From site sponsors Eurohobbies we have news about the launch of the new SpeedMind tires for 1/8 On-Road, 1/10 Touring Gas and 1/12 On-Road. These new tires are made with the best Japanese foam, coming factory-sealed to keep them as fresh as when they were made. For the 1/8 On-Road tires SpeedMind is innovating using only 2 foam bands on the 1/8 rear tires, providing improved grip. They are available now from Eurohobbies for Serpent, Mugen and Kyosho.

For more information visit www.eurohobbies.es.

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Team Associated have announced the signing of young California native Steven Hartson. Steven will race the full line of Associated, Reedy and LRP products including the Reedy 121 VR engine and the LRP 1:8 SPX8 system and like many on the AE team will use Sidewinder fuel combined with JConcepts tires and accessories. Hartson brings the out-right speed comparable to the top electric racers in the world, but as of yet has not had the opportunities to showcase his talents in the 1:8 scene. With multiple A-Main finishes in 1:10 National Championships and major International events, Hartson looks to transfer these results to the ultra- competitive U.S. 1:8 scale scene. Local to Southern California, he’s sure to get his feet wet fast with weekly competitors such as teammate Ryan Cavalieri, Cody King, Adam Drake, Mike Truhe, Ryan Lutz and so on. Hartson’s first race with his Reedy powered RC8B and RC8e will come in two weeks at the Toys for Tots event at Thunder Alley Raceway in Beaumont, CA.

Source: Associated [rc10.com]

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Steven Hartson snapped up by Team Associated

HPI have released a whole load of new products, with a focus being on their new short course truck, the Blitz. New for the Blitz are these aluminium threaded shocks for the front and rear of the truck. These tough, precision-machined anodized aluminum shocks deliver low friction for smooth dampening and better handling. Features include tough aluminium construction, titanium nitride coated shafts for smooth operation, track-tuned springs, 40wt silicone shock oil and threaded bodies with preload collars for fast and easy ride height adjustment. To add custom looks to your truck their are these new shock part sets that come in orange, brown or clear anodizing. Also for the shock absorbers, HPI have released new racing spring sets, giving a wide variety of tuning choices to dial in the handling of their trucks to track conditions for faster lap times. This set features 4 pairs of gray front springs that are color coded for easy identification. Lastly for the Blitz, new precision molded 48 pitch nylon spur gears are available in 77T, 83T & 88T and come with the slipper pad pre-applied, making them a direct bolt-on replacement part. Finally from HPI there are two new servos, the high torque SF-20 and SH-33PS, the former being a high performance upgrade to the SF-1 servo and a direct replacement for the SF-2 servo, while the latter is a high performance mini servo intended for cars like the HPI Cup Racer and other 1/12 scale cars.

Source: HPI [hpiracing.com]

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HPI Blitz options & new servos

Last weekend the 6th and final round of the Malaysia National Cup 2009 was held at the NRC racetrack near Singapore. For this final event drivers from Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia were invited to celebrate the last race of the season. After three rounds of qualifying Motonica driver Jesse Wu from Singapore claimed the TQ followed by the Shepherd drivers Luk Chee Hung from Hong Kong and Niko Cheng from Malaysia. These three drivers were the only ones to complete a 22 lap qualifier. At the start of the 45 min final Niko Cheng showed good pace and took over the lead followed by Jesse Wu and Luk Chee Hung. For the first 20 minutes the order remained the same until a small driving error of Cheng allowed Wu and Hung to pass him. Soon Hung had to retire due to some problems and the battle for the lead was between Wu and Cheng. But also Wu suffered some technical problems and for the last 15 minutes Niko Cheng cruised to the victory. By winning the grand final of the Malaysian National Cup he also secured himself the championship title.

Source: Shepherd [team-shepherd.com]

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Niko Cheng wins Malaysian National Cup

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Xray have released this optional 1-piece aluminium suspension holder for the T3, that is a direct replacement for the standard rear holders of the front suspension. This new part will reinforce the chassis and prevent chassis damage in serious crashes. The aluminum holder will make the front suspension a bit stiffer and will also make the car slightly less steering responsive.

Source: Xray [teamxray.com]

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Xray T3 1-piece aluminium suspension holder

Xray released their 2009 Spec edition of their successful XT8 truggy some time ago but although it hit the market a few months back it is still one of the quickest and best equipped truggies out there. We take a look at the innovations that went into the 2009 Spec and tell you, why Xray’s XT8 is a hot ticket for racers and bashers alike.

The basic design of the XT8 goes back a couple of years when the Slovakian company released their first nitro off-road buggy, the XB8. Based on its proven platform, Xray released the XT8 truggy in May 2007. The long-awaited truck made a big impact on the racing scene as it combined the proven Xray quality and Juraj Hudy’s very clear and intelligent way of designing rc racing cars.

As time went by Xray released several option parts to make the XT8 even tougher, faster and nicer. These then went straight into the current XT8 2009 Spec edition of the truck. While the ‘2007 Spec’ showed a lot of machined and black anodised T6 aluminium, the 2009 truck made use of Juraj’s latest design ideas in terms of graphite instead of aluminium. Several new parts like CF front and rear shock towers, radio and centre diff mounting plate as well as a CF steering plate found their way into the truck. To compete with the current breed of racing truggies, Xray’s XT8 increased in length and width thanks to a longer chassis plate and ‘+5 mm’ offset wheel hexes. New ‘big bore’ shocks known from the all new XB808 buggy are the cherry on the cake as they replace the previous ‘small diameter’ shocks.

Other refinements such as harder clutch springs, new CNC machined engine mounts, several new turnbuckles as well as lightweight wheel axles, universal joints and matching universals completed the updated 2009 Spec truck.

Front
The front of the 2009 Spec XT8 underwent the most updates compared to the previous truck. The long lower wishbones remained the same but Xray did away with the ‘triangle’ upper wishbones in favour for a simple construction consisting of ball cups and long 75 mm turnbuckles. This speeds up roll centre changes as the inner ball cup mounts directly to the shock tower meaning the position of the inner pivot point is adjustable by loosening a nut and a screw. With the ‘old’ XT8 this was a task of detaching the front shock tower or the rear upper suspension mount.

A big change to the previous truck are the 2009 big bore shocks with that are specially designed for the truggy in terms of length and shock pistons used. Just like the 2009 and 2010 spec XB808 buggy the shocks come with rubber boots for the shock shafts preventing them from becoming dirty and grimy in muddy or dusty conditions.

The remainder of the front set-up is untouched from the previous truck. The gear differential is equipped with a hardened 43T bevel gear, ‘long’ hardened outdrives and a 10T input gear. Xray supplied 7000 cSt silicone oil which seems to be a good basic set-up. From stock the XT8 2009 Spec comes with a 2.4 mm anti-roll bar up front that keeps the truck nice and flat in fast corners. The steering is unchanged compared to the 2007 Spec truck, beside a carbon fibre steering plate that now offers two instead of three different steering Ackermann positions. The thick carbon fibre shock tower offers more inner positions for the roll-centre as now the inner ball cup is attachable to five different holes.

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