September 17, 2008

2008 HPI/Orion GP – Announcement

2008 HPI/Orion Grand Prix

We were contacted by the organizers of the 2008 HPI/Orion Grand Prix that will be held in the East of France on the 22nd & 23rd of November. Open to both on road and off road, there are only 75 drivers allowed in both disciplines, with both split into expert and amateur classes. Now in its 8th year, the race will be run using this great looking carpet track that offers a challenging circuit for touring cars together with a separate buggy section that incorporates a jump section, table top and mandatory wall ride.

For more information visit the event site here.


September 17, 2008

LRP Exhaust, Clutch shoes & Inserts

LRP Exhaust, Clutch shoes & Inserts

More new items from LRP, this time for use with 1/8th scale buggies and truggies. First up is this new 3-chamber tuned pipe, which has been tested and developed in close cooperation with the LRP factory team. Specially developed for racing situations in which you need maximum top-speed and reliable performance, this new exhaust system works perfectly with engines from .21 – .30 size. Also newly released are clutch shoes made from carbon-reinforced synthetic material. The carbon clutch shoes improve the throttle response, resulting in a easier and more controllable handling of your car, especially important on slippery and difficult off road tracks. Extremely long lasting and consistent performance even after many weeks of racing. Finally, there are new VTEC 1/8th off road buggy molded inserts, available in both Soft (yellow) and Medium (blue) hardness.

Click more to see the other new products… content


September 16, 2008

Answer-RC 3 shoe High Bite Clutch set

Answer-RC 3 shoe High Bite Clutch set

After many months of testing Answer-RC are confident that no other clutch shoes can offer the same high level of bite and low wear ratio as their high bite low wear clutch set. The shoe is lightweight thus reducing rotating mass helping the engine spool quicker and reducing drive train mass. The shoes each have a built in stand off washer to lift the shoe from the flywheel and this reduces drag on the flywheel allowing you to tune the clutch perfectly with the 3 included spring sets.

Source: Answer RC [answer-rc.com]


September 16, 2008

Hudy Universal Tire Balancing Station

Hudy Universal Tire Balancing Station

Hudy have released this compact Universal Tire Balancing Station for 1/10, 1/8, 1/6 and 1/5 wheels allowing you to quickly and easily balance car tires by identifying the heaviest part of the wheel so that proper balancing aids can be applied. This also helps to identify improperly glued rubber tires or differences in inserts. Precision-balanced tires will improve your car’s traction and stability, and also give improved shock absorber action. The super-stable base board securely and firmly holds the balancing wheel adapter, and the smart clamping system ensures that the wheel adapter does not bind and can rotate absolutely freely. The high-quality, high-precision ball-bearings used in the wheel adapter are de-greased and lightly oiled for ultra-fine wheel rotation, helping to identify even the smallest inaccuracies of the tire balance.

Click here for more details… content


September 14, 2008

LiveRC at the 2008 IFMAR Buggy Worlds

LiveRC at the 2008 IFMAR Buggy Worlds

LiveRC.com have been in contact to tell us they will be broadcasting the 2008 IFMAR 1/8th Off-Road Fuel Buggy World Championships live to viewers around the world. The broadcast will start on Monday September 15th beginning at 10am EST. LiveRC will be adding many new and exciting features to the broadcast with the purchase of the All Access Pass. Exclusive features for All Access Pass holders for the IFMAR 1/8 IC Off-Road Worlds include:

– Ten LiveRC.com team members on site exclusively for best possible coverage
– Expert announcers Scotty Ernst and Charlie Suangka bringing you live, corner-by-corner action throughout the broadcast.
– Seven fixed-position cameras and three high-definition cameras will be following the action, which allows you to follow the action better than ever – even better than being trackside because you won’t miss a turn!
– Three producers will be rotating shifts on our audio/video switchboards to bring continuous lap-by-lap audio and video coverage throughout the event.
– Two dedicated, redundant servers are reserved exclusively for All Access Pass viewers to ensure the highest broadcast quality and reliability.

All Bonus Lap members will still enjoy the same great features that have always been provided by LiveRC, but if you’re a big fan of 1/8 off-road racing and you want the best coverage of this historic event, don’t miss out on the extra features only available with the All Access Pass.

Full information can be found here.


September 12, 2008

King Headz XB808 motor mount

King Headz XB808 motor mount

King Headz have released this CNC machined 7075 aircraft grade aluminum engine mount for the Xray XB808. Designed with a base mount and removable top blocks, once installed in the vehicle and the gear mesh is set you can remove and reinstall the motor without resetting the mesh. Suitable for both a Nova based or Picco based motor, the mount has an extended leg that will help to reduce chassis flex near the flywheel hole. The top blocks are also available separately.

Source: King Headz [kingheads.com]


September 12, 2008

X-Factory X-60 Conversion update

X-Factory X-60 Conversion update

X Factory have announced November 1st as the preliminary release date for the X-60 Conversion. The new conversion is suitable for an AE T4 truck to convert it to mid-motor, similar to the popular X-6 buggy. Photos show several interesting aspects of the new truck, firstly the mold for the rear control arms is done, and the Team is using production prototype arms.  Since the beginning of testing, not a single graphite arm has failed, so this part of the program is complete. Second, X Factory has decided to go with a carbon fiber battery strap instead of the current molded strap. X Factory president Chazz said the following about the project –

We are closing in on it, and the release date is looking more and more doable. All the decisions have been finalized and now it’s a matter of making the parts and giving them a final test to make sure they’re OK. There are lots of potential stumbling blocks between now and release, but this project has been going more smoothly than anything we’ve done before, so I hope we can meet November first. The chassis mold is about one quarter done, and we hope to have production prototype chassies before the end of this month. The Boyz will start testing immediately, of course, but that will allow us to move forward on many other things.  We’ll finalize the body at that point, an entire new design from one of the top body manufacturers that you’re going to love. And we’ll begin writing the instruction manual, which is never a simple task.

Click here for another picture and more information… content


September 11, 2008

Abernethy wins Rd4, Harron Champion

Abernethy wins in Navan, Harron Champion

The fourth & final round of the Irish 1:8 Buggy Nationals took place over the weekend at the Navan Nitro Nuts track and where championship came to a thrilling climax with a tie break required to declare the 2008 Champion. After 45 minutes of racing it was Xray driver Barkley Abernethy who just took the win from the Hot Bodies of Mark Harron. Seperated by just four seconds the result left the pair tied on points and with both having recorded the same number of wins and second place finishes the title would be decided on each drivers qualifying results handing Harron the title. Completing the podium at the all astro turf track, which also hosted the opening round back in May, was Crono driver David Curtis.

Click more to see the final results… content