Phase I:
I began this project with a booster chassis set and 4-channel Tomy controller. I also bought an AE86 Trueno set on the side to get the tire, gearing an suspension sets to play around with. I quickly realized that the blue "soft" tires were harder than what came with my car, and only the black "medium" compound tires were slightly softer. I upgraded to a 3.0 Bit Racer motor, but this led to spinouts when turning at speed on my chosen tuning surface, the linoleum kitchen floor. To address this issue, I had to use blue ("soft," actually medium) tires up front to introduce a bit of understeer.
I began to try out as many different motors as I could get my hands on, intrigued by the then-fresh find of "3.8" pink-endbell cans. I did secure a couple 3.8's for testing, but in the end, a relatively inconspicuous choice shined above all others, soon to be coined the "Ultimate Bit Char-G motor" after the car that would proudly use it. With the extreme power of this motor, I was able to use the highest Tomy gear ratio and still have excellent acceleration off the line. The car's speeds became so high, even in close quarters, that I began to experience traction rolls every time I attempted a turn. It was time to lower the center of gravity, and a dramatic teardown began.
I had been running an AE86 body, but switched to the clear Nissan Skyline shell that came with the booster set. To lower the center of gravity, I cut out all of the windows and trimmed the body mounts upward to let the entire thing sit lower relative to the chassis. I had to shave the insides of the upper door panels and front fenders to allow everything to clear. You can see the result in the title photo above.
Moving on to the chassis, I took the trusty Dremel to the sides of the tub and when all was said & done, there was quite a respectable pile of debris, considering the tiny amount of material you have to start with on these cars.
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| The JANG was here |
I stole a clear blue electronics cover from a Bullet car (a Bit Char-G-like car that comes in a clear plastic bubble dome package with a round controller base), and later added a matching blue spoiler to the body. To help maximize acceleration, I attacked my rotating mass, trimming my wheels down to 4 spokes each and even shaving of half of the pinion gear. While everything was apart, I untied the knot in the antenna, stripped off most of the plastic covering (to reduce that high-slung weight), coiled the antenna wire for safety and rigidity, and ran it out the back of the circuit board, where the actual connection is. I also sanded off the upper surface of the motor cover, for a more high performance look... err, I mean, to increase heat dissipation!
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| Jangified
chassis, 4-spoke wheels & blue cover plate |
Trued
tires, lightened pinion & ground heatsink |
Right:
Stock Bit Char-G Left: Booster chassis w/ untied, rerouted antenna |
With all of this done, it handled like a completely new car. I again needed more traction, and switched back to Trueno set black front tires. Still needing more, I realized that the wheels were actually a tiny bit too large in the inner ridge, causing the tire cross-section to be rounded outward. To solve this, I took off the tires and sanded down the wheels a bit, until the tires sat flat across them. I then trued the tires themselves with sandpaper (see the center image above). Still, something was not quite right -- the front of the car would hop in turns. I experimented with different front suspension tiebars, but in the end, completely removing the tiebar did the trick. This lowered the front end of the car and gave truly phenomenal stability, allowing it to practically turn on a dime without flipping over.
For the finishing touches, I turned back to the body. At a whimsical suggestion by Rimmy, friend, fellow racer and URC & UTRX Forums member, I carved & sculpted an offset turbo intake scoop on the hood with the help of modelling putty. I also used putty to fill in the excesses in the body mounting slots left by Dremelling them out to lower the whole thing. Paint was done by hand with fine sable-hair brushes and Testor's model paint. Decals came from 1/24th Nascar models, a Bullet car, and of course, our resident vinyl expert, MaxxJester2! All was topped off with a couple coats of clear for protection.
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| Phase I complete! | Yes,
the license plate says "Ultimaterc.com" |
Phase II
I'm sure that after seeing Phase I some people thought, "Yeah whatever, my 10-motor, sub-C cell powered Bit would cream that car." Straight line performance is cool, but I'm not making a dragster here. The Ultimate Bit Char-G project aims to produce a fast car with balanced real-world handling that can dominate a race course. Besides, I can do multiple cells too. Read on in Phase II...