It’s finally here! Probably one of the most anticipated articles we have ever done! The LiPo Battery Shootout has officially been posted and is ready for your reading pleasure! We can’t thank the people that made this happen enough! Special thanks to Cubby, Bill “Firesprink”, Jim, Josh and Tim Mohr! You guys rock!

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Hey all you ‘wanna be’ RC writers! Big Squid RC is once again looking for help, so now is your chance!

Do you hang out in the forums? Stay on top of the latest and greatest RC news? Have access to photoshop or some other picture editor? Then we need you! We have been bringing on new people, but are still growing so fast, we need more! We are ramping up for I-Hobby, and have a lot going on.

If you know a little about web pages/html, picture editing, (a little writing talent wouldn’t hurt, but if you are a reader of the site, you know it’s not really a necessity.) We currently have enough specialty writers (cubby, slash report etc.. ) but are in need of someone to help keep up with the daily news. Having some contacts in the RC industry is a plus, but not a requirement. Being able to use a picture editor to scale and place logo’s is now a MUST, as well is some decent communication skills.

If you are interested drop us an email, maybe give us a small example, and we’ll go from there. If you are in the Chicago area, there are some good perks like driving the latest RC vehicles before they are released to the public, and all the stickers you could want! (also, you should be over 18, we don’t want to get in trouble with anyone’s parents!)

Brian

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Recently we mentioned the RC Pro Products contest they had going on, about guessing their next RC product. Well they got a winner!

From RC Pro Products:
Well we have a winner!!! FINALLY! Matt “Big Puddin” Sistrunk was persistent and finally guessed a Fuel Bottle pretty much after he named everything in a pit box (26 guesses)! LOL He will receive a new bottle once they are delivered. These are 500ml soft bottles with a red anodized neck and the RC Pro Products name on the neck. This bottle can deliver maximum flow very quickly because of the softness. You won’t have issues with this bottle cracking from being hard plastic! It should last for a longtime as long as you don’t lose it.

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Get Ready for Ultimate Speed Run! The Biggest, most highly publicized Radio Controlled Speed Run ever! Come compete for World Records in 12 separate ISC classes. This Straight-line Event will be 2 days of exciting action. It will be held at the Auto Club Dragway Nov 14th & 15th, 2009. All Info will be available very soon & entries will be limited to 60 (Entries will officially open July 25th) acting quickly is advised. Make your plans now, this is the Ultimate Speed Run.  Bring It!

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The TORC RC Tour returns to Bark River International Raceway August 8th weekend! The Nitro Revo class has been added to the list of classes for ALL the remaining events!! Check the Traxxas TORC site for all the details!

Coming up Labor Day weekend at Crandon International is their 40th anniversary event. 40,000 spectators are expected and RC Pro will be there to run the TORC RC event. Come out and race or just come to watch the action!

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For the Corally Racers, Acer Racing has just announced their Ceramic Nitride Pro Series bearing kit for the 2009 RDX Phi. Head on over to their site for details. Don’t forget the free shipping deals!

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So how about that HPI Blitz? HPI becomes the fourth manufacture to jump into the short course market with their new Blitz, and it looks awesome. It’s seemingly molded off a race type platform, but comes with a sweet looking body, and even better looking rims and tires. The Savage was HPI’s last huge seller, the Blitz looks like it will be a monster sized hit at hobby shops as well. It’s also seemingly well liked by all the internet pundits, which is just amazing.

And speaking of amazing, the short course shootout is shaping up to be incredible- Traxxas Slash vs Associated SC10 vs Losi Strike vs HPI Blitz! Head to head, only one winner, can’t wait!

JConcepts has released a really cool item for the Traxxas Slash. It’s an “over tray”, a big piece of lexan that covers the top of the chassis of the Slash to keep out mud and debri. If you are a hard core basher, and are looking to keep as much mud and dirt out of your chassis as possible, this looks like a hit. Very innovative, and perhaps a must have if you bash your Slash. Click here for pictures and info.

Internet rumor of the week #1- that one of the major rc sanctioning bodies has been trying to join forces with one of the other bodies. Internet rumor #2- that one of the media types was blowing up the cell phone of one of the kings of rc racing at the ROAR 8th scale nats. Internet rumor #3- that the other powerhouse distributor based in Champaign is on the verge of introducing their entry into the short course market.

Leisure Hours Raceways and BigSquidRC are proud to present the 2009 Bash-A-Palooza on August 16th. Last year, the event was limited to gas monster trucks, this year, the event is open to ALL bash vehicles. Now most bashers avoid rc tracks like the plague, but this event is totally basher friendly, it’s your day to run the show. There won’t be the hard core racer a-holes hang’n around to bum things out, so grab your truck, grab a bashing buddy, and head out to Leisure Hours just south of Chicago for a full day of insane basher fun. They are expecting a ton of entries this year, I’m predicting half of those to be Slash’s.

