v1.0 Initial version
v1.1 Added Billy’s thoughts
v1.2 Added tools and insert/pills section


What do I need to build the kit?
Build Tools:
1.5mm Hex Wrench
2.0mm Hex Wrench
2.5mm Hex Wrench

4.0mm Hex Wrench Driver(Shock Pistons)
4.5mm Hex Wrench Driver(Shock Mounts/Captured Ends)
5.0mm Hex Wrench Driver(Steering Rack bolts)
5.5mm Hex Wrench Driver
7.0mm Hex Wrench Driver
Note: 4.0mm and 5.0mm are commonly found on a Tamiya style cross-wrench.

3mm Turnbuckle wrench

9/64” Drill bit for the lower shock caps.

Serpent Ball-end tool is a nice to have.

Flat file/side cutters to remove extra plastic flashing.

Any tips on building the kit?
Enlarge the hole in the bottom shock cap to reduce rubbing. Using a reamer works well.
Make sure that the diff spring fits into the diff outdrive freely. Earlier kits needed to have flashing removed for a proper fit.
The servo horn should be at around 11:30 from the back of the car. Use just enough spacers to clear the right post.
Don’t over tighten the nylon shock nuts. Is it very easy to do this and the shocks will bind.
Pay attention when doing the inserts and pills.

What’s the right way to put the inserts in?
The arrow always points towards the front of the car and the writing is the proper side up on the inserts. The rear hubs have Left and Right are labeled and the writing faces up.

What’s the right way to put the rear suspension pills in?
The back of the pills are labeled 0/1/2. The arrow points the direction that the hole is so 2 up means the #2 pill with the hole up. In this case, it means the number 2 pill is upside down in the writing stamped on the pill. In addition to the 0/1/2 numbering, there are narrow and wide versions of each number. Wide moves the hinge pins away from the chassis and narrow moves them nearer. The arrow points which way the hole is moving. If you want 2 down wide for the RR, you would have the #2 pill with the proper number side up and <-2 and 2->.

What wheels work?
The rear wheels will be the same as : 22,RB-5,AE B4.2 and will fit any other brand of wheel that uses the same offset and 12mm hex. You can also remove the hex and use any of your older existing pin drive wheels that use the same offset as .. XXX(bk-1,2), AE b4(4.1) and also the Yokomo B-max rear wheel.

The front wheels on the other hand are not the same as any car out there. They are also 12mm hex drive, but the offset is specific to the car. Based on the Steering spindle, offset and so on, it was not possible to use an existing wheel to make it fit. - Billy Easton

Direct fit front wheels:
2.2”: Serpent/AKA Hex Lite
2.4”(60mm): jConcepts Bullet Wheels

Other AE wheels can be made to work by dremeling down the hex from the inside wheel.

What setup should I use?
Dirt/Clay: Billy’s Spektrum setup has been drawing a lot of praise. The fast stock setup and kit setup are both good options as well.

Carpet: Will update.

What if I run on carpet/astro?
Highly recommended that you get a gear diff/Serpent Astro springs for the rear/rear antiroll bar kit. The non-carpet springs won’t allow you to get the ride height normally required for carpet.

Tom How’s recommended carpet list:
#500192
Geardiff set SRX2

#500204
Pivot pin brace 30 deg fr SRX2

#500354
Shock spring orange 1.8lbs astro (2) SRX2

#500227
Shock spring blue 3,4lbs fr (2) SRX2

#500236
Steeringrack alu (3) SRX2 (better more responsive steering)

#500237
C-hub L+R alu SRX2 (these prevent carpet getting into bearings and seizing them up, also help stiffen the front end)

#500243
Front bulkhead alu SRX2

#500281
Antiroll bar set rr SRX2 MM

-----------------------------------------

Other Nice to Have Parts that I fitted and am pleased with

#500197
Servomount alu (2) SRX2 (personal preference)

#500196
Upright L+R alu SRX2

#500282
Wingmount low SRX2 MM

#500242
Slipper plates vented alu (3) SRX2 (keeps slipper clutch cooler and thus prevents replacement of slipper pads so often)

What oil should I use in my gear diff?
Serpent recommends starting with 7K.

