New Losi 22!

[soniccj5]

I watched a couple race and they did ok. They are small compared to an RC-10.

[GreenHell]

Went to Moto Arena's (Silverstone Race circuit, UK) Tuesday club night.... there were loads of TLR 22s running & they did look good.... however they were not 'WOW' so much better than anything else out there... but then I guess most guys have yet to get to grip with the set-ups etc.... put it this way, only one 22 out qualified me (I started 5th off the grid in the A) but the only Losi that was ahead of me by the finish was another Atomic Carbon CR2 (I finished 3rd)

Time will tell, but I do think the 22 like many 2wd Losi's in the past are 'forgiving' cars to drive.

Same thing at my local track last night...

There were two 22s in the A main, they finished 3rd and 6th in a sea of B4s and one RB5 (I finished 5th). The guy with the 22 that finished ahead of me looked dialed. I'm sure he'll be a serious threat in the near future.

The hobby shop had one left on the shelf, it was very tempting (“New buggy envy" setting in) but I stopped myself. I'll probably just stick with my B4 for a little while longer.

[soniccj5]

The hobby shop had one left on the shelf, it was very tempting (“New buggy envy" setting in) but I stopped myself. I'll probably just stick with my B4 for a little while longer.

AE has to have something in the works. I would wait until they release there new buggy.

[CamplinP]

I do like them as well. The problem(s) I am having is that I really like the mid motor option but did not think about the battery untill I watched the review. I just invested in new lipos and don't really want to buy saddle packs now. So without the mid option I don't see much need to replace my B4 which is just how I like it now other than having something cool and new to build.

[Brandon G]

I watched a couple race and they did ok. They are small compared to an RC-10.

That's odd, I raced against 2 of them last weekend, and from the driver's stand they looked like they were half a foot longer than the B4!


I had my 22 back ordered for about a week and it came in monday! Got it sooner than I expected... I went ahead and ordered the new Losi 3800 Lipo to go along with it. I have one issue. They are making such a big deal about the buggy being mid motor, but all the guys that were driving them this last weekend had them in the rear motor config. One of the guys knows his s**t about chassis setup, and said that he tried it in the mid motor config and the car had less traction. I would really like to try the mid motor but I dont want to go through the trouble (and it is no easy task to swap back and forth) of swapping it if it doesn't work. Anybody here running yours Mid motor?

Part quality in my kit was excellent. Shocks are the best of any 1/10 so far IMO. No fitment problems as far as the moulding goes. The only thing that irritates me is the tightness of the turnbuckles in the ball cups. They are so tight that after assembly if you adjust on them they want to pop off the ball studs. You have to use a good lube on the turnbuckles during assembly. Oh, the manual sucks poop too. All pics, no wordage except in the diff building steps. I realize they want to make it so anybody can build it regardless of language, but come on, most of the places these buggies are going english is fairily common.

I know, I know. Nothing but gripes...

[8rad]

The feeling I get is mid motor is king on carpet where traction is never a problem. Rear motor better on dirt. The local track here has both dirt and carpet and some guys have Cougars for the carpet and 22 rear motor for the dirt side. Sounds crazy I know. I plan on racing on dirt so rear motor for me. The whole idea of carpet just bugs me!

[Brandon G]

Yeah, it looks like I am steering toward rear motor.

[JK Racing]

Oh, the manual sucks poop too.

Yep...I assembled my turnbuckles with a drill, I havent had an issue adjusting (so far), but I have only hit the track once also...

[Cpt.America]

Been racing my 22 in the mod class at my local track, and so far the car is pretty amazing...

[JK Racing]

I just got my re-painted body back yesterday, need to post up some pics. Cpt...looks good, I've been hesitant to try the mid motor set up, unless I was running mod. I just dont want to loose any bit of an advantage running non-boosted 17.5. 4 gears = just a touch more drag (IMHO).

[fredswain]

I'm willing to bet that within the next 2 years, no one will be winning races with a rear motor setup anymore. People just have to learn how to tune and drive it differently than the naturally unbalanced setups we've always had.

