- Messages
- 244
- Reaction score
- 411
- Arrma RC's
- Typhon 3s
This shouldn’t be as wordy as my last build log. Hopefully.
I bought another Typhon 3S a while back for my son so we could play together. We’ve been having tons of fun bashing and learning. This is his.
The nice thing is we can interchange parts between our same rigs, and that has proven valuable on countless occasions. His rig is set up for hard bashing and is also our speed run car - a quick shock and wing swap and we’re good to go, continuing our quest trying to hit 70mph.
Anyhow, several of my cousins and friends (we’re in our 40’s and 50’s if you need perspective) who were into RC back in the 90’s have returned after I picked it up. As is typical the talk of friendly competition between us started and The Yard, an outdoor clay mix track in Orange California, became our home track.
To make things even we decided to all go 1/8 4WD. Many a MBX8 and 8IGHT-E were bought and built. I was already a regular at The Yard with my Typhon (which with its 40ish K diffs, 50ish W shocks, and Badlands was set up for bashing) so as they built and tuned I’d be the base benchmark.
Thanks to one of my loud mouthed cousins, I embarked on this trek to prove an Arrma can be a respectable track car. I remember his exact words. “Bro the Typhon is too heavy and is only designed for bashing. Buy a real track buggy.”
OK.
The Typhon 3S is light for a 1/8 4WD buggy. Over the past months it has proven an awesome basher, but I needed to shut this guy up. Driver > car, and as an Arrma fanboy I needed to prove him wrong.
This is what I modified off stock and where I ended up. I’m still lapping him and his 8IGHT-E. Punk. Haha.
Surpass 3670 2850kV + RR Xtra Hard 17T: I decided to give Surpass another shot despite them failing me for speed runs - for the price I’ve read they are typically at least decent, and dropping kV from the stock 3200 was mostly an experiment. My thinking was that I wanted a tad more torque on the low end with the bigger can, and the motor to spool a bit faster. When cars would flip and racing stopped, often I’d find myself close to the lip of a jump, and I’d short it. Even on 3S I now have no trouble regardless of distance from a jump, and the low end/acceleration improvement is obvious. When I feel this motor failing me I may look into higher quality brands, but so far it’s stellar.
ANNIMOS DS3218PRO: I used the DS3218MG in both my son’s and my Typhons, but I wanted to give this one a shot for a bit more speed. As I’m not planning to use a BEC, I wanted a decently fast servo at stock 6V without breaking the bank. It’s awesome and the speed gain over the MG is great.
HR shock bodies: I only did these on the front because I kept busting front eyelets, and those that know me know I love the stock shocks once modified to prevent leaking.
HR servo saver: despite polarizing reviews I find this saver a big improvement over stock. I toyed with the idea of using a horn but I’m still prone to driving mistakes. The spring is much stronger than the stock saver and I notice no ill effects.
RPM A-arms: this was mandatory for me because of the additional outside mounting hole for the shocks. I can get the ride height I like (24mm/27mm front/rear) and my preferred shock oil and preload.
Redcat Racing hub extenders: I ended up liking the added stability and the minuscule increase in turning radius was acceptable.
7K/4K diffs, slipper 1/2 turn out: I experimented with so many weights and weight combinations, this is where I’m comfortable. Quick enough around corners with stability on the straights.
47.5W/40W shocks: same as diffs, this was the best for me after testing. I rebuilt the shocks as “dead” as possible which seems best for this moderate grip, bumpy track.
Kraton wing: this is the most durable wing I’ve tried, much more than the stock wing. I’ve crashed hard and it survives.
Jim’s Bearings: full swap. Because, you know.
Yeah Racing Tornado fans: they sound mean and I don’t have to worry about cooling.
-1.5 degrees front/-3 degrees rear camber: still messing with this but it’s working as is.
2 degrees front toe out/stock rear toe in: see above.
I rotate between Pro-line Blockades M3 and Duratrax X-Cons C3. The latter I’m actually breaking in and testing as I type this and they are so good. Not just for the price, they are solid. Pretty sure I like them more than the Blockades.
I use HRB 3S 5000mAh 50C soft packs for balance and weight considerations. They have proven more balanced and even on the track vs my Reaction2 hard cases. I charge them at 10A in an ammo box on my HTRC C240 and they are holding up perfectly, great IR and balanced cells across all 4 I own.
They say The Yard is a 16 second track. Borrowing a transponder I had one golden lap of 15.74s, but I average in the low 17s. Trying to consistently get in the 16s.
I’m not saying the Typhon is the best track car, nor better than my cousin’s 8IGHT-E. It’s not, and lacks many of the basic adjustments track cars have. I’m saying if you have a dream and a cousin to shut up, it can be tuned into an awesome and capable track car.
