Rio's Whiteout Tハチロク FR-S

[Rio]

I was looking around the forum and I found a thread on R/C Twins. And after .12 seconds I thought "geeze, I have an HPI and a Tamiya chassis that have been sitting around here for about 7 years. So let's revive one of them as an FR-S!"

So I went on eBay and ordered the body and wheels.

Went to the hobby store and picked up an upgraded brush-less motor and a couple LiPO batteries. So today I've been soldering connectors, painting wheels and installing the new electronic parts. Tomorrow test running the chassis/new motor and starting the long body painting process :-) So far I'm loving my pseudo holiday break.

[PandaBRZ]

Nice! I have my old Team Associated TC3 I should revive. The shocks need to be rebuilt and I'm pretty sure the battery pack is dead...

[suaveflooder]

Lovin' this thread so far!!

[Rio]

So much for finishing this project tonight before starting work again tomorrow. I guess I have the weekend to finish it.

The chassis test FAILED! The diffs need tightening which means taking it almost completely apart. If you know about these high end R/Cs, you know this is not a 5 minute deal. The rest did great. The Duratrax 3900kV brushless system + LiPO 5000 batteries works perfectly.

So instead of fixing the diffs, today I painted the body



and the wheels


Yes, those are rotors
The paint job is not even good but I was not going for perfection necessarily. The exhaust area still needs painting and detailing.

One sad thing is that this is a BRZ body and the front can't really be modified to look like the FR-S, but I'm good with that. It's still a twin!

Tomorrow, Skycart! This weekend, I'll work on the body and diffs.

Later!

[Rio]

The diffs are fixed and the headlights/tail lights are complete. Now the rear bumper black trim, exhaust and front grill. It runs already and it's freaking FAST!!!!

[FRSfan111]

I like the RC, how does it compare to the electric drift cars they sell at formula D events? Looks like yours is much more customizable! I just have the tankard FRS scion gave me for the first 86 program.

Nice to see more Oregon members.

[Rio]

Originally Posted by FRSfan111

I like the RC, how does it compare to the electric drift cars they sell at formula D events? Looks like yours is much more customizable! I just have the tankard FRS scion gave me for the first 86 program.

Nice to see more Oregon members.

They are very likely basic R/Cs that can be upgraded to something like mine. Mine is more of a road racing R/C. It has carbon all over and the motor alone is worth more than those basic kits. I think the Tamiya and HPI FR-S complete kit is about $150. They can be just as expensive to "hop up" as the twin. LOL

We should have an R/C day in the spring.

[Rio]

Today I got my Vicious LED Side Markers. I decided to buy Clear markers with white LEDs to go with my Storm. Yeah I think that's my FR-S' name.

Now let's see how difficult it will be installing. LOL. Maybe I will actually take an actual lunch break tomorrow and install them.

[mush]

side marker is pretty simple to install, must have item for the twins!
i switched from amber led to white led for 2 days, then switched back to amber led

[FRSfan111]

Originally Posted by Rio

They are very likely basic R/Cs that can be upgraded to something like mine. Mine is more of a road racing R/C. It has carbon all over and the motor alone is worth more than those basic kits. I think the Tamiya and HPI FR-S complete kit is about $150. They can be just as expensive to "hop up" as the twin. LOL

We should have an R/C day in the spring.

Sounds about right lol

[Rio]

The R/C is now complete and made it's first run at the Meet and Photoshoot we had last Tuesday in Clackamas/Mio Sushi.

It was the perfect setting and Darren took this awesome photo!

[Rio]

Well, @DarrenDriven had posted a pretty nice deal from a fellow FT86 owner who was trading in his BRZ and needed to return it to stock before the transaction. The objective was to trade stock shocks and springs for his stock shocks and H&R Super Sport Springs (http://ninjaautosports.com/shop/h-an...sport-springs/). Of course I had to fork some cash also.

After a brief delay and research we finally completed the transaction and install this last Tuesday at Darren's garage.

It was lowered 1.2" in the front and 1.4" in the rear. After a brief test drive to make sure the install was clean I realized how much stiffer the ride had become. I didn't expect that much stiffness, but there was no regret because I knew immediately what that meant in cornering ability.

Next morning on my commute to work I was the ass that passed everyone on Hwy 26. It felt great but I still didn't feel the big improvement I expected. But on my way home I decided to take the nice SW hills instead of Hwy 26. All I am going to say is that I had a smile like Jeremy Clarkson's when he test drove the GT86 on Top Gear.

The photos do not do it justice because after settling in they went down a little more. But here they are, the before and after at a really bad angle LOL.

[Rio]

Although it was an awful installation experience with Stereo King, http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56148
I got a Kenwood X500-1 Amp installed under the passenger seat and a 10"JBL in a custom enclosure installed in the trunk.



The sound is now almost perfect. The rattling around is a little disconcerting but I can address that later. :-)

[Rio]

After only 3 days and our first rainfall since then, I am ready to give a verdict on the tires.

Last week @torqdork mentioned that he had purchased some Michelin Pilot Super Sports at America's Tire Co. So I PMed him and asked for some details. That following Saturday I located the one store that had these in stock and stopped by for a quote with my trade in. Yes I traded my stock tires with 1,800 mile on them. I got $240 for them after a tough negotiation because they wanted to only give me $80. ROFL

After they installed them I got in the car and as I drove off of the parking lot I lost it! Yep, I lost the tail as I accelerated out of the corner. First thought out of my mind was "What the fuck did I just do? Even the Primacys were not this bad!". 20 seconds later I had the following thought: "Right! These tires were brand new and they felt very slick when I touched them". 30 seconds later I felt much better :-)

For the next couple of days I looked for every excuse to drive the car. I would even drive .5 miles for lunch (I think I gained 5 lbs.). The tires still felt a little slick but it would gain traction back really fast at a drift attempt. I definitely gained a lot more traction! Love it!

Today the rain came and I entered a new testing stage. The difference is greater than I thought it would be. Wet pavement performance is at least 50% better. At times 100% better. I attempted to lose the tail and those tires gained traction back very fast.

In my opinion, the Michelin Pilot Super Sports are a great tire for the Pacific Northwest!

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ot+Super+Sport