One of the most fun and action-packed forms of RC has been electric on-road sedans. There are a number of reasons why this has come to be, from the realistic-looking bodies that sedans utilize, to their awesome performance due to having exotic suspensions, or the exceptional speed and acceleration that these cars have thanks to their efficient drivetrains. If you’ve wanted to get into the RC hobby in the past, there were always inexpensive RTR sedans out there, but those can often be of a lower quality, have poor parts support, or other issues. Running space can also be a concern, as not everyone has a huge area available for them to drive in. Never fear, as Sportwerks has the perfect answer for drivers who still want to enjoy electric sedans without “keeping up with the Joneses.” Sportwerks is proud to announce its new fun and feature-packed series of vehicles, E-Racers, and the first vehicle available under that banner, the 1/14-scale Recoil.
Chassis Overview
The overall layout and design of the chassis that the E-Racers’ Recoil uses is simple yet effective. Unlike smaller cars that can seem cramped for space and a pain to work on, the larger scale of the Recoil provides more room for mounting your electronics, while also being easier to work on and modify. The E-Racers’ chassis, brace, and upper deck are all precision cut from fiberglass and, once bolted together, provides the Recoil with an extremely rigid and sturdy platform. The optimized chassis layout accepts a variety of battery configurations, from in-line, 4x1, or 4x2 battery packs. Plastic side braces are screwed into the left and right sides of the car to help protect the chassis in case of an impact. The servo, motor, speed control and receiver are all mounted to the right-hand side of the chassis, while the battery pack is mounted along the left-hand side. The chassis has 7-battery slots along the left side, allowing you to shift your battery pack forward or back to alter the handling characteristics. This tunability provides for even weight distribution from the left to the right side of the car, which aids in the neutral handling characteristic of the Recoil.
Drivetrain
Let’s face it—driving your car is much more fun than replacing parts or having to wrench on your ride. For this reason, the E-Racers Recoil utilizes a simple, efficient, and durable shaft drive drivetrain. This is a proven design and is similar to those that have won many national and international 1/10-scale sedan races. A unique slipper clutch helps protect the driveline’s ring and pinion gears inside the gear cases from abuse and damage. And, if that weren’t enough, the Recoil comes equipped with beefy front and rear gear differentials that are simple yet effective. Each and every moving part on the Recoil’s E-Racers chassis spins on quality shielded ball bearings. This is an expensive and painstaking upgrade on other mini and micro chassis that, by being an included item, saves you time and money. The included ball bearing set helps to extend your runtime and reduces the wear and tear on parts as well.
Suspension
Many other mini- and micro-sized cars suffer from poor handling characteristics due to their limited or outright lack of suspension movement. This is not so with the E-Racers chassis, as it has many of the same tuning options found in most high-performance 1/10-scale sedans. You’re certain to drive your Recoil on a variety of surfaces, including driveways, parking lots, rec rooms, and more. Many of these surfaces are less than perfectly smooth, but the Recoil feels sure-footed, thanks to its supple suspension. The front and rear of the Recoil feature oil-filled shocks with aluminum caps as standard equipment. If the time comes when you want to tweak your setup to get the competitive advantage when driving with your friends, the Recoil’s suspension is fully and easily adjustable. While it handles terrifically out of the box, the E-Racers chassis will allow you to change the shock angle, wheelbase, inboard and outboard roll centers, Ackerman, anti-squat and more.
Electronics
Many micro cars use sub-standard or lower quality electronics. Even worse is when you discover that, once you have your car, you still need to shell out extra cash to purchase your electronics separately. That’s not the case with the Sportwerks’
E-Racers Recoil, as it comes out of the box with all of the electronics included and installed for you. Talk about simple, it doesn’t get much easier than this. The Recoil includes a proven 27MHz transmitter that features adjustable throttle and steering sub-trims. To keep things as simple and effective as possible, the electronic speed controller and receiver units have been combined into one unit that has a smaller footprint than two separate pieces. To keep the Recoil headed in the right direction, it uses a dual bellcrank steering system that is actuated by an industry standard 3-wire servo. Finally, you’re not going to go anywhere without a motor or battery pack, and you can’t really have a complete package without one. The Recoil includes a high capacity battery pack and overnight charger, along with a stout 370-sized motor for killer acceleration and awesome top speed. When you purchase an E-Racers Recoil, there’s truly nothing else that you need to buy in order to start having fun.
Wheels, Body, and Tires
Who wants to drive an RC car that has a body that looks ugly and unrealistic? We sure don’t and we’re pretty sure you don’t want to either. For that reason, the Recoil comes with a highly detailed, painted and decaled officially licensed Mazda 6 Body—currently one of the most popular shells in 1/10-scale racing. The Mazda 6 is not only a stunningly attractive body, it has excellent handling characteristics as well. To protect the front of the body in the event of a collision, a high-density foam front bumper is included. Along with supporting the nose of the body, the foam bumper also adds a layer of protection to the front suspension parts too. To get the power to the ground, the Recoil comes with some pretty trick-looking wheels and tires. Sticky treaded tires come pre-glued to awesome white dish wheels. These treads hook up well on a variety of surfaces, from carpet, to asphalt, to concrete and more.
Official Sportwerks E-Racers Hop-Ups
The E-Racers Recoil is an absolute blast to drive out of the box, but you can unlock the hidden beast that lies underneath its mild-mannered appearance. By using some carefully placed option parts, the performance potential of the Recoil will become even more apparent. If you plan on driving on carpet for example, a set of foam tires might be a perfect upgrade. Foam tires are lighter than rubber tires, and by making this swap your Recoil will accelerate harder, reach a higher top speed, and have more grip. If you enjoy tuning the suspension on your car, then a set of turnbuckles or aluminum shocks might be right up your alley. Turnbuckles will make it possible to change your camber and front toe-out settings at the turn of a wrench instead of having to pop the link off. Aluminum shocks operate with less friction than their plastic counterparts and add a bit of style to your car. Other tuning options coming from E-Racers include CVD’s, front and rear anti-roll bars, ball differentials, and more. The E-Racers Recoil chassis has nearly limitless potential.
Performance
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the E-Racers Recoil is how well it drives out of the box. The stock rubber tires are absolutely dialed on just about any surface, whether it’s been prepared and swept or even if there’s some dust on the ground. The radio feels perfectly balanced and comfortable in your hands, plus the trim knobs are easy to adjust for fine-tuning too. The efficient shaft drive drivetrain makes excellent use of the included motor’s power, rocketing out of corners and reaching a respectable top speed. You also can’t say enough about the stunning good looks and detail that has gone into the officially licensed Mazda 6 body. Not only is it a great-looking shell, but it has the same handling characteristics as its 1/10-scale cousin; good initial turn-in, neutral mid-corner handling, and excellent on-power traction. The runtime provided by the stock battery pack is also very good, as is the punch. Overall, the E-Racers Recoil is a fun car to drive, that handles well and is remarkably fast—all right out of the box.
The Sportwerks E-Racers line of chassis is truly something to behold. Starting first with the Recoil, and following later with other upcoming E-Racers cars, there is a way for anyone who wants to get involved with quality RC vehicles to do so. Whether you’re someone who is looking to enter the hobby, an experienced racer who wants to try something different, or someone in-between, the E-Racers Recoil is one of the most unique cars to come out in some time. Its excellent out-of-the-box performance, in combination with optional hop-ups, makes the E-Racers Recoil huge fun in a small package.