Fyrstormer's RC Blog

back to Fyrstormer's Garage The Jato always appealed to me, ever since I got into this hobby back in 2013. It took me long enough to get one. For some reason I convinced myself I would have nowhere to drive it. Based on my previous experiences with Traxxas RCs, I anticipated it would be loud as hell, overpowered, and not particularly graceful to control. I was right about the loud and overpowered part, anyway. In stock form the Jato runs the TRX 3.3 engine, which is...frankly, deafening. The porting on the TRX3.3 prioritizes exhaust blowdown duration rather than exhaust blowdown rate , and while that is an effective strategy for generating a stupid amount of power in a small space, it's also an effective strategy for generating a stupid amount of heat and noise in a small space. I suppose that doesn't bother the boys down in McKinney, but I actually have neighbors. So I put a different engine in. The obvious choice, a nearly direct swap, would've been the OS ...

back to Fyrstormer's Garage It's been a long time since I've done anything RC-related. I actually finished rebuilding this car last autumn, but I dragged my feet on painting a body for it for the next 9 months. Well, it's done now, so now I can show it off. On its face, this is a pretty-much bone-stock Yokomo GT-4W -- and that in itself is an accomplishment, because these things are unobtainium in 2022. There's always someone selling their old nitro RC on eBay, of course, but old nitro RCs on eBay are a total crapshoot. This one was assembled from two donor cars (which were absolutely filthy, as is traditional), some spare parts (including a lucky purchase of a brand-new Novarossi C12 engine), and some custom-made parts. The shocks and ball-end links are Tamiya, and the wheels, tires, and body are HPI, but the really interesting stuff is what I had to do to work around the parts I didn't have and couldn't get. You see, neither of the cars I bou...

back to Fyrstormer's Garage Last year I finally finished a build I started 3 years earlier, resulting in this truck: While I was proud to have gotten it to work, the truck was just too heavy for the OS 4-stroke engine I put in it -- even with a massive 6.5cc displacement, it actually produces power more comparable to a 3.0cc 2-stroke engine, which is just not enough for the big heavy Traxxas Revo. You might be inclined to say the FS-40's monster torque makes up for that, but not really -- the monster torque gets cancelled-out by the taller gearing needed for a slower-running 4-stroke engine to run the truck at an acceptable speed. So, before I managed to destroy the engine, I decided to build a new, smaller truck for it to power. Yep, another HPI Bullet. This makes my third Bullet in operation, all of which are nitro. (hmm. should I get a brushless Bullet while I still can? but I digress.) This allows a very direct comparison between the 3.0cc 2-stroke engine in my ...