I couldn't help it...
Nov 07, 2006

I sold my Mugen MTX-2 not to long ago because I just didn't have the time to run electrics and nitro cars a competitive level.

The hassles of dealing with the oil and grime of nitro cars was getting on my nerves and I said enough is enough.

However when I first saw the NTTC3 I wondered if it was not a good choice in terms of performance and maintenance. The drag free transmission and the clean and simple arrangement made me wonder. I got one and since I started running the thing I'm happy I decided for this particular car.

Building

When I started to build the car the first thing that came into my mind was the strange looks of the plastic/fiberglass parts that come with the kit. They looked brittle but I didn't expect to crash that much (yeah, all right...). I was surprised to find that everything fits perfectly on the car. There are simple solution for common problems that are a tribute to intelligence and ingenuity.

The car is very well built and it seems very balanced. The need for hopups seems minimal if you don't want that trick look. I decided on just a couple of them:

The K Factory Centax clutch because I like adjustability, the K factory low profile tank and the support for the rear shaft bearing in aluminum.

When I installed the Centax I noticed that the 1st gear pinion was touching the rear lower suspension pin holder. The car was complete but I noticed an incredible amount of drag (???). A little Dremel wizardry and we're set.

The car was ready to go.

I installed a couple of digital servos and the Sanwa / Airtronics receiver in the neat receiver box and I was ready to put my nice Sirio .12 motor in there.

This little mill is amazing. Very powerful both in low and high range and it seems to be very durable too. I run more than 3 liters of fuel trough it and it shows no signs of wear at all.

Needless to say that the car goes like a rocket with it.

Running

I made the whole motor run in routine. # tanks at a very rich setting and then a couple more still very rich but running the car on the track. Progressively I closed the needle and then I put 4 afternoons of racing on the car.

The car is amazing. With the stock setup (that I later changed a little bit) it felt a little mushy, especially on a very fast chicane followed by a 180º to the right. With the original rear springs the car lost composure on the chicane making me loose a second or two on that sequence.

I decided to stiffen the rear a little bit and I used the red springs. The car felt planted and the driving was much more comfortable and faster.

For my track I went down in ratio a little bit, changing the spurs to a pair with 2 teeth less. Now the speed is absurd and the acceleration is really something to see.

I'm using 40º shore rear and 42º shore front without the anti roll bars but after installing them I can see that I probably need 40º shore all around to have the car as I like.

One of the things that improves the driving and intricate circuits is the front rigid axle. The car curves incredibly fast and you still have brake. The one way allows the car to roll, but this car has a transmission system so free of drag that the car still freewheels more than any other 3 belt car.

Racing

Eh eh eh... Racing all right. After a few sessions with the car I decided to do the jump and race in the 3rd National Championship race. 68 drivers and their machines were ready to beat me. Well. not all of them, but I would never suspect they would be so few.

The previous Friday I practiced a few tanks (5 to be exact) to find the best setup for the car. I decided on the setup below

I could never suspect that this setup was so well suited to the track we were going to race in.

From the get go my car was so comfortable to drive that I was making a heat that would put me on the select group of the 16 lappers. However in a 180º turn (transponder loop) an incapable driver T boned me so hard that the my carburetor needle assembly was ripped off, destroying the carb. This idiot instead of braking, hit my car in such a way that the head fins were embossed on the car's body!!! In normal circumstances he would go off the track so hard that he probably would not return. Instead he decided to go close to the inner curve separator at full speed and stop on the left side of my car.

I was so pissed even before knowing the damage, that I wanted to kick his damn little car from the track. On top of that he didn't even excuse himself from the lack of care he demonstrated. I have a ruined carburetor and Ill be at least two weeks without running the car because of this freaking idiot.

Luckily I able to borrow a carburetor from the importer of the brand, that was kind enough to take it from one of his spare motors and handed it to me. I could not be more grateful.

The heats started and on the 1st one in spite of a rich setting on the carb I was able to put 16 laps in 5:01 and this result put me in the top position until the final heat was run. Two pilots were able to do 17 laps and that was my goal. After the 1st round I was 3rd.

