Jumpstarting Brunei's offroad RC scene

I decided to take a break from racing on-road following my issues with the Sakura XI. I had just returned the car and was looking for a something new to drive when my cousin expressed interest in the hobby.

I immediately encouraged it but he wasn't keen on driving on-road. The speed of the cars and the discipline needed to set up and drive them intimidated him. He just wanted to bash so we settled on getting off-road RCs.

We checked out Guan Hock Lee, the local hobby shop, to see what were the active off-road classes at the time. It was quite sad to find out the the off-road RC scene in Brunei was practically dead. The only off-road RC track had not been maintained and the last race held was years ago. This wasn't all bad news though as it meant that we had no need for race spec'd vehicles which are often more expensive and less durable.

I wanted to get another Traxxas Stampede but they did not have any in stock. My cousin settled on a Traxxas E-revo and I went with the more conservative route and got the Kyosho DBX Ve.

 

The DBX was a fun car and a good introduction into Kyosho's offroad offerings. By the end of its run, mine was equipped with MP777 shocks and proper 1/8 tyres. It lacked straight line speed but the lighter chassis and 2S battery set up saw it outperform many 1/8 scale buggies on our makeshift track.

The DBX ve was my first kyosho off-road vehicle and it is responsible for my love affair with the brand til this day. It was fast and drove well. It used pillow ball knuckles so it was an ease to change the set up of the car. The pillow balls do suffer from stripping issues but they were easily fixed with loctite. The car also used soft and flexible parts as it was not designed to race so parts usually just flexed or popped off instead of breaking.

We were running our cars on a beach and this took a huge toll on the cars. The wide area meant we were basically overheating the cars every run and the sand and salty air really punished the drivetrain and everything metal on the vehicles. Still they held up well and we ran them for months with minor issues.

There were only three of us when we first started driving on the beach but we extended the invitation on Facebook and our group grew to twenty cars within weeks. It was clear there was an interest in off-road RCs in Brunei.

The DBX looked beat on paper but it did surprisingly well against its 1/8 scale opponents. I ran it as it was intended with a 2S battery set up. This meant I was slower than all the other cars but it was lighter and more nimble. It was also easier to drive. This saw me consistently top the other drivers and cars when we held small races on the makeshift tracks.

A few months later, tragedy struck my DBX as it got ran over by a truck. The driver was busy talking on the phone and failed to see our makeshift track. There were about eight cars running and mine had to be the one to get run over.

I took this opportunity to go up in scale. I got the gigantic Kyosho Mad Force VE.... and its performance just blew everything I've had in the past out of the water.

My Madforce on the right pictured with my cousin's E-Revo. You can see me trying to fix my issues with the Madforce by trying to fabricate a makeshift diffcasing/arm housing for the car.

Our small group of RC enthusiast grew exponentially within months

The car had its issues though. It was big and heavy and, for some reason, Kyosho designed it with a diff case that was held in place by small plastic joints and screws. I would break these everytime the car had a bad landing. I went through the cases like a hot knife through butter... I was breaking it every run.

It got so bad that I eventually gave up and ordered aluminium parts online. This fixed the issue and made the car practically unbreakable.

Unfortunately within a year and a half, our beach RC endeavours came to a halt as more cars were getting run-over. There was also a pack of stray dogs which appeared overnight and they took joy in attacking our cars when given the chance.

It was time to do something about the abandoned track.

The aluminium diff housing from RC4wd cost as much as the car itself... but it truly made the car unbreakable...

Sakura XI - A bed of roses it is not

I was over the moon when I was told I would be given a semi-sponsorship deal with the 3Racing Sakura XI. The local hobby shop wanted someone to race and promote it so a fellow racer and I were asked if we were keen. We agreed without much hesitation

The Sakura XI was truly ahead of its time when it was first released and it showed what a smaller company can achieve if it focuses on delivering a competitive package... a car equipped with all the bells and whistles.

Definitely a head turner. You can't deny this car was just pretty to look at.

It revolutionised the industry and was equipped with features that other brands sold as hop-ups. A skinny chassis, aluminium servo horns, aluminium threaded shocks, adjustable upper deck, gear diffs with the option to drop in a spool, a spur gear setup that was easily accessible, belt tensioners built into the diff cups... the lot.

It just had one issue.... one very big issue... it did not work right. I initially planned to drive it in the open mod class and continue using the now repaired and upgraded Kyosho TF5 for 17.5turn stock. But my Sakura XI suffered from major tweak issues. The tweak was so bad that you could see the chassis and upper deck flex upon full throttle.

Its twin sister, driven by the other driver also suffered similar issues. He even switched out a new chassis and the same problems still persisted.

It also wasn't very durable. It would break on crashes that the TCX would easily drive away from. I also broke a CVD/swingshaft in half... something that has only happened once in my entire experience with RC.

I switched out its electronics with that of the Kyosho TF 5, hoping the weaker motor would not lead to the tweak issues but it still wasn't driving right.  Later versions of the car was improved but even then I heard it suffered from performance issues.

Things can't be good when you're getting out-performed by a car that is a decade older than you.

