oOple 501X long term review.

[jimmy]

I had a top driver lined up to race the oOple 501X review car, but they had to pull out. The idea really was to make interesting reading, help with setups, write some words on its performance at (uk) Nationals etc. Sort of an on-going long term review from my angle, or a sponsored 4wd drive from another.

I did try hard to find someone of an equally good level to race the car under the oOple banner, but couldn't.

If anyone fits the bill however - racing at UK nationals, of a GOOD level but without a current 4WD sponsor-drive, able to write some semi-coherent words on its performance and provide setups and know what they're doing. Also be must be friendly and well respected (!) then give me a shout!

PM me or email me 'jimmy' (@ this domain) - with some stuff about you.
Really this is for GOOD drivers who can help other 501X drivers and make interesting reading. I'll give it a couple of days and see what interest there is in this (awesome:)) deal - And then probably announce that vicky will be racing it - guffaw.:p


The car has a bunch of spares already and ofcourse I intended to get a more & shells, wheels etc.. In terms of other stuff, all I can offer is extreme exposure (your sponsors will like that), custom teamwear with your other sponsors on, stickers - etc.. :D

[bigred5765]

whats happend to the stig@oople did he get a drive??

[Elliott Hopkins]

So what are you going to run in 4WD Jimmy?

[jimmy]

Not sure Elliott, this isn't like me selling the car - this would be me still involved and putting together articles on the car and helping all the 501X drivers out (or thats the idea).
For me, I have a lot of cool cars already, but also I have to spend a lot of time reviewing cool cars and don't have the time to devote to the 501X. The best I can do for the car is let someone else do well with it.

Needless to say, Tamiya have nothing to do with this :)

[Elliott Hopkins]

So are you suggesting Tamiya UK are a bunch of numptys? :)

[bert digler]

whats happend to the stig@oople did he get a drive??

im offended by these comments :D

[jimmy]

That was the shortest couple of days you ever saw!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Thanks for those who already expressed an interest but the stig is back! :p
Stuart Wood is signed up to drive the oOple-TRF501X during this season in 4WD. Expect great things.
If you don't know Stu, then wait for the press release and driver interviews of Stu and the other core team members for 2007.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

[bert digler]

good on jimmy weve bin havin a bet down here i won good look stu with this car im sureull do it proud as tamiya uk hubbyco or wot ever they are called dont give a toss so make some a finals a show em up for the phillesteins the are:D

[woOdy]

That was the shortest couple of days you ever saw!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Thanks for those who already expressed an interest but the stig is back! :p
Stuart Wood is signed up to drive the oOple-TRF501X during this season in 4WD. Expect great things.
If you don't know Stu, then wait for the press release and driver interviews of Stu and the other core team members for 2007.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-


WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO>
What a feeling this is! WOW.:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[jimmy]

Stuart has been secretly testing the 501X indoors and out over the last couple of weeks - with great results. Those who have seen him driving the 501X know the amazing speed and consistency Stu possesses, combined with the handling and durability of the 501X, will make any top team shake in their boots. :)

"Woody was just TOO fast today, If it goes like that at the National, I predict a top 3 spot , it really was that good ."


"Woody and that Tamiya were rapid. The car just flew round the Bury track ignoring any bumps and jumps. "

[jimmy]

Here's Stu winning the recent York Indoor Regional 2wd - 120 drivers!

http://www.oople.com/rc/photos/york210107/bigimages/OOP_0025.jpg

[Spencer Mulcahy]

Realy pleased for you Stu this looks like it could be a match made in heaven for the both of you, a nice relaxed team for Stu to race in and Jimmy will get a top notch review. Will be good to see the 501 in Stu's red white and blue colours soon. Hope you will still be running the B4 as well Stu as I still need all the help I can get.:)

[woOdy]

