CEN Matrix TR truggy production-ready

[PeterV]

http://209.2.68.15:8011/pics/arenatrfinal.jpg

Latest from www.cenracing.com

CEN Racing is proud to announce the arrival of the anticipated CEN Matrix TR Truggy!!

First up is the CEN Matrix TR Pro kit. At the center of the Matrix TR Pro kit is the 3mm Hard anodized grey chassis along with the trick arched composite chassis braces. At the front and rear of the truck, beefy 4mm 7075 shock towers handle the suspension duties along with the Big Bore 16.5mm shocks. With 23mm on all corners of the truck, you won’t be short of wheel choices.
The Matrix TR Pro kit will be available to the masses for about $400 USD.

Next up is the Factory Race Edition Matrix TR. The Factory Race Matrix TR lightened blue anodized 23mm wheel hexes, 5mm red anodized 7075 T-6 CNC shock towers to stand up to the abuse of the supercross style jumps at the tracks, Red anodized 7075 Inner Suspension Plates, as well as a carbon center diff plate for that trick factory look. Just add your favorite truggy engine, pipe, and radio gear, you’ll be ready to start winning championships like CEN Factory drivers Andy Smolnik, Jason Ashton, and Gene Hickerson. Expect the Matrix TR Factory Race kit to be in your hands for about $500 USD.

[Holeshot101]

Not bad at all Cen. The massive spur gear sticks out though.

[4DMNYC]

Welp, the price is right on both kits. And those lower suspention arms look real beefy. I'd like to see how the chassis brace system holds up. But I bet this truggy will perform nicely. They should really pick a color sceme and stick with it though. All those different colors make it look cheap. IMO

[Holeshot101]

Agreed, they should red ano the wheel hubs, because the red and cf look sweet together.

[chukb]

looks good.

those upper front and rear braces connected to the center diff look strange........plastic?

[4DMNYC]

It says composite. But all these manufacturers have different ideas of what composite is. It looks like it might hold up. I'm concerned about the area towards the rear where the chassis brace connects to the diff case. Looks like a weak point. But we shall see. I think Cen has been doing their homework lately. Actualy my biggest concern with this truggy is the knuckles. I would like to have seen a piviot ball set up. But thats just me.

[Buggyracer28]

Looks sweet...

[bobf24]

the knuckles will be fine, jammin, kyosho, converted xray trucks all use knuckles with no problems, personally i find them a little easier to work on actually,

[4DMNYC]

I just don't like cast knuckles. I've got bad expiriences with them. If they were CNC it would be a different story. I don't race much though. I usualy only bash. And the piviot ball suspentions seem to hold up better to a good hard bash. I swaped out the cast knuckles on my Blazer SST (that were always breaking) to cnc ones and I haven't had a issue since.

[Andrew Smolnik]

Hey guys,

As far as the color scheme, we tryed to stick with patriotic colors hence the red white and blue body, along with the red and blue anodized hints in the car itself. The reason is, because this Truggy was Designed, Tested, and has and will be extensively raced here in the US. We were just giving credit where it was due. ; )

The Composite, (form of plastic) chassis braces are actually extremely effective. They are hollow with reinforced brackets underneath, much like a honeycomb. This makes them light yet effective. There are also vertical posts that can be added or removed for added chassis stiffness. This is an added tuning feature that has proven to be very helpful on and off the track.

As for the knuckles, yes the stock knuckles are cast, however they are quite strong. We do offer CNC Red Anodized Knuckles as an upgrade that most people use.

All in all we are very excited about this Truggy as it has proven to be extremely durable and fast at the track!

If you have any more questions regarding the Matrix Arena TR feel free to ask here in this thread!

[balang_479]

looks awesome, love to get a new truggy. Not mad on CE though.

[4DMNYC]

The Composite, (form of plastic) chassis braces are actually extremely effective. They are hollow with reinforced brackets underneath, much like a honeycomb. This makes them light yet effective. There are also vertical posts that can be added or removed for added chassis stiffness. This is an added tuning feature that has proven to be very helpful on and off the track.

As for the knuckles, yes the stock knuckles are cast, however they are quite strong. We do offer CNC Red Anodized Knuckles as an upgrade that most people use.