How can I tell if I have the latest revision of the chassis?
Measure the nose of the chassis. The latest revision is 4mm. If it’s already installed, look at the front bulkhead and the chassis. the original version has the front bulkhead flush with the chassis. If it’s a 1mm offset, it’s the latest.

Are there any recommended parts?
I would say the first thing that i make sure i have on hand is parts to rebuild the differential.. Granted it does not wear out that fast, but its always nice to have a butter smooth diff. The next thing, depending on how aggressive you are as a driver, you might want to have extra ballcups. If your a go big or go home type of guy, you can stretch them out... As for optional parts, i would get the springs, orange to blue front and rear. and you might want an aluminum front bulkhead. If you race in super high bite or extremely rough tracks you might want to consider the aluminum idler gears.. Aside from that, the car is pretty durable and most of the parts you need are already in the kit. - Billy Easton

This is a really good kit out of the box. The included spur is a 78 tooth spur. If you plan to run stock, pickup a 70/72. A lot of people are also switching the shock O-rings. Traxxas/Kyosho/Durango seem to have the best results. Traxxas: TRA2362 Kyosho: ORG03XR

What do I need to rebuild the transmission?
Diff rings are the same size as the Losi 22. 15mm(ID) 23mm(OD) SER500168 Losi:TLR2954
Idler gears(27t) are the same size as the TLR 22
Diff Balls are 1/8”. SER500259 AE:ASC6619
Using a Bfast kit is a great option as well.

Where can I get parts?
US: If your LHS does not carry Serpent, serpentamerica.com is consistently cheaper than A Main. Signup to the newsletter to get coupons.

Please help update outside the US.


Billy’s thoughts:
Here are some of the posts that Billy has made. Keep in mind that multiple posts on the same topic were made in different threads. It’s just grouped together for ease of reading.

Wheels:
To answer the questions about wheel offset and so on....

The rear wheels will be the same as : 22,RB-5,AE B4.2 and will fit any other brand of wheel that uses the same offset and 12mm hex. You can also remove the hex and use any of your older existing pin drive wheels that use the same offset as .. XXX(bk-1,2), AE b4(4.1) and also the Yokomo B-max rear wheel.

The front wheels on the other hand are not the same as any car out there. They are also 12mm hex drive, but the offset is specific to the car. Based on the Steering spindle, offset and so on, it was not possible to use an existing wheel to make it fit.

The good news is, you rarely replace your front tires. Whereas you replace the rears probably 6-8 times as often as the fronts.
Hope that answers any questions regarding the wheels.

The offset for the B5 wheel is shallower than our car. Even if they make the wheel so it can fit, it would make the car illegal to ROAR specs.. I would have to double check there latest wheel, but this is the case for the b4 wheels and if they are the same, it would be the same result. We will have to discuss the matter of making a new mold for the Evo stuff. Personally I like our wheels, so, if we can make a wheel for those tires that would be great. We will have to wait and see with what happens to the rules..

Tuning:
Low Wing Mount:
My experience with the low wing mount, is a reduction in forward traction. In high grip, it was not as noticeable, but low grip you can tell a difference.

Front shock upper position:
If you want the car to be more similar in handling to the other MM cars you can try tuning the front end using #3 or #4 shock position. It seems to reduce turn in oversteer. But if you do not have this problem, then just pack that info in the vault.

Using front shock lower outside position:
You might need to trim a small bit away from the "x" that runs through the opening for the shock. Originally, the eyelets were not as large in diameter, but were later updated to make sure they did not break. When this happend, it might have posed a minor clearance issue in the arm, if you used that position.

Battery choices and placement:
I find that in modified, the car might handle most tracks better with a saddle pack layout.. However, there are many tracks you can run a shorty running across the chassis as you have done in the photo... You have to view the battery as ballast.. If you need more rear traction, you can slide it to the rear. There are many times, i have slid the battery forward and gained steering, but also times where i have moved the battery forward and lost steering.. This steering all comes at different times, whether on throttle or off throttle.. For sure you can use the shorty battery as a huge tool to tune your car, so this is a good "idea" and you can learn a lot about your car.

