The Caster Fusion EX-1 review

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I had been in search of a good 1/8 scale electric 4WD buggy to mess with but as other I didn't want the hassle of having to buy a slimmer kit and then have to worry about getting rid of parts that weren't needed and then having to buy additional parts to make it all work. Then came along Caster Racing and the great design work of Dustin Peckham.They have teamed up to bring us the first factory built 1/8th scale electric 4WD buggy.


The Caster Fusion EX-1


So here's a run down on what you get. This being the sport version, you get it all put together other than a few basic parts. But I will also show you some easy to do Caster upgrades.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

So to start you'll get a nicley boxed 1/8th scale buggy in ARTR form. Meaning almost ready to run. I would have shown a picture of the box but the post office decided to shred the face of mine. It happens.

Anyways open the box and pull out the rolling chassis, wing, wheels w/tires already mounted and body. Also remove the Manual and the sticker sheet.

Now basic set up is pretty cut and dry. But As I said I'm doing a few upgrades that were provided right from the start. But if your going bone stock there isn't much to do at all.

So the first thing I did was to mount the rear wing/spoiler to the adjustable mount on the chassis. Two screws, two nuts, and two washers are needed. Place the Nuts into the mount holes, set the wing down onto the two rasied points on the mount and then simply screw it down tight. Now the next thing I did was to remove the stock shocks. I'm upgrading to the Big Bore set that Caster offers for the Fusion. Shorts for the front and Longs for the rear. Oil and spring rate along with positions is all fully adjustable both on the upper mounts and where they mount to the suspension arms.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

The wing install:

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok so pulling off the shocks is the easy part. But now I'm gonna put together the new Big Bores. This is the only thing I hate to do with RC cars. Whether Cralwers or Cars I hate to build shocks but hey it needs to be done. So take the Big Bores out of the bags and assmeble the pistions. Use the piston you want they come with a 1.3 or a 1.4 they also come with two spring sets that are either a soft or hard. Blue being hard Yellow being soft. No Oil is also your choice so I won't tell you what to do there. I plan on running a set or 8000 packs in mine so the suspesion will have to be tuned for the weight of those packs. So for now I'm going 50 up front 35 in the rear. Stiff springs up front and soft in the rear. I can adjust from that point.


Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Now once you have your shocks together the other upgrade I did was to install a set of rear CVD's in the Fusion. Now it comes with them installed up front but only dog bones in the rear. Simply tap out the rear hub pin and pull out the top rear spindle bolt tip out the spindle and pull out the dog bone. Now you can slip in the new CVD and put the spindle bolt back in. Now rplace the Hub and the pin. Once you have both side complete you can put on the wheels.


Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Now the install of the Motor, Esc, and radio equipment is pretty simple. For a motor I Got a hold of Medusa and we are going to try out there new 36-60-2000 V2.5 inrunner. Now to use this motor you'll need to Cut back the shaft a bit and you'll also need to grind a flat spot on the shaft for the Castor supplied 13T pinion gear. This motor has been used in a couple other Fusions out there and it has proven to be a good match for it. FOr an ESC I chose one of my trusty Mamba Max's with the bec disabled and I then used a CC BEC unit. I'm running a 4S set-up so this will sufice for now. I picked up a high speed high torque metal geared servo and installed it per the manual. You do have to mount options either inner or outer. Outer is default. I placed the esc on the center middle plate and the receiver under the supplied box.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Now the next thing I did was to modify the body for use with an electric instead of a Nitro. The body has cut outs for the Nitro Version but leave them in place. I opened up the front side areas and also cut out the bubble on the rear of the sides, this allows air to move thru the body and over the packs helping to keep them cooler. I also made a Lexan air scoop for the roof. This scoop forces air down onto the Mamba Max to keep it cooler as well. On the motor to help disapate heat I used the supplied heat sink from Medusa Research. All of this should keep everything nice and cool under the body.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

So once your this far then you can do up the body in the typical race car fashion.

Jason

[Bondonutz]

Great build so far, nice pictures. How much was the big bore shock kit ?

[hakmazter]

Very nice article. I am concerned that your scoop will rip off if you crash. However, the Caster brand is world renouned for handling so maybe it won't be an issue. I did something similar for the body down below for more cooling. Just as a side note, cutting the body like a nitro car will do absolutely nothing so don't bother.

Can't wait to see more pics and hear stories about it on the track. Just so you know, I ran 5000,7000,3000 in the diffs and used the original ackerman plate middle holes. Cam uses the zx-1r ackerman plate which moves the ends forward and gives more steering. He is going to the rc pro finals again this year and is running pro, so that tells you the caliber of him vs me. I am not sure what Dustin's setup was right off the top of my head.

