Shining Star Chassis

Each truck was fully measured. Pretty much every aspect was covered, right down to the weight being carried on each tire. See our data sheet below for the SSC. You will also notice temps at the bottom of the sheet. These were the temperatures as the truck came off the track. We noticed an average of 25 degrees cooler motor temps on the SSC chassis. This would relate to being able to go up on the pinion. We could have gone to a 15T pinion easily with this truck, and seen the speed gains as a result. Something to keep in mind. This truck weighed a total of 5.97 lbs, race ready.

Here is the setup sheet for how we ran the SSC for the shootout

What did our drivers think of the SSC?

Handling

Matt – (4.5) Very easy to drive. Great corner entry and exit
Kevin – (4.5) Felt planted and predictable. Easy to drive. Felt connected to the truck
Jarodd – (4) Consistent through the power in the corners. Off power steering was great, had to be careful not to turn too quickly. Handled bumps great.
Jim – (4) Very predictable. Very agile, aggressive turn in and power off jumps. Maybe a little bit of oversteer on power  but I attribute that to my driving ability
Dumper – (4) Very easy to drive

Average Score: 4.2

Jumping Ability

Matt – (4) Jumps level with just a touch of the throttle off the jump
Kevin – (4) Jumped level and predictable
Jarodd – (4) Jumped level with little correction needed. Truck seemed to “pop” off the jump and flew well through the air
Jim – (5) Jumped very well, flat and predictable
Dumper – (4) Good. Held back by electronics

Average Score: 4.2

Speed

Matt – (3.5) Good speed, could maintain speed easily through corners. Electronics holding this truck back
Kevin – (3.5) Still a VXL, but being more stable, it felt planted in the corners, allowing a better run up to the jumps
Jarodd – (2) VXL system is lacking on the straight, but had good torque.
Jim – (4) Great out of the hole. Great corner speed
Dumper – (3) This truck, with these electronics, is the closest to race ready… but lacks speed to be able to run the lines I run with my Losi

Average Score: 3.2

Durability

Matt – (4) Very good, everything held together and no loose screws
Kevin – (4) Nothing broke
Jarodd – (5) No breakage
Jim – (4) Broke nothing. No issues
Dumper – (4) It did not break

Average Score: 4.2

Driver Comments

Kevin: Felt solid, planted, connected…reminded me of testing a Losi SCTE for the first time but this “feels” lighter
Jim: Very nimble and predictable. The VXL system made working the throttle a little tough
Dumper: If I had to pick a truck to put my electronics in and race today, it would be this one

Additional notes: This truck felt easy to drive. Would it do better with nicer shocks? Absolutely. We’re going to continue to upgrade this truck to see how much better we can make it (even though it was very good with what we had). Our plans are to put better electronics in it to start and go from there.

Up next, Team RCE