Fixing the Rlaarlo AK917 for the Track

[@scottjlambert]

Still makes me happy knowing you’re getting use out of the Copperhead! 😃

[@RCTNT]

I use at least one of them several times a week. It was so timely, Scott. Thanks again!!

[@GregoryMcGehee-ex3cl]

Glad to see you giving the car another chance! I learn a lot from your experiences. Good videos buddy.

[@RCTNT]

Thank you! Don't miss my AK-917 speed run series, then. Learned a lot there too!

[@elduderinolebowski5411]

my goodness, that's a pretty car. looks great sitting still, looks great in motion. The internals are pretty good-looking, too. And of course the actual performance matches the looks. I still don't have anywhere within a reasonable distance to drive one, but every time I see yours, it makes me want one anyway. You keep showing us this car (and the new chassis when you get it), and you might just talk me into getting one.

[@RCTNT]

Haha fair! It's deserving of the admiration. I didn't do a good enough job last video of showing just how amazing the value is for this thing. They're gorgeous cars.

[@muskokamike127]

One other thing about the interference with the antenna: that's something that I thought of with most new 2.4G cars: back in the day ALL antennas stuck straight up out of the body, now they're just dumped inside. Even your fix by laying it straight along the brace, I thought it'd be better straight up. Lots of reviewers comment on "out of range" issues with radios...well, you can increase the range by you know, putting your antenna up in the air.....

[@RCTNT]

Definitely you're right, but I'm using this thing for high speed so didn't want the extra drag. Will experiment. Only need the last 6.5cm upright though, so we'll see!

[@muskokamike127]

@@RCTNT well, you don't want to lose contact at 100 mph lol...... "where's your car"? "heading for tahiti" hahah

[@RCTNT]

Very true!

[@VS666]

very cool, love seeing the updates and upgrades!

[@royhopkins6197]

Great video and I'm looking forward to the speed runs

[@RCTNT]

Thanks Roy! Me too :)

[@CornholioMcGeeRC]

Another great video!! And if you find a stiffer sway bar that works please mention it in your video!!! I’m with you most sway bars that come on RCs are too soft

[@RCTNT]

No worries Nathan, I'll definitely do that.

[@silvertamman3218]

I think you need 6 channel dumbo transmitter to get this gyro receiver to work. I have metal version rtr and i feel rear diff has too thick oil in it. It locks up on heavy power/loose surface and then car goes sideways. I will test it with gyro today. This body looks like porsche 917k, where "k" means kurz- short in english. In reality, on high speed events longer back end body was used. I admit, short body looks cooler!

[@RCTNT]

Ooh thanks for the kurz detail! I explained about the 917k in my original video but I didn't know what the K was for. Thanks for that! I have all the DumboRC radios here. I hope you're wrong and that the Rlaarlo radio will work with the FG rx but we shall see :) Thickening up the front diff may help a bit. Dunno yet, more testing needed! Cheers :)

[@chadthechad4365]

Another great video 👍

[@vincenttuttle3643]

i order the same receiver for my car i hooked up all the lights the only ones i havent got working right are the back fire light i havent figured out the gyro yet too.

[@RCTNT]

You won't get the backfire lights working with any other receiver than the Rlaarlo one, as this is a custom firmware for this car (to my understanding). There is no gyro with the Rlaarlo rx. Lights or no lights, they're the two receivers to choose from. The DumboRC rx I showed here with the gyro function will not have a working gyro without a DumboRC radio transmitter that supports that feature - and it looks like the Rlaarlo branded radio does not support gyro. The Rlaarlo radio's firmware may be flashable but I haven't looked into this at all. (You'd need physical write access to the eeprom on the board, software to write to it, and the appropriate DumboRC ROM file to write. It will take some work to do this and I'm unlikely to pursue this myself, but I'm noting it possibly can be done. Maybe someone has).

[@vincenttuttle3643]

@@RCTNT i see i can order the receiver from there site its cheap but does it have a gyro and i order the sliding motor mount and alumn diff holders more then 3 weeks ago and they still have not shipped them

[@RCTNT]

My stuff hasn't shipped yet either. I'm guessing (only guessing) at a 6-8 week lead time currently. I've reached out for updates to share with you all here but haven't heard back. I gather they're very busy. Hopefully next time round they'll be better prepared with communication. Waiting is fine as long as you know what's going on. They're growing and I think the success of this model took them by surprise. People are getting their stuff, it's just taking a while. No gyro if you order the Rlaarlo radio. They have with and without light control only. I ordered the DumboRC rx with gyro, but I understand you need to get a standard DumboRC handset for it to work. I'll test and confirm this in my next rlaarlo video. I've actually been waiting for my orders to arrive before doing the next video, hence the delay!

