SPI Review by The Pope NJ

[Pope]

Well I picked up a set of spi rims at the finals and they just arrived after having them engraved and modified a bit.

I know I know I have been against them but after meeting Rick at the finals and getting to run them on Justin's Flux for a few mins I deceided to give them a fair chance and test them out.

I plan on wraping them with a set of hole shot shoes and testing them soon.

After I get some rubber on them and do some testing I will post my results and impressions. Going to test on three fronts.

1. No limit style racing
2. Off road track racing
3. Bashing

 

[frddyj]

those look sick!

+1 for a set that no one else has.

 

[Pope]

And no one else can get. He doesn't anodize anymore.

 

[kvnnets]

Nice custom rims Alex. Question. Are those for your racer and if so are they not a little on the heavy side.

 

[Pope]

They are a bit heavier. I have a particular use in mind for them but want to test them in every use.

 

[kvnnets]

Awsome. I hope they work out for ya.

 

[Scott]

Those are sweet!!

 

[daddyduck]

once you go spi, you wont want another rim for racing. i use the imex pinn dogs like travis mowery uses for racing and it definatly set my son up for success. second in novice class.

 

[nitrotruck1]

dude I am planning on getting SPI rims, rick seems like a fair guy. I'm looking at the american set either blue or standard!

 

[Bankrupter]

alex are you going to take them to a real race track ?

 

[Pope]

Yep here is the tests I have in mind.

1) turning radius compared to my normal 1/2 offset rims.

2) going to take them to 4 diffrent local tracks and compare handling and laptimes of them vs. my 1/2 offset.

track 1 is zaks hobbies. it is a very sandy tight and technacal track. this is the shortest of all the tracks but has the slowest lap times. Buggy racers don't even like it cause it is so hard to get around.

track 2 family hobbies. This is a 1/10 off road buggy track that is fairly tight but not as much as zaks. The track is hard backed sand and is groomed perfect.

track 3 checkardboard raceway hard packed 1/8 scale buggy style track with some decent doubles. half of the track is very tight and the other half is a more flowing wide track. the track is very rocky though and grip is at a minimum

track 4 is trax70 this is the biggest nicest track around. it is a 1/8 scale buggy/truggy track with 8-14 feet wide turns and straights. plenty of triples, doubles, table tops, and step ups. the track is soil and is fairly well groomed. traction on this track varies depending on how long it has been since it was last watered down. This is my racing track of choice so this one will carry the most weight.

3) I will be testing them on two diffrent no limit style tracks. Again comparing times between spi and 1/2 offset dishs with the same tires.

the first is the NO limits MD track which is on grass

the second will be a mock up of the WF course on very similar ground.

4) Freestyle no limits style. This is what I really want them for. I think the extra width here will really help keep it on its wheels. This will be of great help as two marshalls mean that your run is done. When doing this I will do my best to hit everything exactly the same to keep it as accurate as possible.

5) the bash test. will them bend or break themselfs or other parts more than my dishs under my normal abusive bashing.

Again i will be using the same truck with everything exactly the same except the rims in each of these tests. This is the best way I can think of to get fair and accurate results between the two styles. I am not including 0 offset rims as I rairly use them.

 

[savageboi]

Those look sick!!

 

[Bankrupter]

Sweet alex. These are solid so not a "race rim" but it will be nice to have a opinion not based off NL style drag racing. If not solid Id ask you to log run times too.

 

[Pope]

The bulk of the mass is in the cir***frenc of the rim so no matter how much you cut out of the back you will only save a small amount of weight I mean only a few grams.

I will do my best to have a camera man but I will definatly be posting laptimes between the two.

 

[daddyduck]

the americans are hot! those are more for light bashing and racing.

 

[Pope]

Okay problem Proline no longer makes the maxx size M2 Bowties. Anyone who has a set or if you lhs has them please let me know.

 

[nitrotruck1]

That sucks! but I'll get regular with engraving!

 

[J1A1H]

Great rim! I was going to go with them but thought the pro stock would be a little lighter...

Looking forward to the results!

 

[Pope]

I just got two full sets of matching tires from Rick today. One set for the SPI rims and one for a set of 1/2 offset dish rims. Going to glue tonight after work and get some track time in asap. The tires are IMEX Pin dawgs for those who are currious. I have never used these tires before so that goes farther to even the playing field and make it all about the Rims.

On a second note Zaks hobbies has redone their track to make it much better suited for 1/8 scale racing. 🙂

 

[Pope]

Got some rubber wrapped around the spi's. The truck is dirty the way a savage is sopposed to be but it still locks great IMO.

 

[Bankrupter]

If you really want to get critical do it with and w/o the conversion hubs too. Most guys can't flip the coin for them and now they are discontinued too. I run them so you will answer all my thoughts as is!

 

[Pope]

Don't have stock hubs anymore sorry.

 

[Bankrupter]

Don't have stock hubs anymore sorry.

lol I was not asking .. Your truck is the closest to mine on the forum. Only thing we do different is diff and shock set ups. What your doing here is as close to me running them as I can get w/o spending a bill and bolting them on .. I appreciate your time for Rick and the forum.

 

[frddyj]

the pin-dawg looks near identical to my dirt-bonz which i love.

looks good alex. wish we had 4 tracks close by.

 

[J1A1H]

spis make your truck look mean! Nice1... Waiting for the review