I agree with Shane. I currently use 1s lipo and 13.5 turn setup and it been a little unreliable. I use a 1s hobbywing but still found that for reliability i need a booster to the receiver for the transponder not to drop out (all seems to be working well now and i got the booster for roughly $5). if i was to start up from scratch i def go for 2s lipo and 21.5 combo.
I have seen 4 cell silver can setups in a SS working well which is arguably a cheaper alternative. These were still fairly competitive compared to other cars with 13.5 1s setups.

Having ran a supastox 1s 13.5 and a 2s 21.5 at the Chippenham winter series, I can say the 2s 21.5 is a lot faster. However, at our club nights(and chippenhams), the difference is a lot noticeable as the track size is that much smaller. Generally I'd say 21.5 but I believe thus isn't the default brca racing preference out of the 2.

'Is a lot' = 'not that'

1 cell will certainly place more emphasis on the quality of your battery than 2S/21.5. If you have a slightly lower Ir cell in 1 cell your car will be significantly faster than the next guy with the same identical motor and roll-out. Its like wiping out a lot of the advantage LiPo has brought us and returning to the old days of matched NiCd packs where the more you paid, the faster you went. Personally, I never liked that.

I've been watching with interest as really want to comeback to racing at the club but the issues around the undefined rules making it more or less impossible to know what to buy to race in your gt12 class.

Every week I look at the TC & decide that punching myself in the face would be more fun than running it so either I have a 100 mile round trip to race buggies somewhere or I don't race.

Why not just adopt the BRCA rules whole sale so what people buy will be good to run at most gt12 events?

I've bought equipment purely to use at the club twice now (micro and pan car) and both times the classes died so don't want to do that again.

I ran a BRCA 1s setup at Chippenham on Sunday and it was a bit of a learning curve. I didnt have the right spur or pinion to get the best out of it and it was painfully slow. There was a guy running a silver can and 4 cell nimhs that could easily match me on the main straight! I'll give it another go next time with some major gearing changes but will probably end up with a 2s saddle 21.5t setup by the new year.

Unfortunately RogerM the Gloucester can be a bit like that. TC has always managed to survive where other classes have come and gone. I am sure the "mini" class is going to be around for quite a while. As for electrics it looks like the 2s 21.5 will be the norm. It's always worth bringing along you other cars as if there is enough the Steve would make a heat up. A few of us have resurrected our F1's so hopefully we will all get them together

The problem is it's too small a hall to run buggies properly and I find touring car worse than watching paint dry (actually on two occassions I have stayed in to decorate rather than come to the club with the TC).

I really want to run at the club agian as I like the atmosphere there but until the rules are sorted so I know I will only have to buy the Dave/SS stuff once I'm not willing to take the plunge.

I'll be running a Supastox 21.5t 2s blinky regardless Roger. If you were considering running <13.5t then there might be a major issue. Pretty sure 21.5 is a safe bet.

Agreed, most of us are looking at that. Sooner or later I expect only the younger kids will be left running the lower turn motors on 2S, which doesn't give them any advantage anyway. So I would guess that by the end of this season just started, most will be on 2S-21.5T.
I'm thinking of checking out one of the Turnigy Trackstar 21.5T motors, which would work out at less than £20 each. So something along the lines of the cost of the sensorless EZ-Run motors but with a full sensor system.

1 cell or 2 cell.
 

Think there are some good comments here. I contacted Hobby King in the week and have ordered a Track Star Turnigy 21.5 T brushless motor.1855 kv at 7.4 v. Going to try 2 cell shorty in the Supastox. The motors are not much more than £25. Got to be a good starting point. Will be interesting to compare this set up against the Core 1cell 13.5 T set up. The 1 cell has no acceleration.

How popular is the 2cell format elsewhere?

I take it it is a shorty 2s lipo?

Need to look into availability of Orion 21.5 motors, not sure I've seen one listed ... probably because I stop looking when the numbers get above 8.5 normally

Guys, any clarification greatly appreciated.

Adam & I are working out what we need to get, want to push the button before Xmas but can't do so until we know what you guys are heading to in terms of rules.