That’s all for this week Cub Fans. We are slaving away on the Li-po write up, So I’m cutting this short this week to get back to work on the shootout of the century.

Support your LHS’s and local tracks!

Your Cub Reporter

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Special thanks to a Big Squid RC reporter out at the Short Course Nationals for getting us these HPI Racing pictures a long with a few shots of the recently announced HPI Blitz short course truck! Looks sweet! Can’t wait to get my hands on one!

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Slash Stock was the largest class at the nationals, going all the way down to an “E” main. It’s also arguably the most popular electric class in the country right now. The Slash Stock class requires that the trucks race with nearly no modifications, making the class very much a “driver and battery class” because all the trucks are nearly identical in performance. The MaxAmps 2S 4200HC helped Tim TQ and finish first in the A-main to take the national title! To quote Tim “Luckily, my MaxAmps 2S 4200HC was the fastest battery on the track. Thank you guys a TON. I couldn’t have done it with a lesser battery. I was pulling guys on the straights, and making all the jumps with ease, while other guys running lesser packs were having a rough time. Winning over a huge field of awesome drivers, in nearly identical trucks, in perhaps the most popular class in the country right now…. OMG I’m still so stoked today after the win…!!!!”

In 2wd Open, racing a Thunder Tech Outlaw chassis’d Traxxas Slash and being the only Traxxas Slash to make the A-main (the class had about 20 entries, enough for a full A and B). Tim qualified 5th, and ended up finishing the A-main in 5th place running MaxAmps 2S 4500 LiFePO4’s on a Mamba Max and Mamba 7700 motor. In Tim’s words “I gave it 110%, and it felt pretty awesome to mix it up with some of the best factory drivers in the country while wheeling a Traxxas”

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Looks like O.S. Engines has a new version of their popular OS 12XZ. The newly designed O.S. 12XZ ABC 12F Slide Engine is setup to max out low to mid speed torque. It has a new crankshaft, new connecting rod, and port improvements.
If you are looking for a new engine, OS is always at the top of my list.

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DuraTrax has just announced their new 2500mah 7.4v LiPo Packs that can be bought with standard or Traxxas connectors. They come in the same size and shape as their NiMH packs, and are wired for balancing.

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Congratulations to our Pro Drive Tim Mohr who TQ’d this weekend and took first place in the stock class at the Short Course Nationals this weekend!! Sounds like there was some serious bumping and grinding going on over there. Tim also took 5th in the MOD class! Awesome job buddy!!

Hope to post up some pictures soon.

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Just when you think the Traxxas Revo 3.3 couldn’t get any better, there is new version of the Traxxas Revo 3.3 coming! The new truck is going to be PACKED with some awesome upgraded features! A 4-Channel micro receiver with dual channel-1 inputs! (think dual steering servo’s).

A Heavy Duty constant-engagement reversing transmission, OptiDrive Electronic Transmission Control for smooth shifting, 17mm hex Geode mirror-chrome wheels, 6.3″ Maxx sized tires, new wide-track body with custom graphics, and dual 2075 digital high-torque ball bearing servos.

The vehicle comes Ready To Drive with receiver pack, EZ-Start pack, fuel bottle, spare glow plug, and a spare air filter.

Don’t forget all the great standards on the 3.3 like the EZ-Start, tuned pipe, hex hardware throughout, and the TRX 3.3 Racing Engine! We will be looking forward to the release of this monster for sure!

Remember when we broke the news story, and had the first pictures of the Traxxas 2.4 Ghz radio? Well now the Revo 3.3 comes with the TQ 2.4Ghz! Our pictures of the original prototype are a little different but it looks darn close!

Make sure to hit the Traxxas site for all the details.

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Well, everyone was expecting it, but I didn’t think it would come out of the blue like this! HPI Racing has just announced the Blitz Short Course Truck! It looks like it will have a fall release! It’s running officially licensed Maxxis Trepador Comp Off-Road Tires, with a Maxxis ATTK-10 Body for c sweet scaled look.

The chassis is based on the E-Firestorm platform, has fully tunable multiple shock angles, camber and tow, and anti-squat. Baja 5T style skid plates, threaded shock bodies, ALL METAL gear transmission, 15T Firebolt motor, full ball bearing set and captured hinge pins.

Look for the HPI Blitz to start shipping early fall!

Sign me up!

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Being a big Wheelie King fan, I might just have to pick up the new Crawler King from HPI Racing. It starts off with the Wheelie King 4×4 Chassis and then gets the HPI Rock Crawler Conversion kit, Rock Grabber Tires, and 2.2 Beadlocks. It has a front mounted battery, Crawler 55-turn motor, sliding drive shafts, and a pretty decent scale look. If you are looking to get into the popular RC Rock Crawling scene, you might want to add a Crawler King to your shopping list.

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