Optional bulkheads:
The best upgrades you can get are honestly the different front bulkheads.. They have different effects on the cars handling.. They are worth getting.

Alu and Brass optional bulkheads.. There is a very small difference in weight between the alu and plastic bulkhead where as the brass bulkhead is almost 5 times heavier than alu.. I want to make very clear here, that jumping from a alu to brass bulkhead can sometimes take you out of the game.... I say this, because, in the past weeks, I have been testing this.. I built a test car to test a few random optional parts... During this process i went to 3 different tracks. I found that the brass bulkhead for this particular car simply had too much steering. It wasnt necessarily on throttle or off throttle, it was all the time. It made the car super nervous and i felt like i had lost my way, I placed on an alu bulkhead and immediately the car was easier to drive and also my lap times were more consistent and still very fast.. Be very careful when testing these parts as , 1 fast lap with 19 slow ones which is more difficult, is not as good as 20 slightly slower fast laps, but a better average.. In my case, this was tested on a mm. I think its much safer to use the alu bulkhead or stock plastic one, and maybe in extreme conditions the brass one. I found that my rm, was more accepting of the brass bulkhead, and had less of a negative effect in the same conditions. Hope this helps anyone interested.

On dirt tracks, i feel the brass bulkhead can work against you. I have not used it on carpet, so i have no real testing data on that surface, so i can not offer any opinion there

On dirt. I recommend, the alu front bulkhead.. If you want to take Joel's suggestion, its a good one as the alu steering is quite nice. Aside from that, if you want slightly smoother shocks you can to with the ti coated ones. I personally use the stock steel ones. .. As for my personal car. the only upgrades i have are.. Alu front bulkhead, alu steering.. The rest is 100% kit.

Cut MM Brace:
Here is my take on the cut brace as now I have had a chance to try it.. In low grip conditions it does seem to help, Although if you drive aggressively on turn in, you might find that it can be unpredictable from time to time( as in you have good grip, then violent loss of grip). It feels like you might loose the rear unexpectedly. It definitely reduces steering in lower grip.. As for higher grip, again, it reduces steering, but on the side of rear grip, I am not 100% sure its as predictable as the stock unit.... In whole, i feel it definitely reduces steering, it seems to improve the rear grip to a point, but then it can become un-predictable.. My 0.2 cent is, in stock this modified rear brace offers more advantage than mod, simply because you are travelling at lower speeds and also not cornering as hard. In modified everything becomes exaggerated.. In the same token, it can be helpful, but also hurtful depending on how you drive.

Outboard toe:
My opinion is the outboard toe has 1/4 the effect as inboard toe..Basically you have to use more to get a same effect

Brass rear weights:
They improve forward traction in my opinion. The problem with adding weight is, Ballast or toe blocks... The weight can cause the car to be loose in the rear.. My latest setup (Spektrum) we removed the weight and noticed an increase in corner speed... So, i guess, in short, you can add the weight if you want the FEELING of more grip... but, that feeling comes at the expense of corner speed.

Camber links:
The longer the link, the more stable it should be.. 1-A for instance will roll more at the apex of the turn. It will also not square up as well as 1-c out of the turn

Slipper eliminator:
The entire stock racing spur gear adapter, including nut, is only 9 grams.. I want to say the stock unit with pads,plates, screw, is well over 20grams.. So you can cut that rotating mass in half... Chances are you can go up a gear down the main straight and still have more low end power.. Granted, it will be a little harder on your ball differential, since there is no longer a slipper.. If your using a gear diff, you have nothing to worry about.. If your feeling frisky, or want to deliver a venomous bite to your competition, give them a try.

Diff:
Ball diff vs gear diff:
A ball diff makes more traction.. A gear diff reduces traction..A ball diff can be run in almost 0-100% (low grip to maximum grip) of the traction conditions. A gear diff in my opinion only works in conditions of 85 to 100% traction.

