a standard Losi collar. That way you can slide it down farther than the threads go and it will take care of the preload.

[Cain]

Slitch, Here's the link to the longer chassis brace that the guy was thinking of fabricating:

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040609/SBtopdeck.ppt

I managed to squeeze the Silver truck front springs I had for my T4 on the SB Sport. Laying the shocks down more along the arm dropped the ride height so these may work in a pinch till I get some more springs in stock.

The suspension feels much better with 35W in the Rear and 40W up front.

I also think I found what happened that caused me to get that strange glitch. Since my ESC is a three wire model ( GM V8 ) I got the battery positive jumping off of the motor wire about 1 inch up on the wire from the ESC. I had some liquid electrical tape on the connection of the two wires but it looks as if it wore through and the open area must have touched the motor as I did a quick test touch and it did something similar to what happened. I went ahead and redid the wire to make it longer to the motor and put more liquid electric tape on there. Should work quite well.

To anyone choosing electronics, make sure that you leave your wires to the motor long and do a test fit to the motor when mounting before shortening them. The motors don't mount like on say a TC3 with the tabs on the top, you rotate the motor to adjust the mesh and the wires kind of get hidden or put at an angle that is hard to solder to.

I got my parts in yesterday, the hingepins will come in today but everything else did A-Ok. one thing I noticed is that the parts don't come with a price marked on the bag, so knowing what they should retail for is important if you LHS is kind of shady, luckily my new local one isn't.

[Lapster]

Cain, where did you order your parts from??

[Cain]

I got my LHS to order the parts from MRC. Tim at MRC was quite helpful and got my stuff out really quick.

I haven't had a chance to call ultimate to see if they have parts, if you are on the west coast you can call them and see as it would be less ship time to get the stuff.

[Cain]

Got my parts in. I tell you MRC gets you your stuff quick, no problems here.

The shop was pretty dead friday so I mainly practiced with my vehicle to get it setup right. I actually had to go to 40W oil all around but it still bottomed out off of the big jumps. But on the smaller ones it really handled great and turned great.

since I didn't have anything really on hand I went with AE silver truck springs up front and AE Blue rear trucks springs on the rear. I think silvers in the rear would work better, less bounce off the jumps but the vehicle really went around the track well.

I went ahead and also bought a full set of B4 shocks. Probably will order a set of buggy front springs next after I see how it goes with the stock buggy springs.

This vehicle is really nice. I let the LHS wheel it and other than some glitching issue that I think I know the cause and a fix, the vehicle handled great. He is going to order one for himself and some other guys are interested in it as well.

[Milesdavis314]

Cain - I've been reading your posts all along and I was wondering if you coluld post what you have now that you completed your car...that is all teh changes you mde and all teh upgrades you got...thanks also, I had troubel finding the last set of bearings you told me to get from rc boiyz...If you get the chance to find that link that would be awesome. I havent ordered yet but asuming ultimatehobbies is in stock I should be ordering nex week after my finals exams...YEAH SUMMER....thanks cain

-Jim

[Milesdavis314]

cain
what is you setup with electronics, motor, pinion, spur gear, tires too...Thanks again

jim

[Cain]

I run on an oddball track so my setup wouldn't be something you would want to run as far as pinion size goes. As an example, I was bashing with a 21T pinion on my 19T motor, probably could go up but it was a starting point, on the track I run on, I had to go down to a 17T pinion.

One thing of note. I may have mentioned earlier about removing the shim on the motor mount. This works for me, but I have been told that you need to be careful as it may strip the mount if you overtighten. Maybe a longer screw would be better in that area or a smaller shim?

here is what I have on my vehicle right now:

1. Lunsford B3 Turnbuckle set ( bigger turnbuckles on camber links )
2. Ball bearings 4 total: 5x10x4mm , 4 total: 10x15x4mm
3. 4 total: 4 x 8 x 3mm FLANGED Bearing, 4 total: 5x8x2.5 (differential)
4. B4 Shocks front and rear ( coming this week )
5. RPM yellow ball cups ( easier to use with Lunsford turnbuckles )
6. Dirt Hawg Tires front and rear
7. GM V8 Speed Control ( going to a Cyclone C2 )
8. Airtronics MX-3 Radio gear
9. hitec 925MG Servo
10. Reedy Quad Mag 19T Motor ( Will also run P2k2 motor as well )
11. 40W oil all around ( I may go up to 45W )
12. AE blue springs in the rear ( silvers may be better start or the stocks )
13. AE silver truck springs in the front ( or AE buggy equivalent )

As you can see I really don't have a bunch of extras on the vehicle, the only thing I think that really was required would be the ball bearings and the turnbuckles. AE springs fit direct on the stock shocks, I just like AE shocks but you shouldn't have a problem with the stock units for now.

RCBoyz website is more expensive than his ebay site for bearings. Here are the Ebay links on RCBoyz to the stuff you need, you will probably get better bearings than I have as at the time he didn't have alot of the poly sealed bearings, or you can just get teflon or rubber sealed, all in all the prices are really cheap:

4 total: 10x15x4mm ( I listed both teflon and rubber sealed )

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34063&item=5903794417

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44028&item=5903696782

4 total: 5x10x4mm

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44028&item=5902569503

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34063&item=5903972537

4 total: 4 x 8 x 3mm FLANGED Bearing

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44028&item=5902568615

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44028&item=5903738082

4 total: 5 x 8 x 2.5mm Bearing

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=44028&item=5903738191


I would also send them an email about the titanium turnbuckles, they even carry ( though not on ebay ) the Super Duty turnbuckles for the B3 if you really want to get tough.

[Cain]

I would also pickup a set of pinions, basically that 6 pack of pinions that he sells pretty cheap, get the even and odds and that should cover your range. You get 4 spurs in the kit of various sizes up to 70T . so you should be able to get the gearing just right.

If you run on a track where you want a stiffer car, get the carbon upper deck( long one ). Don't get the shorter one as I have been told it makes the car too stiff. You can also order some extra arms, hingepins and carriers. I would also order another set of wheels and so that if you need different style tires, you are ready to go. Not sure what you track conditions are, so talk to other guys who run 4wd to see what the hot tire is. The stock ones may just work for you with different foams.

[T/Losi]

Never heard of that brand but that seems to be a sweet ride.

Cheers

[Cain]

The SB Sport is pretty nice. I am enjoying mine alot.

Got my B4 shocks in, will post how that goes on the install . One thing I am going to do is start with 30 / 35 weight oil as I think the B4 pistons as far as the stock ones to use are not as big as the stock Academy ones. Will check though.

I think there are some picks out there of the new slipper pad coming out, if someone has them please post.

[Cain]

i got my B4 shocks in and installed, list them ALOT better than the kit shocks, but the kit ones will do the job for bashing and club racing around. I am just too used to AE shocks.

The pistons on the B4 kit shocks work alittle better with the 30 / 35W oil setup, but I think I will need to go up to probably 35W / 40W all around . I am using the SB sport rear springs and the AE stock front green springs, most likely go up in spring rate however in the front as I think it should be a tad stiffer.

[RichieRich]

Cain - which B4 shocks are you using? A front and rear set? All rears? All fronts? Thanks!

[Milesdavis314]

Ok...I've got a jkoyosho prefex radio that i kept from my broken mini-z. For my purposes this radio is fine for this car. Can i just purchase a reciever and put the crystals in the reciever and transmitter. I kept both crystals. If so, what is a good inexpensive reciever and i believe i will also need a servo so if you could recomend one of those too that would be great...the cheaper the better! thanks!

-Jim

[mrkinigit]

Will shock towers from the sb sport fit on a STR-4 car? I'd like to get a little more suspension on mine for rally action.

