Sunday bash with aftermath!

Today I took the Slash out for the first time in anger and you guessed it... I broke it!

I was running it on the BMX track in Wymondham and after a particularly ungraceful landing on its roof the rear shock mount broke causing the bottom of the car to drop to the floor and lift the rear wheels up!

That 2" gap shouldn't be there!

Disappointing as I didn't even get onto the second battery! I was starting to get the hang of it too, not as precise as the Hyper 12 on the same track and more difficult to control the angle of flight with the throttle but put together a tidy line and it made good progress.

Slash disabled it was time to see Chris at work to have a look at his Ansmann Vapour which was playing up under heavy throttle. It turned out that the carb was set too lean and we were just starting to get a good level of tune on it when the clutch died! Oh well, that will have to wait for another time.

I had the RS4 with me and was keen to try the new shocks to see if they improved the handling. After ages trying to get the thing started (flooded > too lean > flooded > too lean > blister from the pull start....) we were off and I think that there was some improvement there. It was still a challenge to drive but it seemed to be in contact with the road at least half of the time, a massive improvement on before!

The engine in this thing is a mystery. It runs great but throws out tons of smoke and drinks through a tank of fuel in no time at all. Too rich right? The almost flush HSN would agree but it is already running hot and leaning it up just causes it to cut out on heavy throttle. I'm pretty certain that it is running lean... but with loads of smoke and a drink habit... confused! Whatever the case this thing is quick, I just wish it was a bit more controllable.

Inevitably the crappy old Tamiya tyres didn't last long!

So as a true basher I ran it on the rims! To be fair there was a little bit of rubber left where the tread ripped from the beads and due to the stuck hexs these wheels were junk anyway.

Despite rattling around on the rims nothing seems to have shaken loose but I will be checking all the screws before the next run!