Review and Tips for VBC Wildfire D06
First of all, I would like to give it a thumb up for the quality parts.
The carbon fibre chassis is very smooth and flat. It gives me the same smooth feeling as X-Ray T4-14. I am quite sure it uses the same standard of quality of Graphit. Compare to its predecessor Wildfire Dynamic, it is a great improvement.
The plastic parts are still strong but not as harsh as its old version. The colour is dyed to black as well, which is what I expect for. Aluminium parts are as always, tough and fine.
Things I really like: very smooth Gear Diff. if you have set it right, it will give you butter-like feeling that I never got from my old TCs. Also, all Alum ball-ends and turn buckles are join up quite smooth with no sloppy. I don’t have to squeeze the plastic turn buckles to free out the joins. Thumb-up!
Building process is flawless as well. All parts bags are clearly tagged with step labels. VBC provides you spare small parts like shims, clips as well. Sweet!
Over all, the quality of the build is quite out of expectation because I spend a little bit more than $400 for the top-end quality car kit (normally cost more than $500).
Now, to the driving experience, I have setup the car with electronics and parts as below:
- ESC: Hobbywing Xerun V3.1
- Motor: Team Trinity Kill shot 13.5T with RPM Stator and 12.5mm High Torque Rotor
- Servo: XPERT Low-Profile Brushless Servo 6.6v 12kg 0.076sec #PI-3401 LV
- TX/RX: Sanwa M12/RX-471
- Battery: Team Zombie LiPo Rampage Series 7.4v 7200MAH (ROAR Approved)
- Body: Blitz WRZ 190mm (light weight 0.7mm)
- Wheels: Team Sorex 36R with soft inserts
I run it in my local club B.R.C.C.C Bay side Wynnum outdoor asphalt track. The track is combination of multiple shot hairpin turns and medium sweep turn with about 50m straights, Medium to bumpy track Surface.
At first, I run it with factory base setup. I instantly feel the car with a lot of steering enter into the corner. In the middle of cornering, rear wheels can still remain calm and stable till out of corner. I am impressed about the initial performance of this car.
After some runs, I decide to remove the front suspension shims and replace the rear ones with 0.5mm in order to eliminate the little entry corner push and give it more grips for bumpy track. I also increase front droop a little bit as well. It runs much better since those small changes.
After a few more tests, I work out the final build for the track as below:
I have to say the car got a lot of potentials and I can push it to the limit very easily because it is very responsive to any changes I made. I have asked one of fastest guys in our club to have a test and he was impressed with the corner speed of the car as well. Sweet!
Alright, let me say something I don’t like.
First of all, the Front bumper is soft. If serious crash happens, it may not be able to save your front suspension arms. I have to replace it with my Wildfire dynamics hard bumper. I think hard bumper for Xray T4 can be interchangeable.
Second, alternative Alum suspension mounts and shims are not included in the package. If you want to fine tune the car, you have to go buy them separately, although the car is very fast from initial. Those Alum parts are not cheap.
Now, here are some tips:
- Remember to re-lube Arm Pin Pivot Balls (B-02-VBC-0035) after a few runs to protect the suspension system.
- Keep some C-hubs, spool out-drives and steering blocks as spare although they are quite strong but you never know what will happen on track and when you will need them.
- Cleaning and lubrication is your must-do task after each race. Bearing, shims, drive shaft joints are the parts you should always look after.
- If you feel gear biting from turning your gear diff, it is time for rebuild. Also, if you feel some bubble sound inside the damper when you squeeze it, you need to rebuild it as well.
- Green slime from AE is the best product for sealing your gear diff and shock dampers after rebuild.
- Drive safe. ^_^
