Advice for 12th scale on road racing.

[RunninFree]

I am new to 12 scale racing.

Where I race is in-doors on ozite carpeting.
4 cell stock motors.
I am planning on buying an Associated Rc12L3?

Any thoughts on this car?
Set-ups?
Tires?

Any help welcomed.

This car is a blast to drive. I run 5 cell stock on asphalt. Refer to the Proline/Jaco chart for tire selection.

I'm running on ozite carpet also. Very tight track. Running stock setup (greens all around, 1/2 goop on front, full goop on back tires), Nissan P35 body, low ride height insert, the most restrictive pod spacer in the kit. Running an MVP (high RPM!) with light springs.

Good luck
JOe

[john]

The L3 is great out of the box. Easy to set up and consistant week to week. The GM3 is the motor of choice where we race. 4499 on the + and reedy 769 on the negative, red & green spring. It's easy to tell who isn't running one.
As for tires most run greens all around but they don't last long. Purple fronts & Gray rears is a good choice if you want tires to last longer but they cost more. They aren't as responsive as greens but they work good.

Good Luck! 1/12th is FUN !

[RunninFree]

What is the best servo for 12th scale?
Torque?
Speed?
Both?

[rayhuang]

KO's mini servo is unreal, but super fast and expensive ($90.00)!!! I use Air 94145 and love it (as do a lot of pros), but others have trouble with them centering. Mine centers just fine.I gave up my 12L3 for a Speedmerchant and I like it better, though a 12L3 is a good car. Tweak plate or tweak springs, its your choice.

30 plus ounces of torque is sufficient and 0.07 sec. or less to 60 degrees is exceptional. You need at least 30 oz. torque and 0.09 sec. to 60.

[This message has been edited by rayhuang (edited 11-20-2001).]

[rayhuang]

Standard universally accepted 12L3 set up for Ozite is as follows.

Purple fronts (sauce for steering amount).
018 or 020 front springs
1 degree toe out 1.5 degree of camber
ride height determned by bumps
Stock caster setting
Arms on chassis-cut tires to get rideheight.

30 wt. oil in VCS shock, grn, red, blue etc. spring (in other words-any of the medium to med. stiff springs).

Set damper plate with light tension and keep it clean. A very light coat of lube.

069 to 074 tweak plates (buy a bunch of them, they are not what they say on the package!!!)
Stiffer the plate, the more steering, but more twitchy. Use all three screws if you hit stuff or youll stress crack a t-plate every weekend, then it wont work right!!!

Grey rears sauced full always. Rear level w/ front or a little lower to smooth out steering.

I hope this helps.

Ray

[RunninFree]

Thanks for all the help!

[rayhuang]

No problem, now go get a Rev.3!!! :P hahahaha!!! Actually both a friend and I have used 12L3's for sale with lots of spares. If your interested, drop me a line and I'll get abhold of him. We will be racing the Champss this week, so dont expect to hear from us anytime this week though.

Good luck!!!!

[RunninFree]

Ok, so I have bought a 12L3.

What is the best way to set tweak?

[john]

Notch the rear pod with an exacto knife.
Put the notch at the center of the CAR, not the center of the rear pod.

Put the car on a flat surface and with an exacto in the notch, lift the rear. Both rear wheels should lift at the same time.

Hope this helps .
John

[rayhuang]

Wow, wrote a long post adding on to john's reply, and poof, its gone. BUMMER!!!!!

You can set tweak on a tweak station (like Niftech's or MIP's (must shorten MIP's to work best)).

1. To start from scratch: Loosen both tweak screws till rear pod can flop a "little" side to side. Evenly tighten both screws till they just make contact with chassis and the rear pod sits level with main chassis (when viewed underneath and looking front to back).

2. Attach a transponder and set car on tweak board and tap VCS shock where it attaches to rear pod, and tap on the servo to set front and rear suspension (very important you do this EVERY time!!).

3. Whatever side the bubble is on is the light side. Tighten the tweak screw opposite the light side and loosen the tweak screw on the light side "equal amounts".
Keeep doing this till bubble sits in the middle.

4. Run it!!!! If when hitting the throttle out of slow turns and the car pulls slightly one way, even though car is perfect on tweak board, check these three things. One, just give a slight tightening of tweak screw to the direction it is pulling (making sure to loosen other side) or two check for uneven tire sizes and re-tweak and last, check diff. It may be really tight. This combined with a slight chassis imbalance and you have a car that wont accelerate straight.

One last note: The car will veer to the direction with the less weighted front tire. So even though tweaking a car is a must, dont be afraid top make a change to the car on what you feel on the track!!!!

Also, tweak the car everytime you change batteries, motor, gearing, suspension. It may help you find a backing off screw in T-plate, something cracked, etc!!!!

Hope this helps,
Ray

[Ted Flack]

I set tweek in a cheaper way, it only cost 50 cents!! Anyways.. I put a quarter on each of the front tires, (making sure there both in the same spot), Then i lift the front of the car with a wrench from the middle of the chassis, in front. Whichever quarter falls off first I tighten down the tweek screw on that side.

Also.. I use purple/grey tires. 0.78 T-plate, with a green spring and 40 weight oil. Try different lubes on the plates to find one you like.

Later..

Bobby Flack

[This message has been edited by Ted Flack (edited 12-04-2001).]

[RunninFree]

Today will be my first experience in 12th scale.

With advice from all above, I will let everyone know how I did.

[john]

Well it's easy to know when you're getting good in 1/12th scale road course:

When your electronics aren't flopping around in your car after a heat !

Have Fun! 1/12th is GREAT!

Where do you race at?