Cat SX2

[slow coach]

OK straight to the point im looking at a new 4WD to get for the beginning of April, there arent many cars that will accept a stick type lipo so it does narrow the choice down, what i want to know is how good is the cat? seen lots of horror posts about it but would like to give it a shot, ran cats before in the past procat, bosscat, cat2000 cat2000ec then moved ship.

I race on an old BMX track jumps arent huge but big enough, the surface is dirt very loose and quite bumpy with lots of small debris around, the course is marked out with tyres and if hit will punish a weak car.

some pics will help


cheers jason

[chrispattinson]

I've never had a Cat SX, and have nothing to do with Schumacher . . .but Ive seen plenty of SX's racing, and had a few shots of them....
And I would say it is one of the more durable cars out there.
... at the risk of being flamed.... Id say the horror stories are coming from people who are doing something wrong themselves.

[Alfonzo]

I reckon with those new Big Bore shocks it would be excellent on your track. Same could be said about the new Predator X11, which runs stick pack.

[slow coach]

I should of also asked how durable the belts pulleys and diffs are when exposed to this sort of track.

[mof]

As far as belt driven cars go, and the given track conditions, I would say that Tamiya DB01R has better protection for the drivetrain. Both cars run stick pack.

As far as performance goes, I guess (note, guess) that both are very competitive cars.

[slow coach]

no comments from any schumacher drivers?? strange the only posters so far dont own cat sx's lol.

I may yet give up on the lipo stick chassis route and get some saddle lipos, this will open the door to all the current models no probs but i kinda wanted to just have to use stick lipo packs really.

[lochness42]

Well, Cat SX is good handling car and I didn't have much problems with breaking parts (I basically broke 2 front wishbones after more than half year of owning this car). I've basically replaced 1 rear belt just to be sure - belt was still in ok condition and I was racing on dirt tracks where you've got more little stones than on astro so I find transmission reliable.
I belive big bores will provide good improvement over std shocks.
Some videoes from my club track http://mkkosice.sk/index.php?option=...id=46&Itemid=1

[moth898]

Originally Posted by slow coach

no comments from any schumacher drivers?? strange the only posters so far dont own cat sx's lol.

I may yet give up on the lipo stick chassis route and get some saddle lipos, this will open the door to all the current models no probs but i kinda wanted to just have to use stick lipo packs really.

You don't really have a choice, the cat only takes stick packs, saddles won't fit. Make sure that you buy the kit with the new lipo friendly chassis otherwise you'll have a hard time finding batteries that fit. I think the phil booth model comes with it, but I'm not sure. Here's a picture of it.

[slow coach]

Originally Posted by moth898

You don't really have a choice, the cat only takes stick packs, saddles won't fit. Make sure that you buy the kit with the new lipo friendly chassis otherwise you'll have a hard time finding batteries that fit. I think the phil booth model comes with it, but I'm not sure. Here's a picture of it.

Which was why i was looking at the cat, but if i change my approach and get saddles i can run any car available, but I have stick pack lipos already so dont want to change really, I just want some good honest feedback on how good the cat is really, the sx2 isnt going to ba a huge departure from the sx by the looks of it but i havent raced a cat for a little while and the set up looks a bit wierd tbh

[mdb_75]

The Phil Booth version came with the same carbon fibre chassis as the standard Lipo version. The chassis with the cutouts is an upgrade for Sx's or standard on the Sx2 which will take saddle packs end-to-end as there are 8 cutouts in the chassis.

[MattW]

Hi Jason

I think you should be ok, I guess the one real unknown would be dirt from a loose track like that. I haven't ever raced on anything that loose. Although there used to be a track local to me that had a lot of sand on the astro turn. Generally (once we got the gear cover) the car was fine on that track.

I think the SX2 will be coming with a chassis that had the locations for what are the common types that we are seeing now on the bottom of some packs. Although (assuming they go same route as Mi4LP) there is also some little carbon pieces that are same size as those lumps for those companies batteries (like GM!!) that don't have the molded lumps.

Matt

[slow coach]

Cheers for that

Will have to suggest a broom for race day i think and sweep the bad parts, tbh the cats always had an exposed rear diff with only a small lexan shield which worked ok but did get gritty quick but the new cat does have lots of exposed belts and pulleys, my current lipo's, one has the locating lumps and one doesnt so needs a secure mounting system for the flat pack, will have to wait and see the cars not out just yet and i dont need one till end of march although i will want to have it built and have a play asap.

whats the side balance like with lipo in the SX is it equal or does it need balast, after changing over to lipo in the TC ive found out side balance is quite important.

Cheers Jason

p.s. good luck at the Euros matt dont break it this time was hoping to get over to watch but cant see that happening at the moment

[Snappy]

Been running my SX in Sydney on clay for some time now. No problems at all with belts etc. Only problems with dust is I've gone through a few wheel bearings - pickuped up replacement ones with the rubber sheild on one side through AVID RC and haven't looked back since.

Car has been strong - only gone through 2 front arms due to my poor driving.

[lochness42]

With right tires on, Cat is great car even in very very dusty conditions. That's my experience.

[mof]

Originally Posted by moth898

You don't really have a choice, the cat only takes stick packs, saddles won't fit.

Is there a particular reason why saddles won't fit?

[moth898]

I'm not the most qualified person to explain why they don't fit as I have never tried. What I can tell you is that it is advertised as a lipo stick car and not that both can fit. You can contact Shumacher directly to get a more accurate answer and leave the speculation to the boards.

[mw02veg]

You can fit saddle packs in the Cat in stick configuration but you do need the Atomic Carbon retainer, Dave Poulter runs with GM saddle packs.

Mike

[martin]

Remember when buying Lipo batteries for the cat the Maximum Height that will Fit is 24.00mm high as this still leaves some clearance for the belt and pulleys.

[Big G]

Originally Posted by mof

Is there a particular reason why saddles won't fit?

I think it's mainly down to the plastic in the middle of the 2 packs making the total length slightly longer than a stick pack.

I know the Intellect ones fit though since my friend runs these in his SX

[eichkay]

I race a CATsx in australia, on very dusty tracks.. at first i was worried about dirt getting in the car so i didnt cut the vent holes out, but the dusty dirt doesnt seem to get up that high really and ive been running with the vent holes open on the esc and motor side..

the car come back in with very minimal fine dust over the CF and internals but it doesnt effect the belts and the diff are well protected. I keep spare belts on hand but im still running the same belts that come on the car nearly a year latter, My diff's are still the original ones aswell yet ive got all the parts on hand to rebuild them as i was worried about it for a major event about 6 months ago, so i brought a bunch of parts i wouldnt normally keep on hand.

The cats are very strong cars compaired to the others on the track, only issues/breakages ive seen or had myself are
• Slipper to loose and the spur melts the center and shifts / strips (fixed with the new black gears i believe)
• Broke the kit std front arms on minimal impacts/landings, swapped to med flex arms and which hold up very well
• Broke a front shock shaft, hard impact with a stationary object / my fault
• Bent M3 screws on the front arm piviot blocks, new sx2 comes with M4 in this location but there is new M4 parts adv for upgrade. Or just run the stegger brace like i do to prevent more damage.