ASK Cub Reporter, 03.21.2012- It’s Letter Time, Time To Make Some Answers Up

Hello im looking to buy a new rc car. i am looking at the Traxxas slash 2wd VXL and the TA SC10 2wd Brushless. i Will be driving them on a carpet and a dirt track no races though. i Will also be driving them on the road. I am looking for one that handles well and is very fast. right now im only running 7.3v nimh 4000mah batts so what do you think would go faster on those. Also what would go faster on a 3s lipo.

Thanks Luke P.

Cubby– Hello there Luke, thanks for the email and for read’n BigSquid.

I don’t have a bone stock BL Slash or BL Associated SC10 at my disposal right now so I can’t just run outside with a radar gun and see which one knocks out the highest mph for ya. But here’s a few words of advice…

You have 6 cell 7.2 volt 4000 mah Ni-mh batteries right now and that isn’t a bad thing. If you are a newer driver the softer power of the Ni-mh will make both trucks easier to drive, this results in fewer broken parts and more actual learning time. It’s dern hard to learn how to drive when you are smashing into solid objects or constantly having to make big course corrections because your truck has too much power.

Which truck will be faster on 3S? Both are going to be CRAZY fast. Even if you are a pro level driver putting down every bit of power both trucks are capable of will be difficult. 3S will feel more than twice as fast as running them 7.2 volt Ni-mh, and will make both of them about ten times harder to drive. I’m a big fan of 3S, 3S is really fun in short spurts, in fact it is downright awe inspiring to those of us that grew up driving red Sanyo 1200 mah SCR’s, but even with todays technology 3S typically leads to problems (read- truck gets broken in half after hitting a curb at 40 mph).

Lastly- buy the Traxxas, I say this because parts are easier to get and the Slash is a rock solid truck. If you get in the mood for racing throw an Anza LCG chassis on it and you are dialed. The SC10 comes with a lower CG out of the box, but parts aren’t as easy to find, and it can be quite fickle to tune. Plus, while Associated’s parent company Thunder Tiger loves bashers, Associated doesn’t seem to give a hoot about them, so why support them?

Cheaters
One of the guys in the stock class where i race is constantly cheating. Should I turn him in or beat him up?
Chad F.

Cubby- Hey what’s up Chad, cool question, one that is a big issue at too many tracks now days.

Should you turn the cheater in? No you should not. Nobody likes a snitch, nor is it the gentlemanly way to handle the problem. You can however ask the track owners to perform a tech inspection from time to time. I mean, if you local track is going to hold any form of “stock” class racing they also NEED to tech the cars/trucks, it is part of their responsibility of putting on races. It only takes a few minutes to inspect the stock class podium finishers each week, and if you are paying to race you are paying for FAIR racing. If your local track is too lazy to do tech then they don’t deserve your money.

Should you beat the cheater up? Are you kidding me? You are racing toy cars, you should know better. There is never an instance at an rc track that warrants yelling/cursing/throwing stuff or punching. Seriously, if you can’t handle racing toy cars without feeling like cursing or punching someone, honestly you need to sign up for some anger management classes. Seriously.

Couple more points here-

1. Brian Kinwald could easily come into your local track with a legit stock set-up and smoke your a-hole cheater. Consider it good practice to race against a cheater, if you are serious about racing your goal should be to beat the best of the best, not some local azzhat who likes to cheat, so get your priorities straight.

2. As your local Joe Blow cheater guy drives home after the races just know he has a hollow win running through his mind. He will not get to enjoy a sense of accomplishment, he’ll have no sense of pride, just a hollow feeling. At least you can go home knowing you gave 100% and are working at being faster each week, all the cheater can think about is what a worthless POS he is.

3. Lastly, the “stock” class is a freak’n joke coast to coast. It has been for years, and I don’t see anybody fixing it anytime soon. If you aren’t a total noob move on up to mod, even if you are only running a stock power system.

That’s it for this week, shoot me your questions, opinions, rants, and 50% off coupons to Nixonnow.com to Cubby at BigSquidRC dot com!

YOUR Cub Reporter