Ball diff, more traction, more stable on corner exit while under acceleration....and also more side bite.. It basically produces more grip in general

Diff Quality:
The b-fast kit although nice stuff is not really any better quality than the serpent parts you can buy.. All you need to do if you want the same results as a b- fast diff is sand the rings.. Why strain your wallet, when all you need is some 600 grit sand paper that costs 4.00 dollars.. You won't regret it, I promise..

The quality of the Serpent diff and its appropriate parts I feel is as good or better than anything you can buy as aftermarket.. If you want the best out of the Serpent diff, I can only recommend that you sand the rings with 600 or finer sand paper to make sure they are super smooth. If you do this, I am 100% confident you will not find a better diff on the market.

Diff building:
As for the way i set my diff, Paul is very accurate. After you build the diff, work it in as he suggests. you can not just go to full tight on the first threading in of the screw. Tighten it a little, seat the balls, tighten again, and repeat. I basically run my diff screws mostly bottomed out. I would say if we had to give a idea in terms of how much it is turned in or out.. I would say, in all the way to 1/8 of a turn loose. Never, do i run it more than 1/8th of a turn loose...... You should never bark your diff ever......EVER.... If you hear it bark, while breaking it in, you have already scored the rings, that is bad, and the diff, will never be smooth again. When a diff barks, basically the balls have slid on the surface of the ring, and when that happens, there is a scratch mark on the ball or ring, this basically means, it can never be super smooth.

Regarding diff height
this is a really slippery slope. The height of the differntial makes a difference in the grip that you are using it in. There have been times, where raising the diff has given me more tractoin, and there are also times where I have lowered it and it has had the same effect of more grip. I feel this is because, based on the amount of traction you have, you can either be on the soft side or stiff side in regards to suspension. If your car is running stiff, it seems as if lowering it can improve the handling, whereas, if you are running softer suspension raising it can improve your handling. Without going into a big debate,of whether or not people feel the same. Its probably safe to say, higher is more grip and lower is less grip.

We could go on and on about what diff position you should use in what condition.. Lets be honest here guys, there is no set situation where a rule of thumb would be the end all. As i mentioned before i would use the lower diff in lower grip situations and a high diff in higher grip situations. On the other side of things, i feel that a higher diff is better also when the track is smoother and a lower diff when the track is bumpy.. Now, if you take that information it still does not provide you with the perfect position for your track condition. Imagine for a minute you have a high grip and a bumpy track.. Well that would pose a problem with my recommendations as you could use both high and low.. With this being said, you will still have to try the different position to see which one actually gives you the best result. As recommended in my kit setup, the safest diff position is the middle. The diff position has an effect on both on and off throttle and the way the car behaves. Whether giving you more rotation or not, again, this is just something you would have to test in the condition you race in.

RM vs MM:
Basically in extremely low grip all the way to med-med high grip you can use a RM car with great success. A mm car works best from med-high grip. The cars do overlap a little where it would be very difficult to tell which one was truly better. There are differences though.. A RM car in my opinion has more on throttle grip and is more stable when making quick directional changes. The mm although can have more corner speed, it has less inertia which allows it to change direction more quickly, which adds to the less stable zig zag stability. Another area you will notice a difference is under braking as the RM, will out brake a mm car. I find our MM and RM jump pretty much the same, as I have never noticed a difference going from one to the other back and forth. I also find, that if you can flip over a RM, you can also flip over a mm, so that seems to be something that has more to do with setup than whether the motor is in one place or another. The bottom line is, I would say that you can get both to handle a large variety of conditions and i also feel that you can get them to turn almost the same exact lap times in 85-90% of conditions.. However in the last 10% of super high traction tracks the mid motor might be able to pull out an advantage of 0.00 to 0.20 per lap faster times.. If i had to make a judgement call,, in Med traction conditions i would say a RM, would offer you the best speed and driveability.. I then say .. Med high -high grip you would find the advantage in the MM. Hope this helps.

