- 3-Racing Cactus - Dean Berry - Review -

With a massive revival in the 2wd off road racing class, manufacturers that had never made a vehicle for this highly competitive class are not releasing some innovative designs. Coupled with the 2013 IFMAR World Championships being held in the United States this year, excitement coming from this class has never been higher. So, when I found out that the people over at 3Racing were working on such a vehicle I quickly dropped them a line to get the inside scoop. A few weeks later I received a pre-production sample of when they were working on, the Cactus. This 2wd off road racing buggy, the Cactus, has all the features one would expect and even a few fun surprises.

AT A GLANCE
WHO MAKES IT: 3Racing
WHO IT’S FOR: Highly Competitive Off Road Racers
HOW MUCH: NYA
BUILD TYPE: Kit

PROS
+ I really like the steering bellcrank
+ Cab forward style body comes standard
+ Compatible with popular rims
+ Narrow chassis
+ Full production version can be built mid or in rear motor configuration
+ Graphite ESC mount

CONS
- Tedious battery strap/hold-down (rumor has it this will be changed before the full production version is released)
- A bit too much chassis flex for my liking

Authors Opinion: While the vehicle I received was pre-production, and came fully assembled, it is very apparent 3Racing is serious about releasing a race worthy 2wd off road buggy. With a few minor changes, that from what I hear are already in the works, the Cactus will no doubt be capable of winning the A Main at every level of racing.

Star rating (1-5) = 4

What you need to know

- The chassis on the Cactus is made from two pieces, a nose section and a main section. It is made from composite plastic and has quite a bit of flex to it. This can help increase traction on loose tracks and can also make the vehicle more forgiving is a hard crash. The chassis is also very narrow so to make space for the speed control a carbon fiber mounting plate is located right in front of the rear shock tower. Additionally, a rather large battery strap that is secured in place with four body clips keeps the battery in place. Since the clips are a bit troublesome to put in and take out I only used two of the four when testing the Cactus.

- Found on all four corners of the Cactus are big bore oil filled shocks. Each shock features a threaded aluminum body with adjustable pre-load nut for quick east adjustment. The plastic shock caps feature a bleeder valve that makes building the shocks quite painless. The shocks came pre-built with 300WT CST oil and soft springs all the way around.

- Like a vast majority of high competition 2wd vehicles on the market, the Cactus features a dual bellcrank steering system. Each bellcrank rides on quality ball bearings for smooth and consistent steering and a connected by a plastic center link. The center link features horizontally mounted ball studs that the steering turnbuckles attach to. Because the ball studs are horizontally mounted it allows the turnbuckles to pivot more freely as the suspension moves. The bellcrank does not incorporate a servo saver like other vehicles. 3Racing incorporated this into the steering arm that attaches to the steering servo.

- The Cactus comes with a 3-gear transmission with the standard top shaft gear, idler gear and differential gear. Speaking of the differential it is of the ball variety, is very smooth and has steel balls. It also has a 2-pad slipper clutch with large adjustment spring to smooth out acceleration and protect the drive train. A black plastic gear cover, with easy to remove cap, keeps dirt and debris away from the pinion and spur gears.

- 3Racing equipped the Cactus with an increasing popular cab forward style body. Not only does it look great, in increases down force to improve steering and traction. I sent the body off to Bradley Farmer of Bradley Fine Line Design for some color and as usual, he did not disappoint. Bradley uses Parma paints, is one of the best painters on the planet and a great many factory drivers seek him out to paint their lids. He came up with yet another killer, original scheme that I am completely blown away with. ellow dish wheels came with the Cactus that I received. They mount to 12mm hex adapters and feature the same off set as the Team Associated B4.2 off road buggy.

The dual bellcrank on the Cactus rides on smooth bearings. The center link features horizontally mounted ballstuds. This allows the suspension to move freely and allows for ackerman to be adjusted by adding shims.


ITEMS NEEDED
- Tires
- Steering Servo
- Radio System
- Electronic Speed Control
- Motor
- Battery Pack
- Pinion Gear

ITEMS USED

- Hobby Wing Xerun V3.1 Speed Control Red Edition

Hobby Wing has really stepped up their game so I was excited to put a Xerun V3.1 in the Cactus. I had to mount it sideways on the graphite esc mount on the Cactus to the wiring would not interfere with the way the body mounts. Additionally, I had to remove the fan from the top of the Xerun V3.1 so it would not hit the top of the body. On track, the stock, out of the box settings were near perfect. It has an extremely smooth power band and linear break. I ran the Cactus hard for about 6-7 minutes and throughout the run acceleration and braking remained consistent. When I pulled the Cactus from the track and removed the body one of the first things I checked was the esc. Since I was running it without a fan I was concerned that it might be scalding hot. This was not the case and when I put my finger on the red heatsink it was just barely warm.

