"It's a fantastic looking car - I love staring at it. It's 1/8 scale, so it's bigger than a standard 1/10 rally car and the Hobbywing electronics are really smooth. " - Brett Bowen - AMain Employee
CEN Racing M-Sport Rally Overview:
Powerful Electronics Paired with Extreme Aerodynamics
The Cen Racing M-Sport 2023 Ford Puma Rally 1 1/8 Ready-to-Run (RTR) Brushless Rally Car is designed to deliver extreme scale detail and performance. The authentic design is paired with a powerful motor and electronics to give you the high-performance feel of full sized WRC Racing. The simple controls and scale looks make this car great for all skill levels.
About the CEN M-Sport
Scale Body
This extreme scale body features the looks and feel of full sized rally racing. The officially licensed body has the full livery, mirrors, and wing found on the real Ford Puma 1 WRC Car. Unleash your imagination, dominate any landscape, and experience the thrill of realism like never before. Get ready to turn heads and blaze trails with the perfect fusion of artistry and engineering.
Chassis & Drivetrain
The 3mm aluminum chassis gives a solid base for the molded side plates and aluminum arm braces aiding overall stability. The aerodynamic lower suspension arms help keep the chassis stuck to the ground while maintaining rigidity. Adjustable turnbuckles and shocks allow you to tune the chassis to a wide variety of driving styles and terrain.
Electronics
The advanced electronics system boasts many features to give the user total control. A Hobbywing Max10 SCT 100A ESC is paired with a Cen Racing 3658 2900kV Brushless Motor. Automatic throttle range calibration and over-heat protection add to the user-focused experience. Five levels of acceleration and Nine levels of brake control allow the user to fine tune the power to their skill level. The radio system uses digital trim and end-point adjustments to refine the vehicle's performance.
Wheels & Tires
Unleash unmatched grip and precision on every corner as these tires connect firmly with the surface. From dirt tracks to gravel roads, conquer diverse terrains with confidence. The 1/8 scale rally tire size is comparable to others on the market. This makes the playing field more level for head-to-head racing.
Features:
- Officially Licensed Rally Body
- Detailed Injection-molded Body Accessories
- Aluminum Main Chassis
- High Performance Rubber Compound Rally Racing Tires
- Next Generation Aerodynamics Lower Arm Design
- High-Strength Mod 1.0 Gears
- HobbyWing 100A Brushless System
- Full Metal Differential Gear Design
Includes:
- (1) CEN M-Sport Rally Ford Puma 1
- (1) 2.4GHz Transmitter
- Product Manual
Needed To Drive:
- (1) 2S LiPo Battery with Deans Connector
- (1) Compatible LiPo Charger
- (4) AA Batteries for the Transmitter
Recommended To Drive:
Specifications
Scale Size | 1:8 Scale |
---|---|
Terrain | Off-Road |
Body Style | Rally Car |
Drive | 4WD |
Length | 20.08in (510mm) |
Width | 9.45in (240mm) |
Wheelbase | 11.65in (296mm)* |
Weight | 4.68lb (2.12kg)* |
Power Source | Electric |
Assembly Level | Ready To Run |
*Tech Note: Measured specifications are measured here at AMain Hobbies using the stock kit setup
User Manual
This product was added to our catalog on October 24, 2023
So lets get into what it is like to actually own this car. First, the pictures really don't do this car justice coming out of the box. Sitting on my workbench, it just looks nicer, shinier, and very scale compared to the official promo pictures. The body has a very quality feel to it. The chassis itself does have a good weighty feel to it... the car doesn't feel cheap. Dropping the car onto the workbench, it just plants itself which means the damping components (springs and shocks) are well tuned for this model.
Taking it outside, speed really is about right for this model. While I haven't tried using a GPS to measure speed yet, the speed others have achieved of 45 mph on 3s batteries does seem about right. Keep in mind that this is meant to be a mild-off road car and not either a pure on-road car for drifting or outright speed, nor is it meant for the extremes a monster truck would be subject to, and it's obviously not a crawler either. That said the targeted speed and power produced really is good for the job... fast but not overpowered. Still, I agree with some of the others that they could have used the 4s version of the ESC and left it as an option for the user especially for parking lot duty... but that's me. It's plenty of fun as it is with 3s.
Handling and suspension. To me, the greatest strength of this car is the fact that the suspension is fully adjustable out of the box. Camber and front toe are adjustable via turnbuckles, and while both front and rear caster is fixed out of the box it looks like it could be shimmed if necessary. The car does have about 1* toe in at the rear. I agree with a couple of reviews that suggest the car handles more like a grand touring as opposed to a rally car. It does indeed on asphalt and local baseball diamond, and tracks straight which is what you would want in an on-road car. But, the nice thing is that with a little tweaking for the rear camber settings, the car can kick out in turns and will start to act more like the rally car it is designed to be. I dialed my rear camber to 0* neutral. Factory tires seem to be an all-purpose design, more like an on-road tire like dBoots Hoons and they drive like it. Upgrades are available, including aluminum shocks and anti-roll bars.
Incidentally I would check the suspension setting of the car out of the box as mine were off. Factory settings on my car were 7* camber right front, 2.5* left front, 4* left rear, 3* right rear, and 1* toe out in front. See what I mean? I currently have my car set to 3* camber in front, 0* rear, and left the toe alone.
There are some points on this car that can be improved. The biggest one is the transmitter. I'm not impressed... it works, it gets the job done, but it looks and feels cheap and kind of sloppy to me. Especially for the price point for this model. I swapped it out for my DumboRC radio and an X6FG (built in gyro) receiver, much better and happier.
Second, like said above, CEN could have selected the 120a 4s version of this ESC for the car. The size and weight would have been the same (I have the factory specs right in front of me and they are identical), the cost differential would have been negligible (and even if it did end up costing a couple of bucks more, I would have been happy to pay it), and the car is big and heavy enough to handle the higher speeds... This car should easily be able to handle 60 mph just fine.
A minor point, but a debris screen on the front ports on the chassis where the airflow for the components comes in would have been really been nice. It doesn't have to be fancy or a fine mesh, but enough to keep the pebbles and blades of grass out. If you happen to have access to an old screen door, snips, and a hot glue gun that would be better than perfect. Won't be able to cover up the entire port because part of the steering linkage goes through it, bit it would be better than nothing. Finally considering the car is of a recent design and again for the price point, it could have gone clipless. Even at that, the clips are too small for the size and they could have either used larger or used tabs on the clips, plus CEN could have thrown a couple of extra clips in the box for good measure as those of us born with 4 thumbs and a finger like I am, you're gonna lose some! LOL! Fortunately that's a cheap and easy fix.
None of these are dealbreakers or worth marking the car down for except for the transmitter. It really could have been better, but I'll set it aside for some future budget build. That's why I would give this car a 4.5 stars instead of the full 5. If CEN had included a better radio, I would easily have given this car a full 5 out of 5 it's that good!
Verdict, highly recommended!