The biggest issue in transitioning from rm to mm is the cornering speed. What you use to do for your Rm, will most likely not work as well on your mm. So they way you tune the car will be different. One thing that you need to understand is, the tires that use to work on your rm, in the front will most likely not be as ideal for the MM. I would suggest getting a different front tire, that is less aggressive. I would probably use a staggered rib tire, Schumacher or Proline. If it still steers too much, you can put glue on the sidewalls of the front tires. The idea is to carry more corner speed, without flipping over. I would first try a variety of tires. If that fails, then you can work on the setup..Tires is 90% of the car.

Based on what i have learned, rear traction is an absolute must, if we plan to completely phase out a RM car in every condition.. I really do feel, and i say this whole kindheartedly that we need to build a setup around a shorty at the rear.. In my testing this provided the best rear end grip, on throttle as well as off throttle. The only thing I did not like about it, was, in modified my driving is a bit too aggressive for it from time to time. I do think from a weight balance and performance standpoint, it offers the highest yield long term.. I would like to see more setups that work under this philosophy.

In my last tests even at space coast.. When we had our ROAR regionals there.. I had not run my RM, in months.. I threw it down to see how fast it was.. It was the same speed as my MM... Granted, the front shocks were too soft, and even could have been adjusted to be better, the lap times were the same.. The RM as you mentioned, does really drive a lot like a MM. Again, i would agree, it has great rear grip to go with all the steering, that really does make it deadly in the turns.... I honestly do not care what any individual says.. Had I had the Spyder RM in 2003 when i won my worlds, i would have won by more.. I also believe 100% that every single worlds since mine and the incarnation of the b4, could have been won, with a Spyder SRX-2 RM.... Maybe with the exception of the worlds in Chico.. I think a MM, was the right car there.

Thoughts/explanations of products:
Regarding MIP Pucks:
Here is my personal opinion.. These pucks are a great idea, props to the guys at MIP...But....... The main advantage of a puck like system is being able to use an aluminum outdrive.Which could be advantagous in stock. Lower speeds , less power,where being able to get more from your motor rather than worrying about rear end bind.. Back in the day, it was all about driveshaft pin bind in the outdrive. You had to have it a certain way for modified and or to get a car to handle better in general. The puck system, offers less friction while under load. Which reduces bind, and also reduces traction. Maybe this type of system would be most beneficial in really high grip.Where you have an over abundance of traction. However, I have seen so many people split the pucks in high grip in a battery pack or two, then destroy there outdrives...Money lost....So, in my opinion, if they are best to reduce grip, and you have to use them in high grip to reap there benefit, however, they split in the first run or two and the outdrive is ruined.. I am not sure i can recommend them to people. If the outdrive is steel, thats better to prevent the damage to the out drive in the event of a broken puck, but im not sure of who wants to change the pucks every run.. Seems like a lot of maintenance.. This is of course my opinion as we all have one and maybe these pucks last forever. In that case it might be a nice setup... I will stick to the standard stuff myself personally.

Captured ball-ends using a hex nut driver instead of a hex:
Originally we were going to offer a hex in the head of the ballstud.. The problem is, if you want to have clearance for when the suspension is at full travel, you can not have the neck of the part too large.. This basically meant, that the depth of the hex would have been too shallow to use..Then on the other side, we would have had to go to 1.5mm wrench, then, people would have been breaking tips off, trying to thread ballstuds into the plastic.. The end result was, its just not possible to do safely.

Stock body vs JC Silencer:
as i mentioned before, the CG is clearly higher on the JC body.. As you mentioned, the cab, side pods and rear is all higher.. Granted, sometimes a higher CG can increase traction(in low grip) but it also increases roll overs ( in high grip) Last time i checked, we do not run on Low grip anymore.. Regardless of where or who the bodies are made by.. Using some common sense, you can make a clear decision..

