ZooRacing Hellcat Review
It is fair to say that ZooRacing have made a massive stir in the 1/10 racing scene with their range of bodyshells. It is fair to say t...
https://www.thercracer.com/2019/12/zooracing-hellcat-review.html
It is fair to say that ZooRacing have made a massive stir in the 1/10 racing scene with their range of bodyshells. It is fair to say that they have redefined what can be achieved with a racing shell with the DBX, and you are hard pressed to have seen any podium in the last 12 months without it featuring.
ZooRacing isn't one to rest on their laurels so only a few months later they have released the Hellcat. So let's take a closer look.
The first thing you notice is that the Hellcat is 12mm longer than the DBX. It has a pronounced front splitter. It still has the distinctive roof silhouette seen on the dbx.
The sharp front pillars start further forward than the DBX, although the roof itself is around the same place.
The front pillars blend into the roof around halfway so the rear is smooth without the deep ridges (On the DBX they go all the way over and to the back). The front bonnet section has a slightly different profile and does not have the two distinctive humps found on the DBX.
Here you can see how low the actual bonnet section is, along with the the smoothness of the rear sections.
Here you can see the way that the roof section narrows to the low rear section which is smooth to avoid any necessary drag.
The rear wing is a distinctive curved design to go with the rounded boot section.
When the conditions are right, I have found that the Hellcat can actually give me better results than the DBX. When running on really high grip carpet the Hellcat offers more steering and is also more free when off power.
The shell is a less draggy version of the DBX and if you do not need that extra grip the Hellcat frees up the the chassis and allows you to actually run faster. This is not to say the shell is loose, it just is not as overall planted as the DBX. With this in mind the shell will require your thumbs to be alert for the full 5mins as it does require more from you over the five minutes.
One thing that I have found is that if you swap out the rear wing to a hard wing the shell does not seem to work as well. This is probably due to the rear of the shell being curved, so a standard hard wing almost hits the middle of the rear trunk.
Over the last few months, I have usually been swapping out to the Hellcat if I feel that the car is working well with the DBX and I want to try to find a little bit more. I have also seen a lot of other racers move onto the Hellcat and just run it over the DBX on carpet tracks.
Overall the ZooRacing Hellcat is a great shell to consider if you are racing on larger high grip carpet tracks. It does give you a little more time over the 5 minutes if your thumbs can keep up with it :)
After 12 months of totally changing the way that TC bodies look, I am excited to see what is next.
Here you can see the way that the roof section narrows to the low rear section which is smooth to avoid any necessary drag.
The rear wing is a distinctive curved design to go with the rounded boot section.
At the Track
The shell is a less draggy version of the DBX and if you do not need that extra grip the Hellcat frees up the the chassis and allows you to actually run faster. This is not to say the shell is loose, it just is not as overall planted as the DBX. With this in mind the shell will require your thumbs to be alert for the full 5mins as it does require more from you over the five minutes.
One thing that I have found is that if you swap out the rear wing to a hard wing the shell does not seem to work as well. This is probably due to the rear of the shell being curved, so a standard hard wing almost hits the middle of the rear trunk.
Over the last few months, I have usually been swapping out to the Hellcat if I feel that the car is working well with the DBX and I want to try to find a little bit more. I have also seen a lot of other racers move onto the Hellcat and just run it over the DBX on carpet tracks.
Overall the ZooRacing Hellcat is a great shell to consider if you are racing on larger high grip carpet tracks. It does give you a little more time over the 5 minutes if your thumbs can keep up with it :)
After 12 months of totally changing the way that TC bodies look, I am excited to see what is next.