Wow that still came out long as hell. Sorry. Have a nice day.
I bought another Typhon 3S a while back for my son so we could play together. We’ve been having tons of fun bashing and learning. This is his.
The nice thing is we can interchange parts between our same rigs, and that has proven valuable on countless occasions. His rig is set up for hard bashing and is also our speed run car - a quick shock and wing swap and we’re good to go, continuing our quest trying to hit 70mph.
Anyhow, several of my cousins and friends (we’re in our 40’s and 50’s if you need perspective) who were into RC back in the 90’s have returned after I picked it up. As is typical the talk of friendly competition between us started and The Yard, an outdoor clay mix track in Orange California, became our home track.
To make things even we decided to all go 1/8 4WD. Many a MBX8 and 8IGHT-E were bought and built. I was already a regular at The Yard with my Typhon (which with its 40ish K diffs, 50ish W shocks, and Badlands was set up for bashing) so as they built and tuned I’d be the base benchmark.
Thanks to one of my loud mouthed cousins, I embarked on this trek to prove an Arrma can be a respectable track car. I remember his exact words. “Bro the Typhon is too heavy and is only designed for bashing. Buy a real track buggy.”
OK.
The Typhon 3S is light for a 1/8 4WD buggy. Over the past months it has proven an awesome basher, but I needed to shut this guy up. Driver > car, and as an Arrma fanboy I needed to prove him wrong.
This is what I modified off stock and where I ended up. I’m still lapping him and his 8IGHT-E. Punk. Haha.
Surpass 3670 2850kV + RR Xtra Hard 17T: I decided to give Surpass another shot despite them failing me for speed runs - for the price I’ve read they are typically at least decent, and dropping kV from the stock 3200 was mostly an experiment. My thinking was that I wanted a tad more torque on the low end with the bigger can, and the motor to spool a bit faster. When cars would flip and racing stopped, often I’d find myself close to the lip of a jump, and I’d short it. Even on 3S I now have no trouble regardless of distance from a jump, and the low end/acceleration improvement is obvious. When I feel this motor failing me I may look into higher quality brands, but so far it’s stellar.
ANNIMOS DS3218PRO: I used the DS3218MG in both my son’s and my Typhons, but I wanted to give this one a shot for a bit more speed. As I’m not planning to use a BEC, I wanted a decently fast servo at stock 6V without breaking the bank. It’s awesome and the speed gain over the MG is great.
HR shock bodies: I only did these on the front because I kept busting front eyelets, and those that know me know I love the stock shocks once modified to prevent leaking.
HR servo saver: despite polarizing reviews I find this saver a big improvement over stock. I toyed with the idea of using a horn but I’m still prone to driving mistakes. The spring is much stronger than the stock saver and I notice no ill effects.
RPM A-arms: this was mandatory for me because of the additional outside mounting hole for the shocks. I can get the ride height I like (24mm/27mm front/rear) and my preferred shock oil and preload.
Redcat Racing hub extenders: I ended up liking the added stability and the minuscule increase in turning radius was acceptable.
7K/4K diffs, slipper 1/2 turn out: I experimented with so many weights and weight combinations, this is where I’m comfortable. Quick enough around corners with stability on the straights.
47.5W/40W shocks: same as diffs, this was the best for me after testing. I rebuilt the shocks as “dead” as possible which seems best for this moderate grip, bumpy track.
Kraton wing: this is the most durable wing I’ve tried, much more than the stock wing. I’ve crashed hard and it survives.
Jim’s Bearings: full swap. Because, you know.
Yeah Racing Tornado fans: they sound mean and I don’t have to worry about cooling.
-1.5 degrees front/-3 degrees rear camber: still messing with this but it’s working as is.
2 degrees front toe out/stock rear toe in: see above.
I rotate between Pro-line Blockades M3 and Duratrax X-Cons C3. The latter I’m actually breaking in and testing as I type this and they are so good. Not just for the price, they are solid. Pretty sure I like them more than the Blockades.
I use HRB 3S 5000mAh 50C soft packs for balance and weight considerations. They have proven more balanced and even on the track vs my Reaction2 hard cases. I charge them at 10A in an ammo box on my HTRC C240 and they are holding up perfectly, great IR and balanced cells across all 4 I own.
They say The Yard is a 16 second track. Borrowing a transponder I had one golden lap of 15.74s, but I average in the low 17s. Trying to consistently get in the 16s.
I’m not saying the Typhon is the best track car, nor better than my cousin’s 8IGHT-E. It’s not, and lacks many of the basic adjustments track cars have. I’m saying if you have a dream and a cousin to shut up, it can be tuned into an awesome and capable track car.
Wow that still came out long as hell. Sorry. Have a nice day.
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