Lessen's M18 Drifter

[Lessen]

and just because I love to post pictures... I finished the steering today. Woo hoo!

Here's where I cut the upper chassis in order to mount the servo. Fits like a glove!

a shot from the side. tolerances are super close around the bulkhead when the steering is at center but there is no binding.

Pretty much all I have to do is finish wiring it up, charge it up, and git er done! Oh, not to mention painting the body.. and we all know how long it takes me to do that I Honestly might do a simpler scheme. I'm thinking lots of metallic grayish/charcoal and metallic dark red with some white and metallic black accents.

 

[grgbulldog]

looks awsome. can't wait to see some drifting pics.

 

[Lessen]

All Done!

Well, almost. Just need to paint the body. Then the fun part... learning how to drive it!

 

[scoobydoo2u]

Thats a work of art Lesson
looks Fast and expensive just sitting there!!

I can't wait to see some vids

 

[grgbulldog]

that thing looks sweet. bet it took a lot of cash and work.

 

[Lessen]

Time for paint!

...just a teaser. I'm going simple with this one. Tryin' to capture the Euro look.

 

[Mallanaga]

oooooooooh.

aaaaaaaaah.

 

[fastflee]

Nice car there,I cheated made my rdx a drifter just buy putting in the brushless big pony motor to go race with fast eddy and bamm instint drifter hahahahahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!car is so fast and will drift on command now.i could just imagine how fun it would be with a set of drift tires..

 

[Lessen]

gettin there...

 

[Lessen]

Time for decals

Paint is finished.. here's another teaser... Like I said, rather simple paint job. I really like it though! I've never used this much red on a body. It's overkill right now but once all the decals are on it will really shine. I LOVE the charcoal and gray. For the first time, I nailed the tones I was invisioning. Thank goodness!

 

[Rolex]

Beautiful piece of work on the car, as well as the body. Get used to it, then post a video for us. I'd love to see it in action.

 

[Lessen]

Yeah, I got to get these tires glued. I have a Trinity Monster Termination motor in it now. I havn't had it outside yet but I've been hearing signs of wheel hop (stock suspension.. havn't messed with it yet) when sideways in my kitchen. It's been peeling the tires out of their grooves. This is gonna be fun

 

[Rolex]

Well, you already know that I've been RRRrrrripping around the park track and drifting through the turns without taking my finger off the throttle in VRC. It's really a blast to be moving that fast in a completely controlled slide.
You're gonna' enjoy it.

 

[Lessen]

yeah, it'll be a lot of fun. I tried that drift car in VRC one time.. F that. not what I bought it for so maybe I just wasn't in the mood :shrug: I dunno. Anyways, once the body is all finished I'll take it to work (warehouse, smooth concrete)

 

[Lessen]

I think sometimes simple is better

Done! I love those headlight pods... sweet

 

[grgbulldog]

thats awsome

 

[Rolex]

I tried that drift car in VRC one time..

No, no. NOT the drift car, the same car you have set up for the track. It's a totally controlled slide through each turn. Full throttle. Try it again.

Oh, and by the way, a real beauty you have there.

 

[Lessen]

2nd run today

Yesterday I ran the M18 for the first time outside on my asphalt street. Stock springs, rear sway bar. Couldn't get it to do a whole lot really. I could break the rear loose but it would just skid sideways, lose a lot of speed, and regain traction. My day was cut short due to (what I think was) motor overheating issues.

Today I ran hard springs up front at the outer settings and medium springs at the rear at the inner settings. sway bars front and back. All other suspension settings are still stock. HUGE DIFFERENCE! Way more loose than yesterday. Will do doughnuts now. Entry was a lot more predictable today. Straight acceleration... Off throttle, hard turn. Depending on entry speed the rear end steps out just slightly but it does not powerslide right away like yesterday. The forward momentum allows the car to turn slightly with the rear just a tad loose.. if for only a couple feet. It then regains traction. Unfortunately, If I touch the throttle the rear end comes around right away. I think a rear diff adjustment may be needed to cure that.

There is definately enough power to spin the rear tires as the tire wear is even and smooth. The front tires are a differerent story... The inner half is definately showing a scrub.. I think the stock 12 degree of caster allows for great turn in at the expense of too much lateral traction post turn in... basically, I think so much caster is causing the front end to slow too much post turn in. However, upon inspection I also noticed that I've lost one of my front drive shafts.. so I was not running a locked diff for majority of todays run. That makes it a bit harder to make the correct adjustments.

 

[Mallanaga]

sweet project. that car looks really nice. quite scale too, with the paint scheme. wish i could paint like that.

do you follow drifting IRL? knowing how they work IRL helps to know how they work on a smaller scale. personally, i know jack about drifting. GL with it though! you have a sweet little ride there.

 

[Lessen]

no, I don't follow it IRL at all. It's fun so far though