are-2 and mad rat

[j_erbe]

Hi got a standard are-2 and getting mad rat kit what upgrades would I need to so they can both cope with brushless

[jim76]

Are you intending to race them?

for the madrat you will need a set of bearings, and also a set of alloy shocks as the kit ones fall apart all the time.
Second hand B4 shocks are a good fit, or the ansmann alloy upgrade shocks.

Apart from that the car should be fine. You can upgrade other parts such as alloy hubs, but these aren't essential.

[j_erbe]

ok thank you what about the are-2? and what motor and controller do you recommend

[Sumilidon]

The are-2 is fine as standard with brushless, although I would invest in a metal spur gear as the standard can get shredded after a while.

As for electrics, nothing more than an 8.5t setup I would say personally.

[BeachBuggyPhil]

The are2 is a basics machine with a fair bit of flex between spur and pinion so metal spur would be good. I killed one early on. The pinion is poorly machined and not very round.
Put thin washers on top the ball studs as they can pop off and it's a pain to put the drive shaft back in when it happens and you lose laps! You need a long thin ball end hex to do the motor up.
It's noisy, embarrassingly noisy, as it's metal geared with slack tolerances.
Just abuse it until you get better and need more car, then get the best you can afford with the cheapest spares.

[Sumilidon]

Definitely agree with the use of washers for the suspension mounts. I also recommend a thin strip of tape over the holes that you put the rear transmission pin into. It can work loose and fly out

[Mad-Wolfie]

I've run the ARE-1 & a Master smacker (same drivetrain as the ARE-2) with a 9t ezrun system & both cars have coped well.

For the ARE-2 the only upgrade you would need would be to change the brass pinion for a Tamiya one (the tamiya is the same pitch) as the brass one wouldn't cope well with the power of brushless so you will notice some colouration on the spur gear as the brass wears. The spur will wear over time, but should last a good while if you keep your eye on the mesh as a badly meshed spur will not last.

The biggest problem you will probably find with the increased power is the driveshafts (at the wheel & at the diff end) are under more strain so the plastic may weaken over time, but at least the spare parts are cheap enough.

The car is noisy & to fit a metal spur would just make it worse. I can't see any reason to fit a metal spur, so long as the mesh is done properly then this isn't a problem, sometimes it's tempting to adjust the mesh to try to take some of the noise away but all you will end up doing is stripping the spur. If you do buy Tamiya pinions, chances are you will get 2 in the packet (such as a 23 & a 22), so for example you could use the bigger of the 2 to set the mesh by fitting the larger of the 2 pinions with a tight mesh by moving the motor on it's mount, then once set remove the larger pinion & fit the smaller of the 2 which should give the right amount of slop.

Hope this helps.

[j_erbe]

hi thanks for all the help, where can i get the pinion and metal spur gear from? and what motor and esc would you recommend? and will the radio gear be ok? thanks

[Mad-Wolfie]

Anywhere that deals with Tamiya should be able to sort you out with Tamiya pinions... Tamiya part number 50357, which is the Tamiya 22T & 23T pinion gear set which run at the 0.6 pitch the Ansmann's standard spur runs on.

I really wouldn't bother with the metal spur, the car is noisy enough without it! Plus the standard spur is strong enough to run a brushless motor, i've had a 9t ezrun on that drivetrain before now, but it depends on what electrics you want to put in it & how you feel.. if you want to go for something basic you can or you could go for something a little more sophisticated, but don't expect to be winning many touring car events with an ARE-2 if you go racing with it as it's more a bashing (going to play in the park / garden) car, rather than a racer.. but got it's plus points if you want a good starter car to cut your teeth in club racing.

The Ansmann radio gear is pretty good out of the box, the 2.4 systems in the newer RTR's are a simplified version of their top spec radio gear (same receivers as well) & the older 40mhz stuff that used to come in the RTR's is basically rebadged Futaba equipment, again basic, but more than capable but radio gear is down to what you feel comfortable with at the end of the day.

[j_erbe]

hi thanks for all the help i looking at the 9t ezrun motor combo on ebay for £54.50 is that a good price? i got a 3000mah 7.2v battery will this cope with it? thanks