T.O.P Racing - Scythe

TOP have updated their car for the next season. They called it the TOP Scythe '2008 Edition'. This car has ‘restorable flex’ chassis design for superb cornering speed & stability. It has a Full carbon fibre chassis, shock towers and steering plate, Alloy threaded shocks, motor mount, alloy pivot blocks and alloy hex hubs. And the new single bellcrank ball bearing steering set-up delivers now even a better steering. The TOP Scythe '2008 Edition' comes with a light weight rear differential and front one-way. This is the ultimate TOP Scythe Editon.

This version comes with the following red aluminium option parts:

The Carpet-Flex Pro Conversion Kit comes with the following parts to convert your existing Scythe Chassis:

2.75mm carbon fibre carpet bottom deck with milled motor mount

2.25mm carbon fibre carpet top deck

2 sets of red alloy lower bulkhead left/right parts

2 sets of new design red alloy single sided upper bulkhead parts

4 red alloy top deck support posts

4 suspension pins for use with bottom deck

To answer a few of the questions:

#1 - I did use Xray suspension arms, castor blocks and steering blocks. These were not used so much from a performance standpoint but a safety standpoint as their parts are extremely durable for foam/carpet racing. With this being the first race with TOP, I wanted to have a good result with the car without the worry of the HPI arms, blocks, hubs breaking easily. I watched Hara break a lot of HPI parts last year and this concerned me so Vincent and EJ gave me the go ahead to use them for the race. We are working to adress this though as soon as possible. I tested here before the race and was actually quicker with the HPI parts but durability was my concern as I know if I had a bad result, both TOP and myself would take a beating online...lol..

#2 - I did use Kyosho shocks and differentials. Again, the main reason being that I had experience with them and I knew how to set them up for good performance and life. I have no doubt that that TOP shocks and aluminum differentials will work well but it was just one of those things were there was limited time and I needed to make sure I only had to learn/set-up a few items rather than start from the ground up with only a few days testing. If I remember correctly, the aluminum differential comes with a 2.0mm screw which I am sure I would break in Mod/Foam. In every other class raced it would be fine but again, being the first race I wanted to be sure to have no "break downs" and just focus on the set-up and being comfortable with the car.

#3 - I cut the bulkheads so I had more room to adjust the upper camber links as I just didn't have the experience with the car at the major events. I tested a little here before the event and I liked the lower rear inner link but at the race it was terrible. I think the main difference being that our track was low traction with Paragon and the Birds was super high traction with Jack the Gripper (really different balance and feel). In the end, I actually put the stock upper bulkheads back in the rear and ran the lowered ones in the front. Overall, the pivot ball was only .5mm lower than stock which could have been done with a shorter ball stud. The height of the camber link mounts is the same from the stock car to the Carpet Flex bulkheads.

Josh Cyrul

Josh Cyrul just inked a deal with TOP (Tokyo Optional Parts) to run their Scythe touring sedan. Just released for the Scythe is the Carpet Pro Flex top plate and bulkheads. Cyrul's car seen here with th CPF kit installed.

The CPF kit includes a stiffer top plate that gives you the option to use aluminum stand offs to keep flex to a minimum. The new top plate also doesn't bolt over the upper halves of the bulkheads; this makes differential removal a breeze. The new lower bulkhead pieces are now two left and right pieces instead of being one piece connected together. Josh easily captured the overall Super Stock win with this new TOP ride.

Here are some pics of my TOP Scythe. For those that don’t know this is a 1/10th electric touring car, combining the best of HPI, Yokomo and TOP’s own parts to make a very competitive chassis.

I just took these pics quickly as it is a sunny day, the car was run at an outdoor meeting a couple of days ago hence the tyre dust all over it. Sorry if it offends your eyes.

Somewhat battered shell now, having had the car 9 months or so. It is a Protoform Mazdaspeed 6 if you were wondering.

Under the shell. The car is quite close to standard, there are a few bling parts on there like the red nuts, but I still run the plastic bulkheads because for me the car is a lot easier to drive like that. And yes, I know I am using stone age brushed/NiMH/40MHz technology - but it works!

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Preparation and assembly of the TOP - Scy Model Chassis

The battery casings of the chassis need to be filed to a 45º angle so that the battery can sit perfectly. The battery must not lie below the level of the chassis or it it will rub against the asphalt. Then a little bit of loctite must be applied to the filed zone and then spread with a cotton swab.

In the same manner, a little loctite be also be applied to the edges of the chassis as with shock supports to avoid delamination.

If you use adhesive tape to secure the batteries you can smooth the edges where the tape has been applied with a file to prevent splitting.

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