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Speed and style! The new identity of 1/10 onroad racing.

One of the things that I have been most excited about in recent years is the evolution of the bodyshells that are used in 1/10 onroad tourin...

One of the things that I have been most excited about in recent years is the evolution of the bodyshells that are used in 1/10 onroad touring cars. 


The low slung aggressive aero shells have made a huge impact on drivability and apex speeds.


Quite simply, If you run an older style shell and a modern shell such as the Baybee or Hyper you will see a marked difference in overall lap time. In fact I would suggest that the extra few tenths you save with these shells is greater than your average yearly chassis update. This only proves what a fantastic step-change in the sport these new shells are. 


Speed is not only one of the big impacts, The tear shaped cabs, low bonnets, aggressive cutaways and longer more developed rear ends have defined a strong visual identity for this new wave of designs. It also for the first time gives the class as a whole a very unique aesthetic that it can actually own to create an even stronger visual identity.


These still look like sedans, but not the boring ones that you drive to work, instead they resemble the concept drawings of great stylists who are creating their vision of what a performance saloon would look like without any major constraints.  They still look like cars, just cool ones. Just look at the state of the racing buggy / truggy  shells if you want to see how off the rails things can go. 

Things can go too far, although TC shells still look like cars.

"But it's meant to be scale sedan racing!" Is a common complaint when any new body shell is announced. Let's be realistic. The only time the shells looked like replicas of the real thing was back in 90's when we would run TA01/02's with Tamiya shells. The sport soon moved on and we lost any scale appearance as we ran very plain jelly moulds as they were lighter, performed better and were cheaper. The popular Stratus and Mazda shells bore very little resemblance to the real cars apart from the front grill. 


If you look closely, the latest shells from ZooRacing and Bittydesign have lots of beautiful little touches that make someone like myself who appreciates a scale shell smile. The 'Jelly mould' term used for the older race shells doesn't apply anymore thanks to the fine details and sharp defined lines that are prevalent on the new generation of shells. 


Also, If I want to run a scale shell, then I can do.  There are scale classes everywhere, such as the Tamiya series raced at the King of Clubs, with many other clubs following those rules. There is also Iconic if you want to run a vintage chassis.  



So in conclusion, I have always looked at the onroad 1/10 electric class as  the pinnacle of the rc racing world, There have been many national and worlds championships where mere fractions of seconds have made the difference. It's always been about pushing the envelope on what tools are available for the driver to get the fastest time on the track. Thanks to these shells not only do we shave off time but we also have something that looks good when doing it. What a time to be alive!

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