Richard Lowe is one of the North East region's top drivers in 2wd and 4wd, with the Associated B4 and Jconcepts BJ4x4 Worlds Edition, respectively. Richard was one of the first people in the UK to race the original BJ4x4, driving it to great success, now with the BJ4x4 Worlds Edition he has so far achieved two A finals at National level (outdoors) - and 3RD at the 2006 National Indoor Finals. Name: Richard Lowe Age: 23 Years Racing: 15 First Car: Tamiya Kingcab Sponsors: JConcepts Favourite Track: Tiverton/Aire Valley Best Racing Result: 2005 National Indoor Finals - 2nd

Hi Richard
You were one of the first to get the original BJ4x4 after trying your hand at the TC3'0' conversion for the TC3 tourer. What appealed about the JConcepts car and how did you get interested in it ?

The TC3'0 was a nice idea but anyone that’s run one will know there were some major design flaws, mainly because RCProductDesigns wanted to use as many standard TC3 parts as possible and have the ability to convert the car back to a tourer. The more I ran the car the more compromises I discovered and the more idea's I came up with for my own car. Just as I was going to look into getting some parts machined the first photos of the BJ4 appeared on RC10B4.com, someone had done the hard work for me. The BJ4 had the proven TC3 drive train but B4 suspension geometry, the car just looked 'right'. The engineering on the car is beautiful, until you see one up close it's hard to appreciate how well thought out all the little things are.

I heard you met up with Jason Ruona whilst on holiday, what was that all about ?

When I was in America I was chatting with Jason about ordering some body shells, rather than posting them he drove over to the hotel to deliver them and brought the then prototype [original bj4x4] car over for me to have a look at too! Top fella!!


You did really well with the original BJ4x4, I guess your best result being 2nd at the National Indoor Finals in 2005. What do you see as the main advantages of the new Worlds car ?

The original car was great on smooth tracks but occasionally had trouble with heavily rutted surfaces, with more weight over the rear wheels the Worlds Edition rides the bumps very well. The original car also had a LOT of steering which may have been a bit much for some people, the Worlds Edition has retained the steering but the back end is now glued to the track as well. Combined with the redesigned steering rack the new car is generally much smoother, more forgiving to drive and faster.

Are there any disadvantages with the new design ? e.g. harder to work on, more fragile etc ?

None that I've found yet!

What is your usual front drive, one-way diff, centre one way or full-time 4WD ? And when, if at all, would you change between them ?

Most of the time I use the NTC3 one-way diff, I like my cars to have a lot of steering (on-power especially) and this suits my driving style really well. The only situation I wouldn't run the one-way diff is when the track is badly broken up (in which case I use the centre lay shaft one-way - JC1151), although after my experience with the out drive springs (JC1156) I may never take the one-way out!

Any tips you can share about the car ?

When you build the slipper assembly make sure you use some good thread lock on the t-nut, if you don't it will work its way loose. Also make sure you have a long ball end 3/32 Allen driver handy as it makes installing the motor quite a bit easier.
Jason and Brad have put a lot of work into making the car fall together, hopefully everyone will enjoy building and driving theirs

Many thanks Richard and good luck !