Electric vehicles are the most popular form of racing and Spec classes like the 17.5T Stock 2WD buggy class have a huge number of participants at RC tracks everywhere. It combines skill and set-up knowledge along with a level of speed that’s fast enough to test most racers in a fun and competitive atmosphere. And just like any form of racing where there are limits on power (F1, NASCAR, Supercross, etc.), racers try and find an edge to give them a slight advantage. An area that isn’t often discussed is cooling of electronics and the use of small fans to improve efficiency and power. Art Sanfratello is the owner of RC Speed Secrets (rcspeedsecrets.com) and specializes in selling tuning options for racers. He has his own line of fans and knows a few things about their application and benefits. We got a chance to sit down with Art and have him shed some light on the topic. 

RC Car Action: You’re kind of the guy known for selling tuning options like small fans from WTF. We’ve seen them used for years with touring cars, but lately there seems to be a big push among racers to use them in buggies. Why do you think this is?
Art Sanfratello: For the same reasons we see the on-road guys using them to bring down their motor temps and operating temps for the speed controls. I was doing both on-road and off-road racing and figured it would be a good idea to bring the fans in to the Stock Buggy Class “Scene.” I thought it would be better to see our electric systems coming off the track at 100F instead of 170F. With a little bit of testing, I was able to find a bit more punch toward the end of the mains in five to seven-minute races. We are seeing a big jump in efficiency toward the end of races since the entire electric system stays cool. By cooling the motor, you’re also cooling the battery and the operating temps of the speed control. When you just cool the speed control, you don’t see the same benefits of also cooling the battery and motor. Not only are you getting a punchier car toward the middle to end of a race, but you are helping to extent the overall life of your electronics. In theory, your entire electrical system will have longer life and see an improvement in durability since you aren’t subjecting them to the high harmful temps. 

What kind of drops are most racers expected to see in their 2WD buggy versus not using anything at all?
Art Sanfratello: Obviously there are some other factors there including timing of the motor, gearing, traction, ambient temperature and things of that nature, but speaking on an average, I’m seeing guys running in the 160-170F range running without a fan on the motor after five to six minutes, are now usually getting around 100F or just below 100F. So in a lot of cases, you can see upwards of 70 degrees cooling difference- that’s a lot of performance gain. 
​
And as apposed to popular opinion, a fan doesn’t really draw that much power does it?
Art Sanfratello: Well specifically, the RC Speed Secrets fans are designed to be in an RC car. The 30mm fan at 8.4 volts is operating at about 28,000 rpm and is only drawing about .43 amps. It does have a ball bearing in it as opposed to plastic male and female spinning parts- it’s normally what you’d find in your average 6.0 volts fan. A RCSS fan can be run at 8.4 volts, meaning you can wire it direct to the speed control or battery posts instead of just plugging it in to the receiver that limits the voltage to 6.0 volts. By going direct at 8.4 volts, you boost the rpm another 5 to 10,000. This really maximizes the output of the fan and having the ball bearing inside adds a lot of efficiency and keeps the amperage down. So the battery draw is minimal, and for instance, isn’t going to make a difference if you’re on the starting line with the fan running.

Article Credit: Radio Control CarAction www.rccaraction.com/

RCcarStars is now proud to distribute the RC industries #1 Pit Station from Racecraft USA......

Racecraft USA is extremely proud to introduce the RaceCraft USA “COMMAND MODULE”!​

The “COMMAND MODULE” is an easy to carry pit solution that enables you to maximize your pit space as well as organizing your pit tools and accessories. The entire unit is made of .100 aluminum from a local vendor that is strong enough to be sturdy and light enough to be easily mobile with a folded footprint of 4’x18”. The upper/top section has slotted holes running along the entire length to fit any shop light 4’ or smaller which is also sized to fit a 1/8 scale truggy with the wheels on. No assembly or disassembly required, simply lay it down with the topside facing downward and then unfold the two sides and flip it over and you’re done!

