27-Feb-2011 A great Day with the Alcyon II - Is there such thing as a final setup ??

Hmm this is today! It was a good day. My friend  OSA, after months of persuasion, finally showed up at the track with me. he brought his HB Cyclone, from 2006. It wasnt handling well, he was still using one ways. We tried to get it handling well, but the car definitely needs to be weight balanced properly. I thought him how to do it, and he was very interested to try the 4 scales method.
As for me, hmm, these past few month i experimented with various setups, using the original Alcyon II shock towers, with super soft Tamiya Blue springs at the back. The Car had too much grip at the back and was bottoming out easily under acceleration.  And whats more not enough steering. The two guys at the track, a guy driving a Sakura Zero and the other a Yokomo BD5 W were running circles around me. To cut a long story short, i decided to try back the SX-104 and SX-105 high traction front and rear shock stay from the Alcyon II Limited Edition. This time i placed Yokomo Pink Springs in front, about 300g/mm force, and the original Kawada Alcyon front springs 196g/mm for the back (never thought i would ever use this spring again). This time the rear did not bottom out so much, and i had lots of rear traction. Since the springs are so soft (but harder than Tamiya Blue) i installed the thickest antiroll bars at the back, and medium in front.
I also bought A Hobbywing 120A V2.1 ESC and a Taam Powers 10.5T motor in December 2010, so i now have the power and speed to hang with the new cars.

My SV-10 Alcyon II EX Ultimate with IP5200 45C Saddle Packs

I also used Saddle Packs.
Front setup :


The front end

 Front shocks, 2 hole pistons, 1.2mm diameter, 70wt oil,Yokomo Pink 300g/mm(old type),shocks placed on outer most hole to give quick response. Shock length 62.5mm which gives quite some droop. For camber link, i used the upper hole to give paralel links. 5 degree C hub.Antiroll bar medium (since springs are so hard already)

Rear End

At the rear, 3 hole pistions, 1.1mm,60wt shock oil, mounted on uppermost outer hole,shock length 69.5mm, droop is less than front (to prevent rear from lifting too much under hard braking). Inner camber link in lowest hole, outer camber link in lower outer hole. Thickest antiroll bar, and Kawada softest springs 196g/mm. Lower shock mounting on outer hole. If i use inner hole, seems like less grip. rear toe in 2 degrees.



Think the CG is too high ? So what, the motor is in the center !

Miscellaneous settings, front and rear ball diffs, front ball diff tighter than rear.
About the Kawada shocks, i bought them in October before the Acorn race, and i love them so much better than the Tamiyas. I can actually see if there are any bubbles in the shock oil or air pockets trapped in them, then place the cap on. I dont have to guess any more.This saves me a lot time. I bought them from Jimmy Chan of Jinmatic . The part number is DN100A, SP oil shock. It came with the Kawada Sigma. They do not have a lot of rebound and gives my car alot of traction.
Why do i prefer ball diffs when everyone else use a spool? To me spools are not good, they cause a lot of wear and tear at the front tyres, CVDs and extra friction for the motor. I prefer the old school method of ball diff in front. And it works too, i am still able to brake hard and the rear end stays straight. And when going through the corners, i can go through with great speed.

Alcyon II Ultimate VOLT Deck-Front

Alcyon II Ultimate Deck - Rear

The Alcyon II Ultimate VOLT deck, part number SX-102, is like the normal Alcyon II VOLT deck, but its cut at the middle, only holding the front and the rear bulkhead. This frees up a lot space in the middle of the car, and also allows the chassis to flex like other cars, thus giving the car more traction. I can say that the Alcyon II now behaves like other cars, i set much less droop than before and it works, its so much more stable. Thanks to Kawada for experimenting with this car countless time to give the best possible handling.
I also shifted the servo forward, thereby flipping it, becuae of that i had to servo reverse it, and the ESC i had to place more forward, just like in the Alcyon II Ultimate. Also thanks to Kawadas ingenious monocrank desing, there is enough space to move the servo and ESC forward. Now the batteries also can be moved more forward, giving the car 50-50 Front rear balance !
I placed the car in the track with tyres that are only 4 packs away from tearing, and i drove it. It felt like driving a train on rails, it was totally hooked. In fact those 2 guys driving the Yokomo BD-5W and the Sakura Zero, well i caught up to them in the tight infield rather easily, and was hounding them relentlessly ! A car that was released 10 years ago against 2 current cars ! After the session, those 2 guys who usually dont look at my car, came over and looked at it, asking me what car is it. the guy driving the Sakura Zero actually thought i bought a new car, (thats why it cornered so well in his mind). Their cars were sliding at the long straight with a 90 degree turn, but mine was locked on. They blamed their old tryes, but i was using old tyres too. I ran 4 packs today, and the result was the same, consistent traction throughout lap after lap. I am hooked on TC again and the Alcyon II. At the 4th pack, my front tyres tore through, but The Alcyon II handled well until the very last bit of tyre left !

One cool car or what ? Notice how balanced it is left to right, i only have to add 15g of weight to the servo to balance out the ESC and wires weight. With the 415 type of cars, you need to rebalance everytime you change a diffrent weight battery.