Using SC hubs on the buggy:
LIsten guys.. I want to be extremely clear about this.. I know as you have shown in the above picture.. The Axles appear in a different location. Which is why so many guys are bandwagoning to put them on after a few racers have announced their pleasure in the parts. I can fully assure you although the two vehicles posted in the above picture look different, but they are very similar.. You can easily test this philosophy and test my knowledge.. Place both cars on the same bench. Mount the same tires onto both cars. Then set the ride height to exactly the same. Then, take a look at the arm angle.. On ours you will have to draw an imaginary line,as the arm has a bend in it. .. Once you do this, you will clearly see, although it looks different its the same... Or extremely close..... Now. If you place the SCT parts on our buggy you are raising the roll center 4-6mm. By doing this you are changing the entire geometry of the front end. If you do the above test, again, while having SCT parts on your car, you will notice, the angles of the arms are no longer similar.( the inner hinge ping will be high and the outer low.. ). Although I have very little experience, in putting these SCT parts on my Buggy, they were originally only intended for the SCT.. The scrub offset is also different as well as it affects your ackerman..Basically.. By putting these parts on the car, you change 4 things. Shock angles, scrub offset, ackerman and roll center.. Its not just, Oh, hey, i raised the roll center.. Anyone who thinks that is greatly mistaken.. I can not tell customers what they can or can not do, but, I can tell you of the tests we have done locally here, on a track where we use slicks, med grip and also high grip, we actually thought that it did not really improve the buggy at all. We felt the initial steer was nervous and aggressive, then in the mid corner it pushed and or at apex caused the car to get loose. We also found at one track the car picked up an on throttle over steer. .. At this time, I can not endorse these parts, as i feel they are not an improvement. My test drivers and I will continue to test them, and report back if we find any positive results. In the mean, time as many of you will most likely try them anyway, be sure to keep an open mind and also be sure to do back to back tests..

I know there are some that use the SCT parts on their buggy. I do not personally, and do not think they are a necessity. At our last race(Spektrum) we ran the stock parts and were more than competitive. I would take Erik's advice as many people are extremely happy with the stock car.

Rear hub lettering:
When they labeled them, they were labeled for the RM car..So, we had an L and an R on that car, where the cutout faced rearward.......Then, we made the mid motor car.. and on that car, the cut outs face forward.. Then, the L and R was backwards.. On the RM, cutouts face back and the initials are correct.. On the MM, the cutouts face forward and the initials are wrong.... I will talk to them about removing the lettering on the hubs , so we can fix the confusion.

Yeah, this is a bit of a messy deal.. Basically the hubs were designed for the RM.. but we then later used them on the MM.. So.... The lettering on the hubs, is for the RM, and not the MM. I will have a discussion about this and see, if we can get the text removed. Otherwise, when building your car, make sure you look at the illustrations as the others have mentioned above, so that you get them installed properly..

Recommended out of the box things to have:
I would say the first thing that i make sure i have on hand is parts to rebuild the differential.. Granted it does not wear out that fast, but its always nice to have a butter smooth diff. The next thing, depending on how aggressive you are as a driver, you might want to have extra ballcups. If your a go big or go home type of guy, you can stretch them out... As for optional parts, i would get the springs, orange to blue front and rear. and you might want an aluminum front bulkhead. If you race in super high bite or extremely rough tracks you might want to consider the aluminum idler gears.. Aside from that, the car is pretty durable and most of the parts you need are already in the kit.

Shocks:
I have bought all the cars and quit frankly I know this may sound very biased, but ill be also very honest and transparent... The Losi shocks have a lot of torsional movement in the shocks and have a slight bit of seeping.The AE shocks are ok at first but get tight on you. The kyosho shocks have a lot of drag in my opinion.. I understand our shock o rings are not the best. Again we are working on a solution and will have one shortly..however, If you take a good ring, an aftermarket one.. Whether it be the kyosho or Traxxas, I would recommend traxxas as its the cheapest and as good as quality as the Kyosho.. Anyway, take these rings put those in your shocks.. I then would say, there is not a single better shock on the market. Our shock parts, finish is 2nd to no other shock.. The seal at the cap, the gasket at the top, the delrin inserts, coating on the bodies..All in my opinion are second to no other shock.. Granted, you might need another makers parts(o rings).There simply is not a better shock for the money..So with all that said..WE ARE WORKING ON OUR OWN RINGS.. The mold is being made, once its finished and provided there are no hiccups. You will be able to use 100% serpent parts for what will become a stand alone at the top shock..This is my opinion, but a very honest one..