Surely we can't be the only people who are holding out jumping on the GT12 bandwagon due the undefined rules??

I'm looking forward to a bit of club racing again and GT12 looks like it is ideal for the size of the hall. Let us know ASAP please, thanks in advance.

Rog, the rules are not undefined. It is clear what the BRCA specs are, so be in no doubt and buy stuff which complies with the BRCA 2-cell requirements. Or 1-cell if you prefer. You will not be at a massive disadvantage to anyone running non-BRCA at Gloucester, such as me. It's pretty clear from the results that the 21.5 boys are well on the pace at our club.
Reading around the forums and speaking to people, it looks to me like 1-cell was instigated and popularised by the ex-1/12th scale drivers who wanted to try the class and already had the 3.7V electronics. They have sway with the rulemakers. Most if not all others have a preference for the way the 2-cell set up drives (and costs). Like I said before, I would not be surprised if the 1-cell format dwindled and disappeared.

Thanks for the feedback Dave.

So for me at least the best option is to go 2S (shorty lipo shared with the RB6 buggy) and 21.5 motor. Ok, sorted.

Looking at the cars and reading around on the SSS Vs 'dave threads online it looks to me that a 'dave is the best way forward for me (want to throw it on the shelf after a meeting and ignore it) and it seems that when well built and setup both are similar over a lap, do you agree?

What tires are you guys using on that carpet and do you use additives?

Are there any "must have" options or tweaks? I'll build with a diff straight off anyway.

Hi RogerM.. There is a happy balance of Old Mardave, New Mardave CE and Superstox at the mo and I think they look good to stay for a while… this is the Second time the Mardave/G12 has shown it head at GloucesterERCC and this time I feel it has taken on well, I think it’s size cost and versatility is winning at the mo.. I know a lot of people have added the Diff and I think it does help I have heard people with the solid axel trying to get into the “A” but they just don’t get there…
I am sure everyone uses foams and we have no problem with Additive however tyres must be cleaned dry before putting the car on the track.. No tram lines please.... :thumbdown:

But what grade / hardness of foams, that was the question which on re-reading I now realise was a little ambiguous, sorry.

Just spotted this thread which states that they are going to drop the 2s/21.5 class from nationals etc.

http://www.oople.com/forums/showthread.php?t=115590

Knowing me I'd probably want to dabble with that a bit so I am going to have to go 1s/13.5 .... which puts the cost up to for me so maybe not.
I know that is only for larger events BUT I know I would want to do some at some point.

Adding up the costs of setting up I could go to a club that does indoor off-road (about 100 mile round trip) for the whole winter and have change. Not sure what to do now.

Maybe I'll wait another winter until there is a really stable set of rules :(

Most of the faster Mardaves seem to be running the UFRA pink medium tyre on the rear and JAP 52 shore up front. The Supastox guys mostly use Conacts I think - 32R and 50F or so.
I have tried contacts on the Mardave but the balance wasn't great. With the Pink Med/52 combo there is enough rear grip to make it easy to drive, but just enough rear slide to avoid rolling. It's a fine line that gets broader as the shell gets lighter or lower. I use additive only on the rears, CS High Grip. Check out my Mardave set up page here: http://www.fulloption.co.uk/mardaveV12.html

I read that thread you linked to. Really can't understand the 1S thing. It just has got so many more failure points than 2S. Weak.

The more I look into it the more I can see why you think that Dave!!!

The 1S thing is a 1/12th hang up as you say, been speaking with somebody in the know today.

I still need to look into it properly before making a decission.

With 1s I have a speedo and 13.5 motor already but would have to buy a battery so total cost would be about £.

With 2S I have a speedo and a battery already but would have to buy a motor ££.

From a purely financial point of view I would probably go the 1s route ... not sure. Before you say "but such and such a brand costs this" I haven't got that choice, I'm a Team Orion driver and very proud to be so as they are without doubt the best out there for proper racing (1/10th off road).

That's fair enough, but if you are a team driver, how come the motors cost you so much?!