[Cain]

Hey guys, I am using the front and rears from the B4. They seem to work well. Only thing is you may want to cut down the longer screws if you get the complete mounting kit for the B4 as well. You will also want longer ones for the front. ( I got mine online from kpc or something like that on ebay ). They work good, but I had to go to #2 pistons all around as i didn't have enough pack.

For the radio, I think you can get one of those universal ones from hitec and it will work, check with hitec first to see.

As for a servo, I think at least .15 transit and 70oz of torque is a good minimum.

[Milesdavis314]

thanks again cain!

Jim

[Milesdavis314]

Cain...do i need to get new ball cups to go with the lunsford b3 turnbuckles...im trying to order off of towerhobbies (so i can be online) and they dont have rpm...if i do need tehm, would u mind telling me if there is another I can use that i can get a towerhobbies...thanks

[Cain]

I personally have the RPM ball cups as the go on the Lunsfords easier. I also think they fit the ball studs fine as I don't see alot of slop at that point. I will check and make sure though so you have all the facts.

So what all are you ordering from tower and where are you located at? If in the US, you may want to see if Ultimate hobbies can get you all the stuff you want if you can't get it from your LHS.

[Cain]

The AE titanium turnbuckles for the B3 ( blue in color ) fit the kit ball cups from what I have been told. You can try those.

Tower Hobbies has the ends I use:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXRB07&P=7

I also use the lower spring cups as well.

As a side note. I contacted *********** to do a review on the MRC / Academy SB Sport Buggy and they are looking into doing one. Anything to get the word out is a good thing.

[anothermbdusted]

Well I took the plung also. Hope its as nice as what you all say...should be here on sat or mon...can't wait

[Cain]

I got a quick review of my brief testing yesterday on my new track:

I managed to do about 10 laps around the track but while getting used to the power in the vehicle ( I think I may just use a stock motor for now ) and throttle control I jumped into the barrier on the side of the table top and broke the front arm. Of the hits I have taken this one wasn't the hardest, but it is possible that this arm was damaged from my previous full speed crash into a concrete wall head on. I should get a better durability test in this friday when I practice for the races.

My vehicle was setup with the following:

AE B4 Buggy Shocks all around
35W / 40W shock oil biased to the front
#2 pistons all around
AE blue springs in the rear, AE green buggy springs in the front
Bottom rear shock position on outer hole
Upper Rear shock position on middle hole
Bottom front shock position on middle hole
Upper front shock position on middle hole

The vehicle can really soar off the jumps and it really has blistering acceleration. I am going to fiddle some more with my ESC settings to get more power to the ground, though I can see others wanting the slipper.

The vehicle still bottomed out off of the medium jumps. So I am planning on going to 40W in the rear and #3 pistons up front as I have been advised by some drivers in the UK that the piston selection is what they use there for the front. I am also thinking of going to silver springs in the rear instead of the blues so it isn't as bouncy and possibly silvers up front depending on how the #3 pistons work out.

The kit tires I have been impressed with as they give similar performance to the holeshots, even with the stock foams. The vehicle had a whole lot of bite to it. Only thing is I have to redue my gluing as it started to come up on the tires. So make sure you got a good bond on there.

One upgrade they are working on that I think will also be a great buy is the metal steering arms as the plastic ones flex alittle more than I like. Once they got that out I see alot of the slop going away.

All in all for the brief time I ran the vehicle ( didn't have spare arms with me ) it was going well. Just need to tweak the setup some and it will be all set.

[Cain]

I got some more news on the setup.

It seems from what I can gather from various users a basic starting point for the springs would be AE Silvers in the rear, and AE buggy blues up front.

[tallyrc]

buggy blues? dang that is stiff

[Cain]

Yeah, I thought so too but in context of a 4wd buggy, that may be the right thing. Right now I am running greens up front and they are too soft. Also with #2 pistons all around I still bottom out with 35W rear and 40W front . The rear isn't that bad though compared to the front.

You should see one of the setups they run on a track in the UK I saw. Guy was running 25 to 30W oil around with #1 pistons on the rear, #2 up front. Talk about soft!

[anothermbdusted]

cain: i havent got my kit yet but want to do some upgrading befor i do put it together.was wondering if you could tell me what size the hinge pins are so i can start looking for some upgrades...as for rims and tires what size are they?thanks for the reply and keeping this thing updated

[Cain]

cain: i havent got my kit yet but want to do some upgrading befor i do put it together.was wondering if you could tell me what size the hinge pins are so i can start looking for some upgrades...as for rims and tires what size are they?thanks for the reply and keeping this thing updated

No problem. Just posting how things go and trying to give as much an unbiased opinion possible.

I was actually looking into titanium pins when I first bent my inner pin as a quick fix. I believe the pins are 55mm by 3mm for the inner pins. Honestly though, I think the pins that come with it are pretty strong for what they are and they are cheap too and smooth.

As for wheels and tires, I have heard worth that maybe kyosho rims will fit, but the rims for the academy are pretty cheap and come in two colors, white and yellow. Not sure if the white is dyable. As for tires, the proline and losi 4wd fronts should fit the fronts fine. Standard buggy rears will work too. I would pickup some stiffer foams for the kit tires before assembling them ( make sure to drill holes in the wheels ). I am running them with the stock foam and I am not having any issue but you may be more competitive than me :)

I would say if you are at a competitive place, you probably want to also get the one-way system. Pickup extra sets of front arms, rear arms, shock towers, and hub carriers and hingepins ( the bigger inner ones would be my choice ). I would actually pickup two sets of front arms as of everything this is the only thing I have been able to break so far.

Other than this and the other things already listed ( bearings, etc ) you should be good to go.

[relayer]

If believe the wheels use a 12mm hex, so Kyosho rims will fit, plus tamiya 2.2 rims from the Top Force - so there's plenty of variety if you can't get the original rims, you just have to check the offset to make sure any different rims don't make the car too wide.

[Cain]

I got my shocks setup other than the front springs ( not in yet ). I went to the #3 pistons in the front, #2 in the rear, 40W all around. Silver springs in the rear.

The pack on the rear shocks feels better now and I think it should work better. I am thinking I will try silver springs in the front before trying the blues to see how it goes.

[anothermbdusted]

hey is this some of the stuff you can get for the buggy and the part numbers?if not then where can you buy spares on the net?http://www.academy.co.kr/en2/rc/rc_apart.html?re_option=12&p_category=1

[Cain]

These look like upgrades for the sedan but I believe alot of compatible between the two.

As for stuff to buy on the net, if you are in the US I would recommend calling ultimatehobbies and see what parts they carry for the buggy as I know they do carry the buggy and may carry upgrades.

You can also contact your LHS to get what you want from MRC.

[Milesdavis314]

I was just at my LHs which is Xtreme radio control in new milford ct. I asked about this buggy because i was gonna have him order it for me. He said the rc car action and teh rc car magazine testers were just at thetrack(they use this track for testing sometiems) and he said the testers had stuff break on them from crashes that werent that bad... so i didnt order it and im gonna wait for the reviews to come out from rc car adn rc car action... has any7one else found trouble with parts breaking on them...im now looking into a b4...which is tough competition...thanks for teh help

Jim :confused: :confused:

[Cain]

Ok, I got a race report from last night, didn't get in till around 1 in the morning so couldn't post till now.

My setup was as follows, anything not listed was set at kit specs:

40W All around
AE Silver springs in rear
AE Greens up front
#2 pistons in the rear
#3 pistons in the front
Front Shock Top mount in middle
Front Shock Lower mount in inner hole
Rear Shock Top mount in middle
Rear Shock lower mount in outer hole

The track was ideal for IFMAR stud tires but I had to run the stock units. The track had some big jumps, with a figure eight jump and two table tops. Very nice :nod:

I did some practice runs and managed to knock the motor out of its mount. I took it back in and put A LOT of threadlock on the motor mount screw. This did the trick as it didn't come out again. I do wish however that the spur gear included was the 72T one they list on the back of the manual for gear charts. The ones they include other than the biggest one are just not practical from what I have seen. Also since the holdown can losen up, I wouldn't be suprised to see a few stripped out spur gears. I think I am going to actively look into the KOSE mount and see who can get it for me as that mounting system looks to be ideal. I would also have prefered a recommended starting point for the various motors out there.

