Let's take a closer look at Joseph Quagraine's Mayako MX8 buggy after the gruelling first Finnish National which he won. The track was high speed and rough, with a lot of sharp edge bumps and ruts. You really needed a forgiving car, and courage to stay on throttle through the bumps. It's always interesting to check out the details on cars of experienced racers, and in this case the designer, to see what tweaks they are making.
NO MORE
potential failure
Interestingly, Joseph plugged his battery directly into the receiver. After having 3 extension cable failures recently, the decision was made to plug the battery directly into the receiver. The receiver is easy to access with a bodyclip, so the decision was made to eliminate the extension wire altogether. One less point of potential failure.
extend the life of
the chassis
The Mayako MX8 comes stock with skidplates front and rear. This extends the life of the chassis by a significant amount. Joseph also elected to run the optional longer chassis. The chassis is 4mm longer in the rear, which makes the car more stable thanks to the longer wheelbase, but makes up for lost rotation by having a weight distribution further to the front. The end result is a car that still has good steering, jumping and landing, but feels more stable at high speeds and in bumps.
3d printed
spacers sandwiched
The rear stock rear wing is raised 6.5mm with 3d printed spacers sandwiched between the wingmount and the wing. This maintains the low mounting of the wingmount, and only raises the wing itself. This is done to gain slightly more consistent rear traction and general stability. The wing itself has the gurney flap installed for more traction and stability, with holes drilled for better nose down jumping and a slightly more free feeling cornering.
smaller diameter
prototype pistons
The Mayako shocks are set up with 5x1.45 front and 5x1.5mm prototype smaller diameter pistons. The stock Mayako pistons are 15.9mm and smaller 15.8mm pistons were used. The smaller pistons are better for rough conditions thanks to more oil flowing past the piston. The result is something you cannot achieve by adjusting the holes in the piston. Most of the time the 15.9mm stock pistons are better, but these new prototype pistons are being developed specifically for rough tracks. The shocks are built as emulsion shocks with no bladder as they make the care very easy to drive. The temperature was cool, around 14C, and oils were Ultimate Racing 650/500cst.
Good setup for
rough track
The front springs are the Mayako Regular Black springs, with Mayako Regular Brown springs on the rear. This setup worked well on the rough track, with both front and rear in the middle holes of the new production towers. For the prototype 5 hole towers, this is the equivalent of 1 out from inside. On the arm the front shocks were mounted with the #3 outside insert, and rear #2 middle. Having the rear shock all the way inside on the tower was run in qualifying, and it did make the car feel very plush and good in bumps, but it didnt support the car as well when being pushed harder, and it was a bit slower. Standing the shock to the middle supported the rear more, and allowed the rear end to slide around corners better, however, it did make it worse through bumps when driving straight through them.
left and right shock adjustment
nuts are set differently
You might have noticed the left and right shock adjustment nuts are set differently. This was not an oversight, but a conscious choice. The car was set up on 4 scales to set the actual wheel rates as close to equal as possible left to right. This resulted in different settings for the adjustment nuts. This resulted in a very balanced and consistently performing car around the challenging track.
This is a pretty
standard setting
The diff setup was 12.5k – 10k – 6k. This is a pretty standard setting, with the centre being lowered from 12.5k due to the rough conditions. This helped with off power steering in the tighter corners, and smoothed out acceleration in the bumps.
smooth initially
linear through the corner
The steering settings were focused on making the steering smooth initially, and linear through the corner. KPI1 hubs and knuckles were used, for smooth initial steering, paired with Caster 1, to give the car enough steering in tight corners. In hindsight it would have been interesting to try KPI1 – Caster 2. The ackermann link was in the forward position, and the link was middle length, so bushing hole out on #1 long plate on knuckle. (Same as bushing hole in on #2 short plate as used here). Bumpsteer was adjusted, so that the steering would not increase as you get on power in a corner. This is explained well in the following video:
one red spacer on each side of
the knuckle
The axle height was set to the middle, as you can see with one red spacer on each side of the knuckle. This was done to achieve a more forgiving front end with less sidebite, compared to the most common low axle setting, with 2 red shims above the knuckle. As of right now, the CVD is the only option for the front end of the car. The 100mm dogbone is the same for front CVD and rear optional CVD. The original knuckle didn't have enough clearance, so additional clearance was machined post production.
optional CNC
rear hubs
The optional CNC rear hubs were used, as they offer more adjustment possibilities. The axle height was set to the middle height, for less sidebite, and a more forgiving rear end on the rough edgy track. The hub was also moved back. 1.5 toe in was used, which results in less shims in front of the hub as standard. Here 1.5 toe in was run, but with 3mm shims in front of the hub, which results in a long wheelbase, and less rear driveshaft bind. Both these things help the car handle the bumps.