[Cpt.America]

I just got my re-painted body back yesterday, need to post up some pics. Cpt...looks good, I've been hesitant to try the mid motor set up, unless I was running mod. I just dont want to loose any bit of an advantage running non-boosted 17.5. 4 gears = just a touch more drag (IMHO).

The extra idler gear in the 4 gear box will produce almost NO extra drag. Certainly isn't something you would be able to see on a lap time sheet.

I'm willing to bet that within the next 2 years, no one will be winning races with a rear motor setup anymore. People just have to learn how to tune and drive it differently than the naturally unbalanced setups we've always had.

I completely disagree. The BIG difference, is how the car changes direction, and available rear traction. Unless you are running on actual astroturf or carpet, not just traction levels that are similar, the mid motor's disadvantages outweigh it's advantages. I am lucky enough to run on a track with an INSANE amount of traction.. (the highest traction level i have ever seen actually) I'ts a really soft red clay, and we run slicks. Most of the time, you are dialing out traction because with a normal setup, you can traction roll on every corner. Yet STILL... when you DO break rear traction with a mid motor car, the way it breaks is FAR less predictable than with rear motor, so you end up having to be really careful with the rear end. Even on our track, the rear motor is still the way to go.

Now, if you are running on turf... even when you break traction, that carpet is so abrasiveness that that it will usually grab again with a slight correction... where on dirt, when you lose the rear, you will usually over spin, and will have settle the car completely and start over.

Now, this is applified the hotter you are running. One big disadvantage of the mid motor, is when you smash the throttle, there is a SIGNIFIGANTLY reduced amount of load to the rear tires. So when im runnning my 9.5 or 7.5, even with my MASSIVE amounts of traction... I can't get that quick snap like I can with the rear motor car. Cars that run a much softer motor, like a 17.5, that depend a lot more on corner speed, the mid motor car can show some advantages.

With all that said, and after a few hundred laps with both mid motor and rear motor 22s, I am rebuilding my car this weekend from mid, to rear, after just 2 weeks. We'll see how it goes.

[Charlie don't surf]

I can tell you from years of racing Dirt Oval, that on a high bite track the mid motor will be dominant- but it does take a vastly different set-up approach than a rear motor in regards to
front and rear toe, spring rates and roll centers. It can be made to change directions way faster than a rear motor car, and I assume you should be able to scrub on jump faces more efficently due to less of a pendulum effect from the rear end. All it will take is a driver that doesn't have years of "training" under his belt to start playing outside the sandbox and you will see a huge change in car configurations. Centrally located mass on something that small and fast, wicked potential.

[Cpt.America]

I can tell you from years of racing Dirt Oval, that on a high bite track the mid motor will be dominant- but it does take a vastly different set-up approach than a rear motor in regards to
front and rear toe, spring rates and roll centers. It can be made to change directions way faster than a rear motor car, and I assume you should be able to scrub on jump faces more efficently due to less of a pendulum effect from the rear end. All it will take is a driver that doesn't have years of "training" under his belt to start playing outside the sandbox and you will see a huge change in car configurations. Centrally located mass on something that small and fast, wicked potential.

Normal intuition would make you think so... but in reality, on dirt, there are issues removing so much weight from the drive wheels. Sometimes being able to "change direction way faster", isn't always better. And im fully aware of how drastically different mid motor setups are... i am coming into this 22 from a Schumacher cougar. I still think that on any dirt or clay track, rear motor will dominate. But time will certainly tell!!

[jamin]

Got mine built up over the past few evenings. Overall I think its an awesome car, especially the shocks, they have to be the single biggest improvement.

Two things I dont like:

1. The steering rack is quite stiff, but this should free up once used. I didnt want to try to sand or use paste to free it up, in case it causes problems.

2. The length of some of the screws in the chassis is insane. The 6 that hold the rear bulkhead on from underneath are way too long, as are some others, I guess they wanted this thing to be rock solid, which it is.

These points aside, I really cant wait to run this car, the quality is very high and its got alot cool features.

BTW I am running rear motor. I watched a few at the last meeting I attended and the rear motor cars could lay the power down alot better and seemed more planted at the rear over bumps etc.

I am of the opinion that mid motor is only for carpet/astro turf, but I guess time will tell.