[dutchdog]

I came across this nice read regarding the Fly Viper (3 generation review):

http://www.homeracingworld.com/newflyviper.htm

Now we all know that the 2nd generation viper was a big improvement over the first.
How does the 3rd generation viper scale up, speedwise.

Or is the second generation still the one to go for.

 

[Chapman]

That review is eight years old, from 2004.
And the car was then already a couple of years old.

 

[driver#8]

If you race with magnets, and if you can get them running nicely, yes they're still the king.

27k motor up front + big magnet riding the rails at the back = mighty performer. But my front wheels still have a tendency to foul the arches after a few laps, resulting in some spectacular departures from the track.

In the class, the Scalextric Aston DBR9 is closest on pace - surprising for an 18k mabuchi and not much change from 100g in weight.

 

[dutchdog]

Thanks.. Question was actualy if the gen 3 viper is the best of all then?

 

[RikoRocket]

Best looking by a mile.
Best built as well. The early Vipers had pretty questionable bearings.

 

[dutchdog]

Does anyone have a complete list of all gen 3 vipers? Any rarer than others?

I know the pace car fetches astronomical amounts on ebay. But thats a gen 1 I believe.

 

[driver#8]

www.flymodelcars.com

 

[Chapman]

QUOTE (dutchdog @ 27 Mar 2012, 12:12) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Now we all know that the 2nd generation viper was a big improvement over the first.
Now that's something we don't know, from a performance point of view.
The only difference between 1st and 2nd generation Fly Vipers were some small body modifications.
The chassis, motor and mechanical drive train were exactly the same between 1st and 2nd generations.
New chassis, motor and drive train, together with some more cosmetics in the looks department (wheels)
were introduced in 3rd generation Viper.
Thus gen 3 Viper can be considered a "big improvement", but not gen 2 over gen 1.

 

[dutchdog]

Well I ment to say better magnet in version 2.

Since you seem to know a bit more than I do, what differences in motor/drivetrain is there between gen 2 and gen 3.
Do they take mabuchi or FK180 motors?

 

[Chapman]

Well, there's a old comparative Viper review right here on Slotblog by our resident
Loof Lirpa con artist lordjw (I wonder what he's got in store for us this year?

).
Read it and all your questions will probably be answered: Viper vs Viper.

 

[dutchdog]

awesome, thanks for your input chapman.

 

[Screwneck]

Stock 'out of the box' the Scalex Aston Martin DBR9 is truly awful against a Fly Viper. They are no match at all. My two DBR9 cars are 2.5 seconds slower over 90 feet of track and get lapped every 10 laps. Total 'also ran' cars. Your Fly tyres must be dried out, or something equally as bad on the performance front.

The 3rd gen Viper is more detailed, but the parts break off very easily. The 'uprated' Cheetah-style motor is meant to give an extra 4000rpm and far more torque, but the three I've run beside my fave old gen 2 Vipers always come in second place. No by far, but they have never beaten them. But they are crazy fast down a long straight so if you have a flat out straight dominated track layout they would beat any other slot car ever made if you were racing with magnets.

The current issue with 2nd gen cars is that Fly don't do spare tryres and as with all Fly cars the tyres are rock hard in 1 to 2 years and very few people make 2nd Gen Viper Tyres that fit. 3rd Generation Viper spares are more available.

And as with all high-magnet downforce cars you'll need a 45ohm or lower controller to get them to shift and respond. 25ohm are the best.