New traxxas cat

[Checkmateguy01]

I shouldn't say much since i have a Spartan (that i put the upgraded Castle motor in and after 2 failed ESC's i upgraded the boat with a Turnigy SeaKing 180a ESC, runs fairly good as a just a lake basher), but that new cat just doesn't look like it runs all that impressive. The Spartan is not a great handling boat either, i have to run a pretty steep positive angle on the stinger to get it to carry the bow! The new cat looks like it runs pretty "flat" too. Also, doesn't look the hatch seals up any better that the Spartan. You would think Traxxas R&D department would do a little more homework before releasing and new boat. I really don't mind the plastic hull, if it were molded well and not so flimsy. But what i will commend Traxxas on is making the boat a scale version of a real boat, something i'd like to see much more of! It does bug me that most of the hulls on the market, while most aren't bad looking, always have a toy-ish look to them. I think it's great to see the ultimate cat on the planet right now, the DCB M41 Widebody, made in a scale version, AND i like the size of 40"!! Why all the FE's have to be so small is beyond me but it's nice to see some bigger hulls coming to market, not all of us run on small calm ponds all the time, i run on 20 mile long lake with plenty of boating traffic to stir up the water. I'd be interested in one of those ProMarine Skater or MTI Cats if they were bigger hulls. But, none the less it looks like another so-so at best offering from Traxxas... I'll add tho, my idea would be to gut the hull and add 2 of those P1 motor/stern drive packages to the transom, i bet it would help the CG a little bit and enhance the scale look considerably!!

[Doby]

Looks like it was painted by Huggy Bear.

[T.S.Davis]

Does anyone know who their "R&D" department is?

[Doby]

Anyone else notice that around the 2:45 mark, they are running it right by a guy in a Kayak?

Probably driven by a professional RC boat racer.

[forescott]

Video from traxxas.

[kfxguy]

I notice in the video it looks like it bounces a lot in the front. Is that good? Like you see it and they slow it down so it's not as noticeable.

[Mxkid261]

Man it looks like they really dropped the ball on this thing Lol

[Mxkid261]

I do like the color scheme though it would definitely be easy to see haha

[jim82]

As you can see all they wanna do is make money and know nothing about boats..lol. I mean at least make it FG. Come on traxxas

[T.S.Davis]

ABS and 6s anything is foolish but you guys know ALL of our boats are plastc right? A carbon fiber Hydro and Marine is fiber reinforce plastic (FRP). Delta is FRP. TFL and Promarine are fiber reinforced plastic. No matter what we put in the plastic its still plastic. Granted its much much stronger but still plastic.

[birdy233]

Not a bad looking boat, LHS had one, not too bad but the color scheme takes some getting used to

[Mitch S]

FYI, Courtney Force's funny car...
Gotta give them credit for sticking with a theme!

20150206 CF.jpg

[lavigna]

Hey all,

Let me start by saying I stopped buying Traxxas vehicles years ago. IMHO, their vehicles are far below what the other big names are producing. I'm also not into RTR. I like to build, modify, and upgrade.

That being said, I purchased this new M41 Cat from Traxxas a couple days ago. I have a HPR Cat and 2 1/8 hydroplane builds currently in process, however who knows if they will ever get finished. When I saw this boat, I saw an opportunity to buy something and run it that same day. I really like the size, shape, details, and the paint. I know the paint is love it hate it, but I have been into the bright 80's themes lately, so it works for me.

The hardware looks to be pretty much the same as the Spartan, which is nothing special. The cooling jacket leaks. The hull is flimsy. The velcro hold downs are worthless. But I am having fun with the boat. I have an order in for upgraded drive, dual pickup rudder, trim tabs, fins, inlets, outlets, cooling jacket, and prop. This should add another 8-10 mph, which will be just right for me and this particular boat.

I totally agree with all the negative things said about this boat, however it has been a great fit for me currently, I love the way it looks, it is fun to run, and my daughter likes it, lol!

I will update with pics once I get the upgrades mounted.

[lavigna]

I am having some major 'chine walking' issues with this boat. I believe this is the correct term. It is so bad it eventually flips the boat. Any suggestions for dialing this out of it?

Thanks!

[kfxguy]

I've never seen/experienced a cat chine walking, but I'll make a guess that's it's dancing back and forth? Here's my guesses as to why:
Boat is overall too light? I'd say if there's not enough mass to it compared to the size, it may handle oddly. A bandaide fix to this would be add a small amount of weight or use bigger batteries.

Slack in the rudder? If you have any slack (and especially a decent amount) it could cause it to handle funny. I had a 34" mono that would run over 90mph but would never go past 70 until I removed all the slack from the steering.

Trim tabs. I know this is a cat but I saw trim tabs in the pic. Real cats have trim tabs but on models it's not common practice to put trim tabs on. Actually it's frowned upon. Not sure why as it seems a fast cat may be able to go even faster with it by making the hull "longer". But anyway, if you have them adjusted down too much I'd guess that could make it dance.

Strut position. Is the pro angled down, neutral or up? I'd recommend (just an edujamacated guess lol) putting it at neutral to begin with. If it blows over then adjust the tabs down a tad till it stops blowing over. If it's running too wet and the tabs are up or neutral then give some positive on the strut.

Try moving battery position to see what it does.

Prop. Maybe the prop doesn't suit the hull. Is the prop sharp? It should be.


Neutral: in line with the bottom surfaces of the boat
Positive: pointing up (exaggerated because it won't be pointing up but just a tab)
Negative: same as above except the prop facing more so downward. Or trim tabs. Same difference