Just to let you know what is going on inside the car, I am fully backed by M-Troniks, Team Scream ( batteries/motors ), Blue-Bird servo's and this is a very good mixture which I dont know why I didnt have these in the past. A big thanks to Oople.com and watch this space.;)

[bert digler]

Realy pleased for you Stu this looks like it could be a match made in heaven for the both of you, a nice relaxed team for Stu to race in and Jimmy will get a top notch review. Will be good to see the 501 in Stu's red white and blue colours soon. Hope you will still be running the B4 as well Stu as I still need all the help I can get.:)

i think its about time jimmy had some real support from importers manufacturers as his honest reviews dont taint a product more people read his reviews than the mags anyway so show some support,he does most of this off his own back couldnt see the mags doing it,its a real chance for the big boys to get exposure so come on support jimmy;)

[jimmy]

I wouldn't say no, lol. But to make it clear, this car is bought along with a big pile of spares, privately. Tamiya were not interested in replying to my many emails, which is fair enough I suppose :).

[Elliott Hopkins]

I gave up reading the mags a long time ago because the descriptions of the building of the cars was really bad 'and next is the gearbox, which goes at the back of the car'.

The reviews just seemed to really describe the construction in an obvious manner, not mentioning any nice touches or areas of concern.

Most of the reviews gave a really bad or non existant track test. There were no deep analysis of the handling characteristics or setup changes of the cars. Or narrative on the racedays with the cars, to get a feel for how the car would perform.

And the photos were rubbish.

Not like oople.com blah blah blah ...

Elliott.

[Elliott Hopkins]

The best review I ever saw was for the Kyosho Lazer (the first one). It was in two parts, one article for the construction and the next week another article for a track test, with excellent pictures of the shell painted as a Peregrine Falcon.

My other favorite was the Tamiya Madcap, which was one article with a race report describing the setup changes for an indoor clubnight.

Both were in RRCi.

Elliott.

[jimmy]

Cheers mate - I have some photos and need to write up some words about the first few races with the car and how its performed / whats broken.. but with woody driving the car it will get the best test around.

[TRF_Tastic]

Good on ya Woody and Jimmy, it will be nice to see this car in the hands of a good driver. It deserves the exposure to let all the other drivers know what a great car it is.

If there is anything I can do to offer support please dont hesitate to let me know.

[jimmy]

Thanks very much for the help you have already given mate - It will be hard work but I am certain of great things with woody this season. The only thing that scares me is breaking something we can't fix, but hopefully we can pool resources with other owners incase something that should never break - breaks! :rolleyes:

[stefke]

After the runs I had with the TRF, I wouldn't worry too much about parts : the car is a tank ! Perhaps the R&D Tamiya did for the RC King Tiger was used for the TRF :D

I'm going to stock only the obvious : belts, pulleys, front A-arms and hubs. Perhaps a shocktower but that seems pretty bulletproof too.

[jimmy]

I'll add this to the review soon - but the camber link mounts have a design flaw and can be damaged with a knock on the bottom edge of the wheel (so it PULLS on the camber link). They just need more material to stop this.
I got a load of suspension arms, hubs etc, but nothing has broken as yet.. it is a tank, for sure. The only thing that is damaged is the rear camber mount.
So I'd get a spare one of those, just to make sure.

[footey]

glad u got woody for ur team jimmy but now u need some more team oople drivers for all your other cars a proper massive team oople that would push even the big teams go on jimmy you know it sounds good;)

[MikePimlott]

Excellent for you both WoOdy and Jimmy.
I saw the car in the hands of Stu on sunday at Bury, and it was quick.
This team is going to produce some good results this season.

[jimmy]

We are hoping to have a good spread of results - Stu is obviously aiming to Win nationals - and vicky will be bringing up the rear by attempting to finish last at every national :D

sorry vicky, I had to! :p

[BenG]

lol, oOple really has both ends of the nats covered then....



