I agree, Rob. I think they kind of threw this car into no-man's land. It's not a re-release of a vintage icon, and it's not a new world beater. It just kind of... is.
You could take some of the contemporary touring cars of today and make a killer 4wd dirt oval car with very little effort, and probably have something far more substantial without the iconic name on the box.
I think the JRXS that I had played with had a lot of potential as a late model, but was still based on a narrow-armed touring car. Would have been interesting to get this car a little wider, though.
While I would agree that the touring cars would make an intimidating foe to a Dominator in the class, there is one huge difference. Simplicity. My entire love affair with the Dominator stems from it’s brilliant simplicity. I mean when you look at it there is no wondering what’s going on there. You can see it all. It just looks bad ass and more importantly, it’s lightweight. Not a big deal now, but when these things did as their name suggests and dominated…weight meant everything. You couldn’t go fast and run a long time back then. You had to pick one or the other. I am fully aware that you all know this and are merely talking 4wd oval in a modern world. I was pleasantly surprised at the design of the new Dom in the other link. It still looks bad ass and relatively simple next to most modern 4wds. Not nearly as cool as the original, but pretty trick nonetheless. Touring cars are cool as hell and an engineering marvel to look at, but there’s just so much going on there…
"The world looks so much better through beer goggles: Enjoy today, you never know what tomorrow may bring." Ken
The simplicity of the Dominator was a bane and a curse—if you wanted to adjust the car to make it work better, you couldn't do ANYTHING to it. Nothing. Maybe adjust toe-in and shock springs, and swaybars if your track could handle them. That's it. It didn't work well everywhere, but it looked like it did because you could just use massive HP and 4wd to drive the car wherever you wanted to put it. There were times when it was a handful. There was a huge reason the car needed that giant side dam—because it was awful to drive without it.
It was extremely high maintenance. We would rebuilt the entire car between heats. Not events—heat races! I mandated that if you want the car to work for long periods of time. The shocks needed to rebuilt just about before the 4 minute mark of your race, too.
The original Dominator is an icon of R/C racing history, no doubt. But, it was based on one of the most primitive off road cars of the day, and was grossly overpriced for what you got in a kit. Anyone that had one at the time was racing in the highest levels of dirt oval racing. There were no kids running them, and very few people that didn't have some access to killer batteries and motors.
I owe a lot of my racing history to Custom Works cars, and especially the Dominator, but there is nothing appealing about racing that simplistic car today. If you are a collector, you can find an old one and knock yourself out restoring it, and even taking it for a few mind-blowing laps at your local dirt oval. But given the opportunity, guys like Dustin (GoFast/Hyperdrive) and Chad (Dynotech) are going to build 4wd cars that will blow that car off the track—and they haven't even taken that concept seriously yet. I really would have anticipated a more adjustable car from Custom Works the second time around.
Not knocking CW—I think it's great they are bringing back a legend. But it would have been a great place to really showcase some serious hardware. I would guess that if the class grows again, that this car will evolve like the modern day Enforcer has evolved from Delta shocks and direct drive.
I had to send my HPI RS4 Rally back in our container from Afganistan. I have been worried because my company got back in november but our conex took a while. I just got my tuff box today the first thing I looked for is my good old Jolly Roger . I...
Last post
So I pulled the esc and motor today to use in my Rus'buggy. It is a speed gems 2 onix. 14t double. The esc is an old teken speed star. The onix seems a lot faster than the kyosho atom smasher that I was running in the buggy. Starting full teardown...
Hi,
this post just to show you the car which make me return to the dirt tracks (after a 20year stop)
this is my last car at this time , run it once and got to sell it...
so a good deal on the bay after... i come back in RC where i stopped it :
i...
Last post
updated with a Kinwald IFMAR wiring tribute :D (thank's for all this inspiration over years BK)
With all the new stuff coming out will anybody else have a hard time like me spending it responsibly? My wish list is filling up and dont know if i can hold back :(
Last post
I've got nothing good to say in regards to taxes. I was laid off in 2008 when my employer closed. They had been a employee stock ownership company (ESOP). To sell the company they had to sell our shares back. Still have not received all of them. Got...
Just came home from a 2 week holiday in Ibiza and was suffering serious 'holiday blues', when my neighbour called by with some parcels that had been delivered whilst I was away;
Got the buggy shell from a well known EBay seller and am very happy...
Last post
Wish I had a neighbour like that :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Buggy shell looks amazing. Glad im not cutting it out :o
so the other day i was going through some of my old stuff and came across my RC10CE i used to race. i am thinking about bringing it out of hibernation and doing some upgrades to it.
I originally found this and posted it up for the other Portlanders. The more I thought about it the more it bugged me. Just too good of a deal- so I offered him less and he took it. Met up, handed him a $100 bill and this is what I have:
Oh, and a...
Last post
The bumpers for these are crazy expensive, :shock:
thought the same thing that whenever I find one its around $50-$75...for me, the old bumper looks good enuf with just the right amount of patina :lol:
New here and just posted about a Goldpan I'm restoring. I'm also working on a DS and T2 ( found these in the basement after 20+ years etc) for the kids and myself to run together. It's been fun!
I'm having trouble getting my DS to return...
Last post
Been enjoying the DS - perhaps a bit too much as I’m chewing through the original rear Road Hawgs.
I’m considering a hex conversion to open up my tire options. I’ve seen the detailed conversions, and may go that route eventually, but has anyone...