Got me a Prolite!

[Sixtysixdeuce]

So, despite my being a stadium truck and buggy guy, and a nitro guy at that, one simply cannot ignore the performance of the modern brushless short course trucks indefinitely. So I started selling off some stuff on eBay until I had the $342 to buy it from Omnimodels. It showed up yesterday, and so far I'm lovin' it!

Can't really say how it does on the included battery, as that 7 cell NiMH is going into my Axial Ridgecrest; the Prolite went straight to 3S LiPo. What I can say is, this thing is fast! I haven't radar checked it yet, but I'm betting about 50 MPH bone stock except for the LiPo, and it easily pulls the front wheels off the ground. It also handles my rough course pretty well.

I was quite shocked at the size of it; I had never really looked close at the SCTs other than seeing the Traxxas stuff on shelves. The Prolite is as big as my OFNA 1/8 buggy, dwarfing my other 1/10 vehicles.



Handling is pretty dang good, too. It over-steers a bit, which I intend to correct with some 20k diff oil. My only gripe is the stock shocks, which are total crap. They were leaking within 20 minutes. This seems to be a known issue, and I'm replacing them with SC10 4x4 shocks I scored for $43 shipped. Other minor issue is the set screws in the drive cups loosening up, but that's easily fixed by removing them right off the bat and reinstalling with Loctite.

Some may wonder why a more experienced driver would opt for the "entry level" qualifier series truck over the SC10 4x4 that actually costs less when you factor in the LiPo and the shock upgrade. Simple answer is, I hate belt drives. Not that there's anything particularly bad about them, but I just prefer the simplicity and realism of a shaft with real differentials. From my reading, that appears to be the number one reason many other AE-loyal veteran drivers have opted for or switched over to this truck.

A friend of mine did just order the SC10, so we'll have a chance to compare them side-by-side. Regardless, though, I am very pleased with the Prolite. It is a sharp looking, fast, nimble and durable truck at a reasonable price. I'm only through my second 6,600 mAh pack, but I expect very few problems based on what I've read and seen.

[REMJ666]

Nice I want the Proline Pro 2 stadium truck...But with November being the wife's birthday and Christmas right around the corner I have to hold off...

[Sixtysixdeuce]

But with November being the wife's birthday and Christmas right around the corner I have to hold off...

I'm sure you have a few hundred dollars worth of "junk" lying around. That's how I funded this one, not one cent out of pocket. RC parts and gun parts I had upgraded or sold off the host, old credit card processing machines, all kinds of other random things that were just hanging out in drawers and boxes. In one weekend, I sold enough things I'll never miss to buy the Prolite and a 3S LiPo.

[justinspeed79]

I am a big fan of the sc trucks. I wasn't at first, but then my buddy let me race his 2wd sc10 one day and I was hooked. I decided to go 4wd and got a Hyper10sc. I love it. I am running 2s but it's still fast as hell with the Tekin RX8/sc4x 4.5t combo. Speed, size, great handling, tough as nails, and scale looks to boot!

[JK Racing]

Sixty, wish I would have listed mine for sale before you bought that one...its awesome, with SC10 4X4 shock on it already. I just dont like SC4X personally. I am a 2wd guy. Nothing against the truck at all

FYI, the stock motor is a beast, if you swap out the speedo with a higher end one that can run sensorless motors (like a hobby wing 120a), it will come alive even more. I swapped the shocks out before I ever put it on the ground, and took the stock servo out almost as fast. Watch your body mounts, they are thin. Its the only thing I have broken in about 10 race days.

Have fun with it!

[Sixtysixdeuce]

I just dont like SC4X personally. I am a 2wd guy.

2WD definitely requires more skill. Up until this year, all I ever ran was 2WD; RC10 buggies & RC10GTs. Then I got my Mega Baja and my OFNA Ultra LX comp and realized what a world of difference it makes to have 4x bashing out here in the country or running on my rough, dry and loose home track. 4x4 out here behaves much like 2WD on a nicely groomed track.

All of my 2x stuff is also stupidly overpowered. My slowest truck is either my black tub with HPI .18 or my GT2 with OS .12 TZ; Haven't clocked the GT2 yet, but the black tub runs 48 MPH and has no trouble pulling the front wheels up. The blue tub with the OFNA .32 is uncontrollable on almost any surface, and the LRP .18 powered gold pan is just as quick as the 3,300 KV/3S gold pan with 24/81 gearing. The only 2WD that does OK out here is the wife's B3 with Reedy Radon 17.5T brushed and 2S, but it's too slow for my liking. My 18T is 4x4, but it makes little difference with the AE .15 in it.

if you swap out the speedo with a higher end one that can run sensorless motors (like a hobby wing 120a), it will come alive even more.

What about the SC1200BL? I have one that I used in my RC10GTe buggy thing. Is that an improvement over the SC900, or just less likely to get warm? I don't really understand why the Prolite got the 900 while the SC10 got the 1200, unless the extra 6 ounces of the SC10 mattered that much.

Part of me wants to hot rod this thing like everything else I own, but the other part of me recognizes that it is already a very fast truck, and that cranking it up is going to result in more broken parts. I'd rather just drive the snot out of it and improve my skills until I can afford the Losi Five T.

As for the servo, I'll run it until I have a problem, then plunk in a Savox SC-0252MG.

I'm not sure, but I'm thinking this Prolite may actually be quicker on the track than my OFNA buggy, which has an LRP ZR.32 Spec 2 engine in it-no slouch at all. It does seem to be more responsive, if not as graceful.

The short course thing is kinda alien to me. I'm used to the the elegant jumping and silk-smooth landing of the stadium trucks, whereas these things kinda lob through the air and land like a hunk of lead, making a lot of noise in the process. Still, I'm liking the performance a lot overall. On a nice clay track, a well tuned buggy or stadium truck would have no trouble spanking a SCT. But rough and/or loose track conditions give the 4x SCT a huge advantage. Since I much prefer to walk out to my acreage versus drive an hour to the nearest quality track, and since I don't have the time or money to maintain my track like a pro track, the 4x SCT makes perfect sense.

[JK Racing]

ahhhh, see, here in SoCal, I only get track time or asphalt

If I had a home track, it would be a nice loose rooster tail kinda place, take me back to my roots of racing.

The ProLite is an awesome machine, but watching the fast guys drive Pro 4 at the track looks like you must drive angry to turn good laps. Too many years I have spent calming down my driving for 2wd, I cant just toss it away. I felt the same with 8th buggy & truggy. Tried them, didnt really care for them, moved on.

Have a blast...if you must motor up, I hear a 4000KV motor makes these things just scream (on 2s).

[Sixtysixdeuce]

So I'm already wanting to change things out, just because it's me. lol. Truck already runs great on stock equipment & 3S, but I find myself thinking a 150A Hobbywing ESC and a Novak Ballistic #3506 3,400 KV 550 can running on 4S would make things really interesting. I expect it'll probably break a center driveshaft or CVA before long, but that's the name of the game.

I did put 20K oil in the diffs, got the SC10 shocks on and installed F & R stabilizer bars, which all made a huge difference in handling. Still over steers a bit, but I'm getting used to it. Just kinda tough when switching between this and my OFNA Ultra Comp.

All in all, aside from the crappy stock shocks, I give this truck very high marks.