[Chilly Duncan]

Latest from Caster Racing USA:

Last night at my local track, Caster Racing USA was caught testing a prototype short course truck in the Modified 4X4 Short Course class. As you can see they were using a Slash body so this almost went unnoticed.

They didn't allow me to take any pictures with the body off, but they did say they plan on releasing this as a RTR with a 2.4ghz radio and brushless system. They haven't decided yet on what body, wheel, and tire combination will be included.

[Sensi_024]

Looks nice. Low CG. Needs a rear bumper though. How did it do against the SCRT10 or Hyper10SC?

[Krazytrain]

what is up with those tires, they look like 8th scale ones

[WilliamG]

I built one 2 years ago when the Flux first came out.
Good base to start with, takes some abuse. Caster makes some nice stuff, but this should have been out already to take hold in the market. I hope it does well and wish Mike and the guys good luck.

[Cain]

if I am seeing it correctly in the pic, the rear portion where the chassis tapers looks like it has a battery box portion hanging over it like the Fusion EX1 did.

possibly a 1/8 scale buggy conversion of sorts?

[Malfunkshun]

Sure it's cheap and easy to use what already exists, but come on. These conversions made by companies are a big "meh..." to me.
Is it so hard to think outside the box and just start from scratch? I think a 1/8 chassis are not really ideal to be made into a SCT.

Manufacturers have had a long time to design a good 4wd truck. When the original Slash hit the market it made a a huge impact in the hobby and people immediately began asking for a 4wd truck. I cannot recall a new vehicle/class get so big in a such a short time.

They are making it easy for themselves by doing this. Traxxas did it pretty good with the Slash 4x4 but it has many flaws. Not enough R&D perhaps? Too much of a basher and not enough of a racer. It's a good concept with a purpose designed chassis and not a conversion with a lot of compromises. Sure the engineers designing a new product have to do some compromises due to cost and so on, making a first is really important, so you better make it good the first time around.
But now I think it might be too late to make a good first. People are settling with whats available since no company really made an effort.

Before I decide what truck to get I decided to wait to see what Losi and Durango has to offer. Until then this is a big "meh..." to me.

To conclude this rant on half as*ed conversions: meh...

[Caster Racing]

If we were to bring it to market, we would have to lighten it up some (easy) and it would be in the (vs OFNA) class, not the slash, blitz, etc... class.

We were just messing around with a big "what would happen if" that is fine, but we do need a bumper conversion and cage that we are considering outsourcing in the US.

We are waiting for the 1/10 plastic one from the factory, but at present rate, probably an eternity from now. It is a huge market to be in, but we are working on our pro 1/10 and 1/8 kits r&d for the US market.