Last Round of MNC for 2011

i joined the 4th rouund at glenmarie last month got quite a good placing, the cars especially solid in the first heat where i was blasting past half of the field in my heat grouping, it was immsensly satisfying driving a car people said couldnt be raced and overtaking many of the newer cars.
At the end ended up qualifing last in B main.
Learned quite a few new things after that on suspension setup, and i used that knowlegde to test out my car at Klang Track. The car is even more easier to drive fast and has more steering now. i am even more confident of joining the last MNC race this time. Look at this video below to see how well my Kawada performs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdraFWHB1Y4

my new setup

Rear end, Old Yokomo white springs circa 2000, shoucks mounted on inner hole of arm, on middle hole of shock tower, antiroll bar medium. Camber -1.5, piston 2 hole, 30WT oil, ride height 5.5mm, droop 3mm. The car has now more rear roll becuase the shock mounting shifted to inner hole on arm. Its easier to drive then in MNC round 4. i think i can beat the sole serpent S411 in the coming race with my Kawada with this easy to drive setup. The car just rails throught the corner without losing rear grip now even until the tyres wear down. Now thats consistency !

Getting Ready For MNC round 2

MNC is Malaysia National Championship for RC car racing. Its basically the creme de la creme of races.
With the great handling of my Alcyon II Ultimate, i am now confident to join this open class race, in the boosted 10.5T class. The race is on 29th May 2011.
I bought a new Mazda 6 body, and going to buy 2 sets of sorex 36s for the race. I also will install one more of my own designed lightweight aluminium diff cup for the rear diff. I also installed the Tamiya Blue lightweight 46mm bones. I also must buy 1 more IP 5200mah 45C saddle pack to race.
The diff cups each save 20g, and the dogbones 10g. That doesnt seem much, but they lower mass in the most important area, the drive train. My Kawada should accelerate faster and brake faster too.
Take a look at some pics.

Yesterday bumped into Micheal Loh at the track, he is a very rich guy and can buy anything he wants. He looked at my Kawada and commented that my cars weight distribution is "off" . He also said that the Top Photon, Tamiya 417 and many other newer cars arent good designs. According to him only the Schumacer Mi4 is the best. The funny thing is, he did see me rear ending 2 Yokomo BD-5s in the fast corners, but did not say anyhting about it. If my Kawada is so bad, how come its able to carry so much speed into the corner and can hit those newer cars? He extolled the virtues of the Mi4 to me, and he showed me a buddies of his Mi-4 on the track. It was sliding at some corners. I pointed that out to him and he said it was the way he drives. He also said a fast car slides a little. That may be so, but i cant drive a sliding car. i want grip all the time, and my Kawada grips all the time. i drive aggresively too, i punch hard out of the corners, and brake hard coming into them, no sliding at all. So never mind Mr Loh, i will keep my Kawada. It just too much fun being different. You may even see me pull a surprise this coming MNC. Who knows....

latest updates, there are about 60+ entrants into the open class, and more than half are the best drivers with the best equipment in the country, lets see how it goes !

So i havent updated anything for months ..wha happended you asked ? Well the race went quite well. In the first heat with ratio 7.0, i managed to stay in 3rd until the end. I felt the car pushed too much, i did  set up the car for glenmarie, but it seemed the hard setting was still giving the car too much traction roll and understeer. But i wanst the only guy having that problem, the car felt sluggish when accelerating. In the second heat, i asked the Hobbywing Guru to tune my ESC for me, and he told me to use a ratio of 6.5. i also put in new tyres this run, and i led the race from 30s mark to the finish! eventhough i never got track burning time that landed me in the a Main, but in my heat grouping, i set the fastest time ever that nobody could beat that day, at 21 laps 5.17s. That is amazing considering all the other guys are using much much newer cars. i felt so damn proud at that moment. In the 3rd heat i screwed up by not checking the car properly, a front turnbuckle nut came off the front left wheel was wobbling, causing understeer, so that blew my chance of burying every one else. Eventhough i  DNF the 3rd heat, no one else

Yep, thats me, RAMA. 17 laps in 5.11. also set the fastest lap in my heat, excellent condisering my car is the only car that is from pre -2008 !!!

 in my grouping even came close to overcoming my second heat results. These old saddle pack cars really do have good balance!!

I ended up qualifying 24th out of 43, which was in the C main. Not bad for a 10 year old car!

In the final there was something wrong with the car, i couldnt quite place what was wrong, but the car kept sliding when i punched the throttle out of any right corner. ended up 6th in the final C.

After a week, i decided to clean up the car ,then i discovered why it was losing traction, the rear left arm was partially broken at the hub mounting, causing the arm to flex !!

Driving The SV-10 Alcyon II Ultimate

 I managed to test the Ultimate on friday night at titwangsa track in Kuala lumpur. it rained a few hours earlier so the track was cold, but mostly dry. Traction wasnt very high as there was very very little amount of tyre dust in the body after 3 packs.
With the new suspension, the car feels like it has a little more steering than before. It was very stable, but can slide at certain sections of the track, i beleive this is becuase i was using 40R tyres and the traction wasnt very high. But overall the car was very easy to drive, and braking was very stable once the tyres warmed up.
I did face a few problems though, at one time on the long straight the car suddenly went straight and wasnt controllable, it flew right into the middle grass barrier.
When i picked it up, i found that the rear shock tower came off from the bulkhead, it seemed like, since the turnbuckles are now very high, and the antiroll bars hard, the force of the suspension compressing tranfers it to the shock tower.
So now i used 14mm long screws instead of the original 10mm long to secure the shock tower to the bulkhead. Also the front kingpin loosened a few times, need to use threadlock here.

