A questions was asked.....

[Mike1970]

While at the BRCA Rd3 meeting at Notts & Derby today, a nice chap called Phil (tuned out to be a basher) came over to speak to me about my car, engine set ups & other bits and he asked me why people wer'nt using engines from certain enigine "tuners" and why the were no chrome loud pipes? (again, not mentioning any names) the simple answer is - they're pants and this was the answer he'd got from everyone he'd spoke to at the meeting.
He'd been wandering round the pits looking to see what people run (this is welcomed by the vast majority) and he told me he'd seen loads of Oddified, hobby center, alro and sTEVO engines along with Meilke and samba pipes.
Later we were chatting again and I suggested he asked the question on the forum he uses(not sure which ones he said),...........

Is there a "basher" engine tuner that can take a standard 2 or 4 bolt 26cc engine and tune it so it will conform to the BRCA/EFRA regs that will do a 30 min competitive final on 700ml of fuel, offer 6hp with super smooth power throughout the range?

I have to say having read a lot of the posts on engines and pipes that I doubt it and would love to see if there is any.

This isn't a dig at any bashers or manufacturers but the developement of a question asked. The guy went away with a better understanding of engines after speaking to 2 UK tuners and now knows what he wants in his car.

 

[Sharkey]

im going to take a guess and say the tuners that arent being mentioned are american companies. the reason i say this is really we have 2 different markets. most people in north america arent racing, there really is little racing here compared to europe, and there is even less onroad racing. the onroad crowd here does know oddified, mielke, samba, mf raceline, etc. here in north america the majority of 1/5 scale guys are hpi, hpi brought 1/5 scale here in a big way, and so many aftermarket companies got their start based on the hpi baja. some of these companies have come from scooters and boats, others jumped right in to the car market. these tuners are giving the market what they want, the most power possible for a good price. basher engines. now in north america, these engines do end up on race tracks, tracks that get built with the hpi baja in mind, and their overpowered engines. when you go to a track you will see oniel brothers and ESP engines winning, and because of that people arent going to spend 2 to 3 times the money to bring a european engine over. noise here doesn't seem to be a big concern either, so cheap pipes are just fine for most, even though the quieter pipes will give much smoother power.

in the backyard, the more power the better, thats why we have reed case blocks, 30.5 strokers, and twin kits out there. most people here bash and occasionally might throw their truck on a track. in europe, 1/5 scale is much more serious where racers will spend far more on a vehicle that wont ever see anything outside a track.

 

[Mike1970]

Fair point and well put but surely you need to be able to control the power and have a smooth delivery rather than a massive burst of doughnut enducing drivetrain stripping power? Loud pipes do little if anything to add to the power output.

This guy was suprised to see how many cars were running standard 26cc engines that seemed to go better than some of the basher tuned engines.

p.s I didn't name the engine tuners he'd mentioned because I didn't think it was fair.

 

[Sharkey]

many of the pipes that are very loud will add to the peak horsepower and not give a smooth powerband. case and point is a boat pipe. its tuned for a very narrow powerband, it produces huge power in that range, but once its outside of that rpm the motor falls on its face. but it also comes down to you get what you pay for. the "loud" pipes out there are cheap, between $150-200 and produce better power than a muffler or hpi ss pipe, but no where near the power a $400+ samba or mielke pipe will produce. you get what you pay for. loud pipes also sound "fast"

just for the record, i have an fg touring car with a stock cy 26 and a mielke side power pipe. when we have open track, i can easily keep up with the smaller mod motor bajas with "loud" pipes on the straight (and blow past them through the corners), and i cant hear my car while doing it lol.

 

[lordraptor1]

one thing no one has touched on is size and conditions of track, these 2 factors will also play a part in the best engine and pipe selection. like has been mention not alot of 1/5 scale racing here in the us but i do know of a lot of quarterscle oval racers but they are all back east while it looks like most of the 1/5 baja guys are on the west coast. IMHO racing was an afterthought with the baja's and i say this because i like to believe if it had been intended to be raced then certain parts (like the clutch bell carrier and the hd gearbox gears) would have been the aluminum hd units out of the box instead of an optional hop up part, but that is just my opinion. personally after my 2 runs this past week i can say that my 26 fuelie and rear dominator v2 work well for bashing for awhile but eventually one would want to move up to a better motor at least and possibly a better engine pipe combo of course an upgraded engine would require hd diff, drive, and idle gears.

 

[Sharkey]

i think i did mention that the tracks that a lot of bajas race on are designed with them in mind. to a lot of tracks/racers/shops in north america, the hpi baja is 1/5 scale. they are very different from the fg and mcd. and like i said, so many people end up with huge power in them that the tracks get built for speed and to be able to use that power (build the track to what the market wants sort of deal).

oval racing is another deal entirely requiring a different motor. oval stuff can almost be compared to a boat as you get into the higher rpm and thats where you want to make your power. yes you need torque to get it out of the corner, however with an oval car you maintain far more speed through the corner than a touring car or off road circuit vehicle.

different engines for different markets. i see ONB has all their full mod, race mod, reed motors, and then they have track ported 22.5 and 25.4 engines designed specifically to be smooth and more fuel efficient. it would be interesting to see how that yuji edition track ported onroad engine they build stacks up against oddified and some of the other big name onroad engines.

 

[lordraptor1]

i think i did mention that the tracks that a lot of bajas race on are designed with them in mind. to a lot of tracks/racers/shops in north america, the hpi baja is 1/5 scale. they are very different from the fg and mcd. and like i said, so many people end up with huge power in them that the tracks get built for speed and to be able to use that power (build the track to what the market wants sort of deal).

oval racing is another deal entirely requiring a different motor. oval stuff can almost be compared to a boat as you get into the higher rpm and thats where you want to make your power. yes you need torque to get it out of the corner, however with an oval car you maintain far more speed through the corner than a touring car or off road circuit vehicle.

different engines for different markets. i see ONB has all their full mod, race mod, reed motors, and then they have track ported 22.5 and 25.4 engines designed specifically to be smooth and more fuel efficient. it would be interesting to see how that yuji edition track ported onroad engine they build stacks up against oddified and some of the other big name onroad engines.

i think you misunderstood what i was saying. i was saying that if you are racing you want to make your selection based on the track and teh best way to find this out is to talk to the racers at the track not go out and get a full blown mod motor just because you think it will be better and faster and if used for bashing the only things to consider is do you have a large enough area to run and can you afford to keep replacing tires :lol::lol: