RC4WD Aluminum SCT Wheel And Tire Review
Can you get high-end performance while getting the ultimate in scale realism? That was the primary question that was on our minds when we got a chance to review a set of high-end aluminum wheels and licensed tires from RC4WD. Our Bash Crew has been thrashing a set of RC4WD Raceline Aluminum SCT Wheels and Mickey Thompson SCT Tires for a couple months now. What did we learn? Read on to find out…
From: RC4WD
Direct Link Wheels: Raceline Monster SC Wheels
Direct Link Tires: Mickey Thompson SC Tires
Review By: Cubby
Pictures By: Tim Mohr
Specs
Wheels-
* Aluminum
* Rear OD: 3.0″
* Front OD: 2.2″
* Width: 1.7″
* Negative Offset: 0.89
* #1 Hub: Total Width 0.31″
* #2 Hub: Total Width 0.28″
* Part Number: #Z-W0064
* Price (per pair): $69
Tires-
* Tires Compound: Advanced X2SS
* OD: 4.09″
* ID: 2.00″ – 3.22″
* Width: 1.92″
* Part Number: #Z-T0127
* Price (per pair): $24
Set Up Notes We mounted the RC4WD wheels and tires to our Losi SCBE buggy and to a Traxxas Slash VXL. Both vehicles were brushless powered, with one being 4wd and the other being 2wd.
Build Quality After giving the BSRC Bash Crew a chance to closely look over the items, we could find no fault with their build quality. In fact, we were all pretty amazed at how well they were constructed.
Performance First up, the tires. We found that the realistic tread pattern on the Mickey Thompson tires were best suited to slightly loamy conditions. In those conditions they worked extremely well, perhaps as good as any other tire we have tried. They were molded from an extremely soft compound, an attribute that helped give them loads of grip when driven on-road or on high-bite/grooved up dirt. They weren’t the best in big loam or in grass, but they gave both of our test vehicles much more overall traction than their stock tires.
As far as the wheels are concerned, we had no issues when driving them. They stayed perfectly round and took some abuse without getting taco’ed or dented. Normal plastic wheels have a lot of flex in them, one of our drivers thought that driving with the aluminum RC4WD units made both vehicles bounce around slightly more when going through rough areas. The Raceline wheels were also significantly heavier than the plastic stockers, but we could not notice much of a different when accelerating or when hitting the brakes while on the ground. We did however notice the extra weight when hitting the gas or brakes while jumping. The extra weight made both vehicles slightly more sensitive to trigger input while in the air.
Misc Notes
The wheels are real 3 piece units that have 18 bolts per wheel to remove when installing a tire. While that might sound like it would take a long time, it didn’t turn out that way. In fact, with the amount of prep that some people put into tires before gluing them, they might not take any longer to mount than gluing a set of standard wheels/tires (especially if you use a cordless drill). The bolts were high quality and everything lined up easily, making the mounted of tires a snap.
The wheels comes with extra hex inserts for extra width in some installs. We ran with the stock hex insert and they wheels looked good on the Slash but were a bit wide on the SCBE. The different inserts give the wheels either a Slash front or rear offset.
The wheels also comes with a handy dandy hex bolt tool. This is mounted to the end of a hex driver to make it easy to remove/tighten all the scale hex bolts on the wheels. Very nice.
The Micky Thompson tires are molded from super soft rubber, like the kind of stuff used on crawling tires. This is great for finding grip on hard surfaces, but not so good for wear or tire ballooning.
The RC4WD tires were slightly smaller in diameter than the stock Slash tires. Some people might not like the slightly smaller diameter, but they looked on point to us.
The wheels are not very well vented. You will want to either drill some holes in the wheels or use a punch to vent the tire carcass.
Have we mentioned just how incredible the wheels/tires look in person? They are absolutely drop dead gorgeous- perfectly scaled, perfectly machined, they truly make people stop just to stare at them.
While aluminum wheels are gorgeous to look at, they are heavier than plastic. A stock Slash wheel/tire weighs in at 107 grams, while the RC4WD wheel/tire combo weighed in at 183. The extra weight isn’t noticed much while driving, but we did notice the motor temps on both test vehicles ran a bit warmer because of it.
Final Verdict We were absolutely blown away by the quality and the looks of the RC4WD short course wheel/tire combo. In our opinion, the RC4WD set is far and away the best looking wheels and tires that you can put on your short course vehicle. They also perform and hold up well in a bashing environment. If perfect scale looks matter to you, the RC4WD units should be at the top of your shopping list, the look they provide is worth every penny.