The CNC rear hubs use carbon plates for the top link. Originally the idea was to use only one plate of 4mm per hub, but this proved to be only 95% reliable. Mostly ok, but possibility of breaking. So 2 plates per hub were mounted. In the future these will be changed to 3mm plates. The #2 plate was installed, which has a long hole that is placed between the long and short hole of the #1 plate. The plastic hub is same as #1 plate. This slightly shorter link positions helps with more camber gain on the rear, and allows the rear end to rotate more in corners
optional 94mm rear
universal driveshafts
Another detail on the rear end, are the optional 94mm rear universal driveshafts. These are a superb option for bumpy tracks, or tracks with inconsistent grip. The joint is moved far out into the hub, by using a larger 13x19x4mm bearing (same as for CVD), and this reduces the driveshaft bind. The suspension works better in bumps, and you will have more consistent rear grip. On smoother tracks the 91mm stock shaft is usually faster, but when it gets tricky the 94mm is easier, which makes it better. You also have the even more extreme option, the CVD, which moved the joint even further out, but here the joint also changes, and the feel of the car is more affected, and you lose some of the light, free rolling feeling. This really comes down to a preferance, and your setup needs to be built around your choice of driveshaft, universal or CVD. You can change between 91 or 94, but when you go to CVD more changes need to be made to regain support for the rear end.
No servo saver
is used
No servo saver is used, the all plastic servo saver eliminator is lightweight, and helps to deliver precise steering. Modern all metal gear, metal case servos are up to the task of enduring 1:8th Nitro Offroad without the need of a servo saver. In this case Savöx 2292sg servos were used, which have proved to be reliable over the years.
power unit
Ultimate Racing M3X
The Ultimate Racing M3X engine was the power unit of choice, with the square stroke 3 port design providing a powerful yet controllable powerband. The smoother 2041 pipe with excellent top speed was used, in preparation for the forthcoming Redovan Worlds Warm up. Possibly, the 2042 with lower mid to top end speed and more low end torque would have been a better choice for how the track broke down. Run time was good at about 9 minutes making for easy 7:30min stops in the 45min final.
Finnish Nationals
Control tyres
Control tyres are used at the Finnish Nationals which has made the racing very close, and made it a lot easier and less stressful to attend. No more gluing of tires, or preparing tons of different treads and compounds. More time and effort and focus put on the car and setup throughout the day. Control tires is definitely the best way to run bigger races that people travel to unknown tracks to attend, it takes the guesswork out of it and lowers the cost.
The setup run is not far from a basic, everything in the middle. There are key changes made to get the car how Joseph likes it. The main points are listed below:
The rear roll centre is lowered, by raising the link to the top hole in the tower, and lowering the arm to 1 down C and D. (In this case inserts are 0-0, because C and D blocks are lowered 1 whole mm. They use inserts for 2mm gearbox shim, but a 1mm shim is used. This lowers the blocks. 0-0 with low blocks is the same as 1 down C and D with stock height blocks.
The lower rear roll centre helps to keep the car “in the track”, keeps it lower over bumps, and makes it so the car is very unlikely to flip over while on power.
Rear toe in is 1.5deg to free up the rear end of the car in corners. The hub is also moved back further than normal. The CNC hub is used so that it can be raised 1mm for less side bite.
The setup is not extreme in any way, mostly close to stock, small changes make a noticable difference, focus on a properly built car, and find the rideheight, droop, camber and toe that you prefer!
Option Parts and Setup Options Used:
MYB0001-01 3mm Long Main Chassis +4mm Rear for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0016CF Carbon Fibre Rear Shock Tower for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0025TI Titanium Gearbox Screws for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0029-01 C-Block Wide, use with MYB0030-01 for 1.5deg (50), for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0030-01 D-Block, use with MYB0029-01 for 1.5deg (53), for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0050-01 Aluminium Left or Right Rear Hub for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0050-02 Inserts for Aluminium Rear Hub for Mayako MX8 (-22)
MYB0051CF-02 CNC Rear Hub Carbon Fibre Link Plate #2 – Short Link
