New CAT on the block – Schumacher CAT SX

Rear
Before we experience the joy of driving the new CAT, let’s finish with the rear end of the buggy first. Nothing too exciting here beside the earlier mentioned purple anodised alloy suspension mounting brackets that allow for an easy change of the track width, toe-in and anti-squat. All you need is an Allen wrench and a couple of shims! Oh, we forgot that you can also adjust the wheelbase (+-2mm) by using small plastic clips in front of behind the lower suspension arms.

A ball differential is used just like up front, the rear drive belt is beefed up to 5mm. Oh, and whilst on the subject of the drivetrain: we forgot to mention that the CAT SX features fulltime 4WD. But you can add a front and/or middle one way optionally if you wish. Of course these parts are not supplied in the kit but at around 22 Euros each (state: January 2009) they are not too expensive.

The shock absorbers all round feature treated alloy housings with purple upper and lower parts, rubber diaphragm and titanium-nitride coated shock shafts. The items are attached to beefy 4mm shock towers with three mounting holes for the shock absorbers. A nice touch are the quick-release fasteners for the shocks that allow for very fast set-up changes.

Finish
We equipped our review car with a Speed Passion 5.5T Competition 2.0R motor, Nosram Matrix ISTC speedo and a Robitronic 5200 25C LiPo battery pack. To control the steering we mounted a Futaba S9402 servo into the alloy servo holder and fitted a matching Futaba R603FS 2.4GHz receiver. The body was painted by Chris Holden of Ginga Paint. Thanks mate, you did a tremendous job!