SC Rally Testing

To test out my “Spec SC Rally2” class idea, I bought a HobbyKing / BSR Racing body. This thing looks and fits great on my 2wd Slash:

To pre-empt any bashing that would take place during the first track session, I removed most of the scale details:

• Windshield wipers
• Antennae
• Side-view mirrors

I left the scoop on since it’s low-profile, and also the wing since it might actually help on jumps.

Despite these efforts to keep the body in usable condition, I found out very quickly that the shell itself is not very durable.

First Laps

It did well on its first time out:

The S1 compound tires gripped nicely. I didn’t even add traction compound. My gut tells me that if there was a big SC Rally scene, the more commonplace stock Traxxas rally tires would also do just fine with some traction additive.

Traction Roll & Wing Durability

Once the tires warmed up they had enough grip to (inevitably) traction roll the vehicle. The general shape of hatchback rally car bodies is good because odds are the car will land back on its wheels. On my first roll-over where I landed upside down, I got hit by another Slash and the wing exploded.

Thankfully it was my nephew who crunched it, so I can’t really harbor any remorse. 😭

Body Durability

Also, at one point I grazed the outside of the back straight and it almost completely tore off the front fender.

Needless to say the Basher/BSR 1/8 Rally Body is not up to the task of a full season of door-to-door racing. If I go all-in on this rig, I will instead get a thick (1.5 or 2mm) Deltaplastik lexan body.

Otherwise everything else performed nicely. Besides losing the wing and the fender, there was only a small nick along the body’s front edge, so the bumper did its job well. The tires gripped well. It drove and jumped predictably. It was great seeing a full-bodied rally car out on the track – mixing it up with other buggies and trucks like it was the Baja 1000.

More Power?

I got to trade transmitters with a fellow rally driver who had a 4WD Traxxas Rally. It had a brushless system on 3S power with insane speed. It was actually too fast for most of the course, but it made one jump very easy. It made me wish my brushed rally car had just a little more power to make the first jump in the turf series right in front of the drivers stand.

The brushless rally car could jump right onto the 2nd platform, making this obstacle more smooth and fun. But I wanted to stay true to the low-cost vision of a Spec Slash based rally car. One jump didn’t detract from the smile I had on the other 99% of the track.