New wing:
For information purposes.. we are coming out with a new 6.5 inch and 7 inch wing. They are for the MM, and they are super awesome. I have tested it against all the wings out there and they are unmatched. They are 1mm thick, so they are strong, but also still very light. I think if you give them a try, you will never use another wing again.. Serpent body and serpent mm wing in 6.5 inch.. For the win…

Titanium Screw kits:
Most screw kits you buy are molded titanium.. What this means is, they are not really that hard, but they are light.. So you have to be extremely careful not to strip them, and also, you should probably tap any hole where strong material is used. As for the Lunsford screws, they are the real deal, but the price is also significantly higher.. They take more of a beating.. This is the classic you get what you pay for, so be careful what you buy.. And if you do buy the soft ones, although very light, be sure to have a new hex tip on your allen drivers.

another thing to consider.. If you look at strength versus value, you will find you can re-use the Lunsford ones time and time again..With the molded guys they are more like baby diapers..One and done..So, you might end up buying more of them, when a lunsford one would have done the job.. I am not trying to push Lunsford screws on you as they do not give me anything, but when it comes to titanium screws, Lunsford screws are second to no other brand.

Pre-SRX-4 Release:
If you take a hard look at the current crop of cars.. and ask yourself what is wrong with this picture..The first thing that comes to mind is weight balance.. Whether it be off left to right, or too nose heavy. From the perspective of left to right balance, not a single 4wd on the market, has an almost zero weight balance left to right..Even if you go shorty on one side and then a motor on the other, you are still lacking 50 to sometimes 75 grams.. that is a pretty big problem. If you look at a b44.2 or any shaft car with a saddle layout at the rear and a motor at a front side.. the speedo is around 60 grams, or less..The motor is 160 grams or so.. Again another poorly balance car. The only place i see an advantage for a shorty/motor setup is in extremely high grip. Whether that be carpet or sugared tracks. On low grip, I think you are going to want more mass in the car.. Another thing to consider is, if you have a 4wd car, and all your weight is at the rear..so tell me....... what good does it do you when your front tires are in the air, on throttle, due to no weight being on the front to keep it down.. The fact is, you need great distribution front and rear and left to right.. Its not hey this looks cool, and we can make it get around... but at what limitation.. a 4wd car is best utilized when you distribute more power to the ground, not just some power.. This then helps you run larger motors and in turn, the more power you put down the faster you go.. Look at the current racing results. It is far to often, that 4wd times are no longer 1 second better than 2wd times..Well why is that?..... The answer is simple, the 2wd's have progressed, while 4wd really has not progressed since the introduction of the xx-4.. Sure they look different, but better.. I am not so sure of that.. Granted, this is all my personal opinions and i could go on, but the fact remains the current 4wd's are not as fast as they should be.

