Years ago, I had an idea to write a post called “Down with the Dodge Stratus” – which was based on the fact that in the early 2000s, most of the race-approved 1/10 electric on-road (sedan) bodies were based off of the Dodge Stratus. You can see in the roar archives that the Stratus was phased out in 2008 (search “Stratus”). Bleh, I’m glad it’s gone! When’s the last time you saw a Dodge Stratus actually racing?!?

That’s why I like the Vintage Trans-Am (VTA) and USGT racing series. I want to see race cars like this:

My son and I got 2wd Slash trucks for his birthday and Father’s Day respectively. Since my daughter is left-handed, I would occasionally swap out the radio for the left-handed Arrma ATX-300, put the ESC in “Training Mode” (50% speed) and let ‘er rip.

Swapping out the radio was getting old. Plus one time I left the ESC in training mode when I hit the track. You can imagine my surprise when I’m getting passed in the back straight like I’m standing still, wondering where all the power went

Something Smaller

Why not get her a car/truck of her own? Something smaller and better suited to a 5 year-old. Continue reading →

My daughter is left handed and she also loves to drive R/C cars with dad and her brother. To make sure she has a good experience, she needs the appropriate tools. I’ve seen several lefties use standard right-handed transmitters. They hold the grip in their right hand to work the trigger, and the steering wheel faces away, so they reach around the front to work the steering with their left hand.

My left-handed daughter instinctively did just this with a normal transmitter (Tx). Even at only 5 years old, her brain told her to steer with her dominant hand. While it works for many, it’s unfortunate. Left-handed transmitters are not widely available for people entering the hobby, so they try to make it work with a right-handed Tx. By the time they can afford a model that can be converted to left-handed, they’ve already gotten used to contorting themselves, so what should seem natural feels strange.

This is an anecdote addendum to my story arc as an RC driver. I’m still not great, but I’m getting better, and in the last month I earned three 2nd place spots at club races  I’m going to be honest about how I wound up there, but it’s really a commentary on consistency.
Continue reading →

After doing a lipo battery upgrade to my friend’s 1st gen (3906) E-Maxx, we discovered that if you went full reverse followed by full forward, the truck would basically do a flip in-place.

We didn’t consider that this is very unfriendly to the drivetrain. After about 10-20 flips (or attempts) the E-Maxx was now front wheel drive.

Continue reading →