B44 v/s Bj4 WE

[nitrokillah]

I was wondering if anyone has Moved from a BJ4 we to a B44 and could tell us witch they think is more durable.
I'm lookin' to get one of these , But I have some issues on Bulkhead and Shock-Tower Mount.
Alu v/s Plastic...
and has Any one had issues with this on the B44.

[Lee]

Personally, i think the BJ is a stronger car in every way, the WE is 3 years old now and hasn`t really changed since winning the worlds.

The B44 is as someone mentioned a "chinese knock off" its lighter and the only thing that has changed from the BJ is the slipper, which is nice, but it does have its flaws in the form of breakages.

People also say that the B44 has very little sidebite which can make it hard to drive.

I have a BJ4 and i really dont think id move to a B44, i dont think it any better at all.


And yes i know it will win the nationals and the worlds but that is because of the dream team AE have at there disposal

[Northy]

Originally Posted by Lee

the only thing that has changed from the BJ is the slipper, which is nice,

Jim has had nothing but trouble with the new slipper, getting slack over a run. He now runs it almost locked to cure this

G

[OldTimer]

Originally Posted by Lee

and the only thing that has changed from the BJ is the slipper

Remember the gearbox case's have been redesigned which reduces the problems with the old TC3 style gearbox's stripping the gears.

@ Northy, silly question but he is using the o ring in the slipper?, i have done 4 meeting without any slipper problems, i have actual been using it like a proper slipper and backing it off on low grip stuff etc.

There is a mint BJ4 in the for sale section, it could even be converted into an S4 (that should keep jonathan happy)

[Northy]

@ Jonathan,

Yep, it's build per kit.
The adjustment doesn't move, it seems to warm up and expand. Once cool it goes back to its original setting.

G

[d16dcoe45]

I know the B44 is a nice car, but at my track they are dropping like flies --sometimes they run out of parts at the track for some guys to make the main!! Its common knowledge where I race that that B44 is probably the least durable 4wd out right now. There was a guy last week who broke in every qualifier--he is not the best driver, but it got to be a little ridiculous--front arms, rear arms, broken ball cups, etc. The zx5 sp is the other main car, and those rarely break. Also, I think the Bj4 is far tougher. I know it doesn't seem like there is much difference but even the hole placement (for the ball studs) in the top deck is slightly changed in teh Bj4 to make a srength difference.

I know I have taken some bad knocks with my Bj4 WE with my 6.5 Vector motor, and the only thing I have ever broken on it was one front arm. The BJ also has the old "unobtanium" grey shock shafts which for whatever reason seem to be more durable than the (new batch) of matte gold shafts of the B44.

BTW, I race at a small indoor (dirt) facility here in the USA that is tough on cars--solid walls, tight and narrow lots of small jumps--this track eats B44s alive.

[footey]

any pics of this track please

[Richard Lowe]

Originally Posted by d16dcoe45

this track eats B44s alive.

Yum yum!

I don't think it's just the lack of material round the holes, the carbon Jason uses is really top quality stuff, the B44 will probably be cheaper.

[d16dcoe45]

So Richard, do you think there is an actual difference in the quality or strength of the carbon fiber between B44 and BJ4 WE?

I never understood how alot of guys at my track immediately sold their BJ4 WEs to get the B44 when it came out a few months back. They would rationalize to me how it was going to be better. I am not saying one is better/worse than the other--I just didn't understand why they were so eager to change to such a similar car. They are clearly both fine cars but some of these B44 guys contend that the B44 is superior to the BJ4--which I don't really understand.

Like I said earlier my BJ has survived similar hits that wound up breaking B44s.

[Richard Lowe]

It's just pure speculation on my part, I've not had a really close look at the B44 carbon. It would fit in with the apparent reasons Associated released the B44, to be a cheaper version of the BJ4. As some of the US racers think the $475 price of the BJ4 is quite high (even though it works out very reasonable for us in the UK ).

When Jason and Brad were designing the BJ4 their objective was to build the best car they could. Associated's brief seems to have been "how can we make a cheaper version of the BJ4", inevitably corners have to be cut somewhere.

[RogerM]

Originally Posted by Richard Lowe

Yum yum!

I don't think it's just the lack of material round the holes, the carbon Jason uses is really top quality stuff, the B44 will probably be cheaper.

I think Richard has hit the nail on the head there. Nobody can knock the quality of the J concepts car but the B44s I've had in my hand do feel a little "cheaper". It's hard to pin it down to any one thing but certainly the quality of the carbon plays it's part in that feeling.

Has anybody made B44 parts, to the original design, in a known quality carbon fibre lay up and tried it?

[Lee]

There is good carbon fibre and then there is cheaper capbon fibre, as the saying goes, you get what you pay for