Here are some things I noticed:

The vehicle has INSANE amount of acceleration. Once you have that power put down, it really takes off extremely fast. Only thing is the tires were less than ideal. So I think a slipper would help matters alot as I had to be really easy on the throttle, but if you have an ESC that lets you set ideal profiles, you should be ok as once I changed this setting it really cleared it up alot and I think my tire change should also make a big difference.

My setup was off. It had good pack off of the high jumps, but on the sections of the track that were uneven it would get pitched around. So I am going to soften it up a bit and go from there. Once I was getting used to it however I could get it around the track quite well. The 19T Quad Mag really gave the vehicle good power. I think this motor is a good starting point to test it out.

One thing you will love is that this vehicle really loves to fly and fly true. No pitching to one side here. Each jump it took It was easy to land right as long as it wasn't setup for wrong ( ie- not enough speed to not land on top of another jump, OUCH! ). But if you did hit it wrong, in air corrections were fairly easy too.

I would change the wing as it has the degree setup on it, but the screws don't tighten down enough that it won't move in a hard crash. What I think would have been better would have been to have a locknut on the other side so it locks it down completely or something the screw threads into made of metal that you can put threadlock on.

I would also like to see a bumper that sticks out further to protect the front end, similar to how far the XXX-4s does. But this is an issue that alot of race vehicles have. I am going to see if a rigged up RPM B3 bumper will work.

The drivetrain felt like it held up good. I still have to get used to how offroad vehicles still smack down hard off of big jumps. I think my handling issues were do to me trying to setup too much for the big air and not enough for the overall track. Looking at how the other vehicles all bottomed out, I am not suprised the bottoms of chassis look like they do :lol:

Ok, now to the bad stuff. coming off of a jump I came down more so on the front wheel, ironically on the same side broke an arm on and the axle sheared clean off. I will get some pictures up but it sheared off right at the point of the bearing outer bearing. Not having any spares I was done for the night.

I think that this has been reported before here. I am not sure if it was due to previous damage from my crashes, but I have never had an axle on ANY of my vehicles do this before. So I think this is something I am going to call MRC about and report. If I get the chance I will post pics of what it looks like.

The good thing is that the LHS owner who runs a XXX-4 brushless quite well I might add likes the academy and will be carrying 4 kits and then 2 of EVERY PART for an initial run to see how it goes. He is a good guy without killer markup, and told me flat out that when he carries a kit, he supports it. So if this happens again, I shouldn't have a problem getting replacement parts.

So in summary, I think that the vehicle is a great contender, just a few teething issues that I think relate mainly to the axle. Picking up a spare set of these is a good idea. I would also pickup a set of extra spur gears as I am not sure where you can get a reasonable motor ratio with the little ones they include.

I plan to call MRC and see if they do carry a 72T spur gear that will fit and see if they can get it for me, may about 4 of them just in case as well as the axle I broke. I will also be changing up my settings to have softer suspension and I just need to get used to the sound of the chassis slapping down I guess like everyone else does :lol:

Just curious, can any explain what the benefits of using a 1 way in 4wd offroad is and what conditions it benefits to use it on?

[Cain]

Miles, can you find out what broke during there testing?

So far I have broken 3 front arms, and I had the UJ shear off. Two times the arms broke were due to full speed glitches into a concrete wall. So I am not suprised I didn't break more. The other arm broke as I jumped into the corner of the table top. I think it shouldn't have broken there but this arm was the one that was still on the car after I hit the wall full speed, so who knows if it did suffer damage.

Nothing else broke when I managed to shear the axle. The arms and everything else held up and I was taking full speed tumbles.

Any of you guys who are close to Academy have any thoughts on the axle issue?

I plan to run the vehicle for awhile and give it a good shake down before I finalize my thoughts on it. So far other than the breakage issues I had, it has been good. It performs quite well, just have to set it up right.

[anothermbdusted]

cain hows this also copied from hpi:
What it does:

One-ways will make a huge difference on the way your car handles. We recommend that you have a good feel for your car with standard pulleys and differentials installed before you try switching to one-ways. There are two types of one-ways available and both work a little differently. The first is a Front One-way Differential. This one-way will allow the front tires to freewheel anytime the front wheels are moving faster than the rest of the drive train such as when braking or decelerating. This will give the front tires more traction because they no longer have to work to slow the car down and 100% of their grip can be used for steering. When you begin to accelerate out of the turn, the front tires will re-engage and help pull the car out of the corner. If the inside tire begins to loose traction and slip, power will be diverted to the outside tire allowing for more steering out of corners. With a standard front differential, if the inside tire were to slip power would be transferred to the slipping tire and on power steering would be lost. The second type of one-way is the Front One-way Pulley. This one-way replaces the small pulley that drives the front belt and front differential. When the speed of the front tires is the same or faster than the rear, this one-way disengages the entire front drive train allowing the motor to drive just the rear wheels. With the friction of the entire front drive train gone, the motor has to use less power to turn the drive train and will put more power to the ground. This will increase run time because the motor will be more efficient.


When to change it: Most people will tell you to run one-ways only on high bite tracks. However, once you get comfortable using a one-way equipped car, you may never go back and some of the HPI drivers have raced successfully with one-way equipped cars on very dusty tracks.



Tips: You can choose to run either one of the one-ways but most pro level drivers will run with both one-ways installed in their cars. This way, you get the extra efficiency of the Front One-way Pulley and the increased steering of the Front One-way Differential. When you change over to a one-way equipped car, no matter how many you install, take time to practice with the car. The driving style required with these installed is very different. You will have no front braking power and even taping the brakes can result in a spin. The idea is to just ease out of the throttle but always have power going to the tires. You should not have to reduce the throttle to neutral ever for stock and mod drivers should set up their brakes to be very light. One-ways are not recommended for Nitro Cars as Nitro Cars do use brakes heavily. If the car begins to spin out, resist the urge to back out of the throttle. Doing so will only make the spin worse. Increase the throttle and the car should straighten out.

[FLYBOY7]

i just got done building my new Academy buggy...

the instruction are pretty good.... except for the shock building part, which left many questions in my mind... maybe i was too tired during this part, going too fast, or just not reading close enough... but.... for the front shocks... what is the recommended piston number, cap length, and length for the bottem shock mount (the part that screws on to the bottem of the shaft)???? also, what are the recommended lengths and piston numbers for the rear??

lastly.. on the shock build.... on the shock body, you install 2 o-rings per body, then a washer, then the damper clip... my question is, what washer is supposed to be used?? i used the ones that came next to the shock pistons, although, it looks like others of different thicknesses are also available to be used on another tree..

anywhos.... i used #2 pistons up front, and #1's in the rear.. with 30w AE oil front and rear... and i used the short caps up front, and the longer ones in the rear.... and i used the short bottem shock mounts in front, and longs for the rear shocks.... let me know if i should be using a different configuration...

the rest of the kit went together fine except- 1. there isn't quite enough clearance for the steering rack, it actually rubs slightly against the rearward Front inner hinge pin holder, this creates a pretty high amount of binding in the steering..... and 2. the wheel hexes go on very hard....

i haven't yet run the buggy.... and the place where i bought it didn't have the bearing kit in stock.... btw... to complete the bearings, you'll need them not only for the wheels and steering rack, but also 4 more for the diffs....

one of the diffs i built felt very good.... the other, very bad...... and there is a TON of drag at the wheels.... you have to run the wheel nuts so loose the wheels are about to fall off to not have major binding.... i haven't buildt a bushing kit in a long time... maybe i've forgotten how bad bushings are... LOL...

so at this point, i'm not even going to drive it without getting in the wheel bearings... there is so much drag in the driveline that it would kill most any motor in a couple packs...

btw... i haven't weighed the buggy yet... but it feels very heavy....

on the up side.... the kit looks pretty cool.... some parts are extremely over built, which looks great for reliability.... and the servo saver is better than anything AE or Losi has out right now... some parts of the kit seem like they belong in a much more expensive kit (like all the purple anodized parts, and the fancy dancy silver washers)....

any of you guys actually running the under tray??

anywhos.. i'll post more later after i mess with this buggy more...

T.

[tallyrc]

another sb sport on ebay. some crack head thinks he's gonna get $230+ for it. what a joke. the last one sold for $135... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=2565&item=5906493875&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Cain]

Flyboy 7 , glad to see another academy driver. Where are you located by the way?

To some of the issues you mentioned, I think earlier on the thread it mentions to use the long shock caps all around as Academy doesn't specify which to use.

As for the kit setup, you will feel that this is too soft, it will bottom out pretty hard off of US style jumps. Some bottoming out should be expected on the monsters, and I need to reconfigure my settings as I have it setup for the monster jumps but on the straights that are bumpy it pitches around too much. I hope to get a standard setup soon to start with, though I use AE shocks.

As for the tightness of the wheels, it has to do with binding on the bearing I believe from when you tighten them down. I could be wrong here but changing to bearings won't fix this. I hope one of the academy drivers can advise a fix so you can crank it down, but I do run my locknuts lose, just enough so there is no binding and they don't come off. When I broke the wheel assembly was there even though the axle sheared off.

The bearings in the diffs have been mentioned, though it has been stated that bearings in the diffs may not be desired due to the load stresses on the car. I run bearings and I will be tearing the car apart tommorrow to see how the diffs are holding up.

Another US driver on the www.rctech.net board is going to be trying some bigger spur gears, he will be milling out the Kimbrough 78 tooth gear and giving that a try. If he is successful I hope to buy some from him to run as I think other than the 70T spur, the rest are really not usable. I believe Academy does make a 72T spur gear, but a larger gear would be better and I have mentioned this on the Academy VIP board. This would be something they should look into.

I am looking into going 35W all around in oil and see how it goes. The bottoming out sounds bad when you are running the dogbones as they slid around and make an aweful noise compared to UJs. I would recommend you also pickup a spare set of UJ adxles as I sheared off mine and I think that there may be an issue with some of the early kits. Having a spare ( you get two in a pack, 10.50 retail ) is a good thing.

[Cain]

here is a recent race report:

I race in San Antonio TX at the local track. I happen to own two SB SPORTS,one xxx-4,and a xx4(soon to be X5).Last weekend i let a local 1/8 scale driver run the sb sport in the 4wd mod class. The race had 5 xxx-4's and the sb sport. Well after all was said and done the sb TQ'd and won the main buy almost a lap. Setup was stock with full bearings and a 19 turn reedy spec quad mag. This buggy does have a future in the race scene,and it looks bright

[anothermbdusted]

well i got my kit in the mail today...my first impressions are wow this is a cool looking car...as looking into it more i hope that the spare parts i want to build come quick...there is alot of option parts for this thing you can get thats for sure and thankfully they are somewhat inexpensive comparably speaking of course..about the only thing i dont like about it so far is that they dont say the size of the rims in the instructions or tires.so i am to assume that they are of standard size....well i dont know how long it will take to get this thing built but with work and all i figure ill have it done sometime around friday i hope...if anyone wants pictures as it is being built then plz let me know and ill post it for ya k

[bsr241]

Hey Tallyrc,
Got $135 kit today. Going to get bearings now. Thanks for the bearing sizes Cain.

[Cain]

tire sizes are pretty standard so you have no worries if you use the 4wd tires for the fronts and 2wd for the rears from Losi and Proline ( the main guys ).

No problem on the bearing sizes.

[FLYBOY7]

Cain... i'm from the st louis metro area....

and i really need to find a fix for the insane amount of drag at the wheels... i've looked at the hubs... but can't really see a spot where the academy is touching that all other kits don't....

lastly.... i've got to rig up some body mounts... the velcro mounting system is..... well.... LOL... just bogus.. LOL.... if anyone has tips on using real body mounts.. please post....

i've read up to page 8 on the rctech.net board.... but they don't seem to cover these two topics at all... perhaps they do on later pages...

Tim Mohr

[anothermbdusted]

well as i sit here building this buggy i already got a few things to add...
1: the front arms rub on the caster blocks (front ones)slightly not causing free movement of the suspension arms....
2: the plastic diff ring that needs to be punched out is a little chessie as is the bushing that it uses...
3:I dont know about everyone else but i only put 2 spacers in the diffs as 3 was way to tight and caused major drag maybe this will change after it is ran but from what i can tell it only needs 2 of them to be just a tiny bit tight but not overly as when it breaks in it will have some give in it..
well for now thats it on to the drive axles and then some sleep....

[Cain]

No problem here with the castor blocks rubbing on the arms. If they are you may want to run the vehicle some so the parts loosen up a bit.

I noticed the same thing with the shims on the diffs, but when I had it all together, it felt much better. Make sure you have your diffs going the right way too. I didn't have mine in right and that was part of the problem.

As for the wheels binding when you tighten the nut, I agree that is something that happens, especially on the front wheels, but when I back out the nut slowly till I feel it just loosen up it hasn't come off and works great.

I would say go ahead and first put the wheels on with no nuts and try turning them, if you still feel that resistance, then there is something not built right. Then slowly tighten the nuts down till you just feel it start to get too tight. I know its weird, a quirk of this vehicle, but as I said above, they haven't loosened up and come off.

As for the body mounting system, from what I understand the pro's use velcro to hold there bodies on and keep out the dirt better. I felt it was weird too at first, but I have grown to like it alot. I say give it a try and see what you think. It will also keep the undertray from sliding around on you on the sides.

Tim at MRC is also starting to post info on one of the boards ( www.rc10b4.com ) and I posted to tell him of the other ones like this to post at. If you got questions, drop him an email or even call him. Main thing I mentioned to him was the spur gear and the axle issue.

[FLYBOY7]

what is the spur issue?? not large enough??

[FLYBOY7]

oh and....

i didn't use any of the shims while building the diffs... LOL... loose is fast to me... and was trying to build it as loose as possible going for as little drag as possible... will the diffs just explode if i didn't run any?? i have yet drive my car as i'm waiting for the wheel bearings to come in...

T.

[Cain]

Not sure what will happen to the diffs, in particular the gears. The mesh may be off and cause them to strip, not sure though. If they do just be prepared to order more gears.

The spur gear issue is about the size of the spur, I got a little chart on what so far is similar to what guys in europe are running for suggested ratios. This is using the largest spur in the kit ( 70 tooth ). This is taking the idea of how the B4 motor chart is, applying what I was told works for a 10turn and other motors, and coming up with this:

Motor Pinion
10 turn 20
11 turn 21
12 turn 22
13 turn 23
14 turn 24
19 turn 23 - 24
24 stock ( torque based ) 24
24 stock ( rpm based ) 23

I am going to do a complete teardown today and examine the car for wear. I don't believe I will find anything unusual so I will post if anything looks too worn.

I also believe when the slipper comes out I may order that and the oneway drivecup + shaft, also the graphite top decks.

[Mr. Schumacher]

:) Hello everyone! I want to get a new SB Sport. Where can I get one? :confused: I found no store have it even online stores! :eek: BTW, how is the durability of bever gears?

[Cain]

Hello Mr. Schumacher!

First off where are you located? If you are in the US. The best place to mail order it for price is www.ultimatehobbies.com . You must however CALL them as they don't have it listed on there website . If you do order from them, make a comment to them to list it on there site.

