Newbie needs advice On 1/5 scale buggy
 

Hi ALL

Just found the forum, and would like to say HI to everyone. I've read the thread on HPI VS KM buggies and think both sides have merit. That being said, I could not find enough reason not to buy a KM Baja. Bought it on eBay from Heat Hobbies, delivery scheduled for 10/11. I am a total newbie to R/C trucks although I have R/C experience with helis, gliders, fixed wing powered planes and sailboats.

A couple of questions on the KM Baja:

1) is there anything I really, really should know before I go for my first "ride"

2) I noticed in one thread that some folks use Coleman fuel in their buggy. Is this recommended?

3) What are the first mods that you recommed it improve a KM buggy?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Unless they have changed, the suspension will be stiff as a brick out of the box. It seems like it just had 1 tiny hole in the piston, I drilled it out, then another on the opposite side, filled them back up and it helped a TON. The people running the coleman fuel is pretty much just so it doesn't stink up the house if you keep it inside. Regular ol gas is fine, although I mix it with klotz oil so it smells like a mx track when you run it. The body didn't last long, and other than my son crashing it into the mailbox post at wot, I really havn't broken anything, its been well worth the money. Seems few new things r/c related I open up the box and think wow that was a deal, this was one of them! A pipe makes all the difference in the world. Makes it much snappier and it almost seems to have "powerband". I just have the knockoff dominator they sell.

Thanks Junkman! I'm sure I will have more questions when I get the beast next week. Till then, be well!

in the coleman fuel area...
they use either zenoah 23cc engines or a copy on one.
both of these engines use a Walbro WT-644 carby.
these carbs are simple enough and will run a wide range of fuels.
but, the pump diafram inside it will not tolerate anything other than petrol on the stock seals.

there are other types of seals out there that can tolerate coleman fuel, methanol etc but they are a little hard to find.

i used to run a modded 28cc trimmer motor on my 1/4th scale airboat, that engine started out as a 1hp stock, it ended up pumping out over 5 hp from some basic mods and running methanol. i happened to obtain the correct seals from a different carb i had lying about.

now, yes sure, coleman fuel will work in your 1/5th, and it might be better performance wise.
over time the pump diafram and fuel metering diafram will be eaten away by the fuel and will cause much more damage than good!

Thanks for the scoop on the Coleman fuel SJ. Not knowing anything about it I sort of assumed that the Coleman fuel was BETTER for the engine and THAT was why people were using it. Now I know better!

What sort of fuel / oil ratio do most folks use? 25:1 as recommended. Do they use a more oil heavy mix to break in the engine? I have a little Merc outboard that required a 25:1 fior break in and then 50:1 after that. I realize that some of these answere may be in the manual, which I don't have yet, so if they are in the manual, feel free to save your typing finges and respond......READ the manual stupid!.............regards, Paul

I run 88 Octane (5,500 ft. elevation, not sure if you will have detonation issues at a lower elevation) gas with Motul full synthetic 2 stroke oil @ 25:1 in my real Baja and it runs great. For break in make sure you vary the RPMs a lot, don't hold WOT for very long, and don't rev it too high for too long (WOT passes aren't good for break in). Within half a gallon or so you should notice a little extra performance as the ring wears into the cylinder head and by the time you get a gallon through it it should be fully broken in.

I highly recommend a tuned pipe, it will give you a significant improvement in performance. I currently have a rear dominator on my Baja and it feels like it doubled the power over the stock muffler.

Hi OldGuy

Only one real question asked & only one answer worth giving

Brushless conversion :lol: