(Before you jump straight to the video please read the entire review, consider each circumstance and understand the logic. Simply watching the video and not taking important factors into account may let you miss something good you didn't possibly consider before.)
Introduction
Having spent so much time tuning a Losi Boss Claw I must admit, trying something new was hard to do. However, when you see something that might be better, you got to try it; and we are glad we did!
At 5.5" tall and 2" wide the voodoo tire had us intimidated. We had tried several tall tire combinations in the past, and although good in some areas we had always determined the height was a negative factor. The increased CG, even with a tuned truck just wasn't as good as one with a set of BC (Boss Claws). Extremely skeptical we started the challenge!
History
Over a year ago a RCC member by the name of crawl-o-matic went on a mission to design the ultimate Pin tire for todays ever increase competition market.
Taking what he knew, what the RCC members wanted and the help of extremely helpful member; lostinkorea he took whathe had to South Korea in hopes of finding a factory to make them.
There was some bumps in the road but finally he was able to release what we all know as the voodoo tire:
Initial Impressions
After fighting with usps to get my box of goodies after being sent to an old address (whoops
) I was extremely grateful to just have the package in hand.Inspecting the tires I couldn't believe how sticky these things were. You could flaten them like a pizza and they would hole the shape "thumbsup" The molds appear to be perfect. No cosmetic defects, clearly visible and all pins identical. For sure bigger then my BC, but excited to get them mounted.
Upon closer inspection each pin has small micro indentations. One side has 2 cuts, while the other has 1. Each tire also has a "A" and "B" tread direction. It is very important to not only check the direction, but the pin orientation on each tire. It appears the factory had an oops and printed the directions on each side. So if not your careful, they may all have "A" facing forward, yet your pins won't match up!
Other then this, the tires out of the box are in great shape!
The Testing
When it came to testing, I wanted to keep two rigs as evenly matches as I could. I had two identical trucks to do our initial testing, however his "smashed" esc's had other plans. So we had to resort to option two. These rigs are fairly evenly matched, but not identical.
The Place:
A local ORCRC comp spot known as Niagara ParK. Natural river rock with multiple different traction surfaces. Unusual 84* day with no rain all week. Direct sunlight in most cases.
The Trucks:
Truck #1
SDS Customs Comp Berg with BC
Axles: SDS Ti Fighters
Chassis: Rock Logic Executioner
Tires: Boss Claws, pins cut, pins have some use with pin edgers rolled over
Foams: Dual stage in rear, worn rovers in front
Wheel: 3/4" wide spacers with YTC Carbon
Knuckle Weight: 2oz per knuckle
Overall Weight: 3lb 7oz
SDS Customs Comp Berg with Gold Voodoos
Knuckle Weight: 3oz per knuckle
Overall Weight: 3lb 9oz
Tires: Gold Voodoos, cut fronts and stock rears. No Break in
Foams: BC Dual stage with soft outer ring in back. CI Single Stage DD soft in front
Truck #2
RcBros Comp Berg with Gold Voodoos
Axles: RcBros Axles front and rear
Chassis: Rock Logic Executioner
Tires: Gold Voodoos slight break in, no mods
Foams: CI Single Stage DD Mediums front and rear
wheels: 3/4" wide spacers with YTC Carbon
Knuckle Weight: 1.5oz per knuckle
Overall Weight: 3lb 6oz
Our platforms are rather similar in link geometry and skill levels. We have a slightly different weight bias but all things considering a very close comparison. My tubes are indeed slightly larger in diameter but with the added height of the Voodoo's I have a slight advantage.
The first part of the day about 4-5 packs was simply used for breaking in the tires, looking for good comparison lines and getting a quick feel for the foam setup and tires. Once all things were a go, we began the head to head comparisons. This information below will be very important when considering the move and your foam choices!
Obstacle 1 & 2:
These two obstacles were on the same piece of rock. First a straight climb, then the same climb transitioning to a sidehill. Its important to note the speed at which both trucks do the climb. Although both could make the climb it was impressive to see how slow the voodoos could do it versus that of the Boss claw.
