Losing grip – Blinded by the bling

”The battery holder is in plastic”. While this statement is pretty far from the official description of this chassis, it is a very apt way of summarazing the design of MST’s FMX 2.0 LCG KMW. I have tried not to, but it really is impossible to refrain from commenting on a chassis that forces you to squint when you look at the pictures, so as not to be blinded by the bling.

To be a bit more precise and not overly generous, let it be said that not only the battery holder, but also the rod ends, the rear diffusor and the gears of the gearbox are in plastic. Apart from that: red aluminum and carbon fiber. If I had one of these, I probably wouldn’t want to drive it – and hide all that shininess with a body – but would just sit next to the track, pretend I was doing some adjustments (while being dead scared I might accidentally scratch the aluminum with a hex driver), bask in the radiating light and answer any and all comments a bit offhandedly. ”Why, yes, it’s mine, just picked it up… Nah, not that bad, it was just a grand and that was including the plastic battery holder… Well, yeah, the Nunchaku rear shafts are cool, but not really handy in a fight… You got it, bro, those five millimeters they lowered the motor makes quite the difference, just couldn’t resist it… Red wunz go fasta, indeed!”

Goodness, I need to better myself. The best way to get a sponsor, is probably not by being sarcastic over a high-end release. But I guess I am just following the age-ald adage: if you want it, but it is out of your reach: feign contempt.

I have done it before, but let me again just note that this KMW chassis is a grand, and the Vanquish VS4-10 kit (a premium crawler if ever there was one) is 750 bucks.

What is interesting on a more strategic level than my personal drift budget, is the different tracks MST and Yokomo are following. MST doesn’t seem to have much ambition when it comes to competition, contentedly letting Yokomo dominate that area, while Yokomo doesn’t infringe on MST’s territory of premium, over the top, limited edition releases. Different strategies, and while that might be just as well, it would be interesting to see what happened if MST really tried to get onto the podiums, or how well a YD-2SX III Premium Hyper Ultra would sell. Or even better, a Yokomo release with a mid-mounted motor, like the FMX 2.0. Yokomo YD-2MX, if I might be so bold?

Now, get ready to squint, for here comes the light:

Not blind yet? Then use your eyes to read another colum. Or drop me a line at: martin at bigsquidrc dot com