The second round was not very good because I had an annoying lack of fuel a few meters away from the line. The motor was running very rich and I missed it by 15 seconds.

The 3rd one was another matter. The engine was perfectly tuned and I pulled a respectful 17 laps in 5:13 going up to the 3rd position on the grid. However one driver made 17 laps faster than me and I was 4th overall.

That would give me direct access to the final but the race came to an end before any finals were run due to software problems.

Anyway, being able to put the car in the top 4 on my first race with it tells me two things:

• I'm driving like I've never been before

• The car is a sweat car. Very fast and very comfortable to drive

It was in fact one of the fastest cars on the track and no one would have guessed be the relaxed way it could be driven. It was just natural to be fast with that setup. I was never close to loose composure anywhere on the track. It was kind of point and shoot. Going down to laps in the second 17 on that track is amazing and I did it.

The last heat was run in the second 18 with a 17 second lap. Talk about consistency.

I want to thank to the Sirio importer Mr. João Agenja for his helping hand in lending me the carb. Without his gesture I had to return home just before the fun started.

To the driver that decided that my car was a good target, I have to say a couple of things.

• Avoid wrecking other people's cars with that insane kind of driving. If you can't control the car going fast, go SLOWER.

• If you eventually do it, is good practice to approach the driver and excuse yourself. Even better is to show your will to pay for the damage. Probably the person on the other end wont accept that, but sure it's appreciated.

• Going round the track distributing crashes left and right means two things. Poor practice and awful car setup. It's better to go to a local track or parking lot and try to make the damn car go straight. Then you go to a National race.
  It's unthinkable to cause a crash on a straight just because you don't want to give up when a faster drives is passing you. The difference is that he's going to make the turn at the end, and you wont. In the mean time you can turn his car to small bits if persisting with that "my car is faster than yours on the straight" attitude.

Update

The car had a major transformation in the meantime. It was wicked fast with the original chassis and the Sirio motor, but... I wanted more.

Are you familiar with the Hardcore Racing Titanium chassis? I was drooling over it for quite a while and all of a sudden I had an offer I couldn't refuse (eh eh)

I installed this chassis and the upper deck also from Hardcore Racing and at the same time a new engine. A Nova Mega .12 Michael Salven Turbo. Good stuff.

This combination should go to the Euros 2003 in Vila Real (Portugal) but, at the last minute, I couldn't attend and the car was left ready to race on the shelf.

In October 2004 I decided to run in the engine and test the chassis in a couple of sessions. I'll spare you the details of running in the engine, but I wont spare you the details about the Chassis and Upper Deck.

A comparative in a magazine said that this chassis would only gain a slight advantage over the original one on the right hands.
The car would feel more aggressive and a bit more fast but that was it.

It seems that I have a couple of right hands (LOL). The stability of the car is amazing. It was like that with the original rear suspension, but after changing to the new Ver 2 TC3 rear suspension this thing is the devil on wheels.

The engine is insane, but the way the chassis "carves" the turns is too good to be true. On the second practice session with the engine a bit rich, I would leave another TC3 with a Rody tuned RB in the dust.

To cut a long story short, no one at the track would even match the turn speed of the car. I was expecting this setup to be less forgiving due to the extra rigidity of the package, but instead it is so consistent that it makes easy to turn on the same places all the time.

Even with a lower than usual grip, with front one way the car is point and shoot. It is light, barely going above the minimal weight limit, very balanced from left to right (I do it on 4 individual scales) and very very predictable.

I don't know if it is luck, but what I know is that none of my cars seems to be very far from the ideal setups when I go to the track. Minor adjustments, a touch on ride height or steering dual rate and the thing is stuck to the ground.

In the track where I usually run very few racers can go below 22 seconds per lap. And that's on a good day because the vast majority run on the second 23.
That day I was turning 21.5 laps one after the other and I could even take a little bit more out of that chassis and engine.

Amazing package I must say. Pricey but outstanding.

Another engine is awaiting testing. A Sirio Collari .12 AAC. That beauty is waiting for the right moment to resurface. I'll be waiting for a National Race or something like that.

I'll be posting the news in here more regularly.

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