Here my initial LONG review of my first run with the Sworkz S104 Evo:
This Memorial Day weekend was the 30th Annual Hank Perry 240 in Spokane Wa. This is the 2nd round of the Northwest Championship Tour. With over 280 entries coming from all the Pacific Northwest and Canada, its is truly stacked with great talent.
For the last year I have been driving the Hot Bodies D413 and it renewed my love for the 1:10 4mod class. While being super dependable and fast, there were a few things I did not like about the car. Differential maintenance was the biggest dislike of the D413. The second dislike was the inability to be a dealer for the car. My company is online sales with track side support and the distributor does not feel that qualifies to be a dealer. So I decided to move along to something I could support.
After looking at my options, reading reviews and conversations with drivers all over the U.S. I decided to give the Sworkz S104 EVO a try out. Fortunately Swift Distributing (US importer of Sworkz) was willing to allow me to be a dealer for them, unfortunately they were out of stock:( After waiting as long as I could I purchased a low use one online. 2 days later they were back in stock, but oh well.
After getting the car on my hands I started by installing my electronics. The layout is very D413ish. Sworkz had some pretty neat features that were unexpected. ESC and receiver mounts used rubber o-rings as cushions between the mount and chassis. The overall quality was really, really good. I did move the receiver mount to a different location. The stock layout has it between the battery and servo. For me, it was to tight of a fit so I moved to behind the motor like the D413. The wheels are a Sworkz only design. I LOVE THEM! 14mm hubs just like a downsized version of a 1:8 scale buggy:) The differentials are served just like a 1:8 scale ebuggy, very easy to access.
Friday on the track... The track was a fresh and new layout. It was super loose and dusty. The track was going to take some time to groove in. The car felt fantastic immediately and I was no longer apprehensive about my decision. Friday (practice day) went well. Lap times continued to drop as the day went on. No issues with the car or its durability. I was able to just put in laps without any worries. I hesitated to make any changes because I knew the track was going to evolve through the weekend.
Saturday was the qualifying day at the race. My goal was to qualify for the B-main. I know that at these NCT events with the quality level of the drivers, the B-main is a good goal. The track started to groove up, but surface dust still kept the throttle in check. I did good and thought I would be able to go direct to the B. That night I looked on LiveRC and it showed me that I was 3rd in the C-main. My first race was race 3 Sunday morning, crap. I wanted to sleep in.
Sunday morning came and I gave the car a good once over, charged the battery, and had a morning cup of coffee. I looked over the track. It was now well grooved and high bite. Totally different then the first day.
The main started and I immediately went to the lead from the 3rd position. I led the first few laps and them it happened... I started getting very nervous. I tried to calm down, but frankly I just fell apart and started dropping positions. At the end the scoring showed me in 11th, but after reviewing the lap sheet I showed that the loop missed me twice. So, I ended up 5th after the laps were adjusted.
The car itself was very good with no adjustments throughout the weekend. From loose to grooved, it just was solid. No breakage, no issue.
The car attracted a TON of looks. Lots of positive remarks and impressed drivers. More attention than I could ever expect. As a matter of fact I have a few drivers lined up to wheel it next weekend.
Car was equipped as follows:
Sworks S104 EVO
HIGHEST DS700 HV DIGITAL RACING SERVO
HOBBYWING XERUN-120A-V3.1 ESC
HOBBYWING XERUN V10 BRUSHLESS MOTOR
FACTORY RC POWER 2S SHORTY 4600MAH 100C LIPO BATTERY
All products availible at:
https://factoryrchobbies.myshopify.com/
Special thanks to Erik Hames and Cameron Kyle Neff for the advice and support.
Follow up: Here is my long term review