I then brought the car home, and re set the suspension with a thinner anti roll bar for the back, leaving the droop alone. For the front, i reduced the droop by shortening front shock by 0.5mm, previously 64.5mm, now 64mm.
then i rebalanced the cars wheel weights.
Tried it at glenmarie track on sunday, which is high traction tighter track. Once the tyres warmed up, the car handled very well, as well as before the upgrade, it was tough to tell if there is an improvement, but it felt like it worked well with the reduced droop, something the older suspension was not capable off. I also did notice  a little more steering at lower speeds.
Overall was really happy with the car, and i ran an impromptu test against a Yokomo BD5-E at the track. My Alcyon II Ultimate proved to be a formidable contender eventhough equipment wise i was overmatched.
Here is the list of equipment the other driver was using
Yokomo BD-5E (2010)
Sanwa M11X radio
Savox servo
Orca 6000mah 55C batteries
Orca ESC with turbo and Orca 10.5T motor

My equipment
Kawada Alcyon II Ultimate (2002)
Sanwa MX-3 radio
Sanwa ERG VR sevo
IP 5200mah 45C saddle pack
HW Ezrun V2.1 & Team Powers 10.5T motor

As  you can see, my equipment is mid range, and his was much higher range than mine, but i still manage to put up a very good fight and even over taking him a few times, with his car losing control a few times, but mine never lost control, eventhough my tyres were already showing therads by the last lap, and his wasnt.
Just look at this video and see for yourself
My kawada is the white Protoform Mazda 6.
http://youtu.be/DqT-zoy4_ak

Keeping an old car running

Ok , for all you guys who want to keep an old faithful running, its possible, you need to make some parts, or get some from other cars to fit. Here are some interesting facts.
1. Did you know the TOP photon 46mm bones can be used in the Kawada? Thanks to mr Joe O Connor who told me that, unfortunately i had to design my own diff cups because the 46mm bones werent long enough. i had to extend the diff cups by 2mm each side, and i also enlarged the slot from 2.1mm to 4mm to accept the wear yokes, to prevent wear on the diff cups.

2. DID you know that Tamiya and TOP CVD parts are completely interchangable ? Yes its true, i tried Tamiya 46mm aluminium bones on the rest of the pieces of the TOP CVD and it fits ! i bought 4 Tamiya aluminium bones to use only for racing to lighten up the drive.

3. Did you know that you can loop your own belts and they work just as well as the originals? For Kawada rear belt, ask the belt shop to loop a S3M 171mm belt, 3mm wide. For the front, its S3M 516mm, 3 mm wide.

4. For the layshaft pulleys, its possible to use other brands of 16T pulleys, but you need to machine the pin slot to go all the way through, i havent tried these yet cause i got enough pulleys.

Creating The Alcyon II Ultimate

If you have read my blog about the Ultimate, you would know that it was the last version of the Alcyon, and it had the most advanced suspension of the whole series. I always wondered how the improved suspension would work, so i bought the 5 componenents that i needed to upgrade this car. I have everything except the main chassis, but i prefer the original Alcyon II chassis that uses saddle packs, and i prefer the more centralized and inward weight distribution of this chassis. Since i already have part SX-102 bolt frame set, i bought these parts.
1 . SX-204 Front Shock Stay Ultimate
2. SX-205 Rear shock stay Ultimate
3. SX-59 rear Hub ultimate
4. SX-158 Front C Hub Ultimate
The parts came, and i installed them, but unfortunately the plastic knuckle couldnt go into the C hub, i compared the c hub against a normal Alcyon II c hub, and saw that the Ultimates was lower, so i had to buy SX-57 aluminium knuckle with adjustable roll center. had to wait another week for it to come.
Here are some close ups.






Overall view of the Alcyon II Ultimate. Notice the new C hubs, new shocks towers, rear hubs and camber links that are much longer than ever before on this car, as long as a modern car, and Kawada already thought of this in 2002 !

Excuse my toe !Notice the longer upper link, thanks to the new lower C hub that places the outer link directly on the kingpin vertically like today's cars, giving the longest possible camber links. Notice my own custom design aluminium diff cup and The TOP photom 46mm steel dogbone.



Close up of the shocks and the new shock towers

New rear shock tower, and new rear hub, notice the odd design, that extends the camber link over the tire, and the hole on the shock tower for the inner camber link is placed inside the bulkhead area, to have the longest possible camber links, in fact, previously i was using 20mm turnbuckls, now i have to use 32mm long !

rear shock tower view, notice the shock tower is not so high and uses less material, becuase there is no space to mount the camber links at the old postiion, now they are mounted above the bulkhead.



close up of the new rear hubs shock mounted as straight as possible.Notice the TOP photon bones and also my custom designed diff cups that is longer than the original Kawada diff cup so that i could use the TOP 46mm bones.



another close up of the front upper link and alloy knuckle

Now the question is, what will be the improvement on the handling with these new parts? Keep in mind i already got this car to handle formidabbly with the old suspension pieces, horizontal ball studs and short camber links, the car had a lot of traction and enough steering already. With these new improvements, i expect the car to have even more traction, with the need for less droop, also the car will roll less, and the roll center will change less.  Lets see how it goes this weekend. I still use the same shock oil, pistons, springs and anti roll bars as the last time before the conversion. I am pretty sure it will be an improvement over the old suspension, MNC round 2 here i come !!!

Kawada Catalog 2003

                                         The New Sigma Kawadas main car in 2003-2004

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.