These new stronger bulkheads are available via smd in the UK too, the firebolt is an awesome car that works well on all surfaces, even on high grip carpet I've equalled or bettered my results from my previous team c TM2.

The car is a brand new design from the ground up and teething problems happen from time to time, vbc have worked quickly to get the issue sorted, something for which I think they should be applauded :thumbsup:

Vbc
 

i ran my vbc firebolt today and yet again I can not fault the stock default setup
I was lucky enought to have another spare firebolt to run in the 4wd class
Which I have fitted a carbon chassis and tried a different setup , by the end of the day to get the car going well I was back to the stock default setup with both cars apart from the carbon chassis on the spare car.
I had the fasted qualifying time and won the A final but .4 off the fastest lap
I believe the car can go faster over 1 lap but until I find that setup,
consistency will have to do to win.
i have now run my vbc for about 6 months now and have not broken any part at all on the car

Did you prefer the cf or the aluminum chassis?

Chassis
 

The track had some very high grip part and some very low grip parts to the track
So was very hard to tell which was the best , I was quicker with the alloy chassis car but I have been running this car for 6 months and it was the first run with the cf chassis car and I was messing with setup all day
Where the alloy chassis car I didn't change as it was going mint (stock setup)
I will be testing the cf chassis car again this weekend with some crazy set up just to see what it does.

Any advice on a carpet setup guys?

I've had mine on a kit setup for a while, and it has been running OK on yellow low-profile cut staggers on the front with yellow mini spikes on the back. After being assured that mini pins on the rear would actually be better, I changed them but then struggled for front end grip.

The surface was indoor, multi type carpet with some wood. Generally flat with some low jumps/ramps/rollers. Changes from kit setup now I'm running the pins are;
- longest front links
- 40wt oil in front shocks
- top outer damper mounts
- middle lower damper mounts

Found it turned in slightly better with the dampers back in the middle hole on the tower, but I ran out of heats to meddle. It was much more stable on the wooden parts with the outer top mounts.

Initial bite doesn't seem too bad, but then with either a tiny bit of throttle or whilst coasting, the mid to exit of the corner just washes wide. Any suggestions?

How much caster do you run? I read somewhere that running 20° can help a lot on smooth tracks, but could not try it myself yet.

Can't remember which way the manual tells you to build it now....will check!

Haven't checked on the gauges, but from the manual it looks like it'd be 25deg caster

Setup
 

Hi mate
personally I would run mini pins all round and run stock setup
This would be the best setup to start from.
Cheers Jason

I did have a pair of front pins ready to try but just ran out of time to do it......is that the secret combination that differs to other 2WD cars then??:confused:

Tyres
 

Theres no secrets ,At yorcc mini pins all round works the best on all cars
some people like to run different options it's all about preference.
I would try them and see what happens.
Let me know
Cheers Jason

Ok, I'll give them a go. It won't be for a while anyway as I have a number of family things coming up that will keep me away. On the whole, I would say 95% of the 2WD on this track are using cut staggers and rear pins, and the majority have significantly noticeable more front end grip, especially the KFs and XB4's.....a shame that I can't make this do the same!

Using a stiffer rear shock set-up might help to reduce weight transfer to the rear, e.g. go down to 1.6 pistons and use harder springs. Reducing front droop or rear toe-in may also help. Increasing anti-squat also springs to mind... Oh, and you could try to move your front caster blocks into the rearmost position.

Thanks mate, i'll have a look into that too.

I've only got one carpet meet left now before heading back to astro for the summer, so will do a couple of small tweaks then work on getting it right for the summer.

Does anyone have any advice on what people have done to stop the weepy rear shock caps?

Shock tops
 

Just used some different 'o' rings (slightly thicker) someone else at club has used Schumacher 'o' rings

I think ive managed to sort the shocks caps from weeping, will keep an eye on the bottom shock caps as they seem ok at the moment

I thought i'd just nipped an oring when I assembled them, so its interesting to read i'm not the only one!

