16
Jan 99 - Moved out of competition area - model sold.Renault Megane - by Mardave
16
Jan 99 - Moved out of competition area - model sold.
Mardave R/C Racing is a UK company manufacturing a range of model racing cars. This is from the V12 series and the other models in the range are a Ford RS Turbo, a Ford Nastruck and Peugeot 205 Hot Rod. These kits should be readily available from good model shops (although they may need to be ordered).
They are a 1/12 scale model designed primarily for indoor racing. They feature a 3 speed forward & reverse speed controller, a 540 motor, coil spring suspension with rear damping, quick release body moulding and a full decal set. Power is supplied from a 4 cell sub-C battery pack which also directly drives the RX. A simple 2 channel radio set is all that is required to complete the model.
There is a local club that meets every 2 weeks to race these cars. To ensure that members with money can't seek an unfair advantage no modifications, other than those produced by Mardave, are allowed to the design & equipment fitted.
After 3 race meetings my lap count is increasing but has been hampered by a number of small problems that have occurred. These have all been rectified & I hope my speed improves.
1. Initially I had problems with keeping the steering pointing straight ahead. It turned out that the servo saver supplied did not fit my servo very well & was spinning on the servo. After attempting all sorts of things to rectify the fault, I replaced the servo with a different one & the problem has disappeared.
2. The motor switch design is fairly stiff & due to the angle of the servo linkage it didn't work very smoothly. I removed the servo mount & linkage supplied and used servo tape to mount the servo in a better position using a new linkage rod. This has greatly improved the response time of the throttle.
3. The steering track rods are connected to the wheels using ball joints. The joints supplied with the kit are not very substantial & have become loose. This allowed the ball joint to pop off during races & cause that wheel to fold back making steering impossible. I am replacing these with a more robust design. Hopefully at the next meeting, 21 Sep 98, I can complete a race without major steering problems.
Since I have now moved out of the area I used to go racing, I have sold the car. I am considering taking up a different form of racing that I can do locally to my new home.