Zip Zap SE...RS, are you listening?

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 8:50 pm

I want to get a discussion started on the newer ZipZap Se's (Chevelle, Torino, GTO). Lets face it, the first generation SE's sucked, moslty becuase of steering issues (chatter, turning too sharp one way, etc.). But I give RS props for trying to step it up a notch in 1/64 RC by offering a micro with "proportional" steering and speed.

The newer SE's seemed to have remedied the steering issues (I'm still hearing of a few chattering SE's here and there though). Personally I really like the NEW SE's and my favorite ride right now is a 2cd generation SE chasis with the wide tire kit, 3.8 purple NOS motor, blue gears with no body shell. That's right no body shell. It's quick and it handles great. I think it looks damn nice this way too...

The only real down side to the SE right now is how a lot of the bodies sit on the chasis, they sit way too high. Even lowering a body on the chasis is difficult due to the electronics having such a high profile. The muscle car bodies don't look too bad, but the front ends could sit a bit lower. I think these muscle car bodies are the nicest stock 1/64 bodies I have seen to date. The GTO is down right pretty:

and the Chevelle ain't bad either....

Both of these shells, along with the other muscle car bodies, show the nicest detail on any stock micro. They sit pretty well, which led me to beleive RS was on the right track, but the newest SE tuner kit (Acuras) probably sit on the chasis worse than any bodies to date.

I'd like to see RS work on getting the SE electronics into a lower profile to allow the bodies to sit correctly, or at least allow us to lower them ourselves.

Yeah I wrote a book here, but I'm hoping to get a good thread going to get RS's attention....you all know they watch the best Micro RC forum around

grnmachnracr · Post by **grnmachnracr** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 9:19 pm

yeah i like the new SE's too, i have the black chevelle and i love it! So far no problems!
btw, in your pix, you dont have the purple motor in.. but its all good..

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Tue Jul 20, 2004 9:23 pm

grnmachnracr wrote:btw, in your pix, you dont have the purple motor in.. but its all good..

You are right, its the stock motor, I have the purple in another chasis.

betty.k · Post by **betty.k** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 5:10 am

if the steering was more reliable and the weak drive train addressed i'd want one. i had one, and it was fun for a couple of weeks, but it just wasn't as impressive as a bit. on paper it's my dream micro. but in practice it just never delivered. focus on the performance, not the looks first radio shack.

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:15 am

betty.k wrote:if the steering was more reliable and the weak drive train addressed i'd want one. i had one, and it was fun for a couple of weeks, but it just wasn't as impressive as a bit. on paper it's my dream micro. but in practice it just never delivered. focus on the performance, not the looks first radio shack.

Betty, did you have a first gen or second gen SE?

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 10:20 am

betty.k wrote:if the steering was more reliable and the weak drive train addressed i'd want one.

Well then,you want one.

The steering radius is tighter too.

and now that the info to get the FETs working good in the SE, I think the SE is the perfect little micro rc. Well yeah the bodies sit too high, but gotta have something left to modify ourselves, don't we?

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 12:21 pm

crazydave wrote:Well yeah the bodies sit too high, but gotta have something left to modify ourselves, don't we?

I agree that we need something left to modify....but do you think the current configuration of the SE chasis even allows for it? I haven't tried it yet because it looks to me like there just isn't much room for lowering. The GTO doesn't need much lowering, but you have seen how bad the new Acura tuner set sits and I'm wondering if there is any room under the body to lower it. I haven't seen any lowered SE's. I suppose part of the problem may be their higher cost ($25 vs. a $6 bit clone) and noone wants to mess with them.

Namuna · Post by **Namuna** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:33 pm

I suppose part of the problem may be their higher cost ($25 vs. a $6 bit clone)...

