silverman1

A buggy, a monster truck, and a arena truck. they come stock with a 30cc engine, and 4 wheel drive. Not available yet at Tower hobbies, I saw them in Driver magazine. It looks to me like they are running the same vehicle under all the shells, claimed 50 mph.

If you already know sorry!!!!

mooman007uk

they are the fs mcd clone rebadged CEN, CEN were too lazy to design their own[]

Sherv

My Feedback: (1)

Who makes the motor? Same motor as the FS?

mbe301

They've made a couple of small changes I think. I think the engine is from FS, but not the same as the one in the current line (exept the new baja truck, has the 30cc too) Looks like there's changes to the suspension arms from the fs line. Can't tell too much from their pics.

Foxy

Please use the search function. There is also a thread in the General Discussion forum about it, where I express all my concerns about this model. It may turn out to be good, CEN is a reasonable company, and they may have requested their own mods, but I want an independent review, ideally by someone who owns an FS and an MCD to a really good comparison.

FS*MT*4WD

lol so Fs has taken over, the CEN use different lower and upper arms, the rest is the same as the fs racing. i suppose CEN saw it as a easy way to enter into largescale.
I have owned a FS for almost 2 years and drive it atleast twice a week, yes i have spent some money getting it to a reliable standard. is this not done on most largescales anyways?

Fs racing problems were that the quality 'out of the box' was/is not up to RTR standards at all, the bearings needed replacing, radios were junk servos too. diff pins were weak and kept snapping, alot of movement in the drivetrain etc etc etc. also claimed the engines were 30cc and engines usually gave up after 1 or 2 tanks of gas..
Now Fs has upgraded there standards
Carbon Fighter : over 10 000 sold in germany
all steel gears
hardened pins and diff gears
better bearings
better radio (still junk lol)
stronger plastics
better carbs on engines(still needs improvementt IMO)

The Carbon fighter is a rebranded FS that was made for conrad electrics in germany, they call it the Reely Carbon Fighter, they have a hummer version of it too, comes with or without tuned pipe. These car are very popular in germany and UK

CEN
all steel gears
hardened pins and diff gears
better bearings
better radio
stronger plastics with redisigned upper and lower arms
stronger servos
Better quality control?
improved engine

Not sure if it comes stock 4wd, but of course that is upgradable. I hope with a company like CEN it will have more reliablity out of the box.

In the meantime FS racing released the '1/4th scale monster truck' once again they lied about the size, its actually 1/5th..damn those chineses!
The '1/4th scale boasts a 35cc engine! oh no we cant believe that, so measured the stroke and boar and what do you know its actually 35cc!!
The 1/4th comes with huge shocks with inner cover like hpi shocks and use spider differential like the hpi SS diffs., so they have taken some tips from HPI..The truck has a wider stance with much larger upper and lower arms,
They also cloned the MCD monster truck wheels the old model not the new model from mcd.
not too many have been sold of these as of yet because i think people are still recovering from the first batch of FS, good to know that you can convert the '1/4th' to the 1/5th with the new differentials and housings.
So there is hope for FS and old and new FS owners

fs racing reputation has gone through the dirt in the beginning, but they have slowly been listening to complaints from customers etc etc, fsracingusa and conrad germany are to thank for this

I rekon this CEN is going to take off big time, watch this space

In my standards none of this cars are ready to run, they all need some work before driving, diffs regreased,screws checked, radios checked and tested, there is a rebuild thread somewhere on this forum
, you would be a fool (IMO) to take it out of the box, charge the battries ,gas it up and run it,its not a toy that comes from tamiya, its a car thats been on a boat from china, there quality control is as good as if you would be standing there checking 3000 cars a a day.. probly been in the box for a few months and the grease has dried up, or hardened up...


Still today there is much hate for the FS merely because its a clone of the MCD. in my opinion it was about friggin time someone made a clone of the MCD,
do you actually believe that some of the newer cars i am afraid to say the name cause i will get attacked from all sides lol, are not a little MCD looking?? just a little bit????
anywas i enjoy my fs racing monster truck, and all the time is has taken up.....

Foxy

It's all going to depend on price. Who'd buy a rebadged FS for more than regular one? Similarly, who'd buy an FS for the same price as a Nutech? Just saying, it needs to be placed in the market carefully, or it'll just be another 'cheap RTR' that never interests the enthusiasts and never really gets going. See previously box-shifting companies like Smartech and Nutech investing in the future? Anyone can box shift, but to make a good product, it needs to be well-supported, and that means aftermarket, as well as significant distribution (ie Units sold), otherwise no hobby shop (online or otherwise) will stock large volumes of parts for it. I see the opportunity for greatness, but also a potential disappointment. Time will tell when the first reviews come in.

mbe301

I hope they do well. I prefer my FS buggy (2WD) over my TQ baja. Easier to work on. I find it handles better, jumps better, and doesn't get crammed up with debris like the baja. I've had almost no problems with it so far (compaired to the baja). Hopefully CEN with have hopups too.

quarterscalelegends

The thing that some seem to be missing is that CEN is distributed by just about ALL hobby shops and outlets.

hndaman1

My Feedback: (6)

I seen that same buggy it was in rc car action. it looks pretty mean, a friend of mine @ work tore the page out of the mag and is thinking about getting it..I think it is pretty cool looking, it all depends on the internals..

