brca weight limits

[mattlynch]

just a thought, with everyone going over to li-po / brushless set ups would it be of advantage if the brca reduced weight limits? i think the advantage of doing so could be good, less weight = less mass= less breakage longer run times and lower costs, but would you miss the ability to balance your car with the extra weight that is currently being piled on as balast, opinions and thoughts please.

[bedsrcmcc]

I know that the 1:10th Touring Cars are being reduced in 2010 to 1350g, so I guess the same could be for off-roaders too, though not sure what the weight is.

Interesting thing is, I have a new Xray T3 designed for LiPo but I still can't even get down to that weight once the car is balanced. My weight at present is 1385g so I guess it depends on the equipment you buy. Some LiPo packs are lighter than others.

Personally I thought the drop to 1350g was too far, but I guess in time I'll find ways to get closer to that weight...

[bigred5765]

i doubt it would help as most people are adding weight and lots of it

[coolcars782]

And remember most brushless systems are heavier than there equivlent brush system

[RogerM]

Originally Posted by bigred5765

i doubt it would help as most people are adding weight and lots of it

Most back to NiMh weight ... tried my RB5 with LiPos and no weight @ PDA tonight, was scary to drive ... loading it with lead before next week, or maybe put some proper batteries back in her!

[Kopite]

Maybe off-road could comply to a weight range?

[Mad-Wolfie]

to be fair it's a minimum weight limit.. there isn't a maximum, so gone are the days of a LiPo with tons of lead weight stuck on the side, which i imagine would be a safety risk.

Even on the old limit of 1500g with regular cells (as in heavy), i've had to add about 70g of weight to the cars i race to reach the minimum limit. The big problem now though i think with the weight removed will be the balancing, all the weight will be on the electrics side of the car, the battery side will be very light & will still need a few weights to even out the weight distribution even though the cars will be "legal" without adding any weight.

I must say i've never been a fan of the excessive weight limits & frankly can't see the point as they hinder performance, i mean the manufacturers must spend a fortune of R&D money on improving their cars & employ skilled technicians with physics degree's to work on a part of the chassis that will be making it stronger, improve the performance of the car & in the process shaving off a few grams here & there - only for some regulator to come along & slap a weight limit on the regulations so that means all the hard work of the highly qualified & skilled technicians has gone up the wall thanks to a bright idea by someone who quite frankly hasn't a clue! Yes, impose weight limits as ballast to slow down the top drivers to make the competition tighter, but as a technical point it's a step backwards in my opinion.

[bedsrcmcc]

Originally Posted by Mad-Wolfie

to be fair it's a minimum weight limit.. there isn't a maximum, so gone are the days of a LiPo with tons of lead weight stuck on the side, which i imagine would be a safety risk.

Even on the old limit of 1500g with regular cells (as in heavy), i've had to add about 70g of weight to the cars i race to reach the minimum limit. The big problem now though i think with the weight removed will be the balancing, all the weight will be on the electrics side of the car, the battery side will be very light & will still need a few weights to even out the weight distribution even though the cars will be "legal" without adding any weight.

I must say i've never been a fan of the excessive weight limits & frankly can't see the point as they hinder performance, i mean the manufacturers must spend a fortune of R&D money on improving their cars & employ skilled technicians with physics degree's to work on a part of the chassis that will be making it stronger, improve the performance of the car & in the process shaving off a few grams here & there - only for some regulator to come along & slap a weight limit on the regulations so that means all the hard work of the highly qualified & skilled technicians has gone up the wall thanks to a bright idea by someone who quite frankly hasn't a clue! Yes, impose weight limits as ballast to slow down the top drivers to make the competition tighter, but as a technical point it's a step backwards in my opinion.

As I said about my Xray T3, it's built for LiPo racing but just to balance it I still need to add weight!

[Col]

Originally Posted by Mad-Wolfie

to be fair it's a minimum weight limit.. there isn't a maximum, so gone are the days of a LiPo with tons of lead weight stuck on the side, which i imagine would be a safety risk.

Even on the old limit of 1500g with regular cells (as in heavy), i've had to add about 70g of weight to the cars i race to reach the minimum limit. The big problem now though i think with the weight removed will be the balancing, all the weight will be on the electrics side of the car, the battery side will be very light & will still need a few weights to even out the weight distribution even though the cars will be "legal" without adding any weight.

I must say i've never been a fan of the excessive weight limits & frankly can't see the point as they hinder performance, i mean the manufacturers must spend a fortune of R&D money on improving their cars & employ skilled technicians with physics degree's to work on a part of the chassis that will be making it stronger, improve the performance of the car & in the process shaving off a few grams here & there - only for some regulator to come along & slap a weight limit on the regulations so that means all the hard work of the highly qualified & skilled technicians has gone up the wall thanks to a bright idea by someone who quite frankly hasn't a clue! Yes, impose weight limits as ballast to slow down the top drivers to make the competition tighter, but as a technical point it's a step backwards in my opinion.

Alternative way of looking at it is this: the weight limits for off-road are fairly standard around the world and have been around alot longer than most (any?) current production cars, so the cars have been designed around the weight limit.

[Big G]

I think my B44 tips the scales around the 1670g mark (lipos/brushless) and that's only got 50g of weight so still a fair few grammes off the limit (1588g). I did install a blue alu screw set which shaved 10g off the total weight hehe.

I only put the weight in to try and stop it nose diving so much over jumps.

[Mad-Wolfie]

Col you make a very good point, the off-road weight balance is more evident because of course a car with a heavy front will always land hard on it's front wheels so needs to be strong - making a car stronger usually adds weight & likewise a car will roll to the side on landing if all the weight is running all along one side, so the designers have to take this into account no doubt.

Even on older Tamiya buggies such as the Grasshopper / hornet etc i remember all the weight was running evenly along the centre of the car with the battery dead centre & usually slung low... on the more modern off-roaders all the drivetrain, bulkhead blocks & the points for mounting the electrics are central to spread the weight around to get the weight footprint & the centre of gravity even. You don't tend to get that layout on tourers (apart from perhaps TA-04's & HPI Sprint 2's) so to balance the weight around you need to add weights to the lightest side, which when running cells was the electric side, but since LiPo's have come along it's now the battery side.