Mike Mazza

[Jason Maxamps.com]

BN all the prices for everything can be found at www.Casterracingusa.com the rear shocks are $52.25 and the fronts are $48.25

Fronts: http://www.casterracingusa.com/product.php?productid=398&cat=6&page=1

Rears: http://www.casterracingusa.com/product.php?productid=399&cat=3&page=1

They don't have the rear CVD's up on the site as of yet.

Hey Mike I thought the same thing about the scoop but it's flanged on the inside and siliconed in place. Pretty strong and I don't plan on spending to much time on the roof..........LOL

Jason

[Morris Spears]

Thanks for all the info and detail shots. Can wait to hear how it runs.

[Mr. Fusion]

Awesome write-up and pics Jason!!!

Now if you just had some lipo packs, you could finally see what all the 1/8 electric hype is about!! :D

This buggy is money... you won't be disappointed once you get those Maxamps packs under the hood. ;)

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I should have them and my DX3R sometime Thursday. Then were ready to rip!!!!!

Jason

[Bondonutz]

I should have them and my DX3R sometime Thursday. Then were ready to rip!!!!!

Jason

Please keep us informed, I'm very curious about the dependablity and toughness of this buggy. How readily availible are the parts ?

[Mr. Fusion]

Please keep us informed, I'm very curious about the dependablity and toughness of this buggy. How readily availible are the parts ?

It's tough as any 1/8 buggy. ;)

There is a large inventory of parts at the US distributor and they can be ordered direct or by your LHS.

Fusion-specific parts are showing up. I know there are battery trays in stock now... not sure about the chassis or motor mounts.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

It is a tough buggy for sure. I took it out last night for the first time and I'm very impressed. I did a 25 minute run on a set of 2S2P 8000's and this thing is fast. I did put the Blue stiff Springs on the rear shocks to make up for the weight of the 8000's. I can tell you unless I were to put it side by side with one running 6000's I wouldn't be affraid to race it with the 8000's. It flat out moves. I had a blast. The packs came out cool motor was cool Mamba Max was hot. But it held it's own. I'm going to do a little battery tray mod that will scoot the trays about a 1/4 of an inch out towards the sides. The problem I had is the 8000's hit the center diff housing support and makes it tuff to get the packs in. They also rub in a way I don't like. I'll take pic's as I go here.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok so to get the 2S2P 8000's in the trays easier and so that they don't press up against the center diff support I drilled and counter sunk holes just a tad out side of the stock holes. You also have to open the hole in the front of the tray a bit larger to clear the Screws that it's already opened for. Took about 5 minutes to do it and now the packs drop in nice with plenty of clearance.

Jason

[Morris Spears]

Now we need some video....:) You should bring it down to the Southern Indoor Championship and run with us.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Yeah me in a race. Now that would be funny. Well I ran it a few times this weekend and I'm still amazed with how it performs. I did run into one issue and will have to order a new part. I was running a waypoint metal geared high powered servo. 160 oz's at 6 volts. Well it was a cheapy and it could take the abuse. It kept locking up on me after a few hard laps on the back yard track. I have some high powered Hitec Titaniums coming I think I'll use one of them in here. At 333 oz's it should have plenty of power for the steering duties. In the meantime I installed a light duty front sway bar in the Fusion. There are several sizes of bars available at www.casterracingusa.com. It's really simple to install. The only thing you need is set screws to hold the center of the sway bar. Here's the pic's.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

And the rest..........................

Jason

[Snellemin]

I was thinking about getting one, but opted to overpower my Rustler instead. Looking at these pics, I will buy one in the near future. I'm digging the roof scoop Jason.

[Mr. Fusion]

Looking good Jason...

With the front sway bar and big bore shocks, your car is ready for the track. ;)

[hakmazter]

Nice write up. Looks to me like you are trying to make your own pro kit.

So the problem you had wasn't Caster related, but a servo failure, correct?

It was sort of unclear from my perspective. You should try to race. It is a lot of fun if you just do it for fun. It would be funny if you did well with it...

Mike

Servo wasn't bad I had the frame rate set to high for the cheap waypoint servo. I backed it down on my DX3R and all is good.

Jason

[william]

Great tip on the battery tray relocation.

I'd also like to mention that 7.4v lipo packs with a built on voltage cutoff if you run them in series they have issues shutting off way prematurly.

