Serpent introduce two new option parts the for Cobra 811-Be buggy in the form of front and rear aluminium chassis braces. The parts replace the stock plastic items for more rigid ones to stiffen the chassis assembly a bit for the use on flat high-grip surfaces. The parts come with gun metal coloured anodising and laser-etched Serpent logo.
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Serpent release several option parts for the Cobra-B 1/8 scale off-road buggy. Already included in the TE Team Edition kit are light aluminium front and rear shock towers, hard coated shock-caps and new lower rear wing. Also included in the Team Edition and usable to upgrade earlier Cobra buggies are the transmission input parts with larger bearings and new differential coupler system, larger bearing rear up-rights with larger shafts and larger bearing front steering block, again with larger shafts.
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The development of the Centax clutch continues with the release of Serpent’s new true motion clutch. Serpent’s designer Ron Ton was the innovator of this revolutionary clutch system in the mid nineties and soon it became the industry standard in onroad racing as all other brands adopted similar systems. Many variations have been tried, but in the end it still comes close to the original idea. In the latest development the tapered shape has been moved from the flywheel to the pressure plate instead, improving punch and reliability. Serpent continues the use of the hard Centax spring to set preload, as its less critical and fast to adjust. The 1/10 scale Centax True motion clutch has the red shoe and steel clutch housing, while the 1/8 scale Centax True motion clutch has the black shoe and aluminium clutch housing as standard.
Having seen the Serpent 411-FF at the Nuremberg toy fair Serpent has released full details on their first ever front wheel drive only car. Its based on the Serpent 411 TC 4wd car and shares many parts. Serpent has tested the front wheel drive cars intensively and achieved a perfectly balanced race-chassis, putting the front mounted motor as low in the front as possible. The front wheel drive system gives a unique drive-feel, very different from 4wd, but super smooth, easy and great fun. The Serpent 411-FF pre production cars have already won races in Indonesia and Hong Kong, and the cars will be run at the TITC in Thailand as well.
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Starting the first day of the toy fair at the Serpent stand, we were shown around the huge number of new products in their booth. First up is the new 747 1/10th scale 200mm chase which features new geometry front and rear as well as a front flex system that through the use of two tie rods connecting the front blocks to the radio plate can help adjust the chassis flex. A new radio plate retains the configuration of the 733 but with the radio box removed. A nice feature of the car is the new symmetrical chassis plate that sports an area for mounting weight to the centre line of the chassis which can be moved forward or rearward to influence the cars balance. Other new features include new RCM shock absorbers that now feature membranes again instead of the foam inserts.
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More driver announcements with German Serpent distributor 2-speed announcing that Philip Sting has switched back to Serpent for the coming race season. Starting his racing career with Serpent, Philip is going back to his roots with this decision. He is concentrating on the 1/8 on-road class and will use the Serpent 966TE in combination with Xceed engines, tires and fuel for national and international races.
Source: 2-Speed [2-speed.de]
Last weekend Homestead RC Raceway was once again the host of the Novarossi Challenge. With sunny sky and a beautiful Florida weather in the mid 70’s, everything was set to have a great weekend of racing. After a full day of practice the qualifications were underway and at the end was Paolo Morganti that claim the top spot. In the final Paolo started from pole and immediately build a lead keeping his position until a small mistake from his pit crew resulted in a flame out. After the restart he was in second, on the same lap of the leader, and he had to push really hard to try to get the first position back. After an exciting 30 minutes final, he was able to win with a 2 laps cushion.
Source: Serpent [serpentamerica.com]
Serpent have released a line of PTFE coated pivot balls. Made from aerospace super light aluminium they are very smooth and the range of types allows you to replace the steel versions that come as standard on the S120, S100, 733, 966 and others. The different versions include 5.8mm double straight, 5.8mm, 5.8mm long, anti-roll bar ball 3.0mm and uni 4.5mm.
View the other pivot balls here