I love oOple. I first joined because of the cracking race shots. At the time I was a touring car racer only. Then, I got a buggy (B4, again cos of oOple) then I sold my tourers, and am making the transisition to buggy racing with the MKI4. I may even get to the nationals next year, after I learn to drive hehe.

Anyway... my point is I think manufacturers should really invest in oOple. I mean, imagine what Jim could do if he got free cars. He'd be able to do tonnes of reviews.

Why do they invest in magazines? Its daft for many reasons:

Magazines are a dying trade, the web is where its at....
Magazines have deadlines, and short, almost seemingly incomplete reviews
The magazines hardly ever seem to say 'this car could do with some improving', they are biased.
Magazines are limited on space and picture sizes, Jim is less restricted in this area, so his reviews are much more in depth, and jam packed with oopley goodness.

Perhaps, Jim could set-up a donations page, so we can all help to fund the next oOple review car, or the nest upgrade to the site, and help take the load off Jim a bit?

[DCM]

Thing is, whislt Jim funds his reveiws, then he is free to give a definitive reveiw and un-biased. If companies thought there was a chance of having a reveiw that wasn't complementary, then I think they would rather stay with the mags.

A company that will give Jim stuff to do an honest reveiw is brave, but I also think, it would work in their favour, as they could go back, improve and come back for an update.

[BenG]

If companies are confident in their product this should prove no problem ;)

[modelimages]

i keep hearing the old magazines are dying the internet is the new media comments, sadly the facts are different i sell £400 a month in magazines and have done for the past 5 years it has not changed at all, as for reviews on this site clearly jimmy can devote as much space as he thinks is required to do the car justice,put in as many photo's something of course the magazines cannot do, online reviews are a risk for the distributor, who is oople? a 15 year semi literate schoolboy with no journalistic training, no audited classification on who reads it?. how many emails do you think AE,CML etc get a week from people asking for free stuff to put on the web promising a 155000 hits. now we know that jimmy is in fact a 20+ semi illiterate schoolboy who actually can influence a cars sales can write a damn fine review and takes some blurry pictures at every national event, i am convinced in a few months that when the latest new off road car is due for release the marketing people at cml/helger will be saying 1 car for racer, 1 car for rrci and 1 for oople, in the mean time those of us who can help will do so, in my case i am helping jimmy with some stuff, but make no mistake i am doing it because i believe i will get more sales and therfore more money in my pocket, by helping him i get shop advertising targeted at the off road racing community which will hopefully mean more sales for me.

[BenG]

i keep hearing the old magazines are dying the internet is the new media comments, sadly the facts are different i sell £400 a month in magazines and have done for the past 5 years it has not changed at all, as for reviews on this site clearly jimmy can devote as much space as he thinks is required to do the car justice,put in as many photo's something of course the magazines cannot do, online reviews are a risk for the distributor, who is oople? a 15 year semi literate schoolboy with no journalistic training, no audited classification on who reads it?. how many emails do you think AE,CML etc get a week from people asking for free stuff to put on the web promising a 155000 hits. now we know that jimmy is in fact a 20+ semi illiterate schoolboy who actually can influence a cars sales can write a damn fine review and takes some blurry pictures at every national event, i am convinced in a few months that when the latest new off road car is due for release the marketing people at cml/helger will be saying 1 car for racer, 1 car for rrci and 1 for oople, in the mean time those of us who can help will do so, in my case i am helping jimmy with some stuff, but make no mistake i am doing it because i believe i will get more sales and therfore more money in my pocket, by helping him i get shop advertising targeted at the off road racing community which will hopefully mean more sales for me.

Some interesting stuff there, I looked into racer, and found it to be too pricey, not sure what RCCI is like.

I think Jim has a good portfolio of reviews under his belt now, which could be used to throw his influence a little more. per haps we can put a media pack together, and try and measure the effectiveness oOple has. Jim I have an idea, I will speak to you on MSN. :D;)

[jimmy]

The thing about magazines is that its there for a month then gone forever - I like the idea that people can read up on stuff months and years later. I know when I started that I wanted to read up on the cars that were about, which might have been out for years.
I do read mags often, I don't read them so much now because I don't like to be influenced in any way (compromises my originallity!) but I do like to see some blurry photos sometimes :D.