[@josephadair790]

I have an apology to make to everyone and to Rlaarlo. I got a text on Tuesday from DHL saying I have a delivery on Friday, but it showed up today, it`s the AK-917. I don`t know what happened maybe my complaining I don`t know, but the car is here, and its Beautiful. Thanks all, Joe.

[@RCTNT]

Good on you for making the follow-up post. Glad it arrived and that you're happy with it! (That last bit isn't hard, it really is gorgeous, isn't it!!)

[@josephadair790]

@@RCTNT It`s Beautiful, and I really do feel bad for the things I said but communication is key, I`m a retired 72 year tired body man and don`t like to be left in the dark. .

[@RCTNT]

Understood totally. Communication is important. They could have a 3 month waiting period as long as they made it clear up front and maybe sent an update email every few weeks with progress and expected eta. Silence, on the other hand, leads to rapid degradation of trust, which is unfortunate in this case because I think rlaarlo is on a mission and they're the real deal.

[@RCTNT]

My CF roller just showed up today, ordered May 3. Just a follow up to our discussion about it from a month ago!

[@billknepp1965]

the car is awesome.. truly is... the parts shipping however is quite lacking.. but.. it's a long ride from china...lol. only wish I had added the sliding motor mount n 3 more sets of body clips to my order...

[@RCTNT]

Agreed. I've got three orders from the start of May and I'm hoping they'll arrive soon! The car is brilliant, yes!

[@muskokamike127]

No worries about trust, anyone who has reviewed it thought it was a great chassis. So you're not alone.

[@RCTNT]

I can still be wrong, but that's good to know! Thanks Mike.

[@muskokamike127]

@@RCTNT Naw, another 'tuber did a side by side with a traxxas at double the price and it came about equal with this one being better quality with metal parts and adjustability. One of the best bang for your buck vehicles out there.

[@RCTNT]

If it was the 4tec then that's easy! I'd be interested to compare it to a Kyosho Fazer MKII brushless edition. That'd be closer on price and performance I'd think, though you can't beat the goodies the Rlaarlo comes with. They've hit it out of the park with this car, I think.

[@carfixated]

How do these Rlaarlo cars do at the TRACK compared to other touring car chassis? Can they compete or are they only bashers and straight line cars? Thanks.

[@RCTNT]

With better tires, they're considerably better than the TT 01 and 2, better than the Fazer, etc, but they won't hold a candle to dedicated track cars like the xpress model we looked at. Keep in mind I'm not a track guy so I can't give you a fully informed or nuanced opinion. But the Rlaarlo surprised me in how well it drove, broadly speaking. They're good cars. They're just not 'race' good.

[@EriMCardenasRC]

I wish where i live there was a track like this🔥what you think about the chassis? Is it track worthy?

[@RCTNT]

It's not up to competition against dedicated race cars but it's still very good.

[@EriMCardenasRC]

@@RCTNT gotchu,man that track looks so damn good,the nearest track like that is in California (4 hours) from me,so im into bashers and crawlers 😅😅

[@RCTNT]

@EriMCardenasRC a reasonable response! We're spoiled for choice here in Melbourne. There are several tracks within an hour of here

[@EriMCardenasRC]

@@RCTNT yeah im from Nevada(mainly Desert and off road) im kinda jealous of you, in a good way though,seem to have more variety of RC Classes in your region

[@RCTNT]

We have far less going on than in the USA, given our countries are roughly the same size but Australia has 1/15th of the USA population! Less hobby shops, less tracks, less events, etc. That makes me even more appreciative of the local tracks here!

[@bernardrc1137]

Nice ,honest & down to earth video, bro, 🤌🤌 ,do you find your motorcigle skills come in handy when playing with rc cars, I find my off road motorcigle skills come into play when crawling,bashing, & jumping lol 😁👍

[@RCTNT]

Haha I don't how, maybe. I will say my real life four wheel driving skills were improved by rc crawling

[@bernardrc1137]

@RC-TNT I can't drive a car, always been into motorcigles, lol.😜🤣🤣🤣

[@RCTNT]

And the planet thanks you Bikes are best anyway :)

[@malky525]

It is a nice enjoyable looking machine. Rally is as close to road car as I can go!!! Surrounded by dirt and broard acre cropping🙃

[@RCTNT]

Lol that sounds like opportunity for rally or something! (I read your comment without glasses - you said rally already, haha! Exactly)

[@androcless]

Just got mine. Cannot get the thing to go straight. Steering trim doesn’t fix it. Seems like the servo won’t go back to neutral position. No reply from company.

[@RCTNT]

Is your toe equal? Worth checking carefully. If the servo isn't centring like it should, maybe something is binding. Consider disassembling the front end, checking clearances, lubricating the moving parts of the steering assembly, then reassembling. Hope you work it out!

