ASK Cubby – You Write The Questions, I Slack On The Answers

“SBR vs UDR Off-road

Cubby,

What’s your opinion on the SBR vs UDR? My next “scale rig” is going to be a fast one, which one you like?

Ward J.”

Cubby- Hola there Ward, nice question ya got there.

Ya know, I’ve seen a bunch of crawler guys pick up a “scale go fast” truck lately. Seems they are trying to bring even more intricate detail to a product segment like the Losi Super Baja Rey and the Traxxas Unlimited Desert Racer (as well as some of the Kraken trucks, the Losi 1/10 Baja Rey, etc). Between those two, and I get to drive both on a weekly, sometimes daily, basis, this is how I see it-

Losi SBR- While the UDR is undoubtedly a large truck, the SBR is significantly larger. This helps the SBR when the going gets crazy tough. What is “crazy tough”? That would be large rocks, taller grass, etc. For example, at a “real” motocross track it isn’t uncommon to hit dirt clods the size of your fist. When the UDR hits a dirt clod that big, it really upsets the chassis. On a 1:1 basis, that is like a race truck trying to drive over a VW bug. The SBR’s larger size allows it to get over big dirt clods, rocks, etc, easier than the UDR. On the other hand, the extra size of the SBR takes up more space in the garage, and makes it harder to drive in smaller areas than the UDR. Also on the SBR, its suspension is set-up more for rc driving performance, than for scale appearance while driving. This makes the SBR “easier” and “faster” to drive for the rc crowd, but lacks the scale driving appearance of the UDR.

Traxxas UDR- I think I pretty much summed up the UDR above, LOL. It’s still a large truck, and where we mostly drive at, there just aren’t rocks big enough to really slow it down. Its scale body and wheel/tire combo are top notch, and IMO (excluding rock crawlers) it looks more scale when being driven than anything else on the market. When “racing” against friends, I appreciate the more rc performance oriented handling of the SBR, but day-in and day-out, I prefer the scale driving appearance (and feel) of the UDR. Any rc car can look like an rc car when being driven, but not very many truly emulate the look of their 1:1 counterparts at speed. Also, a word on toughness. Both trucks have held up well long-term for me personally. I do not drive my personal trucks to try and break them, I drive them as hard as I think I can get away with, without having to wrench afterwards, LOL. Driven in this manner, I have a ton of fun, and have to do very little wrenching on either truck. Yes, I’ve broken parts on both, but overall, less parts that I probably would have expected for my maniacal driving.

“Kinda an off the wall question

Hey, Cubby!

I’m one of those weirdos that likes my “1/16″ Traxxas Rally, but I can’t find any bodies for it. I lucked across a Fiesta body a while back and got it, but there aren’t a lot of others that I’ve seen.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Da Beav”

Cubby- Hola there Da’ Beav, don’t I know you from somewhere? 🙂

So, you are ripping around with a 1/16th Traxxas Rally car. The Rally uses the Traxxas 1/16 lay-down shock chassis (like the 1/16 Revo), and that works quite well for the application. However, it makes the vehicle a bit bigger than what the market does have a lot more of, 1/18th sized bodies. The wheelbase on the Rally is more than an inch longer than most 1/18th sized bodies, and there just aren’t a lot of 1/16th sized shells on the market.

With that said, we all know there are a BUNCH of the 1/16th Rally cars still being driven out there. Who knows, maybe Traxxas, or one of the aftermarket body companies, will come up with something really cool for that sized vehicle (around an 8″ wheelbase- 1/16th Revo/Rally).

Have some sort of rc question? Need a totally wrong answer? Have a rant that you Need to get off your chest? Email me- thecubreportrc at gmail dot com.