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ORIGINAL: nurch

Well, I am glad someone beat me to making a Shout for the Sportwerks Mayham buggy, but with a slightly different topic!

Ok, I got my buggy, and I did some modifications. I unfortunately got the RTR version, with the smaller opening at the flywheel (so now, when I change the engine, I gotta get a pullstart version) where bumpboxes will not work. Unless I enlarge the gap on the chassis or if the Pro version of the Mayham chassis has a bigger hole, please someone post a picture. I am going to be posting pictures tomorrow and even a video of it in action. I cant promise when the video will be up since I am on a dial-up (until comcast gets my cable internet fixed).

Another thing I noticed was the diffs; fluid not grease! I was highly impressed and astounded by the quality of using differential fluid instead of grease found on other RTR vehicles, mainly with OFNA and GS. However, I am going to change the fluid vescosities to the vescosities I stuck on all my buggies that gave me the traction and response I am acustomed to: 7000 front, 10K center, 3000 rear. Thick huh? But somehow it is what works at my track. I have to go with what works.

The shocks seemed unresponsive when I did the drop test and later a 5ft jump. It bottomed out all the time. I stuck on some pre-load, like the one in RC Driver's magazine, but my buggy still bottomed out. I listened to the shocks closely while I was compressing the shocks and heard what sounded like air in the shock bodies. I removed the front right shock from the buggy and looked in. The shock body was 3/4 of the way full. Guess I am going to give myself a little project tomorrow morning (going to use 35WT all around) when I finish the breaking in of my buggy. On an added note, I noticed the shock bodies were threaded yet that ring screw that goes on the shock bodies was not included. I was bummed and saw no purpose to have a threaded shock body if that ring screw is not there to make the pre-load adjustments.

The muffler on the Mayham seemed quite silent compared to other RTR buggies' pipes (who remembers the deafening sound from the OFNA GT LX's pipe???). It provided quite a bit of bottom end, and really make the buggy dip when you punch the throttle. Truly astonishing.

The body design of the buggy looks MUCH better in person than in pictures. Pictures do not do it justice. I am definitely keeping that body. I am going to order another Mayham body since the one that comes with the RTR is pre-painted. However, once the stickers were applied, it looked lively, especially the RC Driver stickers that Greg Vogel sent me and the ones I kept after my visit to Dave Baker's house for an article.

The JR XR3i FM (instead of AM radioes that other brand names come with, except GS) radio is definitely an added plus. However, I am a huge Futaba fan. But I think I will go back to JR again on this buggy! I cant promise that it will stay on there after I get the new Futaba FM radio, 3PM. I did change the steering servo to a Hitec 645 MG (133 oz, .2 sec @ 6.0v) and changed the throttle servo to the Z590M that was once the steering servo. I have to say, I had to adjust my brakes to give more play since the buggy stopped way too hard for me. I like the slight ABS effect when I power slide in turns.

The shock towers are nice and thick!!! I like that added sense of security!

The chassis braces on the front and rear are aluminum. But I don't like the way they are installed. I know that if I were to get into a crash, I am going to destroy the plastic mounts on the bulkhead for the braces. On that same note, the plastic base will surely follow suite.

The center drive shafts would have been more appealing if they were CVDs. They have too much slop in them. I had to add o-ring seals inside the drive shaft cups to end that horrendous slop. However, despite the slop, it handled like a dream and throttle response on the buggy's part was exceptional. Kudos there! However, I will call up Horizon and place an order for center CVDs.

The radio tray is aluminum. Nough said. However, I cannot say much for the radio plate posts. They were plastic!!! But then again, I guess this is because it was an RTR. Definitely got to get rid of those.

I felt that the engine sat too high, and perhaps that may have been another reason why the flywheel did not stick out enough to make contact with my startbox's wheel. Are the engine mounts on the Pro version lower so that the flywheel protrudes out?? Or is the flywheel just larger??

The added fuel filter was a great touch!!! Kudos there as well!!

The versatility of the vehicle and its endless amounts of adjustments (save for the rear since I cannot get it to toe-in for the life of me!!) are an added plus, especially for an RTR version. GREAT feature to have! The RTR version is definitely a buggy an beginner can start and grow up with. Magnificent.

The engine on this bad boy that I got is a .26. I must say, it is supreme. Scary even. But it has to go. It is not legal at my track. I am going to stick in a OFNA Hyper 8. That engine has comparable power to the .26, though it is bored as a .21. Definitely the first thing I will do after I have fun burning the living poop out of this engine. However, I think this Dynamite engine is sheer quality and built for the rugged break-in procedure I am enduring on it. It stays true to the cliche "Takes a lickin and keeps on tickin!" Really nice!

The wider stance of this buggy is really awesome. It really does improve cornering at higher speeds, and is surely stable.

The pre-glued tires were definitely an added plus, and the tire spokes were PERFECT for my track conditions. Excellent!!

I have to say, as hard as I been driving this buggy, I give it a very thorough cleaning. It deserves it. Please don't be shocked when you look at the pictures and see it looks like it just got out of the box. I am a real Nazi when it comes to cleaning a good buggy! Plus my power washer cleans the entire buggy in a second. I use 100% denatured alcohol now. Gone is the usage of water anymore.

This buggy has surely withstood the harsh driving I have christened it with. I even hit one of the pit tables when I punched the throttle too hard. It slammed right into one of the table's legs. I rushed over to the buggy to see what damage it could have sustained. NONE!!! AMAZING!!! I am glad no one was at the table or near that table I slammed into. I do feel bad for pulling such a dim-witted stunt like that. Won't be doing that again.

If anyone feels a little skepticle about trying out a new company and its product, I can say that you can rest assured on the Sportwerks buggy. This buggy is built to be raced hard!! I give my huge respect to Sportwerks. Bravo. I have even cancelled my pre-order for the XB8 buggy. I am definitely sticking with this buggy.

addendum: If you wish to see what I look like, I was in RC Driver's magazine (Issue 6, June 2004, Pages 114 and 116. My name is Harry Nazarian).

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