Serpent have introduced a lightweight aluminium chassis for the Spyder SRX2 MH series of 2WD buggies. Cut from hard-coated 7075-T6 aluminium the chassis is about 15 percent lighter than the standard kit part while offering increased flex to further fine-tune the handling for various track conditions. The chassis is usable for the MH, MHT and LMT variants of the SRX2 and it is available now.
Coming from Xray and made for the XB2 and XT2 kits are narrow brass rear suspension mounts. The narrow design increased the vehicle’s rear chassis roll which can be beneficial to find more traction on low grip surfaces. The added weight of the machined brass parts further adds stability and traction and the parts use the original I.S.S. suspension inserts for quick and easy suspension geometry changes. The suspension hangers are available separately as RF and RR parts.
Redcat Racing have introduced the new 1/6th scale Shredder and 1/8th scale Landslide XTE ready-to-run monster trucks. Starting with the Shredder large scale electric truck, the kit is back after a two year hiatus and it has been update to increase performance and durability. The new version has bigger tyres, bigger shocks, and many other enhancements to make it stronger and more competitive than ever before. The 670mm long truck comes factory assembled and including an 80A Ezrun brushless system and a 2.4GHz radio. Not included are the necessary LiPo batteries and charger.
Last year, the Alabama Manufacturer Shootout made headlines with the news of the AMS having new ownership. As much as there was excitement, there was a bit of skepticism, but after the recent AMS 8.0, all doubts were laid to rest as the event was well planned, amazingly fun, and still has the AMS magic. Fortunately the drivers were blessed with perfect weather that added to the atmosphere and making the event more enjoyable overall. The track layout this year was fun and had a terrific flow that reminded of a toned down Psycho Nitro Blast in a smaller arena with dirt jumps instead of wood ramps. Many commented that the track looked “awesome”, “rad”, and “wished I was there”, claiming high praise from racers and internet viewers.
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West Coast R/C Works have announced their new product line of servo setup tools for touring and pan cars. The tools are designed to offer much greater accuracy when aligning the car’s servo horn or servo saver compared to the standard “eye balling” method. The 1/8 and 1/10 servo straight edge and pan car servo straight edge tools work together with a protractor or other measuring tools to set the correct servo trim resulting in an increased repeatability of this process. Drivers can also prepare several servos for one R/C car to be used during fast repairs at big events without having to worry that the servo trim needs to be reset. The pan car servo setup system is composed of two pan car servo centring tools and one servo straight edge. The servo setup system contains all necessary parts to install the servo in the centre and set the desired angle, which improves the repeatability of this process.
The Greater L.A. Radio Control Racing Club recently hosted the 2017 KO Grand Prix with the event attracting over 100 entries. Mugen Seiki Racing’s JJ Wang was the top qualifier in the premier 1/8th Open class and JJ would also bring home the victory in the very close 30-minute A-main that was decided mainly by the tyre strategy as JJ stayed on the same set of tyres while runner-up, Xray’s Mike Swauger, opted to change tyres. Behind the two, Mugen’s Robbie Cerrato and Tony Clark would round out the overall top 4 result. Elsewhere in the 1/8th Sportsman class Rick Wang would bring home the win while Dana Smeltzer came out fastest in the 1/8th Masters main.
View the Sportsman and Masters podiums here
Coming from Serpent is the Spyder SRX2 MHT Team 2WD buggy kit. The buggy was designed to excel on medium to high traction surfaces such as carpet, astro turf and prepped clay and it features a 7075 T6 aluminium main chassis plate with separate aluminium front kick-up plate, it utilises carbon fibre front and rear shock towers and a 3-gear laydown transmission. Also included are a high-torque ball differential, 3-pad slipper clutch and a cab forward body shell. The shock absorbers are of a big-bore 12mm design with hard-anodised bodies and caps and the kit can be equipped with optional 3-gear stand-up, 4-gear stand-up or 4-gear laydown gearboxes with all needed mounting holes already existing in the kit chassis plate. The Team edition kit will hit stores very soon.
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Speedmaster Japan have introduced two new exhaust sets for 1/8th off-road and on-road applications in the form of the SMJ Kabuto tuned silencer sets. Starting with the off-road specific exhaust, the silencer is based on the T2060 SC pipe and it was designed to match perfectly with the Kabuto XB2 engine. It is usable for buggy and truggy racing and comes including manifold, gaskets and mounting springs. Also new is an on-road specific set based off of the T2080 SC exhaust. It will match the Kabuto R21 engine and just like the off-road set contains a suitable manifold, gaskets and springs. Both sets are EFRA homologated and they will hit stores soon.