- Dynamite Platinum Series 8.5-Turn Motor

The Dynamite DPS 8.5 Turn motor has a fantastic power band that well compliments the capabilities of the Cactus. It is smooth, has plenty of torque so it gets up to speed in a jiffy, and plenty of top end to generate ample speed to clear big jumps.

- Savox SH-1290MG Steering Servo

The SH-1290MG from Savox has speed and torque. Combined with durable metal gears it is ideal for 2wd off road racing. Since I decided not to use a servo saver on the Cactus I was worried that the servo might fail in a hard crash. This worrying was all for naught as it never showed signs of failure.

ADDITIONAL ITEMS USED
- Team Orion Carbon Pro WTS 4000mAh, 90C LiPo Battery Pack
- Panther Bobcat Front Tires
- dBoots Nanobyte Rear Tires

ON THE TRACK

STEERING Understeer Neutral Oversteer
When installing the Savox steering servo into the Cactus I decided not to use the provided servo saver. Because of this the steering was exceptionally snappy from side to side. While on dirt the Cactus had way more than enough steering and if not careful the back end would change places with the front end, on carpet it had just a slight push. I am quite positive that a change of tires on each surface would make the steering even better.

ACCELERATION Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
Combined with the Hobby Wing Xerun 3.1 speed control, Dynamite DPS 8.5-turn motor and Team Orion WTS LiPo battery pack the Cactus had more than enough power to impress. The stock slipper and differential setting that the car came preset with seemed spot on and when I pulled the throttle back the Cactus took off like a rocket. What I really liked was how smooth the vehicle accelerated and as well as mid-range acceleration.

BRAKING Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
The Hobby Wing Xerun 3.1 speed control provided the Cactus with a strong, smooth linear and consistent brake throughout the run. The dirt track I tested the Cactus on was extremely slick so if I grabbed the brake too hard it would cause the back end to swing around. Quickly I realized just a little brake was all I needed on dirt to slow the Cactus down to make corners or the like. I also ran the Cactus on the indoor carpet track at R/C Madness. This track was extremely tight so I often had the grab the brake hard to get around corners.

SUSPENSION Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
The suspension on the Cactus was exceptionally smooth and responsive. They had 300WT CST already installed and this is a fantastic starting point. The Cactus was able to soak up bumps and all surface imperfections on the dirt track with ease and could take most corners on the dirt and carpet tracks rather tight. In addition, I was also able to grab the throttle rather quickly when exiting corners on carpet, increasing overall speed and reducing lap times. On Dirt I had to roll the throttle a bit more to reduce wheel spin.

JUMPING Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
I cannot stress enough how impress I was impressed with the jumping of the Cactus. It takes flight with a completely level attitude, regardless of the size of shape of jump, and lands flat almost every time. As soon as all four wheels were back on solid ground the Cactus would settle allowing me to reach for the throttle immediately or to make a quick corner.

DURABILITY Poor Fair Good Very Good Excellent
I tagged several boards and landed short on a few jumps before I got the right feel for the Cactus. None of these mishaps caused the Cactus to show any sign of weakness. The Cactus did have one very hard tumbling type crash off of a jump on carpet causing a rear inner ball stud to pull out. It was easy to reinstall and has not pulled out since.

SPECS & TUNING OPTIONS

Body, wheels and tires
Body: Cab forward style clear polycarbonate
Wheels: Dish style
Wheel adapter type: 12mm hex
Tires: Not included

Suspension
Type: 4-wheel independent
Shock positions: (F) 3-tower, 3-arm, (R) 4-tower, 3-arm
Camber: Adjustable turnbuckles
Roll: Adjustable ball stud heights
Wheelbase: Adjustable shims at hubs
Ride height: Threaded shock bodies

Steering
Type: Dual bellcrank
Toe: Adjustable turnbuckles

Chassis
Type: Tub
Material: Composite plastic

Drivetrain
Type: 2WD
Transmission: 3-gear rear-mounted
Differential: Ball diff
Clutch Type: Adjustable slipper
Gear ratio: Optional pinion gears
Bearings: Full set of shielded

THE LAST WORD
I can’t stress enough that even though the 3Racing Cactus that I tested was a pre-production vehicle, and some changes are sure to be made, it is one impressive vehicle. 3Racing is no newcomer to the industry and has done their homework to break into the highly competitive 2wd off road class. The Cactus has smooth plush suspension, is as adjustable as any vehicle on the market making it easy to be dialed in to any track making from dirt to carpet. Be on the lookout for the full production version of the Cactus to be released any day, with a few refinements and improvements to make it an even more capable off road racer.

LINKS
3Racing, www.3Racing.hk
Team Orion, www.teamorion.com
Hobby Wing, www.hobbywing.com
Savox, www.savoxusa.com
Panther Tire, www.pantherrc.com
Dynamite, www.dynamiterc.com
dBoots, www.dBoots.com

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