I am currently saving for 2 new maxamp 6000 packs for my fusion.

http://myrcmt.com/review/images/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_caster11.jpg

and with a corr body and bumper mounted http://myrcmt.com/review/images/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/normal_bumper%20004.JPG

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Well guys I was able to get out to Brain Bollman's track "Velocity Ridge" near my home in Alexandria this past weekend. Brian races and built this new track on his property this past spring. It's a technical track to say the least and the toughest track in the state. We did some initial set-up work in the shop on the fusion. We started by putting the Fusion on Brians Hudy gauges. Wow was it way off in the front. 2 degrees out on one side and 2 degrees in on the other. So after tunning everything so that it was correct. We hit the track. I with the video camera and Tony Bjerke driving. We had driven the car on the track prior to the adjustments. It was initially hard to control down the straight and the rear was way to stiff. After the tune up oh yeah and the replacement of a busted tie rod end, it was great. Now you have to realize Tony hasn't raced buggies in years and I have never raced on a track at all. But hey he did real good once he had a few laps under his belt. I even mad it a few times before we had to stop due to the Spektrum 3100 ant. breaking off in a crash.

Here's the Video:

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[Bondonutz]

The buggy looked like it squirted over the jumps and rough stuff pretty well,rough track handling looked great. Definitely durable with all the nasty tumbles and lawn dart imatations. The track looked like it was seriously technical with the tight turns and knarly jumps. Looks like the Fushion is worth a serious look for those who are electric 1/8 scale buggy shopping !
Good Job fellas. :cool:

[pieter]

looks pretty good And man I love that track
How long do you think you can run on those 2S2P 8000's batteries Jason?

[hakmazter]

Well, on the plus side, no one can claim that the Caster isn't durable......ha hah ha......

I am not an expert, but those jumps are way too steep in my opinion. Coming from a motocross background, as you increase the steepness of the jumps, the less margin for error in regards to distance judgement. I do not see with a remote control vehicle how anyone could do lap after lap consistantly. At least on a bike, you can feel the rpms and get a feel for speed. Not saying it cannot be done, but I think you guys are going to get a great workout when marshalling.

Other than that, very nice looking track. We might have to come up there in the spring and check it out....

Thanks for posting the vid on youtube. Tell people to keep them coming....

[Jason Maxamps.com]

For this run were you still running the same electronic setup as your previous run?

Yes Mamba Max, Medusa motor and the pair of 8000's were used in the video.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

looks pretty good And man I love that track
How long do you think you can run on those 2S2P 8000's batteries Jason?

The 8000's will at least 50 minutes. I ran the buggy hard for 25 minutes and charged the packs only putting back in about 3800 mAh. Our New 6500 30C cased packs will be great for the fusion.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok so Cam and Mike hooked me up with some more upgrades for the Fusion and Mr. Fusion sent me some much needed diff lube. So to start with I got the Aluminum chassis braces, Heavy duty lower suspension hinge pins, front CVD drive shaft and rear CVD drive shaft, and then new diff gaskets. First thing to do was to tear the diff's down. Yup all three had to come out and be cleaned. The factory grease was removed from each and was replaced with Fusion Racing Product's G-Force Certified premium grade diff lube. Available at www.FusionRacingRC.com . I went with the recommended 5000 wt. in the front, 7000 wt. in the center and 3000 wt. in the rear. Time consuming but very easy to do as seen in the photo's. Then put it all back to gether with the New front and rear CVD's and the Aluminum chassis supports.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

More pictures.............

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Now the only thing left to do is to replace the worn tires and wheels, mount the new Hitec Titainium 333 oz steering servo and reposition the electronics. Were almost ready for the indoor winter season here in MN.

Jason

[Morris Spears]

How's the buggy project going? I am starting to lean towards the buggy as a winter project. I will be anxious to see how you do in the races.:)

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Here's where I'm at on the new body.

Painted on logo's in black metalic and yes from the inside with liquid mask.

Jason

[Morris Spears]

Looks pretty swank.....can't wait to see the finished product.:)

[pieter]

That looks good Jason! What colour are you going to Paint it?? Silver will look good

Pieter

[Tony Bjerke]

Looking good brother! Now what other colors are you going to add to it?

[hakmazter]

Looks very nice. I think the windows would be illegal on some tracks. Hope your track has some freedom for that. I always try to have window tint.....lol.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Well here's where it's at now..........

Never heard that windows couldn't be tinted or blacked out. Hmm.

You'll notice I moved the front mount back about 3/4" and that I removed most of the nose of the body. My original body had broke in two from the nose digging in on some bad landings. With it cut back it puts it behind the shocks and it doesn't allow for it to dig in anymore and it should break off.

Jason

[Morris Spears]

I like it. Very clean, simple and graphic.......Good job!

[hakmazter]

Very nice....

