Under the hood with a new class, 1/8 "Lite" E Buggy

A new class is beginning to surface at tracks all around the world. The class is being dubbed the "1/8 Pro Lite" class in most cases. What's a "1/8 Pro Lite" buggy? It's a new class that is using 4wd SC electronics or smaller power plants that don't carry the immense power the 1/8 Electric buggy class has come to be known by.  There are no official rules at the moment but some general rules are being passed around from track to track.  In this "Under the Hood" I take you into my own Pro Lite e-buggy build up.

I started with a fresh TLR Ten SCTE 2.0 SC truck kit. That paired with the new MIP Pro 8 Superlite e buggy kit would be the foundation of my build. MIP was the first to develop a purpose built conversion kit for a 4wd SC truck to convert to this new Pro Lite class. I won't bore you with the standard build up and "tips" you're used to seeing.

The build starts off with the front steering assembly and front diff. Aside from the standard diff build I chose to install the MIP Super Diff kits in all 3 diffs. They include new hardened cross pins, washers and hardened cross pin bushings that help improve the diff smoothness. I chose to drop in the MIP steering upgrade kit that comes with titanium steering links and new rod ends. They add a bit more steering throw and allow for more bump steer adjustment options. Protek RC makes one of the nicer shock/rod end tools out there. Take advantage of it's useful rod end guide when building your kit!



In the steering I did upgrade the steering posts to the lightened blue aluminum MIP units(not shown). I had a bit of a time seating the outer diff bearings onto the diff housing. A trick I was shown was to use the TLR 17mm nut wrench which has a whole in it, to act as a "press" tool. Pretty slick.

Again more "normal" build steps like the front suspension pieces, etc. With the MIP Pro8 Superlite kit you do get some nice 17mm hub adapters and their unique lock nuts for the kit. Note there are 2 different widths in the kit, 5.5s in front, 8.0s in rear.

Next up was the center diff which includes the upgraded MIP Puck Drive system. I also chose to use the MIP 41T spur gear since I've had good success with them and find them a bit quieter than stock.

I chose the Tekin T8i in 1950kv for my build since I plan on using a Protek 4s 3500mah pack.

The Protek pack is the same size as a standard 2s pack so it's a direct drop into the factory battery mount! Sweet!

I dropped in my custom painted Tekin Rx8 Gen2 and KO Propo radio equipment. My Tekin Rx8 Gen2 esc gives me an HV BEC output allowing me to get maximum performance from the KO Response HV Servo. 

As you cans see in the pictures my car is ready for some "setup" on the bench in preparation to run. I'm using the DE Racing setup wheels and chose to use a JConcepts Punisher wing which comes with an optional gurney flap for tuning.  I managed to get lucky with this setup in the end as my SikLidz custom painted body from my other kit drops right on after a quick "adjustment" to the stock nerf bar mounts on the side guards. 

Matt Olson from MIP put in a hard charge at the CRCRC Midwest champs with his MIP Pro 8 buggy kit taking 3rd overall running nearly the exact same setup you see here. Note: Tekin dominated the 1/8 E Buggy class taking all 3 podium positions.

Ready to hit the track with tires, battery, 2742 grams!

So what do you think of this new emerging class? Hit us up on Facebook, Twitter or Google + to talk it out!

Randy Pike

Factory MIP Pro8 Build Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1bAjyVToI

Tekin takes Round 2 of the JConcepts Top Notch Winter Series

Round 2 of the JConcepts Top Notch Winter series would be hosted at  Coyote Hobbies Indoor RC Raceway in Victorville, CA. Team Associated's Kevin Motter, TLR’s Shawn Blackwell and James Raschko, Tekno RC's Rudy Rico and Chris Blais, Kyosho's Cody Turner and Mike Bustamante, Josh Mitchell and a number of very fast local racers were all in attendance. Two rounds of 5 minute qualifiers, followed by 5 minute A Mains and  announcing would be handled by Notch Johnson. There were 280 entries this round!

Tekin team driver Lucas Sanford would take his Tekin RSX ESC and Redline Gen2 6.5 powered RT6 truck to an overall Tq and victory for the round.

2wd Mod Buggy was a close between some of the fastest drivers around. Sanford would take 3rd overall with his Tekin RSX ESC and Redline Gen2 7.5 Rb6 buggy.

Lucas had this to say "I cannot be happier with my new Tekin RSX ESC and Redline Gen2 7.5 turn motor!"

Sanford would also go on to Tq the 1/8 Pro E buggy class and Tq 4wd Mod buggy!

Tekin driver Barry Pettit turns a negative into a positive!

Barry talks about this past weekend: "What a wet weekend on the East Coast! Our original plans to race at the Colonel's Classic in Savannah, Ga., were cancelled due to a gloomy forecast of rain for the entire southeast. We were fortunate to be able to travel to Knoxville, Tn. to a track that is located in a Knoxville Zoo pavillion, which means it is fully covered!

This was our first trip to this track and we were pleasantly surprised. The name of the track and the RC club is ROCCK Racing and they are a great bunch of guys. Although this was a regular scheduled club race, the attendance was high due to the rain and the race in Savannah being cancelled. I ran two classes, Nitro and Electric Buggy. I went on to TQ and win E-Buggy with my Tekin Rx8 Gen2 T8 Gen2 powered Mugen Mbx Eco buggy.

