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Old 01-04-2009
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Default First post: Academy STR-4 Pro II - setup for slippery floor?

Hello all,

I've just started racing this year, and Oople was recommended to me by my club mate, 'jimlee'.

I thought I'd make myself known, and in the process revive a moribund sub-forum...

I acquired an Academy STR-4 Pro II touring car off eBay a few months back, and have been having a devil of a time getting it to handle on my local club's venue, a slippery wooden floor. The main problem is lack of rear-end grip around corners, with fishtailing and the occasional 180 degree spin. The fact I'm a throttle-happy (in the corners) newb doesn't help...

Car specs:
- Tyres are Schumacher yellow mini-pins,
- Shocks have stock oil and springs (I've been looking to get softer ones for the rear).
- I have the choice of one-way or ball-diff for the front,
- I have a selection of spur gears - gearing is currently quite conservative, with stock pinion and 80T spur gear.
- I've just acquired a ECSpeed ESC + 11.5T brushless motor; it has a lot of options for fine-tuning performance. I had been using a 3300kv no-name brushless (from a Nitrotek Lightning Strike buggy).

My main adjustments thus far have been adjusting shocks and camber, with varying degrees of success. I'm hoping some forum gurus can give me some more suggestions, perhaps specific to this car.

Thanks
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Old 04-08-2010
Cain Cain is offline
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did you ever find out how to fix your issues?
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Old 04-08-2010
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'Fraid not - the club is primarily off-road, so I got a buggy. Then I moved, took the Academy along to an indoor touring car club, where it grip rolled all over the place until it ate the rear bevel gear :S The lack of spares availability makes it a tricky car to race, so I got a TA05.
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Old 05-08-2010
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yeah, thats the issue I am dealing with indoors. the car other than the grip roll actually is very good for VTA racing.
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Old 05-08-2010
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I figured that it needed a front anti-roll bar at the time, but that was just one part I couldn't find anywhere. If Modelrec shipped outside of North America, it might have been doable, but they don't. Academy as a RC brand in the UK basically doesn't exist with no distributer willing to take them on.
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Old 05-08-2010
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from what I could tell, I got rid of alot of the grip roll with linkage changes, the roll bars also seemed to work well too, but when traction would come up alot with the spec tires, would cause it to go over.

Thats unfortunate about no support in your region.
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Old 05-08-2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cain View Post
from what I could tell, I got rid of alot of the grip roll with linkage changes, the roll bars also seemed to work well too, but when traction would come up alot with the spec tires, would cause it to go over.

Thats unfortunate about no support in your region.
There's rumour that we'll be dropping our stock class from 10.5T to 17.5T - if that's the case, a shaft drive car might be the ticket! Also less breakages...doesn't solve the spares issue, but might alleviate it.
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Old 05-08-2010
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with the timing boosting ESCs and such, you can sure make a 17.5 fast.

One of the pluses for the STR4 Pro II I found at least was that it was highly durable in comparison to say a TC3, etc. I think the only real issue I had was the screw that goes into the knuckle sometimes would fall out.
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Old 05-08-2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cain View Post
with the timing boosting ESCs and such, you can sure make a 17.5 fast.

One of the pluses for the STR4 Pro II I found at least was that it was highly durable in comparison to say a TC3, etc. I think the only real issue I had was the screw that goes into the knuckle sometimes would fall out.
I'd agree there - I've taken out buggies with it!

On the parts front, the majority of them are available from Stormer Hobbies, and many also are found in the SBV2.

To get back on topic, could you share some knowledge about STR4 setups? As I'm not racing on slippy floor any more, asphalt and carpet (medium grip) would be most useful!
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Old 05-08-2010
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what specific would you want to know. bear in mind, I am still chasing a setup to get rid of grip roll in the VTA class I run, however, I think its me oversaucing the tires and they have too much traction.

For swaybars, I found the black ones work well.

Also, do you need a breakdown of the springs? I have one and can post.
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Old 05-08-2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cain View Post
what specific would you want to know. bear in mind, I am still chasing a setup to get rid of grip roll in the VTA class I run, however, I think its me oversaucing the tires and they have too much traction.

For swaybars, I found the black ones work well.

Also, do you need a breakdown of the springs? I have one and can post.
I've not found the swaybars anywhere - I have a set for the Tamiya TA05 which I'll try for fit first. I have a batch of Yokomo & Schumacher SST TC springs which would do. I have a spring chart tucked away on Google Docs.

If I do give it a go, it'll be for the indoor winter season on carpet with rubber tyres. Front diff will either be ball diff or the kit one-way.

Incidentally, DMS-Racing (UK retailer) still have a fair few Academy parts.
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Oople Invernational 2010 - Sodden Sunday
Muchmore N. Irish GP 2010 (Touring cars)
BADMCC 1/8th Nitro buggies

Current cars:
X6^2 | JC BJ4WE | TM E4 & E4JS | HPI E-Firestorm | Losi Crawler | + many F1s, super crawlers, scalers, drifters in the works...
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Old 05-08-2010
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great, lets keep in touch so when the season starts, can run some setups off of each other.

One big thing I found useful I changed on the stock car was going with the 3 degree toe-in block in the rear. I have 2 of the cars, and one with the stock 2 degree and its a big difference as far as how the rear felt.
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Old 05-08-2010
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i've just moved up north from cornwall and i'm gonna start racing against you northern monkeys.

I'll be coming to the next regionals but would like to know who's the men to beat
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Old 05-08-2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cain View Post
great, lets keep in touch so when the season starts, can run some setups off of each other.

One big thing I found useful I changed on the stock car was going with the 3 degree toe-in block in the rear. I have 2 of the cars, and one with the stock 2 degree and its a big difference as far as how the rear felt.
It just so happens there's just such a part on ebay right now: 220597996219

I think #1 driver posted in the wrong thread - I'm in Northern Ireland and Cain is in
North America!
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Photos:
Oople Invernational 2010 - Sodden Sunday
Muchmore N. Irish GP 2010 (Touring cars)
BADMCC 1/8th Nitro buggies

Current cars:
X6^2 | JC BJ4WE | TM E4 & E4JS | HPI E-Firestorm | Losi Crawler | + many F1s, super crawlers, scalers, drifters in the works...
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