THE Cub Report, Version – From Atop Mount Olympus
Bigger, faster, gnarlier, that is exactly what bashing is about. Get at least two guys together in a cul-de-sac or at a local park, and it always turns into a “who is the faster” or “who can jump farthest” contest.
So the “big” news from last week was of course the announcement of the 6th scale Losi Audi R8 Supercar. Being a prime example of biggest, faster, gnarlier, it is aimed right overthrowing the Traxxas XO-1 as being the baddest on-road car on the market. And while most consumers were busy talking about how fast they think the Audi could go in a straight line, I was thinking a couple of other things…
1. It takes some balls to put out a car like the big Audi, they went huge and you just have to respect that. To me it shows that Losi is stepping up to the plate and is willing to throw the considerable resources that it takes to go after a part of the market (Supercar) that Traxxas has completely owned up to this point. To be the best you have to beat the best, and right now the XO-1 is the car to beat in that category. After viewing the specs, it looks like Losi did a whole lot of things “bigger and badder” than the XO-1. The Audi’s wheelbase is roughly 3 inches longer than the XO-1, which should make it more stable/easy to drive at speed, it comes with a physically larger motor, it has the scale realism that the XO-1 is sorely lacking, and it comes with AVC electronic stability control, something that is highly needed on cars with insane power. From looking at the specs, it looks like Losi “one upping” the XO-1 in virtually every category.
2. But… too often we’ve seen that while all the specs looked good, many cars were not vetted properly and were piles of rubbish in production form. That’s why I was blown away by the accompanying video that was released with the Losi Audi. Of all things, its shows the background of the development of the Audi, where they are actually driving the car, crashing it hard to check weak areas, jumping it off of a ramp, and even driving it in gravel to show off its AVC. I’m impressed that Losi took the time to run the living daylights out of the Audi to make sure it is fully ready to hit public hands, to make absolutely sure it is ready for at least normal bashing. I swear too many manufacturers now days just design a car but never drive it before it ships, that certainly isn’t the case on the Losi Audi.
3. On-road has been dying for a long time now and nobody has figured out the cure. IMO the biggest problem is that “normal” on-road cars bounce all over the place when driven on normal pavement. Small rocks, or even road joints, can send a touring car sailing, so many bashers simply choose to use their off-roaders on pavement. A large scale on-road car though, it has the size needed to drive well in a normal parking lot, or heck, even a rough one. The Losi Audi is physically huge and should drive well over the typical rocks/bumps/etc that you will find while out bashing. And… it wasn’t just designed to hit a number on a radar gun, it was designed to be a blast to drive in a normal parking lot, exactly what most consumers will end up doing with it. Is the Losi Audi the answer to reviving on-road cars? Its price point is too high to be in everyone’s rc garage, but if it takes off better than expected, there might be hope for on-road yet.
That’s it for this week, you can hit me with emails at thecubreportrc at gmail.com and I hope you get out and support your local hobby shops and bash spots when ya can.
YOUR Cub Reporter