I returned it to the LHS after a couple of weeks and moved on to my next ride. It was also around this time when I ventured into the off-road scene, something that would define my RC journey in Brunei.

Hot Bodies TCX... Plenty of purple goodness

I got the Hot Bodies TCX after a crash left me without a car for an upcoming race. Parts for my Kyosho TF-5 were scarce as the car was already in its later years and ordering online would see me receive the parts only weeks after placing the order.

A fellow racer had just upgraded to a new car and offered to me the TCX for a good price. I took the bait and was rewarded with one of the fastest and most reliable on-road car I've driven to date.

The TCX in all its purplish glory beside my Kyosho TF-5.

The TCX was very stable and responded well to tuning changes. Small tweaks could be felt when testing the car's set up, something not many other brands can offer.

I thought the first race with the car would be a learning experience as the meet was just two days after I acquired the TCX but I had such a good outing that I finished third in the A-main. It was the first time I felt that maybe the Kyosho TF-5 had been holding me back and that my skills may have surpassed what the decade-old TF-5 could offer.

I continued to string good results with the TCX and ended the season in fifth in the Hobbywing Justock (Stock 17.5 turn) class.

The belt driven TCX was an improvement in every way, compared to the much older TF-5.

I was going to continue next season with the TCX when the local hobby shop approached me and asked if I wanted to try driving the 3Racing Sakura car. This was the first and only car produced by 3Racing  at the time and I was drawn to the pink theme of the car. Also this was to be my first 'partial sponsorship'... I just couldn't say no.

The TCX was thus handed down to a budding newcomer... a friendly and humble kid who was really into RC at the time but he fell out of love with the hobby a few years later due to politics.

Editors note:
The TCX remains one of my favourite cars to date. It was fast, easy to drive and durable. I never broke a single part during the entire time I owned it. This was a huge improvement from the Kyosho TF-5 which needed replacement parts every few outings.

I would like to consider the TCX as a car I regret losing but 1/10 touring cars are updated so frequently that there was no reason to feel bad about replacing an older model. This, coupled with how brands would discontinue support for a certain car after a few years, meant there was no reason to keep it past its prime. Despite this, I strongly believe the TCX would still be competitive against today's cars.

Breaking into Brunei (Kyosho TF5)

It only takes a spark to get a fire burning...

By the time I left Brunei, I had built somewhat of a small legacy in RC in the country. I had won my share of races, helped my share of budding newcomers and was integral in the construction of the main off-road track in the country. I was also one of the main characters involved in the running of the Brunei and Borneo League. I've come a long way in RC in Brunei but everyone has to start with humble beginnings.

After completing my further education in Perth, Australia, I returned to Brunei in 2007. I had sold off all my RCs in Perth as I couldn't make space and weight allocation for them while flying. I knew I wanted to continue the hobby in Brunei but I wasn't familiar with the scene.

I looked around for tracks and found that the most active RC scene at the time was 1/10 on-road racing. I went to the local hobby shop (Guan Hock Lee) and met the owner, Edwin Sim. We would become good friends with passing time.

I left the shop with an antiquated Kyosho TF-5 at a time when belt driven cars had already become the industry standard. I got the TF-5 because it was cheap and I felt that the shaft-driven car was still good enough to handle the power of the Hobbywing Justock class (Stock 17.5t).

The TF5 was outdated but it got me racing competitively. More importantly it taught me how to set up the car and electronics.

There was a huge learning curve when it came to learning to drive an RC around a track but this time I had help in the form of veteran pilots. They taught me how to set the car and the motor properly and how to drive around a track. Despite the motor being limited in power and speed, I still had my share of crashes. And each crash meant an upgrade so I was driving a pretty tricked up TF-5 pretty quickly.

This was pretty much as hopped up as you can get.

If memory serves me right, by the time I retired the car, it had already gotten upgrades in the form of carbon fibre chassis and upper decks, CVDs to replace the standard swing shafts, aluminium drive shaft, TF-5 Stallion shocks, ZX-5 Lazer aluminium steering racks and motor mounts.

The car drove well and I was keeping up and beating the latest and greatest offerings from Xray, Tamiya and the likes but it could be argued that I could have gotten a newer car with all the upgrades that went into it. Regardless I managed to complete the first half of my first race season with it. It finished three races in the middle of the A-main pack. A big achievement considering it was my first season of proper racing.

Unfortunately I had to retire the car following a bad crash two days before a race. The LHS no longer stocked parts for the car and online orders usually take a month to reach Brunei. I made the call there and then to purchase my second Hot Bodies car. The original Hot Bodies TCX that was previously owned by one of the fastest drivers in Brunei.

Editor's note

The TF5 was well past its prime when I bought it. Though my car was 'new old-stock', it was quite a distance behind some of the newer cars on the market in terms of tech and design. Regardless, the car was still plenty of fun to drive and was fast enough to compete with the top-of-the-line pure bred racers at the time. We were however running the stock class so I can't say how it would have performed with a more powerful motor. It was also no where as durable as the newer cars out there.