I haven't had any issues with the internal gears and haven't heard of anyone having an issue with them. So I would say you will be ok there. The only issue that I have had and MRC / Academy is looking into is the shearing of the UJ axles. MRC however has been great, especially Tim and when there was a problem there were more than willing to fix it.

I would probably pickup a set of spare UJs and some spare parts like arms and carriers just in case. I wouldn't be suprised however if my carriers hold up quiet well as they are pretty beefy. I have gotten alot of comments on how the parts look like 1/8 scale parts as far as how beefy they are.

There is a list here on common hopups you can buy that will work on the Academy. Namely ball bearings and turnbuckles.

The main thing is getting the vehicle setup and I hope to have a standard setup soon. AE shock springs will work on the kit shocks. You can also run RPM lower shock cups on the kit mounts.

I am happy with my vehicle, for the money its a great buy and it has blistering acceleration.

[Hobson]

www.raceacademy.net is the new Academy forum, setup by the UK distributor of Academy, Evolution Racing Products. Go and have a look. Its pretty new, as it ws only set up a couple of days ago.

[Cain]

I will give it a look today when I get the chance. I hope its better than the previous as it had too many weird issues with it.

[anothermbdusted]

cain : do you think the buggy can handle a novak super sport brushless system? if not whats the max you would say it can?im about to order so plz responde soon thanks

[Cain]

Hi.

I believe that the super sport brushless is equivalent to a 12T motor or so, some say 10 Turn but from most of the people I talk to that is pushing it. I had success running my vehicle in stock form with a 10T for bashing, so I don't see why you would have any issue running the brushless system. The drivetrain on the vehicle is reasonably strong, and I am quite happy with it.

Just make sure you look into the various things we listed here to do when building so you vehicle is in tip top shape and you should be happy with it.

Feel free to ask questions and contact Tim at MRC as well, I will help as much as I can to get you the answers you seek!

[anothermbdusted]

your the man thanks....i found a few things i didnt like but over all it is a great kit i think...was your drive pins to long? mine are like 1 mm to long got to do some grinding with the old dremal..the center shaft could use some fuel line in it also to keep it in place.....other then that looks great and the drive train is smooth as glass i love it..but dang is it small compared to my emaxx lol will post some pictures next week of it when i get done just need the electronics in it and paint the body and were ready to go...cant wait......

[Cain]

These issues were posted earlier, my pins for the hexes were too long too. Also, you can juse some fuel line or put some o-rings ( this is what I did ) on the other side to keep it in place as piece of mind. Another thing make sure the rear dogbones fit deep into the axles, some spacers or little springs will do the trick back there.

And don't crank down teh wheels tight on the front.

[Cain]

Here is some news:

There was a bad batch of axles in the UK when the first kits came out for the UJs. I have posted pics of where mine broke on www.rctech.net and www.rc10b4.com ( Tim from MRC posts there ).

I got word from UK drivers that the axles they got now don't break, so we basically need to just cycle through the bad ones. I don't have official word from MRC about what they will do about the axle issue, but I would be suprised if they don't replace them free of charge. When they have something official, I will post it.

Also, check out www.racecademy.net as they updated the site and it works ALOT BETTER now and we can get good info from other SB Sport drivers from around the world.

[Cain]

Well, didn't get a chance to run today. My LHS that I order parts from wasn't able to get the axles, not MRCs fault as the arrangement to pick them up was not completed by my LHS.

Tim is going to ship them out to me, so I should have them for next weeks running.

Sucks as I really wanted to run it tonite too.

Oh well, maybe next time. If I get them in tuesday I can at least go up and practice.

I got some good news though. The track I race at I spoke with the director there to see if he was going to get some Academy kits in and parts, and he told me that he placed the order and will have several of the kits in, has someone already wanting the vehicle, and will be stocking parts as well.

He is a really cool guy to, runs a XXX-4 G+. Looks like 4wd is going to take off at the track as there is lots of interest in running mod with brushless motors. He will also stock every part there!

[anothermbdusted]

what servo is everyone running cause i got a hitech hs945mg and well the servo saver rubs slightly on the connection to the steering arm....

[Cain]

I run the 925MG which is the same case, no rubbing. I did file alittle .

[Beniscool6]

what size are the shock bodies and shafts?

also, is it possible to get a picture of the rear endw/o the wheels on? id like to know if theres a way to mount losi/proline wheels on the rear

[Cain]

I think they have some good pics on www.modelrec.com . Not sure about losi wheels, but the Academy wheels feel VERY stiff and high quality and are cheap.

B4 shocks all around seem to be the right size, don't know the specifics no the kit ones off hand.

[anothermbdusted]

finally got to see some of the parts that kose offers and i must sat that im impressed....motor mount is only $29.10 emailed them to see if i can get a price list and how much to send to USA...does anyone know where you can get the parts in the states?or a website other then kose's.....http://www.kose-rc.com/sb_tuning/IMGUP/sbtuning_img_ksb03.htm

[Cain]

Yeah, I saw the same thing earlier and have been searching for a place that will import. Haven't found one yet but give searching a try too.

I think this mount is pretty nice.

[anothermbdusted]

anyone ever notice how the front driveshafts are angled forwards?i wonder if a longer chassi would help the front end out a little from possibly breaking those drive shafts....
how do i attach a picture on this website also as i got a picture of my sb and emaxx i want to post...ive sent off 4 emails to companies over seas to find out how much to ship to the usa waiting for a response will keep you informed of what i find out...thanks

[Cain]

There was alittle dicussion on this, though from what I have gathered from talking to the UK guys this hasn't been an issue. You should also check out www.raceacademy.net and post some messages and thoughts there.

Looking forward to seeing if you find a US distributor for Kose. That mount is what I want.

[Cain]

If the mount doesnt' come available, I have gotten word that if you want a better fit with the mount, you can buy the aluminum motor cam only and still use the cast mount / holddown and it will hold the motor in better as the cast metal can warp when cranked down too much. That said, I would now recommend that if you decide to remove that little shim like I did, try and use a smaller shim as a precaution and don't over crank it down.

If anyone has some calipers, can you post the size of the shim? I got mine all mixed up with my other shims.

My track LHS will have the vehicle in stock with parts midweek, so not having spares won't be an issue anymore , though I do have extras for most of commonly broken parts ( Arms, carriers, etc ). I will see if he has the hopups and how much he will sell them for.

[Cain]

I got some info from the www.raceacademy.net boards, anyone interested in this vehicle should check it out, helpful people there. To solve the nut tightening issue for the front and rear ( haven't noticed it on the rear ) here are the spacer dimensions you need.

Front
width: 2.9mm
inner diameter: 5mm
outer diamter: Less than or equal to 8mm

Rear
width: 1.9mm
inner diameter: 5mm
outer diamter: Less than or equal to 8mm

These will go between the two bearings, similar to how it is done on AE kits and I believe Losi kits. I have posted a message to AE to see if they have anything similar in dimensions that will work, if someone else could contact some of the bigger companies like Losi that would be great too. Or, if you know of an online machine shop that you can get parts like this from feel free to post.

[Cain]

here is some more info from a user posted on www.rctech.net . This works best with the aluminum hexes:

"I don't use the shims in front and only 1 in the rear (as 1fr/2re I think the manual suggests) and my axles have little play - not more than on a Losi XXX or some other buggies.

The point is, that the wheel hex slides on the axle just till it reaches the area, where the inner diameter of the hex goes from 5mm down to 4.
So when this point is reached, you can crank down the wheel nut and you won't get any binding because the hex can't slide onto the axle any further.

When you add the shims, the hex can't slide onto the axle that far, so that it locks itself axially. As a result, thightening the wheel nut will result in enormous axial bearing load (=binding)

The problem is, that the academy shims are 0,2mm in thickness.
To take out any play in the axles without binding in the bearings, you'll need 0,1mm in the front and 0,3mm in the rear I guess, (depending on manufacturing tolerances of the axle and the hub carrier) because 1 0,2mm shim front and 2x0,2mm shims in the rear is just a bit to much."

