Hello, I am posting this here because it seems that CEN looks in here from time to time. I have recently jumped back into Rc after about ten years off, I used to race 1/10th electric. I thought it would be fun to get a 1/8th scale nitro buggy and run with my friends that have them. I looked around and thought the Matrix looked good. Now that I have one, I have a few questions that are nowhere to be found in the manual. Break in was a little difficult, made worse by the fact that a friend "helped" me out by setting my low speed needle flush. It would be nice if CEN put the settings for the needles somewhere, I had to call CEN to find out that it should be 4 turns in from flush. That seems to be done, but the motor is REALLY picky about the needle settings, likes to run 270+, and I would like it to be a little cooler for some longevity. It seems to run poor when I try to richen it. I am still in my first half gallon of fuel, this may cure it's self. My questions were about the way the car comes setup. There is no info about the "adjusting shims" in the manual, why not? There is no way to tell what diff fluids I have. I would like to tune my car, and have no baseline. Same for the shocks, what fluid is in them? What bodies will work on this car? The stock one is really the only problem I have with the kit, that body looks like it was fit by someone who never saw the car. The rear wing screws are too short, two of mine fell out in shipping. The rest fell out (after I checked and tightened them) during break in. The servo saver adjusting nut jammed up, causing the top part of the saver to break. So, I have some time to wait for parts and answers on the web. Overall I like the car, and think it has good value, especially with the radio included.

Well I will let CEN answer the question about the instruction manual but I can help you with your setup questions.

The car comes filled with grease in the diffs so you would need to change them to oil. I started with 5/7/1 and ended up with 5/5/1. As for the shocks I am not sure what comes stock but I started out with 35/30 and went from there. You can get the Crowd Pleazer 2.0 for the Mugen. You have to custom fit it but it works just fine. On the rear wing screws you have to put a small amount of locktite on them so they won't back out, the length of them is fine. Once locktited you will have no more issues there. As for the servo saver I would also apply a small amount there as well, you don't want it tighting up and stripping servo gears or in your case breaking the arm. If you have any other questions let me know.

Thanks for your answers, peakman. I did think, and the box/specs state silicone filled diffs, I have not yet opened them up. I am still curious what oil IS in the shocks, I just want to go a little thicker in the rear without changing them once to 30, if they already have 30 in them, and so on. I had put loctite on my wing screws, they did not seem to have enough thread to fully seat once through the adjustable part of the wing. I changed them, and no problems, maybe I should have looked for the ones that fell out and tried them again. do any mugen bodies fit? Or just the crowd pleazer? Thanks again for you time.

No problem....not sure on any mugen body but I imagine they would....I just got the 2.0. I don't know what is exactly in the front or rears. I just changed all the fluids so I would know what was there for sure.

I was getting ready to post these same questions, thanks for saving me time.


When you say 5/5/1 is that front/middle/rear? I put a SH .28 in mine and it tries to blow the front tires off the rims. So I'm thinking I need heavier oil in the center.

yes when you see the 5/5/1 that is 5,000 front/5,000 center/1,000 rear. Generally 5/7/1 is a good starting point and you can adjust from there.

would you recommend a similar initial setup for a 1/8 truggy?

which Truggy is it?

erm its not... im planning on sealing my funfactors diffs and running an ofna spider centre setup, any help is appreciated.

im running an SH.28 and a 44t spur, with either panther komodos or ofna brick pins on tmaxx wheels - if that makes any odds.

i really am quite serious yknow... i mean it, i was just curios as to what would be a good setup to start


i dont think hes takin me seriously....

Okay new question. What is the factory pipe tuned for? is it low/mid/high?


I am waiting for a new spur gear to get here now, so while changing that I am going to put 7000 in the center. As it is now it just balloons the fronts almost off the rims.

whats wrong with your spur gear?

I'm geussing a small stone jammed between the spur/pinion and broke 2 teeth off of the spur. It should be here today, hopefully.

the factory pipe is a low end pipe

thats strange. ive got a couple teeth that are half chipped. i havent been in any rocks though.
i blamed mine on the chassis having so much flex.

I got the new spur today. I think the gears had to much lash in them, probably helped with the broken tooth. I think I'm going to need a 15-16 tooth pinion and a top end pipe for this bad boy. I put 7000 oil in my center diff and it brakes all four tires loose on pavement now. I haven't even tuned the lowend needle yet, now I'm scared too. LMAO.


TRACKMAN, I have a uncle that lives in Norfolk. Next time I come to visit him I will have to stop buy and check out your track.