CRC Battle Axe 3.0 oval chassis

CRC have released their 3.0 generation oval cars which are all new and do not use much of anything from the 2.0’s other than the front end. The biggest differences that make these cars superior to the old ones are the center pivot, rear pod, and even the chassis plate itself. The center pivot is now offset left on both cars to improve drive-off without jacking a bunch of wedge in the car. This allows the car to have a heavier left front tire which helps the car get into the corner and roll the center without being too free off the corner. The chassis’ have gone on an extreme diet. They have removed an incredible amount of right side weight and filled in all of the old NiMh cell slots to increase left side weight. Overall, the chassis are smaller and lighter, but have increased left side weight percentage.

Another awesome feature is the ability to add “static” (or “a fixed amount of”) rear steer. All link cars (or “monoball” as some may call them) have the ability to add reactive rear steer by raising the front of the links. While this increases steering and response, it can make the car feel inconsistent or unpredictable depending on how hard you turn the wheel. Having static rear steer gets the car into the corner harder without the degree of rear steer changing as the chassis rolls. This makes the car feel much smoother and more predictable while making it turn-in like an animal. On many larger CRC Fastrak carpet surfaces this may not be a huge deal, but on really small short tracks and especially on “hook-n-loop” type commercial carpets, it’s huge.

Source: CRC [teamcrc.com]