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- Kyosho
Ultima SC Review -
Words:
Derek Buono
| If you're
old enough to remember when electric buggies and trucks were all
everybody talked about, you are old. But during that time we saw
some great racing, great innovation, and an on-track rivalry that
was really just between two manufacturers. Skip ahead about 15
years, and today you see this amazing battle has returned, but
this time with a more realistic Short Course class and with more
than just two companies. Kyosho showed up pretty late to the party
with the Ultima SC, but sometimes later is better. You can see
what works, and actually use the R&D that others did to make
sure you have the right stuff. If you read our Short Course
Challenge, you'll know that the USC dominated our RTR part of the
competition, even though we literally got the car only days before.
Now that we've had time to get used to it, do we still think it's
the best RTR you can buy? Or was it just that "strange"
or "new" is always more appealing? |
Features
It's a tranny • The Ultima SC sticks with the trend of a revised
3-gear transmission and skips out on the ball diff for a more
durable gear diff. The RTR diff comes packed with black grease,
but you can seal it and use fluid to tune it. A racer approved
slipper clutch on the outside helps deal with low traction
conditions.
Racey RTR • While some companies chose to try to match the
Traxxas Slash in design, Kyosho followed suit with the other
philosophy and used their current racing buggy as a base. This is
almost a first for Kyosho, as typically their RTRs are previous
generation kits and are slightly outdated. Kyosho finally based
their RTR on a current design, the RB/RT5, and won't suffer from
being outdated with design or parts.
Growth Spurt • To get the USC to the right length, Kyosho
stretched the chassis to 40mm. The stretch allows the Ultima to
fit into any current racing rules and makes for a good handling SC
truck!
• Got Motor -The RTR motor was actually pretty fast and had lots
of bottom end punch.
• Dog bones - We wish these would just be phased out of
existence, but apparently they save in costs and we can understand
this, but don't like it.
• Captured hinge pins - We may never have to point out
that cars had e-clips ever again!
• Smooth shocks - Plastic body shocks are standard, but
they are threaded so you can infinitely adjust the ride height.
• Sticky tires - The stock tires seemed to be perfect for
our test track, but might fare worse on some loamy tracks. However,
their RC race tire-inspired design seems to hook up.
• LIPO ready - Thankfully the USC comes with an ESC that
has a LIPO cut off.
Testing
We have been running at OC/RC Raceway since it opened and consider
it our home track. We're comfortable with the traction and the
track layouts, and it's generally considered one of the best
indoor tracks around. Our testing was over the entire SC
challenge, but for this review we are basing everything on our
time with the USC as an RTR as you would buy it.
Acceleration and Speed • Generally we're never really impressed
with RTR speed, but the USC provided some better than average
power from RTR gear. We aren't sure if it was gearing, the battery,
or the motor, but the USC had lots of power to rip off the line
and the stickier, race pattern tires provided nice grip both on
the track and out in the street where we just bashed around. The
top speed isn't something that is going to make you scream, but it
is fast enough to entertain you.
Rating: 10/9.5
Braking • As with any 2WD truck with low traction tires, braking
can be a little tricky if you're ham fisted on inputs. Feathering
the brakes will give you more control and keep the rear end in
line. We know that racing features in an RTR aren't always there,
but we would have liked to have a reverse lockout on the speed
control. Traxxas has it and that means every other truck should
too!
Rating: 7
Low-Speed • The Ultima SC is light and very nimble. Even with
hobbling RTR electronics, the truck was very controllable and fast
through the slower sections. I found that the truck had a great
bottom end grunt that was just enough to feel fast, but not enough
to really get you in trouble if you're not smooth on the throttle.
Rating: 9.5
High-Speed Handling • On our test track, the handling was even
more impressive when hitting top speed. It was comfortable and
controllable. The high-speed sweeper at the end of the track
didn't even make you feel scared, it would just track and go where
you wanted it to. As the diff wore in, I could feel the stability
start to fall off, but overall the box setup was really good.
Rating: 9.5
Rough-Track Handling • There aren't what I'd call "outdoor
ruts" on the smooth surface of the OC/RC, but the rough
sections of the track were no problem at all. The truck is pretty
light and the setup was almost like they tested here. It skipped
over bumps that needed to be skipped without being too bouncy.
Rating: 9.5
Jumping • If you are used to buggies or trucks, you might expect
hard braking to snap the front down, but the longer wheelbase and
stiffer tires don't make that as abrupt, so jumping is even more
critical. The Ultima SC jumped like a champ and landed just as
well. When you need to get the nose down you did have some
control, but not what some may expect. Overall she's a jumper, and
with some more power will behave a little more in the air.
Rating: 9
Wrenching
Maintenance • Compared to lots of 1/8-scale 4WD wrenching, the
Ultima is a snap to work on. Its 2WD layout is simple and working
on the transmission doesn't take much effort. As with most SC
trucks, the bumpers mean there is little more than a few screws
needed to take the rear end off, but in the end it doesn't get
much simpler.
Rating: 8
Wear and Tear • During our testing we had one issue with a rear
axle that snapped off, but we will note that this was an early,
pre-production test sample. With this in mind, we can't say that
you will have this same problem. The good news about that issue is
that, if it does pop up, it allows you to ditch the cheapster dog
bones and get the CV-axles that we used for later testing and with
which saw no problems at all.
Rating: 8
Tuning • Normally with RTRS we have to tune out the "dumb"
factor that some companies put in the kit setups. They are usually
overly soft and lazy. This is one time when we didn't have to make
many changes to make the truck feel right. We did make some tuning
options in Part 2 of our challenge, which included different
shocks, but for now I suggest working with the stock ones because
the option shocks had different everything and still needed to be
fine-tuned.
Rating: 9.5
Conclusion
Straight out of the box, the Ultima SC is fast and will entertain
you on the streets. It joins the race without any "branding,"
which to some may be a plus, but for me I think the body needs to
look more realistic. Aside from some cosmetic changes, the Ultima
SC is the best racer we've seen out of the box. This isn't to say
that others aren't as good, but the total setup and performance is
just almost perfect. This should come as no surprise to regular
readers who will recall reading a few months ago about the truck
dominating RTR performance and a close 2nd in the race prepped
version. Times are good for the Short Course class, which, in my
opinion, is still the best thing you can race. |
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