I had been meaning to buy some new seals to see if that solved it, but hadn't got around to it. After a few removals and refits to top the shocks up, this (seems) to have been cured without doing anything......i'll wait to see if this is the case when I pull it back out of the cupboard later! If not, i'll try the Schumacher seals.

I had some black bottom shock cap o rings spare from AE so ive just doubled up an put them on top of the standard shock o rings an seemed to of solved the problem :thumbsup:

http://www.redrc.net/2015/02/beamcat...ront-bulkhead/

http://www.redrc.net/wp-content/uplo...Bulkhead-1.jpg

Now just to try and locate one in the UK..... :thumbsup:

Ran the firebolt last nite and very impressed, car wasnt pushing on power unlike my b5m an felt vert stable
Just need to change the pistons now from AE big bore ones back to kit an shes gonna fly :thumbsup:

I'm just gonna say WOW :thumbsup:

Beamcat aluminium front kick-up in stock with Ruddog Distribution.

Hi All,

I've just bought a second hand Firebolt from on here.

As far as I can tell it is totally standard, which isn't a problem, but are there any options I should consider?
Alloy bulk-head and idler perhaps?

Also I have some good tyres on Schumacher pin-drive wheels.
Can I run these on the front of the Firebolt if I remove the hex?

Thanks

It should really already have either white nylon idlers or ally ones fitted, these were sent out with the cars or afterwards as an upgrade.

Bulkheads are a strange one, some people break them, others don't. Smd have some made of a different material which vbc issued.

Cant help you with the wheels though.

I run mine pretty standard, with almost default kit set up, really good everywhere :thumbsup:

Has anybody changed the bottom shock o rings from standard an if so what did u use

Hi lads,

I'm tempted to give the firebolt a try but have a few questions?

I'm aware how good the car is on medium to low grip tracks but how does it compare in pace to the designated forward motor design's such as tm2/KF? I'm confident the car would be great indoors but I don't want to be left behind in the regionals.

Secondly, Am i right to assume the Yokomo geared diff is a direct fit into the firebolt? I far prefer the feel of a geared diff in high grip.

And finally, do Associated BB springs fit the firebolt?

Thanks,


Chris

I can't answer the first question!! But the other 2 are a definite yes buddy

Vbc firebolt alloy servo horn
 

Can anyone running a vbc firebolt with a savox servo
Tell me which alloy servo horn will fit with out catching
Cheers Jason

The one out of a mardave meteour will work just fine, hth...

Hi Jason. Have you tried turning the servo posts round to push the servo back? They are stamped a and b. Worth a try.

Anybody managed to get hold of the ali front bulkhead in the UK?

Alloy bulkhead
 

I have ordered 4x alloy bulkheads from Hong kong I will post you one asap
Cheers Jason

Will this stop the front end falling off when it's hits a blade of grass??:lol:

Falling off
 

It might😀😀😀😀😀

Vbc firebolt
 

I have now been running my vbc firebolt for over 6months
I'm still running stock settings,indoors @ yorcc .
The Car is awesome. Last night at yorcc I did 19 laps
fastest been 16.03 and average been 16.47
Well happy
I would recommend this car to anyone thinking of changing
Cheers Jason

Found an nice fitting alloy servo horn if anyone is interested, ebay number 361214694683

Alloy
 

Hi Kevin
What's the alloy bulkhead like on the car not had chance to go mine yet ??

Tried it on sunday and works great, probably a 4mm gap now between the steering arms an servo horn now as well

tempted
 

I run an old 210 v1 and looking for a new car. my son runs a b5m which he loves and is doing well with. My 1st sighting of this car was at t he northwest regionals at southport on Sunday. One really fast guy caught my eye and didn't have a clue what it was untill after the race i asked someone. This guy was rapid and Was consistently fast I had a look online and they're only 150 at mbmodels right now... we r acc e in door carpet at ribble valley and outdoors, Southport, bury on astro... now... do I buy one? someone mentioned that parts might be hard to get hold of... any opinions? thanks