The voodoos really work well at an even slower speed then that of the boss claw. With momentum the Voodoos will make the climb as well, but if momentum is lost the tires would hop until slowed down. This is due in part from both foam setup and the height of the tire. The hop can be reduced once we get more foam testing.
Both rigs sidehilled relatively in the same fashion. No ill effects due to height.
Obstacle 3:
Shown in 3 different angles we hope you can see the amount of things needed to make this line. Extreme sidehilling, steep exit and slow moving.
Both rigs were able to complete this climb, although we both agreed the added height of the voodoo and the tire wanting to grab for traction made the line much easier. The medium foam setup kept the tire from unloading on the sidehill and allowed it to "wrinkle" if you will to grab the inside tire edge needed for the exit.
Obstacle 4:
Smooth rock with a gradually steeper climb this truely shows the voodoo compound "doing work". With some knuckle weight addition and front to rear motor bias changes the BC could get this line easier. However the voodoos really seemed to be able to climb this line with relative ease. At how slow the berg was able to climb the obstacle truly shows the voodoos traction and how well the compound works.
Obstacle 5:
Who doesn't like jumping? We had to get at least one in. The height of the voodoos really made this jump effortless.
Tire Switch
At this point, SDS was bored with his BC and wanted to get his on. We wanted to do a 180 in comparisons. So for that we changed the foam setup in his with what we had brought, and decided to cut the front pins.
For the foams we put the single stage DD softs up front and pulled the dual stages right out of his BC and added a tuning ring. Ugly? Yes for sure, but we wanted to see what happened when you kept the foam small. He then added knuckle weight to the front as traction was higher then usually, he wanted to keep the front planted.
Obstacle 6:
This is just an obstacle that require a quick blip of the throttle. Possible in both the BC and Voodoos. Just a neat line to show.
Obstacle 7:
This is a great line to show the foam changes. First I must say I never thought one of our cars would climb this. I tried about 5 times jumping it as a joke then the 6 time the truck went right up. So we decided to try a few different driving styles.
Speed, momentum and crawling.
Both setups were not a fan of speed, once hitting the first transition the truck would land to roughly and continue to bounce unless you slowed the rig down.
With continued smooth momentum we were both consistently making the climb.
When it got down to who would crawl it. The soft foam compound won. In the video you can clearly see the softs wadding and grabbing traction to make the climb. With my mediums it would really struggle. To slow and I would loose forward bite, faster and the truck would begin to bounce rapidly.
We did not try a BC on this line, however judging from the previous lines taken early in the day, I know they would have extremely struggled to make it.
Obstacle 8:
This line shows the voodoo sidewalls at work. If you watch the pins grab you can see it ripple through the rest of the tire. Although this ripple may be bad in extreme high traction areas, in our NW slick rock, if your not biting, your not climbing. You can really see the voodoos at work!
Obstacle 9:
Great sidehill section with an uphill exit. On this line the medium tires were key. With the softer compound keeping the tires from rolling was near impossible and kept the rig from staying on the ledge.
Ending Day Impression:
Overall I think the voodoos will be a better tire then the BC and I see all of here in the NW favoring them over the BC. The pins tend to find traction where the BC slightly struggle and the sidewalls wanting to help grap on the slick slops is great.
When it comes to foam tuning the voodoos, I think we are close. We know the mediums are slightly to stiff, and we know the softs are to soft. So you ask yourself? What does this mean? Well fixing the problem is easy, resourcing the materials isn't.
Fallout seemed to have the perfect combination in his tires, but testing was short lived. We had to dig in the graves of our foam stashes to find what we need as its no longer offered. The money setup for our needs will likely be a shorter medium foam wraped in the old thicker soft tuning disk.
In regards to pin trimming the benefits, we need more time to tell, but initial impressions are hit and miss. While the traction may benefit from opening up the lug patterns, the tire itself does not. Depending on your cut selections the tire will get softer due to the material they are made out of. Just like anything, make it thinner and it will be weaker. The same rule will apply with this tire. Time and experimentation will be key!
THE VIDEO!!
What you all have been waiting for can be found by following the link below:
https://vimeo.com/65513702
<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/65513702" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/65513702">voodootires</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/rcbros">William Gauderman</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
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I enjoyed the whole thing and will definitely be reading it again when I get some "thumbsup"
