O.C.D.
RCC Addict
I was very lucky to acquire a set of the new Losi "Comp Claws" before my trip to Omaha last weekend. I had encountered them here in Colorado and was very interested in trying them out. I would like to thank Rich from Losi for getting these in my hands before the event.
That being said, I had a few hours to mount them and get them roughed up a little. I would have taken more/better pictures but time was really crunched. So I snapped what I could.
Here they are straight from the shipping package.
You can tell that they are a lot different.
Losi changed the Claws quite a bit with the new Comp Claws. Here you can see the main lugs are now staggered. The secondary lugs are now sipped for better sidehilling and climbing. The center lugs also have more meat to them this time around. The inside of the sidewall has an overlapping triangle pattern to help increase sidewall strength.
Mounting the new Claw was actually easier on my MSD wheels. Seems that losi reduced the amount of rubber that the bead ring used to seat in the wheel. I could have imagined it but the process went a lot faster than the standard Claws.
Here is a comparison of the older Claw with the new Comp Claw. You can see that the tire is taller than before. It is not anywhere near a Rover or Grabber, but it is considerable to the older Claw. I personally like this as I am not ever wanting to go to a Rover size tire with the way I have my shafty set up.
I used the same foams up front for each tire. They are the NWTT Reach Hybrids that I have used for a while. I really like the foams. In the Older Claws there was very little room and they seemed stuffed in there. The new Comp Claws filled out so much better with a taller foam. Here is the comparison of the older Claw and the newer one. Notice the profile of the new one!
And of course, the most important angle. Here is a face to face shot. You can tell that these are taller and more filled out by the foams.
Again, this was last minute, but you can see that they are indeed a larger tire this time around.
Here they are at rest next to the little brothers. They are bigger!
Now, for performance. LIke I mentioned, these were brand new when I received them. I had no run time on them. We were not allowed to practice in Omaha so All I had was a couple of minutes of concrete burnouts from the night before.
The first course (MaxAmps course) consisted of slickrock and dusted stone. The first line I chose was one that I was uncertain of due to the new tires and them not being broken in. The Comp Claws followed my lead and went straight through the lne and grabbed all the way up. I honestly was shocked. The added height was an obvious advantage in Omaha as there were tons of axle grabbers and skid hangups. I can confidently say that without the extra height I would have had way more hangups from the older claws. I had no issue with these. I can tell that the sipping and staggering of the lugs really changed the feel of the tire. Staggering allowed for a more consistent contact patch when grip was lost.
Anyone in Omaha can attest that there was little to no sidehilling. On the Hitec course I followed every high prfile tire through the course. That course had the most sidehilling there. It was no problem at all. With full Carvers in the rear I had no loss of sidewall strength. They held up great.
My personal excitement will come here in Colorado. That is when I get to try them in my home element. If they handle the same or even better here than I am set.
Keep in mind production tires will have writing molded in as well as the Losi "Gription" finish. If you are not aware it is a covering of smaller beads (very small) that lie in between the lugs for extra traction.
So, I have much more testing to do here in Colorado. I will post up progress as it comes.
Thank you again Rich, I really had a great time using the new Comp Claws. As I mentioned in the email, they were easily noticed by everyone.
Jon
And yes, this is my new and last name change on the board. I am now O.C.D.
That being said, I had a few hours to mount them and get them roughed up a little. I would have taken more/better pictures but time was really crunched. So I snapped what I could.
Here they are straight from the shipping package.
You can tell that they are a lot different.
Losi changed the Claws quite a bit with the new Comp Claws. Here you can see the main lugs are now staggered. The secondary lugs are now sipped for better sidehilling and climbing. The center lugs also have more meat to them this time around. The inside of the sidewall has an overlapping triangle pattern to help increase sidewall strength.
Mounting the new Claw was actually easier on my MSD wheels. Seems that losi reduced the amount of rubber that the bead ring used to seat in the wheel. I could have imagined it but the process went a lot faster than the standard Claws.
Here is a comparison of the older Claw with the new Comp Claw. You can see that the tire is taller than before. It is not anywhere near a Rover or Grabber, but it is considerable to the older Claw. I personally like this as I am not ever wanting to go to a Rover size tire with the way I have my shafty set up.
I used the same foams up front for each tire. They are the NWTT Reach Hybrids that I have used for a while. I really like the foams. In the Older Claws there was very little room and they seemed stuffed in there. The new Comp Claws filled out so much better with a taller foam. Here is the comparison of the older Claw and the newer one. Notice the profile of the new one!
And of course, the most important angle. Here is a face to face shot. You can tell that these are taller and more filled out by the foams.
Again, this was last minute, but you can see that they are indeed a larger tire this time around.
Here they are at rest next to the little brothers. They are bigger!
Now, for performance. LIke I mentioned, these were brand new when I received them. I had no run time on them. We were not allowed to practice in Omaha so All I had was a couple of minutes of concrete burnouts from the night before.
The first course (MaxAmps course) consisted of slickrock and dusted stone. The first line I chose was one that I was uncertain of due to the new tires and them not being broken in. The Comp Claws followed my lead and went straight through the lne and grabbed all the way up. I honestly was shocked. The added height was an obvious advantage in Omaha as there were tons of axle grabbers and skid hangups. I can confidently say that without the extra height I would have had way more hangups from the older claws. I had no issue with these. I can tell that the sipping and staggering of the lugs really changed the feel of the tire. Staggering allowed for a more consistent contact patch when grip was lost.
Anyone in Omaha can attest that there was little to no sidehilling. On the Hitec course I followed every high prfile tire through the course. That course had the most sidehilling there. It was no problem at all. With full Carvers in the rear I had no loss of sidewall strength. They held up great.
My personal excitement will come here in Colorado. That is when I get to try them in my home element. If they handle the same or even better here than I am set.
Keep in mind production tires will have writing molded in as well as the Losi "Gription" finish. If you are not aware it is a covering of smaller beads (very small) that lie in between the lugs for extra traction.
So, I have much more testing to do here in Colorado. I will post up progress as it comes.
Thank you again Rich, I really had a great time using the new Comp Claws. As I mentioned in the email, they were easily noticed by everyone.
Jon
And yes, this is my new and last name change on the board. I am now O.C.D.