Most of what I ask from companies is their words - but most are simply not interested even to answer a few Q's -which winds me up a bit sometimes.
I really am grateful to you john- This is my favorite way to do it.

20+ ? you are too kind john! haha.

[modelimages]

i got the semi illiterate bit right then

[jimmy]

I would never attempt any claim at English language proficiency! Indeed- I leave behind me a tattered and confused garbled mess which is refined and honed by a parallell array of 'oOploid' helpers, well versed in the art of spell checking. :D

Just read some of the 'race reports' I write- now those aren't checked by anyone (even me) but usually written in the car on the laptop, or at 3am after a race day - you'll vomit from the lack of sense.

[PaulRotheram]

nice one woody, glad to see things got sorted in the end.

as for other cars + members, i'm happy enough to put summet together for the bj4 over this season if you want jim, the car will be remaining in my stable for a long time to come.

[Northy]

the camber link mounts have a design flaw and can be damaged with a knock on the bottom edge of the wheel (so it PULLS on the camber link). They just need more material to stop this.

Jimmy, I have an idea for strengthening the part I think, PM me :)

G

[jimmy]

yeah I think that would work mate, the back of the brace is slightly angled - the front (where the studs attach) isnt. But if you put it at the front it would push them further forward slightly which might be a problem.
I think a brace of some description would be a good idea though.

[Mrs oOple]

i'm happy enough to put summet together for the bj4 over this season if you want jim.



Hold that thought, I have some ideas forming in my rather fuzzy brain.

[TRF_Tastic]

Jimmy, we are working on an additional brace for that item, when I have finalised drawings I'll let you know, as we are getting a couple machined up for local drivers.

[HairySteve]

Keep us posted on those braces TRF Tastic, I haven't bent my top lin k mounts yet but I suppose with the outdoor season approaching it's only a matter of time! :D I've just got some parts through from ebay, stocking up on spare drive belts, wheels, and a set of eccentric belt tensioners and some anti roll bars for the grass tracks... My motto is you cxan never have too many spares ;)
-Steve

[jimmy]

Stu will be racing the Tamiya at Worksop tomorrow if anyone is going? Spares aren't here yet so the rear camber brace is a bit of a worry, if any Tamiya guys are going and have a spare of this part then please bring it! :)

[HairySteve]

Just a thought, might be worth buying a complete trf501 kit off ebay and break it up for spares, things like the body shell, wing, undertray, all the plastic parts, drive belts, wheels, pulleys, bearings, cvd's etc would be popular enough spares, and I'm sure people will need some of the carbon and aluminium bits. I doubt you'll have much of it left within a couple of weeks once the outdoor race season proper starts. ;)
-Steve

[footey]

ive got a tamiya 501x plus alot of spares pm me for details of sale

[jimmy]

Woody finished 2nd today at Worksop. In practice he clipped a corner which rolled the car and the shock tower grabbed the floor which cracked it - pretty much any car would have done the same or worse in the same situation so no biggie really. The tower held the rest of the day though (no spare).
We put on the new optional front blocks thanks to TRF-TASTIC after checking them against the kit plastic blocks (both 10degree, kit ball stud is slightly higher than the alloy default setting).
I think the main changes stu did today was aimed toward getting more steering on the slippy worksop track - silver (AE) front springs, raising the outer ball stud 2mm on the new alloy front hubs. The setup definately wasn't quite as dialled as it has been on other tracks but it was still good. It was woodys first time at the track in many years and its a bit of a strange one.

Damage so far - the rear camber brace needs replacing, the front shock tower needs replacing soon, the undertray got destroyed, the rear diff balls got destroyed.