Foxy

I don't think that's the point. Traxxas and Duratrax are even better supported but I don't want any of their products. It all stems from whether or not the product is good enough for the price.

CEN has trashed their own reputation over recent years, and are also poorly supported in Europe. America is not the only country in the world.

CEN have a LOT to prove even to their current owners. I sincerely hope they've turned it around, honestly, I bear them no ill-will at all and welcome another good product to the market. Let's just wait for the reviews, if it's great, then I will be first in line to congratulate them and recommend it to those looking for such a car. Please don't think that I am a CEN trasher, I'm not, I'm just healthily sceptical about their first foray into large scale.

hndaman1

My Feedback: (6)

WOW I just looked @ the prices @ tower[X(][X(]

LXXXU2 CEN Racing 1/5 Matrix 5-MT 4WD Gas MT RTR w/FM Radio
Add to Wish List
1245.99 Back Order Only
LXXXU3 CEN Racing 1/5 Matrix 5-B 4WD Gas Buggy RTR w/FM Radio
Add to Wish List
1162.99 Back Order Only
LXXXU4 CEN Racing 1/5 Matrix 5-T 4WD Gas Truggy RTR w/FM Radio
Add to Wish List
1203.99 Back Order Only

SAVAGEJIM

I agree here too. Cenchain does make some decent RCs, I have a GST and though I favor my Savages over it, my GST is way tough. I give it to Cen, they made a serious bashing truck out of their Genesis/Nemesis/GST/GSR platform. Regardless of how much I favor my Savages, the GST is still a tougher truck and I am not shy to say that to other Savage owners.

Also, Cenchain does make a decent racer in the Matrix. It is not a Mugen or XRay, but it will hold its own on the track given a good driver is at the wheel. Down south, I know at least two guys who race the nitro Matrix.

As for Cenchain having to prove something to their owners, I definitely agree. The two guys I mentioned who race Matrixes mention that their customer service is lacking. And they dont even bother with Cen CS anymore, they go to the Local RC store and have them order Cen parts through them. Following their lead, I too do the same for my GST or I will order from places like Tower for parts.

As for thier new 5th scale Matrix, I too say that it will take time for people to buy these and for objective reviews to come out. I am however disappointed. I saw this RC being advertized in RC Driver, and it is an MCD clone. Cenchain is known for making their own home-brewed and designed from the ground up original RC. I am a bit let down seeing that they chose to resell a clone instead of jumping into the fray and building an RC from the ground up like they have done for their smaller RCs.

Considering the prices of this RC is over $1000 USD (at least as seen on the stores that will carry it), I do hope that Cenchain has cracked down on the clone maker and demanded that they put in decent quality materials, parts, and components (engine, electronics, structural parts, drivetrain parts, etc.) for a decent quality total RC.
Also, to be more true to the original Matrix (the nitro Matrix), I really think that Cen should have gone with a 2WD RWD buggy and made mods to make it more track minded like its nitro little brother.

Otherwise, if Cenchain wanted to go 5th scale, they should have opted to resell the HSP Skeleton (Redcat Rampage) and called that the 5th scale Genesis/GST. Afterall, the Rampage looks very similar to the Genesis/GST. Of course, like I said in another thread, Cen would probably fight an uphill battle because the premier Skeleton reseller right now is Redcat, and the Rampage pretty much has strong hold on this sector of large scale.

In line with what Foxy said, I too am not trashing on Cenchain, as I am a Cenchain owner, what I am saying is just my thoughts which I am writing on my own objective deduction.

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

are those prices good or bad?

Nutech Racing

Very cheap!

mooman007uk

pretty expensive seeing as you can get an MCD for a few bucks more and an FS (same car) for less

Nutech Racing

Compare to MCD, price and .... are cheap!

mbe301

Compare to FS... double the price!

Nutech Racing

It depends, if Made in German, the price is good! Are they using Zenoah engine? FUTABA 3PM? HI TEC SERVO?

srt10

My Feedback: (20)

what is an FS?

Foxy

Yes, this is the question. Zen power would be a good start in justifying the price.

SRT, FS is a Chinese OEM (we assume), who allow many other marques to rebrand their stuff.

This practise is common, in and of itself, it's nothing particular to worry about, as often specs are changed dramatically when another brand takes them on (Zenoah engines, for example). The FS basic spec with rubbish engine, servos, and bearings, is only $600, so the improvements better be wholesale to justify the high price.

mbe301

They have it on their (CEN) website for pre-order for $899 (4WD MT) It looks like the front suspension change will help the turning radius. (compared to the FS MT)

Bad boy Hobby

Those prices are ridiculous!
I hope Tower buys 2 or 3 containers full, because at those prices, they will be stuck with every one of them.
The MCD prices have come down alot since the new editions ( ultimate ) has come out, making them a bargin for what you get, next to these things.

The Motors, electronics, tires, plastic and bearings are all crap.

From what Iv'e seen and heard, thats why Nutech is going to do so well here in the states, they addressed these types of issues and from what I have heard, have a great support team to back there products.


I have bought and sold many FS items dating back to before most of you heard of them, there products and quality is still the same,......I think it's time for them to step up and overhaul there products.

rclynx

I would say you all need to wait till they hit the market..................the prices are MSRP not what they will sell for remains to be seen

Foxy

^ Yup.