I tend to agree, but this is due to the circle-jerk-of-ignorance; You've got the folks that have ZERO clue about RC cars and they see on the shelf the ZipZaps and ZipZaps SE, difference is that the SE is $5 more...Why? They ask the clerk and I'd wager big money that at least 50% of the time they don't get a good enough answer to warrant (in their mind) the extra $5 spent. Or maybe they do pick up the SE, and it might not work exactly right and needs a little TLC, unless you're a Modder it's not likely you'll want to invest that kind of time.

Now, as far as the price goes...Make no bones about it, at 1/64th scale with propo control the ONLY other contender is the Yokomo Puchi-Maru and the retail on it is ~$95 (if you're lucky you can find it on clearance for $50 or $60) and your only choice for bodies is either a Honda Fit or Toyota Vitz (both are BUTT ugly, IMO)...

So, as far as I'm concerned...With the proper fixes to the SE, it is indeed the 'perfect' little Micro RC...And at a pretty reasonable price too (considering the competition, or lack thereof)

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 3:44 pm

I agree that the 2cd generation ZZ SE is priced well considering the competition or lack thereof, as you put it, but I think a lot of the modding that is done here is done with less expensive clones...otherwise it can get expensive.

But the real reason I think we have seen very little body mods on an SE chasis is because the high profile of the SE electronics makes it difficult to do....hence, the reason I started this thread.

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 5:32 pm

Oh people started lowering and modifying them the day they hit the market.

I think the reason you don't see as many modified, is because the initial buggy design turned alot of people off from buying them.

While true there's not quite enough room to completely slam the SE, you can still get them plenty low. Witness my '04 'Stang. It still has the lights under there, and it's pretty low.

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 6:30 pm

Wow....and the lights are still in there? Did you tab lower or slot lower that one?

Post by **CaboWabo** » Wed Jul 21, 2004 7:28 pm

crazydave wrote:I think the reason you don't see as many modified, is because the initial buggy design turned alot of people off from buying them.

I was one of em, took me quite a while before I bought one and it was 1st generation so I had twitches like a meth-head.

however, for me, and what I like to do / drive as far as the micros go...
se's and bits are 2 totally different micros to drive and modify (for me).

I love the bits, never will leave them - part of their fun in driving and racing is trying to compensate for the "always on" mode of driving. seems to make for a more even field of drivers. it's hard to control something that doesn't lend itself to that much control (if that made sense)
but I also like not fighting it sometimes, and that's where the se's come in. I've raced both on my track and both are 2 totally different experiences.

I tend to agree, there might be as much "modding" you can do with the se's as compared to the bits, but it's there. and maybe its the fact that it's more of challenge for me (starting off with an obviously larger chassis, shitty sitting height of bodies, forked up wheels/rims, etc.)

I dunno, I'm still more "pro bit" that "pro zip" but I've learned to love both.

xmods on the other hand, haven't touched em and don't plan to - as we can see from this forum, those are dying out in favor of iwavers in most cases. I knew that was gonna happen and kind of thought that about the se in the beginnings. as far as the se goes, I'm glad I was wrong, though they still need more improvements.

just my thoughts

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:15 am

Sdog wrote:Wow....and the lights are still in there? Did you tab lower or slot lower that one?

Yep, still gots da lights.

I prefer to tab lower. It's almost impossible to cut new slots that are straight, and fit snugly. It so much easier just to move the tab.

Sdog · Post by **Sdog** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 10:49 am

Cool...

Thanks for the education CD. BTW...nice job on that. I don't know how I missed that since I'm such a ZZ fan. I'm gona have to browse through the galleries again.

Since we are on the topic. I'm sure you noticed how out of proportion that '05 mustang is. For example, look at how fat the fenders and quarter panels are compared to the real deal:

Again, I'm assuming it is to accomodate for the high profile of the electronics. I don't expect it to be exactly scale, but god damn...

crazydave · Post by **crazydave** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 11:03 am

Yeah I hate the ZZ version, I only bought that car, because the chassis, was supposed to be "slightly" improved.

That car's retired now, I think parts of it are in my Frankenstein SE.