Thanks for the info Andy. Your intriguing me with this chassis stiffness adjustment posts thingies.

[Andrew Smolnik]

4DMNYC,

HaHa. No problem, Yeah almost everyone who looks at it, asks what the mounting holes are for.... once they are told, their eyebrows raise. ; )

Definately one of my favorite features.

[Holeshot101]

If the price is right, I will seriously think about this truggy for next season. The only thing I don't like is how far out the radio box sits. Thats not really the trend lately, but if you put the battery on the inside (heavy things in the middle) and the reciver on the outside, it ought to be fine.

[TheSnick]

The radio box is the same as the rest of the truggies, it just doesnt have sideguards on it, making it look like its out further.

[chukb]

Hey Andrew Smolnik- Any plans of CF upgrades for the plastic chassis braces?

[NIdaho Mudder]

So if i wanted to eat a jammin for breakfast at the track what motor would do the trick? Im waiting to order 2 of these for myself and son. *starts checking interest rates for a 2nd*

[chukb]

^since you put no price cap, Novarossi .28.

[NIdaho Mudder]

Ouch for that price they better come with a Italian bikini clad model to pit for me. im looking at this motor TRI40016 Drake

[jamesbernatchez]

Ouch for that price they better come with a Italian bikini clad model to pit for me. im looking at this motor TRI40016 Drake

If thats the Drake .28.....i wouldnt recommend it. I took it for a spin in my friends Hellfire SS(it was the exact truck in the newest issue of RC Driver with the High Lift on the cover, he did the review) and I didnt like it. I felt my Picco P3's had better low and mid range. Id recommend the P3 or a Rex or Nova 528 :wave:

[piggybackrevo]

i may look in to the pro kit..... seems pretty decent for 400 bux....

[piggybackrevo]

any one know the actual date of release??? is it on cens website i didnt see it here???

[CEN Racing]

Not bad at all Cen. The massive spur gear sticks out though.

This is so you can run larger number teeth clutch bells. This also gives you more punch out of the hole! Our gear is 4 teeth larger than the Jammin Truggy gear!

CEN Racing

[CEN Racing]

i may look in to the pro kit..... seems pretty decent for 400 bux....

You get a whole lot of truck for 399.99! The Pro Kit will be compatible with the factory kit parts, so you can interchange them.

The release date will be some time in November (we are waiting on our crate in customs).

Thank you for your intrest guys! Good luck racing and if you have further questions email them to sales@cenracing.com or call 714-792-1923 and speak with one of our sales reps!

CEN Racing Customer Service

[CEN Racing]

looks good.

those upper front and rear braces connected to the center diff look strange........plastic?

Chuckb - Composite Graphite (like team losi and associated use on their electric cars). Like Andrew stated, they are very light and effective. So far our pre-production mock ups have weighted nearly 1lb less than the Jammin and Kyosho truggys!

Lighter = quicker acceleration to big supercross style jumps, easier on tires and servos, easier on clutch bells and shoes, and you get better MPG from your nitro engine!

Great questions...keep asking them!

CEN Racing Customer Support

[BMM]

I assume it uses stock 8mm axles so you could run the 17mm hex set up from the Matrix buggy?

Pete

[bobf24]

yes it does, I saw that posted somewhere, forget where now thgouh,

[Cain]

I am game to try this truggy out next year. Heck, I got a nice Matrix Buggy sitting here waiting for next year as I wanted to go through it and really know the vehicle during the winter.

[Andrew Smolnik]

The cool thing is that the Matrix buggy and Truggy share apx 90% of the same parts.

When I go racing my parts box is relatively simple and not over flowing with un needed parts.

; )

Looking forward to the release of the Matrix Arena TR. I know everyone will enjoy it.

[TheSnick]

90% by parts count, or 90% by volume? :)

[Andrew Smolnik]

Err. um.. Apx 90% of the parts by count and volume.

; )

Here is some more info about the Truggy:

Matrix Arena TR Truggy Factory Race Edition link
http://www.cenracing.com/area51/matrixarenafre.html
Matrix Arena TR Factory Race Kit: $499.99 USD

Matrix Arena TR RTR Edition link
http://www.cenracing.com/area51/51_truggy.html
Matrix Arena TR Ready To Run: $479.99 USD

http://www.neobuggy.net/images/news/ce_n_small.jpg

[Cain]

Thats a great price for the RTR and Race version.