[@customtoyrevolution]

I too have the same issue on my Rlaarlo 1/14 scale brushless buggy. Checked everything, could still be either servo or pull bars. Pull bars have more play than other brands which might also be the issue

[@gregdelgado812]

Did you add some glue to those tires for grip

[@RCTNT]

I did not, but it was intentional. Still showed everything as you'd get it, not tuned or modified. Easier to make a comparison with everything stock, though as you imply, there's room for improvement!

[@jeffarab4947]

Where u get the tires set amazon

[@RCTNT]

I got them from a Sydney Australia store, Smokem RC Many similar sets probably on Amazon, yeah

[@jeffarab4947]

@@RCTNT awesome will chk out on Amazon I seen many

[@pnum9618]

ordered my car April 17 its May 25 sent 4 emails havent heard anything still waiting for the car????????

[@RCTNT]

I made two orders, one before yours and one at the start of may. Haven't heard back regarding either of them but I'm not worried at this stage. The company wasn't prepared for how wildly successful the ak917 would be, that's my current theory. Their communication needs improvement, for sure, but my expectation at this point is that they're filling orders as quickly as they can and there's probably some significant backlog. I think they'll get there but there's probably a 6 or 8 week wait - just a feeling, but I've dealt with Chinese companies for years in RC and 1 to 2 months is not uncommon.

[@RCTNT]

Update, I've just reviewed all my emails and logs from Rlaarlo. I ordered my first batch of parts on April 16. Then I ordered a roller and a bunch more bits on May 4th. I've spent about usd$420. Now, I read two updates from the company about delays. My impression from those letters (last one was in early May) is that they've nearly finished shipping out the preorder vehicles now, being behind by about a month. Then, "spot" orders will start shipping. So, we should have our stuff in June. They said they're getting nearly 500 contacts to their support staff, per person, per day! It sounds like they've been swamped with unexpected success with this model. Little wonder, it's a beauty. Hey, let me know when yours arrives, if you could. That would be great to know about. Thanks!

[@RCTNT]

My CF roller just arrived today, finally. I trust you got yours too?

[@hortonsweeping]

Still haven’t received my car what have you herd?

[@RCTNT]

I've ordered one too. I know what you know - they're working hard and have a lot of orders to fill. It'll get here as soon as they can manage it!

[@RCTNT]

My CF roller just showed up today, ordered May 3. Just a follow up to our discussion about it from a month ago! Did yours arrive yet?

[@josephadair790]

Rlaarlo is really good to you it seems like, let me tell you how Rlaarlo treats me. I ordered i red carbon fiber rtr version on April 6, pre sale. May 5 recieve an e mail saying my order has shipped. Cool I thought. I noticed a problem with shipping, tracking said was waiting to be picked-up by carrier, on the 4th, 5ht and 6th day I e mailed Rlaarlo about the problem, nothing from them. I check tracking again and it said package delivered, but not to me. I never recieved my order. Not one e mail from customer service, nothing. I told Rlaarlo I want what I ordered or I want my money back, $345.42. Rlaarlo will not get back with me. Rlaarlo sucks, a piece of shit company that does nothing for it`s customers. I hope they go under.

[@RCTNT]

Geez that's not good! I understand they're having some delays with orders (I've spent a similar amount to you on a bunch of stuff and it hasn't shipped yet) but failed delivery is definitely something that needs a follow up. My expectation is they'll get back to you but are not prepared for their success with this model. It is a legitimate business risk, sudden huge popularity. My expectation is you will have this sorted but it might be slower than usual. I appreciate it's been a while and no reply from them and not knowing would be tough. Hopefully they get back to you soon.

[@pnum9618]

exactly what im going through they suck as far communication its been almost 7 weeks they got my money i paid with paypal so i might get my money back if i get screwed sent 4 emais Crickets they suck

[@RCTNT]

I'm pretty sure it's just their communication that isn't good, currently. The products are going out at a decent clip. Yours will arrive eventually, I'm confident.

[@billknepp1965]

you weren't alone.. they actually contact me 3 times each time asking for more for shipping.. I nearly cancelled the order... but if you do you lose like half the cost of the item... frustrating considering how many free cars they shipped n then complete upgrade parts for all of those free cars... yeah I like the ak917.. but it will remain my only car from this company...

[@howintesting940]

Not only Rlaarlo. Many sellers on Aliexpress did the same thing, not only to RC stuff but anything. I complained once to Aliexpress about my stuff ordered not delivered and requested to send it me again, but seller shows the tracking saying "delivered"; I replied :"yes, it's delivered by checking tracking#, but it was wrongly delivered, not to me but someone else. And you know what Aliexpress, as an arbitrator, requested me to do? Aliexpress requested to me show a proof "it is NOT delivered to me from courier"..... OMG.... this renders me speechless. I had never encountered this all my life time before - a proof "NOT delivered to me from UPS, USPS, FedEx" holy shit !