Hello all, it's my first review on the Drift Set I purchased some time ago. I see that the suspension bar is much taken for granted by many, so here's a review on it and whether it's really useful. I'm assuming you're having the normal bit car and not those with proportional steering mechanics.
I bought this set some time ago, costing S$10. That's roughly US$5.
It's on sale here.
http://tinyrc.com/shop/product.php?pid=437
The pack includes 3 suspension bars of differing tensions and a rear axle with plastic molded tires. A set of 4 medium tires are included too, together with 3 black 6-tooth pinions.
The suspension bar
In stock, it's white and hardly bends at all. It should be stock hard. Most modders rip it off to lower the ride heights of their cars. I removed mine to see its effect. For slower cars, especially 1.0ers, the lack of the suspension bar resulted in poor steering handling. The car hardly steered at all. However in faster cars steering was evident although the radius was considerably large. The hard suspension bar allows for little swaying on the front wheels. This allows for cars to maintain straight movement on flat surfaces. On bumpy surfaces the car jolted tremendously causing its direction to alter slightly once it bounced. However the hard suspension bar allows for tight cornering, and in fast cars there is a risk of rolling, performing donuts and poor control over the direction of the car.
The soft suspension bar is extremely soft [no pun intended] and bendy. When placed on the car it sways easily, allowing for proper control over rough surfaces. Unlike the hard suspension bar the car had a smaller tendency to bounce and change direction. Turn radius was increased, and on high speeds the car had precise control over the direction. Slight turns can be made quite easily. On slower ones I would recommend the stock suspension bars because they need a smaller turn radius for better cornering.
Of course, the medium suspension bar strikes a balance between the two, but I do not really see the difference in using a medium when you can choose between available hard and soft settings.
The drift axle
It's made with plastic molded tires and runs 9.86:1. Do you really need to use it? It requires great handling skills as it pops donuts even on a 1.0. It behaves crazy on tiled, glossy and waxed surfaces, but has better control when run on paper and similar surfaces. With the drift axle, turning radius is almost nothing as the car spins rather than turning.
What my advice is would be that you can save money by removing your rear tires or by using the Bit Racer Hard tires. Apparently the Bit Racer tire sets are much harder than the BCG hard tires. Some claim that the BR soft tires can donut easily too.
In conclusion I think the drift set is worth buying if you seriously go for control over looks. If you have insane speed and you want to lower your ride height then there's no problem, but generally you still need a soft suspension bar to maintain proper control over the car at high speeds. I'd say you can depend on a set if you race on different surfaces frequently. Tomy could make do with the suspension bar set for US$3, without the drift axle at all.
Thanks for taking your time to read on this. I am willing to answer questions on this topic here. I'm open to MSN and PMing too. Enjoy modding!