INVADER - Nitro Slash drag car

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Mars attack? Love it.
 
A lot going on with this car...but I got hung up on my other drag car's engine getting it broken in. It's still not there. I have never had a new engine with such a ridiculously tight pinch as that one (OS .12 tg)

Anyway...this car is gonna get some updates over the next couple of weeks.

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This is it now. It won't stay this way. It's gonna get the following:

Assault RC CF wheelie bar (replacing the heavy STRC aluminum version).
Assault RC CF front shock tower (replacing heavy aluminum).
AJC canards, front and rear.
CF fins (custom made by me) added to rear wing, outer and in center.
Exotek front bumper, with CF splitter (custom made by me).
Exotek rear shock tower (replacing heavy aluminum).
New shocks (lighter, with softer spring options).
I also found some scale, super realistic headlights from a 1:8 NewBright corvette, that are coming this week, hoping they are the right size or close. If not, I'll maybe 3D model some. I need some kind of lighting for night racing.

Still have yet to get my 132 test hit data. I'm vowing to get this done this week. I have an idea what the gear change(from 72/20 to 70/22) will get me in top speed (62 by my calcs), but how it translates to times is unknown. I have a 66t gear to try as well. That would get me to 66 mph roughly. Will also be trying out my lightened clutch shoes. I also have 62t gear, but it's the next gen slipper type. Depending on how the 66t gear is, I might fab a custom slipper eliminator for the 62t gear from CF.
 
Wow, without the text, I would have called this car real. It looks fantastic.
 
Started on some of the aero body mods, first adding these nice 3D printed cannards by AJCRC.

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Working on a custom CF splitter and rear fins tonight, which should wrap up the body mods. Supposed to be testing some ET's tonight with friends as well. Weather didn't cooperate much for that last week.
 
What wheels you using on the front? They look amazing!

Those are Vanquish OMF Outlaws, they are very nice wheels. A bit on the heavy side though - but I replaced the inner ring which is inside the wheel and not visible with a 3D printed one and shaved off some ounces :)
 
Well, got to finally do some testing last night :)

It was pretty dark, the lot was somewhat lit, but at the end of the "track" only about 20 feet before darkness, so sending it through the traps was nerve wracking to say the least. The first run was a pitiful 3.61s at 41 mph. Data showed I clearly let off the throttle before the finish line (I was trying to get off the gas quick as to not send the car into the night). I kinda knew that even before I looked at it. I ran again, this time I thought I held the gas a little longer, but this one came at 3.55s at 44 mph, and again the data looked weird at the end but this time it at least didn't decelerate though the traps. It did peak at 1.3g acceleration, but there was a flat spot where the tires broke loose a bit, so probably that was where it "would" have been the peak :) I was a bit bummed with the data. I only ran those two runs, because I thought the second one told me what I needed (that I need to gear it up quite a bit more, and lighten the clutch shoes, etc).

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So I get home, and I'm kinda wondering, did I really measure the track right? Before going I used google maps to plot where to put the cones, and when I got home I rechecked...WHOOPS.

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Yeah, I put them about 10 feet too short, so not only was I letting off too soon before the cones, it was yet another 10 feet too soon, lol. So I guess I'll have to retest to get usable data, but even with that in mind, it's clearly not yet where it needs to be (my goal is 2.5s for now). My CF shock towers and new shocks came in, and I'm still finishing up the body mods, so I'll do that stuff before hand anyway. I'm probably also going to remove the stock gas tank and the upper chassis portion that it mounts in to shave some more weight. Car is currently at 5.75 lbs, and I want it under 5. Thinking I'm just going to go ahead and lighten the clutch shoes tonight as well.
 
Got my CF splitter and stabilizer fins finished. Just need to fab the stabilizer struts, and the body is done...and on to lightening the chassis quite a bit.

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Attached my fabbed struts :) Cool looking and functional. That finishes the vision I had for the body. Only other thing I might do at some point is put an LED in the rear so I can see it better at night when its not facing me, but that's not high priority.