You can also order our accessory holders that we have coined the name, “G BLOCKS”. These G BLOCKS will hold and organize your pit tools, headsets, shocks, cell phone and other accessories you want off your table by inserting the G BLOCKS with our unique side-hanging mounting system into the COMMAND MODULE. The G Blocks utilized the slotted vertical sections within the COMMAND MODULE that allow you to mount the G BLOCKS at the height you wish in addition to the ability to slide the G BLOCKS into any location on the side-panels of the COMMAND MODULE.

​The first run of the COMMAND MODULES are now available now for purchase. And we are also taking pre-orders at this time for the next batch that should be available in time for the holiday season.  The G BLOCKS will be available before the end of November and we will be taking and filling orders at that time.
​
The COMMAND MODULE is sold as one unit and the G BLOCKS can be added to the order separately. The light is the only item not available for purchase at this time, but we recommend you purchase any 4 foot or smaller LED light for maximum durability.

To order today or for more information, please head-over to the RaceCraft USA Facebook page and message us your order or questions.

Here at our shop in Southern California, we are always ask by customers and other racers, "what do you do to get your gears and bearings to last so long?".  Our response, is always the same, "to make your RC cars last and perform at the ultimate levels, whether you are a racer or basher you must be religious on your RC maintenance program and use only quality proven lubes and grease".  For years, well before we were even sponsored by CowRC to support our race program, we used CowRC Maintenance products.  While the market is filled with both quality and sub-par economical lubes and greases, (and believe me when we say we’ve tried most of them) CowRC's product-line really performs at a higher-level than most.  

What we mean by that, is after hours, weeks and months of use in the extreme condition that RC bashers and racers put their RC cars and trucks through, CowRC products always tended to outperform the competition. 
For example: CowRC Udder Butter was tested by us and others in extreme temperature variations. Here on the West Coast, morning temperatures on race-days can be in the low 40's in the morning and track temperatures can be well above 120 degrees by noon and when you couple that with the high-performance motors and ESCs blasting out huge AMPs of power through a drivetrain, very quickly you can have failures in bearings, diffs and transmission gearing.  CowRC's Udder Butter grease is not only waterproof and does not break down in water but it also tends to have very little "throw-off" on Ring-Diff Gears and other transmission parts resulting in the lube actually staying on the parts even at high velocities.  This results in extended life of your gearing in addition to very limited issues of with gearing failures cause by excessive heat and abuse caused by the elements and terrain. 

Below you will see some examples of my personal Axial Wraith's Rear Axles and Ring Gears after three months of U4RC rock racing and some scaling.  You can see in the pictures, that the CowRC Udder Butter is still on the ring gear and axles. In fact, the final picture of the axles is after we cleaned them off with CowRC Moo-Clean. You can see the wear is almost non-existent and the axles where they insert into the differential is almost like new!!!  This is a great example of the CowRC product line and why we use them.

Some additional products we use for extended life and performance are the Moo-Kleen (for parts cleaning and removal of grease and grime) and Moo-Slick Silicone Lubricant, that we use after every race/bashing/scaling session.  Again in the picture below, after 3 months of use, the stock Axial Bearings that came in the kits look and spin like new.  And because we religiously at least lube with Moo-Slick after every race or session, we have been able to get a years worth of use, even out of stock bearings because of our maintenance ritual and use of the CowRC performance lubes and cleaners.

One final item to discuss in this post is "how much grease is best?"  We are always in the school of thought that to much grease can cause drag on drivetrains and because CowRC's Udder Butter has good adherence properties along with a formula that truly lubricates at all temperatures and RPMs, you don't need much.  In the example below, we just cover the teeth on the ring and pinion in the differential and wipe off the excess. That is all that is needed whether you had Heavy Duty 8 scale ring and pinions or stock pot-metal ring and pinions. 

Here's a tip for you, It should be noted that most failures of ring and pinions are not caused by the lube failing, but the lack of proper shimming on the pinion on the ring gear.  So always try and eliminate the slop without making it to tight against the ring gear.