Addressing production issues:
the one thing that stands out as the biggest problem that we have had a difficult time to fix, is the shock O rings.. So, for that, I will be 100% transparent on, yes, there is a problem, as the stock o rings, shrink over time and leak. We are working on this, I promise you, and perhaps it has taken us too long to fix the issue. Although there is a solution of using traxxas x rings, of course that is not good you have to buy someone else's part to fix our car. So, for all the customers, im very, very sorry that has been a problem for you, and I wish i could wave a magic wond and the problem be fixed. Its not that easy though when dealing with overseas manufacturing.. Moving on, many of the other issues mentioned above, I have not seen, or some only happen on some kits.. I have built a dozen cars, plastic bulkhead, alu, brass, and my rack never has hit the top deck. So in that case, im not sure what the problem is. Its close, but does not hit. I have used the same set of shocks, with either our prototype or other brands o rings, and I honestly do not think there is a better shock on the market. Our stock kit pistons fit better than anybody else's out there.As for the customers having to drill their pistons.. This is exactly what the customers asked for.. They wanted pistons they could make what they wanted.. This is a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario.. It might make some happy, but not everyone. Anyway, that is only a small detail. As for the chassis, yeah we did have a problem in the beginning, but we fixed it, and not only that, but we offered the replacements for " FREE" to any customer that claimed there was an issue. As for the diff spring, it is true, some of the earlier kits have had issues, but I am pretty sure those have been fixed. If you have a kit that had this issue, all that really needed done was to straighten the ends of the spring where it was ground and it would fit. That unfortunately is a manufacturing issue. Not all springs would be the same, so that alone could be hit or miss. .. With all that being said, its really tough to make every customer happy.. However, we do actually do our best. I also think it very fair to say, that if we have any issues left that need to be fixed on our current mm car , its the leaky shock issue.. This is the only issue that the masses of owners have either written about, emailed about or complained about. The intent of my message is not to put anyone down, or discredit their findings, or even try to change their opinion of the car. The intent is to ensure customers that although there might have been some problems in the beginning, many of them are resolved or have been resolved. If any customer in particular has an issue with the car, you can email your local distributor the problems you have found with your kit, if they are defective, you can get a replacement, if your having a problem with building and don't understand what to do, they can assist you. If you find something that needs to be better, then email them your suggestions. Contrary to popular belief, Serpent as a company is working to design and maintain the absolute best RC cars we can.

Insights:
I wish you the best of luck in your racing and hope that your SRX-2 takes you into the winners circle.. Remember--> Be sure to make an effort to make new friends at your local track, share your passion for racing and also your technical savvy with your fellow friends and newbies. Always remember.. If you experience a "bad lap" that costs you the win...take a deep breath.. there is always next weekend..

RC racing is a double edge sword.. You need steering,, so you find it,, then the car is loose, then you find rear grip, then it starts pushing again.. Its like a merry-go-round.. Its always easy to find what you are looking for, but when you find, it what negative comes with it.. The goal, is to only find the perfect amount of what you need without giving up something else.. Racing is tough, and racers are rarely happy with their car….

I played this game the other day..Forza 4..... The game is obviously built around, what is and is not possible by the fundamentals and laws of inertia,gravity,traction and so on.. Anyway, the car i was playing never seemed to turn, and, until i approached the turns at the proper speed, there was no way this car was turning.. I guess, what im trying to say in general, and not necessarily directed towards you. A racing car has its limits no matter what we expect it should do.. You have to drive within the limits of the car in order to turn fast laps.. Just like the game, blowing turns and missing apex's translate slower lap times, against, braking the car,decelerating at the correct time, hitting the apex and throttling the car off the turn..RC cars are alot the same, you simply need to learn the limits of your car, and then drive within those boundaries.

I wanted to stop in and say hello to all 500 Plus members..Really great work you guys.. I also wanted to let you know that we are constantly trying to strive and make our products better. I want to extend my thanks to all of you customers that have given our product a chance and I hope that your results have improved since joining the Serpent family..On another note, Racing as a whole is very difficult, its not just one thing that takes you to the winners circle. Its the entire package, from the driver all the way down to the tires. If you find yourself frustrated with any part of your racing program, be sure to take a step back, gather your thoughts, and try and re-organize that program. I often find, that having all your information,setups,thoughts in order, it makes a much more successful race day. Winning gets harder the higher your level of competition becomes, what will separate you from your competition may not always be your skill, but how well you prepare.... Good luck to all of you..

I just wanted to stop in and say thanks to our Spyder followers.. At the Spektrum shootout, it was obvious that our team and following has grown. So many new and old faces and many potential customers interested in getting a MM or SCT.. With the increased demand we have had a difficult time in the US keeping up with parts support, but that is in the process of being improved with more inventory for the growing customers needs. With our setups getting more refined and the results improving, hopefully soon we will start to take over more and more local racing scenes with more Spyders than other brands. Its a very difficult road to navigate, but with great product and amazing supporters, we will take the Serpent brand and the Spyder line where we thought it was unimaginable. Thanks again to all the supporters, in the US and abroad.