Thinking of C4.1
 

Hi fellas. I have struggled to get to grips with my SV2 and am considering a C4.1. Running mainly on Astro, are there any hot tips or considerations I should be aware of? Are there any generally accepted options that you have all ended up using from the 'standard' conversion? Any tips gratefully received. Cheers, Nick.

My biggest tip to you is don't get a C4.1 until CML have sorted out the quality issues - which will probably be never as they make a fortune of the necassary extras that u need to buy to make it a reliable car!

Instead, wait a short while and get your hands on one of the atomic carbon S2 Evo kits that will be being released shortly - check out the atomic carbon forum on oOple for updates!

Hi ye would agree with the quaility not the greatest but the car seems to go round the track well as for upgrades i would recommed the chassis strenghtener things i've only run mine for 2 meetings and the chassis was bent quite badly so i've bought the braces to try and stop this problem (not run it yet). TBH though i think they should come with the conversion kit in the first place

As for other upgrades abit of brass wieght in the front and thats all i've got in mine

I disagree, I've been running my C4.1 from when they were first released and couldn't be more pleased. The most important thing for me is that the car is easy to setup and consistant on different tracks. It is also one of the simplest designs, making it quick and easy to work on. I've had a couple of heavy crashes where I've had to straighten the chassis which takes about 30 seconds, but in the same time last year I broke two B4.1 chassis's!! I hear the carbon rails solve this problem anyway and add a bit of carbon bling. The conversion not a bad price in relation to the competition (DB1 / Vega) even with the addition of a couple of brass weights and the carbon rails.

Overall, I think CML have done a great job with excellent support :)

any car you crash heavily will break or bend something. It goes without saying that an alloy chassis will bend rather than break. If anything this is a major plus as it will most likely allow you to finish a race at least!

If you don't want to spend extra money on braces then no one is stopping you from knocking some up yourself. I'm pretty sure it's not rocket science to bolt some fibreglass onto the side of the chassis and mark it up and shape it to fit nicely.

At the end of the day the Centro is an amazing car which has achieved some amazing results in a short space of time. I see a hell of a lot of the cars in the Mid-West region and again competing in the National series. Given the B4 was such a popular car pre-Mid motor band wagon and a lot of people have X6's there was only the £169.99 cost to obtain a Centro. Pretty cheap considering alternative cars out there costing £500+ to build. Granted you could argue people will already have both Kyosho cars so could build their 2wd from those, but you are gutting 2 cars to build 1 rather than replacing your B4/X6 with a Centro.

At the end of the day if you want to go slow and survive crashes then use a slower car. If you want to go faster with a car that might not drive away from smacking a un-movable object then the Centro is a great car at a great price.

Carbon side supports
A few spare wings and mounts
A few pairs of spare castor blocks
Ghea Delrin front bulkhead
Blue/silver front springs
Silver/green rear springs
Carbon lipo strap
Chassis protectors for chassis rather than using undertrays
A few brass weights ideally to tune front end in yöu can mount these on chassis in front of servo and under Ackerman mount
Plastic 0 degree rear hubs
Vented slipper plates
Hi torque pads
78 spur
Carbon b4 arms all round

Probsbly more but I've forgotten!!

what's that? your shopping list?

this is obviously for 12 months racing :-) i have raced mine loads and not bent or broken anything , its even been a loaner at nats and regionals and is still in good condition, running without chassis braces ( my choice, i prefer the handling without) and just the optional brass bulkhead! thats it, car is awesome.

surely the carbon battery brace is just bling?

Lets run through my past history of cars: Losi xxx, losi xxx cr, B4, B4.1, S2, CR2, Losi 22 and Centro C4.1...

I've never broken a chassis before on any of my cars apart from my C4.1 which bent after only a few knocks.

I certainly am not happy about buying a conversion kit at £170 and having to remove the chassis and bend it straight every week or two. Once bent the allow will become softer and will bend more easily, and will not act / flex in the same way as a brand new unbent chassis.

To say that its not a bad price would be correct if you bought the standard conversion kit at £170 and then didn't have to buy anything else: Vega RB5 Version 2 conversion kit retail at £175 - Vega B4.1 Conversion retail at £165/170 - X6 squared kit retail around £150/160 - Losi 22 full car kit retail around £200 - durango full car kit retail at around £200 ----- Centro C4.1 £170 + Carbon Fibre side peices £30/35 meaning total cost of basic C4.1 is £200+ (then get ready to get another £35 out ur wallet to replace the 2 pivot blocks as they'll wear out after only a month or so). Only the Kyosho DB1 is more expensive as you need to have 2 cars as donor cars.

These are all issues of the C4.1 but will not be issues with the new Atomic Carbon S2 Evo - which brings me back to my first post... Better to wait and buy the S2 Evo as the handling of the car will still be awesome and fast and consistant on all tracks - but will have none of the bad quality that comes with the C4.1. With the S2 Evo you get the best of a great car and great quality.