Stu also noticed something with the front one-way. Push the arm up whilst the wheel is spinning freely and at the top of its travel the CVD binds up and will unsettle the car. The cause is the orange foam things included in the one-way kit to keep the outdrives in place. They are just too hard. Stu replaced them with tiny off-cuts of inner foam which takes all the binding away.

[DCM]

Jim, I beleive you can swap the diff plates out for Yokomo ones on the diff (well, on the TRF tourers anyways) and it allows you to run Carbide balls, and jobs a good 'un.

Fabien has a carbon rear camber brace, will ask him if he can make some up.

[geebee]

Hi,

I noticed that the stock diff balls wear fast. The optional tungsten balls from Tamiya (3mm) will give you smooth diff that will last almost for ever.

Gil

[jimmy]

Well, I now have Jimmy Maddison / Ballys old 501X, so I can now review 501X parts without going over to woodys house to borrow the review car back :D and of course it means I have a whole car in spares in case Woody breaks anything.

[cherrypop]

The thing about magazines is that its there for a month then gone forever

Couldn't agree more.

This is a clear case of old media (print media) versus new media (the Web in all its forms).

There's a place for both. But the resistance, or lack of interest, Jimmy receives from manufacturers baffles me in some ways and doesn't surprise me in others.

Jimmy, what you're doing with oOple.com reminds me in some ways of what WRC did for rally. oOple has stylized it's category, it take's an enthusiast's approach to the content, it doesn't under estimate the reader's level of patience (read: oOple isn't afraid of in-depth coverage/reviews), and it succeeds at making it all fun and exciting.

I know you're not looking for suggestions, but I think you would have a market for some paid-for content, much like WRC.com has.

For example, some of us might pay for as-it-happens SMS race updates and results. Or a subscription model (of some sort) for access to quality race video and/or pit interviews.

Keep up the insanely good work, Jimmy. I've been a fan for a long time and have really enjoyed watching the site and oOple lifestyle flourish.

[stefke]

Hi,

I noticed that the stock diff balls wear fast. The optional tungsten balls from Tamiya (3mm) will give you smooth diff that will last almost for ever.

Gil

Just rebuilt my diffs with ceramic diff balls from oOple sponsor Kanzen. WOW : what a difference ! The diffs are smooth as silk now.

Service from Kanzen was first class. :)

[jimmy]

Well I'm sure we'll have a proper update later, but Stu took the car out for its first National this weekend and qualified 2nd in the B final. The car took some time to dial into the dirt surface, but with two 9th in round scores Stu was one point from the A final.
The only real upgrade we tried on the car was to add the Kanzen ceramic diff balls - these are a world of difference from the kit items which tend to slip and quickly ruin the diff rings.


Other than Stu and myself - was anyone else racing the Tamiya 501X at the Tiverton National? I didn't see any that's all.

[woOdy]

I dont think so mate. Just me and you:( . Then again there was only ten imported into the UK;) .

[ashleyb4]

Yea stu good luck with the 501x this year it looked a beast at the indoor finals. And i hope to see you about at soem of the other nationals.

A:)

[geebee]

Jimmy, Stu,

that would be great if you could post the 501 Tiverton setup. Thank you in advance.
Next round of French national will take place in Montigny (Euro 2005 track, grass) and then it will be in Vierzon which is a dirt track. So it would be nice to have a good starting setup for dirt :p

Hope you can enter the A main next time :)

Gil

[woOdy]

Jimmy, Stu,

that would be great if you could post the 501 Tiverton setup. Thank you in advance.
Next round of French national will take place in Montigny (Euro 2005 track, grass) and then it will be in Vierzon which is a dirt track. So it would be nice to have a good starting setup for dirt :p

Hope you can enter the A main next time :)

Gil

Thanks Gill. I will do it as soon as possible. The car was very good in the end but had to do a lot of changes to it to make it go faster round the long sweepers. Thanks again.