Senton Would a senton 3s make sens to start "racing" short track?

[shingo]

There's an exterior and interior short track not too far away from where I live.

I would like to go there once in a while to learn some skill on the track

They accept SCT and buggy, at first I was looking at a buggy, but they are around 300-350$ without electronics and battery. Also, I have a lot of 2S-3S battery and they are too big to fit in a buggy. So that would be a lot of money for just going to the track a few days a year.

I already own a granite 3S, I could buy the parts to transform my granite 3S in a senton 3S for about 100$ and all my battery would fit.

So do you think the Senton 3S is good enough to have fun on a circuit for a beginner? Do I absolutely need a race prep SCT to have fun?

Thank you

 

[slick2500]

There's an exterior and interior short track not too far away from where I live.

I would like to go there once in a while to learn some skill on the track

They accept SCT and buggy, at first I was looking at a buggy, but they are around 300-350$ without electronics and battery. Also, I have a lot of 2S-3S battery and they are too big to fit in a buggy. So that would be a lot of money for just going to the track a few days a year.

I already own a granite 3S, I could buy the parts to transform my granite 3S in a senton 3S for about 100$ and all my battery would fit.

So do you think the Senton 3S is good enough to have fun on a circuit for a beginner? Do I absolutely need a race prep SCT to have fun?

Thank you

I hear ya on the 2wd buggy, even going with the cheapest stuff I could find I was well into the $700 range when I was looking it can and will get quite expensive.

In the beginner class the Senton 3s should be fine. But you will probably eventually want a different vehicle, do to the lack of tunability on the Senton, however it is possible to find a good setup for the Senton that will work well.

And remember most of racing is the driver not the car. I have seen a guy win 2wd buggy mains with a Traxxas Bandit.

 

[Yonic]

You certainly can enjoy racing a Senton.
Stay with the 15t pinion, and put on a fast servo (like a JX PDI-6113MG) and you're good to go.
You might want to switch to 12mm hexes so you can get racing tires more easily

 

[razorrc]

Granite runs fine, I'm sure the Senton would do well. Agree on getting 12mm hexes, tires are everything and then you can run appropriate tires on it.

 

[pl9171]

So do you think the Senton 3S is good enough to have fun on a circuit for a beginner? Do I absolutely need a race prep SCT to have fun?

Yes and no.
We like to do little races on saturday morning in T-R;

 

[DoNoHarm]

I hear ya on the 2wd buggy, even going with the cheapest stuff I could find I was well into the $700 range when I was looking it can and will get quite expensive.

In the beginner class the Senton 3s should be fine. But you will probably eventually want a different vehicle, do to the lack of tunability on the Senton, however it is possible to find a good setup for the Senton that will work well.

And remember most of racing is the driver not the car. I have seen a guy win 2wd buggy mains with a Traxxas Bandit.

this. Imo, the senton3s is probably the second worse truck you could race (an HCG traxxas slash 4x4 being the worst) in the short course/ stadium truck class, because the senton is geared towards bashing and has really no design that’s beneficial for racing other than its low center of gravity chassis. It’d need a better esc that can adjust timing. Aton of other suspension related stuff would be needed because these arrmas have wayyy too much slop in the steering out of the factory to ever be considered race worthy. Steering servo would have to be thrown out the window and replaced with something much faster. If it’s running an stx2 you’ll absolutely need a new remote if the delay is noticeable.

That was basically all criticism... reason being a senton 3s was never meant for racing. Like slick said, at beginner level it should be fine, but when you get with the big boys, stuff like I said above starts to matter greatly. For those on the forum who’ve never raced, I’m speaking gibberish. I’m not hating on your arrmas this is just how it is.

 

[Jerry-rigged]

Senton will be fine as a starter "for fun" racer. As a Noob, tires and shocks are the most important tuning aids. Get the same tires the fast guys run (maybe buy "Soft" if they are running "Super Soft", for longer life). Beyond that Practice, Practice Practice.

The Radio. If you have the Tactic, it is decent. If you have the STX2, you may want to upgrade. But either way, you don't have radio tuning options like EPA and expo curves. To me (as a not-great driver) EPA is a BIG help. for my first battery or two at the track, I will dial the throttle back to 50%. Run it like that till I am able to run 5-10 clean laps, then start adding speed back. I will normally max out at about 80% for my 4s 1/8 cars, and 100% for my 2s SCT.

One other point - make this your matra for a while -

"SLOWER IS FASTER"

Keep you speed down to a level you can control, and not crash / spin out, and you will make more laps in the 5-8 minute race. Clearing the triple is cool, but singleing it clean every lap is faster than waiting on someone to flip your car back on it's wheels every other lap... Same for corners, take them slow and smooth, rather than blast thru, spin out, and end up wide in the rough fluff, or upside down. Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. As you get bettter, and get in a groove, you can add speed, but be aware that you don't add too much speed and slow your overall average down.


Edit- To add on to what @Peeeenuuutt is saying, if you want to race often, and eventually compete, then absolutely, you will need a proper racing chassis. The good news here is that if you shop used, you can get a near RTR rig for around $300-$500. The guys that race a lot often only run their cars one season, take great care of them, and then sell them at the end of the season (same for their electrics and lipos)(Radios and Chargers tend to be gold, though). If you want to get into 2wd Buggy, talk to the racers, they may have nice used chassis for sale, for cheap. They probably also have an older shorty lipo they could add to the deal.

My Tekno SCT410, I got for about $200. It had electronics, but no body, and needed a bit of TLC. I gave it about $60 in parts, a new ESC, body, and a full rebuild. Yes, it is the older gen truck, not the newer .3, but it is such a better truck on the track vs my Arrma (3s and 6s).

 

[razorrc]

this. Imo, the senton3s is probably the second worse truck you could race (an HCG traxxas slash 4x4 being the worst) in the short course/ stadium truck class, because the senton is geared towards bashing and has really no design that’s beneficial for racing other than its low center of gravity chassis.

This is a bunch of gibberish, because to start with you don't even know the difference between a short course truck and a stadium truck. I could point out all the other things you wrote that were wrong, but it's not worth the effort.