WILD RIDE 1
RUNNING ON THE MINI SILVERSTONE
TEST TRACK ❯❯ SUN VALLEY SPEEDWAY, SUN VALLEY, CA
After doing the recommended engine break-in process at home,
I took the F180 to Sun Valley Speedway’s large 1⁄5-scale road-course on a warm Sunday afternoon, armed with AA cells for the
transmitter, a 6-cell stick pack for the starter, a glow igniter and a
bottle of Werks Racing 30% fuel. Man, does that . 28 light up the
rear tires! Despite pavement that was less than two months old, it
was very easy to over-drive the rear end coming out of a corner;
that’s what massive power and RWD will get you. I tamed the
needles on the carb a bit to make it more forgiving and really got
into the groove on the second run. Carving it up through the
track’s tighter turns,
I was most impressed by the stability under braking, completely due to the dual-disc front brakes. Turning the wheel while braking is usually a spin-inducer in a RWD car, but doing that with the
F180 just cants the nose in the direction you turned it, and it
screeched to a stop.
Full Luxury
RTR Package
The thing that will immediately impress anyone who is lucky
enough to get his hands on the F180 RTR package is the
packaging itself. It doesn’t come in some cheesy store shelf-friendly box but in a high-quality nylon race hauler with a
collapsible handle and casters. And inside that case are two
generous-size boxes, one with the F180 Velcro’d into a custom foam-lined box and another with all the accessories.
Speaking of the accessories, these are a nice surprise as
well: a Futaba-made 27-band FM computer radio, a heavy-duty electric rotary starter, a nice squishy fuel bottle, extra
servo arms and screws and a serialized F180 keychain that
is matched to the serial number of the chassis.
180 RCCARACTION.COM
My next run was with the optional foam tires; they’re pre-trued
to the same dimensions as the stock rubber ones, so they are a
bolt-on out-of-the-package affair. I immediately noticed a significant increase in cornering grip, so I pulled it in and reset my needles for more punch. The F180 responded like a sled dog at the
crack of a whip, clawing its way through the turns and wanting to
be pushed harder. This is the way an F1 car should be driven, not
gingerly through each turn. Now the onlookers really took notice
of the black/white/red RC Car Action livery (courtesy of Bill
Zegers) darting its way through the turns. A few more tanks of this
put a smile on my face that lasted well into the evening.