I've gotten started on the chassis "diet". I replaced the shock towers with the CF units, removed some excess body post aluminum. The gain, or I should say loss in weight was a total of 3.5 ounces. Seems minimal, but this stuff adds up. I also lost 2 ounces when I ditched the aluminum receiver battery tray. By my calculations, I will lose another 3.5 ounces with the fuel tank swap and upper chassis mod. My new shocks came last night, I weighed them and the weight savings is a little over .75 ounces in total. All told, the car lost about 10 ounces of weight, and considering I went from a 5 ounce tank to a 1 ounce tank, I'll lose some weight in fuel storage. (one ounce of fuel in a 5 ounce tank is too shallow and when it sloshes around you're gonna take on air I would think) - so I was usually putting about 3 ounces of fuel in. So let's say it's now down 12 ounces in total. That put me right where my goal was, for a 5lb car. I don't want to go any lighter than that and sacrifice stability and traction.

I also have done a bunch of gear calcs based on what a "stock" nitro Slash claims it can go. They say "50+" whatever that means, so I base this more conservatively at an even 50mph.

20/72: .278 (50mph)

22/70: .314 (56mph)

22/66: .333 (59mph)

24/70: .343 (61mph)

24/66: .364 (65mph)

24/62: .387 (69mph)

Current gearing is bolded.

This Sunday after football I'm going to be doing some testing. I will try a couple of passes with the 22/70 since my last times were skewed by me letting off the gas before 132 ft. I know I won't likely be keeping that setup but I just want an accurate reading for comparison sake. I'll switch out to the 24/66 gears and compare, as I feel that is the most likely effective combo to get under 2.5s, but I really wish my clutch shoes would arrive so I can test out with the lighter ones. I'm also going to fab a slipper eliminator that'll work on this output shaft so that I can use the 62t spur at some point (it's using the next gen slipper rather than the slipper peg setup).
 
Some parts were delayed (new tank, some 33mm posts), so no testing. Did get the new shocks installed, and removed the original tank and cut away the unneeded portions of the tank box.

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I know people have bad opinions of Integy, but they really make nice shocks. I didn't have an issue with the previous ones other than they were too stiff and heavy, but the quality of these models is really, really nice. They are much easier to adjust too, and they come with two sets of springs.

The fuel tank is coming today, and I'll cut a 1mm thick CF plate for the mounting bracket. That should complete my planned chassis mods, as I don't want/need the car to weigh under 5lbs. From here on out it'll mostly be drivetrain mods for getting the speed down.

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Some parts were delayed (new tank, some 33mm posts), so no testing. Did get the new shocks installed, and removed the original tank and cut away the unneeded portions of the tank box.

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I know people have bad opinions of Integy, but they really make nice shocks. I didn't have an issue with the previous ones other than they were too stiff and heavy, but the quality of these models is really, really nice. They are much easier to adjust too, and they come with two sets of springs.

The fuel tank is coming today, and I'll cut a 1mm thick CF plate for the mounting bracket. That should complete my planned chassis mods, as I don't want/need the car to weigh under 5lbs. From here on out it'll mostly be drivetrain mods for getting the speed down.

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My only issue with Integy is just the fact that they dont use hardened aluminum on high stress pieces like a-arms and bulkheads etc. The shocks and transmission case etc that dont see a lot of high impact abuse are fine. After having a couple of their parts shear right off during wrecks (never had 6061 T-6 or 7075 aluminum bulkhead just shear off one whole side) I stopped using them for high abuse pieces. I do like their shock springs. They usually have a really good selection too.

The car looks great though and I aint trying to talk down about your build, its just my opinion about their parts. Hell i wish they would start using stronger aluminum then Id buy a lot more of their parts because they always have such a great selection of parts and colors compared to a lot of companies. Anyway, I look forward to seeing what kind of times she puts down once the testing begins! Keep us posted! :)
 
Yeah I get it about Integy, definitely not good for bashing (though my old Tmaxx racer has held up, probably just got lucky, plus I don't bash it). I hear their stuff is pretty hit or miss). I used it on this build for the weight and look since it's just a drag racer.
 
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