As always, we hope you found this article helpful and if you are already an expert at RC maintenance, share this post with a friend that is just starting out or learning to wrench on their own RC cars and trucks. 

Best Regards,

The RCcarStars
​#RCcarMaintenance

Introducing the return of Bypass1™, the #18400 & #18410 MIP Bypass1™ Pistons for the Mugen 1/8th Scale RCs.

The all new MIP Bypass1™ pistons for the 1/8th Mugen are a MUST HAVE! These pistons are not like anything you have ever experienced before. The MIP Bypass1™ pistons are fully customizable and allow you to truly control your cars rebound speed and performance. MIP Bypass1™ Pistons are also Dyno-Tuned to ensure they match the compression characteristics of the stock pistons!

​Featuring MIP Color Coded Valves™, the MIP Bypass1™ Pistons combined together with these valves allow you to control and maximize your cars performance based on which valves you use. Thicker valves generate a slower rebound and thinner valves get you quicker rebounds. Mix and match valves together and find the best set up for you and your car!

MIP Bypass1™ pistons are being used by some of the top racers in the world including Adam Drake and Ryan Maifield. The MIP Bypass1™ technology is guaranteed to give you that world champion edge on the track!

The MIP Bypass1™ technology is here to stay, and will be the STANDARD in RC Racing throughout the universe. Don’t get left behind. The future of of RC Racing is here , order your MIP Bypass1™ Kits today.
​
Available from MIP & Mugen Seiki Racing/Flash Point RC

For the last year, RCcarStars has been testing various manufacturer's shock and differential oils. We have tested many major brands while racing short course, 1/10 scale buggies, 1/8 scale buggies, U4RC Rock Racing rc cars and scalers. We tested most major brands, such as Associated, Losi, Pit Bull, PT Racing and Mugen.
​
At this time we are happy to announce that based upon or testing both indoors and outside at heats upwards of 115 degrees, the brand that we are most impressed with is PT RC Racing Shock & Diff Oils. 

During our testing we identified (6) six factors in determining what shock and diff oils are truly the best value for the money.

The (6) factors we used were as follows:

1. Overall manufacturer's selection of different fluid weights/CST
2. Cost per 2oz bottle or close to equivalent
3. Performance during racing at steady temperature (indoors)
4. Performance during racing at increasing temperatures during day (outdoors)
5. Durability (viscosity breakdown over time)
6. Performance RC crawling with light-weight oils under 30 weight or 350 CST

So first off, PT RC RACING OIL has what we believe is the largest selection of oils and at increments of 50 CST, it's tough to find and better selection. Cost was on the mid to high end of oils per bottle.  What really impressed us, was the performance and durability testing both indoors and outside (off-road).  

During testing the shock and diff oils felt good and true to Weight/CST listed on bottle, both in various shock and diff configurations.  And as temperatures changed (increased)  we did notice some minor changes in viscosity but never more than what felt like a 50cst to 100cst change.  Other manufacturer's oils would have quite the noticeable difference in viscosity dropping during temperature increases.  At temperatures indoors that tended to stay more constant, the performance was right on the money and the shock and diff oils could have easily lasted a few more days of indoor racing if needed.  We tend to change shock oils out every race day,

And finally we used 150cst in our scale SCX10's during crawling outings and the oil was perfect in that the "pack" was very light, just enough to slow shock piston when traversing rocks. 

Now these factors were tested in everyday race and crawling sessions and by no means was it perfect at all times, and other oils had their good points too. But what we really found with most other manufactures, is that once you get above a 40WT/650cst, that the viscosities seemed to vary most of the time to a much higher viscosity than the bottle stated. (or at least it felt like it)  And durability for shocks and diff oils not changed regularly tended to feel like they broke down faster in some of the different brands.

So what the final word based up all this testing? We are happy to announce that PT RC Racing Shock & Diff Oils will be our primary oils for all work on customer's RC cars and trucks (unless another brand is requested).  RCcarStars gives PT RC Racing a thumbs-up rating and we are now happy to share the same oils we use in our RCs with our customers!!!