[tallyrc]

has anyone gotten a vibe as to when we can expect the "pro" model? i am going to buy myself another toy at the end of august/early september....

[Cain]

tallyrc:

It could be out by then. The official word so far is winter, but that could definitely change .

[anothermbdusted]

well so far 4 responses and not 1 person carries nor can they get those parts from kose...so im waiting for 3 from places in korea to see if they can get them and send them to the usa cause kose wont responde to any emails at all about those parts....on the other hand i have got 1 response from a place in japan that can get them and willing to ship but it will take a while to order them as they have to special order them and might be two weeks.....so i might posssibly just buy a few and sell them on here to who needs them.....let you know more in future... and HOW DO YOU POST A PICTURE????????

[T/Losi]

Good to see. We need more 4WD buggies out there.

Cheers

[Cain]

I think to post a picture on this board you have to just put a link to the actual picture on the web. they don't do picture hosting.

That would be great if you could get some of the mounts. What place in Japan is willing to ship?

[Cain]

Ok, here is my quick report:

My axles came in friday, almost didn't race today but my wife saw them in the mail. Great job MRC! Tim sent me the full set of UJs.

When I got a chance to compare them to the broken ones, they axle part is actually a bit longer than the previous one and the hole doesn't look ast oval as the one that broke. I still decided to go with the plastic hexes which seemed to fit better anyway. I think some of the pin filing that had to be done could have been from the fact that the axles use a 11mm pin and probably got mixed in where a 10mm pin was needed.

I was running the following:

19T Reedy Quad Mag Motor w/ 767 brushes installed
C2 Speed control on Modified setting
MX-3 Radio Gear
925MG Servo
Losi IFMAR Stud tires all around
23 tooth pinion on the 67T Spur ( 70 too wobbly, got a new one from tim and will mount on tear down )
30W all around
#2 in the rear #3 up front
Front Top Shock position on outer hole
Front Bottom shock position on middle hole
Rear Top shock position on middle hole
Rear Bottom Shock position on outer hole
Greens in the rear
Silvers up front

During my testing the rear was too bouncy still on certain parts of the track. I went to rear shock position on the bottom on inner hole, 25 weight oil in the rear. This seemed to be a good mix and gave great jumping ability and bumpy section handling. I may try going back to outer hole on the arms.

with my 19T power plant I was able to plan second then 3rd in the two heats.

After calming down a bit and taking it easier in the main I was leading against the mod class but coming off a big jump I came down full weight on one front wheel and shattered the arm and bottom shock eyelet. The temperature had dropped so I wonder if the vehicle parts were cool.

All in all though the vehicle handled great, it really just needs a slipper so you can punch it more on the throttle. But when you had it hooked up, it was a bullet out there.

The motor cam didn't really move at all, but I still am going to see about a Kose mount or the alumimum machined cam as there was still some shifting.

The gearing felt pretty good, I will check and see the condition of the motor tonite when I do a teardown. maybe a pinion size less when the sun is out.

All in all, great performance and the axles held up quite well.

The longer axle seems to put more of the shaft in the diff cup so I think less wear will be seen.

[Cain]

I will be posting pics of the different axles to some of the other webboards.

Anyone know what a good mod wind for the motor is? I would like a recommendation for either a KR or a V2 mod motor. I am leaning towards a 12 x 2 , maybe 11 x 2 on the V2 as I hear it makes less power at the same wind as a KR.

[anothermbdusted]

hey on the other board you posted a picture of a all graphite sb and was wondering how the mod to that chassi was doing?i know its not yours but happen to notice the chassi cutting and wanted to know is all.....have you done that to your yet? and the name to that shop is all in funky letters my freind from across the street called them at kose and talked to them i know that much..still trying to find out a little more about the ordering info still they arnt responding to the emails took 4 days last time to get a response.....

my setup will be so far as follows:
ft b4 threaded shocks front and rear
lundsford titanium rods
trying to get that dang kose motor mounting system
lrp pro rev esc (fun for my emaxx also)
sanyo 2400's (when money permits 3300's and new charger)
novak xxxtra recv.
orion 13x2 havok motor (cant spend tons on a real motor yet :( )
going to order the center carbon driveshaft
got all bearings everywhere
hitec hs945mg servo might put my airtronics in if i need more speed
jr xs3 radio
going to run it at intermountain raceway in slc utah once i get it up and running waiting for parts in mail to get here friend said he'll ship them tomorrow cant wait.....its like christmas around here for me my new polk audio speakers and my rc stuff its like christmas morning ;)

[Cain]

Your items you are running look fine. Don't feel bad about the motor, as long as you can be consistent with it around the track, really doesn't matter what you run. That is why I am still running a 19T, I am looking for a mod, but mainly because I feel better controling the vehicle now.

One thing I am going to try is changing the location of the ball end on the steering arms to get more steering out of the vehicle. I have to look again on www.raceacademy.net to make sure I am changing the right thing but it should work as right now I have my steering turned up to max and I still need a pinch more.

As for the chassis mod, I did it and the vehicle handled SO much better through the rough stuff even when I didn't have it fully dialed in for suspension. Its something I am really glad I did and the chassis looks to be holding up well back there. One thing I am noticing though is that with the new UJs, on the rear you probably could run even MORE droop like running B3 shocks in the rear as the UJs put more of the pin in the drive cup.

As for the options you are planning on buying, not sure how much of a difference the carbon prop shaft will do, the vehicle has so much punch right now its not even funny. I would probably look into getting the slipper first off and the machined cam if you can't get the kose mount. If you can get the kose mount, post ASAP as I would like to get one along with you and I can think of others who would too.

one thing you should do is give Tim a call at MRC and see if the new axles are in or the full set of new UJs. They are longer on the axle part than the originals and seem to be better built. I would just pickup the full UJs if he doesn't have just the axles, and if you break switch it out and send the broken ones back. Or, you can see if he will let you send back the old style UJ axles ( if you got them ) and replace with new ones.

Make sure though you run the plastic hexes if you got them. Anything that helps in that area is good and I honestly like the plastic hexes better, less rotating mass that the steel ones.

What is your setup right now on the vehicle?

With the AE shocks, I would probably try this first as a standard setup:

30W Front
25W Rear
#3 piston up front
#2 piston in rear
Silver springs up front
Green Springs in the rear

This seems to be a good initial setup so far. I have decent bumpy locations at my track but it does have monster jumps, so it kind of gives the best of both worlds. If you track however has ALOT of bumpy sections, you probably could try going to a larger piston size ( #2s up front, #1 in the rear ).

[anothermbdusted]

hey thanks for the advice you give its very much appreciated.... i think we need our own thread though but i guess this does fine for now right....?..as for the motors well i will buy a nice one to hopefully run it at the april fools classic next year but ill wait to get a motor until i get a chance to run there as i have never been at this track befor..the local track shut down and well now i got to go 50 miles for the nearst track to race...but i got a 9x2,11x2,13x2,15x2 all on the way and the track owner said everyone runs xxx4's there and 10t-12tx2 there so i thought i would get a veriety to start off with..
I havent even drove the thing yet thats why im so excited to get my parts ASAP in it and drive it...from what everyone says its got so much punch in it that im going to make the xxx4 look sorry out of the hole...time will tell on that i guess...as for the carbon fiber center shaft less rotational mass anywhere is always good for more punch but yes i understand on the slipper clutch(I cant beleive they didnt have one for it already when they released it..kind of like putting the buggy in front of the horse lol)
As for the chassi well i figure ill drive it stock and then ill cut it up a bit and if i like it then im going to get the carbon chassi and do it then no matter what ill get all carbon eventually on it...like the look and strength it gives better suspension reaction instead of chassi flexing....ill call him today and inquire about those axles thanks
As for setup i got everything in stock postion completely stock car as im waiting for the parts in the mail...but i doubt 25-30w oil will be enough i usually run lke 35-40w oil in my buggies seems to do well at my old track we had and i run 55w in my emaxx so i dont know ill have to post what im going with once i get a chance to get it running and up to the track....ill go there in less then 2 weeks from now.get the parts this week and then the following week go to the track...

