HowieStern
07-05-2001, 04:44 PM
i've been meaning to post this for a while... so here it is...
i installed the Dual Stage Shock Pistons in both my FT B-3 and FT T-3 several weeks ago... here are a few notes.. please feel free to add your own comments below.... i would love to hear other owners views on this one...
1. be sure and trim all the flash off the pistons... a tiny bit of extra flash will result in horrible performance....
2. the standard kit (around 8 bucks) supplies enough pistons to do 2 entire AE vehicles.. Sweet!!! plus it comes with good instructions and an RPM sticker... i think that puts my sticker total up to around a zillion... LOL....
3. the kit will give you more tuning options than you can imagine... which is good and bad, depending on how much spare time you have... LOL.. you can mix and match compression and rebound pistons for tons of combinations...
now... for the good stuff...
i used the recommended direct replacements for my stock AE pistons, and the recommended 30 weight oil....
with this set up, compression damping was around 10% lighter than the stock set up, and rebound was at least 30-40% lighter....
using the RPM pistons really do make a pretty big difference in shock action... much more so than a change from 20 to 40 weight oil....
where will the RPM piston be of most benefit?? on high speed tracks... the increase in rebound speed can truely help to tame a rough high speed track...
on slow speed tracks, you may get too much bounce on kicker bumps...
i also seemed to get a bit more lenth off of jumps with the RPM pistons installed...
the faster you go, the better your suspension works with the dual stage pistons...
the new pistons also seemed to help turn-in to corners just a tad.. because they give a slightly lighter compression stroke and a much faster rebound, your car will "settle" when entering a corner faster, and seem to stick better upon inital turn-in...
of course this is all adjustable, so with fast swap of compression pistons, you can return to your normal compression stiffness without slowing your rebound... or you can go to a much heavier compression with the exact same rebound... too sweet...
what does it feel like to drive with the dual stage pistons?? ummm... my feelings after the first drive were....
1. overall, the suspension felt more plush
2. i could hit acceleration bumps made by nitro trucks on the high speed sections faster than Ever before...
3. the car never swapped at high speed after hitting small bumps
4. my car "stuck" great to it's line in a medium speed rythem section... no swapping, or wandering around at all.. with the stock set-up, it wasn't unusual for my buggy to kick out the rear end in this rythem section.. with the RPM pistons... it was wide open no worries mate... my buggy stayed straight as an arrow....
5. a slow speed, but super gnarly whoop section did have my buggy bouncing around more than before... but at least it stayed straight...
a couple of my racing buddies also installed RPM pistons... i did not reveal what i thought of the product, then i asked their impressions...
guy "A" drives a Team B-3... he is around mid pack C main in skill... he liked them... thought they rocked... and they seemed to give him more confidence in the rough sections...
guy "B" drives a XXX KE.... this is a A-main regional skill level driver... he didn't know if he liked them or not... he described them as making his buggy feel "mushy"... a feeling which he does not prefer... he loved them over the rythem section... but dis-liked how it made his buggy corner...
Overall-
these dual stage pistons will not make a C main guy into an A-main guy... but they allow for TONS of adjustments you just can't have with single stage stock pistons... so if you are the type of personal who can't tweak his RC enough... these pistons are for you!! ...
if you normally race on a fast, rough track, these pistons are for you... if you race on slow high traction tracks.. they may not work for ya, or at the least, you won't see any gains...
i still use them in both my race vehicles... i still get through the rythem sections faster than anyone with these pistons... though i'm not sure if it's the pistons, the increase in confidence they gave my driving, or both, but i do know that they now make the gnarliest sections of the track my strong points....
peace out.... :)
i installed the Dual Stage Shock Pistons in both my FT B-3 and FT T-3 several weeks ago... here are a few notes.. please feel free to add your own comments below.... i would love to hear other owners views on this one...
1. be sure and trim all the flash off the pistons... a tiny bit of extra flash will result in horrible performance....
2. the standard kit (around 8 bucks) supplies enough pistons to do 2 entire AE vehicles.. Sweet!!! plus it comes with good instructions and an RPM sticker... i think that puts my sticker total up to around a zillion... LOL....
3. the kit will give you more tuning options than you can imagine... which is good and bad, depending on how much spare time you have... LOL.. you can mix and match compression and rebound pistons for tons of combinations...
now... for the good stuff...
i used the recommended direct replacements for my stock AE pistons, and the recommended 30 weight oil....
with this set up, compression damping was around 10% lighter than the stock set up, and rebound was at least 30-40% lighter....
using the RPM pistons really do make a pretty big difference in shock action... much more so than a change from 20 to 40 weight oil....
where will the RPM piston be of most benefit?? on high speed tracks... the increase in rebound speed can truely help to tame a rough high speed track...
on slow speed tracks, you may get too much bounce on kicker bumps...
i also seemed to get a bit more lenth off of jumps with the RPM pistons installed...
the faster you go, the better your suspension works with the dual stage pistons...
the new pistons also seemed to help turn-in to corners just a tad.. because they give a slightly lighter compression stroke and a much faster rebound, your car will "settle" when entering a corner faster, and seem to stick better upon inital turn-in...
of course this is all adjustable, so with fast swap of compression pistons, you can return to your normal compression stiffness without slowing your rebound... or you can go to a much heavier compression with the exact same rebound... too sweet...
what does it feel like to drive with the dual stage pistons?? ummm... my feelings after the first drive were....
1. overall, the suspension felt more plush
2. i could hit acceleration bumps made by nitro trucks on the high speed sections faster than Ever before...
3. the car never swapped at high speed after hitting small bumps
4. my car "stuck" great to it's line in a medium speed rythem section... no swapping, or wandering around at all.. with the stock set-up, it wasn't unusual for my buggy to kick out the rear end in this rythem section.. with the RPM pistons... it was wide open no worries mate... my buggy stayed straight as an arrow....
5. a slow speed, but super gnarly whoop section did have my buggy bouncing around more than before... but at least it stayed straight...
a couple of my racing buddies also installed RPM pistons... i did not reveal what i thought of the product, then i asked their impressions...
guy "A" drives a Team B-3... he is around mid pack C main in skill... he liked them... thought they rocked... and they seemed to give him more confidence in the rough sections...
guy "B" drives a XXX KE.... this is a A-main regional skill level driver... he didn't know if he liked them or not... he described them as making his buggy feel "mushy"... a feeling which he does not prefer... he loved them over the rythem section... but dis-liked how it made his buggy corner...
Overall-
these dual stage pistons will not make a C main guy into an A-main guy... but they allow for TONS of adjustments you just can't have with single stage stock pistons... so if you are the type of personal who can't tweak his RC enough... these pistons are for you!! ...
if you normally race on a fast, rough track, these pistons are for you... if you race on slow high traction tracks.. they may not work for ya, or at the least, you won't see any gains...
i still use them in both my race vehicles... i still get through the rythem sections faster than anyone with these pistons... though i'm not sure if it's the pistons, the increase in confidence they gave my driving, or both, but i do know that they now make the gnarliest sections of the track my strong points....
peace out.... :)