Do you feel that the on the buggy you may make another chassis to move the engine forward or do you think the benefits are not enough to warrant doing this on the buggy?

[bobf24]

moving the engine forward in buggy isn't always a very good thing, it can make the rear end very loose, and hard to tune the loose out if the engine is moved too far forward, for truggy its different because they have so much more traction to work with,

[Andrew Smolnik]

bobf24,

Yes you are correct.

We do offer two chassis for the Matrix Buggy. A short and a long. With the short chassis the engine is more forward in relative to the wheelbase. Whereas in the long chassis, the engine is moved back, especially when you run a short wheel base with the long chassis.

[Cain]

Thats good to know. Still learning 1/8 scale nitro. With all the hype on the Losi 8ight and how its engine is moved forward, I was curious about this.

[go_dodgers_83]

I have seen the production truck and yes you could use 17mm hex hubs, but you might have to add some shims between the hex and the bearing. The truck was designed for 23mm hubs and those hubs are a little bit thicker.

The composite braces are EXTREMELY Beefy. On the underside of the composite braces there are a ton of reinforcement ribs. CEN Racing had a spare composite brace on hand for show. I tried to twist the brace and bend the brace as hard as I could. No twisting or flexing.

The composite braces will be darn good at preventing the twisting and bending forces in the chassis.

On a separate note, as to the weight transfer thing, for a truggy that has tires with a much larger contact area than a buggy, it would be more critical for the weight to be towards the front of the truck. This is to due the fact that with weight on the tires, there's more of a contact patch(traction) with the ground, which leads to more steering. With most 1/8th scale buggies and truggies the engine, spur gear, and the heavier components of the vehicle are usually located more towards the center or rear of the truck. By shifting the weight towards the front the vehicle can get a little more steering.

But again there always extremes, if there is alot more weight on the front of the vehicle rather than on the rear, the car would be much easier to loop out in a turn. But if the car had an improper weight balance and it kept looping out, it could make you adjust the rear differential when rather it's the fact that the weight distrubution on the vehicles is biased towards the front excessively.

Andrew keep up the good work at CEN. CEN's new vehicles have been light years ahead of the old CEN releases.

[Andrew Smolnik]

Thank you very much Go Dodger 83. ; )

[bobf24]

the trucks are listed on horizon's website now, can't be too much longer now, I hope,

[meancrxsir]

I want one. Andrew, can I have your truck when the production one comes out?

[DahlElama]

I think I want one of those too. I have been looking at the Kyosho, Mugen and the 8ight-T. Now toss this one in the mix to decide on. I like to be different and I know there wont be anyone at my local track with one of these.

How is parts availability from CEN?

When will this be available (Factory Kit not RTR)? Earlier post said November and we are in December already.

[bobf24]

CEN is very good at keeping stock up, I've never ordered something they didn't have,

[Cain]

With them also going through Horizon, shouldn't have a problem ordering it from the LHS if you have one. none here so when the time is right will have to buy online.

[DahlElama]

No word on when we will be able to buy?

[CEN Racing]

The Matrix TR Arena RTR and Factory Race Edition will be here 1 week before christmas or the week after if delayed by custom.

[DahlElama]

Deluxe. Ordered one today.

[DahlElama]

I have ordered... but they arent available yet.

Mr Smolnik - Any word from the inside? This month?

[Rufus]

Andrew, any news regarding the radio system that will be bundled with the RTR? Also, what starter system will it use?

[DahlElama]

Excellent Smithers.... my pro kit shipped today. Will be here by Saturday.

[TheSnick]

Ordered and shipped from where? www.yourimagination.com?

[DahlElama]

No smarty... www.customrccars.com . And they are already on eBay too.

e.

[DahlElama]

They do exist ;)

Just about finished with the build.

http://www.all-dahl.com/images/arena/arena7.jpg

[cpee]

damm nice truck go cen ill be ordering 1 myself to keep my other cens happy hats off to a weel built car go cen go stickers for everybody