Are these upgrades worth the money?

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ninnon

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I know this is one of the questions in nitro RC that are like "how long is a piece of string" but, I know how good this forum is!

Anyway, I use my car for on road and off road, it is a nitro buggy (hpi trophy 3.5) The upgrades I am looking at are:

-A 3 shoe clutch upgrade
-Either a Jammin JP3 or a Ofna 053 tuned pipe.
-A thicker, anodized front suspension arm (my current one is bent)

I'm not the kind of persion that goes ALUMINIUM ALUMINIUM ALUMINIUM ALUMINIUM EVERYTHING!!!!!!
So what are your opinions?

Thanks, Harvey.
 
I think you should get rid of the aluminum arms and go back to stock arms. (If you buy more aluminum arms, they will bend too.) You can get a complete set on Ebay for about $6. It looks like RPM does not make arms for your buggy so for $6, you can buy another set if you have to.

The pipes you are considering are pretty expensive and I think if you buy one, you will not see the performance increase that you were expecting with that engine.

My experience with 3 shoe clutches is that they grab better. I run 3 shoes in all my big block engines but run 2 shoes in my small blocks except for an OS .21 in my Ofna buggy. I have a 3 shoe that I ran in a .20 engine and I really couldn't tell any difference between it and a 2 shoe. If you want to try one, get it and give it a go.
 
Thanks for the help!
The stock arms were aluminium, so would it be possible for carbon fibre?. Also, I would of got a different engine- so what engine would you recommend that is under £160?
 
-A 3 shoe clutch upgrade
I would personally put a 3 shoe clutch on it but is it worth the money? Thats hard to say, if you were racing Id say yes definitely but if your not racing the only 2 reasons for doing any hop up is either A) you just want to do it or B) You need more durability. This hop up isnt going to give you more durability per se so that really just leaves it up to you to decide if its something you want to spend money on.

-Either a Jammin JP3 or a Ofna 053 tuned pipe.
Id put money into a high quality engine before worrying about aftermarket pipes and when if I had a good quality engine in my kit then and I wanted to put a pipe on it Id look at ERCM pipes.

-A thicker, anodized front suspension arm (my current one is bent)
I also would advise against the use of aluminum arms on any kit. A complete set of plastic front and rear arms can be found on ebay for $6 HERE.
Carbon Fibers fine if someone makes a set in CF.
 
Sorry, I made a massive mistake. I got the shock towers and suspension arms mixed up. I'm not touching the suspension arms, but I am thinking about changing the shock towers. silly me :p My current ones are aluminium, they have been bent and unbent 3 times and are rounded down to bare metal on the top, the front one is ugly and weak.

Thanks for the help!
The stock arms were aluminium, so would it be possible for carbon fibre?. Also, I would of got a different engine- so what engine would you recommend that is under £160?
Sorry, I made a massive mistake. I got the shock towers and suspension arms mixed up. I'm not touching the suspension arms, but I am thinking about changing the shock towers. silly me :p My current ones are aluminium, they have been bent and unbent 3 times and are rounded down to bare metal on the top, the front one is ugly and weak.What engine would you recommend that is under £160? Also, I would like a 3 shoe as starts seem sluggish (definitely not the engine btw) and I am fed up of those stupid wrap around clutch springs breaking.

Thanks for the help!
The stock arms were aluminium, so would it be possible for carbon fibre?. Also, I would of got a different engine- so what engine would you recommend that is under £160?
Sorry, I made a massive mistake. I got the shock towers and suspension arms mixed up. I'm not touching the suspension arms, but I am thinking about changing the shock towers. silly me :p My current ones are aluminium, they have been bent and unbent 3 times and are rounded down to bare metal on the top, the front one is ugly and weak.What engine would you recommend that is under £160? Also, I would like a 3 shoe as starts seem sluggish (definitely not the engine btw) and I am fed up of those stupid wrap around clutch springs breaking

Sorry if i've spammed you with the same reply,I am still getting used to this forum!
 
Aluminum shock towers are fine but you'll want to find ones that are made from 6061 T6 or 7075 aluminum. 7075 is better but 6061 T6 is mor common. both of them however are hardened aircraft grade aluminum though so either is fine. If the product doesn't say what type of aluminum its made out of then either ask the manufacturer or aska roudn in the forms. Someone may be familair with the brand.

As for a motor under £160 Id probably look at the Novarossi S21P5XLT .21 first and if you wanted to save a few bucks my second pick might be something along the lines of the Werks Racing Team Line B6 .21. I'm a sucker for the Italian mills though, others might have some other options as well. :)
 
Aluminum shock towers are fine but you'll want to find ones that are made from 6061 T6 or 7075 aluminum. 7075 is better but 6061 T6 is mor common. both of them however are hardened aircraft grade aluminum though so either is fine. If the product doesn't say what type of aluminum its made out of then either ask the manufacturer or aska roudn in the forms. Someone may be familair with the brand.

As for a motor under £160 Id probably look at the Novarossi S21P5XLT .21 first and if you wanted to save a few bucks my second pick might be something along the lines of the Werks Racing Team Line B6 .21. I'm a sucker for the Italian mills though, others might have some other options as well. :)
Out of the two engines I want to choose the Novarossi as I see it as a brand I have heard of more, but the Werks one says it offers more all round performance. I am not a hard core basher, or racer, and reflecting on my ideas, i'm starting to think that it might not be worth the money. The current engine I have still hasn't been used much, yet it looks like it has been dropped off a cliff, the cooling head is scratched and broken, the exhaust is dented and scratched- but other wise, internally it is clean and has a lot of life left. So I may leave the engine and stick to a new pipe, as I think for a low price I could squeeze a bit more performance out the engine. For the clutch, I might consider getting just the shoes+springs as its only £10. Thanks for your help- using this forum I have became someone that knew little about R.C nitro to someone that knows a lot. Thanks for your help :)
 
I wouldnt waste money on an aftermarket pipe for the stock engine. Its a fair chuck on coin for very little performance difference but its up to you. I would just replace teh cooling head and if the stock exhaust isnt dented to the point where its got holes in it or its restricting airflow then Id leave it be. Start saving your money now and when your engine has had it you will already have some money put back towards a new one and once you get a higher quality engine then worry about pipes. IMO

Werks from what I understand (Never personally used one but I've read a bit about em here and there are very high quality mills. I'm not sure Id say they are as good a Novas but theyre top notch. You could also possibly find an engine that better than your stock one but cheaper than £160 too. Youd have to look around. Heres a good place to look. £160 is roughly $250USD so anything in that list thats cheaper than $250USD may be something youd be interested in. I'm not saying every brand listed there is gonna be good but its a place to start.
 
Aluminum shock towers are fine but you'll want to find ones that are made from 6061 T6 or 7075 aluminum. 7075 is better but 6061 T6 is mor common. both of them however are hardened aircraft grade aluminum though so either is fine. If the product doesn't say what type of aluminum its made out of then either ask the manufacturer or aska roudn in the forms. Someone may be familair with the brand.

As for a motor under £160 Id probably look at the Novarossi S21P5XLT .21 first and if you wanted to save a few bucks my second pick might be something along the lines of the Werks Racing Team Line B6 .21. I'm a sucker for the Italian mills though, others might have some other options as well. :)
I think in the end I might scrap the engine idea and just save up. :)
 

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