I look forward to going back in a couple of weeks to a featured race at the ROCCK."

Fasnacht and Tekin 2013 Turkey Derby Champion

It was a great day of racing at the 6th annual Turkey Derby held at the Strand RC Raceway. The track is roughly a 108' run line and everyone decided to run super truck which uses 17.5 motors and blinky speedos. on the tight track.

The day started off with not much traction in the rug so lap times weren't very great. A few hours later and we were pulling 3.3 second lap times and finishing on mid 3.5 second laps. In attendance were team drivers Cory Fasnacht, Mike O'brien, and Bill Osborn. Bill and Cory were fast early on and kept stepping it up round after round.

The track record fell that day numerous times. First round Cory Fasnacht took down the record with a 68 4:00. Bill Osborn took it down in the 2nd round with a 69 4:02. Franklin Brink took it down in the 3rd round with almost a 70 lap run. In the end Bill Osborn took the A-main win, Cory Fasnacht was on his bumper for 4 full minutes and brought home the 2nd spot followed by Mike O'brien in 3rd.

Cory Fasnacht was crowned 2013 Turkey Derby Champion as he finished 2nd and had the highest average of people running multiple classes. More details at www.strandrcracing.com.

Tekin and Cravotta win Maine State Champs!

Maximus RC hosted the Maine State Champs this past weekend. Huge props go out to them because a water main broke inside the building and it took them all day Saturday to fix it and then get the track ready. The very cold weather and snow kept some of the racers from showing up. They still had 98 entries considering the conditions. Tekin factory driver John Cravotta was in attendance. He recaps his weekend:

"My Tekin powered X-Factory X6 Squared Buggy felt great in practice. The new Tekin RSX and GEN2 8.5 was super smooth all day allowing me to put crazy power down in every corner. Rd1 went well making a couple of mistakes but still setting TQ with 17 laps 5:14 with a .708 Deviation . Left some time on the track that I knew I could get back in Rd2. Rd2 had the run I was waiting for and improved my TQ by 3 seconds with 17 lap run in 5:11. In the A Main I Checked out and won start to finish with 17 laps 5:07.

Rd1 2wd SC went well, but also made mistakes and missing TQ by 3 seconds.  Left a lot of time on the track. Rd2 started off great, on a TQ run by over 5 seconds.  Made a mistake and got tied up with lap traffic and did not set TQ and qualified 2nd in the A Main. A Main started great myself and the leader trained for the whole race. He never gave me a inch to pass until he made a mistake trying to go inside on lap traffic without slowing down. He rubbed fenders with him and slowed him down enough for me to pass on the outside with only 25 seconds left in the race. My Tekin powered X-Factory SCX-60CF felt great on the Jconcepts Black Pressure  points. The Tekin Rsx and GEN2 7.5 combo put the power down through the B-Fast diff and MIP CVD's allowing me to take the win. He did everything to get by me but I shut the door, It was a crazy fun race.

What a great way to start the 2014 Season! I want to thank all my sponsors for the continued support for another year. " John Cravotta

New Teking factory driver Griffin Hanna wins 1st time out!

Tekin factory driver Griffin Hanna rolled out to "The Pit" for the annual New Years race located in Columbia SC. Around 94 entrees for the race.Griffin ran 1/10 mod 2wd buggy and Pro nitro buggy. After 2 rounds of qualifying in 2wd buggy Griffin was Top Qualifier. Double A-mains for electric allowed Griffin to go 1-1 for the overall win! "My Team Tekin Racing Gen 2 RS esc and Redline Gen2 8.5 motor was screaming." Griffin

Big thanks to all our sponsors Tekin, Mugen Seiki Racing,Maxy Velazco motors,Competition Suspension Inc.,Mitchell Looper M2C Racing,Advantage Racing Products Sweep Racing Tires and Leadfinger r/c. Thanks to Joe Peregoy for the sick paint jobs.Looking forward to the 2014 race season.

Tekin wins at the 2013 USOWC

2013 USOWC (Us Open Wheel Championship) is over and Tekin Team driver Eric Salvas recaps his successful weekend.

4WD mod late model class. Tq'd round 2, but qualified 2nd overall. I would win the dash which gave me the top starting spot in the A-main.  The A-main kicked off and I managed to dodge all the bullets to WIN the fastest class of the week!  I used a Tekin RX8 Gen2 along with a Redline Gen2 4.5. Others would suffer from heat or shut down but my Tekin powered CW dominator was strong all week.

Sprint car 17.5. Car ran great...had a bad draw for the dash (6) (dash were 2 min race that determined the starting positions for the mains)...came back from behind to grab 3rd place to start from there in the main. In the main had a crash early...but rallied back to a close second 0.3 behind the winner...a couple more laps but time ran out.

Late model 17.5. Again had a bad draw for the dash (5) and again came back to second in the 2 min race to start outside pole in the main. Had to deal with traffic in the main that cost me some the top spot. Pushed hard and fast at the end to finished less than a car lenght of the winner just 0.1sec back so another close 2nd place in the A final!

EDM 17.5. Got the TQ just in front of brother and teammate Steve!  A bad car in the dash gave me a 6th starting position in the main feature. Car back to its normal performance allowed me to rally back to a real close second behind the winner 0.3 second. Had the car to win it...but the error in the dash cost me a win in the main!