I was not happy with my C4.1 so I went back to my old faithful CR2 and have never looked back - and I might add that I am just as quick with the CR2 than I was with the C4.1!

so it looks like you've bought 6 cars since the b4.1 and that's only been out for about 2 years

It looks like no car will suit you

just one point, how did you know the chassis was bent? as mine is bent and the only way i knew was reading posts on here and then looking to see myself, i never knew by the handling

C'mon that's uncalled for. Some of us like to test new cars, and maybe also keep all of them in our collection. It's for some of us part of the RC fun! :thumbsup:

For instance the B4 is a very good car, but how some guys can just stick to one car and race it for years on end is beyond my comprehension (and self control) :lol::lol::lol:

mines had more than a few knocks in the 7 months I’ve had it and its straight, the chassis does not need straightening every week or so, at least mine doesn’t! its run on grass, astro, indoor carpet with big wooden jumps etc. and is fine , also the pin blocks don’t need replacing after a month, mine are still the originals and are probably due for replacement now, after 7 months of weekly use, sometimes twice a week.

chassis stiffeners are an option and produced as a tuning aid more than a resolve to some people bending chassis. so there for do NOT need to be purchased.

these are MY findings, and i am, just as Wacker 2 and everyone else in this thread, offering my opinion.

at the end of the day the choice is yours, my only suggestion is, go with whatever you feel you will get the most support from! see what the other guys at your club are using! see how they get on with whatever it is they are using. ask them about the support they get from the manufacturer/distributor.

that’s the advice i would give and hopefully his thread won’t turn into a product/manufacturer slanging match

good luck with your choice :thumbsup:

Thanks guys, all valuable comments. I just have a feeling that I may find a more consistent set up with a C4.1 than I have managed with the Cougar. I dont like swapping cars, but sometimes we just suit one better than another. Money wise, I have tried a few options on the Cougar so its all pretty similiar money when all is said and done.

Of course, I may just sell a child and get a DB1!!!!

Ditto agreed well said!
Mine wasn't a shopping list mine was a list of useful things you will need to tune and to aid on track
There's more on my car but I won't bother mentioning these if those are the sort of replies il get :)
Each to there own Im the same with anything I buy !
If anyone needs help with there c4.1 in the north west area give me a shout whether it's it's tuning or setup wise il help

what was the trick to making them last, ready it somewhere here; something to do with applying threadlock to hinge pin somewhere... ?

thanks in advance for your help :D

Fill all 4 holes with thread lock and then stick pin in before it sets

Genius!!! :thumbsup:

dont you mean 'bodge'?! shouldn't be having to do that with a new kit!

Bodge - genius either way solves the problem.

Im going to open myself up here properly, but im the type of person that loves to try all the cars out, i enjoy the building and putting a setup on, im just a very average driver so i guess my points are all based on an easy to drive car that may not be the fastest over a single lap but over 5 minutes its ok. Just as an aside i do a huge amount of set up work for a Euro F3 team so i have a rough idea on what setups do before anyone says i dont know what im doing.

The cars are in the order i got them from restarting racing 2ish years ago.

Started back racing with a Cougar SV, lovely car to drive, a bit fragile at the front, re engineered it to B4 bits and it was a great car.

Losi 22 - Very strong could not stop it oversteering, i really struggled with this car.

X6, Loved it, should not of got rid of it, not the fastest car ever but predictable and consistent.

DEX210, the built and set up dream, there was a setup for anyone from the kit. Sold it as i had one of the first and as an average club driver i broke it regularly and could not get spares.

Converted the X6 into a C4.1, very very fast car, not to bad to set up, chassis bent indoors but that was my fault for crashing it not the car. I decided i was not good enough for the car.

Cougar SV2, full circle, love this car, although it has now turned into an engineering challenge as to get a set up i like it is not really an sv2 any more!!! very happy but still not as quick as the c4.1 aover a single lap but for me i will stick with it untill the next car comes along.

As an engineer i would love a vega but we are in the middle of the Euro F3 championship so along with real work not got enough time.

I will still keep trying cars out whatever people say thats the best part of the hobby.

Hope this gives some insight into my rc life, all cars are good for some people its their driving ability and set up ability that swings one way or another fo rthem.

Bring on the kicking!!!

Cheers

Rich

thanks!

i havent done anything to mine since i built it! i havent filled them with thread lock ( although i think its a sound idea) or " bodged" it in any way! like i said they are due for replacment but are not totally shot and would be fine for a few more runs, after 7 months!!

Well I have to say that I do fancy giving a C4.1 a try, but chassis braces seem a decent bet for me. My fingers dont seem as nimble on the sticks as they used to be, so I will play it safe with the chassis.

The pivot pin 'bodge' seems fair to me. I use a small dab of super glue on the lower front wheel hub pins on my SV2 as they often come loose. Bodge maybe, but effective so who cares?

As Teaboy says above, we quite enjoy the building and excitement of a new car - it can be strangely addictive - so I shall try the 4.1 and see how we go.

Well I have to say the only problem I had with the 4.1 was a tight gearbox; which is a know problem and easily sorted.

Yes I blinged the car with all the carbon bits, and Centro brass bits.
If its going to be the most expensive 2wd it might as well look the part as well :thumbsup:

I did put the carbon braces on to be safe, but if the chassis does bend at least it can be bent back, it it was carbon and it snapped it could be game over for the day!

I swapped from the X6s which was not cutting it anymore for me, and so far I am glad I did.

I ran mine on friday night on a carpet track with jumps and I'm very impressed.

No setup and not on pins and it went really well. I have TD small bores on it at the moment so not ideal. I'll be getting some AE V2's shortly!

The car is so easy to drive you don't really have to think about it :D

Guys - just an update. I debuted my Centro (found one on ebay) last Sunday and am so pleased with the change. The car feels much easier to drive and with a base set up courtesy of Gaz Hill and no further messing with set up it was a dream to drive.

Can't wait to refine things. Great fun.

i like this :-)

first time out for mine at the LMR gp was very impressed alot easier to drive and handled better then my old sv2

good new's :)

C4 1
 

I raced my C4.1 on sunday at the Worm off road series and wow what a car! This was my first time racing in 8 years after a long time away and managed to put the car 8th on the grid in the A final that is saying something for this kit.