We were lucky enough to visit some of our local racing friends last evening for a little back yard race practice and fellowship. In any of my articles, have I mentioned that the fellowship and family friendly environment of our local RC scene is one of the huge reasons I find this hobby so much fun?

As can be the case on race day, the folks who might live in the same town and shop in the same stores are "dialed" in on pit work, building the Zen of tuning and racing, qualifying, repairing, re-qualifying, and in short while there are very real social fun moments at the track - everyone is also busy.

But, taking it to the next level, the off points-series-weekend neighborhood get-together...

We had our typical busy and overbooked weekend plans this weekend like most others. And, when an invite came in for a little backyard race practice and get together I was initially afraid we couldn’t meet the schedule. However, after a few PMs and a phone call or two it turned out that we could be late, and still take in a little track time and chat while folks were still around.

So, with half our gear in one location, half in another, and a few things with us, we scooped up what we could and joined in the fun for a few laps and chats. Chats as in face to face, no one logged in the entire evening...

WOW - wait a minute. Uh. I didn’t even notice that I hadn’t checked my email in hours, or kept an eye on what was said on this Forum or that. I ran a few laps, our guys ran a lot of laps, and we all talked for hours...

A first rate great time on a quiet Saturday evening.

Anyway. I was going to mention the new Strike.

We've all mentioned the mid-ships motor on other posts, and I’m on record as saying I think it may be an interesting new twist for a CORR style RC truck. A fellow we ran with last winter also ran an X-Factory mid-ship buggy at the Washtenaw RC Raceway - and he kicked butt. At the time, I thought that was an interesting innovation. Too.

Being the rookie in the crowd, with my son being the techno brain trust of our operation, I'm still working on my learning curve details and have a long way to go. That brings up my awe of the local long-standing experience and techno depth of our local RC racing community.

One of our local racers last evening pointed out that while X-Factory did / does offer a mid-ships buggy, they also re-designed it and the difference between Gen I and Gen II was a reversal of the motor mount orientation to the center line of the chassis so that the motor torque would help rather than hinder the rig’s grip on the track.

So, over coffee this morning I went back and looked at a few pics of the rigs from the two companies and wouldn’t you know it, our local racing buddy had it pegged.

A pic from HobbyTalk swap pages follows:

http://x87.xanga.com/388f25e563c33249664860/m198100101.jpg

A few pictures and brief intro of the X-Factory rig is here:

http://www.redrc.net/2009/01/x-factory-to-debut-x-6-squared

He also pointed out that it appears Losi hasn’t leaned this lesson yet...

The new Losi Strike motor mount arrangment:

http://www.redrc.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/losistrike-7-400x365.jpg

The rest of the RedRC pics and intro are here:

http://www.redrc.net/2009/07/losi-strike-short-course-truck

I’m here to tell you our local community has some of the sharpest pencils in the box with this off-road racing scene, and few woop arse on carpet too.

Thanks 420Tech RC, it appears you hit the nail on the head.

(disclosure, I do not work for RedRC, I just linked to their pic and referenced the source)

What do you guys think, did Losi do their homework, or skip out at lunch and not come back?



(Edited for a typo or two)

I was unaware that you could flip the X-Factory that way. It would be indeed interesting if the Strike is capable of it. Even with a 3 gear box.

http://clodzone.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/losistrike_shortcoursetruck_9.jpg

what difference does it realy make to flip it. the strike is the same rotational direction as rear mount stadium trucks.they just rotate the hole thing closer to the front?

Rear motor cars actually probably couldn't run the motor the other rotational direction as it would create *too much* traction. The motor rotation in rear motor cars and this losi SC truck actually prevent weight transfer. The new x-factory cars actually have the motor spinning the correct way for the mid-motor orientation as this helps transfer weight.

what difference does it realy make to flip it. the strike is the same rotational direction as rear mount stadium trucks.they just rotate the hole thing closer to the front?
It make a lot of difference. On a rear motor car the weight of the motor provides a lot of weight on the rear wheels. But the rotation of the motor actually pushes the front end of the car down as it tries to "climb" the spur gear under power.

Since a mid-engine car does not have this extra weight at the rear it benefits from the reverse rotation (like the x-factory) as the rotation pushes down on the rear wheels.

thats cool never thought of that!