[Cain]

The selection for oils to use really depends on how your track is. If you were running 35W to 40W on your track and it works, great. I tried this and on a really smooth surface with monster jumps it was ideal, but on my current track it doesn't handle that well and is way too bouncy on the straights.

You can get the slipper, they are just releasing a newer version that has some changes. I think DaCookieMonsta goes into this on some of the academy thread located at www.rctech.net . Woody also is running a slipper right now, not the latest version but from what I understand it is working for him. I will message him to see if he has any more info on how well it is running.

From what I also understand, pretty much the top decks will make the vehicle as stiff as you need it be, some even prefering to run only the longer deck in graphite.

I agree on the less rotating mass, I am just thinking from a best cost basis, where you get the most bang for your buck and I think the slipper and better mount / cam will do the trick for you. The chassis mod is also a nice thing to do, and its free :) Also don't forget the front oneway! Main thing is being able to put the power down, and a slipper will really do that for you unless you are easy on the throttle.

Honestly though, once you get used to not having a slipper it really amazes you how much punch the vehicle has as even with taking it easy on the throttle the hole shot it has is insane.

Of all the things I noticed when running last week, was that since I was stuck in the front of the starting grid (not my choice ) and running a 19T motor I expected everyone else running brushless and full mod motors with 2wd and 4wd buggies represented would plow into the rear of me, but the vehicle actually launched off of the line faster than the other vehicles and left them. And my slight position in the front wasn't some insane starting point, we are talking about 1 car length here.

I was also able to do this when we ran the main, I was in third position with about 6 feet between me and the next car and so forth for the second and third positions and I managed to get that great holeshot and be in the lead.

This vehicle for the money really performs and it looks like Academy and MRC are standing behind it.

[anothermbdusted]

well i just tried to get ahold of tim and he dont work today she took my number down and said he would call me in the morning so lets see how that goes... ill have some questions to ask him and ill let you know as to what i find out...

as for the hole shot ill need it as im not use to running 4wd havent done it in like 4 years now use to have a xx4 and hated it cause it always broke a shock tower or a belt fragile little SOB....seems like this is more stable and well ive been waiting for a shaft driven one for well a few years now and am glad to see one out there affordable...now if they can get a race team here in the states to race against losi and AE that would be great like to see how it does against them in the states not over seas....
as for the motor cam as soon as i get the info for them im going to post a thingy for how many people want them and then i figure ill just order them and send them out to who ever needs them(no not for free lol but for the cost i paid and shipping)but im going to try and order a few things from them if i can even get ahold of them....tried over the phone but my cell wont do the international thing so i got to figure out how to call them never try that long of a call lol(reach out and touch someone lol I CANT)

[FLYBOY7]

fyi... Losi XXX/B4 rear rims bolt up and maintain the stock width... (you will need to remove the hex)...

T.

[Cain]

Good info there flyboy7!

[Cain]

here is some buying info:

I contacted Ultimate hobbies and they told me that they will be stocking parts for the Academy SB Sport Buggy. They have some in the warehouse right now just not in the system yet . I am going to give them a call friday and see if I can get a listing with prices of what they have in stock or will stock. May buy a bunch of upgrades from them. They still have free shipping over $50.

[RCBuddha]

here is some buying info:

I contacted Ultimate hobbies and they told me that they will be stocking parts for the Academy SB Sport Buggy. They have some in the warehouse right now just not in the system yet . I am going to give them a call friday and see if I can get a listing with prices of what they have in stock or will stock. May buy a bunch of upgrades from them. They still have free shipping over $50.

If Ultimate starts carrying parts, i'm going to get the kit. That has been the only thing stopping me from getting the car. Does MRC plan on distributing to any other shops???

[Cain]

MRC will distribute to anyone who wants the vehicle. From what I understand they just have to want to carry it. Ultimatehobbies is seeing good sales from the vehicle so they are carrying parts. As soon as I know more of what they will carry especially for hop ups I plan to purchase some.

[RichieRich]

I just ordered mine today. YAY! I'll probably throw it together stock before I start adding titanium and B4 shocks.

[FLYBOY7]

i finally got some running in on my buggy today....

first off.... wheels bearings are not a hop-up option... they are a MUST have if you are planning on even driving the car... secondly.... the machined motor mount is also a MUST have (more on this later)....

track- Dirtburners R/C Club track, St louis MO.... dry dusty off line... blue groove main line... the track took a REAL pounding last weekend for the Kyosho Nitro Challenge.... hour long 8th scale mains can leave some pot holes... LOL....

car- bone stock except.... Lundsfort Ti turnbuckles (XXX-4 set)... RPM rod ends... stock tires... largest spur was used... 19 pinion..... Novak 5300 system... SMC GP-3300 1.17 cells.... shocks- #2 pistons up front.. #1's in the rear... 30w oil front and rear... no shims in front or rear diff... wheel bearings added....

first off.. what broke?? not too much... and actually very little compared to what would have broke on a XXX-4.... i stripped out a spur gear because the motor kept coming loose... and that's it for breakage... i TORTURED the Academy buggy trying to break it in half, and Nothing broke except for the stripped spur...

secondly... is the buggy fast?? HELL yea it's fast.... i thought all these guys saying it was fast in a straight line were over doing it a bit... i mean all 4wd's feel fast compared to 2wd T-4's, XXX's ect... but i have owned XX-4's and XXX-4's in the past, and in a straight line, the Academy is a freak'n land missle... once you install the wheel bearings, and Properly tighten the wheels, there is much less drag in the drivetrain than even a very loose belted XXX-4, and it shows in pure straight line speed... i nearly quad'ed a triple double section that the top 8th scale gas racers in the country could barely make.... it was insane how far the Academy jumped due to how fast it got moving....

thirdly... my Academy handled, and jumped like dookie..... i can't think of any situation where the #1 pistons would ever be used (and that's what i had installed in the rear of my buggy)..... with the #1 pistons, the rear was a botteming pogo stick.... the front was also undamped... and both ends were undersprung (i was using stock springs fr and rr)..... i've seen several people post this buggy is way undersprung stock, and they were right.. LOL... just guessing here, but my bet is that Blue or Silver AE springs will be in the ball park.... the Academy seems heavier than most 10th scales i've ever run...

cornering?? pretty bad... LOL.... but with the stock shocks so far out of the ballpark, and the track so slick off line, it wasn't surprising it wasn't dialed in the corners yet... once the shocks are dialed a bit, it could easily be a different story...

during 2 packs of running.. i knocked the motor loose 4 times.... of course i was driving like a mad man trying to break the buggy.. LOL... but the cast motor mounts have just got to go....

lastly.... man, i had a LOT of fun driving the Academy.... it was just so fast straight line.... i've been racing 2wd electric for so long, that running the 4wd SB Sport just put smile on my face you couldn't wipe off with a wire brush... LOL... oh and, the shock towers, arms, hub carriers, well, everything survived one HECK of a torture session with ZERO problems... if i had been driving a XXX-4 today, i would have broke TONS of parts, it would have ended up a pile of plastic rubble... it's nice to plow into a rough section wfo with a 4wd and have it drive out in 1 piece.... LOL...

anywhos..... that's my .00000000002 cents for now guys...

Tim Mohr

[Cain]

Flyboy, glad to hear it drove well for you!

You may want to try the revised setup I posted earlier. If you don't see it ( It uses 30W in the front, 25W in the rear ) I will repost. Should be a good starting point.

