THE Cub Report, Version – IFMAR, Wheelies, Anger
So… there was a video that got the internet all riled up last week, one that even I can’t resist but to comment on. Ya, you’ve probably seen it already, it was a video of Josh Cyrul pulling trigger on a 2S powered 1/12th pan car and he makes some controversial remarks about IFMAR. It seems that IFMAR has now made it legal to run 2S lithium based cells in the 1/12th pan car class, the old rule only allowed for one cell’s worth of voltage.
Most of the rc world knows Josh for being an elite on-road racer, but you basher types probably know him better From This old XXX Main video where he jumped a nitro buggy over a house. Anywhos… if you did not see the 1/12th scale Josh Cyrul video, check it out below:
After watching the video a couple times, here are some of the thoughts that ran through my mind…
1. While Josh seemed quite surprised at how fast a 2S powered 1/12th pan car was, can that really be true? Certainly he has tried power systems pushing that type of power before, certainly he has wheelie’ed out a pan car at some point in testing. If not, it makes me wonder why not. From the “Holy Cow!” look in his eyes, it seems like he had never driven a 1/12th scale that fast before, kinda like the look you had the first time you drove a 6S E-Revo, or the look I had the first time I drove a 6S Hacker E-Maxx way back in the day. The thing is, I have always been the type to test things first hand. I could care less what the Charlie Zelenoffs of the rc world have to say, I have always experimented first hand. Back in the early days of the Castle Mamba Max, I had to try not 1S, or 2S, in a 1/12th pan car, I skipped the dumb stuff and went directly to 3S on a 7700. Back in those days, the Mamba Max (the one with the green heatsink) represented an unprecedented amount of power and I had to experience it in one of its most extreme applications. Yes, indeed, the 3S 7700 system wayyyy overpowered my poor 1/12th scaler, but man, it was a LOT of fun. And that wasn’t outside making speed runs, that was on a small indoor carpet track. To be honest, it was like a breathe of fresh air, the ability to pull a wheelie the entire length of the back straight was really crazy back in the those days. Anywhos… I have to wonder why an elite on-road racer would be so freaked out by a measly 5.5 on 2S.
2. Here is the big one… I totally agree with IFMAR on this one (seriously- WTF). Electrically speaking, higher voltage is always a good thing when it comes to rc brushless systems. The higher the voltage, the more efficient the system becomes, which also results in lower temps on the electronics and longer life. Here in the states ROAR limits cell counts like crazy, such as a 2S limit for 1/10th scalers and 4S for 1/8th scale. This is not optimal and is quite shortsighted by whoever actually pulled the trigger on “this should be the upper limit” when the rules were written. Yes, I know that higher cell counts often lead to more power output, like when you go from 4 to 6S in your HPI Savage it feels a LOT faster, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Or it could go the other way around, you could make your 4S Savage just as fast as a 6S truck, but it would take gearing it to death. Wattage is wattage, and a given motor only has so much inside. It is truly a matter of Ohm’s law, meaning if you use twice the voltage you only need to draw half the current to achieve “X” amount of wattage. Anywhos… PROPERLY running 2S in a 1/12th scale pan car isn’t rocket science, it is simply a matter of proper gearing mated to a suitable kV motor. 2S in pan car doesn’t have to result in uncontrollable power, that is a matter of set-up, not an undeniable consequence. Should the new IFMAR rule for 2S be used properly, the cars will be NO FASTER than they were on 1S, but will simply be more efficient with their power systems.
3. The haters are gonna hate of course, and they say that 2S isn’t a good thing to help 1/12th scale pan car racing “grow”. Well, here’s some news for ya, the video of Cyrul has done more to promote 1/12th scale racing than everything else combined in the last decade. That video didn’t just make it around to hardcore rc’ers, it made the full rounds to where even casual rc’ers got to see it. And after polling some Joe Blows, they thought it was Awesome! If “they” (IFMAR types) are truly trying to get more main streamers into racing 1/12th scale, those type of people (read- bashers/casual users) thought it was totally gnarly that Cyrul could give a small squeeze of the trigger and loop out a pan car. For my personal opinion, I would still rather see the limited be raised to 3 or 4S. But then, that is just me…
4. But to really “get real” here… if the entire goal of the pan car rule change was to get more people into racing on-road, they have a bunch of other things that desperately need fixed first. Boring/one-lined tracks with way too much grip spewing enough tire sauce fumes to make your eyes water would have to be the first issue if you truly want to get in Joe Blow racers. An actual noobie class would also be high on the list. Have you watched 17.5 1/12th pan car at a local track? LOL… ya… there isn’t a true noobie on this planet that wants ANY PART of that debacle. World champs running the class (“stock” 1/12), guys who have raced indoor on-road for decades racing it, a true noob would be get’n lapped every other lap. Getting beat is a great thing to learn to go faster, getting absolutely flip’n destroyed on a bi-lapply basis makes a person NEVER COME BACK.
5. Oh but wait… there’s more. Words like “impressive”, “F’n fast”, “OMG!” and “insane” were easily heard during the above video, as was applause and cheering. In my book, those are all good things to hear when playing with toy cars. And seriously, up until now 99% of common users could not care less about what is going on in the 1/12th scale pan car world, thanks to the above video, they might be intrigued enough to check it out in person. The on road community should be trying to capitalize on all the buzz, not trying to stamp it out. Or… on-road can just keep the path they are on right now towards nothingness……. sigh… what a waste…
So there IT is… another Cub Report is in the books. As always, support your local hobby shops and bash spots whenever ya can.
YOUR Cub Reporter
