Schumacher CAT SX1 vs SX2

[heinzeman]

Hi,

I should start by saying that I am very new to this sport and know very little. I have just done a few hours' of internet research, so please do not shoot me down for any (inevitable) elimentary mistakes!

I know that many of you have already received and built your CAT SX2s.

So, I thought that, rather than have 'comparative' information spread all over various threads, I would take the liberty of starting a thread specifically dedicated to a comparison between the SX1 and the SX2. I have a personal interest in this discussion as I am deciding which to buy (SX1's now being available at attractively low prices to make way for the SX2). I hope others will have an interest too, especially in how both cars drive, as well as how they look.

Early indications seem to be that the SX1 is higher-quality in the sense that it has many more anodised aluminium parts which were superceded with plastic variants on the SX2.

In terms of the ultimate 'SX', therefore, it seems that an SX1 with the LiPo-friendly ('Stiff') chassis, (which does away with the supergluing of tabs to the LiPo underside) (identical to the standard SX2 CF chassis, perhaps?) and with the Big Bore SX2 shocks, would be the ticket? Or would the SX2 have other worthwhile upgrades?

I would also love to see any photos of forum members' SX1s and SX2s (perhaps during the build stages?) for a comparison of how they look!

I hope that my maiden post on this site is a worthwhile thread and I am certainly looking forward to learning more from reading the responses!

[bigred5765]

theres very little between the two car as fare as on track goes, apart from the big bore shocks,im not a fan personnely of the plastic parts, and we have just upgraded are cat sx with bb shocks,will be getting the new chassis and top deck at some point,the only plastic parts to upgrade imho on the sx2 are steering arms and wishbone hangers

[niggs98]

i will disagree with carl (for once ). iv been running the front plastic hangers since october last year with only one breakage dispite racing in a variety of tempratures and conditions from indoor to wet frozen tracks. when i did break one i hit solid concrete and the car bounced back 2 foot and unmeshed the motor (shows the severuty of the impact). im still running them now at nationals etc and have no worries in keeping them on the car i have made one upgrade and that is a stegger brace on the front but having said that i have had that on with the alloy blocks as well . the big bores are an advantage, maybe not in outright speed on a perfect lap but the give the car a much larger scope of safety across bumps and jumps so will be far better for the average club racer. i know most of the team havent taken them off since fitting.

if you can save enough to get a set of big bores on top of the price of a sx1 then you wont go wrong but the sx2 seems a little more user friendly with the settings that are available. any other questions feel free to pm me

[Rob_B]

Anyone had a problem on the sx2 step 32 a,b put the wishbone hangers on and fixed the complete wishbone to the gear box and the wishbone is binding on the chassis. looks like the hangers need spacing out with washers but non supplied. Can anyone help.

[mikeyscott]

I'm sticking with my original SX. Bought the big bore shocks and plastic hangers for the rear as for our track I think they're the right setting for anti squat and toe in.

Other than that my SX is still doing great, just need to hone the big bore shocks more, I think it was over damped last weekend at TORCH.

[frogger]

I didn't initially have the stegger brace fitted and my plastic hangers broke almost immediately. What makes it worse is I didn't even crash, the car fell sideways off a jump at about 2mph on the front wheel. Maybe it was just an awkward landing. I think the stegger brace makes a huge difference. As a minimum I would say you would need the front blocks in alloy and the brace.

We have 2 Cats here, the SX and SX2. Both are very good cars but the SX2 seems a liitle more finished in terms of how it all goes together and how the battery slots in. That said, I don't think you'd go far wrong with a SX1 and a few upgrades.

[heinzeman]

Originally Posted by frogger

SX2 seems a liitle more finished in terms of how it all goes together and how the battery slots in

Frogger,

Is this still the case even if someone has the U3480 Stiff chassis on their SX1? Surely the Li-Po compatibility ("how the battery slots in") is identical with SX2 then? Or is the SX2 chassis even different and better to the U3480 for the SX1?

Thanks

[frogger]

I've not held the stiff SX1 chassis in my hands but looking at them in the pics there seems to be only a little difference between the 2 in that the SX2 has a few more cutouts.

Don't forget, these are very nearly identical cars with only a few differences. With the new SX2 you are sure you get all the updates (new wishbones, diff outdrives, new spur, new other plastic parts (pulleys and things). Only drawback is the silly little plastic hangers and steering assembly.

If you are a pro driver they might not worry you too much as you are probably good at not crashing that much but if you are like me the only way to go fast is to hang it out a little then you will inevitably pay the consequences every now and then.

There is no question, for me personally I had to have the new SX2 and I just did the upgrades as needed but if you are on a budget then you won't be at a disadvantage with the SX1. Considering the price you can pick up a SX1 for now on here it's the bargain of the century in my book.