As for the motor mount, yeah, thats probably the only real sore spot that will stick around with the sport till you buy and upgrade. The axles should filter out of all the later kits.

If you can, try the rear droop mod as it will help in the bumpy sections.

[N2Raptor]

Hi Guys,
I've been following the thread (in the background)....I've had the buggy for a few months and have the carbon uppers....can't quite get myself to pay for the full carbon chassis yet....but anyway, I tried to destroy it too, but wasn't very successful. I was showing it to a buddy of mine and accidently hit the curb in the street, head-on, doing about 30 mph.....we all said something like "oh dear me" or something like that! The force of the "sudden stop" cracked the crystal in the receiver, the Trinity D-6 came out of the mount and the Quantum Pro F-1 ESC came off the servo tape, but nothing else happened!! Nothing broke, popped, got bent and I didn't have to make any suspension adjustments. It's one heck of a vehicle. Light in the front with stock springs and shock oil, yeah.....but that's the fun of this hobby....tweakin' it to the way you want it. And the price was right too. I kind of wondered about the stores that carried it too. I had spoken to Timant MRC about some upgrades, and he told me that any hobby shop can carry them or any other other car or truck that MRC/Academy makes. I think he said that MRC doesn't have any of the restrictions that some of the other big distributors have. If a store wants something, just call.
Has anyone run a brushless in the buggy yet? I haven't been into cars that long, but it seems like the buggy would be a screamer with brushless.
How much running time would you get with a 8-12 turn equivalent brushless with a 3300mah pack. Would it be about the same?
Hey Cain, does Academy use a different motor mount as an upgrade?? What's different?
N2Raptor

[tallyrc]

someone needs to snatch this thing up. $150 buy it now... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=19168&item=5909612581&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

[Cain]

tallyrc: Ultimatehobbies is selling them for $145 shipped. Though, if they are out that is a really good price.

[Cain]

The motor mount is machined alloy and purple. If you get the cam I have been told that holds much better than the stock cast cam and that is pretty much all you need. I personally am still hoping that someone will import the Kose parts as I like there motor mounting system very much.

With a novak brushless I could easily see this thing being a missle. And you could even go with a hotter motor as the novak brushless is more like a 12 turn than anything else.

[tallyrc]

flyboys review was with a novak brushless

[N2Raptor]

Whoops! I guess I missed seeing the Novak 5300 in Flyboys review. Thanks Tally.
It's a shame the buggy doesn't get the advertising that the competition gets.
How do guys like the velcro body attachments instead of clips?
N2Raptor :)

[Cain]

I like the velcro actually, keeps it sealed better. I ran in a real muddy portion of the track and they were even watering it down with the sprinkler system. I just ran through it again and again, the outside was caked up pretty good with mud. The inside looked super clean, it looks like a extremely light dusting was in there, if any dust at all.

One thing to make sure of is check your gearing depending on the weather as well. Since I race at night practicing during the day when the sun is out I probably could go up 1 tooth over what I ran during the daytime, motor was butt cold then.

MRC I believe is starting to promote the buggy more, they had an add in one of the RC magazines for it but I think we need to see it up at tower hobbies online and places like that for sale for it really to get noticed.

I can't wait to see however how the reviews are for it in RCCA. They gave the XXX-4 great reviews, and as this vehicle has areas I feel are much better than the XXX-4, I hope there thoughts reflect that.

[RC10racer89]

WOW! only 145$! Thats amazing! Should leave you with plenty of cash to upgrade to carbon parts :D With that price and that kinda performance I would take this over a losi XXX-4 Graphite.

[Cain]

I just got word that the slipper clutch is in at MRC. Stock Number: SB 019

I am not sure if its the new one or not.

[FLYBOY7]

yea... i am running the 5300 novak system in mine... and it feels awesome...

also.. i normally run Thunder Power TP-6000 battery packs... but they don't fit very well with the stock mounting hardware... the packs will fit fine... but i'll have to do a bit of grinding on the stock mounts... with the Li-po, the thing will really be a missle....

i don't like the velcro mounting method... i know it's supposed to help keep dirt out, and it does that very well... but that keeps air out as well... and i'm sure you guys know how hot motors run in 4wd's.... and the velcro just seems low tech..

this is the first kit i've ever had that i couldn't drive after getting it all built... i've built several bushing kits from AE and Losi over the years, and at least they would drive (even if they were slower due to the bushings)... you pretty much can't drive this kit without buying the wheel bearings first... if the mags compared the Losi to the MRC right out of the box, the Losi would easily win because you can't even drive the MRC without the extra bearings...

btw.... i tried installing AE and RPM dual stage pistons tonight... they won't work, they are too large... just fyi....

Tim

[Cain]

Are you still using the kit shocks? Upgrading to better shocks will put a big smile on your face.

If the Mags decide to do a fair comparison, they should try and make the vehicles as similar as possible to compare. you can always do the initial setup test, but it will be telling to me if they don't put it more on the level with the competition before comparing as they have done this before.

I would say they should at least get the upgraded shock bodies, full bearings, and maybe the slipper clutch and go from there. Also, I hope they play with the setup too as the kit one is really just too soft.

As for the body, I like the velcro, it similar to how the pro guys do there 2wd bodies for a tight fit. It will get warm in there, no doubt, but you can drill some holes if necessary and there is even a pic of a guy who mounted a fan similar to Reedy's heatsink fan over the motor, looked fairly simple too.

[re-inferno]

N2raptor:
I too run a brushless setup - as you say, it's the perfect base for a BL buggy (that will hold up to the power in the long run!)

I didn't try out the original ball diffs, since I thought the small plastic gears and BL power is a big no-no ... but it seems to work.

However, I run these nice diffs

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040510/RT4_Diff.jpg

:D

some pictures;

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040714/SB5.JPG

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040714/SB4.JPG

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040714/SB3.JPG

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040714/SB2.JPG

http://www.offroad-cult.org/Forum/images/20040714/SB1.JPG

Paint job is ugly, color named "LRP Custom Color Lightblue fluorescent" :p

BL ist an LMT Basic 4200 with a Schulze U-Force75 controller, works pretty good and I do not need any additional cooling, my components run covered by a full undertray and body within max 60°C @ 28°C outside temp :)

[Cain]

The mounting of the electronics looks pretty good. There is a good amount of space on the chassis for electronics depending on how you choose to mount them.

[N2Raptor]

Inferno, the buggy pics look good! I like all that color. I've heard through the grapevine that RC Car Action has the buggy reviewed in the next issue, and it's supposed to be a really positive review.
N2Raptor :)

[tallyrc]

what diff is that you are running?

[re-inferno]

I use the diff from the RT-4GP gas truck.
It's a direct fit since the two cars use the same gearboxes, but you'll need some additional parts to get it to work - I described it somewhere in the big SB-Sport thread at the rctech boards.

I studied the exploded views of the SB-Sport and RT-4 GP and finally came to the conclusion, that the complete suspension (lower arms, dampers stays, universals etc.) of the RT-4GP will fit the SB-Sport

This means, that you can convert the SB-Sport for an estimated 100US$ into a racing truck like the HPI Rs-4 MT, but much more durable.
This Buggy could not only be a serious racing machine, but with the conversion also the ultimate basher !! :D

[Cain]

hey guys,

the new slipper is specific for the SB Sport buggy and will sell for 25.50 retail. If the percentages keep up with how Ultimate hobbies prices things, could be under $20 for the upgrade.

[Cain]

Tim sent me the PDF of the slipper clutch they have in stock now.

If anyone wants it just send me your email address.

[RC10racer89]

Sweet Pics Re-Inferno, hows it run?

[sugs]

So how do you like your Shulze U-force? I've been thinking of getting one since Hacker is lagging on their new car controllers, but it's kind of hard to find in the States.