New Toy is on its way " Redcat Racing Ground Pounder "

Yup I did it I placed a order for a Ground Pounder I needed something to take care of my Snow driving fix and for the money I cant complain about the durability and performance I have seen from my step-dads truck so expect to see a lot of stuff when it arrives.

Current plans for the future include :




I plan to experiment  with the stock motor and several brushed aftermarket motors but eventually a brushless system will find its way in .

Since the ESC is rated as 3s lipo capable I'm thinking a 20 or 19 turn brushed 550 motor powered with a 3s lipo should be the ultimate budget system for the Ground Pounder just saying . 

Steel spur gear upgrade if necessary but the plastic version will probably do . BS801-014  MPO-017
  






Home made axle braces " Outlaw Hobby makes  makes some killer looking braces but $79.99 a pair is a

little rich for my blood "







Replacing the  shocks are on my to do list mainly because the stock spring diameter doesn't leave a lot of
options for replacements and replacing them also means I could install longer shocks with more travel.

  

Snow snow snow and no 4x4

I'm willing to on record as saying Winter fun Really requires a 4x4 R.C. . Sadly I was dumb enough to sell the Clodbuster and not have a immediate replacement on the way . Hopefully soon I will receive my a new toy for snow duty . But till them I'll just have to sit back and watch my step dad have a blast with his Ground Pounder and if the snow isn't to deep Caldera's . second though  I just might swipe the Ground Pounder when he's not looking .

So I bought a Redcat Racing Twister XTG PR0 .

After posting a lot about  the Zmt-10 / Turnigy stadium

king I got  several  Questions , responses , and opinions On here , on youtube , and on a forum about the Redcat Twister XTG being a competitor and I had to agree for the Average ebay Price of  $125.99 for the brushed version and $189.99 for the pro version (aka brushless) I had to agree it was definitely worth a look .

Well I bought the pro version simply because it offered the most bang for the buck "64 bucks more and its
brushless come on "  Well reality is life gets in the way of some things and it just sat in its box waiting patiently for its chance . So some time in September I  took it for a run in the yard and in the driveway with its included 2000Mah battery pack and pretty much it was about how I expected. it topped out at about  23-25 Mph and didn't really have a lot of viger getting there .  After cruising around for a pack I let the battery cool and then let it cycle a few times on the charger and the next run was

a bit better but nothing to right home about . I do feel the performance was appropriate for a first time buyer . Well then it got put back in its box for a while and I gave the stock battery to my step dad to use in his Ground Pounder .

Round 2 took place about mid December I grabbed a 3800Mah battery pack from my step dad that came with one of his caldera's and went for a spin around the yard . The 3800Mah showed considerably better speed and acceleration and made me really curious as to what improvement I would see with a lipo. but sadly about half way through this run I  ran smack into a parked truck tire and had my first breakage .

I had broke the upper and lower plates that locate the front suspension . Now I will say temperature probably did have role in this breakage as it was below freezing outside but I maybe wrong .

The good news is its already up and running bad news is there is snow outside and its a bit too deep for more driving  at the moment .

My indoor testing has shown that installing a lipo's may make the optional wheelie bar mandatory if you have traction and a twitchy throttle finger .


I will say there is one thing I don't like about the Redcat Twister and that is how the upper shock mounts to the Rear shock tower the aluminum cap ring actually rubs n the tower.

It would have made more sense to me to mount them on the back side of the tower to do that the body would need to be mounted differently.

Right now my only other annoyances if you will are with the transmitter. To be honest I kinda like the transmitter its lightweight well balanced and the adjustment knobs are a good size and easy to get to . What I don't care for is how small the range of movement is for the reverse/ brake side of the trigger range its too small for my taste and will make slowing down a fast model a less controllable experience " aka more wreck's". My second less than like on  this controller is the wheel . Its completely made from hard plastic and doesn't have a foam or rubber grip . I'm sure I can make something work but it just makes the radio feel cheesy . 

The last thing to note on the radio is that it doesn't take 8 AA batteries and guess what It doesn't take 4 AA's either . It takes 3 AA's . 

So as of 01/17/14 I may give it a thumbs up.

Check back and see if I have changed my mind later .

Places to get parts for your ZD Racing 1/16 th scale 1/12/2014

http://www.emphobby.us

http://www.cermark.com

http://www.amainhobbies.com/

Parts that can fit or improve your ZD Racing 1/16 th scale .

http://www.hobbyking.com Many of the part's from there 1/16th scale monster beetle ,1/16  4wd buggy ,1/16 4wd mini rally -extreme edition,1/16 4wd nitro buggy and 1/16 mini trouper / short course truck will fit . 

http://www.gotnitroonline.com/ These guys sell parts for the acme / VXT  Vulcan and Photon this is a great place to get metal diff gears and aluminum parts . Be careful and look at the components before you buy .