Kyosho Raider improving stock shocks performance

[OptimaFan]

As our daughter seemed to take some interest in RC cars, and a few years ago we regularly played together with a couple of toy grade 1/32 scale cars, with no speed control, and bang/bang left-right steering. After a while, it was clear she was ready for proportional controls. I didn't think running a Mid would be a great next step, would be a bit expensive if she hit a sidewalk at full speed with it. I read some good things about the durability of the Raider, and that it could be found cheap, with still enough cars being offered online to serve as parts donor, if needed.

I found a decent one, and cleaning it up, installing the radio gear, was pretty straightforward, except for some fiddling with the motor spacer. I wasn't too happy about the bouncy shocks. Filling with oil didn't seem very smart, with only a single o-ring at the bottom, and none at the shock cap.

Now I remembered having good results with friction grease on the Losi Micro T, so why not try it here. Here's a vid showing the results:

http://vimeo.com/113142906

The effect of the friction grease exceeded my expectations, bumps are really getting absorbed now. Naturally the shocks can't move as fast as smooth oil shocks, so on a fast succession of small bumps, it will skip some, but compared to the stock situation, it handles much better. First tests on a paved surface were fine. A few days back we ran the car offroad and it handled nice.

Maybe this is already commonly known, but I just wanted to share it.