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok the wait is over the Castle Monster Max 2650KV system has arrived. Install was easy there is plenty of room for the 2650 to fit. Now I'm starting with a 16T pinion so I didn't need to grind on the front support at all but I decided that in case I need to drop down a tooth or two I had better do it now. This motor looks great in here as does the esc. With the esc I did like I always do. Velcro to hold and absorb shock and zip ties to make sure. Testing will begin Friday night.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

I just adjusted the esc settings and plugged in the 2 8000's. On my hallway floor it pulls the front up and right off the floor. This is gonna be fun. :ahh:

Jason

[Morris Spears]

That is very cool. I can't wait to see some video.

Did you get your new Axial yet?

[Doug Lightcap aka: BadAssRevo]

Looks great Jason. I hope to get one for my buggy after the tax man comes.

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Morris not yet. Should be close though had to wait for the second shipment to roll in. Back orders come first.

Doug your gonna like it. It's got way more power than the medusa on the same gear. :stare:

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok a couple of more hours and I'm heading to the track. If I don't get back to late I'll try to give a report tonight on how the new castle 2650KV motor worked in the practice session. Otherwise I won't report until Sunday morning, I'll be leaving the house at about 6 AM Saturday morning and probably won't get home until real late.

I can't wait to give her a rip.

Jason

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Ok so last Thursday the new Castle Monster 2650KV system shows up at the house. Knowing I'm racing all day Saturday with Practice Friday night I go for it and toss in the Monster ESC and the 2650KV motor. Now last time we ran our winter indoor race the track was a lot of long sections very fast and a lot of room to stretch the cars out. So I started with a 16T pinion in the Fusion. diff fluid was 5-7-3. Got to the track Friday night and wow what a layout. We had a 200 ft front straight away and the rest of the track was bumps jumps and tight turns topped off with the jump from hell at the last corner. That jump broke a lot of cars both during practice and during the races. So with the new set-up I tried the 16T pinion which was great down that front stretch but not so good for the rest of the track. I got the run down on race times and looked at the motor and pack temps for a few test periods. I then decided to drop down to a 14T pinion. That was a spot on choice. Motor temps were fine and the fan wasn't running on the esc. So practice was done. Saturdays first Q'er went bad. I got two laps in and I landed on the pipe coming off the jump from hell. The motor side battery tray actually left the chassis battery and all. I guess the plastic just wasn't meant to hold up to the screws being pulled out so much for gear changes and I had been putting CA on the screws until Friday when I had forgotten the CA at home. Anyways that race was done for me. I went back and counter sunk the holes in the inside of the tray and put two screws in and a nut for each on the both on the underside of the chassis. Yeah they would drag in the dirt but I could still race. So the second Q'er came around and just figured I best play it safe and take it easy. I finished 6th out of 6 for that group. That put me into the B main starting in fourth place. Hey not bad considering. The other two guys running sportsman buggy electrics had issues with their AE conversions and both broke in their Q'ers as well so they started behind me in the same heat. So we lined up 10 cars for the B main 7 Nitro's and 3 Electric's. The race was a 10 minute blitz. The two AE conversions both broke again but I managed to stay right in fourth place and finished there with no issues. I do need to changed out the diff lube though. The 5-7-3 combo for the 2650 isn't enough. Guys this thing was a missile down the front stretch. It was way faster than and of the nitro's out there but I was blowing the front tires so much down the front straight that my panthers were hitting the body and actually peeling it up. That ballooning made the tight turns harder to navigate not to mention my power wasn't getting used in the best way overall. The general consensus was to switch it out for a 7-10-5 set-up and try is again at the end off the month for the 2 day final races. This was by far the best race weekend I have had thus far in my short little career. It's sure beats just bashing around doing testing all day, I can't wait for the next run.

Thanks Dustin and Mike for putting together such a solid car. You guys did well. Heck I even directed a couple guys to www.casterracingusa.com this weekend after they saw what it would do. They weren't impressed with the AE conversion issues.

Best Regards,

Jason

[jhernandez415]

More pictures.............
Are the captured hinge pins the same size all the way around?

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Yup front and back they are all the same. As with the bearings all throughout the buggy. I just ordered 20 of those from a local supplier rubber sealed even for 30 bucks.

Jason

[timaneli]

i have seen your great feedback and iam thinking to buy this buggy too..
is durable in chassis and transmissions and is easy to get spare parts since i am from portugal..



regards

[Doug Lightcap aka: BadAssRevo]

I really like my Fusion. If you need any help after you get it look me up,

[timaneli]

I really like my Fusion. If you need any help after you get it look me up,


ok, thank´s for the support!!

regards

[Jason Maxamps.com]

Parts support is really good. www.casterracingusa.com


Jason